Caught

Chapter 8: Driving to the Mall

"Great," I sighed as we walked down the hallway. "Just what did we do wrong, exactly?" "Like meddling with police investigations," Luke explained. "Having poor social skills, and breaking into school filing cabinets?"

I gave him an annoyed look. "Are you trying to make us look like the bad guys?" I asked. Luke flashed me a playful smile. "Never," he insisted. I gave him a playful push. The principal smiled at us when we entered in his office.

"Sit down," he said politely. I sat down on the chair right in front of him while Luke only leaned his back against the wall. "I prefer to stand," he explained.

"Are you attending to the prom?" the principal asked. We both shook our heads. "Did my mother asked you to say that?" I guessed. The principal shook his head. "Just curious," I explained with a shrug.

"Along with some teachers," the principal sighs. "I think it is best if you two attend to the school dance. I mean, what's wrong with going to prom. It's every high school girls dream."

Not this girl, I thought. "You two need to get out of your comfort zone," the principal continued. "And spread your wings." "Spread your wings?" Luke snorted. "What are we, eagles?"

"Let's get to the point," he replied in a monotone voice. "You kids deserve a break after you saved Chinatown, solved two cold cases, and even put Newton's best football players in prison."

"We are working on another case," I insisted. "And our dreams to go to colleges-" "Either go to the prom or I will have to suspend you two."

"Suspend?" I shrieked. "For not attending your stupid prom?" Luke gave me an angry look. "Fine," the principal said. "No suspension, but I will have to see both of you participate in the Great Gatsby prom. So I will keep an eye on each of you."

Biting my lip, I nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow night," the principal said. "You too Luke." He gave him a brief smile then dragged me out of the office.

"Last time I checked," Luke said. "Telling how stupid the prom is not mature." "But this is unfair," I muttered. "We have a case to do, Kimberly's parents depend on our skills as detectives. You know that."

"I understand as much as you do," Luke agreed. "But like puberty, we all need to fight through it." Luke was right, puberty is a pain and so is going to the prom, but the only thing that was worth going to the stupid dance is with a vain friend, like Madison.

I keep asking her questions related to Kimberly, and she'll give me some answers. "Fine," I said. "I'll go to the prom." "I'll buy the tickets," Luke said. "You'll be late for Math class," I protested. "The math teacher wouldn't mind," Luke shrugged. He kissed me on the nose the walked away.

Sighing, I reached for my locker and got out my math textbook until Madison jumped behind me. "Hey Nikki!" she greeted. Great, now she gave me a nickname. Well, at least she didn't call me Ms. Hyde.

"Are you going to the prom?" "Heck yeah," I said weakly. "Cool," she said. "Do you want to do some dress shopping?" Can I puke first? "Sure," I answered. "After school sounds good to you?" Madison nodded.

"See you around," she waved me then walked out of the school. The next thing I saw is her driving out of the school parking lot with a pink convertible.

Typical rich girl drama. Sighing, I headed to the Math classroom and sat next to Luke. The math teacher was droning on and on about equations, Luke gave me a surprised look.

"Later," I mouthed. After school was over, I told him everything about the dress shopping with Madison. "That's good," Luke said. "While I was reading Kimberly's file, I picked up something very suspicious. The Hate List was all Kimberly's idea."

"You mean that it wasn't the first time," I said very slowly. "Kimberly introduced the Hate List to her friends," Luke explained. "What is the Hate List, anyway?" I asked.

"It's like a Truth or Dare," Luke said. "Each girl writes how bad and stupid their friends are, and dare others to do the prank for them, just for the heck of it."

"Like sabotaging Madison's life? I asked. "Exactly," Luke said. "Why would they do that?" I asked. "Because popular girls, like Madison, craves on making people miserable." Luke answered.

All of a sudden, someone honked a horn at us. "Hey Nikki," Madison sang. "Come on." Behind her were her cheerleadering buddies and their boyfriends. All of them were giving us cold stares.

"Isn't she the girl who called you immature and spoiled?" the boy asked. The baby doll nodded then glared at me. "Making friends, already?" Luke whispered. He put something in my jeans pockets and told me to be careful.

"Hey Luke," a girl called. "Want to come along?" "Nah," Luke answered. "I rather walk home." "Good luck with the files," I wished in a low voice. "And when you find something, text me the details."

"Got it Mom," Luke said. We both waved goodbye as I hopped into the backseat next to some football player. "Hey babe," he greeted. "Hey," I said uneasily. I could easily tell that he was hitting on me.

Madison started the car then drove onto the road. While she was chatting with her friends, the football players wouldn't stop drooling on my sneakers. "Have you ever kissed anyone?" a jock asked. "Yes," I answered truthfully.

"Was he a good kisser?" he snickered. "Maybe he was the freak that she was talking to," the other jock with a Mohawk joked.

I gritted my teeth.

"Don't talk to Luke that way; how would you like it if someone says that to your face?"

Everyone stared at me in shock. The boys stopped laughing at the thought of Luke then kept to themselves. "So Madison," I began. "Do you take Kimberly to shop dresses?"

"Why do you want to talk about Kimberly?" the brunette asked. "That loser is dead to us." "But she's Madison's best friend." I persisted.

I see Madison staring at the road, not listening to the conversation. "Since you're the detective," the brunette began. "You don't get to ask us questions, we do. So, tell us about yourself."

"Like how did you perform all these backflips?" the baby doll asked. "I was a dancer and a gymnast back in Michigan." I answered. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Madison asked. "Technically I do," I said. "We have a lot in common."

"Like what?" Madison asked. "Solving crimes," I answered. "I heard you two saved Chinatown," someone said. "Yeah," the Mohawk agreed. "Did you even solved two cold cases?" "Along with Luke," I said, easing up a little.

The jocks were in awe. "What case are you working on now?" the brunette asked. I couldn't tell them about Kimberly's case, they will freak. "Luke and I are working on another cold case, but it's classified," I lied.

As Madison parked across the mall, the boys agreed to do something stupid, like going to the arcade and play until their eyes were red. But the girls, well...their night has just begun.