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“Ugh! Fine.” Brittany flipped her thick blonde waves over her shoulder. “I told Shane that I would decorate the auditorium for the whole welcome back ball thing.” Her hand floated through the air dismissively. Ari rubbed her forehead, trying to follow. “And none of us are tall enough to reach the top of the door, even with the ladder. And I thought to myself, ‘who do I know who’s tall?’ and—” Brittany gave a dramatic pause and snapped her fingers — “I thought of you.”

Ari gave a snort and sat up, stretching. “Lucky me. No offense, but I’ll pass.”

“What?” Brittany snatched up Ari’s arm. Ari’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Dramatic much?” She freed her arm none too gently from Brittany’s sweaty fingers. “I have no desire to spend my first afternoon here showing my
school spirit
—” Ari waved her hands around her head like she had pompoms “—by getting tangled in crepe paper and giving myself a headache blowing up cheesy balloons.”

Brittany leaned her face as close to Ari’s as she could, given the height difference, desperation clear in her wide eyes. Ari could see the makeup lines along her jaw, something she could have done without, and resisted the urge to tell Brittany that her foundation was just a tad too dark. “Okay, look. You don’t understand. I told Shane I would do this a
week
ago. The ball is tonight. If I don’t get it done it will blow all my chances with him, and I am this close—” she held up two fingers close together “—to him asking me out.”

“And I care about this why?” Ari raised a dark eyebrow and smothered a yawn.

“Ugh! I’ve only been in love with him for four years now!” Brittany exclaimed, flopping back on her still-unmade bed. Ari waited for a dust cloud of sparkles to poof into the air, but it didn’t happen. “Every girl in school is in love with him. And he chose
me
to decorate. It’s his way of telling me he likes me.”

Ari rolled her eyes. “Again, why do I care?”

“Let me tell you about my Shane. He is gorgeous. Probably not your type.” Brittany waved her hand. Ari frowned. “He’s got this wavy black hair that I will soon be running my fingers through. And his eyes!” Still lying on her back, Brittany exclaimed to the ceiling, “He’s got amazing blue eyes. And he is…” She snickered. Ari sighed and studied her nails, waiting for the point. “Well, let’s just say he is in
very
good shape.”

“Forgive me for sounding like I’m stuck on repeat, but I. Don’t. Care.”

Brittany sat up, leaned forward, and put her elbows on her knees, her face a perfect mask of seriousness. Ari fought the urge to laugh. “Do you want to start the school year knowing
no one
?”

Ari opened her mouth to tell Brittany she didn’t care if she did. She had a rule about making friends — she didn’t do it. Fourteen schools ago, she learned that girls were mean. They were your friend while they needed you, and only to your face. Behind your back they were whispering and plotting. And when they didn’t need you anymore, they turned on you. And boys were even worse.

Besides that, she hated listening to them complain about their petty problems while she had been hunted her entire life. She hated listening to them whine about a lame date over the weekend when she had spent her weekend killing Carules in some nasty battle or another. Carules who might be her enemy, but who also might have families and homes.

Despite all of that, somehow, somewhere deep, deep down where Ari couldn’t squash it, was a bit of hope that she would find a friend. Life alone was a miserable existence. No matter how many times she told herself it was stupid, especially since so much of her life was a secret that could get her killed, her heart still leaped at the chance. And she always got hurt, because girls were mean and boys were worse.

“No,” Ari snapped, jumping up and heading for the door, inner battle waged and won.

Brittany grabbed her arm again and Ari stopped, turning around. “Pleeeeaaase?” Brittany pleaded, her green eyes filling with tears.

And so Ari found herself standing on the top rung of a high ladder, tangled in crepe paper. She growled as she blew a stray piece of dark hair away from her face, only to watch in frustration as it fluttered back and landed on her nose, making it itch. Her hands twitched with the need to blast the whole cheesy mess with red flames — she could even picture the spell she’d use in her head, but she resisted. No magic, or she’d be found out and her grandfather would have her transferred again.

Ari glanced around the room, finding the door, her gaze locking on it with a yearning to escape. She could just climb down this ladder and leave… except that was easier said than done. More so than most of her other schools, this campus was massively confusing to negotiate. It was set up so that the main building — a large, square, three-story of red brick — was in the middle of four two-story dorms running parallel on each side, with nicely landscaped expanses of lawn between and manicured walkways connecting it all.

Boys and girls didn’t share dorm buildings, and each grade got their own floor. Since Ari was a senior, she was on the top floor of her building. So the dorms she understood. It was getting out of the school that was a problem. It was a huge maze of hallways that all looked the exact same, with classes on each side and no distinguishing features whatsoever.

She had followed Brittany here, trying her best not to say anything sarcastic the whole time, but she wasn’t sure she could find her way back by herself, and wandering lost and helpless was not an option. Which meant she was stuck here until the gym was done and Brittany went back to their room. Wonderful.

“Are you okay up there? Should I hold the ladder or something?”

Ari shoved the tack into place, securing her crepe paper nemesis, and looked down. A pretty black girl with her hair in a hundred braids was standing below, her head tipped way back watching Ari with big brown eyes, one hand resting hesitantly on a ladder leg. “Nope. I’m done here,” Ari responded as she stuck the tape dispenser in her black hoody pocket and set the last couple of tacks carefully between her lips.

“I’m Nevaeh. This your first year here?” the girl said as Ari reached the bottom.

“Ari. This is my first day here, actually,” She said around a mouthful of tacks.

“And Brittany roped you into this?” Nevaeh shook her head in disgust.

“She cried.” Ari shrugged as she dragged her ladder across the floor.

“Crocodile tears.” Nevaeh smirked. “I’ll get this side. These big-A ladders are heavy!” Nevaeh grabbed the other side and lifted with a grunt.

“Oh…thanks,” Ari mumbled. She hadn’t noticed how heavy the ladder was. In addition to her magic she was also freakishly strong and fast and coordinated. Probably to make her the perfect killing machine, but otherwise it didn’t do her any good. She loved sports but to avoid notice of how
not
normal she was, she always had to play so carefully it took all the fun out of it. She had quit playing.

“I’ve been here for four years. It’s a good school. Are you a senior too?” Ari just nodded. “I thought so. You look like you could pass for twenty-one.” She glanced around the rungs at Nevaeh as she walked backward. “Not that it’ll do us any good. We get monitored pretty closely here.”

Ari was trying to figure out how to respond to that when she backed into something. A not solid something. “Oof!” it squeaked.

“Well Livi, do you not see us coming with this huge ladder straight at you?” Nevaeh yelled as Ari attempted not to fall over backward and bring the ladder with her.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” The thing kept squeaking, her voice getting higher and higher. Nevaeh dug her heels in and steadied the ladder just as Ari let go and tumbled back, landing on her butt. Before she quite grasped what had happened, a tiny brunette was kneeling in front of her, pulling on Ari’s hands in a vain attempt to help her to her feet. “Are you okay? I am so blind. Or oblivious. I guess it would be oblivious because I can see fine with my glasses on, and I’m wearing them, see?” She pointed to her face, where the glasses were indeed perched on a button nose sprinkled with freckles. Ari allowed herself to be dragged to her feet, where she towered over the speed-talking girl.

“Hush Livi. She’s fine,” Nevaeh said, coming around the ladder as she made shooing motions with her hands. “This is Olivia. We call her Livi.”

“Hi!” Livi said with a grin, bouncing up and down.

“Hey,” Ari responded.

“She’s a senior, like us,” Nevaeh told Livi.

Ari’s chin dropped as she stared down at the tiny girl in shock. “You’re a senior?” She realized belatedly that she should have tried to keep the incredulous note from her voice. Interpersonal communication was not her strongest trait. Probably not even in the top ten of her strongest traits. Grimacing, she tried to remove her foot from her mouth as she added, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s okay. I get that a lot. I look like I’m twelve,” Livi said with a smile and a shake of her head, sending silky brown hair swaying down her back.

Before Ari could say anything that made her look even more stupid, the gym door banged open and Brittany walked in, heels tap-tapping on the floor, demanding attention.

“How are you not done yet?” she shrieked.

“We
would
be if you were in here helping,” Nevaeh snapped back, turning on her with a ferocious scowl, braids whirling with her like miniature, angry snakes. Ari had a brief image of Medusa. If Medusa had been beautiful and had kind eyes instead of eyes that turned people to stone.

“I was getting supplies.” Brittany sniffed, dumping an armful of paper table clothes on the floor in the middle of the gym. Dust poofed up around them like a miniature storm.

Nevaeh put one hand on her hip and eyed the colorful pile. “And that took you an hour?”

Ari shook her head and started back up the ladder, wishing she were anywhere but here. Fighting in battles, surrounded by spells and magic and threats and smoke — that she understood and could handle — Teenage girls were beyond her, even if she was supposed to be one.

Livi pushed her light brown ponytail over her shoulder and sighed. “Don’t start girls. Let’s just get done, okay? I’m exhausted.”

“You wouldn’t be if she’d do her share,” Nevaeh snarled. Ari smirked to herself at the top of the ladder as she snatched up her crepe paper.

“Good. Let’s get to work,” Brittany called to their retreating backs. No one responded.

Nevaeh dumped a giant box on the floor a few feet from Ari’s ladder. “Hallelujah! We’re almost done!” she crowed, throwing up her hands and dancing around the box.

Livi laughed from the other side of the ladder. “I think you might even have time to get ready for the ball, Cinderella!”

Ari had been listening to their easy banter for the last hour, and her dark mood had lightened considerably, despite her every effort otherwise.

All three of them were hot and messy. Ari’s long hair that had hours ago been pulled back in a tidy braid now straggled out and fell in her face. She heard Nevaeh saying something about her lack of a prince charming and how painful glass slippers would be, and looked down with a smile. “So, no boyfriend, Nevaeh?” she asked.

“No way. No boy’s gonna be tying me down. Girl, my mama got married young. Regretted it ever since. I am
not
gonna live that life!”

“Do you, Livi?” Ari asked, trying to get the obnoxious crepe paper to twist right. So far it was just tying itself in knots.

“No. I did last year, but we broke up before we headed home for the summer. I don’t do long distance relationships.”

Ari frowned. Her summer had been spent hunting the Carules Prodigy, or fighting in pointless battles. Usually, when the Carules realized she was there, they’d retreat as fast as possible, because there was no point in fighting her. Everyone knew she could only be killed by the Carules Prodigy.

No one ever saw her face. Her brother always cast a shroud spell on her beforehand so that nobody could see her clearly. Shroud spells were his specialty.

Just to be safe, she also wore a long black robe and hid in its hood. It had once belonged to Ada Aleshire, Ari’s great-great-whatever ancestor, and the sorceress who had started the whole stupid feud three hundred years ago. It was a war that had claimed thousands of lives but would never go in the history books.

The Carules Prodigy never fought. He allowed his people to be slaughtered rather than risk the Edrens capturing him.
Coward,
Ari thought, pushing the sting of jealousy deep down as she viciously shoved a thumb tack into the wall. She was a weapon for the Edrens, and weapons should be used, not protected.

“Hello! Ari!”

Ari started and nearly fell off her ladder. “Hey! What?” She gasped, clinging to the top rung. She was starting to think the ladder had it in for her.

“I
said
about a thousand
times,
do
you
have a boyfriend?” Nevaeh demanded, raising an incredulous eyebrow at Livi.

“Were you daydreaming?” Livi asked in a singsong voice, giving Ari an impish grin.++

“Yes,” Ari answered.

“Ooooh, what’s his name?” Livi asked, bouncing up and down on her toes and clapping her hands like a little girl.

“What? No, no I don’t have a boyfriend. Yes, I was daydreaming. Sorry.”

“Aww.” Livi’s face fell.

Nevaeh shook her head as she hefted a second large box and turned toward the ladder. “How does someone who looks like you not have a boyfriend?”

“Oh my! Shane is coming! He can’t see — we’re not done!” Brittany squealed as she scampered through the door, her heels click-clacking against the gym floor. She raced to the lights, killing all but the small one over the door.

Ari glimpsed three figures silhouetted in the doorway. Nevaeh cursed as Livi screamed. Too late, Nevaeh crashed into the box on the floor and pitched forward, slamming into Ari’s ladder. Ari watched it all in slow motion, having been graced with excellent night vision to accompany her magic. Her brain flew, catalog-like, through the spells she knew, searching for one that would hold the ladder. Unfortunately, her spells were for blowing things up, not holding things still.