"Where the hell is Olive?" Penelope said as she and Chara entered the dancehall. Truthfully, the whole thing felt like a wasted effort. How many people did it take to plant a manilla folder in a teenage boy's room? The security personnel had decided to guide the perimeter of the building, as well as any exits. With their caterer chic attire, they were free to roam the halls like ghosts in a haunted mansion.
"Olive has it handled," Chara dismissed before turning to her girlfriend. "In fact, she told me that she originally wanted to do the mission alone. But I intervened."
"Then why are we even here?" Penelope pouted. "Last I checked, I'm not interning to be a caterer any time soon."
"Because I wanted to go to prom with you. Even if it meant hiding in the background for most of it," the sophomore announced, taking Penelope's hand. "Let's go to the courtyard. It'll be romantic."
"Only if I get a dance," Penelope then mused, pinching her hand. By the time they made it to the enclosed outdoor oasis, the speakers were playing a slow pop ballad. Chara grinned even wider, before pulling Penelope into her arms. Penelope's smile matched her's before tucking a strand of platinum blonde hair, a wig, from her face. Chara looked at her as intensely as the moon as they started to move to the calming beat, their dancing as fluid as the air between them.
"Despite what has happened this year, I'm glad it's led me to you," Chara spoke softly as she leaned against Penelope's neck, their hands interlocked like their bodies.
"Chara," Penelope whispered, closing her eyes. "I know we've only been together for a little while now, but no one has ever made me feel so seen. You make me want to be better--I'm trying so hard to be better now. And you have no idea how happy I am right here with you." She felt tears wet her eyes and threaten to fall. "You make me so happy."
"I hope I can continue to," she then replied, brushing her lips against Penelope's supple neck. She smelled like lilac and love, and it took everything to resist the urge to kiss her with everything she had right then. But their secret wasn't out. And Chara still had secrets between them. Raising slightly, Chara brushed a hand through Penelope's jet black curls - also a wig - before offering her a smile laced with pain and regret. "I have to tell you something--"
"Please don't tell me you two are up to something," a familiar voice said with a sigh as their heads snapped up. "What I'm seeing right now is so touching. It would be disappointing, and dare I say predictable, if we ended a dance with another scandal."
"Hello to you too," it was Chara who said this, as her eyes narrowed slightly on Artemis, the author of their interruption. She had no bone to pick with the junior, but Artemis was even more of a wildcard than Jemma or Olive these days. Who's to say she hadn't ratted them out to the headmistress?
Who was to say she wasn't already ten steps ahead of their plan?
Artemis looked at the ground before shaking her head almost bashfully. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. We haven't spoken in months and the first thing I did was accuse you of doing something bad."
A bit taken back by her apology, Chara scratched her head. "Well, we are crashing a school sanctioned event dressed as the help." She shrugged. "Apology accepted--if you leave us alone."
"Besides, who's to say you're not up to something?" Penelope finally chimed. "Last I checked, you hated Soren's guts. When did you two start dating again?"
"Officially two months ago." Artemis folded her arms. "I was just trying to get some intel at first. Seemed like he was the most likely person to have orchestrated 'Wallace's' attack in the woods for payback. But each passing day I was with him, it became increasingly obvious that he had nothing to do with it, and that he was genuinely sorry for losing sight of his humanity the same way I had both before and after Miren died.
So I finally decided to stop this game of investigating and accusing people of crimes they may or may not have committed. Miren wouldn't want us to do that - she would want us to create an environment conducive to learning and happiness." Artemis sighed deeply. "At least, that's what I think she'd want. And ever since I've adopted that mentality, I've had peace."
"Good for you," Penelope replied, but it wasn't nearly as scornful as it could have been. In fact, she actually meant it. Sort of.
"Well, I didn't mean to ruin your moment," Artemis then said, before reaching over to hug the two of them. "You two make a lovely couple. I hope you find the happiness you deserve."
With a wave, she left the courtyard. As the they watched her rejoin Soren through the glass window inside, the same thought dawned on both of their minds.
"We need to get rid of that folder, don't we?" Chara then said. Penelope clicked her jaw before nodding in confirmation.
***
Because no one actually cared about the intricacies of an eighteen year-old billionaire's bedroom, retrieving the folder wasn't the hard part - it was making sure they had a way to exit--to escape. With about an hour left of the event festivities, more and more workers and security seemed to pop out from the shadows. Once they made it to Soren's room and shimmed the lock with a hair pin, they were in.
"You know, we could be a bunch of dumb teenagers and do it in here," Chara suggested, brushing her hand on Soren's duvet, relishing at the feel of the silky navy fabric against her fingertips. "How much do you think this costs?"
"We don't have time to get comfortable," Penelope said through her teeth. The darkness of the room was losing its security. It felt like in any instant someone would turn on the light and they would be exposed. She squinted her eyes and searched almost frantically for the folder. A sigh of relief rolled off her lips when she located it on Soren's elaborate night stand. She snatched it without thinking twice.
"Let's go."
Chara nodded before springing toward the door. However, upon opening it and peering into the hallway, she instantly closed it as quickly and as quietly as she could. "Uh, no can do."
Penelope matched her panicked expression. "What's wrong?"
"Soren and Artemis are heading right this way." She fought the urge to beat her head against the wall. "And they're being pretty handsy. Which can only mean -"
"You don't have to say it." Penelope rubbed her face before her eyes searched the room with a maniacal type of urgency. Sure, there was plenty of space to hide, not to mention, plenty of furniture to hide behind, but that was only a cure to the symptom, not the disease. They needed to get out. Now. When her eyes found the closet, she realized they were between a rock and a hard place. Her eyes locked with Chara's. "Into the closet we go."
"How cliche," Chara said in a hush. However, she followed in her girlfriend's lead.
Penelope's instincts were correct - the closet was huge, about the size of a small bedroom, complete with a shoe display for his Nikes, as well as some swim posters and a window, which poured in a considerable amount of moonlight into the space. Penelope's eyes widened as she noticed a roof-like awning outside of the window, below it. She ran to toward the window before turning to Chara. "How much time do you think we have?"
"Maybe two minutes? It's a really long hallway."
"Perfect," Penelope opened the window, and in a swift, spider-like motion, crawled out of it with one foot first, planting firmly against the roof. Once she had secure-ish footing, she joined the rest of her body outside. She offered a hand to Chara, who performed a similar maneuver with a little bit more difficulty. Then they were standing on the edge of a roof, approximately ten-feet above a bed of grass. But that hardly seemed to help.
"It's now or never," Chara said in a hush. "Let's just hope that there are no side cameras along the building. If so, we're screwed either way."
"I thought you were supposed to be the optimistic one?" Penelope said, shaking her head. She could hear the aftershocks of whatever EDM track the DJ was playing below. It was a comforting thought, but it didn't help the fact that she feared heights with an intensity that rivaled the sun.
"Let's jump together," Chara then said, grabbing hold of Penelope's hand. "On the count of three. One."
"Okay." But Penelope was already on the verge of hyperventilating. Still, she cleared her mind the best she could as Chara continued a countdown.
"Three," she said. Penelope pinched the life out of her hand as they then jumped for their lives. Flying through the air was as invigorating as it was disorienting, especially when they landed on their feet. The whole moment played out in a flash, however, and despite making a perfect landing, they were immediately knocked onto the ground by the force of their impact.
"Fuck," Penelope said, as she shifted only slightly off of the grass, her back against the hard earth. Thankfully, nothing was in pain - but it was still too early to tell if that was a good or bad sign. "Are you okay, Chara?"
The sophomore replied in a groan, however, she had basically used Penelope's body to break her fall and was on top of her. She wiggled upward, pulling Penelope into an embrace. "We did it!"
"I know." She brushed Chara's rustled wig before turning toward the home. They were along the side wall, like the plow of land that would be adjacent to the neighbor's home - if the Bloomberg's tax bracket hadn't exempted them from all things middle class like neighbors. "Let's go before someone sees us - "
Chara found her lips, effectively silencing her. She rolled her eyes, but welcomed the exchange, pulling Chara even closer into her. Their tongues danced sensually, and it was hard to pay attention to anything else around them. At least, until they heard someone clear their throat. Penelope's eyes snapped open, and they instantly locked onto Jeno's less than impressed ones.
"C-chara," Penelope said upon breaking the kiss. "We have company."
"Shit." Chara's head snapped up and landed on Jeno's. To say relief flooded in her eyes would have been an understatement. She sprang to her feet, offering Penelope a hand. "Long time no speak, Jeno."
"Prom will be over soon, and security is getting pretty agressive," Jeno said instead, before taking off his blazer and offering it to Penelope, who's white button-up was brown and grassy at the back. "I don't care why you were here, but you should leave. Now."
"What brings you out here all alone, anyway?" Penelope accepted the jacket, but couldn't help but narrow her eyes. "I know you don't like parties, but this is your senior prom. You should try to have some fun."
"Just waiting to take Jemma home." He folded his arms. "But I don't want to talk. Especially not with you."
"I'm not an insensitive idiot," Penelope said as Jeno gave her a knowing look. She rolled her eyes. "Well, not anymore. Either way, I can tell you're hurting. I know we're not even close to friends, but I do know you and Chara are close-ish because of Wallace, so if you need someone to talk to, I'm volunteering her services."
Chara nodded before taking hold of Jeno's hand. She was half surprised he didn't reject the gesture. "Anytime."
"Thanks," Jeno said. He didn't know if he meant it, but it was hard to feel anything else. His heart hurt and was heavy at the same time. And he was sick of being here, sick of Miren not replying to his texts for the past hour, sick of searching through the almost maze-like mansion, sick from whatever cup he drank from that most definitely contained alcohol. He was still sober, but his composure was being compromised by the second. And the last thing he wanted was to breakdown like a little baby over what his brother did.
His attention then refocused on the girls, who were getting more conflicted by the second. He sighed. "Have a good night."
"Are you sure you're not going to tell Dr. Castro on us?" Penelope then said. "I know we were making out but--"
"Like I said, I give zero fucks." He put his hands in his pockets. "And I'm not no position to scrutinize you two."
"Thanks for the jacket," Penelope said in hush. "I'm sorry for everything by the way."
"Don't apologize. You haven't wronged me in anyway."
"But I did," she said, moving in front of him. Her voice lowered so that Chara couldn't hear her. "I took Miren away from you. I thought you were helping Olive because you liked her, but I think I was wrong. You liked Miren, didn't you?"
Jeno just blinked at her. He wasn't taken back or anything, but if this was a game of chess, she had certainly made her move. And now it was his turn.
"Well, you're wrong," he replied, not as stoically as he wished. He raised his voice a little louder, so that Chara could hear. "It's Miles. He's the one I like."
Checkmate.
Penelope's eyes widened and Chara resisted the urge to slap her forehead.
"I knew I always liked you," Penelope laughed before taking his arm and heading toward the mansion. Jeno just held his breath. So much for getting rid of the Lovers in Crime.
***
"How does no one have a charger?" Miren said as she walked one of the immaculate hallways with Jemma. "I have to find Jeno."
"My phone is dead too. My clutch can barely carry my phone, let alone a charger. And prom is basically over, so we're bound to run into him," Jemma replied, kicking off her heels. She sighed in relief before picking them up and turning to the girl in drag. "Remind me to wear a suit next time - female tuxedos are totally chic right now."
"Not helping."
"You know, you two are lucky to have each other," Jemma said, leaning against her. "He would do anything for you. And I can barely get him to take a picture with me."
"Then why did he blow me off to call your mom?" Miren shook her head. She didn't want to create problems, but she was with the Queen of Chaos, and supporting half of her body weight. " Is everything alright? Do you think he's annoyed Axel kissed me?"
"Doubt it," Jemma said, wrinkling her nose as she walked dreamily, clearly prom-ed out. She yawned. "I mean, I've kissed Axel too--when Klondike and I broke up sophomore year. Axel likes to flirt-- you should be more concerned if you're falling for him. So don't do that."
"I haven't and I won't. Sara Smith has officially retired," Miren decided, as they walked to the valet area in the foyer. Jemma handed one of the workers her ticket.
The woman blinked at them before accepting the ticket. "The gentleman of this car mentioned for either a Jemma Rutherford or a Miles Ellison to drive it back - that he would take an uber or something home."
"Damn it." Miren fought the urge to throw the keys at the wall. "He was trying to reach us!"
"Don't blame yourself for Jeno being in one of his moods. If he wants to leave, that's his prerogative," Jemma said matter-of-factly, as she flashed her ID to the valet. "You're allowed to have fun one night of the year."
"Let's just go," Miren said, tipping the driver. "I'm driving."
"Do you really think the night is over?" Jemma said instead, taking the keys from the valet. It was like all of her energy and then some flooded back into her body as she entered the vehicle. As if on cue, a top 40 pop song cut through the night air. "It's only eleven. We have after parties to go to." Jemma's eyes were far too toying for the hour. "Including one with the band."
"Sounds like fun." Miren could only offer a pained smile as she entered the car. Once she had access to a charger she could call and uber and go to bed - she had never been so exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. In a fleeting moment, Jemma jetted out of the lot and into the night of epic possibilities.