DISCLAIMER: I don't own Private. It is owned by Kate Brian.
Easton Academy. The school I once called home. Tradition, honour, excellence. That was what Easton demanded of us. But to me, it didn't matter. I've lost everything I have. My school, my best friend Noelle Lange, my popularity and power as one of the four most prominent Billings girls, the boy I once had and my dignity. Exactly 3 months ago, I had been kicked out of Easton.
And it's all that damned Reed Brennan's fault. She came to Easton and destroyed my life. Had she been wise enough to stay in her drab home in Pennsylvania, everyone at Easton would have been far happier than they were now. It is her fault the school is in such disgrace. Yet the school board kept her in and drove me out. Had she not hooked up with Thomas, this would've never happened. Thomas would've been going out with me instead of that wretch. It was hard to see him go. But now it is as though a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Images from that night still remain vivid in my mind. The party, Reed's falling, Noelle losing her temper…
"I'll walk you back," Noelle offered. I tried to take in what had just happened. I clenched my fist as I felt a sharp twinge of jealousy run through my veins. Yet more flashbacks raced through my mind.
Thomas had been with at least a dozen girls the previous year, and he had promised this year would be different. He'd be all mine. I was really looking forward to it. Then that Brennan witch had to come and ruin everything.
Noelle came back from escorting Reed. Then she grinned. Although she was my best friend, I hated her bluntness and insensitivity. What was so funny? Had she not known that I loved Thomas? Even while he was with Reed, I had hoped he would still find his way back to me.
Dash was still struggling to keep Thomas at bay. As Noelle had often said, Thomas was a mean drunk. At times he could be really sweet and charming, yet when he was drunk, his personality was completely altered. He was a vicious brute. Brennan has had a taste of what Thomas is really like.
"Shall we, ladies?" Noelle asked slyly in a high-pitched tone. As usual, we nodded, agreeing. After all, Noelle was the unelected leader of our clique. Then we saw what she was doing. She bid Dash goodbye, as he left Thomas with us. Noelle asked us to help her drag Thomas' limp body and tie it to a tree. They blindfolded him.
"But…," I began.
"We ought do this for Reed, shouldn't we? After all he put her through," Noelle stated. I didn't argue any further. And just like that, I knew I had lost my absolute best friend on campus. Noelle was growing towards Reed, while we grew distant.
Thomas looked drugged. I watched as they began to undress him. They began mocking him and Kiran even took some pictures.
"You really are a two-faced bastard, aren't you?" Noelle asked.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," Taylor said, being her usual tactful self.
"Yeah. You don't deserve someone like Reed. You don't even deserve to have anyone. You deserve to die!" Kiran said. All the while, I remained silent, staring at the whole scene. Sometimes Noelle says that I have a spine-chilling penetrating stare.
Noelle had noticed me staring. She stopped the mocking. "Are you okay, Ariana?"
I shook my head. I didn't know how to react. Noelle looked at me in a concerned way. Perhaps she had known how I felt about the whole thing. I was unsure, and shaken by the idea from the start.
She then loosened the binds and told us it was time to go. We turned around and ran. Halfway, I stopped and turned back. In their hurry, none of them noticed. I walked back to Thomas and peered at him. He was almost fully roused now. He saw me and instantly began cursing and swearing and saying all kinds of things. He had even began giving me death threats, saying he had many 'connections'.
I couldn't take it any more. I reached for the nearest thing I could grab. A bat. Josh's bat. I bashed him right on the head. He seemed to be stunned. I think I had hit him a little harder than I meant to. He had gotten free of his binds by then. He lunged towards me, still in a drunken state. I knew if I gave him the chance, he would kill me. I couldn't react. Neither could I scream. I was frozen to the spot.
I did the only thing that crossed my mind. I brought the bat upon his head again. This time I heard his skull crack. Blood began gushing out. I panicked. He grabbed my foot, and he looked as if he was about to break it with his bare hands. I didn't know what I was doing. I hit him across the head again. And again. Until he stopped moving. His body was still and just beginning to get cold.
In shock, I dropped the bat. There was blood dripping off the end of the bat. It trickled down to my fingers. I hastily covered his body with some of the leaves scattered around the tree. I ran ahead to catch up with the rest of the girls'. I quickly washed the blood off my fingers.
I hit the wall of my padded cell. I really hated that pathetic, boyfriend-and-best-friend-stealing Reed Glass-licker Brennan. Yet Noelle treated her as if she were her very own sister. I glanced down at the poem I had written with my own blood while sitting in my cell the other day.
I was any ordinary girl,
In this cruel heartless world,
At Easton,
With Thomas Pearson.
Then Reed came along,
And took him just like that,
Then all that happened,
And I killed him with a bat.
One day when I'm free,
From these four walls that bind me,
I'll find her.
And kill her.
That Reed,
That awful, goody-goody weed.
One day when I get her,
I will see her bleed.
I sighed. I wasn't to be let out of this place in ages. So I called the only person whom I know would always stick by my side no matter what. I had hidden my cellphone for emergencies as such.
"Hello? Sabine? It's me. Ariana. Your sister. Come see me right now. It's important."
