Chapter 7- Believe Me, I Broke Into Your Room To Steal Your Cupcake Boxers
Chase's text has left me wondering, throughout the whole day, about different possibilities. What in the world would a one word text 'skunks' imply? No way in the world would he be able to sneak skunks into the school... right?
Then again, he's Chase who never fails to surprise people.
It's almost the end of the day and I have one class left- French. Whoever said that French is a romantic language must have been telling a big lie. Sure, it may sound great when a guy in a romance movie whispers 'je t'aime' in his lover's ear.
However, when I try to say anything in French, it sounds like Ethan's attempts to sing; it just doesn't sound quite right or flattering at all.
I enter the classroom and Monsieur Ealey, not Mr. Ealey, as he has corrected me plenty of times, greets me enthusiastically with a 'Bonjour!' I give him a tight smile and sit in a seat all the way in the back, next to a sophomore guy named Jack, who has earphones in his ears.
I slouch in my seat and stare at the clock, hoping it would tick faster.
Monsieur Ealey passes out worksheets for the class, without teaching a lesson. He's a horrible teacher, if I must say. He expects us to know everything about French, without him actually teaching us anything.
I stare blankly at the worksheet, and heave a long sigh. Hopefully he gives me points for effort. It takes a large amount of effort to sit through this class.
I glance over at Jack who has his eyes closed and is bobbing his head up and down to the music he's listening to. I sneak a peak at his paper and my eyes go wide at the fact that it's filled with answers. How in the world did he manage to do that in five minutes?
I don't mean to offend him but how could he possibly know anything about French? He literally has his eyes closed and earphones in his ears every single class.
I don't mean to sound like a creep... but yes, I do observe my classmates. It's a form of pleasure that cures my everlasting boredom.
In a extremely subtle way, I scooch my chair and move my desk an inch closer next to his, in hopes of catching what's on his paper. I make sure he's unaware of my actions by moving my hands in front of his face. His lack of reaction was my cue to start stretching my neck over.
I smile proudly at myself as I transfer- not copy, his answers onto my paper. I'm assuming all his answers are correct, or well, I'm hoping. As I am halfway done with 'transferring' the answers, a hand suddenly grasps my arm, causing me to drop my pencil and have it roll on the floor.
"What do you think you're doing?"
I gulp and turn my head towards Jack, who has one earplug off. Is that a sign for me to be scared as hell right now? The look on his face tells me he's nowhere near playing games, and his piercing eyes are giving me shivers. Jack reminds me of someone... someone that goes by the name Chase!
Why the fuck am I suddenly thinking about him? His cynical actions must have consumed my brain.
"I was just... comparing answers," I lie and shoot him an innocent smile- one that I usually give Ethan when I steal Twix bars every time I go over to his house.
"I'm sure you were," Jack states, giving me a slight smirk that tells me he doesn't quite believe my lie. He glances over at my paper, with his hand still grasping on my arm, and adds, "I must say, it's the first time I'm meeting a girl named Jack."
I furrow my eyebrows in confusion at his words. He points at my paper and after looking at where his finger leads to, I literally want to stab myself. I'm the dumbest person on this planet! How could I copy his name onto my damn paper?
"Oh my god," I groan, throwing my head back. "This is not my finest moment. Sorry, I just really don't understand anything, and it really doesn't help that Monsieur Ealey never actually teaches us."
"If you wanted help, you could've just asked," he says, letting go of my arm. "I'm not that unapproachable, am I?"
"Uh, well no, I just didn't want to interrupt your sleeping and music pleasure," I admit, laughing nervously. "And okay, I guess I'll ask now. Can you please help me with this worksheet that will never ever be completed without the help of another thinking brain besides mine?"
"No," Jack states, leaving me in shock. Did he really just say no? "I said you could've asked for help. I never said I would actually help."
I glare at him and quickly try to snatch his paper from his desk. Unfortunately, he has ninja-fast reflexes and soon my paper is in his hands. He proceeds to start scribbling on my paper and I really think he's probably drawing penises or whatever teenage boys like to doodle nowadays.
Soon enough, he hands it back to me and says, "I'm feeling nice today. Save the thanks."
With that, he leans back on his seat, closes his eyes, and plugs his earphones back in his ears. I glance down on my sheet and am surprised at the fact that it is completely answered. Who would have thought he's actually pretty nice?
"How are you so good at French?" I ask curiously, poking his hard, defined biceps. "You're always sleeping in this class."
"I'm half french," Jack answers without bothering to open his eyes. "What's your name by the way?"
I feel a bit offended by the fact that I know his name, but he doesn't know mine. It's makes it seem like I pay attention to him more than I should. "Carla."
At the sound of my name, he perks up and pulls out his earphones from his ears. "Wait, Carla Rose?"
"Yeah..." I say hesitantly, giving him a puzzled look. First he doesn't know my name at all, but now he knows my full name? "Do I know you from somewhere?"
"Ah shit," he says, chuckling to himself, completely ignoring my question. "I finally get to meet the girl Chase has been going on and on about."
"Wait, what? Chase?" I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. "Now I have no idea what you're talking about. What does this has to do with Chase? And exactly what role do you have in my life? For all that I remember, I've never thought of you more than a dude in my French class."
He continues to chuckle to himself, ignoring my endless questions. "He was right about how much you like to talk."
"Are you done mumbling and chuckling to yourself, because I'm still clueless here," I scowl, kicking his desk in frustration. "And you can't listen to what Chase says about me! He is a biased source."
"Okay, calm down," Jack says with a slight smirk. He is exactly like Chase, expect nicer, I guess. "Chase and I are real tight. We've known each for more than 10 years. I guess he's my 'bestfriend' as people like to call it."
"You're Chase's best friend?" I ask, shocked. "But you're a sophomore and he's a senior. He doesn't like underclassmen, let alone have one as a best friend."
"We're both the same age," he states. "He skipped forth and fifth grade."
"Is that even possible?" I question. "I mean like, it's so hard to skip one grade, let alone two?"
"It's possible since he was homeschooled when he was young," Jack answers with a shrug. "His rich parents could make anything happen, and plus, he's a smartass."
"He's an ass, alright, but smart? I had no clue," I state, earning a laugh from Jack.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about him."
"Wait a minute," I say, tapping the desk with a finger, something I do when I'm thinking thoroughly. "So Chase is fifteen?"
He nods in reply. "Now you don't have to worry about whether he's too old to date you. He won't be going to jail for illegal sexual activity with a minor, anytime soon!" he exclaims with a wink.
I roll my eyes and snort in disbelief. "No wonder you guys are best buddies. I'd be surprised if you guys were not. You're like a perfect copy of him."
"That's offending! He's a lot more sadistic, and I'm a lot hotter," Jack claims arrogantly.
"Whatever you sa-"
"Mademoiselle Carla!" Monsieur Ealey shouts from the front of the room. "Stop running your mouth back there unless you're done with your work, which I doubt would ever happen in the rest of the year's school days."
"But I am done!" I exclaim proudly, waving my worksheet.
He seems stunned for a second before clearing his throat and saying, "Okay, but other students aren't done so quiet down."
I huff and slouch back on my desk, glancing over at Jack. "That's not fair. You were talking too."
He smirks and shrugs. "What can I say? Everyone favors me."
"Yeah yeah. Oh and by the way," I begin saying. "Chase always goes on and on about hating underclassman even though he is technically one himself?"
"Well, he doesn't act like one. And no one really knows about him being fifteen, so don't go opening your mouth."
"Do I look like such a blabber mouth to you?" I ask, offended.
"Yeah, you do."
With that, he puts his earphones back in his ears and lays his head on his desk. I glance at the clock and groan at the fact that only half an hour went by.
"Well, it seems like you trust me enough to tell me in the first place," I say to Jack, who doesn't say anything. Either he's now asleep, or he's just ignoring me. I'm going for the latter.
I rest my head on my desk and drift off to sleep not before hearing an announcement made by the principal.
All freshmen report to the school auditorium after ninth period for the freshmen assembly.
After French class, I quickly meet up with Mel, Angie, Jay, and Liz, and we walk to the auditorium together. Assemblies are the dumbest things ever because all that ever happens in them is hearing the principal ramble on and on about completely nothing.
I sigh as we enter the auditorium and slouch in a seat while more freshmen begin to enter and take their seats. As soon as everyone is seated, the principal walks up on stage and clears his throat. Forgive me for not remembering his name.
"Every year, there is an assembly for the new students that enter West High. Here, I'll explain to you the rules you need to follow, consequences if you break any of the rules, and the countless opportunities this school offers you," he explains with authority in his voice. "You may ask questions after you watch this slide show I've put together."
The lights in the auditorium dim and a huge screen in the front of the stage lights up.
"I have to say that this is probably the first time I've seen Principal Heffer put a little bit of effort in something," Angie whispers to me, causing me to chuckle and nod in agreement.
The first slide is a huge photograph of the school with the principal standing in front of it, grinning widely. Big bold letters making up the words 'welcome' spread across the screen and twirl around.
Isn't it funny how he has time to make a beautiful slideshow with cool effects but not have the time to worry about vital things that would actually help the school and his students?
Suddenly, I hear gasps fill the auditorium. My eyes widen as I see the words on the next slide- Once upon a time... there lived a skunk named Tom.
Instantly, I know that this is Chase's doing as I think back to the text he sent me in the morning. Skunks. Even so, just a couple of slideshow pranks is pretty harmless. Fear begins to settle in me when the next slide states that one day, Tom entered West High looking for Freshmen to play with.
I could see Principal Heffer in the front panicking and ordering people to close the slideshow, but everyone is frozen and just staring at the screen.
A couple of screams echo in the auditorium as the speakers suddenly boom with evil laughter. Is it wrong that I find this completely insane and hilarious?
The next slide reads that Tom then goes to the auditorium and sees a slideshow about him.
"What in the world," Angie says shakily, grabbing my hand. "This is ridiculous but also scary at the same time."
Even I start to shake as the next slide shows big, red, bold letters that spell 'turn around'. It feels like all of us are in a movie- a horror movie that is. Everyone begins to turn their head around very slowly and nervously. I don't want to turn around, but then again, my curiosity gets to me.
Sitting right in front of the main entrance doors of the auditorium is a skunk. Gasps and screams echo throughout the vast place, and one extremely brave guy decides to run up to the skunk. He inspects it and shouts, "It's not real; just and stuffed animal toy."
"I can't believe I actually fell for that," Angie says, chuckling. "It would be impossible to get skunks, let alone sneak them into a school."
"Something tells me there's more to this," Jay mutters and furrows his eyebrows. "It can't be this simple of a prank."
I nod in agreement. Unfortunately, nothing is ever simple when it comes to Chase. All the students in the auditorium are just chatting away in relief, though some people are still alarmed. Principal Heffer disappears backstage, probably to find out what went wrong, I'm assuming.
Just then, the slide on the screen changes and evil laughter erupts from the speakers once again. I feel like I'm about to erupt in laughter because I might just go out of my mind very soon.
"Tom may be a stuffed animal," Mel says, reading from the next slide. "But he has real friends."
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see something black and white running down the middle aisle of the auditorium. It seems that I'm not the only one that saw it, because everyone around me soon begins to shout and stand on their seats.
I realize that there isn't just one skunk; there are many running up and down aisles, causing everyone to go out of control. People begin screaming, jumping out of their seats, and running around the auditorium. What makes things worse is that the lights are still dimmed and all I could see are bodies pushing and shoving others.
Soon enough, I lose Mel and the others, and I get lost in the crowd of running bodies. People are running in crowds to the stage in the front, a place they assume is safe from the skunks.
What they didn't expect is for the skunks to start shooting liquid odor out of their ass'. I didn't see it happen because of the darkness, but it obviously happened because soon enough, a malodorous smell spreads throughout the entire room.
This whole situation sounds so completely unrealistic, but it happens when you have Chase. Impossible is probably not a word in his dictionary. Neither is morality.
Everyone begins to get crazier than they already are. Screams become more loud and more running around in circles occur. All I am doing is standing in the corner of the auditorium watching the show. Honestly, I'm not even frightened anymore. What's the worst that could happen? Getting sprayed by a skunk?
A few showers and strong scented body wash can solve the problem.
Just then, I notice a red exit sign hanging above my head, and my eyes widen. How could I have forgotten about the emergency exit? The frenzy everyone is in must have distracted me. I shake my head at my stupidity and I exit out the door, calmly, while everyone else is still running around in madness.
I walk out of the school building, and nobody stops me because all the security guards are probably trying to deal with the situation in the auditorium.
Chase is getting out of control, and since nobody is taking care of it, and since my first plan failed, it's time for me to move onto my next plan. I laugh wickedly to myself as I glance at the lump of keys in my hand.
After getting out of my limo and walking a few blocks, I arrive at Chase's house, or mansion if I must justify its size. It wasn't hard finding out where Chase lives considering the fact that his parents are very well known. All I had to do was ask Leo, a guy that runs the school newspaper. He knows everything about everyone.
I stop at the gates of the mansion and facepalm myself. Of course there would be a passcode to open the gates up. I completely forgot about other forms of security when Leo told me that Chase does not like having security or body guards in his home.
He doesn't even have any maids or butlers. I respect his independent lifestyle because not many rich kids live without having others to take care of them.
What's weird is that Leo says no one knows much about Chase's family. Everyone knows that his parents are rarely around and that Chase doesn't even live with them. Leo says that they are filthy rich, but as far as everyone's concerned, there are no billionaires with the last name 'Stunner'.
People say that Chase's father is a very big figure in the underground economy or black market, as many call it. It's a rumor, but many assume it is true and that's why nobody dares to defy Chase. Although his father has never been arrested or caught doing something illegal, he is still a dangerously powerful man.
I imagine Chase's father to be one of those big, rich, intimidating guys that even gang leaders bow down to. Who knows? His father could even be the leader of the Mafia or something.
No one knows much about Chase's mother. Some people say she's dead, but we can't be too sure about that.
Anyways, back to my problem at the moment. What would his passcode be? Hmm...
I decide to enter in 'one two three four' and miraculously, the gates open up. Chase sure isn't a creative guy when it comes to making passwords and passcodes.
After deliriously skipping to his doorsteps, I pull out his keys and try all of them. Excitement gets to me as I turn a key and hear a click. It feels like I'm entering a castle from a fairy tale as I push open the huge doors and step into the mansion.
Although the mansion I live in is gigantic and exquisite, Chase's is a different story. Everything from the chandelier, to the polished floor, to the ceiling, to the walls are so much more sophisticated. I look around in awe and don't even dare to touch anything, just in case I break something.
I notice that there are no family pictures hanging around the walls, which is very weird because all homes have family photos either framed and attached to walls or framed and placed on tables.
I decide not to waste anymore time because Chase may be home very soon. He will probably be back from basketball practice in about an hour. I have until then to find something I could possibly blackmail him with.
All I need to do is find his room. That should be easy!
Wait.
Where the fuck is his room? I can't believe I didn't think about how I would find his room in this gigantic mansion. This would take hours, and I barely have an hour to look! Something tells me that I should start looking right now instead of wasting time thinking about how impossible it would be to find his room.
I wonder what the situation at school is like right now. Are the skunks still in the auditorium? Did everyone finally calm down yet? It saddens me to miss all the fun.
I start running around and going in every room I see. Every time I finish looking around a room for any hints as to whether the room is Chase's or not, I would put a penny outside the door to remind me that I've already been there.
I'm pretty clever.
After looking through the entire first floor, I run up the stairs and begin looking around the second floor. If possible, the second floor is even bigger, and has a lot more rooms.
Why does one person need such a huge mansion to live in? This mansion could be home to the entire hobo population in the world! Instead, it houses one sadistic teenage boy who deserves to live in a paper box.
After about fifty minutes of searching, I finally find a room that I'm guessing is Chase's, because as I was looking through a desk in the corner of the room, I found loose leaf papers with recent homework on it. On top of the papers are headings with his name written messily.
Finally! Thank god that his room isn't too deep into the mansion because if it is, It would have taken me double the time to actually find it.
Chase's room is twice as big as mine, but much more plain and simple, and quite spacious. All he has is basic furniture and his walls and ceilings are white.
The only thing that captivates me is the fact that there is a window on the ceiling, right above his bed. That is very amazing because he could drift asleep while looking at the stars, and wake up when the sun rises. He wouldn't even need an alarm; the sunshine would wake up him. He must be an early riser.
I need a window like that because it would definitely stop me from being late to school everyday.
My eyes travel over to the clock on the wall and my heart leaps at how late it has become. Shit. It's not long before he's going to be home!
I need to find something to threaten him with. What could there possibly be in his room that I could use as blackmail? Hmm..
I scramble around and begin looking through his closet and drawers. Books, clothes, random papers, boxers... there's nothing that I could possibly threaten him with.
It's a pity he doesn't have banana boxers.
However, I did find cupcake boxers and I took a picture of them. It could potentially be blackmail material if he's embarrassed about liking cupcakes enough to wear it on his butt.
Still, I need to find something better.
Just then, something in the bottom of his drawer, beneath all the trivial things, catches my eye. It's a photo.
I crouch and pull it out from the bottom and inspect it carefully. It's a photo of a pregnant woman in a hospital bed. She has one hand on her stomach and she is smiling while looking down at her stomach. It's a very heartwarming photo because she truly looks happy even though her face is very pale and worn out. Even so, she is very beautiful.
I stand and turn the photo over and see that 'mom' is written down.
Damn.
This is gold.
Nobody knows much about his mother. If I reveal this picture, people could definitely find out much more about his family. I know that it's a very terrible thing to do. Honestly, I would never expose this photo of him, because I know that nobody should ever hurt someone's family just because he or she hates that person.
Chase and his family must have a reason for being so hidden, and I'm not going to be a bitch and sabotage them just because I dislike Chase's pranks.
In addition to that, I don't want to die. Chase's father is a dangerously powerful person, after all. I don't want to mess with him. Chase is already bad enough to deal with.
I swear that I won't show anyone else this photo. I'm just going to use it to threaten Chase when his pranks go out of hand. If he cares about his family enough, I'm sure he would give up the pranks. I feel like Chase isn't actually that bad of a person deep down. I know that he actually really cares about the people close to him.
How do I know that? Actually, I'm just trying to think about the best in people. Hopefully, he doesn't disappoint my optimism.
I slip the photo in my bag and then suddenly, just as I turn around to leave, out of nowhere, the door creaks open.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.
"What the fuck are you doing in my room?"
I freeze as Chase's eyes lock onto mine. Would he believe me if I were to say that I broke into his room to steal his cupcake boxers?
"I-" I begin to say when suddenly, someone else walks into the room and interrupts me.
Someone that I would have never thought I would see here.
Someone that has my eyes going wide.
Someone that has me paralyzed with shock.
"She's with me."
Sorry for the long wait! Since it's summer now, I'm going to to write more often. Thanks for the "please update" comments because they motivate me to write, haha.
It's really hard to choose who to dedicate chapters to since all of you guys are such wonderful readers!
Leave a comment on who you think the second person who walked into Chase's room and said the last line is and what her/his relationship with Chase is.
I'll dedicate the next chapter to the first person that guesses correctly, or the one with the closest to right guess! And also leave random thoughts on anything that has happened so far!
Thoughts on Jack? The prank? Chase's family?
...Do you like cupcakes?