Class Of 96': 1994 (BxB Mystery)

Chapter XLVIII - "Speakeasy."

The speakeasy was the definition of jazz. It was dim, the air melted with whiffs of booze and perfume. Something about it was so . . . classy. It wasn't big yet it felt as if you could get lost in the red couches and Victorian mirrors.
    "Woah . . . " Innes couldn't help her amazement. She turned to Molly, who seemed all too pleased with herself.
    "I knew it." She grins. "I fucking knew it!"
    I looked at her to find her gone. Molly was off to the bar buying herself one too many drinks with Ollie.
    "You joining them?" Innes said to me.
    "I—"
    "No need to answer. You aren't drinking anything."
    She wasn't wrong. I may have bailed from home but I am not drinking a lick of liquor tonight.
    Somehow, I wound up sitting at the bar alone with a can of soda. A woman laughed at me when I ordered it. The twins were somewhere wasted (the buzzing of their foxy giggles, I could tell) and Innes was, well, also wasted (way more lax than usual). I sat with them for a while, having fun, until Ollie got a little too close. That's when I realized he was the flirty-drunk type.
    Gosh, as much as I loved him playing with my collar and looking at me with those dreamy eyes, Innes was starting to look at us weird.
    "Are you from that G.H. Academy?"
    Beside me was the same woman who laughed at me. She had her goddess braids twirled around her brown skin with a coat on.
    "Aren't you too young to be at a place like this?"
    I stared at her, completely dumbfounded. "I-I—"
    "Don't sweat it, Soda Boy. I recognize you and your little friends over there."
    "You recognize us? From where?"
    She gave a sly smirk. "I visited G.H. Academy a few weeks back. More particularly the day you got pulled out by Officer Vegas, Steph Dragus."
    My jaw dropped open. My breat hitched as the silence of shock squeezed my throat.
    "Blessa Burns." She slides a business card on the counter and takes a sip of her whiskey, her eyes piercing mine. "Journalist for the London Post. I wrote the article on your Hazard attacks."
    "You—"
    "Ah, I'm not done. I spoke with Jun Vegas–collage friends–and he told me you're quite the strange case, hm? It's not looking to bright for you."
    A spike of shock hit my chest. You could say I was rather . . . intimidated by this woman. I read her article. And whatever she says? The media would gulp it down like greedy dogs.
    Ms. Burns seemed to be working wonders of an idea inside her mind. Her smirk grew wider. "I have a proposal. Hm . . . yes, a proposal. Steph Dragus, I want you to be my inside intern."
    "What?"
    "I know you're part of your schools newspaper club. You're in your academy's Post and I'm in London's Post. I can teach you a few tricks but I need you in return."
    "You need me?"
    "Why would I not? I want you to report to me everything that happens in your highschool. I'll provide you with my number in my business card."
    I glanced down at her card just waiting on the counter. "You want me to snoop around my school and tell you everything?"
    She shrugged. "That is your job as the assigned journalist."
    " . . . "
    "I'm expecting to hear from you very soon."
    An arm suddenly pulled me from behind. I staggered to see Ollie yanking me from my seat.
    "Stephan," He whined. "Come sit with me, please?"
    "Ollie—" I looked back to Ms. Burns. She isn't what she seems. She's so . . . mysterious. Who really was she? "Ollie, I'm going to fall!"
    I hopped off the chair while he slung his arm around my shoulder and led me to the back of the room.
    "Stephan, I was . . . thinking bout' that, uh, offer you had for me."
    He slurred his words and wobbled around like jelly. I took his hand off me and helped him stand right. "What offer? You're really drunk. I'll ask Molly to bring us home."
    "No. I was thinking about what you said. What you said about you being able to color me more than flattered."
    "Oh," It's all coming back now. Before I got detention, I did say that. Crap. "I think you're super drunk."
    He poured. "I want you to color me more than flattered right now."
    "Right now right now?" I looked around in panic. "Right now, right here?"
    "You're my boyfriend."
    My heart skipped a beat as I felt all my nerves shoot up to the lovely sky. "I—"
    "Kiss Me."
    "Ollie—"
    In a swift move, he had slung his arm once more around my neck and pulled me into a messy, drunk kiss.
    I gasped. I gasped right through his lips.
    I was about to pull away but . . . I don't know. Love came over me and I just . . . I just embraced the moment.
    Something magical happened. Something wonderful yet frightful. Something wanting to tell the world and something wanting to hide.
    As all things end, he gently broke the kiss.
    He looked me in the eye. He knew exactly what he did. Ollie glanced to his side but I was too intoxicated by his love that I just couldn't stop looking at him.
    That was before I saw his split image. Molly was staring at us. Eyes wide and mouth gaped open.
    Ollie calmly took my hand and faced her. "Molly, this is my boyfriend, Stephan. Stephan . . . this is my sister, Molly."
    " . . . " Molly was petrified. Her lip twitched and her jaw could've just snapped. "OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!"