Last Christmas Read online

bunch of books on the floor and a slow grin surfaced.

  "Score." He took a seat on the desk and pulled Daniel's laptop onto his lap.

  "Password?"

  She shrugged. "No idea," she said lightly. She crossed the room and leaned back against the desk next to him.

  "Sorry."

  "Oh, come on," he protested. "You don't know your own boyfriend's password?"

  "I told you, I trust him. And he trusts me."

  Lie."Yeah?" Thomas raised his brows skeptically.

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  "As a general rule, I don't go snooping around in his personal stuff."

  "Didn't," Thomas corrected her. "You didn't go snooping around in his personal stuff. Until now." He

  paused, drumming his fingers on the desk. "What's his lacrosse number?"

  "Twenty-nine," she replied. "But that's way too obvious."

  Still. Thomas typed Ryan29 in the password prompt box. Invalid password flashed on the screen. Daniel29,

  DRyan29, and LAX29 elicited the same response.

  "Aw." Ariana pouted. "Strike two."

  She lifted the cereal bowl onto the shelf above the desk and sat down next to Thomas. A strange sensation

  spread through her body. Relief? Not possible. She hadn't expected Thomas to find anything. Daniel had

  never given her a reason not to trust him. And if he shouldn't trust her anymore, she did trust him. There was

  no reason for them to be there, going through his personal stuff. Her hair was still damp, but suddenly she felt

  like she needed another shower.

  "Okay," she announced, tapping her fingernails against the desk. "You gave it a shot. Now let's get out of

  here." The sound of her own nails on the oak surface made her even jumpier. "Let's go. Please."

  "You have to give me a fair chance to win the bet," Thomas muttered. "All right. We'll try something easier.

  What's his birthday?"

  She sighed impatiently. "August twelfth."

  Thomas typed in Daniel's birthday. It didn't work. Ariana jumped off the desk and picked up Daniel's books

  from the floor. "Come on.

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  You've got some dishes to do." She arranged the books haphazardly across the desk, even though it pained

  her not to leave a neat stack, and turned for the door.

  "Wait. Give me one more shot." Thomas bent over the keyboard.

  "No, we're leaving." She chose to ignore the dog-eared issue of Maxim next to her foot and focused instead

  on the screen as Thomas typed the word password into the prompt box.

  Welcome, Daniel Ryan! flashed on the screen, and a picture of Daniel holding his lacrosse stick glowed

  behind his desktop icons. Her heart sank.

  "Unbelievable." Thomas smirked. "You're dating a tool, you know that?'

  "Shut up," Ariana replied through her teeth.

  "We'll try his IM conversations first," he said, skillfully clicking his way through Daniel's saved

  conversations.

  "For the record, this is wrong," she announced, even though her heart was pounding from the intrigue .Morbid

  curiosity was definitely getting the better of her. "We shouldn't be doing this."

  "It's a little late for that kind of talk," he replied, scanning the list of conversations. He opened one and

  skimmed it, laughing quietly to himself. "Oh, this is good."

  "What?" Ariana's heart thumped. He looked like he'd just hit the jackpot.

  "Just read."

  Thomas shifted the laptop screen in her direction. Her heart sped up as she read the first lines of the

  conversation.

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  RyanLAX (8:07 P.M.): U there? Come overAnge101 (8:08 P.M.): Can't. Too much work for tomorrow.

  Tomorrow night if you're good.

  RyanLAX (8:11 P.M.): Any way to convince u?

  Ange101 (8:13 P.M.):You have something in mind?

  RyanLAX (8:15 P.M.): Come over and find out

  Ange101 (8:18 P.M.): Need a hint first

  RyanLAX (8:19 P.M.): Hint: u won't need ur clothes

  Ange101 (8:21 RM.): Good thing I just got out of the shower;)

  She felt Thomas's eyes on her, and her face warmed.

  "That's enough," she said slowly, exiting out of the conversation. "I don't need to read any more." She

  pushed the laptop screen toward Thomas and looked away.

  Thomas shifted. "Listen, Ariana," he began. "It's better for you to know now before you-"

  Ariana laughed. "Could you be any more gullible? I don't need to read anymore because I'm Angel-zero-

  one!"

  Thomas's eyes were wide. "So you are a naughty girl."

  Ariana blushed. "Are you ready to admit it yet? Just admit Daniel's not a liar and we can go."

  "Not even close," Thomas replied. He opened up a couple of files from the desktop and scanned the contents.

  Ariana watched him, and after a few clicks of the mouse, she saw his face change. He paused, and his eyes

  flickered with interest. Ariana's fingers clenched along with her stomach.

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  "What?"

  When Thomas looked at her, the disgust and pity were clear in his eyes.

  "Nothing. I can't find anything. Let's get out of here."

  Thomas started to lower the screen, but she reached over and blocked him. Her heart pounded an erratic beat.

  There was something on that screen.

  "Give it to me," she said, wrenching the computer from his hands.

  Thomas made a futile grab for it. "Ariana-"

  She blinked at the glowing screen in confusion. The spreadsheet Daniel used to keep track of his lacrosse stats

  was open. She scanned the familiar columns: goals, attempts, assists. A second tab, titled scores, was attached

  to the spreadsheet.

  "It's his lacrosse stats. Big deal," she said, hovering the cursor over the scores tab.

  "I wouldn't click that," Thomas said, scratching the back of his neck.

  So, of course, Ariana had to click it. Instantly a new spreadsheet filled the screen, but it wasn't the

  spreadsheet she was expecting. The left column was filled with girls' names. Some she recognized, and some

  she didn't. The right column was filled with dates, the first in August of Daniel's freshman year, four years

  before.

  "I don't understand. What..."

  Then she saw the final name in the column. Ariana Osgood. The entry next to it read, Senior year Christmas

  break.

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  All of the oxygen was sucked right out of Ariana's lungs. Her chest tightened. This was a list of girls that

  Daniel had slept with, and she was next in line. He wasn't a virgin. He had been sleeping with every girl on

  campus and then some since he arrived at Easton. Even worse, everyone must have known it. Everyone knew

  what a naive idiot she was. The guy who said he loved her, said he wanted her to be his first, had humiliated

  her in front of the entire school. Lied to her for the entire year they'd been together. She checked the dates

  again. He'd slept with two other girls while they were dating.

  I'm such a loser. Such a stupid, stupid, loser. He used me. I let him use

  me."Ariana? Are you okay?"

  They're all laughing at me. All of them. Laughing at me behind my back.

  Ariana started to tremble again. The computer shook in her hands. She was nothing but a number on a

  spreadsheet. A nothing. A blip. She was worthless. She grabbed her arm, her nails cutting deep grooves in her

  sweater. I may as well just kill myself now. No one would miss me. No one would care.

  "He's a jackass," Thomas said quietly. "He doesn't deserve you."

  Ariana looked up at Thomas and everything seemed to snap into place. Someone would care. Thomas wo
uld

  care. He'd just said it himself. She was too good for Daniel. Thomas thought she was worth something.

  Ariana dropped the computer. It slammed on the floor and died

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  with a sickening zip and a flash of the screen, but she didn't even care. She grabbed Thomas's coat and pulled

  him toward her, pressing her lips, her body against his. Nothing that had stood between them before mattered

  now. She felt a weight lifting from her shoulders as he kissed her back.

  Daniel didn't deserve her.... He didn't deserve her.... She was done belonging to him.

  Ariana grabbed Thomas by the collar and stripped his coat down his arms. He flung it to the floor as her

  hands moved to his shirt. They were no longer trembling. As her fingers unbuttoned his shirt, she was moving

  with a steady purpose.

  Screw Daniel Ryan. Screw him and his perfect family and his perfect life. "You sure?" Thomas murmured as

  she pushed his shirt off his bare shoulders. His body was perfect. Taut and lean and tan.

  "A bet's a bet," she smiled, kissing his neck, running her fingers over his chest. "And I'm not a sore loser."

  "We should get out of here," Thomas breathed. "Go back to my room."

  He picked up his coat and started for the door, holding her hand in his.

  "I want to do it here." She pointed meaningfully to Daniel's unmade bed and pulled her sweater off over her

  head. "He deserves it."

  Thomas smiled and dropped his coat back on the floor. He moved on top of her quickly, leaning her back into

  the familiar pillows. He would die if he knew what she was doing right now. He would just die.

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  "I like the way you think, naughty girl," Thomas said, hovering over her.

  With a grin, Ariana pulled Thomas's warm body down on top of her. And even though she'd sworn to Daniel

  Ryan that she would never lose her virginity in his dorm room, that's exactly what she did.

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  TRAPPED

  ***It almost felt like a dream, like it hadn't really happened. Ariana relaxed into Thomas's strong chest and

  closed her eyes, replaying the series of images in her mind like a silent movie on a projector screen. After

  their first go in Daniel's room, they had sneaked back to Thomas's room and started all over again. This time,

  it had been more romantic. More tender. "Wearing nothing but his boxers, Thomas had kissed her in front of

  his door, then let her inside before pulling her sweater off over her head. She was naked underneath, but in the

  dim light of his room, she felt totally safe. Secure. They had made love again, more slowly this time, and

  Ariana had recorded every detail in her mind. Every touch, every kiss, every inch of him.

  This was monumental. It was a day she would never forget. She wanted to remember every single thing.

  Now the sun had set outside and the room was dark save for the light from the candles Thomas had lit before

  drifting off to sleep.

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  Behind her, he shifted slightly and she sank back toward him on his bed, smiling at the intimacy of it all.

  Thomas was nothing like Daniel. He would never leave her feeling vulnerable like Daniel had. Her mother

  would understand that. After what Daniel had done, she would have to.

  Shifting uncomfortably in Thomas's single bed, she realized her fleur-de-lis necklace was digging into her

  collarbone. She brought her fingers to her chest. The necklace had left a deep imprint of the flower in her

  skin.

  "You okay?" Thomas said groggily. He kissed the top of her head, and she raised her face to his. Flickering

  light from the candles on his desk bathed them in warmth.

  "Better than okay." She smiled, tracing the outline of his arm with her fingertip. The sound of her own voice

  surprised her. There wasn't a trace of self-consciousness, of worry, in her words. Or her body.

  Ariana Osgood was finally calm. Perfectly, blissfully calm.

  "Me too," he murmured, stroking her hair. He looked into her eyes with a fixed gaze, concentrating only on

  her. As if nothing else in the world could possibly matter to him more. As if nothing could tear him away

  from her. Not Daniel, or the threat of being expelled, or their dysfunctional families. He wanted to be there

  with her. Completely.

  She felt herself melting into him. The tension that had built up inside her over the past hours-over the past

  several years, really-had vanished, leaving her weightless. Free. Her breathing slow and even. She wondered

  if this was what happy felt like.

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  "Pretty quiet," Thomas observed, his fingers trailing down her bare back. Goosebumps rose along her skin.

  "Just thinking," Ariana said softly, resting in the crook of his arm. She had imagined what this moment would

  be like for so long that she could hardly believe it actually happened. She had always fantasized about

  meeting the perfect guy, about falling perfectly in love. Being the heroine of her own novel. Living Happily

  Ever After.

  But Thomas wasn't perfect at all. He was sarcastic and messy and he said the wrong things. But he knew what

  it was like to grow up the way she had. And he didn't fault her for it.

  "Thinking about?" Thomas prompted her.

  "About how this is what I need." It was exactly what she meant, and she felt safe enough to say it. No masks,

  no pretending.

  She kissed him lightly on the lips, then on the nose. He tasted like maple syrup. "Mmm, breakfast," she

  laughed, pulling away from him and licking her lips.

  Thomas grinned. "You taste pretty good too."

  He showered her with a series of quick, biting kisses that trailed from her lips to her neck. She pushed him

  away, and he fought back, pressing his hand against the back of her neck and pulling her into him.

  "Don't think you can get away so easy," he said into her ear. "Now that I've got you, I'm not letting go of you

  anytime soon."

  A pleasant warmth engulfed Ariana's heart. He loved her. She knew he loved her.

  "You better not."

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  Sitting up, she tried to flash him a menacing stare, but the amused glint in his eyes just made her burst out

  laughing all over again.

  "Oh, yeah?" he challenged her, slipping his hands around her waist. "What are you gonna do?"

  'You don't want to find out," she warned him playfully. "Believe me."

  "Ooh," he laughed. "I'm so scared of big, bad Ariana."

  He wrapped his arms tighter around her and pulled her into him. Ariana smiled and drifted off to sleep.

  Perfectly, blissfully calm. Seconds later, the loud shriek of a siren yanked her right out of a shapeless dream.

  "What the fuck?" Thomas shouted.

  Ariana's heart was in her throat. "It's the fire alarm!"

  Thomas tripped out of bed, fished a sweatshirt out of his laundry hamper, and pulled it on. Somehow, Ariana

  found her jeans underneath the bed. The damp denim clung to her skin, and her heart raced as she struggled to

  zip them up. She shoved her feet into her boots, yanked her coat from Thomas's desk chair, and quickly blew

  out all the candles.

  "We have to get out of here." Thomas reached for her hand and pulled her

  toward the door. "Come on!"

  "No!" She pulled back. "We can't go out that way. They'll be coming to check the dorm any second. By the

  time we get through the snowdrifts outside they'll see us!" Her head was starting to throb. She couldn't think

  with the sound of that alarm blaring in her head.

&nbs
p; "We don't have a choice!" Thomas yelled. "If we stay here, they'll

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  catch us anyway. I can't get expelled, Ariana, I can't!" His eyes were wild, his voice hoarse over the

  screeching alarm.

  "I know!" she screamed. He was right. They couldn't leave, and they couldn't stay.

  They were trapped.

  Where you find it!***

  @bcplBALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

  www.bcpl.info

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  THE LEAP

  ***"We have to take the window."

  "Are you crazy?" Ariana blurted. "We're on the second floor!"

  "So what are we gonna do? Just give up?" Thomas demanded.

  "No," Ariana said. If there was one thing she would never do, it was give up. Her mother had given up. And

  as much as Ariana loved her, she had promised herself she would never be like her mother.

  "Then help me," Thomas said.

  He slipped his fingers into the grooves at the bottom of the window and Ariana did the same. With a deep

  breath, they threw their weight against it. The warped wood stayed frozen in place.

  "Shit." Thomas turned around and eyed the doorway nervously.

  "Come on! Let's try it again."

  He rejoined Ariana. "Okay. One, two, three!" he shouted. Together they strained at the window. Ariana held

  her breath and pulled until she felt as if her fingers were going to break off backward.

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  Then, just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, the window finally gave.

  "Let's go!" Thomas turned away as a blast of cold air swept into the room.

  Ariana moved cautiously to the window. The blizzard had almost subsided, and only a light, translucent

  curtain of snowflakes tumbled to the ground below. The snow-capped evergreens at the edge of the woods

  loomed thick not far from the back door of Ketlar. She took a step back, nearly tripping over Thomas. The icy

  ground below her looked far, far away.

  "I can't." She shook her head. "It's too much of a drop. We have to get out some other way."

  "There isn't another way," Thomas said harshly. He gripped her wrist so tightly she winced. "And there's all

  that snow to break our fall." He straddled the windowsill, bending at the waist to fit through the small

  opening. "I'll go first."

  "Thomas! Don't!"

  But he pushed away from the building and fell. Ariana stared after him, imagining his body lying broken and

  dead on the ground below. But instead, he landed in the soft cushion of snow piled beneath the window. He

  was fine.

  "Come on! You can do it!" he whisper-shouted up to her.

  Body trembling, Ariana sat on the edge of the windowsill, her feet still planted on Thomas's floor. One leg at

  a time, she drew her knees up to her chest. She pivoted her body and lowered her legs outside the window.

  The sight of Thomas on the ground blurred beneath her.

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  "I can't." The thought of her body free-falling from the window made her skin prickle with fear.

  "I'm right here. Come on, Ariana," he pleaded. "Jump."

  She screwed her eyes shut and hesitated.

  I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't-"I won't let anything happen to you," Thomas said.

  Ariana's heart flipped in her chest. Right. He would protect her. He loved her. She looked down at him, took a

  deep breath, and shoved away from the window. Icy wind slipped past her and she landed, hard, against

  Thomas's body. The sound of bone on bone cracked in the air as they both hit the snow.

  "You okay?" Thomas winced. His face was contorted in pain. Ariana struggled her way off of him and knelt

  next to his body in the snow.

  "You're hurt."

  "I'm fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Really."

  Guilt seeped into her skin faster than the wet snow. "You're not. And it's my fault," she insisted. She lowered

  her numb fingers to his ankle, and he tensed in pain. "We have to-"

  "Right now what we have to do is get out of here," he interrupted. He scanned the back edge of Ketlar and

  nodded at a huge evergreen that loomed over the far corner of the dorm, at a diagonal from the backdoor.

  "Over there," he said tersely.