Dirty Little Liars Read Online Free Page A

fire and ice all rolled up into one. If there was something she wanted, she generally got it. And she wasn’t shy about making her opinions known. What worried Juliette more was Courtney’s WASP-like demeanor. The girl lived her life like a giant chess match, always thinking three steps ahead. She stockpiled political ammo like others collected baseball cards and waited undeterred for the most opportune time to make her move. It was how she dethroned her undergrad class president and how she managed to secure the position as editor of the law review. Courtney wasn’t smarter than those in her law school class, she was just more devious.
    Which was why Juliette wound up in the law library, holding a stack of legal research briefs with a perplexed expression on her face. She needed the public setting for their first encounter and the quiet nature of the library practically guaranteed Courtney wouldn’t be able to make a scene.
    Juliette clutched the carefully selected papers to her chest as if she were carrying illegal contraband. She moved between the study carrels where Courtney was hard at work and deliberately tripped on the back of her chair leg.
    “What the hell?” Courtney snapped as her chair jerked backward and the legal briefs Juliette had been carrying scattered into the air. Juliette clutched the edge of the table to regain her balance. The tips of her fingers brushed the back of Courtney’s hand. Then she let out a pathetic whine as she fell to the floor.
    Everyone in the room froze. A few heads poked out of the cubbies to see what all the commotion was about. Courtney glowered down at her. Juliette had seen that expression before. It was a mixture of anger, annoyance, and loathing. She expected Courtney to say something snarky, like, “Walk much?” or, “Maybe if you didn’t buy cheap knock-off shoes, you wouldn’t trip over your own two feet.” But her irritation evaporated the moment she realized the other law students watching them.
    “I’m so sorry,” Juliette said. “I don’t know what happened. I was just trying to find all these briefs for Professor Tatum’s class. I don’t know how I’m going to get all this reading done in a single week.”
    “Let me guess.” She slipped out of the chair and knelt down to help. “You’re a first-year.”
    “Is it that obvious?”
    “Yes,” she said and smiled. “But it’s not just you. I can spot a first-year a mile away.”
    She held out a hand. “Courtney Anderson.”
    Juliette froze, pretending to be surprised. “Oh my God. Your father is Governor Anderson. I saw you at the rally the other day. I didn’t even recognize you.”
    Her smile grew even bigger. Note to self. Inflating the ego is a good thing.
    “Are you interested in politics?” she asked.
    “Oh, God no,” Juliette said. “Living outside of D.C. for the last twelve years is about all the politics I can handle. You can’t throw a stone without hitting some new politician.”
    She laughed. “Then why did you go to the rally?”
    “I was just trying to earn a little extra credit. Hagney is a sucker for anyone involved in a political campaign. He said he’d give us five extra points for every rally we attended. All we have to do is write a paper reflecting on our experience. I swear, it’s like high school all over again.”
    Juliette stacked the last of the briefs onto the pile and lifted them to the table. Courtney stood as well, but didn’t bother to take her seat. Instead she glanced down at the paper on the top of the stack.
    “The Keating Five?”
    Juliette smiled. “Yeah. We’re studying the legal aspects to some of the great political scandals of the twentieth century. Given the current state of our economy, I thought this would be an interesting one to study.”
    Now she had Courtney’s attention.
    “I wrote a brief on the mismanagement of the Keating Five investigation but Professor Tatum refused to publish it. She said it was politically