A/N Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment/vote
To the side is a picture of Clyde>>>
****
"Lipstick?"
"Check." Mackenzie nodded, smacking her lips together for confirmation.
"Breath mints?"
"Check." Stella confirmed, waving a pack of TicTacs in the air.
"Night vision goggles?"
"And the tazors, earpieces, and micro-cameras. We have everything we need, except for the fact that were still in our room." Mac rolled her eyes, slouching lazily at the end of her bed.
"We have to be smart about this." I reminded her, strapping a knife holster underneath my leggings. "If we get caught, we could get expelled."
"Or worse," Stella added, pulling on her brass knuckles. "we could lose dining common privledges for an entire month." She shuddered.
"Is all this gear really necessary? We're going to a highschool party, it's not like we're breaking into the White House." Mackenzie crossed her arms over her chest, crinkling the red dress she was wearing underneath her leather jacket.
"Actually," Stella chirped. "I broke into the White House security mainframe for two whole minutes before they finally set up a new fire wall. All that required was a starbucks frappuchino and the new Taylor Swift album." She chuckled. "Stop fidgeting with your outfit!" She scolded me, brushing back her freshly curled hair. "And these won't be necessary." She said, grabbing my night vision goggles out of my hands. Before I could object she added, "I did not do your makeup for thirty minutes for you to hide it underneath these ugly things."
I took a deep breath and gave myself one last look over in the mirror. It was nice being out of my school-uniform for a change. Mackenzie had loaned me a white lace crop top that I paired with light blue skinny jeans. I fidgeted nervously with my headpiece until Stella walked over to help me put it on. "What are you so nervous about?" She asked, reaplying my lipgloss as she talked. "This was your idea."
"It's not that." I shook my head. "It's just been a rough week." There has been no further notice about the Perez case, I was undeniably falling for my sister's boyfriend, and one of my best friends had a total meltdown this afternoon. "Rough" would be an understatement of how my week was going.
"Which is exactly why we need this girls night out!" Mac nodded, dragging me and Stella towards the door. "This might be my only chance at love. If I don't see Bryce tonight, he won't want anything to do with me." She whined over-dramatically. "Please be the greatest friends in the entire world and help me have one night of romance." She pouted her lips at us.
I took a deep breath, pushing back all of my other worries and thoughts. "The buses are coming to pick up the boys in fifteen minutes. Each boy will have to present their school ID card before boarding the bus, so if we want on that bus we need to get one of those IDs."
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Stella eyes widened. "Every single boy is going into town tonight, they're not going to lend us their card."
"You didn't let me finish." I reminded her. "In fifteen minutes, every boy in the school will leave their dorms to head over to the loading dock. All we have to do is swipe three IDs from some underclassmen."
"Okay," Stella nodded, as the plan started to fall into place. "so we get their IDs. But they're not going to let us onto the bus as long as we look like this."
"You really need to stop underestimating me." I told her, pulling out three pairs of wigs for the each of us. "Put these on along with those and throw on a pair of baggy sweats over your clothes. Keep your head down and don't talk to anyone. If anyone recognizes us then the entire plan is ruined." With that, I pulled my hair into a pony tail and shoved it into a blonde wig. I pressed the sunglasses down over my eyes and slid on a sweatshirt and pair of sweatpants. "How do I look?" I asked, using my best boy impersonation.
"You make an ugly boy." Stella laughed, tucking her hair into her own wig.
"Don't ditch these outfits because we'll need them to get back into school." I reminded them.
"It's 8:00, they''ll be starting to leave their rooms about now." Mackenzie clapped her hands together excitedly. "Let's go, boys." She chuckled, as we crept out into the hall. Keeping our heads down we followed behind a line of boys heading towards the elevators.
Seth along with Rooney and Clyde glided past us. "Did you see that fight Mankoff and Fishman got into today?" Rooney asked. We all diverted our gazes knowing that if we made eye-contact we'd surely be reconized. The elevator reached our floor and we quietly filed into the close-quarters behind them. Stella plugged her nose as she inhaled the unreasonably large amounts of cologne the three were wearing. "You better watch out," Rooney teased Seth with a nudge. "Fishman's trying to steal your girl."
"Seth doesn't have to worry about that. He's got two identical twins, if he loses one it's like nothing even happened." Clyde chuckled. I curled my fingers into my palm. Mackenzie placed her hand on my shoulder, squeezing me softly and silently begging me not to do anything crazy.
"Very funny, guys." Seth scoffed.
"Stop being so uptight." Rooney nudged him playfully. This elevator ride seemed to be taking entirely too long. "You said that you and Alexis were just a fling, only long enough so that you could sleep with her." I gritted my teeth against eachother. My blood seemed to be boiling underneath my skin and I felt my hand inch towards the tazor in my pocket. "Look at all this trouble you created just because Veronica wouldn't put out." He laughed, as the doors slid open. Mac forced me backwards so that I couldn't pummel the three of them to the ground as they exited the elevator.
"I can't do this." I shook my head, my anger spiking as my heartbeat rose. "I think I'm going to be sick." I admitted. Mac and Stella dragged me out of the elevator since my feet refused to move on their own.
"You need to pull yourself together." Stella smacked me across my cheeks. I focused on her long black hair that was already starting to slip through the cheap wig, and her narrow eyes that darted back and forth nervously. The rest of the boys filed into the hall around us, I had to pull myself together or else I'd blow our cover. "You are Alexis Mankoff." She said quietly, digging her nails into my arms. "You always complete your mission." I swallowed hard and nodded slowly. Never let them see you cry. "Tell me you can do this." She demanded, her nails still piercing into my skin.
"I can do this." I breathed, adjusting my wig as the three of us headed towards the buses. Was I always just a pawn in Seth's game? Were those midnight talks just another part of his plan? I guess this is what I deserve, for hooking up with my sister's boyfriend. I just never thought it would hurt this badly.
"Im going to make sure that boy can never have children." Mac muttered in my ear. She squeezed my hand softly as we stalked behind three underclassmen. I felt like I was in a daze. How could I have let Seth play me like this? I was a top contender for the X Team and I let my teenage hormones get the best of me. First Ben, now Seth. I felt like I was losing everyone I trust, that my entire world was slipping from my fingertips.
Before the three boys could turn the corner, we made sure the coast was clear and grabbed each of them by the collars on their shirts. We dragged them with us inside a nearby bathroom, tazoring each of them until they fell unconcsious. After swiping their ID's from their jean pockets, we took a second to fix our hair before filing back out into the hall. "That was almost too easy." Mac chuckled, cracking her knuckles dramatically.
"Remember to keep your heads down." I told the both of them as we walked out onto the courtyard. The sky was beginning to dim as the night trickled in. A cool breeze blew through my hair, threatening to rip off my wig. We stepped into line behind a group of boys preparing to board one of the buses parked outside the school. Mackenzie slid her stolen ID card into a porthole that flashed a bright green. She boarded the bus tenatively, a small smile spreading across her lips. Stella was next, and the porthole once against flashed green allowing her to board. I fumbled with the ID in my hands, Rooney's words still echoing in my mind. I dropped the ID onto the ground, and immediately dived for it.
"I got it." Ben assured me, bending over to pick up my card before I could. He glanced at the photo on the ID before looking up towards me, his arm outstretched and the ID gripped between his fingers. His eyes locked onto mine, his mouth slightly dropping open. I grabbed the ID card from him and quickly swiped it, climbing onto the bus before he could say anything. I stared at my feet as I made my way down the aisle, passing Clyde, Seth, and Rooney along the way. I slid into an empty seat adjacent to the one Stella and Mackenzie were sitting on. The three of us typed furiously away on our phones to make ourselves look busy and keep anyone from asking us questions. Ben saw me. I had no doubt about it. I anxiously waited to hear my name be called, for the entire mission to be compromised. But instead, the bus doors closed and the engine rumbled to life as the wheels rolled towards town. I let out a breath of relief, but quickly tensed up when Ben made his way towards me. Is he really going to sit next to me? He's going to sit next to me. Oh my god he is going to sit next to me. Without saying a word, Ben plopped down besides me. "You've really outdone yourself this time." He muttered. He kept his eyes faced forward, unable to make himself look at me.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked, the bus jostling me back and forth as I talked.
"I wouldn't want to embarass you in front of your friends." He glanced towards Stella and Mackenzie. "I always knew you were willing to do anything for Seth, but this is taking things a little out of proportion. And for the record, you make a seriously hideous dude."
"I'm not talking to you." I rolled my eyes, and crossed my arms over my chest.
"The silent treatment? You're really going to stoop that low, Lex?" I pursed my lips together, refusing to respond to him. He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry about some of the things I said today. I was out of line, but that doesn't mean I regret saying any of it." I turned my gaze towards the window. "I'm trying really hard right to glue back together whatever piece of our friendship still exists, so I'd appreciate it if you would look at me."
"I don't want to talk to you, Ben." I said flatly. "You know how hard things have been for me lately, and now you've gone and made everything a hundred times more complicated. So you want to work in the Field? Fine. I could care less about your stupid decisions. But if you ever, and I mean ever, embarass me like that in front of an entire class again I won't hesitate to beat the hell out of you." I regretted the words immediately after I said them. The things Rooney said...the hate I was feeling towards Seth...all it was starting to build up so I was taking my anger out on Ben. I was looking for someone to blame, and it was easy to force all my problems onto him, because some part of me....some part of me still wanted to believe that Seth had never said those things. But I couldn't keep my emotions bottled up, I had to release them onto someone.
"Okay then." Ben nodded, obviously shaken up and surprised by what I said. He thought he would get an apology out of me. He deserved an apology. Why couldn't I give him an apology? He stood up, his hand gripping the bus seat to steady himself. "I always knew you'd choose him over me, I just didn't think you'd ever get the courage to actually do it." He forced out a laugh. "I guess it's a good thing I said those things about you, or else you'd still be living a lie." I wanted to say something to him, tell him that he was wrong tand hat I did care about him. But I couldn't speak, I couldn't even think. All I could hear were Rooney's words echoing through my mind. "Did you feel bad for me? Is that it?" He asked. Tell him he's wrong. Tell him that you're taking all your anger out on him. Tell him or you're going to lose him. I turned my head towards the window. "At least now I know the truth." He clicked his lips together, and walked towards the front of the bus. Tears were threatening to pour through my eyes but I held them back. I had a mission to accomplish.
The bus rolled to a stop.
"Let's go." Stella nodded at me, as her and Mackenzie shuffled out of their seats. I wiped any visible remnants of tears from my face and forced a smile for my friends. The bus dropped us off in the middle of town square across the street from a baseball field and park lined by resturants and stores. The bus would be back to pick us up at midnight, giving us around four hours. My eyes landed on Clyde, Rooney, and Seth who seemed to be headed towards the neighborhood a couple blocks away. They problably had their own party to get to.
Once we were a out of eye-sight of the bus, I ripped the wig off my head and slid my baggy sweatpants and shirt into a pull-string bag to reveal the tight fitting skinny jeans and bright red crop top I was wearing underneath. "You got the address?" I turned to Mac, who was adjusting the straps on the black dress she was wearing. She nodded, smacking her freshly applied lips together. "Then what are we waiting for? We've got a party to go to."
*****
I've never been to an actual high school party before, but I had always imagined it'd sort of be something like this.
After following the address that Bryce had given to Mackenzie, it took us only a couple minutes to find the quaint suburban house tucked neatly into a cookie cutter neighborhood. The townsfolk are convinced everyone at The Academy is a bunch of stuck up snobs with super rich parents, but their only half-right. The legends about The Academy have circulated for years, but no one has ever come close to the truth. And in order to keep it that way, we hardly ever make appearances into town.
But when we do...we never go unnoticed.
From the second we walked through the front door, all eyes fell on us. The house was obviously void of parents, and the only light was coming from a neon green strobe light that flickered every couple seconds. The stench of sweat and alcohol was overwhelming, but I had never felt more alive. "Everyone is staring at us." Stella murmered nervously into my ear.
"Then we better give them a show." I suggested, slipping into the crowd of half-naked and drunk teenagers. Besides for dance formals, there's never really any "parties" at The Academy. And if you're caught with alchohol in your dorm it could cause immediate expulsion. But I had already broken enough rules tonight...I was practically invincible. "Mind if I join?" I walked up to a group of boys surronding a keg of beer. Their eyes gave me a good look over, which on any other occasion would give them a bloody nose but all I wanted to do right now was get utterly drunk. With their nod of approval I hoisted myself into a handstand on top of the keg of beer. Chants of encouragement broke out as I gulped down the beer as fast as I could, only stopping when I felt dizzy from lack of oxygen. I stumbled off the keg, raising my arms in the air victoriously as the crowd erupted in applause. I was only slightly buzzed from the beer but I could already feeling its effect on me.
Mackenzie had found Bryce, who was just as cute as he was in the pictures he sent her. The two immediately headed down a dark hallway together, leaving Stella awkwardly alone. "You're doing this all wrong." I scolded her, grabbing her wrist and dragging her with me towards the kitchen.
"I didn't do anything!" She objected.
"Exactly. You're supposed to be having fun!" I poured a handle of vodka into two glasses and shoved a shot into her hand. "Drink." I ordered, leaning my head back as I downed my own. "Now go hook up with that guy over there." I nodded towards a boy leaning against the fridge.
"Are you crazy?" She whispered, pouring herself another shot.
"He's been eyeing you from the second we got here." I said plainly.
"Well he is super cute." Stella giggled, downing another shot of vodka. "Do I look okay?" She asked, wiping her smudged lipstick. "Actually don't answer that, because I'm going to hook up with him anyways." She laughed and strutted straight towards him, stumbling slightly.
"That was nice of you." An unfamiliar voice said besides me. The voice belonged to a six-foot, blonde, brown-eyed seventeen-ish year old. "What you did for your friend." He clarfied. His eyes were glassy from too many drinks and I noticed a dimple on his chin when he talked. He wasn't buff like Seth, but still well-built probably from some sports team he participated in. "Most girls would take the guy for themselves."
"I guess I'm not like most girls." I shrugged, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"You don't live around here, do you? I've never seen you before."
"I usually spend my nights back in The Academy." I explained.
His eyes lit up with curiosity. "So you're one of those spoiled private school girls?" He asked.
"Something like that." I smiled. "Now it's my turn to make assumptions about you." I said, poking his chest with my finger. "Let me guess, you're parents grew up around here and now your attending the same high school they did. You're popular, but not the type of guy to rub it in other people's faces. And now you think that you can hit on me because I'm drunk." With that, I took a shot. "Did I get it right?" I asked, wiping vodka residue off my lips. Without waiting for him to respond I grabbed him by the collar and said, "Let's dance." His hands trailed to my hips and I pressed my back against his chest. My vision was starting to get fuzzy and the music was pounding in my ears. I could've sworn that I even heard Seth lecturing me in my ear. What do you think your doing Lex? You're jeopardizing everything! It wasn't until I was shoved to the side that I realized those voices in my head weren't my imagination after all. Seth slammed his fist into the nameless boy's face and Clyde steadied me as I tripped over my feet. The boy threw his arm back, but his reaction time was too slow. Seth punched him again, this time causing him to fall over onto the ground. "Get off of him!" I slurred my words, jumping onto Seth's back.
"Alexis, get off of me!" Seth grunted, struggling to loosen the grip I had around his neck.
"You Academy kids are fricken crazy!" The nameless boy yelled as he scrambled to his feet.
A pair of strong hands lifted me off Seth's back. "You never cease to surprise me." Rooney chuckled, wrapping an arm around my waist to keep me from falling over. "Where's dumb and dumber?" He asked, scanning the crowd for Mac and Stella.
Seth's face boiled a bright red. He grabbed me roughly by the wrist, tearing me away from Rooney's grasp. "What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded.
"That was so big and tough of you to beat up that guy." I giggled, swaying back and forth to the music.
"Are you drunk?" He asked like a father would when his daughter comes home late on a Friday night.
I leaned in close so that I could whisper in his ear, "Maybe." As I trailed my finger up and down his sweat coated chin.
"We need to get you back to The Academy before you get expelled."
"I don't wanna go back." I whined as he tugged on my wrist. "Once Veronica finally lets you screw her, you're going to dump me."
"Where'd you hear that?"
"Do you really like me?" I asked, slumping my weak body against his. "Like really, really, like me?"
"I need to get you out of here."
"Are you going to dump me?" I pouted my lips. "Because if you are then I'm going to have to beat you up." I slurred my words. "Veronica isn't even that pretty."
"First of all, you are identical twins." He rolled his eyes. "And second of all, you sound absolutely crazy right now."
"Then why did Rooney say those things? Why did he say all you wanted to do was screw me?" I tugged on his sleeves like a little kid, nagging him as I slipped in and out of consciousness. Seth bit his lip uncomfortably and fell silent. "Is it true?" I breathed. "It's true." I said more loudly. "You goddamn bastard." I grabbed a beer can from some random standing next to me and slammed it into his forehead. "Screw yourself!" I weaved back into the crowd, ignoring Seth's cries as I walked away. All that vodka was starting to work its way back up my throat. I pressed my hand to my mouth and turned down a dark hallway to look for a bathroom. I leaned my hand against the wall for support as my vision wavered. The vodka was going to come up whether I got to a bathroom or not. I clasped my aching abdomen as I stumbled further down the hall.
With my vision failing me, I bumped into someone walking in the other direction. "Sorry about that." The deep familiar voice apologized. "Are you okay?" He asked, pressing a hand to my back. I tilted my head up slowly towards his face. Jonathan Perez. His eyes lit up when we made contact. He recognized me. "It's you." He lowered his voice. Taking advantage of my drunken state he pinned me up against the wall. His hands were clasped around my neck and he spat in my face as he spoke. "How did you find me?" He grunted, banging my head against a picture frame mounted on the wall. He enclosed his hand tighter around my neck causing me to gasp for air. "Academy, slut." He muttered, tossing me onto the ground. Jonathan took off down the hall. I reached out for a weapon, a phone, the tazor tucked into my jeans---anything I could use to stop him. But everything was spinning around me and I couldn't get myself to focus. I struggled to my feet feeling the vomit rise in the back of my throat. A warm trickle of blood bled from my forehead where a shard of glass had cut me. Jonathan was already out of sight by the time I made it out of the hall.
"There you are." Seth strolled towards me. "We're leaving."
"Perez." I slurred, the dizziness taking a toll on me. "He's here."
"He's here?" He repeated, turning his head to scan the room. "If he saw you then he's long gone by now."
"We have to do something." I encouraged. "We can't just let him get away."
"Maybe you should of thought about that before you snuck out and got totally wasted." Seth lectured me. "Now he knows were onto him."
"Look who I found." Clyde interuppted us. He had Stella underneath his arm. Her makeup was smeared all over her face and she was missing a shoe. "Rooney's outside with Mac, so we better get going. The buses leave in twenty minutes."
"Good." Seth nodded. "Let's get the hell out of here." With that, him and Clyde led me and Stella outside.
"How are we supposed to get them back on the bus?" Rooney asked.
"We stole three IDs from some underclassmen." Mackenize spoke up. She seemed to be the least drunk of all of us. Clyde cradled Stella in his arms since she could no longer support herself as she walked. "We brought a change of clothes with us, but we most of lost them inside." She explained.
"Take this." Rooney ripped off his shirt and offered it to Mac. Seth and Clyde followed in his example.
"We're letting him get away." I reminded Seth as he helped me get on his t-shirt. I was finally starting to sober up.
"There's nothing we can do." He shook his head. "Especially with all of them around." He nodded towards our roommates.
"I thought you wanted to be on the X Team."
"I also don't want to get expelled." He sighed. "So you're going to put on my shirt and get on the bus before you get us all kicked out of school."
I rolled my eyes at him and pulled his shirt on over my clothes. I tucked my hair into the shirt collar to make it look shorter although it wasn't very convincing. The six of us made our way towards the buses. We had ten minutes left to get back to school. Something didn't feel right about this. If Jonathan knew who I was then why didn't he finish the job? People like us, always finish the job. "We shouldn't be leaving." I whispered in Seth's ear. "We should be looking for him." But Seth ignored everything I had to say.
We were within eye-sight of the buses now, passing by the now empty town square when the thundering roar of an engine sounded from behind us. By the time any of realized what was going on, it was already too late. The tires of a black van screeched loudly as it pulled up besides us. Three men in masks jumped out, but with the majority of us still drunk we didn't stand a chance. I had just started to sober up so when two arms wrapped around me I wasn't able to put up much of a fight. "Alexis!" Seth yelled, his face meeting the pavement when one of them shoved him onto the ground. A black bag was placed over my head as I was forced into the van.
There was no way I was making it back to school on time.