Fateful Rivalry - Logan/Various Girls (Duskford)

Note: before we start this chapter, I want to make it clear that the Scorching Hearts thread isn't abandoned, canceled, or anything of the sort. I'm just starting a different thread to vary my writing a bit, as focusing in just one thread can get exhausting sometimes. But my intention is to alternate chapters between both threads. Oh, and one last note, this story doesn't have any continuity ties whatsoever to the Scorching Hearts one. Thanks for hearing me out and I hope you guys enjoy this one.

CHAPTER 1 - A Score to Settle

It was a warm Fall day in Sunset Haven for the students at the local high school, a calm Thursday after all the buzz surrounding the Homecoming Dance finally started to die down. Little did those teenagers know that this tentative peace was about to be shattered by the next big event in their school life. For those who were more in tune with the calendar, something like that was even expected to come sooner or later, but most of them got caught completely off-guard when a stunning, elegant woman strode into the cafeteria that day, her heels clicking on the floor.

“Damn, what’s it this time?” Logan’s best friend elbowed him as they watched the Principal take a spot before all the tables, her smug-looking Assistant Principal standing by her side as his gaze swept over the beautiful girls in the student body.

With her long raven-black hair tied into a neat bun and her sharp green eyes observing the students, Serena Ashford cleared her throat and was satisfied to see that all their attention was on her. She really disliked repeating herself, after all. A former Literature teacher, she knew about the love and affection they always showed her, but she wasn’t dumb as well, Serena was acutely aware that the somewhat voluptuous body she hid under her professional, fancy clothes attracted the attention of a large part of the male students. As long as they did their job in class, the 35-year-old Principal didn’t mind letting them fantasize a little, as long as they never acted disrespectful toward her. It was useful when she was in need of addressing an usually boisterous crowd such as the one in front of her.

Clearing her throat, Serena gave the teenagers a warm smile. “First of all, congratulations to Heather and Logan Ravers for their election as Homecoming Queen and King. A round of applause, please,” she requested, and most of the cafeteria applauded and cheered at the grinning cousins, while a small part remained silent and an even smaller portion booed. “Now, for the reason I came to speak with you all today,” she said in a more business-like tone. “As you are well aware, the wheels of time don’t stop spinning and we need to move on with our schedule. With Homecoming behind us, it’s time for our seniors to begin organizing the annual fundraiser of Sunset Haven High School.”

She smiled at the cheers and groans, and waited patiently for it to subside. It always amazed her how a group of teenagers of the same age could have such different reactions to the same theme. It reminded the principal of her own days as a student, wearing that same cute uniform. A white shirt and dark-blue tie, with slacks of the same color for the boys and plaid skirts for the girls.

“However,” Serena continued once she saw an opening. “This year, I was thinking of doing something different. Instead of uniting the entire senior class around a single project, I thought you could decide what projects you want to dedicate yourselves to,” she began explaining. “I know we have a few… divisions… amongst you, and while I’d prefer if all of you were good friends, I know that it’s too much to ask, so I think each group being responsible for a project will ensure we navigate these troubled waters smoothly.”

A silence fell over the cafeteria until someone blurted out. “You’re joking!”

“Oh, no, I’m quite serious, Mr. Blake,” Serena let out a soft laugh. “This is what we’re doing this year.”

“But how many groups is it gonna be, Ms. Ashford?” Heather Ravers inquired with a raised eyebrow. “How many people will be allowed in each one? Can we get outside help? Oh, sh… damn! There’s so much to do!”

“Calm down, Ms. Ravers, please,” Serena tried to placate the bright girl. “As I said, I’ll leave the details and composition of each group up to you,” she gazed at the students. “As for outside help, you can ask whoever you want, as long as they are former students of our school, and I want them credited.”

While the new information caused a new uproar in the teen crowd, the Assistant Principal, Jack Hartburn, leaned in to whisper something in Serena’s ear and she nodded affirmatively.

“One more thing, to ensure the quality of the projects and how viable they are, I urge you to come speak with me or Mr. Hartburn once you have decided on a theme, and we’ll judge whether it can be executed or not. Remember, it’s our school’s good name on the line here,” she instructed with a final smile toward her beloved pupils. “That will be all for today, everyone. Remember, you have until the Spring to complete your projects.”

After the announcement and subsequent chatter that it provoked, the teens scattered around the school grounds for the remainder of their free time until the next class. A rather handsome senior quietly hummed to himself as he left the bathroom, loosening his tie and pushing a lock of his messy, dark-brown hair behind an ear, His electric-blue eyes greeted everyone that walked past him, offering friendly nods and his dashing smile that was just one of the reasons why that young man was elected Homecoming King.

“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” A familiar, bossy voice exclaimed, and before Logan could fully turn around, a hand grabbed his own and dragged him toward a nearby alcove.

“Fucking hell, Heather, you’re not the one I want pushing me into those secluded corners, you know?” He jested, laughing as his cousin rolled her eyes, but then she hit him in the arm. “Owww! What was that for?”

Heather Ravers smirked at him, her own electric-blue orbs like a storm. One of the most gorgeous girls in their school stared back at him, her features framed by soft waves of the silkiest dark-brown hair. “To get you to wake up, now listen to me,” she demanded, the quite large pair of breasts straining against the buttons of her uniform shirt. “I’ve got an idea for the fundraiser.”

“Already?” He frowned in surprise at his cousin, but then again, he shouldn’t have been so surprised. It was Heather, after all. “You and the rest of the cheerleaders?”

“Hmm, not quite there yet,” the cheer captain grinned. “I wanna do something like a sexy calendar or magazine, whichever one I can get first. Just imagine it, beautiful teenage girls posing for suggestive, yet tasteful, pics!” She gesticulated wildly. “It’ll sell like water in the freaking desert!”

Logan blinked twice, the gears in his mind processing Heather’s words. He was usually quite sharp, but his cousin’s idea had blindsided him so hard that he struggled to comprehend it at first, but when he did, well, the dam burst and he laughed hard.

“I’m serious, dammit!” Heather put her foot down. “Stop laughing, you hyena!”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized once the laughter subsided a bit. “You just shocked me, is all.”

“Well, I admit it might sound a bit unusual, but it’s not THAT out of the box,” Heather crossed her arms, trying to justify herself. “You gotta at least admit it’s a lucrative idea.”

Logan gave her a smirk of his own. He always thought their family could just hand the school a big check to cover the fundraiser, but apparently, tradition said it couldn’t be that easy. “I just…, I dunno, Heather,” he crossed his arms as well. “I’m not so sure Ms. Ashford would approve of this project. As a matter of fact, I think your chances are next to zero.”

“I know how I can get you behind this, cousin,” Heather purred, her right index finger poking him on the chest. “You can be our photographer.”

“That’s… a tempting offer,” Logan chuckled, his mind already playing the delightful possibilities on repeat like a movie. “You know I’m not a pro, though.”

“But you have a camera and you’re always snapping pics of stuff. Plus, the girls know you, so it’d be so much better than a professional stranger,” Heather tried to convince him. “C’mon, Logan! Work with me here! Us Ravers always stick together, you know that.”

He let out a sigh, knowing that she had him cornered. It was a low blow, resorting to the family card. “Alright, then. Get Ms. Ashford’s green light and we can start planning this thing.”

“Finally!” A mocking voice taunted from behind the cousins. “Here I was, thinking you were chickening out of it.”

“Blake,” Logan said, a chilling seriousness to his tone.

“Ravers,” Kieran Blake nodded, a fake smile on his face.

“Aww, no, get the fuck out of here, Blake!” Heather pointed her right index finger at the newcomer. “We’re having a private conversation here!”

“In a public hallway?” The boy with short black hair and the iciest blue eyes one could find replied with a chuckle as he waved his arms around. “Got as much right to be here as you two.”

“Look, why don’t you say your piece, get it out of your system, and then stop being a nosy creep?” Logan inquired, putting himself between Heather and his… rival, for the lack of a better word. The Ravers and the Blake families had always been somewhat adversaries in Sunset Haven, and that inevitably translated to their generation, even if he and Heather had never cared much for it. He never did at least, but Kieran obviously put a lot of effort into being an ass to them, so, in the end, it did not matter much what they thought about the whole thing and how outdated it was.

“I was just thinking how fun your cousin’s idea for the fundraiser sounds,” Kieran said, ignoring the other boy’s jab. “So, it came to me, we could make this even more interesting. If you’re not chicken enough to hear it, that is.”

Logan sighed and Heather rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Logan, don’t!”

“What do you have in mind?” The Ravers boy asked. No matter how much he didn’t care about Kieran’s shenanigans, he was curious, it couldn’t be helped.

“A little competition, all friendly of course,” Kieran replied at once, the malicious grin telling the Ravers cousins that the second part of his sentence was anything but true. “A magazine, album, calendar, book, whatever you wanna call it, by each of us. The sexiest one, or let’s be real, the one that sells more copies, is the winner. Very simple.”

Logan bit the inside of his cheek, pondering the extent of Kieran’s proposal. The fighter in him was immediately awakened by it, and he did see how it could be incredibly fun, even if he didn’t win in the end. But if he had to be honest with himself, Logan was going to do everything he could to make the best product ever and wipe the floor with Blake’s face. They were kind of rivals in the sense that every girl in the school seemed to prefer one of them over their high school years so far, but they had never been in any sort of direct competition, and this seemed like the best chance to settle the score for once and for all.

“Huh, like you’ll be able to make anything even remotely sexy without my cheerleaders,” Heather mocked the other boy.

“I will if you don’t scoop them all at once like an egg basket,” Kieran had his reply ready to fire. “How about this, we recruit the girls one by one, and in the end… we’ll see who got the better product?”

“And why’d I agree with these terms when all they do is screw with my chances?” Heather put her hands on her hips, her features morphing into the stern expression she was learning with her businessman father.

“‘Cause they’re fair, Heather,” Logan responded instead of their rival, causing his cousin to sigh in exasperation. “A fair and square competition is the only way to win.”

“I’d disagree with that notion, but I’m glad you see my point,” Kieran shrugged, his not so friendly grin firmly in place.

“So, let me get this straight. We do it one by one, that girl becomes unavailable for the other, and we keep each other informed about what we’re doing,” Logan listed the terms of their little match, or at least, the ones he thought his rival was proposing.

“Exactly! See? It’s not so hard to get it. It’s always nice to do business with smart people,” Kieran mockingly replied before he extended his hand. “Do we have a deal? Goes for both of you in case I wasn’t clear.”

Heather sighed again. “No, I think we should discuss these terms a bit further. What if we want to include two girls in the same shoo…,”

“Deal,” Logan Ravers interrupted, shaking Kieran Blake’s hand and sealing the start of their competition, making Heather throw her hands up in the process. Now, they just had to get the approval of either Ms. Ashford or Mr. Hartburn for it to be official.