MONICA,
Don't you dare do that again. God, I was worried sick.
I've stopped. I'm staying out of the way. I'm staying with Jack and focusing on school, level one is completely off of my radar, and so is William Bishop.
How are you doing? What are you up to? I want to know what you're doing with your time, ESPECIALLY after you ignored me for so long.
Love Chloe
The week flew by, floating on a continuous sea of quietened whispers and open glares from Lola and Sophie. The fact that neither of them made any forward attempt to take me down had me worried. Surely they would have done something by now. William's protection wouldn't have me exempt if being with William was what Lola hated me for in the first place.
Each day became repetitive, and I wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not with my time on level one almost certainly slipping away beneath my Gucci-clad feet. What was even worse was that the longer Lola waited to strike, the more and more likely it became that she was searching for something big. And I had quite a few skeletons buried in my overflowing closet, Monica being one of them.
William would pick me up in the morning while my mother peeked nosily through the silk curtains as I stepped into his car. Then we'd separate and go to class, only to meet again at lunch time and sit together at the table, the busy chatter between level one drowning out the secrets which were slowly revealing themselves to me.
Now that I knew about their hidden relationship, it was hard to ignore the subtle moments of affection between Zach and Max. The way Max's eyes possessively followed Zach while he paced around the table to look at something on Franc's phone, and the way Zach looked at Max adoringly as he told a stupid – and often inappropriate – joke gave it all away. But, even with the evidence right in front of me, I still couldn't quite believe it.
The girl's conversations revolved around Friday, and which drinks to order and which catering companies to call for the party at Maddy's after the game, while the boy's conversations revolved around the actual lacrosse. William and Zach argued over who should play which position while Max gave a detailed analysis of the other team's players. It was incredibly complicated.
And I stayed silent. I smiled and chatted at appropriate times, but I was much more enthralled in my plan, and penciling little notes into my brain as I watched them. Sophie keeps looking over her shoulder towards the doorway. Is she waiting for someone? Lola and Francis look a little more affectionate today. Is Maddy Danton eating pizza?
Despite the mundane amount of level one drama during the week, I was sure it would pick up on Friday night. With all the hype over the game and the party, school felt like the calm before the storm.
After my last class William dropped me home, and I had an hour to get changed before he'd pick me up again to take me back to the school oval. Of course, I had a wardrobe disaster when the semi-casual dress I had picked decided not to zip up at the back. After tugging, sucking in my stomach and swearing, I managed to break the clasp and ruin it.
So, after finally finding a skirt that matched the gorgeous Chanel boots I'd been saving and digging up a matching shirt, I barely had enough time to throw together all of my items into my purse. And, of course, before I could even retouch my nude lipstick, my phone buzzed with a text from William.
Waiting. I kind of have to get there on time, you know. I am captain and all.
I rolled my eyes and left the house, calling out to my mother before shutting the door behind me.
"You're so full of yourself," I said as I made myself comfy in his leather seat. "You're probably only captain because the others are so incompetent. Or screwing each other."
"What a nice thing to say to your boyfriend," Will said sarcastically. God, he looked good in his navy captain's jacket and sweats. He never looked so casual regularly, and the change shed him in an oddly different light.
"Really, William, you're not my type," I said, mimicking something he'd told me weeks ago. He just rolled his eyes and sped off towards the school. I was starting to get sick of his rather reckless driving.
The parking lot was full of students, all sporting some kind of navy clothing, Arlington's team color. I first cursed myself for not considering the color scheme, and then cursed myself again for leaving my jacket on the back of the chair in my bedroom.
As soon as I stepped out of the car, I wrapped my arms around my elbows, my three-quarter sleeves not cutting it against the cool evening breeze.
"Why didn't you bring a jacket?" William asked, a slightly amused smile on his lips.
"I intended to. Someone just had to rush me," I said harshly.
William sighed, and then unzipped his own jacket, pulling it off of his broad shoulders. "Here. At least then you'll look like you're here to support the team."
My cheeks flared scarlet, mostly because the idea of taking William Bishop's jacket stamped a label on my head as his girlfriend. I mean, it had his last name printed on the back and all. It just seemed so intimate.
I scolded myself. How could borrowing someone's jacket be intimate? Especially considering the arrangement Will and I had? This would only help our image. I took it from his hands and shrugged it on. It was still warm with his body heat.
"So what's your agenda tonight?" he asked as we meandered towards the large lacrosse field on the other side of campus. The game wouldn't start for a while, but William needed to get there early to train, and I was told the girls would likely be there early as well to mingle with whatever opposing players they could get their hands on.
"I guess just to listen and learn," I said honestly. "I still feel like finding out who Sophie is seeing is important. I mean, she's being so secretive about it after all and I've had almost no leads on what could be going on."
"Good thinking," William said, and I wondered if he'd play any further games with Lola tonight. If so, I definitely didn't want to be a part of it.
"By the way, Will," I said. "If you try and use me again you'll really regret it. Don't make me use my leverage."
William's expression changed from nonchalant to slightly apologetic. "I won't, Chloe, I really didn't mean it last time."
I nodded, but although my exterior looked like it was already dropping the subject, my mind began spiraling as I remembered his lips pressed so tenderly against my own. Those same lips which smiled hopefully at me now. I hugged the jacket closer to me, the sleeves too long for my arms.
"You know, I've never had a girl get so mad from me kissing her before," William mused.
"It wasn't just you kissing me," I reminded him. "It was because you only did it to make her jealous."
"I guess you're right."
I bit my lip for half a second before deciding my next words were worth saying. They came out quietly when I finally found the courage to say them. "And you stole my first kiss."
"First kiss?" he asked, looking genuinely surprised.
"Yep, and it was all to piss off your ex-girlfriend," I said. "Speaking of her, she's probably busy plotting my murder."
"Probably," he said, but he didn't even seem to have processed my words, which annoyed me. His attention was far away.
I looked up at where people were milling around the change rooms, recognizing Arlington's first division lacrosse team. I gave William a half smile, more for our audience. "I'll see you later."
"You too."
And then, when he went off to join his friends I started feeling a little guilty. He was about to play a pretty important game, after all. "Good luck!"
He shot me a smile over his shoulder, a few of his team members turning to slap his back and undoubtedly make idiotic remarks.
I hadn't attended many Arlington sporting games. I'd watched a few of Monica's soccer matches in sophomore year, but she'd soon stopped competing and I found myself pretty bored by them anyway, not that I'd ever tell her that. I wasn't one for school spirit, especially when the school contained the people I hated the most.
But, it appeared lacrosse games were popular. People stood in clusters by the bleachers, all wearing clothing which was much dressier than a sporting game would require. They'd probably all received the bulk Facebook invite Sophie had sent out about the after party.
I was pacing around awkwardly, trying to spot at least one member of level one, when I ran into Claire and Jack. Each of them were carrying a bucket of fries and sporting wide grins.
"Chloe!" Jack said enthusiastically, throwing an arm over my shoulder. "Nice jacket, how does it feel to be dating the captain of the lacrosse team?"
"Um, great?" I asked meekly as he erupted in laughter and offered me a fry. I shook my head, declining.
"Come sit with us," Claire said, her smile hopeful. All week it had taken everything in me to bite my tongue whenever she brought up the Zach topic. It'd be such a clean break for her if I could just tell her that he was gay.
"Or you could go sit with your new friends," Jack said, the smile not faltering from his face.
I shot them a sympathetic look. "I might have to, we're trying to get things ready for the party and they're expecting me to be there to help..."
Jack looked to Claire and cocked a brow. "A party?"
"You weren't told?" I asked, then I grimaced, of course they weren't. This party must have been a little more exclusive. That, or Sophie had singled them out as people who were close with me, that was a possibility too. "It's at Maddy's house, you guys should come."
"Really?" Jack asked doubtfully.
"Sure," I said, my voice an octave too high. Then I spotted the ash blonde hair of Sophie over the crowd, side by side with the short caramel curls of Lola Davenport as they maneuvered through the archway and to the stands. "Look, I'll text you the details, but I have to go now."
"Okay," Jack said, his voice wary. "We'll see you later then."
I nodded quickly. I couldn't decide whether inviting them was a mistake or a good thing. Having them there could be reassurance that I wasn't completely isolated from anyone below level one, and it would also keep them from hating me for excluding them.
Sophie and Li led me towards the other girls, as well as Piers and Francis. The six of them seemed to have their own exclusive area in the stands, a defined partition created with a row of empty seats on either side of them. Something told me there was an unspoken agreement that those seats stayed empty, especially with the wrath of someone like Sophie as the consequence of breaching them.
I was grateful to see a vacant seat beside Maddy. I didn't know what I'd do if they'd excluded me by making me sit somewhere else.
"Oh, cute jacket," Maddy said when I came within hearing distance. She must have noticed the last name written across the back. "You two are so adorable."
Considering our arrangement, I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not, but I made a deal of blushing anyway. "How long before it starts?"
"Five minutes," she said. Then her attention landed on the field. "Oh, see that tall one over there? Number two? He's totally wanting to hook up with me tonight."
I looked out to where her gaze lingered. There was a rather tall and broad figure wearing the number two shirt, and I could slightly see the appeal.
"No way, Mads. You can do better than that," Francis said, his voice piercing through her like a sword. Her face dropped, and an anxious look replaced the admiration.
"I don't know, I heard he's good in bed," she said, her words slow. Daring. "That would make a change from some of the other guys I've been with lately."
I couldn't believe she was so brave as to say that directly in front of Lola. Wasn't it obvious that there was something happening between Maddy and Francis? At least it pushed someone else a little higher on Lola and Sophie's most hated list than me for now. I could see that from the deathly looks on their faces.
"Hey," Li interrupted the silent stare-off. I don't think she was oblivious of it, just more tired of whatever drama was stirring between the girls. "Did anyone invite Mike tonight?"
Sophie and Lola exchanged looks before Sophie let out a sigh. "Crap, no, I totally forgot."
"Mike?" I asked, playing confused.
"He's our photographer," Li explained. "He usually puts together a video of our parties for the memories, and he just got back from an extended summer. He goes to Richmond, actually."
There's someone who takes videos of the level one parties? "Oh, I've never seen one before. You'll have to show me sometime."
"We don't usually share them," Sophie interrupted. "It's more a memory sake for us. We can look back on the crazy nights. Think about it, Chloe, if just anyone could get their hands on them, then instead of being known for our last names and our family's empires we'd be known as the drunk girls who took that crazy shot at that party."
I pinned my lips shut before they could betray any of my reaction. Because, there was a fleeting, hopeful chance that what they'd disclosed to me could be the most valuable piece of information of all.
Because if someone had footage of level one parties, and someone happened to be in the right place at the right time on that monumental night, then someone had proof of what happened to Monica Pennington.
It had the potential to be the perfect weapon to take them all down, and finally get justice for my best friend.