Chloe Explains All

“That…that’s Heather’s car!” Zack shouted as he ran past Victoria.

He raced all the way from where he was standing to right beside the car, pausing beside it and lightly touching it with his fingertips. It was real. It really was real. And if Heather’s car was here that could only mean that Heather and Ashley had returned. His pulse raced as he could feel the blood literally pumping beneath his skin. The hair on his body stood on edge as adrenaline and anticipation flooded his senses. Sun had broken through the dark cloud hanging over him, as he felt himself suddenly full of energy again.

His mind swirled with the possibilities. Ashley and Hannah had left to confront their suspect; the fact that they had returned might mean that they’d convinced him to turn himself in. Perhaps they’d even went to the police station and freed Lisa. He imagined the dark-haired Latina, his beautiful ex-girlfriend waiting inside the cabin to greet him. And he’d been wasting time down at the lake with Victoria and Kurt. He knew he should never have agreed to go with them. How long had they been back? An hour? More? Less?

Unfortunately, Heather’s return also meant Ashley’s return. And while she should have been more overjoyed to greet his current girlfriend, his conversations with Victoria and Gavin had put a bad taste in his mouth. Before anything else happened, he had to have a conversation with her. No, wait, the first importance was to hug Lisa and tell her how happy he was to have her back. No, actually, he should hear how Heather and Ashley did it first and who framed Lisa. No, the Latina was the priority. No, before Lisa, he had to talk to Ashley. No, wait…

Even as he sped up the steps the cabin door and looked over his shoulder at Victoria, casually strolling along behind him, his mind flip-flopped back and forth over what to do and what to do first. He waited, excruciatingly, for Victoria to ascend the steps as well, the very act of being patient giving his hurried heart pain. He danced like a dog waiting to be walked, immediately throwing open the door the second that the tall blonde came to his side.

Together they looked into the living room, the bright, yellow sun behind them casting a brilliant light into the room and illuminating Chloe and Gavin sitting side by side on the couch. The best friends were pivoted towards each other, holding hands and resting their heads together, looking not at all like friends. Another moment and Zack would have bet good money that she and Victoria would have waked in on them kissing. A fact that made Victoria clench her fists at her side, bowing her head slightly as she glared at Gavin under her brow.

The picture of Gavin and Chloe together didn’t bother Zack. They needn’t have jumped apart for his sake. It panicked the dark-haired young man that he couldn’t see Heather or Ashley anywhere. But he could physically hear Victoria grinding her teeth as the two friends apologised and assured them that it wasn’t what it looked like. Victoria ignored them purposefully, and turned to Zack, pointedly asking him something over their voices. But Zack wasn’t listening to her, instead, speaking to his friends.

“Where are Heather and Ashley?” Zack asked, wandering forward and looking down the halls on either side of the living room.

“They’re setting up a trap,” Chloe informed him, quickly, glancing anxiously towards Victoria’s angry face.

“I’m gonna need more than that,” Zack insisted, turning to look at the red-head.

“Right, and Ashley said I could tell you everything,” Chloe replied as she gestured towards the sofa or the chairs. “But I think you might both want to take a seat for this one.”

Zack hastily took a seat on the other side of Gavin, who sat down as well, while Chloe remained standing. Victoria strode across and took a seat in one of the single chairs, her large, perky breasts bouncing magnificently in the tiny pink bikini. She lowered herself gracefully onto the chair, perched on the edge, with her legs crossed, the stretched bikini bottoms displayed a lot of thigh and side cheek. When she’d placed her hands in her lap and looked to Chloe, the red-head began.

“So, I think I can tell you this now, but the person Heather and Ashley went to confront this morning was-”

“Robert Ravers, yes, I know,” Victoria interjected, staring at Chloe with cool, green eyes.

“You knew?” Zack pivoted in his seat, creasing his brow as he looked at the hot blonde. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because Heather was right. If I’d have told you, you’d have jumped in your car and gone after them to confront Robert yourself,” Victoria replied. And then, with a smirk, she added, “And if you went into town after them, we wouldn’t have been able to have our fun down at the lake.”

Chloe and Gavin both looked at Zack at the mention of fun down by the lake, but Zack wasn’t thinking about that. He was too distracted by the notion that his possible biological father might have framed his ex-girlfriend and he didn’t even know why. Since the first time he met Robert Ravers, Zack didn’t like him. He wasn’t sure if it was the presence, or the power, or the pride or just the simple fact that women, including his mother just seemed to throw themselves at him. And that man might be his father. Inside him right now, he might carry the genes of a man who had gotten Lisa and her father arrested.

Though talk of the lake had reminded Gavin of something else, looking tentatively at Victoria since Zack was lost in thought. “Um, wasn’t Kurt with you?”

“Yeah, Gavin said the three of you went down to the lake,” Chloe said supportively. “Why didn’t he come back?”

“Oh, that’s because he went off with Jennifer White,” Victoria revealed casually, everyone in the room remembering the ranger from when she dropped Victoria off at the door. “Apparently, Dustin didn’t show up for work, so Kurt is taking her to the apartment his dad owns since that was the last place anyone saw him.”

“Well, someone can bring him up to speed later, I guess. Where was I?” Chloe pursed her lips, as her pupils danced back and forth, thinking. “Ah, right, Robert Ravers. Well, Heather asked him directly about planting the **** on Lisa in order to get Carlos to sell his cabin to Ravers Enterprises. But Robert showed her a proposal of some kind which would have given Carlos a stake in the project and allowed him to make money continuously if he sold his cabin to them.”

“Ah, so he no longer had any motive to have Lisa and Carlos arrested,” Victoria shrewdly surmised.

Zack’s head hurt. First it was Robert and now it wasn’t. He could follow what they were saying but his nerves were on a knife’s edge, first of all not even thinking that who his father was had any bearing on what happened to Lisa to believing his biological father could be some megalomaniacal villain to learning that he was a fair and reasonable businessman. Having his emotions tugged one way and then the next left the young man feeling rather stressed. He sat on the sofa rubbing his temples, not even speaking but trying to remain calm as he allowed the information to just sink in.

Before Chloe could continue, Victoria added, “I suppose the next choice was Hannah?”

Chloe blinked at the blonde for a moment. “H-how?” She stammered, utterly confused. “How did you know that?”

“Well, it just makes the most sense, doesn’t it?” Victoria giggled at how the other three looked at her like some kind of mind-reader. “Ashley and I had been looking for people targeting Carlos Rivera, but the reason Robert fitted that profile wasn’t just because he had motive, it was also because he had means. He was in the cabin and he had the Vicodin. If you’re saying Robert has been eliminated, then the only other person with means was Ashley’s sister.”

Zack nodded along, agreeing with what Victoria had deduced. She was right, Hannah was the next logical choice, but to him she suffered the same problem that Robert now had; lack of motive. He couldn’t think of a reason why Hannah would want to have Lisa or Carlos arrested. Unless…

“What about the police?” Zack suggested. “They might be corrupt.”

“No way!” Gavin’s voice rose immediately, defiant. “The police in this town are some of the finest men and women I’ve ever met. Every single one of them has been there for me and my mother over the years. I can’t believe even a single one of them would entertain the idea of falsely accusing an innocent girl.”

It was easy to forget that Gavin’s deceased father had been a police officer, but as his best friend, Zack should have remembered. They knew not to say anything. Even Victoria could sense that this wasn’t something to be teased or argued. Thankfully, Chloe knew what to say.

“I asked pretty much the same thing, but Ashley said it was too much of a coincidence that Robert’s Vicodin went missing at the same time **** were planted on Lisa. Hannah knew were the pills were and had more than ample time to plant them during the aftermath of our game of ‘Never Have I Ever’,” Chloe said, easing the tension in the room by refocusing on the issue at hand. “So, Ashley went to confront Hannah.”

“Okay, and what was her excuse?” Victoria asked, frowning since she still hadn’t thought of a motive.

“She didn’t have one,” Chloe said.

“WHAT?” The other trio said in harmony.

“Hannah confessed to the whole thing,” Chloe asserted solemnly. “She did it. Hannah planted the **** on Lisa.”

“But…why?” Gavin asked the question that was on all their minds.

“She was looking out for Ashley, and Robert. Quite plainly, Hannah simply didn’t like how Lisa was trying to take advantage of problems between Ashley and you,” Chloe replied, looking pointedly at Zack. “She was already annoyed on Robert’s behalf because Carlos was holding out on the deal, and Robert had been very kind to her. But I don’t believe Hannah would have tried to prank Lisa had she not embarrassed and humiliated Ashley in the first place.”

Zack’s face dropped, and he shook his head, wide eyed as if in a trance. “No way. That can’t be possible. You’re…you’re kidding, right? Right? This is…This is my fault?”

“It certainly seems rather disproportionate,” Victoria mused, causing Gavin to **** as he thought about how she was continually punishing him for his mistakes. “Even if Lisa tried to steal Zack from Ash, it hardly warrants jail time. And why have Carlos’ arrested? Just to make Lisa’s life even shittier when she gets released?”

“Well, here’s the thing. We’ve been looking at this like it was some kind of grand scheme to **** Carlos or oust Robert from his company, but according to Hannah, she never even meant for Carlos to be arrested,” Chloe explained, watching as renewed shock formed on the faces of her friends. “The way Ashley tells it, Hannah actually thought Carlos’s reputation within the **** would mean that Lisa wouldn’t be persecuted to the full extent of the law.”

“The officers do tend to look out for each other,” Gavin agreed, but noted, “However, Carlos is a detective, and he crossed the line when he threatened a judge.”

“It’d be almost funny if it weren’t so tragic,” Victoria exhaled with a weary amusement, resting her head in one hand. “Hannah did what she did for her family but didn’t anticipate someone else doing something equally stupid for their family.”

Zack remained strangely quiet, with his head bowed. He was barely even listening anymore as the words of his responsibility echoed over and over in his mind, louder than anything else Chloe was saying. Lisa was locked up because of him, because of his actions. He’d fucked Lisa because Ashley had wanted it, to show her how it would feel. Even after Lisa had told him the truth, told him how she wanted him to herself, he still went along with it. He wanted Ashley to feel the hurt and betrayal that he felt. And because of that decision, Hannah had framed Lisa and now Lisa sat in a prison cell somewhere. This was all his fault.

“You said Ashley and Hannah had come back to set up a trap,” Gavin remembered, tilting his head and frowning. “Couldn’t they just convince Hannah to turn herself in? If any one could persuade her, surely Ashley could.”

“Better question is what’s out there that could possible help set up a trap?” Victoria asked, looking towards the cabin door, representing the outside world and the park around the lake. “Are they literally planning on digging a hole, covering it with leaves and trying to lure Hannah over it?”

“No,” Chloe said with a slight chuckle. “Well, I don’t know if this is easier or tougher to believe after everything Hannah confessed but…they’ve went into the woods to get Brandon.”

“Brandon?” Gavin repeated, waiting for Chloe to correct him. When she didn’t, he reminded her, “he left.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes as she looked up at Chloe. “Do you mean to say he’s been out in the woods this whole time?”

“Zack would know more about it than I would, but...” The redhead looked over at him. He stayed still and silent, staring at the ground beneath his feet, barely even listening, so Chloe continued. “The other night when you went missing,” she prefaced, glancing at Victoria. “Some of us went out looking for you. I wasn’t with them, and neither was Gavin, so that’s why we didn’t know he was out there. But the others, Zack, Heather, Kurt and Lisa, they all ran into Brandon in the woods. They agreed to keep it a secret though because Brandon didn’t want Ashley to know.”

“He’s been camping out in the woods…alone?” Victoria asked, raising her eyebrows, suspecting there was more at play here than what was being said.

“No, not alone. His sister Madison is out there with him,” Chloe revealed blankly.

“Oh, so just a wholesome sibling camping trip,” Victoria smirked, straightening up again, poised and posed on the edge of the chair. “How lovely.”

“You’re not suggesting that there’s something else going on?” Gavin cringed and leaned back. “They’re brother and sister.”

“And Heather fucked her cousin,” Victoria reminded him. “I’m just saying, a guy and a girl, out in nature, all alone for a week. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Zack swallowed hard. He wasn’t surprised either because he knew that it was true. Victoria’s deduction was spot on. That was the real reason Brandon didn’t want them telling anyone at the cabin that they were out there. He had been trying not to create a scandal by everyone finding out he’d been camping out in the wild to fuck his own sister for days on end. Sheepishly glancing around the group, his eyes caught Victoria’s, her bright, glistening green eyes staring deep into his soul. Her stare deepened, almost as if her eyes themselves were smiling, while her smirk widened. The look from Zack was all she needed to know the truth.

“Uh, n-never mind that,” Zack interjected quickly, and loudly, changing the subject. “What do they want with Brandon? How does he factor into the plan?”

“You remember how Brandon found out about you and Ashley?” Chloe asked, continuing when Zack responded with a short nod. “They’re planning on using the same spy app to listen in and record Hannah’s confession.”

Without a word, Zack leapt up, cutting a hurried path towards the door to the outside. Before he could get very far, Chloe stepped in front of him, the dark-haired boy stopping abruptly to save from crashing into her. Behind him, Gavin and Victoria stood too, ready to intervene just as Chloe had.

“Where are you going?” Chloe demanded, her face hard and her jaw set.

“I have to help. If getting the confession from Hannah might make this whole thing right then I need to do whatever I can to make sure that happens,” Zack growled desperately. “This is my fault. I should be the one to fix it.”

“This is Hannah’s fault,” Gavin insisted, shaking his head. “Hannah did this. She’s the only one who should feel bad here.”

“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Ashley’s,” Victoria argued. “Lisa might have wanted to get back together with you, but it was Ashley who gave her the means. Ashley set this whole thing up, and she’s already trying to fix it. You shouldn’t have to clean up her mess.”

“That’s unfair,” Gavin replied, hesitant about defending Ashley after his discussion with Zack that morning. “No matter what Ashley did, Hannah made her own decision to prank Lisa and it’s on her that it went awry.”

“You don’t get to talk to me about unfair,” Victoria snapped, bending over slightly at Gavin with her hands on her hips.

“I don’t think it’s good to point fingers in either case,” Chloe replied diplomatically, placing a hand on Zack’s chest to keep him from simply pushing past. “But, Zack, the last time you, Ashley and Brandon were in a room together, he wound up punching you. Maybe he’s trying not to think about it, but having you and Ashley right there in his face all day, might make things more problematic for everyone.”

“What do you want from me?” Zack hissed through gritted teeth. “I can’t just sit around and wait any more. I spent long enough waiting this morning. I have to do something.”

Chloe stared into Zack’s eyes, his unwavering blue-eyed gaze looking back at her. She held his eye, her hand still on his chest, keeping him in place with both. A minute passed. Neither moved, or conceded ground, locked in an impasse, and beside them Gavin and Victoria kept a silent vigil, waiting with bated breath to see who would break the dead-lock first. With a sigh and a shrug, it was Chloe who capitulated, standing to one side.

“Go if you must,” she said, gesturing towards the door. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”