Chapter Sixty-One: Only One Way to Find Out
My instant reaction should have been to slam the door shut.
But I stared at Kate instead.
Her smile widens as she peeked behind my shoulder, overlooking my pathetic and shameful attempt to hide Jayden and Austin by moving myself to the left.
"Hello, boys! You look new." She pointed at Austin. "On normal circumstances I would've taken your number but tell me... what has the infamous Evelyn Joan doing with... you two?"
She smiled evilly.
"You haven't been doing anything weird in there, have you?"
"I'm surprised she knows how to use correct grammar." Austin murmured right behind me.
I took a deep breath and pressed my lips together. "So you got us."
"Oh not just you," she shook her head. "I got all of you."
My brain took a second to realize what she'd said and my heart dropped. "...What?"
"Yup." She triumphantly emphasized. "Do you think I'm an idiot? I know everything about everyone in this school and enough to know that this guy (she points at Austin), the one that just left and the blondie doesn't go here."
Jayden stepped forward this time and my heart beat in my ear weirdly as if I was having a heart attack and was being deaf at the same time.
"Look, Kate," he said, rubbing his forehead. "This looks bad, and I really don't have to say anything for myself except that we wouldn't have done it if we weren't desperate."
"And that is supposed to make me stop going to the principal?"
"Just," he looked at her. "Stay out of it..."
When she gave her a hard calculating look, Jayden sighed.
"Please."
She squinted her eyes, as if actually considering all of it but knowing Kate for years, I knew it wouldn't come easy... if anything, it would be impossible. And of course she didn't.
Her chin raised. "You know what? I won't."
"Fuck," Jayden sighed and tapped his forehead on the doorway.
Kate's grin widened. "Now then, care to join me to a walk to the principals office?"
Austin out his hands up. "Let me stay out of this, I don't even go to this school."
She sneered. "That's more of a reason for you to come with me. You know you deserve this."
Austin pouted and turned to me. "Shorts I'm too drunk for this can I go?"
I wanted to slap his mouth shut for good because he was making it more difficult than it was needed to be.
Kate frowned. "Excuse me? You're drunk?"
She didn't wait for answer and walked forward, taking a quick sniff before backing away, eyes wide. "Oh my god, you are."
The face perfectly put on with makeup, twisted in a weird sneer again. "Makes a greater story."
Austin whined and hugged Jayden's side. "This is too early for this, nooooo..."
Kate's face hardened. "We need to go to the office and stop all of this. Let's go. Or... there's the good old trick..."
She brings her phone out and held it up, towards us.
"I can just film it all."
Jayden and I looked at each other, both thinking whether we should bolt when the time is right but shook our head at the same time, deciding not to.
That was when I felt like I had to take up the matter to my own hand. I hated nepotism but it was time to use my brother for a greater good of society.
"We know about the match fixing," I told her without any warning which made Jayden look from the doorway and Austin gasp in surprise.
Kate's demeanor suddenly dropped along with her phone, and shock was replaced instead of the usual sneer that always floats on her face.
"How do you..." she started a little soupy but then her face hardened. "What are you talking about?"
"Northern High is going to lose on purpose on today's game, we know it. And we know you all know it too."
She looked down, muttered a quick, "I'll fucking kill you when I get my hands on you, Jenny, then looked back up, her eyes were shrunk to a slit. "Where are you going with this?"
I took a deep breath, thanked Blake for something he'd told me last year and started my speech.
"This might sound a little out of the box but I think... you all heard about the thing where two of our students were in a police chase... a month ago?" I purposefully pack the fact that she knew something about it up, to use later.
"It was a big thing yeah, what about it?"
"It was Jayden and I who got chased."
She went very very silent and Jayden grabbed my elbow from behind, yanking me to a side. "What the hell are you doing Queen?"
I yanked my hand back. "Stop pulling and trust me. I mean... as much as you can."
We looked at Kate, waiting for her to say anything but when she didn't, I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry if that came out as a shock but what I'm trying to say is that it was the lamest thing ever to even start a rumor about in the first place (I guess our school lacks the drama department, you know?) We drew graffiti on a wall, a cop saw us and chased us away from the town and it was four in the morning we found the way again and we had some tailing us all along."
"...Oh."
"We're doing this because we have a suspicion that the person who's after us has some kind of motive behind. So we're going to find who the culprit behind all of it is. It was our guess that it could be you but then we snooped around, then found out you were just a pawn."
"...Oh."
"yup," I nodded. "So, Kate, what I'm gonna tell you is this-" I took a deep breath and thanked Blake again. "We're going to catch that person and we need your help."
I could feel Austin backing away and take a more good look at the drama. The other three however were baffled and in a nutshell: stupefied. And Jayden wasn't in my field of vision right now so I couldn't say what he thought.
"We didn't need it of course," I say matter-of-factly, looking over at Jayden. "Your help I mean. But I've heard somewhere that to make great plans to work, you have to be fluid with environment. Besides, the more the better."
"You just made that up." Austin chimed, despite the atmosphere.
"Shut up."
I look at Kate again, trying not to look like I was shitting around and was actually serious because I was.
The girl gaped for a couple of seconds, trying to say anything... Whatever that made sense I think but came up with nothing really.
But of course there was her usual uptight was which came back just like how it had gone out.
Her face hardened again and she crossed her arms. "Are you joking? Of course I wouldn't help you."
"Why not?"
"Well, for starters, your boyfriend here had dumped me too many times for that?" She pointedly looked at Jayden and he shrugged, looking apologetically at me. "And I get dumped by your brother on a regular basis?"
"You cling around him too much."
"Shut up before I punch you."
I sighed, putting my hands on my hips.
"Okay, what if I say you have something to gain from helping us?"
Kate scoffed. "Please, like I have anything to gain from you."
"I'll help you take your revenge on Debby."
She grew quite still at that and in that moment, I knew that I'd struck the right chord.
"Last year? When their team threw rotten eggs at yo..."
"Shut up!" She shrieked, panicked, looking over at Jayden and Austin. "Don't you finish that sentence."
I lifted my shoulders. "Heard it from Blake. It's okay, rotten eggs are part of life."
"Don't... Stop..." She suddenly looked disheveled, very unlike her original form... Or the mask she'd put on for public?
"I'll kill her... I'll kill her for making me look like an idiot... I couldn't... I never.... Worked so hard..." She was mumbling, looking down and it was when I realized something important.
Kate looked very much like a human and not like another version of Regina George.
Good god, am I the protagonist?
"Debby did something wrong." I said. "No matter how mean you are, nobody deserves to have rotten eggs thrown at them..."
"Be quiet."
"...And I know you'd love to take revenge on her and we can help you for that. In return, help us."
Her breath slowed, she looked up at us, looking at us with glowering eyes.
"Why would I help you?"
"Because you're grateful. Will be, but yeah."
"And why do you think your plan, whatever it is, will work?"
"Because we have the best team with us!" I exclaimed, looping my arms around Jayden and Austin's neck. "We've already done so much, so helping you would be nothing."
I stopped, then thought for a while. "Well, I have no reason to do this really, but it's a win-win situation for both of us so why not take advantage of it?"
Kate, if I was correct to guess the expression on her face, was ready jump on us but in the end she looked like she gave up and took a deep breath in.
"Do you really have a plan?"
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Im pretty sure standing under the bleachers wasn't entirely our plan. However, this is was exactly what we were doing right now... Standing in a group of seven under the bleachers as distant shouting from the practice match floated to us in pieces.
We all stared at each other.
Vanessa, with a reddened forehead, looked pissed as she took rapid glances at Kate; Kate was silent as she continued pointedly staring at me; I was looking back and forth between all of them; Jayden was fixedly looking at me; Mia and Sam kept sharing glances and Austin, open mouthed, stared at Kate, I think mostly because he was still drunk.
"So?" Mia finally broke the silence that had been persisting for more than two minutes and I cleared my throat.
"Guys, this is Kate. Kate, this is Mia," I pointed at each of them "...Sam, Austin and Vanessa."
Her eyes travelled on all of them and she let out a bored 'Hey.'
"Now," I clapped my hands, grinning as if everything was okay. "It's almost 12, I hope everybody knows what to do?"
When nobody answered and their gaze now landed upon me, I felt like there really was something wrong that had happened.
I sighed. "Okay guys look. Helping Kate wouldn't exactly change anything..."
"Just like the fact that she could sneak on us at any moment wouldn't change?" Vanessa seethed. She was pissed off after Kate boxed her right in her forehead for being an imposter that looked too big right now. Sam tried to hold the iced can that was with Austin but Vanessa wouldn't let him.
"She wouldn't, really," I calmly told her. "She has every reason to stay with us and help."
"I don't." She mumbled beside me and I sighed, again.
"Then would you let me tell everyone that I have evidences of you stuffing your bra back in freshman year?"
"WHY DO YOU KEEP EXPOSING ME?" Her scream ringed all of our ear and I grinned, kind of guessing how this was going to go.
Okay, time for work.
"Kate," I turned to her, "Tell us everything you know about the fixing, in which... my brother is involved."
"Initiated." Mia shamelessly reminded me and I face palmed.
Kate doesn't heed us and pursed her lips, furrowing her eyebrows rudely. "What do you want to know?"
"Tell us about the amount."
She sighed. "Eight grand."
Sam and Jayden hissed together, Vanessa whistled lowly.
I nodded, pressing my lips together. I knew I shouldn't, but I felt a hatred for Blake. "Why do you think he'd do it?"
Kate looked at me like she was looking at the biggest idiot in the world, and I had to give her the credit for making me feel like one.
"It's obvious isn't it? Northern High wanted money."
"But why would they? They aren't in debt or something are they?" Sam spoke up this time and looked at her. Kate shrugged.
"I don't know the details, I guess we aren't supposed to know but Joce, my teammate dates some guy from the football team and I guess he accidentally let something slip and that's how we got to know." She squinted at the field. "I heard he's not playing today."
Sam looked at the field too. "So it's safe to say that it's kind of a big deal if players get kicked out for it?"
"I guess."
"Wait wait..." Mia stopped her, frowning. "If that happened, shouldn't everyone in the school know it by now? About Blake getting bribed to lose?"
"Well they don't."
"It's not possible, words are more dangerous then it seems."
Kate suddenly looked pale at Mia's interruption and I had a feeling my cousin's girlfriend was onto something.
"Yeah well... We had to do-do a lot of..."
"I'll spare your embarrassment." Mia scoffed. "You were bribed too, weren't you? By the football team? To keep your mouth shut?"
The addressed one's head went down.
Vanessa, now something in her hand to properly insult her with, pointed at Kate.
"Hah! This bitch is a complete nutcase." She exclaimed, eyes popping. "Hey, bitchface, how much did you get paid to keep all of your mouth shut huh?" She started walking forward. "Come on now, don't be shy."
Sam grabbed her from the behind and, we didn't know what, whispered something in her ear which immediately made her relaxed and a sneer replaced her anger instead.
"I'll take revenge on you too, you shitbag. Just you wait." For emphasize, she rubbed her forehead aggressively, walking backward and leaning onto Sam now.
Kate looked like she couldn't hate anyone more now and I knew if I didn't step in, things would go all over the place so I opened my mouth to say something but Jayden beat me to it.
"I don't care whether you got paid or not," he said, frowning at the ground. "What I'm thinking is why did Blake agree to this?"
"For the money of course," I said because it was obvious. "Even my shithead of a brother won't say no to it."
Jayden shook his head. "I know that too but, and I know we can't assume anything here, but let's say they were forced into doing this?"
Kate spoke up this time. "I'm not saying they can't but why would anyone want to force them anyway? The other team doesn't have any dirts on them."
"But you don't know it."
"I know they don't, I have ears everywhere. Nobody can or has anything to speak shit about our football team."
"Maybe they have dirts on Blake."
Kate was silent. "I can't say it won't be the case so..."
"My brother's been going on and on about this tournament for months," I mumbled. "They were practicing to win..."
"Exactly right?" Kate exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Do you remember the start of senior year when they were going absolute berserk over it? And now they suddenly get paid to lose? All that practice for nothing?"
She suddenly retreated, when she realized she'd been too friendly. Heaving a angry sigh, she said, "I think Flynn is right. Money or not, they were forced into doing it."
I scratched my head. "But why?"
Jayden said, "Only one way to find out."
I sadly nodded. "True." Then when I thought about what he just said, my head snapped back up. "What did you say?"
He let out a breath, making his lips an O and leaned on one of the blue painted bleachers. "After we're done with phase 2, we have to get to know about why they did it."
"That was not our plan."
Mia spoke this time, looking incredolously at Jayden. "Weren't we like supposed to stop the culprit from spreading your photo or something?"
"Initially, yes."
"And you said the best time to stop that person is the tournament?"
"That too."
"So what the hell are you doing?"
Jayden scratched his head, looking confused. "I don't really know, but I kind of have a feeling that these are connected."
We all stayed silent, contemplating the decision.
"How the fuck, though?" Austin said. "What has that got to do with anything anyway?"
"Blake," Jayden said, shaking his head. "The person who got bribed was Blake, and by the words of Queen, he wouldn't say no to money but wouldn't trade their winning for it."
Kate nodded. "I know he wouldn't too."
I quirked an eyebrow up and gave her a once before and she turned red, looking away.
"Anyways," she cleared her throat. "It's unnecessary to go after them. And I'm not saying it because I have selfish reasons but they really do have major influence over the school so it's better not to mess with them."
"But it still is fishy why Blake would do that." I said, frowning. "I want to know too but it exposes us too much for it. For all I know, the person could be watching us right now."
"Couldn't you ask him about it?" Vanessa asked, looking worried.
I shook my head. "It would make him miserable."
"That's what you're thinking of?"
"He's my brother."
"Who accepted bribe."
"Maybe he had a reason," Jayden shrugged.
"I have a question," Mia raised her hands. "It's already 12, we going or not?"
"Shit yes," Jayden cursed under his breath, sighing. "Okay, we all know about it, right?"
"Um," Kate glanced around at us sourly. "I'm sorry, but what about me? Know what?"
"How about you lick the sole of my shoes?" Vanessa suggested.
Kate looked like she was about to murder Vanessa but swallowed the temptation when she looked at me smiling innocently at her.
"We'll take her with us... Just in case," Jayden said at last. "We can use her... For, like, stuffs."
Kate looked extremely offended at that. "That is so disrespectful."
"No, that was downright horrendous but you have to follow what we say Kate."
She now definitely seemed like she wanted murder anyone in sight but sighed in the end, giving up. "Fuck knows what I'm doing." She then glared all of us. "But if anything goes wrong, I'm taking all of you down with me."
"Ooh so scary," Vanessa stuck her tongue out, grabbed Sam's arm and started walking forward. "Let's go guys."
We all followed their reign, a little distant from each other. Kate quickly shuffled beside me, grabbing my arm.
"Tell me the truth," she whispered poisonously in my ear. "How do you know about... Whatever that you know about me? How much do you know?"
I innocently blinked. "What do you mean?"
"You know." She turned red in shame. "About what you said ..."
"What did I say?"
"All of it!" She gave up finally, yelping. "How do you... Okay, how do you know about the Debby thing?"
"Oh," I stared ahead. "Blake told me."
She put her wrist on her eyes. "Fuck, I fucking hope everybody forgot about all of it."
Her hands lowered, and she looked ahead. It was the first time I thought she really looked dangerous: the previous ones were really tame compared to it.
"I'll kill her." She calmly told me but I noticed her fist was clenched so tight that her knuckles were white. "I'll kill her today for what she's done to me. I want to..."
She sucked in a breath, and her fist was released. "I'll chop her head off."
"Not literally, no?" I tentatively asked.
She threw me a nasty glance. "I'll kill you too if you don't stop talking."
We kept walking, the field vanishing before we got indoors again and everything looked dark for a while.
"We worked so hard... really hard that year." Kate unexpectedly said to me, her hands in her cheerleader skirt pocket. "One of them even wanted to quit but I didn't allow it... All for our school team to lose. Kind of makes me wonder whether they got bribed that time too. I had fun with the choreography though."
My mouth dropped open. "You made that choreography?
"Who else would do that?"
"No I mean," I stopped myself before sounding too surprised with it because even though it was mean, my ego was bigger. "...That was a good choreography."
She frowned, glancing at me. "Are you kidding me? That was the best choreography. Even my mom was impressed."
I rolled my eyes. "So much for being humble."
"Why should I be? That was a freaking good choreography."
I sighed. "Actually you know what, I'm being the bad one here. Your choreography was good."
"Anyways," she shook her head. "Debby and I used to be good friends back in elementary... But then in middle school we got separated and when met again, we were each others opponent. She, the captain cheerleader of her school and me in mine. I mean it was awkward to begin with and we haven't seen each other for so long but we had our egotistical nature in common, so soon the awkwardness turned into hatred and jealousy. I tried not to be in it, really, but that game was the breaking point. We didn't... I mean we're not the best kind of people, but we didn't deserve that humiliation."
I stared at Kate for a couple of seconds, watching how her shell slowly breaks and loved it.
How strange. The person I thought was singlehandedly the meanest and most perfect -had difficulties too.
"At least you're self aware that you're shitty."
She squinted her eyes but I could see the smile creeping into her lips, then she softly swatted my arms.
"Shut up."
She stayed silent as we walked but sighed. "We're gonna lose today too, so what's the point?"
I shook my head. "Oh we aren't."
"What?"
"We aren't losing," I simply told her, smiling. "That's the part of the plan so go give your best."
Her mouth hung open in shock.
"What do you... mean?"
"I meant that you should practice m..."
"Not that! What do you mean we're going to win?"
"Oh," I scratched my head. "Right about now, Sam and Austin kidnaps my brother."
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This one's going to be a long arc. However I'm promising some Javelyn next episode ;)