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    Last Christmas: The Private Prequel
    Last Christmas: The Private Prequel
    Last Christmas: The Private Prequel
    Ebook292 pages3 hours

    Last Christmas: The Private Prequel

    By Kate Brian

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Ariana Osgood has everything an Easton Academy girl could want: straight A's, the perfect boyfriend, and a coveted spot in exclusive Billings House. But on the first night of Christmas vacation, a blizzard traps her on campus with irresistible bad-boy Thomas Pearson. Alone. Instead of snuggling with her boyfriend next to a cozy fire in Vermont, she's huddling for warmth with Thomas in Ketlar House.

    As the snow transforms Easton into a winter wonderland, Ariana finds herself falling for Thomas. But someone is watching their clandestine romance unfold, someone intent on turning their holiday weekend into a nightmare...

    Last Christmas reveals the secret of what really happened before Private began -- and the shocking truth will change everything for fans of Kate Brian's bestselling series.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateOct 7, 2008
    ISBN9781416986003
    Author

    Kate Brian

    Kate Brian is the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Private series and its spin-off series Privilege. She has also written many other books for teens including Sweet 16 and Megan Meade’s Guide to the McGowan Boys.

    Read more from Kate Brian

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    Related categories

    Reviews for Last Christmas

    4/5

    68 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Wow... This was a really good book. It was better than I though it would be.
      Arianna, the main character loves or maybe is even obsessed with constantly being in control and the more control she loses the more things she feels pushed to do. This was also a sort of strange story in a sense that it is something out of the norm but now I can understand a little of who Arianna is in Privilege. This book shows a character that some people can relate to in the way that many of us are afraid to loose control or experience something that society says it bad.
      The different hints to who was "stalking" Arianna made you jump around to who you think is trying to blackmail her. I also got to have a small look into the mind of a killer in a sense that some people don't really feel how we would expect to feel about killing someone.
    • 2/5
      I bought this book wanting a Christmas theme and some young adult love intrigue. A nice, love triangle with a bit of suspense, and how two young people find each other. Well...yeah. That's not what I got. The is one the darkest and most psychotic young adults books I've ever read. It is the prequel to a bestselling series that I have not read, so I thought what better way to start a series than with the prequel? Yeah, don't do that. I'm guessing, based on other reviews of this book which were mostly glowing, you need to have some emotional involvement into the The Private series in order for Last Christmas to work for you. For me, I am left with a stricken look on my face and no interest in the actual series.The book starts out with the typical girl who has issues in her private life, sticks to the rules in her daily life, and has a great boyfriend. She begins to rebel a bit and have feelings for the hot 'bad boy' at the private school and becomes torn for who she wants to be with. Leaving her boyfriend would have serious social consequences, not to mention the bad boy is a notorious bad boy. The appeal to the reader is strong and you actually find yourself rooting for the shy girl to break out of her shell and go for the guy that is totally wrong for her, so she can redeem him and make him totally right. Not in this story.Ariana is the main character torn between her rich, handsome boyfriend Daniel and the rich, handsome bad boy Thomas. Basically, all kinds of things happen when Ariana and Thomas are both stuck at school over Christmas break, give in to their feelings for each other, and the intrigue is someone is spying on them. Since this is also a type of forbidden love, there being steep consequences if they are caught on campus, the book draws you in to their young plight to be together. As things unfold, we realize that Ariana has the makings to be a serious sociopath. Yes, serious sociopath. And Thomas? Let's just say he isn't all he is cracked up to be. These two people I championed, I ended up having deep disgust for each.By the end of the book, I was completely turned upside down by what I thought of the plot and the turn this book took. For me, not a turn in a good way. Again, this is a prequel to a well established series, so if I had been acquainted with these characters as they are revealed in the main series, I may have a very different view of this book. But, read as is, I do not care for it myself. I just have no desire to see what seem like perfectly fine young people turn into mental cases for a relationship.I also have no desire to see how sex was handled in this young adult book. It was choppy and not believable to me how certain situations evolve all around. For example, who has sex with the guy they want to be with, then continues a relationship with her current boyfriend sexually to keep up pretenses, and the other guy knows it? And what guy is OK with that? The book just becomes disorienting for me and a complete let down in character and relationship department.I will give the writer good marks for writing style and plot twists. The writer does tell a story that is easily followed and I admit I NEVER saw where the plot was going to go. There really isn't a whole lot I can say without giving the plot twists away, just keep in mind this not a happy young adult story with some mystery. I will say if you are a fan of The Private series, you may have a whole different perspective and would know to expect a dark book. For those of you not already invested in the series, do not read the prequel first. Reviewing as is, as the prequel to a series, I did not care for it. It does not in any shape or form make me want to see what happens next.
    • 4/5
      Before Reed Brennan started dating Thomas Pearson, Ariana had a relationship with him. Last Christmas is the story about their relationship and the aftermath that followed.Easton Academy is preparing for winter break. Ariana is spending the holidays with her boyfriend’s family in Vermont. She’s fortunate to do so, however it just doesn’t feel quite right. As she struggles with these feelings, her attraction towards bad boy, Thomas, grows. When she’s forced to stay later on campus to finish an English paper, she learns Thomas has stayed as well. He taunts her about her “good girl” image and soon Ariana starts to behave in ways that both shock and excite her.Last Christmas provides more insight about Ariana and the events that led to Thomas’s death. It’s also a good companion to the Privilege series. I especially like Thomas and now wish Ms. Brian didn’t kill his character so early in the Private series.Ariana Osgood is a character readers will love to hate. She fears becoming like her mother and has to be in control at all times. It’s shocking to read how extreme she becomes when her perfect world is threatened. She’s delusional, mentally unstable, but so put together it’s quite scary. She knows what she wants, how to get it and won’t allow anything or anyone to stand in her way.What I liked best about Last Christmas was the focus was primarily on Ariana and Noelle wasn’t as powerful as she is in later books. Last Christmas allows readers an up close and personal look into Ariana’s history and current thoughts. If you’re a fan of the Private and Privilege series, you will not be disappointed with Last Christmas.
    • 5/5
      w i l d. really enjoyed seeing through arianas eyes,
    • 3/5
      Having not read the previous books in this series, I was afraid I would be totally lost while reading this book. Even though I've read other YA fiction like Gossip Girl or The A List, somehow the Private series never really appealed to me. And after reading this book, I'm still not sure if it does. This is apparently a new trend in the publishing world, to have a prequel come out in between ending a series and then starting a new spin off.The characters, at least in this book, aren't very likable. Ariana doesn't have a backbone, her boyfriend is controlling, her roommates and other friends are rich spoiled socialites, and the "bad" boy isn't very bad. Something that kind of bugged me throughout the book was if Ariana and Thomas were in a dorm that was freezing and had no heat, how could they even possibly think about having sex? Why would you remove clothes? It kept taking me away from the story.I noticed less fashion talk that other YA novels which was refreshing. Alcohol consumption is frequent, because obviously drinking laws don't apply to rich kids. Sex is a big factor in the story as usual. A great deal of the story is focused on Ariana picking a time and place to lose her virginity. I did not notice much cursing throughout the book, at least not as much as the Gossip Girl books use.What does make the story unique is more violence with a mystery in the plot. And after reading some interviews with the author, that was the intention of the series. I wasn't too surprised to see the characters act so callously about death/murder. Money tends to numb your senses. It makes for a very interesting story and it does make me want to go back and see what happens now to Ariana and Thomas. It's just I feel like I don't really care about these characters and the book didn't convince me enough to do so.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Last Christmas - Kate Brian

    PROLOGUE

    OCTOBER OF SENIOR YEAR

    White headlights severed the darkness as Ariana Osgood veered from the two-lane highway onto an overgrown road near the outskirts of Easton, Connecticut. She gripped the steering wheel with one hand and adjusted the rearview mirror with the other, glancing nervously into it.

    Calm down, Ariana. Just calm down.

    She hadn’t been followed; she knew that. No one had seen her slip away from Billings House in Josh Hollis’s Range Rover. No one knew that she was retracing the route she’d taken just an hour ago with Noelle Lange, Kiran Hayes, and Taylor Bell. That she was coming back for Thomas. And no one knew why she needed to find him. Her secrets—their secrets—were safe.

    Rocks and chunks of hardened earth popped underneath the Range Rover’s tires as she jerked the car off the road, cutting through the grassy field. She leaned forward and squinted into the blackness. He was somewhere out there. She just had to find him, talk to him. And once she did, he would understand everything. Understand that he was wasting his time with Reed Brennan, that she was nothing but a novelty. A terrible mistake. Understand that he was meant to be with Ariana.

    Suddenly her headlights caught something. Someone. Someone slumping limply from a pole.

    Thomas.

    No! She slammed on the brake pedal and swerved violently, barely missing him. Hands shaking, Ariana fumbled with the lock and opened the door, leaving the car’s headlights on.

    Thomas! Her voice sounded small in the open, deserted expanse around them. Thomas’s head lolled forward, his chin grazing his chest. He groaned and mumbled something Ariana couldn’t understand. Panic bubbled in her throat as she stared in disbelief at the figure in front of her, as if she was seeing him like this for the first time. Had they really left him in this condition? His arms and legs were tied to the pole with thick rope, and a black mesh bag was draped over his head. His chest and torso were covered with scratches from where her friends had jabbed him with tree branches. Dried blood encrusted a cut on his shoulder. The shirt he’d been wearing was on the ground, next to the baseball bat Noelle had forgotten to take with her when they’d left not even an hour ago.

    Ariana’s heart twisted painfully in her chest. How could she have let this happen? She’d never meant to hurt him, had only gone along with Noelle’s plan so she wouldn’t suspect anything.

    Thomas. The second her fingers grazed his clammy skin, he flinched, recoiling from the contact. From her. Thomas, it’s me, she choked, ripping the bag off his head. She had to cover her mouth to keep from vomiting. Thomas looked almost . . . dead. His wet curls were matted against his gray, sweaty face.

    I’m here. It’s all right, she whispered, as much to herself as to him, and started to work on the knot binding his wrists. It didn’t budge. You’re safe. I’m here to take care of you, she grunted, pulling futilely at the knot. She could have killed herself for not thinking to bring a knife or scissors.

    His eyelids fluttered. Take care of me? he croaked.

    Of course. He would be so grateful to her for saving his life—for keeping their secret through all that—that he would never leave her again. Everything would go back to normal, and they could be together. Just like they’d planned. Just like he’d promised.

    Go to hell, he moaned.

    The venom in his voice stung like a slap across the face. Thomas had never spoken to her like that. Digging her nails into her palms, she reminded herself that he was probably still drunk, or high. He didn’t know what he was saying. He loved her, wanted to be with her. She knew he did. She just had to make him remember.

    Thomas, I just want to help. She sounded weak. She hated sounding weak. She reached for the rope coiled around his wrists and tugged at the knots. I—

    Don’t touch me, he said, his voice stronger this time. His blue eyes bore into hers, full of disgust. You think I don’t know it was you who tied me up like this? You think I didn’t recognize your voice?

    It wasn’t me! It was Noelle! I couldn’t stop her! His image blurred in front of her as tears filled her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. After everything they’d been through together, it couldn’t end like this. I would never hurt you. I love you, she said, her voice a barely audible whisper. You love me too. You have to. A salty tear slipped down her cheek.

    Or what? he spat. His stare sliced through her like a steel blade. What are you gonna do, Ariana? Kill me? A strange laugh slipped from his lips. Like you killed—

    Stop it. You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re not thinking clearly.

    He shook his head, his desperate laugh still hanging in the air between them. The thing is, he croaked, for once in my life, I actually am. Everything is clear now that I have Reed in my—

    Don’t you dare say that name, Ariana snapped, digging her nails into her arms. Hot rage rose inside her. She’s not like us, and you know it. She’s a nobody, Thomas. A nothing.

    She’s everything! Thomas yelled. He lunged forward, his chest heaving. Don’t you get it? She’s everything you’re not, Ariana. I love her.

    No, you love me! Ariana screamed. Everything I did, I did for you. For us.

    "There is no us," Thomas spat.

    No us? she repeated dumbly, taking a step back and wincing at her vulnerability. She fought to keep her voice steady. Do you not love me?

    "Not anymore. Not after the things you did. The things we did. He was silent for a while. When he spoke again, his voice was calm. But I’m going to fix it, he said quietly. Make it right. I have to."

    What are you saying? Her throat felt tight, like she couldn’t get enough air. How could he not love her anymore? He had to. Had to. He was the reason she’d done those things. The reason why those things were okay. Worth it. How was she supposed to live without him? How was she supposed to continue to watch him with Reed? Her stomach heaved at the thought and she gasped for air.

    In . . . two . . . three . . .

    Out . . . two . . . three . . .

    I’m going to the police. I’m going to tell them everything. I’m coming clean—about you, about me. And maybe while I’m there I’ll tell them what you and your little Billings friends did to me tonight, too.

    No. No, no, no. Ariana doubled over. This couldn’t be happening. Couldn’t. What had gone wrong? Why was he doing this? How could he not want her anymore? Not want to protect her? You’ll ruin everything. My life will be over. Please, she begged, stumbling toward him. She tripped over a rock and fell at his feet, heaving sobs emanating from her shaking body. Please don’t do this to me.

    I have to, he repeated slowly. The cut from his shoulder had started bleeding again. For Reed. She deserves the truth.

    Thomas, Ariana moaned, collapsing into the cracked earth. Tears streamed down her dirty face. Everything she had worked so hard for was slipping away. Soon, she would be left with nothing. No one.

    The blurred image of a baseball bat wavered in front of her, just inches away. She watched as her fingers closed around its wooden neck. Watched as she drew the bat closer and brought herself slowly to her feet. It was as if she was watching someone else. "I can’t let you do this to me. I can’t let you ruin me, leave me, she said quietly. It was someone else’s voice. It wasn’t hers. It couldn’t be. She was Ariana Osgood. Easton Academy’s Good Girl. I’m sorry, but I just can’t."

    Fear and resignation seeped slowly into Thomas’s face, his voice. You’re fucking insane, he said quietly. I should have known.

    Shut up, Thomas. She raised the bat over her head.

    Just like your mother. He looked her directly in the eye and spat at her.

    Stop it! she shrieked. The tears were coming harder now. I’m nothing like her! Nothing!

    You were never good enough for me. For anyone.

    You never know what people are capable of until they’re pushed to their edge, Ariana.

    You’re crazy. You’re insa—

    The sickening crack of the bat against Thomas’s ribs startled her. A primitive, guttural scream escaped from her soul as she felt his body give way under her hands. His cries intertwined with her own, until she couldn’t tell them apart. The begging, the pleading, the hollow thud of the bat swelled around her. She needed silence. A single moment of peace. She raised the bat over her head once more and closed her eyes.

    And everything went black.

    THE GOOD GIRL

    DECEMBER OF JUNIOR YEAR

    Ariana Osgood just wanted to go home.

    She knew it was insane. She was, after all, standing at the edge of the ballroom at the Driscoll Hotel, playing witness to the most decadent party of the year. The party she had circled in red on her social calendar three months ago and had been looking forward to every day since. But now that she was at the Winter Ball, watching all of Easton Academy mingle and chat and dance, all she wanted to do was go back to Billings House and be with her friends. Her sisters. Inside Billings it was simple. Inside Billings she could just be.

    Ariana reached up and touched her light blond hair, making sure for the fiftieth time that the chignon she’d worked so hard to achieve had held. How could she have forgotten how these events always put her on edge? Always made her feel hot and clenched and breathless. She was going to say something stupid. Or do something wrong. And everyone would see. Everyone would know.

    Which was why she had spent the past fifteen minutes leaning against a grooved marble column on the outskirts of the room, just out of view of the table where her friends and boyfriend, Daniel Ryan, were sitting. Sooner or later they were going to notice her marathon bathroom trips and the current column-hugging, and she was going to have to rejoin their reveling. Better make these last few minutes of invisibility count.

    Taking a deep breath, Ariana let the sounds of laughter and clinking silverware fade into the recesses of her mind and watched the scene around her unfold like a movie on mute. She committed every detail of the black and white marble room to memory as if her life depended on it. Noting details, cataloging a scene, always made her feel calm, in control.

    There were her classmates, stiff and formal in their suits and dresses. The twelve-piece band singing pop versions of Christmas carols on the stage up front. The light December snow falling outside, the large flakes kissing the leaded windowpanes. The waxy mistletoe and the candlelit wreaths that—if she squinted her eyes just so—looked like explosions of gold.

    But the curtains . . . well, those she had to remember down to the last filigreed stitch so she could report back to her mother about them. They were exquisite, all burgundy velvet with shimmering gold-thread fleurs-de-lis. Her mother, a New Orleans native, loved fleurs-de-lis. When Ariana was nine, her mother had given her a gorgeous gold fleur-de-lis necklace for Christmas. That had been Ariana’s favorite Christmas. The last happy one she could remember. The last one before her father started taking those extended business trips. Before her mother started to fade away. Ariana had never taken the antique necklace off, as if it could somehow tie her to those happier times.

    Whoops, sorry! A drunk junior in a rumpled Betsey Johnson dress knocked into Ariana on the way to the bathroom, giggling and slurring and groping with her acne-scarred date.

    With a blink, Ariana returned to her body, and the sounds of the ballroom rushed her ears at full volume. The band was playing All I Want for Christmas, and a girl let out a shrill shriek as her boyfriend lifted her off her feet and spun her around. Ariana sighed and pushed away from the cool comfort of the column, giving her teeth a quick flick with her tongue to clear away any wayward lip gloss as she wove her way through the crowd.

    As she slowly approached her table, Ariana took a mental picture of her friends. The Billings Girls. She loved to watch them from afar, study their mannerisms, note their tics and gestures and habits. More than anything, she loved when she caught them doing something gross or stupid when they thought no one was watching. Like picking their teeth, or adjusting their boobs in their dresses, or checking out cute-but-dorky Drake boys from across the room. She liked to make mental lists of their imperfections. It made her feel less imperfect herself.

    Of course, finding imperfections among the Billings Girls was never easy. It took a practiced eye. They were, after all, Easton royalty. Which meant that Ariana was Easton royalty. She had been ever since September, when she’d taken her place as a junior member of Easton’s most elite dorm. Now the Billings Girls, the ones her mother had always talked about as if they were characters in a fairy tale, were her dorm mates. Her friends. Her sisters.

    When Ariana was just a few feet away, she noticed that Isobel Bautista, a senior who had taken Ariana under her wing at the beginning of the year, was playing with her violet D&G heels under the table, letting them swing from her toes as she gazed around the ballroom. Suddenly the right one fell off and landed a few inches away from her foot. Ariana watched as Isobel scooched down in her chair as casually as possible to retrieve it. As she was fishing around with her toes, she brushed Noelle Lange’s ankle, and Noelle whacked her boyfriend Dash McCafferty’s arm.

    You’re playing footsie with me? What are we, twelve? Noelle joked.

    Wasn’t me, Dash replied, flashing a killer smile. But I’ll play anytime you want.

    Isobel finally shoved her foot into her shoe and sat up again, admitting to nothing, but the snapshot of normality soothed Ariana. She smiled and finally joined them.

    There you are, Noelle said, flipping her thick, dark mane of hair over her shoulder as Ariana slipped into her chair. Noelle was, as always, wearing her signature black—a sleek satin Adam & Eve dress that showed off all her curves. I was beginning to think you’d nicked a bottle of Dash’s contraband Cristal and gone streaking through the streets of Easton.

    Noelle took a sip of champagne from her crystal flute—the champagne Dash had paid off the waiters to serve their table in lieu of sparkling cider, since alcohol was prohibited at school functions—and then took a bite of a chocolate-covered strawberry. Noelle was Ariana’s best friend at Easton. They balanced each other well. Noelle was more brazen and confident, where Ariana was more reserved and cautious. During their hazing period at Billings, Noelle had helped Ariana through more than one crisis of confidence, while Ariana had helped Noelle refrain from telling off the older sisters on more than one occasion. She was sure that neither of them would have made it through initiation without the other.

    Noelle, streaking is so gauche, Ariana admonished as she took a seat beside Daniel. She smoothed her white, layered Alberta Ferretti dress over her knees and wrapped her hands around the seat of her raw silk–covered chair. I was just taking it all in. The social committee did an incredible job.

    "I swear, if you start rhapsodizing about the engraving on the silverware, I will kill you." Noelle groaned and slipped a silver monogrammed flask from her beaded Marc Jacobs clutch.

    I think it’s cute when you go all poetic, Daniel said, draping his arm across the back of Ariana’s chair. Ariana looked up at his chiseled profile, his auburn hair, his ridiculously long lashes, and felt for the millionth time the triumph of having a boyfriend like him. They’d been a couple for more than a year, and she still marveled that he had chosen her over all the other girls at Easton. And Noelle . . . He tipped his champagne flute toward her. If you kill my girlfriend, you can kiss Dash good-bye.

    It’s Christmas. There will be no killing on my watch, Ariana said.

    Buzzkill. Noelle offered the flask to Dash, but he waved it off.

    I have an early day tomorrow, he said, checking his thick silver watch. He ran his hands through his wavy blond hair and blew out a sigh. I have to be in Boston at six a.m. to meet my father.

    Six a.m.? You are a saint, Dash McCafferty, Paige Ryan said as Noelle handed her the flask instead.

    Dash blushed, even with Noelle watching. Paige just had that kind of power over people. Her great-great-grandmother Jessica Billings had founded Billings House more than eighty years ago. Paige, with her auburn curls and glass green eyes, was Billings. The true leader. The girl who made even Noelle pause with uncertainty. She was also Daniel’s twin sister.

    So what did I miss? Ariana asked.

    About ten minutes of your boyfriend talking about your Christmas vacation plans. It was lethally boring—even worse than when you get into your Emily Dickinson moods. Noelle rolled her dark eyes. A black-vested waiter silently reached over her shoulder, clearing plates and neatly laying dessert forks over fresh napkins.

    Daniel gave Ariana a quick kiss. Vermont is going to rock, he said with a wink.

    Ariana gave Daniel a tight smile, her heart suddenly leaden in her chest. She knew what that wink meant. She and Daniel had long ago decided that they would lose their virginity to each other on their one-year anniversary. But when said anniversary had rolled around back in November, Ariana had chickened out. Of course, she hadn’t let Daniel know she was scared. She had simply insisted that she was not about to lose her virginity in a dorm room. Daniel had been disappointed but understanding. The very next day he had invited her to spend the holidays with him and his family at some gorgeous ski lodge in Vermont, promising some serious alone time.

    Ariana knew what that meant. It meant no more excuses.

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