-: Chapter 11 :-
Monday had come, and I was nervous as heck.
Why? Well, let's see:
I was now Seth's new girlfriend
Jaspar was still really injured and has that science test
I was now Seth's new girlfriend!
This meant that I was going to be watched by the entire student body whereas before I could hold up neon signs claiming I existed and people still wouldn't look at me twice.
It wasn't that I was obsessed with looking good or getting popular or any of that bullshit, I just didn't think I could get used to being stared at and talked about. I didn't like either. But it was bound to happen today. Actually, I'm completely sure it was going to happen today.
I lazily did my morning routine with a feeling of dread weighing me down even more.
Katherine was still sleeping and Dad was sipping coffee when I kissed his cheek on my way out the door.
I was surprised to see Sophia's purple Challenger in front of my house. I was even more surprised to see Jaspar in the backseat along with Tommy.
Before I could say anything, Sophia lowered down her window and said, in her most horrible impersonation of Regina George, "Get in loser, we're getting an education."
Tommy and Jaspar were discussing an indie band I hadn't heard of, called Mindless Machine. Apparently they were so underground, the band members' families didn't even know about it.
I sat in the passenger seat and immediately lowered the volume of the blasting music.
"Buzzkill," I heard Soph mutter as she adjusted the volume back to where it was before.
"So what's the big deal?" I asked her.
"What do you mean?" she hummed.
"Well, you never pick me up for school because, and I'm quoting here, 'I'm a lazy bum who can get my own ass to school.' And now you've got Jaspar here too! So what is this gracious event Soph?"
Sophia pursed her lips as she stopped at a red light. "Is it so bad that I just wanted to give my dear friends a ride to school?"
"This is about Seth now, isn't it?"
The blonde looked scandalized. "What? No! Maybe I just really want to offer you a ride to school." She laughed nervously.
I rose a brow in question. She looked from me to the now green light and back with a sigh. "Okay, fine. But that's only a side note."
"I knew it." I muttered under my breath. "But seriously, Soph. I'm sixteen. I think I can do things on my own."
At that moment, Jaspar leaned forward between Sophia and I to participate in our conversation. "Well, to be fair Crystal, this is high school, or as most would like to call it: hell on earth. When the news about this latest news hits everyone's already gossip-filled ears, they'll go ballistic."
And boy, was Jaspar right.
The word about Seth and I dating got around fast, and I mean fast.
People I didn't even know went to this school were staring at me whilst whispering. Everyone all of a sudden was interested in everything about me. Well, not just me per se, but me and Seth. Mostly Seth, actually, I'm not going to lie.
People wanted to know the hows, the whens, and especially the whys. Oh the whys, how they never seemed to end.
Why on earth would someone like Seth Clifford go out with someone like me, Crystal Greene?
Someone actually asked me this to which I defiantly replied with a "why not?" and proceeded to dump my soda on the brunette's head.
Okay, so maybe the last bit didn't actually happen, but I definitely flipped her the bird, ever so gracefully.
I get why people would ask such questions, though. Frankly, I find it hard to answer them myself. Seth Clifford is this gorgeous boy with perfect blonde hair and the most breathtaking blue eyes. Meanwhile I'm here with my frizzy dark brown hair, boring brown eyes and overall okay-ness. It just didn't make sense, but I didn't let that bother me. I was more than happy to be with him.
Speaking of Seth, from the amount of times that I've heard his name, one would think I spent all day with him. In reality, I hardly saw him. We only briefly hung out during lunch before he left, claiming he had detention with Mrs. Morrison.
I let it go.
Besides, Jaspar was keeping me from thinking too hard about my boyfriend.
I met him and Sophia at her car, as the latter was yelling at the poor boy. Tommy was there, too, standing a little awkwardly at the side, looking a bit scared.
"What's going on?" I nudged him on the shoulder.
"Uh..." he scratched the back of his neck, nervously.
Before he could say much else, Sophia spun around, her own long blonde hair flying wildly. "I'll tell you what's going on!" her blue eyes were wide and full of anger. "This little shit here wants to go steal more fucking money!"
Jaspar's hazel eyes were narrowed, his dark hair looking even messier as he ran his fingers through it. When he saw me frowning at him, he scoffed. "What? I'll be fine! I'll go on my own. I don't care what you guys say, pardon me for asking."
He turned on his heel and started to walk away. He didn't get very far before I grabbed the back of his black jacket. Sort of like how I did all those weeks ago.
"Hold on, Jas. Are you serious? You just got out of the hospital a few days ago."
"Exactly! A few days ago! I've healed! I don't need you two to babysit me!" he started walking away again.
I turned to my best friend who still looked angry. "C'mon we can't let him go alone."
She let out a long breath, her forehead smoothing over from all the worry lines she previously wore. "I know."
Sitting in the backseat of Soph's Challenger (Jas called shotgun), I let myself think about the situation we were in: Tommy was next to me, and we couldn't let him come with us to wherever we were going. Hell, we were a trio, not a quartet.
"Why can't I come along?" Tommy whined as we stopped in front of the Robinson residence.
"Because this is top secret, Tom-Tom, and you can't breathe a word about it to a soul, got it?" Sophia didn't even look back at her brother when she said this. She was probably still angry about this whole ordeal. "Now get the fuck out of my car."
Tommy was clearly upset but I didn't say anything. I offered him a smile instead.
Jaspar on the other hand, rolled down his window and stuck his head out. "I still love you Tums!" he blew a few kisses and waved flirtatiously.
"Fuck off."
As we got back on the road, Sophia finally decided to talk to Jaspar since we pulled out from the school.
"So where are we going? What are we doing this for? Am I going to be the get-away driver again?"
"Soph, chill." Jaspar put a hand on her shoulder but regretted it when he saw the look on her face. "We're not taking money, actually."
"Then what are we taking?" I was at the edge of my seat now, really interested. "Where are we going?"
The smirk on his face was one I knew far too well. "You'll see. Just put these on." He tossed me a plastic bag filled with black garments.
I pulled out a ski mask and let out a shriek. "Jaspar Daniels, explain yourself or so help me God, I will -"
"Look, there's cameras and I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not get caught and end up in prison."
"Fuck this," Sophia cursed, pulling up to the side of the small suburban street we were on. She cut off the engine and turned to glare at Jaspar. "Listen here, Jaspar, I am not going to be involved in yet another robbery. You better find a new hobby or something because I don't think I can do this anymore." The look on her face was stern, and in that moment I knew that Sophia was one hundred percent serious. "Can't you at least tell us why you do this?"
"I told you I can't tell you, why can't you let me be? I didn't ask you guys to come with me. I'm perfectly fine on my own!"
"You are anything but fine, Jas! You've gotten stitches on Friday! You've still got bruises on your face, man. You are anything but fine!" Sophia was using her scolding voice, one her siblings were always on the other side of.
"We're coming with you because you're our friend and, sue us, but we give a shit about you." I intervened, using a much softer tone than Sophia.
He scoffed, clearly not believing us, or refusing to.
"And because we care about you," Sophia took my lead and began to soften her voice, too, looking at Jaspar sadly. "I'm pleading you to stop this. You could end up in prison, like you said."
Jaspar looked out the window, moodily.
Sophia sighed, looking at me for help.
"I'm sticking to what I said yesterday, Jas." I told him. "I'll give you all the time you need, and when you're ready, I know you'll tell us the truth." the boy briefly looked at me before looking away again. "But I also agree with Sophia. When will this end? We can't keep doing this."
"I know we can't. Just- just a little while longer. Please." He hesitated to say it, but there was no denying the apology and pleas in his words. He needed us to hang on. Just for a bit longer.
Not knowing what to say, the car fell into silence.
Sophia finally broke the silence by asking Jaspar the destination.
He mumbled something incoherent. Sophia and I didn't quite catch what he said.
"Mind repeating that, please?" I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned even more forward so I could hear him better.
He exhaled audibly, and said louder and in a much clearer tone: "The Blanchette Residence."
Again, the car fell silent except for the sound of a car passing by.
I was the first to break the silence this time. "Blanchette, as in Emily Blanchette right?"
He nodded, looking at my face briefly, then looking down. "Yeah."
The once sarcastic and funny guy I knew was wiped out and in his place sat this sad and closed-off Jaspar.
"I don't understand." Sophia still had her hand on the steering wheel, her grip tightening as she spoke, so her knuckles turned white. "I mean, I really don't care if we destroy Emily's house, her family could afford the damages anyways, but why? Why her house?"
"I don't know. I didn't plan this. It just so happened that they're the richest family in this city and they've got something that we need."
"And what is that?"
"Riches."
Sophia was definitely interested now. I knew she always disliked the rich people in our city who cared more about their latest purchase than those who surrounded them and the important things in life, like helping out the poor.
I, however, didn't like this one bit. I could be biased though, since I was now dating one of those rich kids.
"Guys, even if they can afford everything we steal, I don't think it's right." I bit my lip, looking at them, worried.
"Think of us being Robin Hood and the merrymen." I didn't know why I was surprised that Jaspar knew who Robin Hood was. He wasn't stupid. At least when it came to fairy tales, apparently. "We'll take from the rich and give it to those in need."
"And who are those in need, if I may ask?" Sophia butted in.
"That's not important." Jaspar shook his head. "What is important is that the Blanchette's won't even know what hit them." He paused, looking at our expressions. "So are you with me or not?"
It wasn't too long until we were outside Emily's grand house, and luckily enough for us, there wasn't a car in the driveway.
"She mentioned in class about going to a dinner with her friend. Her parents are on a date night in Paris." Jaspar explained.
"Damn, you're perceptive." my comment was ignored as Jaspar began telling Sophia to park the car at least three blocks down so they wouldn't get caught.
Sophia rolled her eyes but did what he said. She'd rather not lose her car, or end up in prison, for that matter.
Neither would I. Dad would kill me.
After parking around three blocks away, in front of a fairly average-looking house, we set out back to the Blanchette residence on foot.
Once we reached the white front door, we encountered another problem.
"Now," I started, crossing my arms, "How exactly do we get inside the house? Don't they have an alarm system or something?"
"Worry not, comrades. Crystal, I'm going to need a hairpin." I handed him one of the few I always kept in my pocket for emergencies. With hair like mine, you never know when you'll need hairpins.
"Thanks." he turned towards the door and began lock-picking. I rolled my eyes internally. Of course Jaspar would know how to break into someone's house.
"This still doesn't solve the alarm problem." Soph brought up, leaning over to get a better look at what Jaspar was doing.
Once he had finished, he pushed the door open, and slipped inside, closing the door behind him before either Sophia or I could follow. We looked at each other in confusion.
"He didn't answer my question." she frowned.
I shrugged. "Do we follow or just wait out here?"
My question was answered a second later, when Jaspar peeked his head out of the house, a grin on his face. Although, it was hard to tell since he was wearing those absurd ski masks and looking like a real robber.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Whoever left the house last must have been in a hurry because they forgot to turn the alarm on." he opened the door further and gestured for us to enter the house.
The Blanchette residence screamed money as everything looked like it belonged in a museum rather than a home. The theme seemed to be white and gold. Also, ridiculously expensive looking. There was a family portrait in the front hall, placed in such a way that the person who just entered the door would have to be blind to miss it. It was so big. Staring back at me were three heads of platinum blonde hair and three pairs of bright green eyes who followed my every step.
Just before I could step further into the house, a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
"Forgetting something?" Jaspar held a ski mask in his hand. "Put these on, there's going to be cameras everywhere."
The ski mask smelled like him. I don't know why I remembered what Jaspar smelled like, and I almost kicked myself for liking it. What was wrong with me?
Sophia wore a ski mask too, looking much more intimidating in it. Why Jaspar had so many of them in his bag, I had no idea.
Soph called being lookout as she placed herself on the armchair by the bay window. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table and sighed happily.
Meanwhile, Jaspar and I did a quick overview of the main floor as Jas picked up random decorative pieces here and there and tossed them into his bag without much thought.
We headed upstairs in search for more goods. At the top of the staircase, we were faced with a long corridor that ran horizontally. Right in front of us were a set of double doors that I assumed led to a study of somesort.
"I'll take left wing," Jas's voice was a bit muffled under his mask.
I nodded and went down the right wing. I walked aimlessly in and out of room, wondering what exactly was worth taking. My moral compass was out of whack ever since I met Jaspar Daniels, and so I had given up on thinking over if my actions were good or bad.
I knew robbing a fellow classmate's house was definitely wrong, though, needless to say. At this point, however, there was no going back. I had accepted this.
The last door at the end of the hall was open ajar, showing a sliver of a light blue room.
I pushed open the door and stopped in my tracks when I saw the pictures plastered all over the wall.
Emily's room. I had reached the jackpot!
Curiosity got the better of me as I took in every single detail of the room.
The walls were painted a light blue, like the colour of the sky in the early morning. There hung fairy lights along the ceiling with photos of Emily and her friends plastered on every surface. One of these pictures really caught my attention.
Framed on her bedside table, beside a pile of magazines, was a picture of her and Seth. His arms were wrapped around her, his chin on her shoulder as they both smiled dazzling smiles. The picture was probably taken during this past summer, judging by the way the sunlight hit the blondes of their hair. Emily's looked practically white.
I picked up the framed picture. It was so sickeningly adorable.
It looked as if Emily and Seth were made for each other. They were both attractive, had plenty of money, and not much concern for others.
Although, I was working on opening Seth's eyes to bigger matters in the world other than whatever it is that teenage boys were into these days.
I put the frame down and suddenly noticed how many of Emily's photographs had my boyfriend in them. There were pictures of them when they were younger - I remember them being best friends in elementary school. Then there were pictures of them kissing or being all cute. Those made me want to throw up.
I didn't understand. Didn't Seth break up with Emily about a month ago? Why would she still have couple-y pictures of the two of them hanging on her walls?
My mind raced with possibilities. Maybe I was just over-reacting. Perhaps She wasn't over him yet. Maybe she didn't believe Seth and I were actually a couple yet. After all, we had only been official for two days. Wow, time sure passed by slowly,
A creak in the floorboards brought me out of my thoughts, causing me to jump. Jaspar stood at the doorway, watching me.
"How long have you been standing there?"
He shrugged. "Not long. Just wondering where you went." He walked further into the room and stood next to me. "What's with all the pictures of Seth?" He looked at them with a look of disgust on his face.
I sighed. "I have no idea. He told me he broke up with her weeks ago. Maybe she's just not over him?"
"Hm. I always pictured Emily being the angry or jealous ex. I would've pictured her burning these and feeding him the ashes."
I crossed my arms over my chest, my thoughts becoming cloudy once more. "It's probably nothing right?" I looked up at Jas, hopefully.
He looked back with an unreadable expression. He gave me a half-smile and was about to say something when he was interrupted by Sophia who was yelling frantically from downstairs. Something about a car in the driveway.
As her words registered, panic started to kick in, freezing me in place.
"Shit!" Jaspar cursed, dragging me to the nearest hiding place he could find. Which happened to be Emily's walk-in closet.
Her closet was a mess. Boxes and boxes of shoes, accessories, and handbags were stacked along the back of the closet, most of them unopened. She wouldn't notice if a pair was taken, right?
No Crystal! You are not going to steal! You may be helping your friend rob this house but you are not laying a finger on her shoes. You know better than this!
While I was having an argument with myself in my head, Jaspar was pressed against the closet door, looking into the room through a crack.
"Dude, I think I can hear someone coming up the stairs." he whispered. "Damn, it would've been a good idea to bring walkie-talkies. I hope Soph is okay."
"I'm sure she's fine." I huddled next to him to try and look through the crack too. "Do you think whoever it is will come into this room?"
"Yeah, if the person is Emily. Look!"
Sure enough, Emily Blanchette had just entered the room.
"Shit." I looked at Jas - or what I could see of him through the sliver of light coming in through the crack of the closet doors. From what I could see, he held the same panicked expression that I felt. "I'm going to text Soph," my voice was barely audible but Jas nodded anyways.
I went and hid among the boxes so the brightness of my phone couldn't be seen from the room. I quickly put my phone on the silentest of the silents before messaging Sophia.
me: in a sticky situation
soph: o dear. where are you?
me: in a closet
soph: shit
So far this wasn't helping.
soph: wait, there's someone still sitting in the car. She shouldn't be too long.
me: good. I'm freaking out here.
I closed my phone and went back to join Jaspar to see what was happening and to tell him what Sophia told me.
Before I could, however, Jaspar was swearing like a sailor while still managing to keep his voice down. "She's coming! Quick hide!" he urged me as he hid behind some long dresses in a dark corner.
Working under pressure is definitely not my strong point since I froze when I heard Emily's hand on the closet door, pushing it excruciatingly slow.
'This is it,' I thought. 'I'm going to prison. Goodbye future, goodbye life. Here's to twenty-five years rotting in a cell for assisted robbery.'
My life was saved, though, since Emily's phone rang just at that minute.
She picked it up with an over-enthusiastic "Hey babe!", backing away from the closet completely.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Faster than a bullet, I tiptoed my way to the door to listen in on her phone conversation, all too curious.
A familiar presence behind me told me that Jaspar had the same idea.
We looked through the closet door to see her sort through a pile of clothes on her bed. Thankfully her back was to us.
"So babe, I made dinner reservations for us tomorrow night." Emily's over-use of the word babe made it very difficult to figure out who she was talking to.
She continued talking to her apparent date as she made her way to her night-table and picked up the framed picture of her and Seth.
Jaspar had given up listening in and sat down on the floor, closing his eyes. "She's talking for five years. Might as well take a nap." he whispered.
I kept listening to every word she said. It wasn't all too exciting, and the way she said babe made me nauseous. But the way she looked adoringly at the picture made me uncomfortable.
After a few minutes, in which I could hear Jaspar's sleepy breaths, a car horn sounded from outside. It had to be her friend telling her to hurry up.
Emily said a quick goodbye, hung up the phone, and picked up a gold sequin dress from the pile of clothes, before exiting the room.
Once Sophia messaged me that the coast was clear, I kicked Jaspar awake and entered the room just as I heard Sophia bounding up the stairs.
"Where are you guys?" She called from the hall.
"In here!" she followed the direction of my voice while Jaspar emerged from the closet with a yawn.
"What happened? Tell me everything." Soph demanded upon entering the room.
I let Jaspar do most of the explaining while I thought over the phone call.
The person she was talking to was definitely her boyfriend, that was easy enough to figure out. Wait...if Emily had a new boyfriend, why was she looking at pictures of her and Seth? Why were pictures of her and Seth as a couple still hanging about? This didn't make any sense. Unless this guy was a rebound of some sort.
I tried to come up with every possibility other than the one that kept creeping into my mind. After all, I've only been on two dates with Seth I barely knew him. But he wouldn't lie to me, would he?
All of this was giving me a headache.
So when Sophia and Jaspar turned to me, asking if I was okay, I shrugged them off.
"Let's just get out of here."
Long chapter!
Things are getting a little fishy with Seth, eh?
Will we ever find out the truth? Who knows!
Also that little band Jas and Tommy were talking about, Mindless Machine, are going to be in my next story, so consider this like a little sneak peak.
Song of the chapter: The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy
I imagine this being the song playing whenever they're robbing to pump them up
I'm already working on Chapter 12 so it should be up soon enough
Let me know what you think!
-Tahira