Old Thread - Study Group

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I wrote this thread a couple years ago in another story, but it’s NOT complete. I don’t have plans to continue it, I’m just in the process of transferring long threads from other stories of mine that feature my cast of characters here to At the Cabin. However, if any writer wants to pick it up and write in it, be my guest, the thread is at your disposal. I apologize if posting it here in one chunk like this isn't the ideal reading format, but the original was broken in 40 chapters, so it was faster to post it like this here.

---

A pair of bright green eyes wildly darted around the room as the black feline wondered why his human hadn’t woken up yet. Light was already streaming through the windows in that basement bedroom, so that meant humans needed to be up and running. Impatient, the cat hopped onto the bed and made his way to the sleeping form, a boy with short, dark brown hair. It softly headbutted the boy’s chin and purred until he stirred awake.

“Damn…. what’s the… uhn… matter, Orion?” Zachary Bishop groaned as he wildly blinked his icy-blue eyes in an attempt to wake up and focus his vision. He was having a rather nice dream about a certain blonde, so it was confusing to suddenly open up his eyes and see his cat instead.

The cat meowed loudly in response and waited for the human to realize it was already morning, which he did by checking the phone on his nightstand, causing Zack, as his friends and family usually called him, to widen his eyes in alarm. “Fuck…,” he muttered, realizing he was a few minutes late to the time he usually liked to wake up.

“Thanks for headbutting me, buddy. I owe you one,” he told Orion, briefly petting the cat’s head and smiling at the mewling sound that ensued, before he bolted out of the bed, poured some food and water for his pet, and then headed for the attached bathroom.

The end of summer brought the first day of school with it to the small town of Azure Rocks, and being his senior year, Zack didn’t want to be late for it, even though he wasn’t expecting anything special or exciting to happen, just like any other year. Not having a girlfriend meant his dick was in its currently aroused state, which annoyed the eighteen-year-old greatly. It was in times like these that he regretted not putting in the effort to make his relationship with Lisa Rivera work. In his defense, Zack couldn’t separate the crushes in his head from the reality of his first and only girlfriend, which meant the relationship was doomed from the start.

Obviously, he was conscious of the fact that he had made a serious mistake, his female relatives and friends were all too quick to point it out for him, but in the end, he was a teenager, all he could do was learn from the mistake and vow to never repeat it. This trip down memory lane didn’t solve the problem of his raging hard-on, though, Zack thought as he stepped into the shower.

“I can’t go upstairs with this… thing pointing up like this,” he whispered, staring at his rather impressive hard cock until his fingers softly gripped it. Fuck, who is it gonna be? Lauren Harper? Hannah? Jennifer? Or… Victoria?

---

His horny dick properly sated, or rather, as well as a quick jerk-off session in the shower could satisfy it, Zack made his way upstairs to the first floor of the Bishop house. He could hear some faint laughs and the smell of something really good coming from the kitchen, so he made a beeline to it. The sight of his grinning parents bumping and elbowing each other in front of the stove never failed to bring a smile to his face.

Both thirty-nine, Daniel and Monica Bishop had met each other still in middle school, and began dating a few years later in high school. Aside from a brief period in their senior year when they broke up, those two had always been together, and Zack considered them a staple of how a loving relationship between a couple should be.

I only wish I get someone as good-looking as Mom, though, he mused, thinking about girls and classmates he was attracted to for a reason or another.

The odd thing that no one in the family talked about because they were used to was his father’s last name. Bishop was the maiden name of Zack’s grandmother, Daniel’s mother, and he was a little hazy on the details, but his father had renounced his family and original last name, Ravers, for something that had to do with Monica, which made him admire his dad even more. Taylor, his older sister, had implied a few times that she knew what had happened, but Zachary never remembered to ask. He and his 20-year-old sister knew their father’s original family was the wealthiest of Azure Rocks, but they preferred to not dwell on that fact as their parents still managed to give them a very good and comfortable life.

At that moment, Monica turned around and saw him observing them, a smile reaching her face. “Morning, sweetie!” She told him. “C’mon, have a seat.”

Monica had long, slightly wavy dark-brown hair, icy-blue eyes, and a perfect, voluptuous figure. The button-up blouse barely contained her large pair of breasts and the snug jeans looked like it could rip with her round ass filling it. She was an Ob/Gyn doctor and owned a private clinic in downtown Azure Rocks with a neighbor that was the mother of one of Zack’s closest friends.

“Hello there, champ,” his father amiably greeted him. “So, excited to start your last year?”

Daniel had short, dark-brown hair and electric-blue eyes, aside from an almost permanent smile on his face. He really was thankful for the life and family that he built with Monica after leaving the Ravers family behind. He was the founder and owner of Bishop Tech, a software development company he idealized after graduating college.

Zack let out a chuckle. “Just as excited as any other day, it’s just another year.”

“Oh, you never know that,” Daniel said, throwing a quick grin at his wife. “Perhaps something wonderful will happen.”

Monica copied the grin as she put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her son. “I told you it’s time for you to think about your next girlfriend.”

“Mom!” Zack groaned, he didn’t like discussing his love life with his mother because she seemed to enjoy making him as uncomfortable as possible with her comments about the girls she knew.

“Take it easy with him, Mon,” Daniel laughed, earning a smirk from his sexy wife. “It’s only his first day.”

After that, the Bishop family settled in a pleasing conversation about recent events and their expectations for the day ahead. They missed Taylor, Daniel and Monica’s eldest daughter, who had left for her second year at Green Hills College the day before. Inspired by her mother, she wanted to be a doctor, although most likely not of the same specialty.

“You’re giving your friends a ride to school?” Daniel asked his son after they finished eating.

“Yep,” Zack nodded. “Minus Paris, she texted me saying that Uncle George would be driving the three of them.” Paris and her brothers, Clark and Josh, were Zachary’s second cousins, as George was Daniel’s cousin on his mother’s side.

“You should probably go see if they’re ready, then,” Monica told him, referring to the fact that both of her son’s friends lived on the same cul-de-sac as they did. “It’s already a few minutes past the time you usually leave.”

Zack checked the time on his phone and his eyebrows shot high on his forehead. “Oh, crap…”

“Language, young man!” Monica called after him as he went back downstairs to get his stuff for school, although she was grinning in amusement the whole time.

---

Once he heard the sound of his son’s car pulling off the driveway outside the house, Daniel picked up his nearly empty cup of coffee and walked over to the sink, where Monica was just finishing drying her hands. His arms encircled his wife’s waist from behind, his bulge rubbing against her ass as he pressed a kiss on her cheek, eliciting a moan from the brunette.

“Mmm, Danny,” she said, a smile growing on her face as she lightly rocked against his massive hard dick. “This is really nice, but again? We already did it the entire n-night… oooh,” she moaned as one of his hands cupped her left breast. “We’re gonna be late for work.”

“We’re our own bosses, dear,” Daniel replied in a husky voice, swiftly turning Monica to face him. “Ciara can hold the fort at the office and I’m sure Diane can take care of things at the clinic.”

“Damn, you feel so hard, honey,” Monica purred as she cupped his groin and made him groan. “Fuck it, let’s do it!”

Daniel gave his wife a wolfish grin and then crushed her lips to hers, the two of them sharing a passionate kiss. He put his hands on her plump ass and squeezed it before he lifted her up and Monica wrapped her legs around his waist. Making his way to the family den, Daniel crouched and gently deposited his wife on the fluffy white rug in front of the fireplace.

“There’s not even fire here, and it’s morning, doofus,” Monica let out an amused chuckle.

“Any time and place is good to ravage you,” Daniel replied, kissing her neck as he began unbuttoning her blouse. “To worship you like you deserve to be worshipped,” he sucked on her warm skin, causing Monica to let out a loud moan as she started getting seriously turned on. “I’m gonna fuck you so hard on this rug, Mon, your patients will be asking all day why you’re walking funny.”

Monica felt dizzy with arousal at the image her husband painted in her mind. “Fuck, Danny!” She cupped the back of his head and pulled him in for a quick kiss before staring deeply into his eyes. “Do it, then! Fuck me within an inch of my life right here, right now! Leave me a fucking mess!”

---

It was never a quickie with Daniel and Monica, love and lust were always intimately intertwined whenever their bodies clashed. The need to demonstrate that undying love in a physical manner won over their hearts, minds, and bodies. Their lips met halfway for a loving kiss, and Daniel quickly took control of it as he passionately kissed his beloved wife, continuing to unbutton her blouse. Monica kissed him back hungrily, the two of them pouring all the love they had for one another into it.

His hands went to her waist as she cupped his face with one and tangled the fingers of the other one in his short hair. She welcomed his tongue into her mouth just as one of his hands descended to her toned ass and squeezed it roughly, pulling her tightly against him and causing a moan to escape her lips. She momentarily broke the kiss to smirk at him before they clashed together for another one. This time, Daniel’s hand found her left breast and squeezed it over the lacy fabric of her bra as her own fingers began to undo the buttons on his shirt. Once they were in a sitting position and his shirt was on the floor, Monica pulled off her blouse and reached back to unhook her lacy black bra, letting Daniel lean back to enjoy the show.

The brunette gave him a sexy smile as she slowly pulled off the cups to reveal her large, bare breasts, nipples erect and pointing at him, beckoning her husband enticingly. They had almost no sag to them at all, and it was one of Monica’s physical traits that her husband loved the most.

“You like, Danny Bishop?” Monica purred, giving him a sultry, smoldering stare.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous, Monica,” Daniel whispered, he never got tired of saying that ever since they dated for the first time twenty-two years ago.

That said, neither of them could control themselves anymore and went at each other ravenously, barely able to stop in order to help each other get rid of the clothes they were still wearing. Once naked, Daniel leaned over Monica, his electric-blue eyes boring into her icy-blue ones before he kissed her again, his hands feeling up her body as she cupped his cheeks and hungrily kissed him back. Their tongues dancing together, Daniel sat up and pulled her onto his lap in front of the fireplace.

He began kissing his way down her neck, her hands playing with his hair as he took some time to enjoy her chest. Her big tits were incredible, capped with two pink nipples that were already hard and clamoring for his attention. Not wanting to keep her waiting, he bent down and took her left nipple into his mouth, sucking on it as his other hand caressed her waist up and down. Monica mewled as Daniel switched breasts and squeezed her ass. “Fucking gorgeous,” he repeated in a mumble. “So big and soft.”

“Oh, yeesss…,” the aroused wife moaned.

Daniel couldn’t get enough of Monica’s body, he pulled his mouth off her chest and once more started kissing his way down. Gently pushing her down to lie on her back on the fluffy white rug, he kneeled down and kissed her firm stomach, now with both of his hands kneading her ass. Monica tipped her head back and moaned, she loved the tender way he was treating her as her fingers played with his hair.

“I’m gonna taste you,” he told her once he finally got to her crotch, getting her very excited to see and feel the brunt of his pussy-eating skills once more. This always had been one of her favorite parts of sex with Daniel.

Daniel gazed at her almost completely bare pussy, except for a trimmed triangle of dark hair above her slit, and it was glistening with arousal. He leaned back for a moment, his eyes scanning his wife’s fully naked body up and down for the umpteenth time since they started dating years ago. Monica smirked down at him.

“What? Daniel Bishop got speechless?” She playfully taunted, a mischievous tone in her voice.

“You’re the one who’s gonna be speechless when I’m done, Monica Bishop,” Daniel replied with a smirk of his own. He took a hold of her athletic legs and spread them. The computer programmer then leaned down, kissing the inside of her toned thighs, and after that moving down to the area around her entrance, never quite going for the real prize.

“Really? You’re gonna tease me, now of all times?” Monica inquired in a husky voice, biting her bottom lip and clenching her fist on his hair. “Get going, Daniel, please…”

Daniel chuckled. “All in due time, honey,” he continued to indulge himself on her thighs and legs, feeling the smooth texture of her milky skin on his lips.

Monica grunted, letting out a low moan. “Get going, Bishop, or I swear I’m gonna snap your neck with my legs! Don’t think I can’t, I was a cheer captain…,” she growled, her pussy seemed to be on fire, yearning for his tongue and fingers.

He smirked at his wife’s threat, he thought it would be funny to tease her for a while, amused that the fiery side of her personality often came out during sex. Deciding that she had suffered enough, he took his first lick of her pussy, slowly running his tongue along her entire slit as the familiar, sweet flavor of her filled his taste buds. “Mmm, delicious, Monica.”

That said, he really got down to work on her, licking and sucking her cunt in earnest. He feasted on her folds, occasionally sticking his tongue in her fuck hole. Monica held his head against her pussy and closed her eyes, moaning loudly at the feeling of his tongue on her. Zack had already left for school and Taylor was all the way at Green Hills, so she didn’t have to worry about being loud. “Yes! Lick me, Daniel,” she pleaded between moans. “You’re so good with your tongue!”

As Daniel tasted her, he got an idea and began to use his fingers as well, rubbing her pussy at the same time that his tongue delved into her. He slowly introduced his forefinger into her, moving it in and out at a moderate pace.

Monica felt her pleasure increase even more as Daniel began to fingerfuck her along with his licking, her hands finding their way to her own tits, caressing and squeezing the two mounds. She let out a long moan. “Dammit, Daniel,” she gritted her teeth. “If you keep this up, I’m gonna cum pretty soon.”

He raised his head and smirked at her, his chin drenched with her juices. “That’s the idea,” he replied. “Well, not the pretty soon part, but you’ve got the gist of it.”

A loud scream left the doctor’s mouth when her husband took her clit into his mouth, sucking hard on the little bundle of nerves. Monica then let go of her tits and started smacking Daniel’s back with one hand and pulling his head tight against her center with the other.

“Fuck, Danny!” She yelled. “C’mon, fuck me with your fingers ‘till I cum!”

Daniel thought it was really hot seeing and listening to his beloved wife coming apart on his tongue and fingers like that. He truly couldn’t get enough of her delicious pussy, his cock painfully hard in anticipation of the fuck that would come once he made her cum. He began to suck really hard on her clit and added his middle finger to his forefinger, now penetrating her with two fingers.

At that, Monica lost it and began to buck wildly against his face, her climax finally conquering her. “Oh, God! You’re making me cum, Daniel, oh, fuck! I’m cumming, shit!” She yelled, feeling shockwaves of pleasure run through her whole body. Daniel’s cock throbbed at feeling her juices actually squirting a little into his mouth.

“Fuck, this is nice!” he said, savoring her flavor as Monica slumped on the rug, her big tits heaving as she let her body recover from the powerful orgasm.

“You…hunk of a husband…,” she said, looking at him as she weakly laughed. “That was amazing.”

“Indeed,” Daniel raised a teasing eyebrow in response. “I just love seeing you let go like that, and knowing I caused it…, just… fuck!”

She laughed for a few more seconds and then slowly raised herself up to a sitting position. Her eyes fell on his crotch and she reached over to wrap her fingers around his cock. “Mmm, this is really hard,” she pumped his thick, long shaft a couple of times before lifting her chin and smirking at him. “Mmm, what do you say, time for the second part?”

Daniel raised an amused eyebrow. "Reading my mind, are you?"

“Ass!” Monica laughed again and then pushed the dark-haired man onto the rug, her head descending on his crotch. "Let me get this big boy a little more ready first," she smirked before engulfing the cock into her mouth, drawing a long groan of pleasure from her husband as she bobbed her head up and down.

She had been with exactly four guys back in senior year during the period she and Daniel were apart, and she could easily say he dwarfed her all four of them in size. Still, she learned over the years how to properly make love to his big cock and he loved her dedication.

"Fuck, Monica," Daniel threw his head back as she skillfully sucked his cock.

Monica blew him for about a minute before the need to feel him inside her became greater, so she pulled back from the blowjob and swung her legs over his crotch as she grasped his glistening erection and lined it up with her soaked pussy. "Oh my Gooooood!” The feeling of Daniel's long shaft sliding to the hilt in her fuck tunnel had always been addicting.

“Holy shit,” Daniel whispered, closing his eyes in pleasure at the sensation of Monica’s warm, velvety cunt snugly wrapped around his dick. He soaked in that familiar feeling he loved so much. Without thinking properly, he pulled himself almost all the way out before thrusting hard again, causing his wife to scream loudly.

“Dammit! You're too big, Danny!” She mewled after the scream.

Daniel grinned and stroked her legs as he began to pick up pace in his upward thrusting, cutting off her protests. “Funny,” he actually chuckled. “I love hearing you say that."

Monica smirked down at him before leaning down. “I’m sure you do, naughty Danny,” she gyrated her hips and began bouncing on top of him, his dick sliding in and out of her.

He threw her a wolfish grin and reached up to cup her marvelous tits, hard nipples grazing against his palms. "Then ride my cock, Monica, get yourself off on it."

She grinned in response. “Fuck, oh, yeesss!” She briefly closed her eyes and hissed in pleasure, his dick hitting a particularly nice spot. Daniel knew just the ideal pace she should ride him. "Yes, fuck meee!"

The enraptured look on her gorgeous features was all it took for Daniel to lose a bit of his control. He narrowed his eyes and, grasping her tightly by the waist, abruptly moved to a sitting position, causing her to scramble to wrap her arms around his neck. “Whoa! A bit enthusiastic, aren't we?" She teased him.

“Well, you asked for it,” he said, his hands sliding downwards to cup her delectable, firm ass, all round and juicy. “So fucking sexy…,” Daniel whispered, holding her rump in place as his hips began pistoning up into her dripping fuck hole, the fireplace and the portraits in the den as their sole witnesses.

Monica moaned loudly at the sensation. “Oh, yeah? Give it to me, then!” She demanded, throwing her head back in pleasure, an action which exposed the column of her neck to him. Daniel didn’t waste the opportunity and latched his lips onto it, nipping at her skin. She helped his movements by bouncing on his lap to meet his thrusts. Needless to say, his dick was hitting all the right spots inside her. “So huge, Daniel! C’mon, fuck me!”

He grinned against her neck, her wanton moans only spurring him on to pound her harder. He made her lean back so he could hold her back and watch her face as he began quickening his thrusts. She planted her hands on the rug and leaned back even further so he could have a better view of her bouncing tits as she rode his cock. “C’mon, Bishop, don’t drop the ball on me now!”

His eyes widened at the mesmerizing view of those tits, completely bare to his viewing pleasure as the last of his control escaped him. He kept one hand on her ass and slid the other up to her back as he swiftly leaned forward to place his wife on her back on the rug. They exchanged an intense stare before Daniel grabbed her legs and resumed his thrusting movements, briefly stopping to press a kiss on her right foot. “Oh, yeah,” he grunted, feeling his cock sliding in and out of her velvety, hot pussy. It won’t be long now.

“Fuck!” Monica screamed, beginning to feel her climax getting near as well. “That’s it, Danny! Fuck me with that big dick! I fucking love it!” She demanded, his invading shaft pounding her as a wet finger started rubbing her clit, adding to the sensation. “Oh, shit!”

"God! You feel amazing, Monica!” Daniel roared, the vice-like grip of her walls around his shaft enough to send him over the edge. He pumped her a few more times and his vision went white. “Fuck!” he grunted, ropes of cum firing from his cock all the way up into her pussy. The feeling of his warm sperm shooting into her brought Monica to her climax too.

“Oh, yes, give me all that warm cum!” She screamed in pleasure, closing her eyes as her orgasm seized her body and spread to every one of her limbs. The shockwaves traveling within her were so intense that her pussy squirted again as she let out a long moan of pleasure.

Daniel collapsed on top of her, the two of them panting as their bodies tried to recover from their respective orgasms. A few minutes later, he rolled off her and opened his arms to accommodate her body as she cuddled up to him.

“This was awesome, honey,” he whispered in her ear, pressing his lips against the top of her head as his hand lazily caressed her smooth, bare back.

Monica lovingly looked up at him and grinned. “Now we’re really late for work.”

“Totally worth it,” Daniel grinned, staring down at her. “I love you more than life itself, you know that, Mon?”

“Good,” she replied, kissing his chest. “’Cause I love you too and I won’t let you go ever again.”

---

Across the town, in the most exclusive neighborhood of Azure Rocks, the grandiose Ravers Manor was located at the end of one of its streets. In its kitchen, the powerful Robert Ravers calmly walked around the kitchen, a cup of coffee in his hand as he finally came to a stop in front of one of the windows and gazed at the vast grounds outside, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face. He was already impeccably dressed up to head to Ravers Enterprises for the day, his short dark-brown hair perfectly combed.

It was rare for the 42-year-old man to look so focused on something unless it was about business or women, but as his electric-blue eyes followed a squirrel climbing up a tree outside, Robert couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh as the thoughts from the previous night refused to leave his mind. It was only the arrival of another person that broke his concentration.

“Morning, Daddy!” His eighteen-year-old daughter casually greeted him as she plopped down on one of the chairs by the table.

“Morning, Pumpkin,” Robert replied with a smile as he turned to her, putting his empty cup in the sink.

Heather Ravers was simply one of the most beautiful teenagers in Azure Rocks. She had long, dark-brown hair and the same electric-blue eyes as her father. Her body was absolutely perfect, toned and voluptuous, with her large pair of breasts threatening to burst through the shirt she was wearing, and her shapely legs sticking out of a short skirt.

She gave her father a teasing smirk, one of her most common traits. “Why the long face? Leah didn’t stick around last night?”

"My daughter, the comedian, ladies and gentlemen," he playfully said while making his way to the table, receiving a proud grin in response before she started pouring herself some juice.

Any other father would have immediately averted his eyes at the sight of a daughter's deep cleavage like the one Heather was sporting, but Robert only admired the tops of the pale pillows for a second and then sat down as well. He always thought that having a gorgeous daughter like Heather had been the gods' punishment for all the hearts he broke in his life, so he had just given up a while ago pretending he didn't have a hot daughter. He knew she was experienced and she mostly knew about all of his exploits. Their relationship had always been a close, frank one.

"She had to go home last night," he explained about his young girlfriend's absence. "But that's not the reason my face's like this."

"Oh, tell me more," Heather prodded as she sucked a finger between her moist lips, almost distracting her father again.

"Alright, what can you tell me about your cousin?" Robert inquired, fixing her with a serious look.

“Kurt?” Heather asked back with a raised eyebrow. “You already know the little there is to know about him, Dad.”

Robert chuckled. “Not Kurt, Pumpkin.”

Heather’s frown deepened, she didn’t understand where her father was going at first, until it dawned on her. “Oh, you mean Zachary? Uncle Daniel’s son?”

“Yeah, you go to school together,” Robert nodded. “What can you tell me about him?”

She shrugged, due to their fathers’ fight several years ago, she had never had a relationship with him, and they ran in opposite social circles at school, anyway. “Not much, why?”

Robert let out a sigh. “I don’t know. You know that Damon and Franklin are always trying to convince me to be the one to go after Daniel and try to make amends or something. I guess last night I was feeling particularly nostalgic, thumbed through an old family album, and…,” he had to make a pause there to not let emotion get the best of him. “Anyways, I simply don’t have the faintest clue on how I could even approach my brother after all those years. Going through his wife isn’t an option, and I know his eldest daughter lives at Green Hills now, so that only leaves his son.”

Heather stared at her father, trying to absorb all that he had just poured on her. Despite having tons of friends, Heather had always felt lonely growing up in that enormous mansion all by herself, even more after her parents divorced six years ago. Not that she particularly liked her overbearing mother, but her departure meant that an already empty house got even more so. She always imagined that if her father and uncle had never split, then Daniel and his family would probably have lived at the Manor and she wouldn’t have gone through so much loneliness.

“All I know about Zachary is that he doesn’t have many friends, is crazy smart, easily top five in my year, and he failed the try-outs for the basketball team the past two years,” she elaborated on what she knew. “I never really tried to approach him ‘cause I didn’t know what Uncle Daniel told him about us. Although, I made sure that the usual bullies in Azure Rocks High left him and his friends alone.”

Robert had to smile at that. “You, Heather, have a bigger heart than you know.”

She gave him a pleased grin. “Why don’t you get Damon or Uncle Franklin to broker a peace meeting between you and Uncle Daniel?”

The older man mused the suggestion for a moment. “Nah, it wouldn’t work,” he said. “Not if Dan knows what’s going on. He won’t want to meet.”

“I can try to get Ashley on it, ask her some stuff,” Heather referred to one of her best friends. “She’s kinda old friends with Zachary, their moms were Moon Maidens together in high school.”

“Do that,” Robert grinned. “Well, the Sapphire Ball is in two days and Daniel always goes with his family. Maybe I can have a word with young Zachary myself then.”

“Looks like a good idea, Daddy,” Heather said before she got up and briefly kissed her father on the cheek. “Now I need to get going, it won’t look good if the new captain of the Moon Maidens is late for the first day of school.”

“Want Dave to drive you?” Robert called out after his retreating daughter.

“I’ve got this!” Came Heather’s reply from the corridor outside the kitchen.

---

“So, you going to the Sapphire Ball this year too?” Zack’s best friend and next door neighbor asked from the passenger seat as he drove them to school.

“Well, Mom and Dad always insist for me to go,” he replied, giving her a quick smile, though his tone betrayed the fact that he wasn’t too excited about attending the big annual event of Azure Rocks.

“Don’t look so glum, I’ll be there too, forcibly taken. So, I can make you some company,” Chloe McRose stated with a smile of her own.

Eighteen just like him, she had long, slightly wavy red hair, clear-blue eyes, and not that Zachary had ever really noticed, quite the voluptuous, athletic body underneath the baggy clothes she usually wore to hide that fact. They had been friends pretty much their whole lives, as their mothers had met at college and struck a friendship there that carried itself back to Azure Rocks.

Zack chuckled. “Only if I can make you some company too.”

“It’s a plan,” Chloe gave him a conspiratory grin.

“You’re going too, Gav?” Zack asked their other friend on the backseat, but there was no answer.

“Gav?” Chloe insisted with a raised eyebrow. Getting no answer as well, she turned to the back of the vehicle and frowned at the sight of Gavin Westher immersed in a mobile game and not paying attention to the conversation. “Gavin!”

It made the young man snap out of his game-induced trance, his chin abruptly lifting up as he fearfully faced Chloe’s glare. “W-what?”

Their introverted friend was eighteen as well, and had short brown hair and hazel eyes that always were behind glasses. Having moved to the cul-de-sac with his mother when he was five, after the **** of his cop father, he had quickly befriended Zack, Chloe, and the former’s cousin. Chloe, Paris, and Taylor were the only girls he could talk properly to besides his mother.

“Zack was asking if you’re joining us for the Sapphire Ball?” The redhead told him, the glare turning into an amused smile. She was used to Gavin losing himself in his gaming worlds.

“Oh! I’m not sure,” Gavin replied. “Mom doesn’t know if she’ll go yet, but I hope not.”

“Don’t you want your mom to have some fun, buddy?” Zack asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Not if she drags me into it, no,” Gavin simply replied, shivering at the thought of having to endure a formal ball for an entire night. Even if his friends were probably going to be there.

Chloe shared the sentiment about not enjoying those settings too much, but if she had Zack and Paris with her, their presence always made it tolerable for her.

“Alright, then,” Zack nodded, knowing it was useless to try and change Gavin’s mind on that when he wasn’t that excited to go himself. Differently from his best friends, though, he always ended up having some fun, either by hanging out with Paris, Taylor back when she lived in Azure Rocks at the time of the ball, or some of the adults.

“There’s Paris,” Chloe said as Zack pulled into the parking lot of the school and drove toward the spot he usually parked on. His cousin, Paris Bishop, was waiting for them there after her father had given her and her brothers a ride. “Is she going to the ball too?”

Zack guffawed. “You even have to ask?”

Chloe playfully rolled her eyes and then the three friends got out of Zack’s car, a metallic-blue sedan that had belonged to Taylor before she moved to Green Hills the previous year.

“Aww, you didn’t have to wait for us,” Zack teased his cousin. Or second cousin, if he had to be more technical about it. Their fathers were the ones who were first cousins.

“What about tradition? We always enter the school together on the first day, all four of us,” Paris responded as the four of them fell in step with each other. Zack between the girls and Gavin next to Chloe.

Paris was eighteen and had long, dark-brown hair which she had religiously dyed blue for the past two years, and her eyes were of a grayish-blue shade that varied between each color depending on the lighting. She definitely wasn’t shy about her round ass and medium-sized breasts, wearing a tight pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. She would have been a boy magnet if it wasn’t common knowledge that she liked girls instead.

“Paris got a point there,” Gavin said, without looking up from his phone.

“See?” The female Bishop bumped her cousin’s shoulder. She then looked at Chloe and raised an eyebrow, almost commenting on her choice of a hoodie on such a warm day, but she knew all about her old friend’s image troubles, so she reluctantly kept her mouth shut.

“Whatever, guys,” Zack chuckled. “You think Hartburn will give us the same speech for the fourth time this year?”

“You even have to ask?” Chloe replied with his quip from earlier, causing her best friend to let out a loud laugh as they stepped into Azure Rocks High School for their senior year.

---

A very different pair of icy-blue eyes regarded the ceiling at the cafeteria, the young man they were attached to running a hand through his short dark hair as he stifled a yawn. Man, how much does he like the sound of his own voice? The very handsome Harrison Cullen asked himself as his friend Duncan Lennox talked away, unaware that he acted the same way when the subject was something of his interest.

“I need to start talking to people right away,” Duncan said, banging his hand on the table, causing Harrison to almost jump on his chair. “The election is only a month awa… are you even listening to me?”

“I am,” Harrison lied, pulling up a few of his acting skills.

Duncan rolled his eyes in annoyance. “No you’re not!” The blond boy with gray eyes retorted, already used to his friend’s tells. “You’re almost falling asleep there.”

“Well, I’m not your damn campaign coordinator!” Harrison fired back, growing irritated with the whole argument.

Duncan let out a sigh. “Yeah, Harry, you’re not,” he conceded. “But can you please listen to me for a bit?”

The blond boy was going to run for Student Council President at the end of the month, and was actually the front-runner in everyone’s guesses, having friends and acquaintances in every damn clique in the school. For that reason alone, Harrison, or Harry as his family and few friends called him, knew that Duncan was worrying for nothing. That election was in his friend’s bag already. If someone like Heather Ravers or himself joined the race, the situation would be different, of course, as they would likely win on popularity alone. However, Harry wanted as much distance as he could from the troubles of being president.

The Cullen family, along with the Ravers and Smith families, were the wealthiest in Azure Rocks, even if his family was a bit behind the other two in that regard. That brought him a natural popularity that screw-ups like his cousin, Zachary Bishop, could only dream of achieving in their lifetimes, he thought, glancing at the table where Zachary was sitting with his other loser friends.

“I’m listening now,” Harry told the other boy with a grin.

“You’re just pretending again,” Duncan replied, starting to get annoyed.

“Alright! Here’s the thing, dude, you’re worrying for nothing,” Harry said, and before Duncan could open his mouth to retort, he continued. “You’re the only motherfucker those people are considering voting for at the end of the month, so put your feet up on this table, have a drink of whatever you want, and just fucking relax.”

Duncan sighed again. “It’s not that simple, dammit!”

Harry was the one to let out a sigh this time, and when he caught sight of a certain someone passing through their table, he smirked. “Hey, Ravers!”

Heather turned to the source of the voice that had called her last name and rolled her eyes when she saw Harry Cullen. Despite their similar popularity and social status, she had never been able to get along with the conceited boy. “What, Cullen?” She tiredly asked. “Be quick about it, I’ve got more interesting places to be. No offense, Duncan.”

“None taken,” Duncan chuckled. The two of them were kind of friends, since his father held a high position on the board of her father’s company.

“Oh, the Queen doesn’t have time for us, lowly subjects, now that she’s ascended to the Olympus that is being the captain of the Moon Maidens?” Harry inquired, a rather dramatic tone to his voice before he paused to recover his breath.

Heather crossed her arms, unwittingly drawing attention to her deep cleavage, and stared at him. “You done?”

“Not quite,” Harry fired back with a smirk. “But let’s get to the point. You wanna tell this guy he doesn’t need to worry about the election? He doesn’t believe in me for some reason.”

“Oh, I wonder why,” Heather sarcastically said before she turned to the blond boy. “He’s telling the truth this time, though. I’ve already heard tons of people saying that they’re gonna vote for you if you run, Dunc.”

“Really?” Duncan asked, a small smile on his face. “That’s amazing. There’s some changes I’d really want to make if I get elected,” he excitedly explained. “It’d be great for everyone!”

Harry scoffed. “Now he believes it,” he said with a frown. “Not me, the friend. He believes in the hot cheerleader.”

Heather’s lips curled up in one of her sexy, trademark smirks as she strolled over to Harry and put a finger on his chest, his eyes briefly going down to the fantastic view he had of her tits down her top before they went back to her electric-blue eyes.

“Well,” she purred. “Maybe next time you should put on a cheerleader uniform, so your friend can believe you faster,” she kept going, her index finger making random patterns on his chest as the serious, unwavering expression on his face cracked. “I can even let you borrow one. What are your measurements?”

Duncan let out a loud, barking laugh as Heather patted Harrison on the chest with the smirk firmly in place before she sauntered away with a sway on her hips, the dark-haired boy staring at her in disbelief at being bested.

“For the record, I think you’d rock the skirt, man,” Duncan said, stammering between laughs.

“Shut the fuck up!” Harry complained before he plopped back down on his seat, a deep frown on his chiseled features.

---

Later that day, an uneventful first day back to school finally ended and Chloe, Gavin, and Zack were heading out of the building when the latter stopped at the corridor where the administrative offices and rooms were located. Paris was hanging out with other friends that afternoon, so it was just the three of them.

“You guys go on ahead,” he told his friends. “I’m gonna do one last thing.”

“What?” The redhead inquired, curious about it since he hadn’t mentioned anything.

“I’ll tell you after I do it,” Zack grinned at his best friend. “Be right back,” he tossed her his car keys. “Get cozy in the car, put on some music.”

Chloe caught it and laughed at his antics. “Alright, Lord Mystery,” she quipped. “C’mon, Gav.”

Zachary watched his two best friends walk away for a few moments and then turned to the hallway he wanted, taking a deep breath as he did so. Barely anything happened that day, Principal Hartburn indeed gave the same speech for the fourth time, then announced relevant positions in the school that had been filled for the several teams, squads, and clubs.

Heather Ravers, the first cousin Zack never talked to, had been elected the captain of the Moon Maidens, the cheerleading squad. Then none other than his crush, Victoria Walker, got the position of chief editor for the Speedy Scout, the school’s newspaper. The ones who wanted to run for Student Council President were also given the green light to start their campaigns.

However, the announcement that left every teenager in the school auditorium on edge was Mr. Hartburn revealing that he was planning on bringing back the annual fundraiser event that the school used to promote until the early 2000s and had to stop for some reason he didn’t elaborate on. Zack supposed he didn’t even know about it, seeing as he wasn’t the Principal at the time. Anyways, he asked the students to bring ideas to him and he would pick the best one in a council with teachers, parents, and select students.

I wonder what happened to those fundraisers. It’s not like charities that could use the money stopped existing, Zack mused as he walked along the corridor and did a quick math in his head. Mom and Dad were seniors the last time it was done. Maybe they know something about it.

All those thoughts were gone from his mind as he approached his destination, though. Taking another deep breath, Zack thought about his reasons to be standing next to the door of the Speedy Scout at that moment.

During his early teenage life, since he entered puberty, Zack had crushes on girls and women close to him in some way. His older sister’s best friend, Hannah Woodsen, and even the teenage girl who used to live in the cul-de-sac and babysat him, Jennifer White. He used to be close friends with Hannah’s younger sister, Ashley, and even though they drifted apart a bit over the years, he still counted her amongst his friends.

Anyways, Ashley had this girl who lived across the road from her and was her best friend. Back when they were little kids, Zack only met that girl in Ashley’s birthday parties and age meant he wouldn’t really notice her. When they entered high school, though, it was impossible for him not to notice the absolutely gorgeous, kind young woman who aced every class and was very active in the school paper, Victoria Walker. For Zack, beauty and brains was an absolutely killer combination, so he couldn’t help but develop a crush on her.

Still, they weren’t friends and had never talked to each other more than a few words in passing during classes. Asking Ashley to introduce them always sounded lame to him, and going from Ash’s penchant to find girlfriends and boyfriends for every one of her friends, she would jump at the chance of getting her best friend and old friend together. Something that Zack imagined had a lot of potential to fail. There was a time, though, back around Spring Break, that Zack had worked up the courage to make a move on her, but it was exactly the time she got her first boyfriend, Dustin Lewis, so he was **** to wait more. Dustin and his family moved away from Azure Rocks right before summer, and after bidding his time during those months, Zack was finally ready to try again. He had botched a relationship with Lisa Rivera for this, so it had to work.

He wouldn’t just walk up to Victoria and ask her out, no, the first phase of his plan was to insert himself in her daily life. Luckily for him, he loved reading, writing, and most of all, investigating, so it wouldn’t be any sacrifice doing what he was about to do. Far from it. He could hear voices coming from inside, so he swallowed hard and walked into the Speedy Scout office.

“Hello,” he said, knocking on the open door with a smile. THe office was a big room, but the amount of stuff in it made it look like a tight fit. There was a desk for the chief editor, two other desks with computers, a long table with chairs around it, a lounge area with couches, and several shelves, bookcases, and file cabinets.

The personification of perfection looked up at him from her new desk. A strikingly beautiful face with emerald-green eyes, framed by long, slightly wavy golden tresses. Victoria Walker definitely was breathtaking. She was wearing a white top with a red jacket that did a good job hiding her slightly large breasts, and a pair of jeans probably was straining to contain her round, bubbly ass, but Zack couldn’t see it at the time.

“Uhn, hi…,” she said, raising an eyebrow at seeing him there. “Can we help you, Zachary?”

For the first time, he noticed she wasn't alone in the room. Two other people were sitting on the couches and probably were the ones he heard from the hallway. A petite girl with her dark brown hair cut in a medium-length bob lifted her head from its resting place on her boyfriend’s shoulder, green eyes locking on Zack. The boy was kind of tall, had short, light brown hair and brown eyes, and he had played in the school’s basketball team since his sophomore year. Zack knew him in passing during the try-outs he did the past two years.

“Yeah,” Zack let out a nervous chuckle. “I was wondering if you still had an opening in the paper. Mr. Hartburn said at the auditorium that you needed new people here,” he explained his presence. “I just hope I’m not too late.”

Alice Phillips laughed from the couch before Victoria could say anything. “You have your pick of a spot,” she said. “You’re the first and only one here, what you see is pretty much it.”

“I’m just the photographer,” Jake Hayes grinned and gave Zack a brief wave. “Though sometimes I help lift heavy stuff.”

Zack frowned and turned to Victoria, who gave him an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, unfortunately, it’s like they said,” she dejectedly told him. “The demand wasn’t high for the Scout this year. Even compared to previous years, this is dismal.”

“Well, it’s only the first day,” Zack tried to project a positive attitude to cheer her up. “This room will be full of people by the end of the month, you’ll see, Victoria.”

It probably worked going by the small smile she gave him, which made butterflies fill his stomach. “I guess we’ll see, but it’s actually great that you came, Zachary. I was going to reach out to you.”

“Yeah?” Zack couldn’t help the big smile that split his lips at the thought that she wanted him there. “But why?”

“You’ve always been one of the top students here in English and Literature, the question is why didn’t you join the Scout before?” She excitedly asked. “We could’ve used someone like you last year.”

“She’s right,” Alice piped in from the couch. “The two of us had to share writing duties after Peter Zander graduated at the end of our sophomore year.”

“I’m sorry,” Zack embarrassedly scratched the back of his neck. He would have come if he knew they needed him. The truth was that Peter Zander, who was one of his sister’s best friends, had told him the paper would be short on writers, but fear got the best of him and he didn’t try to join the previous year. “Are you guys doing something today or… you know?”

“We usually stay behind after school the days we need to work on the articles,” Victoria explained. “But today we were just waiting on people who could’ve wanted to join. Looks like it was the right bet, Zachary.”

“Oh, please, call me Zack,” he said, pleased that his joining the Speedy Scout had gone smoothly. “All my friends do.”

“Right, Zack,” Alice said, looking between Victoria and the newcomer with a raised eyebrow for a few moments before Jake broke her concentration with a soft peck on the lips.

“We should probably get going,” Jake said. “I don’t hear anyone in the hallways anymore. Zack here is the only one for today.”

Victoria let out a sigh. “Alright,” she conceded and then turned to Zack. “I’ll let you know the days we’re going to meet once we get more members. We base it on everyone’s schedules.”

“I sure hope we don’t get as many athletes this year,” Alice snickered at Jake. “Remember how it was the year before last?”

“Hey!” Jake pretended to be angry, he knew Alice was just joking. “Baby!”

“Babe!” Alice replied, trying to mimic the stocky basketball player.

Victoria rolled her eyes, though there was a smile on her face. “If you can ignore that, the job is yours, Zack,” she said. “We’re happy to have you.”

“Thanks, I promise to do my best,” Zachary grinned widely at her, happy with everything that was happening. The introduction had been a little bit mechanical, but he was sure that this way he would be able to get to know Victoria Walker properly, for once and for all.

---

Meanwhile, Heather was in her car with one of her two best friends, Ashley Woodsen, riding beside her. She would drop Ashley home before going home herself to Ravers Manor. It was a rather modern model of a silver sedan that her father had gotten her over the summer.

“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot with all those announcements from Hartburn and the boring introductory classes,” the brunette said. “My dad wants to get to know Zachary.”

“Zack?” Ashley stopped texting her boyfriend and looked up at the other girl, an eyebrow raised. “Why?”

Ashley was a petite eighteen-year-old girl who had been one of Heather’s best friends since they were five and met in elementary school. She was slender and fit, with long blonde hair and crystal-blue eyes. Like Heather, she was a cheerleader, though she had joined in her sophomore year, a year after her friend.

“He’s feeling nostalgic or something, wants to mend fences with my uncle. But he thinks Uncle Daniel won’t be so receptive, so he wants to get to know his son first.”

“Hmm,” Ashley nodded, letting the news sink in. She knew Zack Bishop quite well after years of friendship, even if they weren’t as close now as they were as kids, something that she regretted deeply. Which was why she was sure Zack wouldn’t appreciate being used as means to an end. “Why don’t you talk to him first? See what he thinks about it?”

“Me?!” Heather blurted out. As she told her father, she had thought about the possibility many times before, but she wasn’t sure about what her cousin thought about her.

“Yeah!” Ashley looked at her with a big, excited smile. “You’re first cousins, Heather. It’s ridiculous that you two never talked at least once.”

“Well,” Heather said after mulling over the idea for a few moments. “I suppose it can’t hurt to start building some bridges now.”

“It’ll be great! I’ll be there with you two as a neutral party,” Ashley gushed. “I’ll text him later tonight to confirm everything for tomorrow at lunch.”

---

Later that night, Zack and his parents were sitting at the dining table at the Bishop house, ready to dig into the pizza they ordered from Rossi’s. Both Daniel and Monica had gotten home a bit later than usual, and neither of them really felt like cooking. Since Zack wasn’t too much of an ace in the kitchen, the family opted for some pizza.

"So, anything interesting at school today?" Daniel asked his son. "You're a senior now!“

Zack laughed. "Yeah! Actually, I joined the school paper."

Monica raised a surprised eyebrow for a quick second but beamed at her boy. "You didn't tell me you were planning to do that," she said, briefly drawing her son's attention to the top of her cleavage on display with the top buttons of her shirt undone. "Peter would be happy to know, though. Have you told him yet?"

"I told him before I did it," Zack explained, quickly averting his eyes as he felt guilty about that glance. "He encouraged me a lot. I suspect he told Tay already."

“I gotta say it makes sense, though,” Daniel grinned. “You’ve always been especially good at Literature and English.”

Monica smiled, it was true Zack had always aced those subjects, he had stuck like glue to her little brother as a kid, after all, but to wait until his senior year to join the Speedy Scout was kind of strange. Could it be this is about a girl? She wondered, feeling pretty excited for her boy. She always thought it was a shame that things hadn’t gone well with the Rivera girl, so it was nice to see Zack putting himself out there again.

“Oh, Hartburn said something about bringing back this fundraiser thing, asked everyone for ideas,” Zachary remembered. “What happened at the last one? You two were seniors, weren’t you?”

Monica and Daniel exchanged a quick amused glance, recalling the year that had been a rollercoaster in their lives. “Well, it was mine and my friends’ fault,” she said. “We had the idea of doing this big car wash to raise money for the charity our Principal at the time picked.”

“A car wash?” Zack laughed, trying to picture it happening as his brain immediately conjured images of some of his mother’s beautiful friends washing cars in skimpy bikinis. “The school allowed that?”

“Oh, they pretty much went along with everything we wanted to back then,” Monica responded with a grin. “Anyways, me and some of my friends in the Moon Maidens had the idea, but several other girls wanted to help and it went really well for a while… until the other cheerleaders heard about it.” Monica had only superficially broached the subject with her son so far, but there always had been a fierce rivalry between the two halves of the cheerleading squad at that time. There were a few girls, led by her arch-enemy at the time, Tabitha Jenkins, who didn’t agree with her being captain and often tried to make things hard for her, even if it meant the squad could implode from their actions.

“I was there when it happened,” Daniel said, though there was a conflicted expression on his face. “Your mother and I hadn’t gotten back together yet at the time.”

Monica nodded, smiling reassuringly at him. “Tabitha’s girls put together their own car wash, right across the street from ours,” she told her son. “To sum it up, we started trying to outdo each other, the police got involved and the school banned the fundraisers.”

Zack’s eyes widened in surprise and curiosity. “Why did the police need to be called?”

There was an awkward look on Monica before she smiled and reached to pat his cheek. “We’ll tell you when you’re older, sweetie.”

“Aww,” Zack turned to his father, but he mimicked zipping up his lips and shook his head.

“I wonder what they’ll come up with this year, though,” Monica mused, genuinely curious.

---

After they finished up with the pizza, Zack helped his father wash the dishes and then he headed downstairs to his room in the basement. Earlier in life, his room had been on the second floor of the house, but when he turned ten, Zack convinced his parents to let him move to the storage room in the basement because he thought it was cooler.

His bedroom had everything a teenage boy could need. A comfortable bed, a desk with a computer, a wardrobe, a big shelf with a TV and a gaming console with a big couch in front of it where he and his friends had played countless hours of video games over the years. Then there were a few bookcases with all of his favorite books and a comfy armchair next to it. Orion’s cat bed and bowls of food and water were near the door to the attached bathroom.

Orion always slept on his human’s bed, though, and it was where Zack found the cat when he stepped into the room. Plopping down on the bed next to the sleeping feline, Zachary once again wondered what the hell had happened during his mother’s fundraiser to cause the police to get involved.

Most of what he knew about the internal war in the Moon Maidens between his mother’s group and Tabitha Jenkins’ girls came from comments he had heard from Ashley, Hannah, and a few of his mother’s friends over the years, but he never really tried to find out exactly how it was. He could only imagine they started fighting each other and other people there called the police to break off the conflict. Still, the thought of younger versions of older women he knew in bikinis and getting all wet, pressing their tits and asses against cars made his dick twitch, demanding a jerk-off session.

With a frustrated groan, Zack stood up and made his way to the computer, sitting on the swivel chair as he booted up the device. When it was on, he quickly opened the website of Scorched, a magazine that sometimes did sexy photoshoots with famous women. Just a few weeks before, they had done a production with one of Zack’s biggest idols, the mystery writer Lauren Harper, and those pictures had instantly become his favorite jerk-off material.

He pulled out his hard cock and began scrolling through the pictures. The 32-year-old woman posed rather sexily, her long, light-brown hair sprawled across her back as she looked at the camera behind her shoulders with those sparkling blue eyes, her voluptuous body clad in a dark blue bikini. The teen began pumping his cock as he gazed at her round ass partially covered by the bikini bottoms.

The next picture was of Lauren lying on her front on a couch, her bare feet up in the air as she pretended to type on a laptop, wearing a snug skirt and a white bra. Fuck, he intensified the pace of his stroking. The funny thing about Lauren Harper was that she had been born in Azure Rocks, but she had moved out long ago and probably didn’t have other living relatives there, as Zack had never seen her in town.

Scrolling through the pictures and stroking his pulsing cock, Zack settled on one of his favorites. Lauren was on all fours in a bed, her marvelous, pale body clad in lacy black bra and panties as she gave the camera a smoldering look, her big tits yearning to get free of the bra. It was so hot to Zack that this sexy woman had written his favorite mystery books.

Dammit, they should’ve gotten her naked, that would be hot! He thought, pumping his long, thick cock to the fantasy.

Just as he was getting closer to spurting, though, his phone chimed with a new message on the desk. Curiosity getting the best of him, Zack **** himself to move his gaze away from the big screen toward the smaller one.

From Ashley? The young man frowned as he opened the text and read the contents of the message, slowly letting go of his dick. “What the fuck Heather wants with me?” He asked himself, all intentions of jerking himself off now forgotten at the prospect of a chat with his cousin.

---

Meanwhile, next door, Chloe was in her room on the second floor of the McRoses’ house, lazily tossing her soccer ball in the air as she decided what to do after dinner when her phone chimed with a message. The ginger frowned when she saw it came from Zack, asking if he could come over. It made her wonder what was so important that her best friend wanted to talk in person, as they weren’t strangers to texting until late in the night.

What’s going on with him today? She asked herself.

She asked him what it was about, but he didn’t want to say, so she just told him he could come. Tossing her ball into a random corner, Chloe got out of her room and bounded downstairs, opening the front door just as Zack exited the Bishops’ house and made the very short jog to her house, his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants to avoid the chilly air.

“C’mon, let’s get you upstairs before Holly realizes you’re here,” Chloe told her friend, ushering him in.

“Why?” Zack asked with a confused eyebrow raised.

“Just c’mon!” Chloe shot back, basically dragging him upstairs to her bedroom and closing the door once they were both in. They had been raised basically as siblings, and they kind of saw each other that way, so neither set of parents minded the two of them being alone with each other behind closed doors.

Chloe’s room always felt more like a boy’s room than a girl’s one to Zack. It had everything, like a bed, a desk for homework, a TV with a gaming console in front of a couch, besides a few shelves with the soccer accolades she got over the years and posters of soccer players, male and female, plastered over the walls. The only thing that would denounce the fact that a girl lived there was a vanity table in a corner of the room.

“Alright, out with it. You’re making me nervous already,” she told the dark-haired boy. She had her hair tied in a ponytail, and wore a red t-shirt and a pair of black leggings, her home and the cul-de-sac being the only places she was comfortable wearing something like that on her legs.

Zachary looked at her as he plopped down on her couch. As soon as Ashley’s text about Heather registered in his brain, he knew he had to tell someone about it. It couldn’t be his parents or Taylor, so Chloe was the natural next choice.

“So, Ashley sent me this text a few minutes ago,” Zack started his tale, sinking even more into the couch. “Heather wants to meet me tomorrow at school. Over lunch, probably.”

Chloe frowned in surprise. “Heather? Your cousin, Heather? As in Heather Ravers?”

“Yep,” he nodded, locking eyes with his best friend.

She cocked her head to the side with a quizzical look on her freckled face. “Well, did Ash say what Heather wants?”

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Zack nervously shrugged. “We never really had a conversation and she’s basically the Queen Bee in our school, I can’t imagine what she wants with me.”

“Maybe she wants to get to know you,” Chloe guessed. “You’re cousins.”

“That’s what Ashley’s text seemed to imply, but…,” he paused, trying to understand the meaning of it all. “Why now?”

Chloe let out a sigh, lying further on the couch and putting her feet up on Zack’s legs. It was something that they had unconsciously done many times before. “Well, it’s our senior year. We don’t know where she’s gonna be for college, so maybe that’s it, she wants to know her cousin before it’s too late,” she theorized before Zack began to massage her bare feet and she let out a pleased whimper. “Oh, thanks, that’s good!”

He chuckled. “Glad you still like it.” Massaging her feet was something he had done after her soccer games, almost as an after-thought and it had become something of an unspoken tradition between them. “But, yeah, maybe it’s like you said. I dunno.”

“Zack, do you want to know her? You know, become friends?” She inquired, clenching her toes at how good his massage was feeling.

Zack exhaled as his fingers worked her smooth soles. “I don't know, I never really, really thought about it. You know, I was used to the idea of just Paris, Clark, Josh, Millie, evil Harrison, and my equally bad cousins from Quartz City,” he told her, thinking about it. “Although, eight isn't that different from seven, maybe I should listen to what she has to say, at least.”

“Mmm,” Chloe hummed, unconsciously biting her bottom lip, a noise that made Zack frown at how nice it sounded. “And what about your dad? You know how things are between him and Heather’s father.”

“Hell if I know, but I’m not telling him or my mom until I talk to Heather,” Zack said, focusing on his best friend’s feet in his hands, massaging it carefully. Those were the feet that scored the most goals for the school soccer team, he would hate for the rest of the team to chase him because he did something to Chloe’s feet. They looked really good in his opinion, a fleeting thought that suddenly landed on his mind. “I think Dad wouldn’t mind me talking to her, but if it involves my uncle somehow… I doubt he'd let it go so easily."

"What… h-happened between them… anyways?" Chloe asked, humming again and her eyes briefly closed. She couldn't believe how great she was feeling with that massage, even if she hadn't played soccer that day, the soothing sensation it brought was almost… sexual. Kind of when she rubbed her pussy at night. I can't let Zack notice it, he'll think I'm a freak! Maybe I should stand up.

Another purr escaped her mouth and Zack raised an eyebrow, enjoying that noise a bit too much than he should have. Ashley's text had interrupted his jerk-off session to Lauren Harper, so his dick had never fully deflated, and listening to those sounds coming from Chloe was actually filling it up again, as much as he cursed himself for it. This is Chloe, you filthy pervert! He tried to tell himself. "Uhn…, I've n-no idea, never a-asked. I think Taylor k-knows though."

What happened next was very quick, though it had the potential of changing the nature of their relationship if either of them acknowledged it. Chloe let out a louder moan when Zack pressed his fingertips on the sole of her foot, and that sound made him jerk his hips up, causing her heels to brush against his quite hard cock. The best friends held up their breaths as their eyes found each other, an uncomfortable silence falling between them at that moment. All of a sudden, Zack immediately let go of Chloe’s feet as if they were on fire and stared at her in panic, unable to say anything. Chloe had so many thoughts running amok in her mind that she blurted out the first one that decided to escape through her mouth.

“W-wha… you’re hard?” She inquired, feet suspended in the air right above her best friend’s crotch.

“Fuck, I can explain!” He blurted out, the adrenaline overriding the awkwardness and loosening his tongue in a way that only happened because he was with his best friend. “I was having some… uhn… personal time when Ash’s text interrupted me and I never got to finish it… fuck, I’m so so...”

“Zack, dammit! Breathe…, it’s okay,” Chloe desperately tried to calm her friend down. She was incredibly spooked, but Zack looked like he was having trouble breathing, so that took precedence. “You did nothing wrong, now calm the fuck down! I don’t wanna have to call my mom for this!”

Zack took a few deep breaths as he slowly got himself under control. “Sorry,” his voice came out a little bit cracked.

Chloe watched him regain his wits with a slight frown on her face. Do they all feel like that? Felt like a tube under my heel…, she recalled, the thought flustering her a little. A virgin, Chloe had never touched or seen a dick in her life, aside of course, from the large amount of porn she usually watched in the sanctity of her room, but those were different. “Why did it stay ha… like that?”

“What?” Zack snapped his neck toward the redhead, shocked by the question. “Why would you even…, I told you why, Chlo…”

“Was it my foot?” Chloe interrupted him with another question, her frown deepening a bit as she considered that possibility. It wasn’t like she had never seen foot stuff sprinkled in the middle of sex scenes in porn movies, but it made her wonder if her best friend was into that specifically.

Zack rolled his eyes, even though she might have been very close to the truth. “Chlo! What the fuck you been watching?” He demanded, which made her blue eyes widen. She had never told anyone about watching too much porn, too embarrassed about it, but Zack didn’t know how close to home he hit with his guess as well.

"Shhh! Quiet!" Chloe shushed him, a way to drop that entire conversation that was getting too strange. "Want Holly to hear you?"

"Why have you been treating her like a monster out to get me, anyways?" He shot back, successfully distracted.

"Maybe I'll tell you someday if you don't figure it out first," she told him with an amused grin, knowing how much it was going to drive him crazy.

"Aww, why is it with everyone not telling me stuff?!" Zack protested, almost as if he was whining.

Chloe let out a hearty laugh. "'Cause it's fun," she said, standing up and patting the top of his head twice. "Since you're here, let's play some Mortal Kombat, Mr. Hard On."

"CHLOE!!!"

---

The next day found Zack walking alongside Ashley toward the gym of Azure Rocks High School. They were on their way to the office of the coach for the cheerleading squad, where Heather, the new captain, had arranged for them to meet away from the potentially prying eyes of their classmates.

“So, how was your summer?” He inquired, hating how they had drifted apart. “Didn’t have the chance to ask before.”

“Oh, it was so good, Zack! Brandon and I are going great!” Ashley gushed in response, beaming at him.

“I’m glad,” he nodded. He wished nothing but happiness for her, given that Brandon was the kind of guy that, while he had never done anything bad to him, had never been nice as well.

“What about yours?” Ashley asked as they entered the gym. “Any new girlfriends after Lisa Rivera?”

Zack chuckled at the tease. “Oh, no. I don’t think I’m good boyfriend material yet,” he told her. “My time with Lisa showed me I still need to work on some areas.”

“Recognizing it is the first step, you’d probably be fine now,” she replied, eager to find something to work with in finding him a girlfriend. A big grin then appeared on her fine features. “I heard someone has shown up at the Speedy Scout out of nowhere looking for a job. Heard anything about that?”

“I might have,” he coyly replied before letting out another chuckle. “Seriously, I don't know why you all are so shocked. Everyone just acknowledges moments after that it makes sense.”

“Oh, yeah! Your English and Literature grades,” Ashley said, pouting as she had hoped to start planting angles in his head about Victoria, but they arrived at the office and she decided to postpone that conversation. “Hey, Heather! We’re here,” she simply said in terms of announcement and then opened the door.

Zack followed her inside to a room he had never been in over his previous three years of high school. It was like a regular office, with a desk, several shelves, a table for meetings, and a lounge area with couches. The cheer coach, Piper Rossi, also was their gym teacher, but that didn't make much difference to him. Heather Ravers was patiently reclining on one of those couches, demurely sipping from a straw in a cup. Zack had to swallow hard at the sight; despite the fact that she was his cousin, Heather was simply the hottest girl in the school. Her blouse teased the top of a deep cleavage and he almost lost the battle against his wandering eye.

“Zachary! Right on time, please sit,” the sexy brunette instructed him with a big smile. “I see you two brought lunch too, good call.”

“Yep, I insisted,” Ashley playfully remarked as the two of them plopped down on the couches. She took a seat next to Heather while Zack decided to take a comfortable armchair.

Now that he was there with his cousin, about to begin their first real conversation, Zack started feeling quite nervous, especially as Heather stared at him with a very, very sexy smirk on her perfect face, as if she was amused at making him squirm.

“I got to say, you look a lot like your dad, but I can see a little of mine too,” Heather finally said, setting her cup on the coffee table.

“Uhn…, thanks, I guess,” Zack nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. He almost fixed his gaze on Ashley’s fit legs sticking out from underneath her white skirt, but got a hold of himself in time.

“Relax, Zachary, we’re family,” she told him, amused at his nervousness. She was used to it, though, most boys had the same reaction talking to her for the first time. It was kind of annoying if she had to be honest. It was the reason why she always went for older, college-aged guys.

Zack stared into her electric-blue eyes, which were identical to his father’s, and then a tentative smile broke out on his face as he relaxed a tiny bit. “In that case, you can call me Zack as my friends do.”

Heather nodded with a pleased grin. “Oh, okay then, Zack,” she said. “You’re probably confused as hell wondering why I wanted to have a chat, aren’t you?”

“The thought crossed my mind, yes,” he admitted.

“I’ll cut to the chase here, I don’t like wasting people’s time,” she said, growing a bit more serious. “The thing is, Zack, we’ve been apart for too long. I want to get to know my cousin, and… my dad wants to meet his nephew.”

Zack slowly nodded, absorbing it and letting it sink in his mind. “Heather, I’d be very happy to hang out with my cousin. I’ve got several of them, a few are great, others not so much, I’m sure you belong to the first group, but…,” he paused, gathering the proper words. “I don’t think my dad would be thrilled to know I’ve talked to your father.”

Heather frowned and opened her mouth to protest, but then she remembered why exactly her uncle Daniel left the family. Her father had told her what he and Grandpa Raymond almost did. To be truthful, she didn’t blame her uncle, but her father regretted his actions, something that she believed to be a pretty good start to mend fences and build bridges. Therefore, she devised a new strategy on the spot to achieve what she told her father she was going to.

“Alright, you’re going to the Sapphire Ball tomorrow, right?” She asked her cousin.

“Yeah,” Zack nodded with a small smile. “Always end up getting convinced to go.”

“Cool! Who’s your date?”

“Date?” Zack raised a confused eyebrow. “Me and Chloe always hang out the…”

“Oh, is she your girlfriend, then?” Heather asked, a glint in her eye. “That redhead who plays soccer and is always with you?”

Ashley guffawed at that. “Heather, they’re just best friends,” she explained. “Like you, Vicky, and me. They’ve been friends for even longer, though.”

“Exactly,” Zack closed the matter with a hint of exasperation. After maintaining an erection with Chloe’s feet in his hands, he wasn’t sure he wanted people implying they were dating. His mother already did it plenty of times in hopes he and Chloe would suddenly fall in love or something.

“Oh!” Heather realized her blunder, but it didn’t affect her. “No offense to Chloe, but that won’t do, Zack. People like us need to have a date for an event as important as the Sapphire Ball,” she explained before a thoughtful expression fell over her face. “I gotta do something, but no one would say yes on such short notice,” she said and then snapped a finger. “Ash, what’s Vicky’s status?”

Zack observed everything with a bewildered look. He was barely into his first conversation with his cousin and she already was talking about getting him a date to a ball, with his crush no less. What sort of parallel world is this that she lives in? I might want to visit it more often.

“Dammit, you were there too. She says it’s too soon to think about dates after Dustin, and that she won’t go at all if you insist,” Ashley relayed, causing Zack’s stomach to drop.

Victoria doesn’t want to… date? He repeated the words in his mind over and over, feeling as if the world had ended right before his eyes.

“Dammit, they could go as friends, especially now that Zack’s in the Scout. But then again, it’d be just like going with Chloe,” Heather said, frowning as she mulled it over a bit more. “Oh!” A big grin split her lips. “What about Hannah? She’s still in town, right?”

Now Zack’s eyes almost popped out of his skull in absolute shock. She went from his current crush to the first one that had never really faded completely? His dick throbbed at the thought of having Ashley’s older sister as a date to the ball and his heart started beating faster like a jackhammer.

“Yeah, she decided it was worth it losing the first couple of days at Green Hills to attend the ball,” Ashley responded. “You know Han, though, she always goes stag so she can pull off her bullshit.”

“Aww, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind doing Zack here a solid,” Heather argued in a convincing tone. “Aren’t your sisters like childhood friends or something?”

“Yeah, but…,” Ashley shook her head, the thought was too absurd for her. “I really don’t think this is a good idea, Heather.”

“I’ll call Hannah, she’ll agree with me,” Heather grinned and turned to Zack. “There, Zack, you’ve got a date for the Sapphire Ball.”

“I… I…,” he stammered, unable to talk due to the grandiosity that was going to a ball with his first crush. What the fuck, Heather’s awesome!

Ashley sighed, shaking her head. “Taylor is so gonna kill Han if she says yes.”

“Oh, yeah! She’s my cousin too, we gotta meet!” Heather smirked and then turned to the only boy in the room. “But you first, Zack. Now that I’ve scored you a date for the ball, you need to promise me you’re gonna talk to my dad tomorrow at the ball when he comes looking for you.”

Zack nodded frantically, he wasn’t even thinking about anything else at that point. “Yes! Absolutely, anything you want.”

---

The rest of Zack’s Friday and the first part of his Saturday went on pretty much uneventfully, although he was feeling quite nervous about taking Hannah to the Sapphire Ball in about an hour. He hadn’t even talked to her properly, her only form of contact had come in the form of a text late the previous night. A simple ‘Yes!’ had been her answer. Since Zachary was too nervous about it, he left it at that and decided to deal with it only when he met her at the Woodsens’ house to drive her to the ball.

That morning, he had received a text from Heather telling him to wear a tux for the ball. He had never worn one for the other editions of the event, but luckily for him, he had a tuxedo in his wardrobe that he seldomly used. The shirt and the tux were white, while the slacks and the bow tie were black. Said tie was the only article he hadn’t put on yet as Orion observed him in front of the mirror, seemingly undecided if that was more interesting than taking a nap.

A light knock on the open door made him turn around to the sight of his mother coming into his room. “You ready, sweetie?” Monica inquired.

Zack would have answered like a normal human being, but his mom’s attire made him tongue-tied for a few moments. Since she and Daniel would leave a little bit later, Monica was still wearing a black satin robe, loosely tied around her waist. Zack cursed his traitorous cock for twitching at the sight of her large tits jostling under the robe, but at least he could see the hint of a black lacy bra, otherwise he was sure his mother’s mammaries would have burst free of that robe by now as she walked toward him.

“Uhn…,” he managed to quickly redirect his gaze to her blue eyes before she could notice where it was. “J-just the tie left.”

“Oh, let me do it for you,” Monica volunteered, picking up the bow tie from the nightstand.

It had always been kind of difficult for Zack being the kid with the hot mom growing up, as he could often hear compliments coming from every direction. Not that the other mothers weren’t stunning, but Monica Bishop was almost on a level of her own above the others. If only the problem was just the other kids whispering about her, Zachary thought, but his own gaze would often find itself entranced by his mother’s beauty and sexiness, thoughts that he had always been successful in suppressing as soon as they popped up in his mind. That was something he intended to keep that way, but it had always been one of the hardest tasks of his life, especially when he could often hear her moaning in pleasure from the top floor whenever he went up to the kitchen at night to drink some water or milk.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Monica said, wrapping the tie around her son’s neck and proceeding to tie it. Her breasts were almost touching his chest, but she paid no mind to it. “So, Hannah, huh? What’s wrong with you and Chloe going together again?”

“Nothing wrong, Mom. Chloe and I always end up having some fun, one way or another,” he replied, valiantly trying to stop his gaze from slipping down to her cleavage. “But… someone pointed out to me that it was better to be at the ball with a proper date.”

Monica smiled. “A proper date,” she repeated in amusement. “Well, that person wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but are you sure it needs to be Hannah, Zack? Your sister has already called me three times since yesterday to get me to pull the plug on this. Three times.”

Zack winced. “Yeah, Tay sent me several texts already. I’ve stopped reading them after the fourth one,” he confessed. His older sister had never liked the idea of him having a crush on her best friend, but now there was nothing she could do all the way from Green Hills. “Besides, we’re going as friends, Mom,” he tried to reassure his mother. “I have no illusions that something will happen between me and Hannah tonight.”

The sexy mother of two gave him a small smile. “I wish you had more faith in yourself, Zack,” she said, a serious look in her icy-blue eyes as she finished with his tie and inspected her handiwork. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Hannah, she basically grew up here, but she’s not the kind of girl you need to be going after, sweetie. I agree you need to be fucking,” she rolled her eyes at his flinching. “Yes, Buster, fucking girls, so you can start scoring yourself some experience.”

“Didn’t you just tell me to have faith in myself?” Zack asked with a quizzical look to his mother. That conversation was starting to spook him up.

“To do things in their correct order, yes,” Monica replied, matter-of-factly. “You need more experience before you get to the emotional level for dealing with Hannah and all possible outcomes, including the bad ones.”

Zack smiled at his mother and leaned in to kiss her cheek, eager to put an end to that conversation about him fucking girls, made it even more awkward by how little she was wearing. “Thanks for the concern, Mom, but I already told you, nothing’s gonna happen tonight.

Monica sighed, wondering if she was worrying herself too much. “Anyways, sweetie, now I want you to satisfy your mother’s curiosity,” she smirked at him. “Who’s the person who told you to take a date to the ball?”

Zachary stopped in his tracks and turned to his mom with a sheepish look on his face. “I thought I was gonna get away with that one,” he sheepishly replied, getting another teasing smirk from Monica that told him a truthful answer was required. “Well…, you see, how do you think Dad would react if he knew I was talking to Heather?”

“Heather…,” Monica trailed, not connecting the name to a person right away.

“Heather Ravers, Mom, my cousin,” Zack clarified. “You think Dad would be mad at me?”

Monica raised a shocked eyebrow, but refrained from commenting on her surprise. “Honestly, I don’t think your father would mind so much. The poor girl can’t be blamed for her father’s actions, she’s probably only trying to connect with her estranged cousin,” she mused out loud. “Well, I guess that as long as you’re not meeting her father…”

“That’s when Dad would probably have words with me, right?” Zack asked and Monica ruefully nodded. Well, I’m glad I didn’t tell them. Maybe Heather can arrange some sort of private meeting?

“Alright, c’mon, give me a kiss before you go,” Monica requested and Zack walked back to her before she cupped his face and brought it closer to hers for a brief, gentle peck on the lips that caused the young man to jerk backward.

“Mom!” Zack loudly complained, it had been a few years since she had kissed him on the lips. It didn’t stop his cock from twitching and his mouth from tingling, though. Damn, Mom! Stop it!

“Remember, Buster, treat Hannah right no matter what,” she recommended, ignoring his outburst. “She’s a woman and I like to think I raised a gentleman.”

That made Zack grin. “Of course, Mom,” he nodded and then started walking out of his room before she could try and kiss him again. “See you there!”

Monica just chuckled in response and then worry took over again as she began making her way upstairs and back to her room. Zack didn’t seem to understand the possible consequences of having a crush on a girl like Hannah. He could very well end up hurt either way, if she rejected him or fucked him and then told him afterward that it had been nothing more than a one-time thing.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked upon seeing the troubled expression on his wife when she entered their room.

“It’s Zack,” Monica replied, sitting on the edge of their bed. “I’m not feeling good about this ‘date with Hannah’ business.”

Daniel, who had been in the middle of getting dressed, walked over to the bed with his shirt unbuttoned and plopped down next to his wife. “Let him have his fun, Mon,” he smiled, pulling her into his arms. “We’ve known Hannah forever, she’s almost like a second daughter, and Zack carried a huge torch for her for a long time. Even if it results in nothing, I think our boy deserves this night,” he said. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Monica rolled her eyes, though she gave her husband a sad smile. “I swear, you men are blind when it comes to your daughters and their friends,” she then let out a rueful laugh. “I’ve been like Hannah, Danny. I know all too well what can happen.”

Daniel pursed his lips, that affirmation bringing back the conversation about the car wash from the previous night, as well as other memories from that year. “Mon, do you…, do you miss it?”

“Miss what?” Monica raised a confused eyebrow as she looked up at him.

“Your… wild phase or whatever you wanna call it,” Daniel clarified, carefully so he didn’t sound spiteful.

Monica smiled at him and gave her husband a peck on the lips. “You’re adorable, you know that?” She rhetorically asked, a hand landing on his chest. “You know very well that it wasn’t really me, Danny. As fun as it was at times, that girl was just a scared version of me trying to escape the reality I got too frightened of,” she explained. “The reality that I loved you to **** already and nothing could change that.”

Daniel let out a sigh of relief. “I know that, I love you like hell too, but sometimes I hear you talk about that time and… some bad feelings come up again,” he said. “Whenever you were with your cheerleader friends, I always felt you were having too much fun and would decide to leave me one day. I remember Theodore and Vanessa wondering the same thing.”

“Silly Dan, that’ll never happen,” she playfully pinched his nose. “Besides, there’s no wild and quiet group anymore. All of us are grown-up, married people with respectable jobs.”

“Yeah,” Daniel chuckled. “I just wish Theo still lived in Azure Rocks and Alexis wasn’t such a hardass.”

“I know,” Monica nodded. “Well, we both apologized countless times. After all these years, it’s Alexis who has to take the next step, and until she does, there’s nothing we can do.”

Alexis Stewart, or Stewart-Lennox now, had been a close friend of theirs in middle and high school. When Daniel and Monica broke up at the end of their junior year and Monica got into her wild phase, he and Alexis dated for a few months, but he ultimately broke up with her so he could get back together with Monica. Alexis cut ties with them and the rest of their friends on the spot and they never talked to each other again. Nowadays, Alexis held an administrative job in her family’s orchard and got married to a man who worked in a high position at Ravers Enterprises.

“Speaking about the past,” Monica said. “Zack asked me today if it was okay for him to become friends with Heather, your brother’s daughter.”

“Oh?” Daniel sharply turned toward her again, a deep frown forming on his face.

“Don’t give me that look, Dan,” Monica lightly chided him. “That girl and her father are two different persons. She wasn’t the one who tried to screw us over back then.”

“Are we sure, though?” Daniel replied in a tired tone. “Damon and Franklin sometimes tell me how Robert is grooming his daughter to replace him at RE. They feel she’s being pushed into it too early, too soon,” he said. “My point being, how do we know it isn’t some sort of fucked up plot cooked up by my dear brother?”

“We don’t know, honey, but I definitely don’t think it’s fair to put that much distrust on a teenage girl,” Monica said. “I told Zack to stay away from Robert, though.”

Daniel let out another sigh at that. “I suppose that’s for the best,” he nodded. “I mean, I barely know my brother anymore. Who knows how worse he’s gotten in twenty two years?”

---

Across town, in a neighborhood where large, fancy houses rose on each side of the street, the Cullens had made their new home after the construction of the Steeltown Mall in a partnership with the Smith family saw their financial status skyrocket to new heights. They had never been exactly poor, but the family’s real estate business grew exponentially with the profit that came from the mall and other projects and investments that came after.

In his room on the second floor of the house, Harry had just finished getting ready in a black tuxedo over a white shirt, with a black bow tie as the finishing touch. Events like the Sapphire Ball were the kind of occasions that the young man thrived in. Girls competed for his attention, boys wanted to be near him and take advantage of his popularity, adults listened to his opinions, it was always a great moment.

“Knock, knock,” a melodious female voice spoke from the door and Harrison grinned at the sight of his gorgeous mother walking into the room.

“Hi, Mom,” he replied. “Looking great as always.”

Madelyn Cullen gladly returned the smile, long dark hair framing a beautiful face. The 42-year-old woman was wearing a black dress that, while not revealing, was kind of form-fitting, displaying her curves in a tasteful manner. It reached her knees, and the fabric valiantly stretched over her firm butt and the very large pair of breasts sitting proudly atop her chest. For Harrison, there was no creature on Earth more beautiful than his mother.

“Charming, honey,” she said, stepping in front of the mirror with him, his arm immediately wrapping around her waist as their identical icy-blue eyes stared at one another. “So, ready to go yet?”

“Oh, yes,” he nodded. “Just got finished here, actually.”

“Good, punctuality is a nice quality I want you to never forget,” she rested her cheek on his shoulder. “Are you taking Naomi tonight?”

Harry nodded at her reflection. “Yes, she should be expecting me any moment now.”

“Don’t let me keep you, then, go,” Madelyn released her son and took another look at him. She wished he found a nice girlfriend soon to keep him grounded, as single teenage boys were quite prone to do stupid things, even the most well-centered ones like Harrison. Naomi had always been a nice girl in her opinion, but Madelyn preferred that she and her son remained as good friends only. No, her boy deserved a girl born into a more prestigious family. It was only right.

“As you wish, Mom,” Harry said and then drew Madelyn into a hug, feeling her large breasts pressing into his chest as his hands splayed over her back, which caused his cock to twitch in his boxers. His gorgeous mother and her incredible body turned him on so much, he thought. Wish I could see her in a bikini more often, the young man fantasized, thinking back to how she rarely used the large pool in their home. Or even in a sexy lingerie set.

Madelyn smiled after they broke the hug a few moments later and leaned in to press her lips on his cheek. “C’mon, I don’t want you to be late.”

Almost as if it was muscle memory, Harry gave his arm so his mother could link her own arm through it and he led her out of his room. The pair moved through the second floor of the spacious house before reaching the stairs and walking down the steps to the ground floor, where his father was waiting in an elegant tuxedo of his own.

“Right on time,” the man said with a small, discreet smile as his sharp gaze observed his wife and youngest son. His daughter had already left three days before for her first year at Green Hills College. He admitted that he would have preferred for Milena to attend Dragon Lake University as he and his wife had done, but he decided against being one of those fathers that put their foot down about silly traditions. Besides, Green Hills was closer than Lakewood.

Harrison thought that, if he made an effort to go through all the people he knew in his mind, Hendrik Cullen was quite possibly the only man he respected. The 47-year-old had made his wealth and success by himself, without having anything handed over to him. That was the only respectable goal in Harry’s mind, to make the effort so that one day he could be worthy of that legacy in his own way.

He respectfully passed his mother on to his father, the moment that Hendrik gave Madelyn a brief peck on the lips. “Are you two on the move as well?”

“Yes, I told Arthur we’d meet him there at the Convention Center before it got dark,” Hendrik explained. “You better go pick up Naomi soon, you know how your mother hates tardiness.”

Madelyn let out a chuckle, giving her husband’s other arm a light swat. “Enough jokes at my expense, you two. Let's go.”

---

Meanwhile, Zack parked his blue sedan in front of the Woodsens’ house, taking a deep breath as he killed the engine, nervousness threatening to freeze his body and mind at the enormity of what he was about to do. That was when a gentle hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to the always comforting face of his best friend.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Chloe said. “Go get her and I’ll move to the back.”

“Why?” Zack shot back with a quizzical look.

She chuckled. “Well, when you were dating Lisa, you didn’t make her sit in the back, did you?” She inquired while moving between the seats. “Maybe that’s why she dumped you.”

“Very funny, you know why Lisa broke things up,” he returned the banter. “I’m not dating Hannah, though.”

“No, but she’s your date tonight. So go ring that doorbell already and don’t poke her, Mr. Hard On,” Chloe teased him further, briefly sticking out her tongue.

“Great, you’ve de-aged to twelve,” Zack rolled his eyes, though there was a smile on his face. “You’re never letting me live that down, are you?”

“Nope,” Chloe responded, popping out the last syllable. She was wearing a simple, short-sleeved white dress that was looser around her chest and went down to her knees. Over it, she put on a red cardigan that was currently unbuttoned, and on her feet she opted for a pair of low-heeled white shoes.

“Serves me right, I guess,” he snorted at her. “Be right back.”

His hands were sweaty when he finally rang the doorbell. No matter how much time passed, nothing could have properly prepared him for that moment. His original crush, the one who never fully fizzled out; he would be taking her as a date to the most prestigious ball of the year in Azure Rocks. That was no small thing, no matter how serious that date was or not.

He almost fainted when the door opened to reveal the voluptuous form of Hannah Woodsen in a snug, short dark blue dress. Her wavy blonde hair flowed down her back as her mischievous crystal-blue eyes stared into his icy-blue ones with a smug grin. The 20-year-old girl truly was the personification of absolute sexiness.

“It’s Zack! Mom, see you there!” She briefly turned away to yell at her mother before closing the door. “My, my, don’t you look handsome?” Her eyes scanned him up and down once.

“And you look as beautiful as always,” Zack responded, wondering how the hell he got the guts to say that. It gave him an excuse to return the roving gaze and notice her buxom breasts almost bursting the fabric of the dress.

Hannah gave him an approving smirk. “Smooth, Mr. Bishop.” She had an urge to tease the younger boy, but Taylor had pleaded with her to go easy on her brother after she failed to convince Hannah to drop the idea. She didn’t want her brother to freeze by her best friend’s side and ruin both of their nights. Still, the blonde was pleased with the compliment, and she really thought he looked good.

“I see someone finally decided to embrace their Ravers side,” she poked him with a finger. “I always tell Tay to do the same, but she refuses to listen.”

Zack chuckled. “Well, you know my sister. She’s always been a bit stubborn.”

“Just a bit?” Hannah raised an amused eyebrow. “Anyways, I’m glad you’re hanging out with Heather now, Zack. You guys are family and I’m pretty sure she’ll push you to be your best version.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to get to know my cousin after so many years,” Zack nodded, and then, before an awkward silence could fall between them, he offered his arm. “Well, then, shall we?” He inquired with a smile. He almost took her hand to kiss it, but he suspected she would find it lame and old-fashioned.

“Yeah, let’s raise some hell,” Hannah giggled again, looping her arm around his as he led her to his metallic blue sedan. Once there, Zack opened the door for her and she got in, noticing Chloe in the backseat. “Oh, Chloe, nice to see you here!” During all the years of visiting Taylor at the Bishop household, she had gotten to know the girl her best friend saw as a surrogate sister and became a little bit protective of her as well.

“Hi, Hannah,” Chloe greeted the older girl with a smile and a wave as Zack entered the car as well. “How’s it going?”

“I’m always great, you know that,” Hannah grinned at her and then threw the young man in the car a suggestive smirk. “Damn, Zacky,” she drawled, sending a shiver down his spine as he always liked her calling him that. “One day of being around Heather and you already have two dates for the Sapphire Ball?”

“What?!” Zack and Chloe blurted out in unison before he tried to explain it. “It’s not like that, Hannah! It’s just that Chloe and I always come toge…”

“Well, no reason you can’t have two dates to the ball,” Hannah shrugged with a wicked grin.

“But I’m not…,” Chloe tried to protest but was interrupted by the blonde as well.

“You’re gonna be his date too, Chloe,” Hannah briefly turned around to the backseat and grinned at the panicked ginger. “Oh, this is gonna be so fun, Zacky! You might even put your uncle to shame.”

Zack raised a curious eyebrow as he turned on the car once again, wondering what his crush meant with that quip about his uncle.

---

The Sapphire Ball, just like it happened every year, would be held in a place owned by the city hall in the outskirts of town, near Cobalt Lake. It was a large, luxurious building used for big events, balls, and parties. Other smaller events also used the ballroom in the Ebony Garden hotel in downtown Azure Rocks after it was inaugurated three years ago, but the Sapphire Ball continued to be held in that building. Partly because its size accommodated the ball more properly, but there was also tradition to consider, and that, the citizens of Azure Rocks intended to keep.

As Zack drove up the hill overlooking the lake where the building was located, he couldn’t help but admire it. It was an enormous two-story building, with almost every one of its outer walls made of glass, which provided an amazing view of Cobalt Lake. The driveway crossed a beautiful garden until it made a turn to the parking lot next to the convention center.

“Honestly, they should’ve just put up a huge sign saying ‘CCC’ and be done with it,” Hannah snickered. “Would’ve saved up the money they wasted on that one with the full name.”

“That or a big ‘C’ with a double shadow behind it,” Zack nodded with a grin as he found an empty spot and steered the car toward it.

“Mmm, smart,” Hannah commented. “But I shouldn’t be surprised, considering who’s your sister.”

“Taylor didn’t want to stay for the ball?” Chloe asked from the backseat.

“You all know Tay, couldn’t lose two days of classes for this,” she waved in the general direction of the party.

“Well, to be fair…,” Zack started. “I wouldn’t have stayed either.”

“And miss out on a date with little ol’ me, Zacky?” Hannah teasingly patted his cheek. “Or rather, with two sexy beauties like us, huh?”

That made a slight frown appear on Chloe’s face, she didn’t like people being nice about her appearance just to spare her feelings. “Really, Hannah. You and Zack can go have your fun, there’s no need to drag me around too.” She always had fun hanging out with her best friend during those balls, but the idea of making it an official date, even if just to play a prank on people, sounded a little bit too much for her. Plus, she wanted to make herself scarce in the event that Zack managed to get anywhere with his longtime crush.

“Nonsense, Chlo,” the older blonde turned to her and smiled. “I’m the one who doesn’t want to crash on you guys’ tradition. So, the only solution is Zack getting two dates.”

“Yeah, let’s get this over with,” Zack said, eager for her to stop teasing him. He was starting to think this whole idea had been a huge mistake if he didn’t manage to come up with a way of withstanding all that teasing. Also, the idea of Hannah trying to push Chloe as another date made him really uncomfortable, not only because she was his best friend and almost a second sister, but the erection he sprouted with her feet in his hands still bugged his brain when he thought about it. Plus, he just knew it was gonna make her hyperventilate, and he definitely didn’t want her upset.

“Aww, you’re no fun, Zacky,” Hannah giggled as Zack got out of the car to open the door for them. Chloe made a move to hop off as well, but Hannah held up a hand to stall her. “He’s our date, let him open the door for us.”

The redhead threw her an exasperated look. She wasn’t used to that and it felt weird having Zack do something she was perfectly capable of doing. Still, she waited for him to open their doors. To her surprise, Zack opened hers first and then did Hannah’s.

His heart skipped a beat when Hannah linked her right arm through his left, he would never get used to that, as fake as the date ended up being. When he started walking, the older girl put her other hand on his chest and stopped him. At his quizzical look, she just grinned. “You’ve got another arm, give it to Chloe.”

“Oh, that’s really not necessary, Hannah,” Chloe panicked and shook her head, but the blonde just smirked and grabbed both of their arms, Chloe’s left and Zack’s right, before linking them together. She then returned to Zachary’s left side.

“There, now we can go and people will believe this dual date thing,” she proudly declared.

Chloe threw Zack an annoyed look, but he just shrugged in response, resigned to going along with everything Hannah decided. Walking with a girl in each arm, Zack soon reached the entrance of the convention center and was almost surprised at the sheer number of people inside. Other years had been just as packed, so it didn’t shock him too much. The first floor was divided between a large open space that featured a DJ playing songs and was occupied mostly by young people, and a big auditorium that wouldn’t be in use that night. Adults normally mingled in the actual ballroom, which took up the entire second floor.

“C’mon, let’s go there and find the others,” Hannah said, tugging the best friend duo to the spot where their fellow youngsters were dancing or merely hanging out, past the big, modern set of stairs that led people to the upper floor.

Zack and Chloe exchanged a look, wondering if Zack really was a part of Heather’s group now, and if that meant Chloe was by default as well. Hannah was looking for Heather and her younger sister, Ashley, since most of her own friends hadn’t stayed behind at Azure Rocks.

The trio squeezed their way between the dancing people and found Heather near the back, next to a glass wall that overlooked Cobalt Lake. The beautiful brunette noticed them first and nudged Ashley, who was standing by her side. The petite blonde widened her eyes in a mix of surprise and confusion at the approaching sight.

"Damn, Zack," Heather grinned in amusement. "Didn't think you'd learn the Ravers way that fast!"

"Yeah," he embarrassedly nodded, flustering when Hannah laughed. "How are you guys?"

"Great," Ashley replied while giving her older sister a deep glare. If Hannah kept parading Zack around that way, then she wouldn't be able to put her matchmaking plans into action, not to mention that Hannah could end up hurting Zack badly if she wasn't careful.

"So, where's the orc?" Hannah inquired once she noticed the look on her sister's face.

"My boyfriend, whose name is Brandon, is hanging out with his friends right now," Ashley took her time responding. "But he'll be here soon."

"Anyways," Heather shifted the attention to herself once again. "You guys already know Tanya from school," she pointed to one of her best friends not only in the cheer squad, but in general as well. A fit, dark-skinned girl with long, straight black hair and an ample chest. She waved at them with a teasing grin.

"I must say, things might get real fun from now on with another Ravers around," Tanya Jones giggled.

“I’m just a Bishop,” Zack said with a small smile, his gaze quickly assessing the girls’ dresses for the night, even though he needed to chastise himself for basically ogling his cousin and an old friend.

Heather was wearing a snug, strapless dark-blue dress that hugged all her curves, especially the large swell of her chest. Tanya had her fit, athletic body squeezed into a purple dress that also emphasized her large bust. Ashley had opted for a light-blue dress that wasn’t as skin tight as her friends’, it just looked incredibly cute on her. However, Zack was starting to wonder where Victoria was, as she was a pretty close friend of both Heather and Ashley.

"This gentleman here is Andrew Nordstein," Heather pointed to a slightly older guy who was standing next to her. He had short brown hair and gray eyes. "He's a friend from White Peaks. Our dads are friends and do business together."

"Hello, everyone," Andrew nodded and smiled at the newcomers.

"Say, Andrew," Hannah drawled, eyeing him up. "I've never seen you at Green Hills. Where do you go for college?"

"Quartz City University," the 20-year-old explained. "Let's just say dear old Dad wanted me to learn in the worst environment possible." The others just gave him sympathetic smiles, everyone knew about Quartz City's bad reputation.

Ashley pulled Chloe aside as Hannah, Heather, and Tanya ganged up on Zack and Andrew, “Hey, what’s this all about?” She inquired in a whisper.

“Don’t look at me, it was all Hannah’s idea!” Chloe fired back in the same whispered volume. “She wants Zack to be seen with two dates for some reason I’m not getting.”

Ashley raised an intrigued eyebrow, it kind of made sense. Zack being seen with two girls, one of them being the legendary former captain of the Moon Maidens, could raise his profile in the school and make it easier for her to find him matchmaking opportunities. On the other hand, they needed to keep an eye on Hannah and not let her hurt Zack in any way, either intentionally or not. It was no secret to anyone in the Bishop and Woodsen families that Zack had a crush on her sister, and knowing how Hannah could be, they all felt protective of Zack in regards to that particular matter.

“Okay, but keep an eye on them, Chloe,” Ashley told the redhead. “Hannah can't be trusted to not fuck this up. She has no acceptable limits.”

“Why me?” Chloe softly inquired in a whining tone. Although, she knew at once why it had to be her. She and Zack were best friends, there was no one better equipped to make sure he didn’t get himself into trouble.

“Brandon will be here soon and I’ll have to spend some time with him,” the blonde cheerleader explained. “I can try and make some time every once in a while, though, so you can go hang out with your friends too.”

Chloe smiled at her thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Ash.”

Meanwhile, Zack and Andrew politely watched as the girls chatted about the cheerleading squad. Being a former captain, Hannah was grilling Heather and Tanya about potential ideas for the upcoming year.

“I’ve got a few ideas, but I need to sit down with Mrs. Rossi and Sharon to discuss,” Heather explained.

“We’ll never top your mooning idea, Hannah,” Tanya commented with a smirk. She and Heather were the current longest serving cheerleaders in the current squad, having entered the squad in their freshman year, which meant they shared two years with Hannah in it.

“Well, we were the Moon Maidens, weren’t we?” Hannah snickered.

When she was the captain of the cheer squad two years ago, Hannah introduced a tradition that the seniors in the squad would flip up their skirts at the end of every routine, effectively ‘mooning’ the crowd with their asses swallowing a skimpy g-string. It caused a bit of a stir back then, but the school couldn’t block it after how much the crowd enjoyed it and started to demand it during games.

“I’m so looking forward to my first mooning this year,” Tanya gushed. “That was such a sexy idea!”

Heather chuckled at that, while she didn’t think much about it, the prospect of capturing the attention of the crowd with her body and sexiness made her arousal skyrocket. It made her wonder how many men were eagerly anticipating the unveiling of the nearly bare ass of the Ravers heiress during the games that year. Damn, that’s so fucking hot, she thought, taking a deep breath to try and get her body under control. Maybe Andrew and I can sneak away for a bit? The brunette asked herself, glancing at the guy who had claimed her virginity two years ago.

“Anyways, you girls looking forward to the list reveal later?” Hannah inquired. “I bet Heather here will snag a couple ones.”

“We don’t know yet,” Heather replied in a sing-song tone, preferring to be polite about it.

“Oh, please,” Tanya rolled her eyes. “We all know you got at least ‘Sexiest One’.”

Heather shrugged with an amused smile. “If you say so.”

The students of Azure Rocks High School had a tradition about voting for their classmates in several categories at the end of junior year, such as the cutest one or the sexiest one, and the winners, for both genders, were usually revealed at the start of their senior year during the Sapphire Ball. It was just another thing most of them looked forward to during the ball and generated plenty of whispers amidst the teens, to speculate about the winners.

Zack was feeling kind of uncomfortable and out of his element in that group, he didn’t even care about the list reveal, since he was absolutely sure he wouldn’t be in it, so he discreetly extricated himself from Hannah and moved over to where Chloe and Ashley were chatting. He linked his arm with Chloe’s again, which caused the redhead’s eyebrows to rise in confusion.

He just shrugged. “Play along, you know Hannah will bug us if we don’t act like this is a date too.”

Chloe groaned and Ashley giggled at her old friends. The blonde bit her bottom lip as she gazed at them, thinking that Zack and Chloe looked like a damn good couple in her eyes, but they had spent so much time together over the years that they certainly saw each other more like siblings. Aww, those two would be like the ultimate matchmaking project, she thought, not to mention the fact that they would most likely yell at her if she suggested that possibility. “Eep!”

Zack and Chloe almost jumped at Ashley’s squeaking, but relaxed once they saw it was just her boyfriend wrapping his arms around her from behind, his face dipping down to press his lips against the side of her neck.

“Bran!” She grinned, knowing full well to whom those arms and lips belonged. They had been dating since the last Spring Break, after all.

“Hi, baby,” he replied, kissing her cheek again.

“You done with the boys?” She asked, turning around in his arms.

“For now,” he chuckled. “They still want me to go back there later.”

“I’ll go with you, then,” Ashley told him, not wanting to leave her boyfriend alone with his teammates for too long. She just knew there were other girls in the school who would love to steal him from her.

Brandon was a stocky, tall boy with short black hair and dark-brown eyes who had been in the school football team for the past three years, ascending to starting quarterback in his junior year. He could be a little arrogant sometimes, but most of the other students usually liked him, with the obvious exception being the members of the basketball team, with whom the football team had a longtime rivalry for attention in the school.

He noticed the two people with his girlfriend and nodded at them. “Zack, Chloe,” he greeted with only a small smile that Zack suspected to be out of politeness.

“Brandon, how’s it going?” Zack greeted back while Chloe only nodded.

“Been great, this ball thing is real fun,” Brandon responded, not returning the courtesy of asking about the other boy’s condition.

Zack had never truly understood why he and Brandon didn’t end up as friends. His parents had been close friends to Brandon’s mother in high school and they remained friends afterward as well, but that never translated to their boys. Too many different interests probably messed that up from the start. Brandon’s twin sister, Madison, on the other hand, had been friends with Zack, Chloe, Gavin, and Paris when they were kids, but once everyone started growing up, she suddenly stopped hanging out with them as well.

“There’s Naomi’s trio coming,” Ashley pointed out before turning to her boyfriend. “Where’s Maddie? She’s the only senior cheerleader missing here now.”

“Hanging out with her friends,” Brandon shrugged. Frankly, he preferred Madison with her slightly less popular group than around the cheerleaders. Fewer people to put stupid ideas in her head.

Zack and Chloe looked up to watch as the trio of cheerleaders swept across the floor and walked toward their general group. Those three probably were the most hated girls in the school, easily. Though only two of them were bullies, the third one was usually lumped in by association.

Vice-captain of the cheerleading squad, Sharon Miller probably also was one of the main reasons why Zack had reservations about hanging out with Heather’s group of friends, as she had messed up with him and his friends plenty of times in the past. Still, no one could deny she was sexy as hell with her long red hair, mischievous jade-green eyes, and her slender, fit body rocking a short green dress. At least she didn’t have tits like Hannah’s or Heather’s, otherwise it would be very difficult to ignore her, since her ass was almost as legendary as Victoria’s. The biggest shame, though, was that she probably was the biggest slut in the school, if the rumors and gossip were to be believed.

At her right side, her “boss”, Naomi Collins, strutted in a short burgundy dress. Her long brown hair flowing down her shoulders and mysterious dark-green eyes assessing everyone around her, she was a person that could possibly fool other people with her usually quiet demeanor, but she already proved in the past that her silver tongue could hurt just as much as Sharon’s, if not more. Her friendship with his cousin, Harrison, had always puzzled Zack a little bit, but he supposed that mean people had to stick together or they wouldn’t have much friends to spare.

Lastly, Amber Evans humbly came up behind her friends in a simple, cream-colored dress. A warm smile was always on her face, behind a pair of brown eyes and framed by long, blonde hair. Having moved to Azure Rocks the previous year, she was quickly taken under Naomi’s wings, but that ended up as an incredibly puzzling fact for anyone who knew those girls because Amber was nothing like them at all.

"Dammit, Heather, did you really need to hide all the way in the back?" Sharon haughtily asked before she clicked her tongue once her gaze landed on her friend's cousin and his own friend. "You're ashamed of the strays you picked up or what?"

Zack felt Chloe's arm tightening around his, so he put his hand over that arm to try and calm her down. She had had a few run-ins with the other redhead in the past that left Chloe a bit shook, which made him really hate the cheerleader. Zack didn't care what people talked about him, but he felt quite protective of Chloe and Gavin. Paris too, but she was more adept at taking care of herself.

“Be nice, Sharon,” Heather admonished her friend in a tired, frustrated tone.

“Yes, Sharon, shut that trap,” Hannah warned with a vicious grin. “I’d hate to pull rank in the middle of the Sapphire Ball like this, but I will if I have to,” she said. Former captains had just as much authority amongst the cheerleaders as current captains, except inside the school’s walls. “So, you tell me. Will I need to?”

Sharon briefly narrowed her eyes, but instantly put on a fake smile that didn’t fool anyone. “Of course not,” she dismissed the possibility.

“That’s better,” Hannah reached over and patted her head, in an action that made the redhead seethe in anger and the others to try and hide the snickers that threatened to escape. Naomi held her tongue, wiser in regards to the battles she should pick and the ones she had to skirt around.

“Hey, let's all enjoy the night, huh?” Amber rushed in front of Sharon and Naomi, staring at her other friends with a pleading look. “How about it? It’ll be fun!”

“You know what? You’re damn right, Amber,” Hannah told the younger blonde and then smirked suggestively at Zack. “I’m gonna enjoy myself dancing with my date.”

She then proceeded to drag a bewildered Zack to the dance floor under incredulous stares from Sharon and Naomi. Chloe took advantage of the situation to shuffle closer to Ashley again. “Hey, if Zack asks, I went looking for Paris, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll tell him,” Ashley nodded with a smile. She knew her old friend would get uncomfortable being by herself around the other girls without Zack.

On the dance floor, some kind of fast paced song that Zack didn’t care about was playing, but that was irrelevant to him at that moment. All that mattered was Hannah’s big tits pressed up against his chest as her crystal-blue eyes looked up at him in a smoldering stare. It was enough to make his dick stir like crazy in his pants.

“Mmm, you’re keeping up well enough,” she teased him, swaying with her arms on his shoulders.

“Uhn… t-thanks,” he stammered, letting out a nervous laugh. “You can probably thank Tay and my mom for it. They’re the ones who didn’t want me to make a fool of myself in dances like this.”

“Just take the credit, Zacky,” she giggled, finding it cute that he was still so in awe of her. It was kind of sad, though, because she wouldn't mind showing him the ropes, but Taylor always said she couldn’t give him what he wanted, and she understood well enough the fact that it could do more harm than good. “Zack, you gotta chill out or you won’t get anywhere with girls like those. Remember, you’re great, so take it easy.”

He took a deep breath after her advice. “Girls like you, you mean?”

She gave him a small smile. “Well, yes, but I meant the ones who go to school with you,” she told him. “Like Sharon, Naomi, Donna, or Amber,” she suggested. Since the dream that she and Taylor had about their younger siblings dating was unavailable for the time being, she figured Amber could be a perfect stand-in for Ashley for now. “Especially Amber, you know?”

Zack grimaced. “I don’t wanna date any of them,” he said, trying to discreetly look around and see if he spotted Victoria, but failing spectacularly.

“You’re looking for someone! Oh, my gosh!” Hannah grinned widely. “Who is it?! Tell me!” She demanded. “Oh, Tay is so gonna love hearing about this.”

His eyes widened in panic at the blunder, the last thing Zachary needed was someone like Hannah teasing him mercilessly about his other crush, or worse, telling Taylor about it. They would start scheming to help him, bring Ashley into it, and before he knew it, Victoria would be informed and laugh at him for not taking any action. “I’m not looking for anyone!” He tried to justify himself, but Hannah wasn’t buying it.

“Is it Chloe?” She inquired, and then grinned again when he rolled his eyes. “Fuck, it is! You two were so awkward before,” she pointed out. If she had to be honest with herself, Chloe was someone she could give up her wish of seeing her sister with Zack for.

"It's not Chloe, dammit…," Zack started denying, only to realize that the way he worded it implied that there was someone, just that it wasn't Chloe. "Oh, hell…"

"Tell me who it is right now, Zack Bishop!" Hannah realized it as well. "Or I'll tell Tay."

Zack felt himself sweating, figuratively put in the spot by his older crush, as he really didn't want to tell her. He stammered and spluttered until the song ended right at that moment, to his luck and relief. "I need to hit the bathroom, Hannah," he extricated himself from her and started walking away in a hurry. "Be right back!"

Hannah watched him leave with an amused grin on her face. "Well," she shrugged and then made her way back to Heather’s group, all the while keeping an eye on the rest of the crowd to check if she could spot someone her own age. It was a fruitless task, as everyone seemed to have already left town for their respective colleges and universities.

---

“Tell me what’s happening,” Harrison urged once Naomi strolled back to his side. “What the fuck my loser of a cousin is doing with Ravers?!”

“You do remember they’re cousins too, right?” The brown-haired girl dryly replied.

“Yes, but neither of them seemed to remember that fact until… well, now!” He retorted, growing restless by the second as he wanted answers and his friend didn’t seem too forthcoming.

“I don’t know what happened, okay?!” Naomi snapped. “Apparently, Heather reached out and they’re hanging out now.”

Harry let out a frustrated sigh. “And I suppose that deal includes a date with Hannah Woodsen?” He demanded to know. Near the end of the previous year, he had managed to hook-up with Crystal Palmer, the graduating cheer captain, and everyone knew about that, but his cousin would severely upstage him if he bagged Hannah Woodsen.

“I don’t know, okay?” The cheerleader girl retorted. “Aren’t their sisters friends or something? Maybe it’s a pity date, that’s the only way I can see this making sense.”

“It… makes sense,” Harrison reluctantly agreed, but the possibility matched his thoughts that there was no way that his loser cousin could score an older beauty such as Hannah. “I’m sorry that I snapped, it’s just that… this aberration caught me by surprise.”

“You’re not the only one,” Naomi smirked. “Maybe you should look for a way, or rather, someone, to relieve all that tension, huh?”

Harry snorted, she knew him too well. Despite the fact that they were friends, nothing had ever happened between them, as they didn’t want to mess up their friendship. Especially on his side. In a world of snakes, Harry needed to know he had at least one true friend. It didn’t mean he never stroked himself thinking about her a few times. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

“Perhaps it’s time you finally fucked Sharon,” she suggested. “I told you already, she’s more than willing to accomodate you and your…dick. I’d even say she’s looking forward to it.”

“I bet she is,” Harrison smirked. An attention-seeking whore like Sharon Miller would certainly be quite accommodating, he thought. His cock stirred at both the thought of bending over the sexy redhead and railing her from behind and the provocative tone in Naomi’s voice. “As I said, we’ll see. First, let’s take a walk around, meet people, mingle a little bit,” he offered her his arm, wishing to change the subject before his mind entertained doing to his friend the things she was suggesting for him to do on Sharon. “Shall we?”

“Lead the way,” the brown-haired cheerleader nodded and linked her arm on his.

---

Nearby, two quite similar boys met in the middle of the dancing crowd. Both were dark-skinned, with black hair shaved in a buzz cut style, and their dark brown eyes were fiercely staring each other down. The two of them were quite muscular and popular in the school, their athletic deeds speaking for them.

“Kevin,” Trent Thornton, the football player, said with a smug grin.

“Trent,” Kevin Jackson, the basketball player, nodded with a polite smile.

Their mothers were twin sisters, which made the two boys cousins, but the interest in different sports had always made sure that a friendly relationship wouldn’t be possible, since there always had been a rivalry between members of the two biggest sports teams in Azure Rocks High School. Still, Kevin always tried to treat his cousin as politely as possible, something that Trent didn’t quite return.

“Couldn’t help but notice you wandering around all alone like a lost puppy,” Trent said. “Why is that?”

“Not that you really care, but I’m looking for my date,” Kevin explained. “She told me she’d meet me here at the ball.”

“Hmmm,” Trent grinned. “Out of curiosity, who’s she?”

Kevin raised an eyebrow at his cousin’s interest in his life. “Sharon Miller, why?”

That caused Trent to throw his head back, letting a booming laugh that confused Kevin even further. Not that he claimed to always understand his cousin, but that was odd even for him.

“What’s so funny?”

“You, dude!” Trent responded, still laughing. “Sharon’s here with me!”

Kevin frowned at that. “No, she’s not. We hung out the first two days and I asked her yesterday.”

“She played you!” Trent laughed even harder. “I can’t believe this! She didn’t even tell me she was doing it!”

Kevin stared at his cousin in disbelief, hoping he was just having a laugh at his expense as always, but then Sharon Miller herself strolled next to the football player and draped an arm on his shoulder. “Hi again, Trent,” she then turned to Kevin with a grin and waved at him. “Hello, Kev.”

“Sharon…,” Kevin trailed, already feeling humiliated as it became clear that Trent had been telling the truth. “Why? Just why?”

“Why?” The redhead repeated with an amused smirk on her beautiful features. “‘Cause I can, that’s why.”

Kevin opened his mouth to retort, but only a chuckle came out of it. “I don’t get where you guys get off in this,” he said. “You know high school doesn’t last forever, right?”

Trent shrugged. “Well, I’ll still be playing football wherever I go, so it’s all good.”

“Oh, you should be grateful I even wasted two days chatting you up, Jackson!” Sharon retorted. “You know how things always go at our school. Rich people, football players, and cheerleaders first, the rest is rest.”

Kevin’s fingers clenched in his hand, wishing he was rude enough to give the new vice-captain of the Moon Maidens the answer she deserved, but his mother had taught him better. “Whatever, you two aren’t worth it. Trent, someday you’ll need me and I’m telling you right here I won’t lift a finger, and you, Sharon, enjoy being the next Crystal Palmer,” he said, turning his back on them and leaving under a blanket of laughs. He wished someone stepped up and gave those arrogant jerks the comeuppance they deserved, just once.

---

Back at the ball, Zack was just leaving the bathroom, deeply frustrated with his night. The date with Hannah definitely wasn’t working. He was getting too nervous, and she was teasing him too much, the most recent subject being his current crush.

What should I fucking do!? He asked himself in exasperation. Tonight will be a total, utter failure if I don’t do something!

Despair was about to completely take over his mind and feelings when he saw her coming down the stairs at last. Everything else seemed to have started moving in slow-motion as she walked over to him with a smile on her gorgeous face. Wearing a simple green dress and heels, her golden hair tumbling in soft waves over her shoulders and the impressive swell on her chest, Victoria Walker looked like an angel had decided to grace the mortals with her presence.

“Hey, Zack,” she greeted him. “Going back there?”

Damn, her eyes are so freaking beautiful, he thought while trying to avoid getting hypnotized by her emerald pools. “Yeah, I needed to hit the bathroom. Was hanging out with Heather and Ashley near the back…, wondered where you were.”

“Oh, I was with my parents,” she excitedly told him. “They were trying to get Mayor Davis to give the Gazette an interview. I hung back because I always enjoy seeing them in action.”

Zack smiled at her obvious enthusiasm about journalism. Her parents, who owned the town newspaper, probably had been huge influences in her life. “That’s cool, I can’t wait until we get to work on the Scout too.”

“Oh, that’s neat. I won’t need to push you to work,” she grinned at him. At his quizzical look, she chuckled. “Don’t mind me, it’s just that every year we have a slacker who doesn’t do their job. I just hope I don’t have to deal with that now that it’s my turn to be the chief editor.”

Zack laughed at the mental picture. “Well, just leave the heavy lifting to me and Jake,” he confidently told her. “We can take out the trash for you.”

“Thanks,” her smile widened a little bit and then they remained in silence for a couple of seconds. “I should go look for Ash and Heather.”

Zack would always look back and see that split-second decision as one of the defining moments in his life. He didn’t know if his confidence was somehow building up with the experience points gained from Hannah’s teasing or it was just one last resort to keep spending time with his crush, but the young Bishop boy was blurting it out before he could stop himself.

“Hey, you wanna dance a bit?”

---

Meanwhile, on the upper floor, Monica was sitting at a table accompanied by several of her close acquaintances, both old and newer friends, as well as neighbors. She was wearing a snug dark-blue dress that left a portion of her deep cleavage exposed, turning several male heads in the room as it was the usual, the same kind of attraction her friends also provoked on those men.

She noticed Sarah Woodsen kept shifting her gaze to the stairs, as if expecting someone would inevitably come up, causing the doctor to purse her lips, as the same worry was nagging at the back of her mind. She couldn’t let her old friend notice she had reservations about their children’s date. “You’re worried about them, huh?”

Sarah turned to the brunette and nodded, a tired expression on her face. “What can I say? It’s Hannah, I know my daughter, Monica,” she said. “And given how much time she spent at your house over the years, I wager you know what she’s like too.”

Sarah was a gorgeous, kind of nordic-looking woman of forty, with long blonde hair, crystal-blue eyes, and quite the voluptuous body. People never seemed to decide who had the bigger pair of breasts, Monica or her, and they had been a huge hit together in the cheer squad back in their high school days. Unlike her friend, though, her white dress was more conservative. It was almost as snug, but it covered her cleavage nicely.

Monica sighed. “Yes, I know, and I did think a lot about this date until this evening,” she admitted. “But, in the end, maybe all we can do is trust them, right? You need to believe in Hannah and I’ve got to trust my son’s judgment.”

“Taylor sent me a few texts since last night,” Sarah told her with a small smile.

“She was concerned as well,” Monica nodded. “I eventually had to stop replying to see if she let it rest.”

An even curvier woman was sitting with them. At forty-one, Charlotte McRose had long, slightly wavy red hair, clear-blue eyes and an almost illegal pair of tits, currently covered by a dark-green dress, but the tops of her mounds insisted on trying to get a peek out of the constricting fabric. Listening to her friends talk about Zack and Hannah made her wonder what her daughter, Chloe, was up to. Other times, she would just hang out with Zachary and so Charlotte knew she didn’t need to worry, but since he was with Hannah this year, Chloe would need to find another company, or worse, wait in the corner as Charlotte had an inkling her daughter would do.

Her true wish was that Chloe and Zack decided to get together as a couple, something she had discussed in length with Monica countless times, as her friend had the same wish, even though Monica’s wish was shared with the daughters of their other friends. It even brought a chuckle to the redhead woman’s lips, imagining the neighbor boy trying to juggle Chloe, Ashley, and Madison. Still, she knew that as long as her daughter and her best friend continued to share an almost sibling-like relationship, the chance of them falling in love was next to zero.

She needs to find her soulmate ASAP, Charlotte worriedly thought before her gaze found her husband on the table next to theirs. Just like I found mine.

Another 41-year-old woman couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh at everyone’s kid problems. “It’s funny how every one of us has a different problem with our kids,” Louise Bishop smirked. “Kind of makes me glad that Paris prefers girls. It’s rather tame when I look at Clark.”

Louise had long black hair and green eyes, with a pair of large breasts that were emphasized by the sky-blue dress she was wearing. Married to George, Daniel’s cousin, and living at the cul-de-sac, Monica saw her almost like a sister-in-law.

“He didn’t want to come?” Charlotte inquired.

“Nope, but I **** him to,” Louise shook her head and then grinned in amusement. “He’d only get in the way of Josh and Gavin playing their games, and God, that boy needs to get out of the house more,” she responded. “At least for things other than basketball.”

“Holly wanted to come as well, but I didn’t let her. She and Indigo decided to have a sleepover, then,” Charlotte said, referring to her youngest daughter and Josh Bishop's best friend.

Now that was a match-up that she suspected she wouldn’t need to worry about. Even if it took them a few years to realize that, she was sure Holly and Josh would end up dating sooner or later. She knew that the only thing that prevented it from happening now was Holly's crush on Zack.

“I wish Brandon was like that with Madison. That he just did his thing and let her be,” Vanessa Austen sighed, lamenting her twin children’s behavior and earning a sympathetic smile from Louise, but every woman in that table was aware of her woes as the mother of such an opposing pair of kids, and that her husband did nothing to help in that regard. On the contrary, he encouraged it.

At thirty-nine now, Vanessa had been one of Daniel and Monica’s closest friends in high school and that friendship never fizzled out over the years. She had wavy dark-brown hair and sparkly green eyes, while her slender body was covered by a simple lime green dress. She often caused some surprise in others for the fact that she had opted to keep her maiden name after marrying.

“Where’s Waldon?” Sarah asked the mother of her daughter’s boyfriend. “I don’t see him with the men.”

“Probably with Irvin Thornton,” Vanessa softly replied. “They can’t stop talking about football and cars, those two.”

“Uh-oh,” Ciara Zander muttered as she read the text on her phone. “Monica, check your phone,” she called out to her old friend. “It seems Taylor’s trying to come back and Peter is convincing her not to.”

“What?!” Monica replied in shock, with Sarah also getting interested in the new information. She had always seen Taylor and Peter as surrogate children due to their friendship with Hannah, but after her daughter dated the boy, that feeling increased even more in his case. Monica scrambled to turn on her phone and check her own texts.

“Apparently, Taylor couldn’t wait for news and tried to talk her boyfriend into driving her back to Azure Rocks,” Ciara explained. “Peter thinks he’s getting to dissuade her from the idea.”

Ciara was thirty-nine like Monica, and had been a close friend of hers and Sarah in high school, but in Monica’s case, they had been childhood friends. She had straight, long red hair and green eyes, with a petite, slender body. Her choice for the night had been a simple dark red dress. She had always been the bookworm of the group, which coupled with a big interest in computers, made her pursue that career in college. She now worked with Daniel at Bishop Tech.

“Oh, God,” Sarah rolled her eyes at all the confusion her daughter was causing by agreeing to that date with Zachary.

“Oh, shit,” Monica whispered as she read the same text Ciara had gotten, but this one in her daughter's words. She only hoped nothing happened between Zack and Hannah that ruined the close, seemingly indestructible friendship Taylor shared with Sarah’s eldest daughter.

Putting her phone back on the table, Monica caught her older sister's gaze from across the ballroom as she sat next to her husband. She sent Madelyn a pleading glance, hating the icy relationship between them, but the older of the Campbell sisters just narrowed her eyes in response and turned away from her younger sister. It tore Monica to be distant from her sister like that; sure, they talked to each other every once in a while, but it was all superficial and quick, not the same warm relationship she had with their younger brother, Malcolm.

What did Mom and Dad do to her, for fuck’s sake?!

---

At the table next to theirs, the husbands were in a conversation of their own, mostly centered around Daniel. He was in the company of his cousin and neighbor, the 44-year-old George Bishop; his neighbor and father of his son’s best friend, 41-year-old Roy McRose; the father of his daughter’s best friend and town’s district attorney, 43-year-old Damon Woodsen; and Ciara’s husband, 42-year-old Franklin Zander.

“I appreciate the thought, guys, but my answer is still no,” Daniel told his two friends in a friendly tone, used to their insistence in that particular matter. "I just… can't, you know?"

Damon and Franklin exchanged a tired glance and begrudgingly nodded. As the ones who were friends with both brothers, they were always trying to convince Daniel to accept having at least a conversation with Robert, but it was always a fruitless task.

“Leave him be, gentlemen,” George chuckled. As someone who also had quite the shaky relationship with his own brother who lived out of town, he could understand where Daniel was coming from quite well.

“And there's Diane," Roy casually pointed out.

The men turned to the stairwell, where Diane Westher just finished setting foot on the upper floor. Despite all of them having wives they loved with all their hearts, only a blind man wouldn't have noticed the youthful 34-year-old single mother as she swept into the room.

Her long blonde hair tumbling down her bare shoulders and green eyes twinkling along with a smile as she spotted her friends, she was wearing a snug, black dress that left just a hint of her ample cleavage on display. Living at the Royal Grove cul-de-sac, she also co-owned a private clinic with Monica. While the brunette was an Ob/Gyn doctor, she was a pediatrician.

Even though he knew it meant nothing beyond a natural reaction, seeing the mother of his son's second best friend sometimes provoked an unexpected effect on Daniel. Diane looked a lot like a figure from his past, a figure that was present the one single time he and Monica decided to be wild together. The glance that lasted for a second too late didn’t escape Monica’s attention, and she regarded her husband with an amused, knowing look.

---

“I wanna get out of this place,” Clark Bishop bemoaned, sinking into the armchair he was sitting on and wishing the thing could swallow him and spit him back into his room at home.

Having short black hair and gray eyes, he was nineteen, but still in his senior high school year due to a car accident years ago that almost killed his mother and **** him to miss a year of school to treat his injuries. His mom was alive, though, and that was all that mattered to him.

“You need to chat with more people sometimes, dude,” his only friend’s voice broke him out of that reverie. “You have a sister and cousin here, but I’d definitely try one of those girls walking back-and-forth in front of us,” Ralph Griffin insisted as another pair of girls passed by them and he followed them with a hypnotized gaze. “Yeah, definitely the girls.”

Ralph Griffin was eighteen, and most likely the only person Clark considered a friend. With short blond hair and green eyes, he had moved next door years ago and the boys bonded over their mutual interest in basketball.

Basketball was the sport where Clark's life revolved around. He had managed to become the school's star player on the sport right in his freshman year and was all but guaranteed a scholarship at any college of his choice next year. This year, his goal was to fit Ralph into the team as a reward for putting up with him over the years. The guy was quite good at it, but he tended to lose focus a lot, something that Clark hoped to correct before the basketball season started.

Clark let out a long, tired groan. “I can’t waste time with that,” he replied, even though he definitely wouldn’t mind wasting some time with the one girl who had managed to entrench herself deep in his mind.

“Blasphemy!” Ralph’s head snapped back to his friend, an horrified look on his face. He was always thinking about girls, so much that the virgin boy thought his entire body would explode sometimes.

“Ralph, you can go talk to them if you want,” Clark said, with a small smile. “You don’t need to stick by my side the entire night.”

“But that’s what friends do,” Ralph readily replied, making himself more comfortable in his own armchair. “You, dude, should try having more of them.”

Clark was touched by Ralph’s gesture, but stifled another groan. I can’t waste time with that. Or all this, as a matter of fact.

---

“Uhn… sure,” Victoria agreed to Zack’s proposition moments before with a smile. “Though I feel I need to tell you it’s been a while since I’ve danced.”

Zack chuckled, a bit more relieved after she said yes. “Oh, that won’t be a problem. I’m not an expert either.” He felt like he needed to warn her in case anything went wrong.

“Well, let’s go then,” she also was happy that he wasn’t a great dancer and felt more at ease. “The sooner we put this disaster on the road, the sooner we can put ourselves out of our misery.”

The joking hint in her voice made Zack laugh and smile brightly at her before he put a hand on her waist and gently led her to where the other young people were dancing. He felt like his palm was on fire where it touched her hip over the soft fabric of her dress. As they walked, Victoria noticed his smile, and that made one decorate her face as well. Even if she wasn’t actively looking for a boyfriend after the whole thing with Dustin, it was nice when someone actually came and asked her for something instead of just walking in eggshells and stammering around her like she was some kind of deity. People thought she didn’t notice those things, but she did, and it left her really embarrassed and disgruntled to be treated like that.

Good, not a fast song, not a love ballad, Zack thought as they joined the crowd of dancing people before she turned to him and hit him with the full brunt of her smile. Fuck, that smile will end up melting me someday.

He kept his hands on her waist and she put hers on his shoulders as they lightly swayed to the pleasant song the band started playing, and he noticed that the not so high heels she was using made her basically the same height as himself.

“So, uhn…,” Zack started, figuring it was better if he didn’t let any periods of awkward silence fall between them. “It’s a great ball, isn’t it?”

Victoria let out a chuckle. “Oh, yes, I suppose it’s always fun. Some parts of it, at least,” she replied, looking at him. It was odd, it was the first time she noticed how icy his blue eyes were, a handsome shade in her opinion. “Hey, Zack,” she said, not one for chit-chat. “Why did you want to join the paper? I mean, why this year?”

He gave her a small smile in response. “You mean why did I wait until this year?” He asked, and at her affirmative nod, he cleared his throat and thought about what his answer was going to be. “Well, it was the basketball team,” he lied, thinking it was better than telling his crush that he was too afraid of being near her. “It was always a choice between the team and the paper for me, but I’ve never passed the try-outs, so I decided to just go straight to the paper now it’s gonna be our last year.”

“Makes sense, I’ve always built my schedule in a way that couldn’t distract me from the Scout,” she nodded at his answer before giving him a sympathetic smile. “Although, one could think your cousin being on the team would help you. Wouldn’t it?”

Zack playfully scoffed. “Clark is a… difficult person. If anything, him being on the team probably is exactly why I didn’t get in.”

Victoria briefly raised an eyebrow, now understanding Alice’s complaints about the boy. “I had no idea he was like that. Alice always told me she could never get an interview or even a quote from him,” she said as an amused grin reached her lips. “She can’t complain, though, it was how she got closer to Jake in the first place.”

Zachary chuckled and unconsciously let one of his hands slide to the small of her back, reveling in the newfound closeness to his longtime crush. “You were lying to me.”

She frowned in indignation. “Lying about what? I don’t lie!”

“You said you were out of practice,” he grinned at her, watching as the incoming glare softened.

“Well, in that case you were lying too. You haven’t stepped on my toes not even once,” she told him with an amused eyebrow raised.

The two teens stared at each other for a moment before they both laughed at the same time. That moment filled Zack’s heart with hope, as he was slowly noticing that hanging out with Victoria wasn’t the super hard final boss of his life that he was building up in his head. Victoria, on her end, thought she was kind of having fun, unlike the time Ashley **** her to go on a double date with her and Brandon near the end of the summer; Brandon’s friend, Trent Thornton, spent the entire evening bragging about his deeds on the football field and bored the hell out of her.

It was too soon for Vicky, though, the memory of Dustin moving away and leaving her heartbroken was still too recent in her mind. She hoped Zack wasn’t thinking that the dance was going anywhere, because she would hate to be **** to turn him down in that case.

Suddenly, someone stumbled into Zack and **** them to separate, his arms being the only thing that prevented Victoria from falling on the floor. “Ouch!” Zack felt a faint pain on his back.

“Thanks,” Victoria thanked him, grateful for the save.

“Don’t mention it,” Zack smiled widely, pleased with the fact that he got to do something for her.

“Figures you wouldn’t know how to dance,” a disdainful voice chided him. “Stumbling into people like an idiot.”

Zack finished pulling up Victoria and turned to the other person, coming face to face with none other than his cousin, the one he didn’t like. “Harrison,” he acknowledged.

“Is he making a fool of himself?” Harry ignored him to talk to Victoria. “It’s a good thing I was nearby and could help.”

“I can help myself, thank you very much,” Victoria replied, surprising both cousins. She couldn’t understand why such a horrible person could be that popular. Heather acted smug sometimes, sure, but she never saw herself above others like Harrison Cullen always did. “And for the record, I wasn’t in need of any help.”

Harry’s eyes narrowed and he turned to his cousin again. They had never had a friendly relationship, as for him it was quite simple. If his mother didn’t go along with his aunt, Zack’s mother, then she certainly was a screw-up and that extended to her son as well. He hated the fact that, after coming to the ball with Hannah Woodsen as his date, Zachary already managed to get Victoria to dance with him, something that Harry never could. Heather must be giving him a lot of nice gifts now that they’re buddies, he thought before his lips turned into a smug smile. “Be careful when you try to play in the big leagues, cousin. You might end up… hurt… when you find out this takes more skill than you think.”

“Uhn…, I think I’m fine, Harrison,” Zack responded, not used to talking to his annoying cousin, as he certainly made sure to always keep his distance with a healthy dose of verbal ****. “But thanks for the warning.”

The two cousins stared at each other, the icy-blue in their eyes becoming colder by the second. Zack was determined to not let Harry ruin that moment for him, while the other boy was trying to come up with a clever answer that would make sure he left the conversation on top.

“Alright, you two, stop it,” Victoria interrupted the staring contest, annoyed at Harrison Cullen for assuming to know what she was thinking. Unfortunately, it destroyed her mood to continue dancing.

Zack finally decided to ignore his cousin’s presence and put a hand on Victoria's waist again. "You wanna keep going?"

Vicky gave him an apologetic look and briefly shook her head. "Thank you, but I think I really should be finding Ashley and Heather now," she told him. "Maybe later, I don't know."

"Sure," Zack depressingly whispered in response as she gave him another smile and walked away. He wondered if there was anything wrong, as it seemed to be going pretty well until Harrison almost tackled him to the floor.

Harry, a smug grin on his face, turned to his cousin. “Well, nevertheless, it looks like she wasn’t enjoying the dance after all.”

Zack angrily gritted his teeth and lashed out. “Where do you get off being such a fucking idiot to people all the freaking time!”

The other boy laughed hard, having gotten the exact reaction he was looking for. “To see you screw-ups acting like the rude beasts you truly are and losing control like you just did… cousin,” he drawled. “It’s quite funny seeing you put in your proper place. Have a good night.”

That said, Harry’s smirk grew as he walked away from Zack, who took a deep breath and released a long sigh. He didn’t want to actually scream as his first instinct told him to, and look even more like a fool in the middle of that ball. I should’ve stuck with Chloe like I always do. None of this shit would’ve fucking happened! He mentally cursed, setting off in the direction he was turned to in search of some air to cool off his negative emotions and thoughts.

Stepping out into the balcony that overlooked Cobalt Lake under the night sky, Zack exhaled deeply. The night really wasn’t going the way he wanted. Stammering under Hannah’s teasing, being unable to really connect with Victoria during their dance, and to cap it off, being bested by his wretched cousin, Harrison, who he wasn’t even expecting to meet during the ball. He wondered what more could actually happen to make the night even worse, because with his current luck, it was guaranteed something else would fuck up the ball even further.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why can’t I have a damned win for once?! He let out a loud, anguished groan, hitting the metal railing with a closed fist.

“Rough night?”

For the first time, Zack noticed he wasn’t alone on that balcony. He turned to his left and noticed a boy, probably around the same age or maybe younger, observing him with an inquisitive grin. He had short, messy dark-brown hair and a pair of blue eyes, whose shade Zack thought to be quite familiar, but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint from where at that moment.

“Yeah, you can say that,” Zachary replied in a tired tone, not recognizing the other young man.

“Ah, girls can be tough sometimes,” the stranger replied with a nod, understanding Zack’s troubles right away. “You just need to hang in there and never give up.”

“Personal experience?” Zack asked with an eyebrow slightly raised.

The other boy let out a laugh. “Something like that,” he confirmed. “I’ve had some experiences here and there in my hometown, but I haven't found that special one yet, you know?”

Zack chuckled. “Yeah, my special ones seem to be bailing me left and right tonight,” he said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Oh, I’m Zack Bishop, by the way,” he reached over to offer his hand.

The dark-eyed boy shook his hand and grinned. “Nice to meet you, Zack. I’m Logan,” he introduced himself. “Logan Finlay.”

“Likewise, Logan,” Zack smiled at him. “I’m sorry, but I’m not recognizing you, and well, you did mention a hometown before, so…”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m new here in Azure Rocks,” Logan confirmed Zack’s suspicions. “Me and my mom, we’re from Green Hills. Things got stale, Mom figured we should move.”

“Oh, you live with your mom, then?” Zack inquired, recalling Gavin’s home situation.

“Yes,” Logan answered with a nod, but didn’t offer any other additional detail.

“Ah, there you are, Zack!” A female voice exclaimed upon seeing Zachary, making both boys turn to the glass doors.

“Uhn… hi, Heather,” Zack greeted, still not used to being a part of his cousin’s circle of friends.

“Good job on getting Vicky to dance, we don’t see that too often,” she told him, and then she noticed the stranger with her cousin. She was a bit taken aback by how handsome he looked, and he was smiling at her. “I’m sorry, you are…?”

“This is Logan, he’s new in town,” Zack was the one who answered.

“Oh, are you? In that case, I hope you enjoy Azure Rocks just like us natives. It’s the best place to live by far,” Heather told him, taking a longer moment to assess the newcomer. “I’m a Ravers, if there’s anything I can do, just come look for me.”

“Thanks,” he grinned. “Heather, is it?”

“Yep, Heather Ravers,” she proudly declared.

“My mom knows your mom,” Logan told her, to Heather’s surprise. “They were friends in college, I think.”

“Are you even in school?” Zack asked. “I forgot to ask before.”

Logan nodded with an amused chuckle. “Yeah, I’m a sophomore. Missed the first couple of days, but I’ll be at school on Monday.”

Heather’s grin diminished just a bit. She always went for older, college-aged guys, and this one was even younger than she was, but he was also a little bit too handsome to ignore. Guess I’ll be watching you, Logan. Maybe in a couple of years..., she shrugged her shoulders and then turned to Zack. “Hey, wanna join us back there again?”

Zack winced, he didn’t really want more heartbreak. “Actually, I was thinking about taking a look around, maybe going up and checking on my parents or something.”

Heather clicked her tongue, she wanted to spend some time with the cousin she had been apart from for so long. “What about we go there and dance a bit? One song, maybe?”

“Dance? Us?” Zack’s eyes widened. Even if she was his cousin, Heather was like the hottest girl in town, and her deep cleavage wasn’t exactly making it easy focusing on her face.

“Yes, Zack. Dance!” She grabbed his arm and then turned to Logan, who was grinning in amusement as he watched them. “Hey, you can come with us if you want. I can show you around, introduce you to everyone.”

“Thanks, Heather,” Logan bowed at her. “But I was going home already. I just came here to check things out, get a taste for the so-called Azure Rocks,” he said. “My mother is alone back at our new house and I really need to go back.”

“Oh, guess we see you at school, then,” Zack said, raising an eyebrow at the sudden exit. He totally forgot to mention he had a younger cousin the same age as the other boy.

Logan turned to the cousins and flashed them a grin. “Sure, we’ll definitely see each other there. But until then, farewell,” he gave them a salute and walked away, disappearing in the middle of the crowd.

---

Zack sighed as Heather dragged him back to the dance floor and gave a sharp intake of breath when his chest collided with her large breasts as she pulled him to her to assume the dancing position. “If arriving with both Hannah and Chloe in your arms and dancing with Vicky didn’t raise your profile, this definitely will,” she smirked at him.

“I doubt it. People know we’re cousins,” Zack muttered, putting his hands on her waist as she placed hers on his shoulder.

Heather raised an eyebrow before a frown formed on her gorgeous face. “Okay, this attitude? It needs to fucking stop,” she sternly told him. “I’m trying to be a good cousin here and help you, you know?”

“But I didn’t ask for it!” He fired back in an exasperated whisper, her breasts pressing just a little bit tighter against his chest as he leaned closer so she could hear him. “Look, I appreciate it, don’t get me wrong. But trying to fix me up will never work!”

Heather cocked her head at him. “And why not?”

“‘Cause we’re too different, I’m not dripping with confidence as you are. Hannah has been teasing me the entire night, just like she did all my life. Then let’s see, Chloe’s almost like my sister,” he explained before doing an uncertain pause. “And Victoria, well…, I don’t want people fixing me up with her.” He much preferred to make her fall for him by himself.

The words he used didn’t escape by Heather, making her wonder if there was something more regarding Victoria that her cousin wasn’t telling her. Still, she knew better than to insist with him on that. “Alright, baby steps for now,” she said, her expression softening. “I won’t bug you anymore tonight, but you need to start letting your Ravers side come out to play every now and then, Zack. We’re confident, we take what we want. My… our grandfather would even tell you we’re lions.”

Zack stared at her for a moment with a quizzical look. He wanted to learn more about his paternal grandparents, but he always had the impression his father hated Raymond Ravers more than Robert, so he figured it was best to wait and see if he even wanted to pursue that knowledge. “Riiight, I’ll try and do that,” he awkwardly nodded, finding out that her electric-blue eyes were just as distracting as Victoria’s green pools. “Where’s your father, though? I thought he wanted to meet me.”

She grinned at the question. “And he’ll come to you, don’t worry. It’s just that, with your father here, Dad thought it was better if you could speak in private, and that moment probably isn’t here yet,” she explained. “Anyways, did you chat a lot with the new guy?”

Zack shrugged. “Not much, he only told me that he and his mom just moved here and they’re from Green Hills, and well…, that his mother is friends with your mom, but you heard that.”

Heather nodded with an intrigued look on her face. “My mother never talked about them, maybe I can ask her if she really knows the family,” she wondered out loud, mentally sighing at the prospect of having to talk to her mother about anything, before raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “Assuming you got his last name.”

“Hmm, Logan said it’s Finlay,” he answered with a smile. Heather in speculative mode was something that he never imagined how fun and cute it would look.

“Yeah, never heard of them,” she shrugged, pushing the matter aside in her mind for the time being.

At that moment, the cousin pair fell into silence, just swaying to the song, which wasn’t neither fast nor slow, to Zack’s relief. Their chests weren’t pressed together anymore, which meant he currently couldn’t feel Heather’s pillowy tits squashed on him. The smirk on her gorgeous face was too damn sexy, though, making it hard for him to control his dick, but the alternative was averting his gaze to her ample cleavage, so he kept staring firmly into her eyes.

Heather’s smirk got even more noticeable as she observed her cousin, almost breaking into a full chuckle. If they weren’t cousins, she knew he would be the perfect kind of guy for her to tease and watch his reactions, maybe provoke him into some playful banter, a thought that made her understand why Hannah was laying it thick on him all night. However, now that they had an understanding and she was the popular one between them, Heather figured it was her duty to help him achieve his full potential. She was sure Ashley had her plans already, but when it came to a Ravers, only a Ravers perspective would be able to get the job done. Or so she thought.

“You dance well, Zack,” she told him. “There’s room for improvement, of course, but you definitely don’t look like a rookie on this.”

Zack chuckled, kind of grateful that she was coloring the truth to spare his feelings. “Yeah, courtesy of Taylor and my mom.”

“What's she like?” Heather inquired, curious about her other cousin. “Taylor, I mean. I know she’s Hannah’s best friend, but I’ve never hung out with her or anything.”

“She’s pretty great,” Zack found himself grinning at the thought of his sister. “Smart, caring, funny. Honestly, I think Taylor might just be the best person I know. Tied to Chloe, of course.”

“Hmm, sounds like a person I’d love to meet,” Heather smiled at his devotion to his sister. She wished quite a few times that she had something like a sibling in her life. “But I’ll worm my way into that list of yours pretty soon, just you wait.”

It was a shame they were cousins, actually, as Zack wasn’t sure he could take someone as Heather Ravers being all over him like that. Before he could dwell on it further, they were interrupted by the arrival of a young man known to both of them.

"Mind if I cut in?" Duncan Lennox inquired with a handsome smile.

"Thought you wouldn't show up anymore, Dunc," Heather teased her old friend.

"Was walking around, talking to people," he chuckled at her before turning to Zack. "I gotta say, though. It's great to finally see you two like this," he smiled. "Family shouldn't ever stay apart."

"Too right," Zack replied, returning the grin.

Duncan probably was the one person in their year that absolutely everyone liked, without exceptions. The only shame about him was that he usually could be found around Harrison, Zack thought, but he also hung out with a lot of people in different cliques as well. Not surprisingly, he was the clear favorite to win the elections for Student Council President at their school.

"You mind, Zack?" Heather softly asked her cousin.

Zachary was a bit annoyed for having his time dancing with a sexy girl cut short again, but, on the other hand, it was for the best given the thoughts in his mind. "Not at all, you guys have fun," he answered with a small smile. "I gotta find my dates again."

"Dates? As in plural?" Duncan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Heather laughed and began pulling him to another spot for their dance. "I'll tell you, c'mon."

Zack watched them go and the smile was gone from his face as he looked around. Maybe I should go find Victoria again instead, he wondered, lightly scratching his chin before shaking his head. Nah, gonna look for Chloe and Paris. I’ve had it with this damn ball already.

“Zack, over here!” A female voice called up to him and he had to look around to find it. It was somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place it until he spotted Alice and Jake making their way toward him.

“Oh, hey, guys,” he greeted the couple with a small smile once they reached him. “What’s up?”

Alice grinned. “We were just thinking that since you’re now on the paper…,”

“If you’d like to hang out with us for a bit,” Jake completed his girlfriend’s sentence. “She can’t find Victoria too, so….”

“I was talking to her not too long ago,” Zack told them, but when he looked at the spot where Victoria had gone to before, he couldn’t see her anymore. Or Ashley, Hannah, Andrew, and the rest of the cheerleaders. They must’ve gone somewhere else, he realized with a sigh.

“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Alice gesticulated around, waving her hands. “We can hang out with my friends for now.”

The friends Lisa was a part of and ditched for no apparent reason when we started dating? That’ll be interesting, Zachary thought and then nodded at her, figuring he could go find Chloe later. “Sure, lead the way.”

---

Not terribly far from there, two tall girls were sitting on couches in a corner, watching the crowd dance, laugh, and flirt with expressions of pure boredom on their faces. The first one was a beautiful brunette with striking hazel eyes that looked green when the right lighting illuminated them, and she was wearing a black dress that showed almost nothing from her medium-sized cleavage and reached an inch above her knees. The second girl, slightly shorter than her friend, was a pretty blue-eyed blonde, her fit body concealed by a daring royal-blue dress that reached an inch above the middle of her thighs and left about half of her ample breasts exposed.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Madison Cole, the brunette, complained with a deep frown on her face, her lips forming a cute pout. "Thanks to my dear brother, no one even risks getting within a mile from us in this goddamn ball!"

"I know," Scarlett Soren, the blonde, let out a chuckle. "I'm even considering moving to another spot by myself, so I can try to get some. If you know what I mean, of course."

"Gee, thanks, friend," Madison fired back, lacing the last word with sarcasm. "Damn, you're in heat after all that fuckery with Luke Olsen."

Scarlett made a show of sighing wistfully for her on-again, off-again friend with benefits who had left town during the summer. "Well, you'll know what it's like when you do it too."

"If my brother and father stop putting all kinds of roadblocks in the street of my life, you mean," Madison scoffed, pouting again as she cursed her damned brother and father for the umpteenth time in her life.

Ever since she began growing up, the two men in her family basically started doing everything they could to stop boys from getting near her. In time, it got her so angry that she had to undergo therapy for anger management, and if it weren't for her mom being in her corner, Madison was sure she would already have gone crazy at home.

"Cheer up, Maddie," Scarlett told her in a playful tone. The group was now aware of the brunette’s feelings for Zachary Bishop after her fight with Lisa. "Check out the stray Alice and Jake brought home."

Madison looked up and her hazel eyes almost bugged out of her skull at the sight of none other than her crush walking toward the two of them with a handsome smile as he talked about something with Jake.

“Alright, couldn’t find Vicky,” Alice told them. “Has Grace replied?”

“She’s not coming, we already knew that,” Scarlett responded, trying to stifle the grin that Madison’s expression provoked. Alice giggled when she noticed it as well; she thought Zack and Victoria fit well together, but the thought of Madison winning her crush over also sounded really cool to her.

I should probably stay away from this, the green-eyed brunette pondered before turning to Scarlett. “Well, I thought her parents would push her into coming, somehow. I saw them upstairs.”

Madison bit her lip as she watched Zack and Jake talking about something related to basketball from what she was able to overhear. If there was something she hated her father for more than blocking boys from her and commanding her brother to do the same, it was ordering her to stop hanging out with Zack, Chloe, and their other friends when she began growing up. It felt so frustrating, it would have been so much easier to be his friend when the crush kicked in.

“Hello, Scarlett. Hi, Madison,” Zack briefly waved at them, smiling at the latter.

Madison stood up straight, probably faster than she should’ve done, and grinned at him. “Hey, Zack! How’s it going? We barely ever chat these days,” she rambled. Fuck, he looks so good in that tux!

“I’m okay, thanks. Weird night, but okay,” he replied, noticing how sexy both girls looked. Scarlett had a more blatant sexiness in her attitude and the way she carried herself, while Madison was the classic cute girl in a smoking hot, cheerleader body.

He remembered her being a fun friend back when they used to hang out years ago, but as she pointed out, they hadn't talked to each other much in recent times. Although, he recalled with admiration the occasions he saw her in the school halls arguing with Naomi and Sharon over the bullying that they enjoyed inflicting on the students they considered inferior to them.

Madison dragged him to the couch while Scarlett, Alice, and Jake decided to chat about something else. “Oooh, that sounds like fun!” She grinned. “What’s so weird about it?”

Zack chuckled. “Trust me, you don’t want me to bore you with details,” he said before the corner of his lips curled up. “I mean…, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

She cocked her head to the side with an amused eyebrow raised. “Oh, the mysterious detective, Zachary Bishop,” she teased. “I kinda miss it, you know?”

“Well, it was fun, you can’t deny it,” Zack nodded, nostalgic sounds of a distant past reverberating in his mind.

“Taylor and Peter were really smart in those scavenger hunts they came up with for us,” Madison recalled, filled by the same nostalgia.

Zack let out a chuckle. “They got everything from Mrs. Zander and Mrs. Woodsen.”

Madison briefly widened her eyes in surprise but then laughed at it. “Well, makes sense. They were only two years older than us,” she said. “Even then, it was fun as fuck. You, me, Chloe, and Ashley hunting for those treasures? Best moments of my childhood by far.”

Zachary smiled and nodded, he ranked those moments amongst the best in his early life as well. “Chloe and Ashley were in it more for the fun than the mystery, but it was cool having them with us.”

“Totally!” Madison nodded frantically. “Then Paris, Hannah, and Caitlin waiting impatiently for us to be done, Gavin already glued to a phone, Holly and Josh **** for their shot, and Clark and Ralph not giving a fuck,” she giggled, remembering that her own brother never participated in those activities as he already had his own group of friends.

“Good times,” Zack grinned so wide that it almost hurt his cheeks.

“Easily the best,” Madison agreed, a short silence lasting for a few seconds before she broke it herself. “But circling back, you were talking about a weird night before. Does it have to do with Heather reaching out to you?”

Zack scratched the back of his neck “Kinda, yeah,” he told her. “It’s hard to get used to a cousin I’ve never talked to. Especially one that might just be polar opposites from me.”

The hazel-eyed brunette giggled. “You’ll get used to her. Before I joined the Moon Maidens, I thought Heather was just like that bitch, Sharon, but she’s actually pretty cool,” she explained. “Give her a chance and some time, you’ll see.”

He smiled at the description, admiring how gorgeous she looked with that smile on her face, but before he could say anything, someone interrupted the conversation quite abruptly.

“Hey, Madison!” Brandon almost shouted. “There you are! I was looking all over for you!”

The expression on Madison’s face turned from a beautiful, content one to a look of pure anger. “I can take care of myself just fine, dumbass!”

Brandon narrowed his eyes at the fact that his twin sister was sitting so close to a boy, but it was Bishop to his complete relief, he wouldn’t do anything. “Get up, you need to come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Madison fired back, eyes blazing. “I’m just fine here.”

“Mom was asking where you were,” Brandon told her, a hint of frustration coming into his voice as well. “I volunteered myself to come find you, that’s all.”

“Sure, that’s what happened,” Madison sneered, just as Zack was considering intervening in the argument. “But, alright, fine…,” she sighed, resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t leave her in peace. She had gotten to have a short chat with Zack, at least, so it counted for something. “Let’s go.”

“Cool,” Brandon gave Zack another curious glance and then turned with his sister in tow.

“Wait, Brandon!” Alice called out to the quarterback. “Have you seen Vicky around?”

He just shrugged in response. “Last time I saw her, she was with Ashley and the other cheerleaders.”

The dark-haired reporter nodded and said something to Jake before they both walked away from the immediate vicinity of the couch to follow their friend and her twin brother, leaving Zack alone with Scarlett. He turned to her and gave the blonde an awkward smile, unable to recall even a single instance where he talked to her. He only knew she was insanely hot and was the guitarist for the Dark Wolves, a rock band that existed in the school until the previous year. Now that the singer and the drummer both graduated, he didn't know if they would continue with the band.

Scarlett gave him an once over and smirked, starting to slowly walk around the boy and appraise him as a hunter stalking a prey. Madison was right, she was kinda in heat, and that was when she didn't think straight. Right now, all she could see was a hot guy without a girl in his arm, and that was causing her body to tingle all over.

Zack gulped at the intense look on her face, his cock twitching at what it seemed to imply. It was too sudden, though, he couldn't just get interested in a girl he barely knew. It wasn’t quite an interest, though, he countered that notion. It was something more primal, a need to get off in the fastest way possible.

“Say, Zack," she purred, a hand going to his upper arm and gently squeezing it. "Our friends seem to have left us all alone. You're a cute guy and I'm horny, so…," she leaned into his ear. "Why don't we take advantage of that?“

“What? Here?!" It was all he could blurt out, dick now well on its way to a full erection as his eyes widened at the prospect. "But, Scarlett, I'm k-kinda not looking for a g-girlfriend right now, y-you see," he lied as his traitorous mind began to come up with ways to sabotage that moment. "Lisa, t-too soon."

"Oh, who said anything about dating?" Scarlett inquired in an amused, yet seductive, tone. "I just wanna find out if you're good enough for someone I know," she explained with a light bite on her bottom lip. If she was just taking Zack for a test drive, then Madison wouldn't get angry with her if she found out. Right?

"Fuck…," Zack whispered, staring into the sexy blonde's blue eyes as his cock throbbed like mad in his pants. It had come completely out of nowhere, but it was an incredibly hot situation, and the dark-haired boy was finding it hard to back down from, his heart thumping in his chest. Was this how he wanted to lose his virginity, though, he asked himself. With a sexy rocker girl in a bathroom during a party?

Zack couldn't believe it. He could very well go with her and lose his virginity, other people would be none the wiser, and he could come back to the ball as if nothing had happened. It sounded exciting as fuck for the inexperienced young man.

But it wouldn't mean anything, his mind reminded him. Do you even want that?

That mental conflict was his undoing. Zachary was too fixated on his crushes to look past them and consider any other option. Plus, a bold girl like Scarlett was bound to be quite experienced, and that was making him hyperventilate and sweat like bullets in front of the blonde.

"Well, Zack," Scarlett pressed once he remained silent for too long, her fingertips drumming on his chest. "What's it gonna be?"

And so Zachary Bishop sabotaged himself out of a good thing once again, just like he had done with Lisa. "I'm sorry, Scarlett!" He suddenly blurted out, startling the girl. "But I really promised I was gonna meet my friend right at this time, so…," he began backing off. "I'm sorry…, bye!“

He fled away from a bewildered Scarlett with a rock-hard cock in his slacks and a mind deeply in turmoil. It didn't even occur to him to ask for whom Scarlett wanted to find out if he was good enough.

His heart beating like a jackhammer, Zack wandered aimlessly through the crowd of teenagers and young people wanting to enjoy the dance floor, even crashing into a few of them, as he tried to put as much distance between him and Scarlett Soren as possible.

To put it simply, he hated himself at that moment. He ditched a perfectly fine opportunity to have some fun with a sexy girl because he was worried about what his crushes would think or that they wouldn’t want anything to do with him if they knew, just like he had done with Lisa. The fact that it would be just sex without any meaning was just a mental roadblock he put it in place, just so he could have an excuse to run. Or so he thought, at least.

Screw that! I’m a teenager and I’m allowed to want sex! He mentally screamed at himself. Who cares if it’s just a one-night stand, you idiot?!

However, deep down, Zack knew that the whole truth behind it all was that he was afraid of screwing it up on his first time with a girl, especially if she was experienced like Scarlett or even Hannah if he ever pulled off that miracle. What if I can’t please her? Get her to cum? he asked himself. Right then, Zack realized that Heather was right, he needed to be more confident and stop putting imaginary obstacles in every situation.

Perhaps it was fate that brought us together now of all times, he speculated, not looking where he was going until he stumbled into a solid mass of muscles.

“Whoa, easy there, Zack,” Kevin said, laughing at his friend.

Zack had gotten momentarily stunned by the collision, but quickly recovered himself. “Kev, hey. How’s it going?”

Kevin just shrugged, a rueful smile on his face. “Just fine, man. What about you?”

“Just having a strange night,” Zack nervously chuckled in response, trying to put what just happened with Scarlett out of his mind.

Kevin grinned. “Oh, yeah, I heard you were hanging out with your cousin,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Good for you, man.”

Zack and Kevin’s friendship came from the two times the Bishop boy tried out for the basketball team in the school. Kevin thought he was good and tried to help him, but even if it didn’t work out the way they wanted to, the two of them became friends. Kevin usually was that calm, reasonable friend in his life during the school year, in the same way that Peter Zander acted over the summer, chatting about life, girls, and things that he couldn’t talk about with Gavin or Ralph because they weren’t chill or experienced like Kevin.

“It’s been… interesting, to say the least,” Zack responded.

“Heard you got two dates too, you dog,” the basketball player snickered, even if it made him feel a bit envious after what Sharon had put him through.

“I wouldn’t call Hannah and Chloe proper dates, though,” Zack commented with a small smile.

“Even if they only came with you as friends, not everyone knows about it, Zack,” Kevin told him. “Girls might look at you and wonder what there is that made you score two dates for the ball. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find yourself a chick magnet from now on, my friend.”

Zack let out another nervous laugh, unable to say that it already happened with Scarlett Soren. Before he could say anything else, though, a set of lights suddenly illuminated the stage where the DJ had been playing, and two boys could be seen above it. Kevin’s cousin, Trent Thornton, and Kieran Austen, a boy that Zack knew was Gavin’s friend from the computer club at school and Madison’s cousin.

“Alright,” Trent grinned, tapping the microphone in his hand. “Everyone can hear and see me looking awesome up here?” He asked, making every teenager on that floor turn to the stage. “Good! What are we doing here tonight, Austen?”

Kieran, a lanky boy with short dark hair and green eyes, rolled his eyes, pointing at the envelopes in his own hands. “You know why we’re here,” he sighed, having been **** by Madison to be up there with Trent.

“That’s rude, Austen, but you’re right, I know exactly why I’m here tonight. You all down there know it too, and I’m willing to bet my stat record you’ve been pulling all of your pretty hairs waiting for this. I know I would, if my hair wasn’t so short,” he joked, earning a few laughs here and there from the crowd. “Alright, people older than eighteen are free to ignore this, but seniors of Azure Rocks High School, it’s time for us to know…. the winners of The List!!!”

---

Reveling in the cheers, whistles, and screams as if they were for him, Trent took the first envelope from Kieran and smirked at the crowd. “Looks like we’re starting with Best Cheerleader or Female Athlete, guys,” he said, tearing open the envelope. “I think there’s not much surprise at all when I give you… Heather Ravers!”

Heather smiled gratefully, enthusiastically waving at the insane crowd as she made her way to the stage. Trent grabbed a small golden plaque from a table behind him, which had been arranged in the order in which they were supposed to be awarded, and handed it over to Heather. He took the opportunity to steal a tight hug from her, feeling her big tits pressing against his chest before she surprised Kieran by giving him a hug as well.

“Thank you everyone for voting me as Best Cheerleader!” Heather spoke on the mic that Trent had given her, earning another round of applause. It touched her that people liked her so much. “It means a lot to be recognized as such. I hope the Moon Maidens can make you proud this year,” she said before smirking. “Well, who am I kidding? I’ll lead them to it by **** if I have to, now that I’m the freaking captain! Thank you again, everyone!”

She waved her plaque in the air and gave the mic back to Trent as she climbed down from the stage under a standing ovation from her classmates.

“Hottie!!!”

“Sexy!!!”

“Will you marry me???!!!”

People kept screaming from the sea of classmates, prompting Heather to stop and give them a naughty smirk, putting her hands on her waist in a stern posture before she teasingly waggled her index finger negatively and went back to her friends.

The girls who were athletes knew they had no chance of winning that category with Heather being such a beloved cheerleader, but there were others in the cheer squad who couldn’t help but feel a sting of jealousy, such as Sharon Miller, who glared at her frenemy from afar.

“Alright, after such an inspiring moment from our very own Heather Ravers, let’s go on with the show,” Trent said, turning to his companion with a curious grin. “Hey, Austen, you wanna announce the next one?”

Kieran felt a wave of icy fear wash over him as he shook his head, trying to keep his cool and escape from the embarrassment. “No, thanks. You’re doing a great job.”

“Why, thank you, Kieran. I think I’m doing a great job myself,” Trent curved himself in an exaggerated bow as he accepted the next envelope. “Let’s fucking go, then. Next… Most Active Girl!” He announced, smiling at the crowd. “If you’ve been busy last year, you’ll probably be in contention for this one,” he said, opening the envelope and a genuine smile spread across his face as he read it. “Oh, this one’s close to my heart of hearts, everyone. She has been a staple of our drama club for three years now, was a star in the volleyball team for just as long, and just recently, switched it over to be a Moon Maiden! My best friend’s twin sister and a second sister to this sexy, humble host talking to you, I give you… Madison Cole!!! C’mere, Maddie!!!”

“Humble my ass,” Kevin commented as he clapped along with the rest of the crowd.

Zack chuckled. “I’m happy for Madison, though. She deserves it,” He observed her walking over to the stage with a big smile on her face. She looks really cute.

Madison gave Trent a big hug, she was happy for the award and his words about her. Being almost like a sister to him, Trent tried to stop himself from feeling something from the hug, though, which would have worked if he hadn’t already been sporting a semi hard-on from the tight hug he gave Heather. Nevertheless, Madison didn’t notice it, so she proceeded to give a hug to her cousin next, who was smiling widely at her as he gave her a golden plaque as well. She went over to the mic that Trent had put on a stand.

“Gosh, I don’t know what to say,” she gushed, fanning herself with the free arm. “I just want to thank you guys for the acknowledgement, it means a lot to me. Thanks,” she repeated and then hugged both Trent and Kieran a second time before she waved to the crowd and left the stage to re-join her friends.

Trent was still grinning when retaking his position at the microphone. “Such a heartfelt moment, guys, but the show must go on! Hit me again, Austen!” He requested, and then Kieran rolled his eyes while giving the football player another envelope. “Ah, I’m really curious to see this one, though I have my suspicions,” he smiled at the crowd. “It’s time to see who you all think it’s The Nicest Girl in Azure Rocks High!”

Both Heather, Ashley, and Alice’s heads automatically turned to Victoria, who gave her friends a weird frown in return for the attention. Zack genuinely didn’t know who he would give the award to if he had the power. Chloe was the nicest girl he knew, but she wasn’t popular, so that meant no votes other than his own and their other close friends. The only other girl he could think of was Victoria as well.

Trent tore open the envelope and grinned when he saw the name inscribed there. “I just knew it! C’mon up, Victoria Walker! You sweet, nice girl!”

Victoria’s frown deepened as she didn’t quite understand what was happening, and it took Heather and Ashley urging her for the green-eyed blonde to move under a big round of applause from her classmates. She awkwardly climbed up to the stage where Trent was already waiting with a golden plaque.

“Congrats, Vicky!” The football player said, trying to hand her the award.

She took it and inspected it with a curious look as Trent tried to give her a hug. Victoria didn’t think she could win one of the awards, and she didn’t even want to, but when she saw Kieran smiling as he clapped, and then took another look at the happy crowd, a beautiful smile formed on her face as well.

Damn, she looks like a movie star getting an Oscar up there, Zack mentally gushed, without noticing that his own smile was almost splitting his face in two.

“Uhn… thanks, everyone,” Victoria finally said into the microphone. “I wasn’t expecting this, but… I’m glad you think I’m a nice person.”

Another big round of cheers and applause erupted from the crowd after she said that, causing the beautiful blonde reporter to let out a cute, amused chuckle.

“Well, that’s it, I guess,” she said, briefly lifting up the plaque. “Thank you again!”

The crowd went insane as she politely nodded at both Trent and Kieran and made her way down the stage. Trent grinned, watching the blonde’s fantastic ass as she walked away, and then took up his position at the mic again. “Yes, guys, I know everyone likes Vicky, but can I present the next award, please?” He requested when there was no sign of his classmates stopping with the cheers. “Alright, fair enough, we’ll wait.”

“We’re past halfway point,” Kieran said as he handed his companion the fourth envelope. “Finally,” he added in a whisper.

“Okay, guys, fourth award of the night,” Trent said, reading the title of the envelope and raising an eyebrow. “It looks like we’ll get to wonder who won the award for The Most Mysterious Girl in our school!”

The cheers went down in volume after that. Everyone had voted, but they definitely wondered why that category had even been included.

“And it goes to…,” Trent made a dramatic pause and then read the name inside the envelope. “Grace Smith! Is she even here?” He peered at the audience, trying to spot Victoria’s cousin, who he thought was just as hot, but she definitely didn’t flaunt it.

“She didn’t come!” Scarlett Soren spoke from the back.

“Okay, then,” Trent chuckled in amusement. “It seems Grace’s so mysterious that she decided to stay hidden tonight. One of you, pick it up later and give it to her, okay?” He requested. “Alice, Victoria, can you?”

Alice Phillips nodded from her spot next to her boyfriend. She, Madison, and Scarlett would definitely get a kick out of informing Grace she had won an award. It would definitely be funny, if she didn’t bite their heads off, that is.

“Uh-oh… I’m not sure this is smart,” Kieran said once he saw what was written in the last envelope.

‘What do you mean?” Trent asked with a curious frown as he tried to to pick the envelope, but Kieran shoved it in his own pocket. “Gimme that, Austen!”

“Hell no, we’re not doing this!” Kieran retorted, trying to dodge the wide receiver of the football team. “I voted for this, but I thought it was just a joke.”

“Ooooh,” Trent’s eyes lightened up in recognition, there was just one category left, after all. “I know which one you mean! Gimme that right fucking now!”

“No! It’s freaking rude, man!” Kieran said, now running around the table with the remaining golden plaques. “Not to mention very poor taste!”

Trent finally got annoyed and tackled the other boy as if he was a linebacker, causing the crowd to let out another cheer. Kieran wasn’t an athlete, so it definitely had been easy for him. “Thanks, Austen,” he grinned, snatching the envelope before he stood up and fixed his clothes, giving his classmates in the audience a naughty grin. “I know you guys knew right away what this was all about, I knew it too,” he waved the envelope in the air. “It’s finally time for you horny fuckers to know who you voted as The Sexiest Girl in Azure Rocks High School!”

---

His classmates erupted in cheers and applause at Trent’s announcement, and he grinned while Kieran gingerly stood up once again. “I must say, guys, I’m very glad this is a thing we did ourselves. I’m willing to bet the school wouldn’t let us include this one if it was official,,” Trent casually told them. “But enough chit-chat from me, let’s find out who you all chose as the most deliciously sexy girl in our good ol’ school, shall we?”

A few girls just rolled their eyes in annoyance, while others seemed quite pissed that the boys included such a rude, objectifying category in their vote. Still, a few of them were waiting with a bated breath, eager for the validation that such a vote could bring. Lastly, the vain girls were just waiting to hear their names and get another massage to their fragile egos.

Trent was eager to tear open the envelope and crown one of his female classmates as the sexiest girl in the school. He had a few opinions and his vote to go from, but he couldn’t even begin to imagine who the majority of his classmates picked for a winner. “Oh, shit,” he said in the microphone as he laid his eyes on the name and then turned to his audience. “We’ve got a tie, everyone!”

“Ooooohhhh!!!!” Was the deafening, incredulous noise that could be heard from the ocean of teenagers facing the stage. Did it happen before? Who were the ones tied in first place? So many questions ran through their minds as they expectantly watched Trent, who seemed to be going for a bit of suspense at the moment.

“Alright, this makes me a bit uncomfortable, guys. I can’t do this to my old friend,” Trent finally said with a bit of a dramatic flair, causing both Kieran and Madison to wonder if he wouldn’t be a good fit for the drama club, along with every other one of his shenanigans that night. “You do it, Austen,” he pushed the envelope into his companion’s hands.

“Me?” The tall boy croaked out, but Trent motioned for him to get on with it, causing the boy to let out a long sigh as he read the names. “Uhn…, Heather Ravers and Ashley Woodsen?” He hesitantly announced, searching for the two girls in the crowd.

Heather smirked and stood up while Ashley’s eyes widened in a bit of surprise, but then Brandon, who was sitting next to her, shot up to his feet. “Alright, which ones of you fuckers voted for my girlfriend?!”

“Brandon!” Ashley tried to chide him in a low voice as Madison glared at her brother from her own spot. The petite blonde had no idea people thought that about her, but it definitely felt flattering, and she was a good sport about almost anything.

“I’m waiting!" The school quarterback ignored his girlfriend and glared at his classmates, as if his gaze had the power of singling out the ones who had voted for Ashley.

“Brandon, shush!” Heather finally had enough and stared the muscled boy down with a stern look. “Stop embarrassing your girlfriend!”

Brandon frowned at the cheer captain. “But…”

“Nothing! It’s just a damn vote, no one’s trying to take her from you,” the brunette firmly told him, and at that moment, everyone could see just why she would be the perfect cheer captain. “Now let’s go get it, Ash.”

Ashley gave her boyfriend one last look, but he had sunk down on his chair and didn’t look at the stage, preferring to stare at his own feet instead. She turned away and followed her fellow cheerleader to the stage, wondering what possessed so many of her classmates to vote for her as the sexiest one. It even gave her a flash of arousal, her thighs rubbing against her panty-covered pussy as she walked.

Zack supposed the tie was a nice way to end it, considering that the whole thing was cooked up as a show meant to entertain. His cousin was the obvious one, while Ashley was kind of a dark horse, but he was glad for his old friend as well, she was sexy in her own way, the cute kind of sexy. He had voted for Victoria himself, as he thought she was sexy, even though she didn’t quite display it.

“Alright, how are we doing this?” Heather asked once they reached the stage. “Two plaques? If there’s only one, Ash can have it. I’ve already got the other one.”

“No, two were made,” Kieran replied. “Alice Phillips was responsible for looking into the results beforehand and checking how many would need to be ordered.”

Trent grinned and took two plaques from the table. “Sweet! I can have the honor to award them to both of you, then,” he said. “Ash, tell Brandon I’m sorry.”

The blonde rolled her eyes in amusement before accepting her award, just as Trent gave Heather the other one and took the opportunity to snag another hug. “Alright, that’s enough, Trent,” she said, letting out a chuckle.

“Ladies and gentleman, the Sexiest Girls of Azure Rocks High School!!!” The wide receiver blared into the microphone, prompting a loud round of cheers and applause.

“Thank you, everyone!” Heather and Ashley said in unison on the mic, grinning at how their classmates seemed to be cheering even louder. They decided to not say anything else, there wasn’t much a girl could say after being acclaimed as the sexiest one in their year. A little surprise would come, though.

“KISS!!!”

A random male voice shouted from the middle of the crowd, causing Brandon to stand up and glare at all the others again, though it made him rather curious to see if they would go for it. It had been a fantasy of his to see his girlfriend with her closest friends, maybe even in a threesome one day.

Heather turned to Ashley and shrugged with a naughty grin on her face. She had never kissed a girl before, but she had been feeling kind of curious for some time now, and she supposed there wouldn’t be a better person to try it out than her best friend. Ashley, on her end, raised both eyebrows in shock at the suggestion and how willingly Heather seemed to be going along with it.

“Don’t look at me, I’ve got my hands tied,” Trent shook his head with a grin of his own, though he was secretly hoping for them to do it, even if only a peck. Kieran cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed as the same thoughts crossed his mind.

“Just a little peck to drive them crazy, Ash,” Heather tried to convince the blonde, her voice low so only her friend could hear.

Ashley stared into her gorgeous friend’s electric-blue eyes as she considered the move. She had never entertained any thoughts about girls at all, but she supposed that if she really needed to try out a sapphic kiss in her life, Heather would be a fine manner to get it out of the way. “Well,” she finally chuckled, reaching a decision. “Let’s do it, then.”

The two close friends grinned at each other and then leaned in before their soft lips brushed against each other, sending their audience into a fit of whistles and cheers. Heather closed the distance and her tits almost touched Ashley’s own medium-sized pair as she put her right hand on the blonde’s waist, very close to her firm butt. Neither girl moved, keeping it only as an enjoyable peck for a few seconds before they pulled back and smiled as their hands lifted up their respective awards for the public. An itch had been scratched for Heather and a new experience had been planted in Ashley’s mind; if she would end up doing something with it, only time would tell.

Paris sighed at her spot near the back, even straight girls were getting more girls than she did, making the young blue-haired Bishop vow to change that situation in the near future. Her senior year was just beginning, and she couldn’t let it be the same as the previous ones.

“Trent aside, they certainly made it a fun show this year,” Kevin commented with Zack as they watched Trent, Kieran, and Heather exit the stage while Ashley walked over to the table with the plaques.

Zack let out a chuckle in response. “Yeah, I think they can’t top this now,” he said, wondering how the male awards were gonna unfold and which boys would be crowned as winners.

---

Sharon Miller had a scowl on her face during the entire walk up to the stage. She was aware that beating Heather for Sexiest Girl would be a tall mountain to climb, as the brunette also had a whole lot of charisma, but seeing Ashley matching their captain for votes and sharing the title had stung. The ginger was sure she had better tits, ass, hair, everything, so she couldn’t fathom why she hadn’t been the recipient of those votes.

“Bunch of dumb, idiot motherfuckers,” she muttered under her breath as she climbed up the steps and stood next to Ashley. She had been the first one to volunteer to present the male awards, as she thought the combination of her hair and dress would look amazing on that stage. She put on a fake smile and addressed the crowd. “Just so you know, I won’t kiss her too.”

She got a few rounds of loud booing from the audience in response, and there was even a brave person that took advantage of standing in the middle of a crowd, a certain blue eyed blonde. “Who invited the carrot top? Change the host!”

Scarlett laughed at her own jab, and Madison guffawed as she stared incredulously at her friend, even more when a few people echoed the request. Up on the stage, though, Sharon’s usually milky skin got as red as her hair, and if it wasn’t for Ashley intervening, her fellow cheerleader certainly would have made an embarrassing scene to ruin everyone’s night.

“Alright, that’s enough,” the blonde said, stepping in front of the other girl and smiling at her classmates. “So, as you all know, after us girls got our awards, it’s time for the boys to get theirs too. Yeah, we don’t get to suffer alone, girls.”

While Ashley continued, Zack noticed Victoria coming his way and that caused him to basically tune out what the two cheerleaders were saying. “Heather and Tanya were driving me insane with talk about that sexiest award,” she said, as a way of explaining why she was there.

“No problem,” he told the blonde, a genuine smile forming on his face as his heart began pounding harder at her presence. “Hey, congrats on YOUR award.”

To his side, Kevin nodded with a smile, sharing the sentiment before he turned back to the stage, where it looked like Ashley and Sharon were finally starting their own ceremony.

“Thanks, guys,” she replied. “I guess it’s okay when people think we’re nice, active, even mysterious,” she let out a brief chuckle at the thought of the award her cousin had won. “But the other ones…, I don’t know, I can’t see the worth in choosing the best cheerleader or… the sexiest girl. I just don’t think there’s a real purpose in it, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Zack slowly nodded. A half lie, since he could see the entertainment factor around the awards, it had been a tradition amidst the students of Azure Rocks High for the past fifteen years or so, but he didn’t want to disagree with something his crush had said. “Maybe the boys who wrote up the categories could’ve used ‘Most Beautiful’ instead.”

“Wouldn’t have been much better,” Victoria said with an hesitant look. “There are girls who could look at those votes and possibly get depressed, you know? Thinking they’ll never reach that fabled, unattainable standard in their minds.”

Zack could see the logic, a bit embarrassed that he hadn’t thought about the whole thing from that angle. It was just a school tradition that never harmed anyone. Right? He unsurely asked himself. It seemed that his conversations with Victoria were fated to never go right. If it didn’t start already on the wrong foot, something happened to cut it when it looked like it could go somewhere, such as earlier when Harrison interrupted them.

“Hey, guys,” Madison said, popping up in a spot behind Zack’s right arm and Victoria’s left. “What did you think about the awards? Pretty fun, huh?”

Zack smiled at her, he thought it was fun to reminisce about the past with her until Brandon whisked his sister away earlier. At the very least, being with Madison and Victoria there prevented him from thinking about Scarlett’s proposal. “Yeah, I guess,” he nodded, but still unsure due to Victoria’s words.

“You guess?” She snorted. “C’mon, Zack! An old school tradition happening right in front of your eyes and you just guess? It’s all in good fun," she told him. "I'm damn proud of my award. Don’t you feel the same about yours, Vicky?"

"Kind of," the blonde replied. "I was just telling…"

"Oh, yeah!" Zack suddenly interrupted her, causing the reporter to regard him with a surprised, slightly hurt look. "Congrats on your award, Madison!" He felt the need to change the subject to avoid a possible argument between the girls due to their conflicting opinions about the awards.

"Oh, thanks, Zack, very kind of you," she gave him a big smile, though there was a bit of sass in her tone. "You voted for me, right?"

“I don't know, Sharon looked a lot more active than you last year," he grinned, taking a bit of that sass for himself.

The tall brunette looked at him with somewhat of a shocked look, unsure if he was being serious, though the grin on his handsome face told her he was just messing with her, so she let out an amused snort. "Only if you mean the times I caught her bullying people."

Zack held up his hands in mock surrender. "I won't disagree there," he said. "Though I admit I don't know her that well."

"Trust me, you're not losing anything," Madison chuckled.

"That's mean, Madison," Victoria said, frowning at her friend. She never had a close friendship with the redhead cheerleader, but she believed everyone had their worth, even if it took a while for that person to find it, and besides, Heather had always vouched for Sharon.

"Oh, Vicky, Vicky. You really are the nicest of us," the hazel-eyed girl grinned and then turned back to her crush. "You know, Zack, I voted for you in a category too."

"Really?“ He raised a curious eyebrow, wondering where he could realistically be voted. "Which one?"

"You'll have to wait and see," she teased. "How many winners have they announced already?"

Kevin turned to them with a scowl on his face. "Your brother got ‘Best Athlete’, Duncan got 'Most Active', and my cousin just got 'Mr. Nice Guy," he recounted and the other three turned to the stage just in time to see Trent exchanging a rather sensual hug with Sharon where he briefly squeezed her ass before going back down like a champ, showing off his plaque.

"It didn't come up, then," Madison said, clapping for her brother's best friend, who had always been like an unofficial brother for her. A better one at that.

Zack became even more confused, he really couldn’t begin to guess in which category Madison had picked him. Unless she was just bantering, a possibility he considered quite likely as it had been almost a norm in the few conversations they had over the years since she stopped hanging out with him and his friends.

“Okay, next one,” Sharon announced from the stage as Ashley handed her the fourth envelope and she frowned. “‘Quiet Guy’? What the fuck? The same brilliant minds who gave you ‘Most Mysterious Girl’, no doubt?”

“Just go on, Sharon,” Ashley tiredly instructed. Her co-host had been bitchy through the entire ceremony and she was so over it already, a sentiment that a big part of the crowd seemed to share, judging by the sighs and groans that could be heard from them.

“Alright, alright, no need to be a bore, jeez…,” the redhead rolled her eyes and read the name written on the envelope. “Gotta say I agree with this one,” she lifted her eyes to search through the crowd. “Clark Bishop! You’re up!”

Clark’s eyes immediately widened and his eyebrows shot up to his hairline, panic washing over him. Before Ralph could even look at him, the basketball player had already ducked beneath the table between the two of them and began making his way to the upper floor of the convention center, hiding himself behind chairs and pillars. He would be damned if he let people drag him up there and **** him to embarrass himself.

Sharon let out a sigh on the stage. “Great, not here too!” She snorted. “People writing up the categories next year, don’t be lame like this, you’ve been tipped!”

Ashley raised a curious eyebrow, she had seen Clark around before the awards. Zack and Paris had the same spooked reaction, the latter wondering if her brother had gone upstairs with their parents. “Ashley, I’ll pick it up later!” She called out to the blonde cheerleader, who smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Gimme the last one!” Sharon basically snatched the next envelope from Ashley’s hands. She had only voted for best athlete and for this last category, meaning that she knew very well what was coming, and the sexy ginger cheerleader couldn’t wait to announce it. There was only one possible winner in the category, a person whose dick she hoped to feel sliding in and out of her pussy very soon, maybe even that night. “Here we go, girls, the one we were anxiously waiting for, the crowning of this year’s ‘Mr. Handsome’!”

Harry unconsciously shifted to the edge of his chair, a smug smile on his face. It was obvious he was the winner, he had heard for three years that he was the hottest and most handsome guy in that school, and what he saw in the mirror every day surely confirmed that fact. He waited his entire high school career up until that point to have what everyone knew inscribed in a golden plaque, and now mere moments separated him from that goal.

After Clark’s vanishing act, Zack’s mind got a bit distracted, so he didn’t even connect the dots to know that ‘Mr. Handsome’ had been the category Madison had claimed to vote for him.

Sharon smirked, clearly enjoying dragging the moment and making a little more suspense, and then she finally tore the envelope when she noticed Ashley begin to move toward her. “Aaaand our Mr. Handsome issss… WHAT?!” The grin on her face morphed into a deep frown almost immediately, an expression mirrored in Harry’s face in the middle of the crowd.

“Give it to me!” Ashley finally had enough and took back the envelope, a giant smile forming on her face once she read the name. “Zack Bishop!” She happily announced, waving up the envelope. “C’mon, Zack!”

Both Zack and Harry froze at the announcement, shock dominating the former and pure rage slowly filling the latter’s entire being. The Cullen boy instantly snapped his head toward the back, throwing his cousin the most angry glare anyone had ever seen in that ballroom.

“How dare he steal this moment from me?” He muttered, and only an equally bewildered Naomi had fully heard him. Duncan limited himself to applauding along with a few other people in the audience, wondering if this hadn’t been a retaliation from the students against Harrison for the three years of belittling and pompous arrogance.

“Go, dammit!” A grinning Madison pushed the petrified Zack to move, and then began to enthusiastically clap for him as Kevin just smiled widely. As he wished for earlier, someone had finally stuck one to those arrogant bastards in their school, such as his cousin and Harrison Cullen.

Zachary moved on autopilot toward the stage. He had never given a fuck about those awards in the previous years, and now that it had been his class’ turn to organize it, he could never have imagined that he was on the radar to win, not even for a second, especially the most coveted award of the night amongst the boys who cared for it.

“Congrats, Zack!!!” Ashley threw her arms around him after he passed by a glaring Sharon. She pushed the plaque into his hands and he still hadn’t recovered himself. When Sharon reluctantly pushed the microphone in front of him, his gaze met the eyes of the audience and he frowned deeply again.

Zack then looked at the plaque in his hands. It was simple, a golden plaque over a wooden bar, with the inscription ‘Mr. Handsome, 2022’. If he thought his life had been taking a turn for the weird after Heather reached out and decided they would be part of each other’s lives, that night was definitely being successful in shooting up that feeling to unimaginable levels. Hanging out with the cheerleaders, having Scarlett Soren offering him no-strings attached sex, and now, being chosen as the most handsome guy in senior year. It was too much.

His gaze found a smiling Madison next to a serious-looking Victoria and then he leaned into the microphone for just a brief moment. “Thank you, those who voted for me,” he said, gave Ashley a **** smile and climbed down the stage, his mind still confused and his ears ringing as Harry kept glaring at him and following his every move.

---

Zachary wandered around the first floor of the convention center, purposefully avoiding everyone who could be wanting to stop him to talk or just congratulate him for that award. He had no idea how he got that plaque, but it felt kind of heavy in his pocket. He just knew it was going to complicate his life somehow. It was then that he caught sight of maybe the biggest comforting and calming presence in his life, and his feet naturally carried him all the way to her, as a mirage in the desert. Chloe was currently chatting with Paris, their backs turned to him, so she never saw her best friend coming until he was basically beside them.

“There you are, Chlo,” he suddenly said, causing the redhead to jump at the sound of his voice. “Hey, Par.”

“Don’t do that! Dammit!” Chloe complained, putting a hand on her heaving chest as Paris laughed uncontrollably next to them.

“Sorry, I just really needed to talk to you,” Zack said with a small smile, but the amusement he felt at his friend’s scared reaction was not really working to overcome his worries. “Something came up and… hell, let’s just dance for a bit and I’ll tell you.”

“Hey, what about me, mister?” Paris pretended to whine before Chloe could answer.

Zack turned to his cousin with a surprised eyebrow raised. “You? You wanna dance with a boy?”

The blue-haired Bishop laughed and then reached over to pat his cheek. “Silly Zack. You’re not a boy, you’re my cousin,” she told him. “Plus, are we gonna pretend you didn’t just win this year’s ‘Mr. Handsome’?”

Chloe stifled a laugh when he turned to her, and she shrugged her shoulders in response. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted it mentioned.”

“I didn’t,” Zack groaned. “I’m trying… not to think about it.”

“How did that happen?” Chloe softly inquired. She had voted for him as a joke, mainly because there wasn’t anyone else she felt the need to vote for.

“Trying not to think about that either,” his answer came out more like a grunt this time.

“Well, think about how fun it’s gonna be crossing paths with Harrison in the hallways instead,” Paris said, an admittedly scary grin decorating her features. “Knowing you stole the biggest thunder he could’ve had! Damn, that’s gonna be fucking hilarious!”

“Fuck, he’s gonna be annoying like hell now!” Zack whined, he definitely hadn’t thought about his other cousin’s reaction to him taking the award he probably coveted for himself.

“Don’t worry about it now, just bask in it,” Paris told him before she put a hand on each of their shoulders and pushed them to the dance floor. “Now go dance and then bring our friend back in one piece.”

That was precisely why Zack didn’t want to share his worries in front of Paris. His cousin had always been a bit too carefree and playful. She would tease him too much for his troubles, like she had just done about the award and Harrison, while Chloe had always been a great, patient listener.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Chloe muttered.

"Please, Chloe," Zack pleaded, giving her a lost puppy kind of look. "You know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important."

"Fine," the ginger finally responded after a second of silence. "But only until we get to the balcony."

Having people see her dance always embarrassed Chloe, but listening to Zack's girl troubles had kind of been one of her jobs as his best friend. She wasn't sure if he would ever get to repay the favor, since her real crushes had always been male celebrities and pro soccer players, but she couldn't help but wonder how amusing it would be getting Zack to listen to her hypothetical boy troubles.

Fortunately for her, Zack didn’t try to dance for real as they shuffled toward the glass doors. The duo of best friends just pretended to sway and shake their bodies until they were safely out in the balcony, the same one where Zack had talked to Logan Finlay before.

“Alright, out with it,” Chloe said, turning to her best friend. “What’s so sensitive that you couldn’t have talked about it in front of Paris?”

Zack exhaled, leaning against the railing as he tried to choose his words carefully, but a lack of patience made him dump everything on his friend at once. “Well, where to even start? You saw the award, you saw a bit of how Hannah was teasing me mercilessly like she always does,” he started. “Then I managed to score a dance with freaking Victoria, only to slam my face on her door because I can’t connect with her,” he was starting to get red in the face and breathless, making the redhead a bit worried for her friend. “To cap it off, as if that wasn’t enough, Scarlett Soren implied she wanted to go have sex somewhere and I ran like an idiotic baby!”

Chloe’s eyes began widening as Zack progressed in his account, her eyebrows shooting up into her hairline as he neared the end, and by the time he stopped talking, her eyes had almost bugged out of her skull in shock. Hannah teasing her friend didn’t concern her a lot, since, as Zack said, she had always done that to him and he always was able to endure it and take it in stride. Dancing with Victoria was another matter, as she was afraid that Zack’s nervousness could cause him to botch his chances with the girl he had been crushing on for some time now. However, Scarlett’s proposition came completely out of nowhere and it caught Chloe by surprise to learn about it, not to mention the fact that it probably could be considered too much information for a best friend to share with another best friend. Chloe realized, though, that she couldn’t calm him down if she felt icky about it, even if she had no experience whatsoever in the matter at hand.

“Ookaaay,” she slowly nodded. “And how did that make you feel?”

Zack scoffed, shaking his head. “Shit, I was completely shocked,” he responded. “Even started wondering if I got stuck in an episode of Twilight Zone or something.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “No, I mean… did you want to go with her and got scared or you ran ‘cause you weren’t interested?”

He rubbed his face several times. “I dunno, but… I think fear was definitely a part of what I was feeling,” he explained. “All I could think was if I’d be good enough.”

Chloe smiled and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, trying to give him some comfort. “Damn, I might not know anything about crushes and people offering me sex, but I know you, doofus,” they shared a smile at that. “There's no connection between you and Scarlett, that’s why you felt you couldn’t go through with it. You want Victoria right now and Scarlett isn’t her.”

Zack cocked his head to the side, a contemplative expression on his face. Chloe was right about him needing some kind of connection and that Victoria was the strongest one of that kind for him at that moment, but Zachary was quite sure that he would be just as happy with any one of his other crushes, such as Hannah or Jennifer. “You may be right, Chloe, but that's kinda beside the point. What I’m really worrying about is that I ran like a crybaby and I can't do that anymore, it already ruined things with Lisa.”

It tore through Chloe seeing her best friend in such deep turmoil like that. He had always been such a good person, he didn’t deserve to be going through that, and she lamented the fact that she couldn’t really help him at that moment. “Zack, I don’t think I know what to tell you, I’ve never gone through anything like this,” she told him, squeezing his shoulder. “All I can do is offer you a hug, if you want it.”

Zack chuckled and turned to his best friend. She had a big smile on her face, which caused one to finally appear at his own face as well. “You’re freaking awesome, you know that?”

Chloe playfully shrugged. “Weeell, you know I’ve got my moments.”

The best friends then came together and wrapped their arms around each other, just like they did countless other times over their entire lives. For so many times, those hugs allowed them to draw comfort and strength from each other, and now Zack was the one in need of those positive feelings. It was calm and soothing, her red hair tickling his nose with its usual flowery scent as his hands splayed themselves on her fit back. Anyone else and Zack would have been able to take notice of the large breasts pressed against his chest, but he had ‘best friend goggles’ when it came to Chloe, something that fooled his mind and body to ignore that aspect of hers. Chloe was no different, without the goggles she would definitely have noticed the developing muscles on her best friend, courtesy of the jogging and light workout that she and Taylor told him to do at the beginning of summer. Still, a tiny little crack started to form on both of their goggles on that night Chloe noticed Zack’s erection while he massaged her bare feet, and it would be quite interesting to see if that crack was destined to widen or remain as it was.

The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped them out of it and Zack and Chloe released each other. The person was none other than Zack’s estranged uncle, Robert Ravers, and he was accompanied by a much younger redhead woman that Zack recognized from news he read. She was Leah Green, his uncle’s personal assistant and girlfriend.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted anything,” Robert said with an amused smile on his face.

“It’s okay,” a stunned Zack replied. Even if he was expecting it, his uncle actually coming to talk to him felt a bit jarring.

“Good, good,” Robert nodded and walked closer to the duo, scratching the back of his neck. “Well, as you no doubt heard from my daughter, Zachary, I was hoping we could have a little chat. Is now a good time for you?”

“Sure,” Zack nodded, a small smile finally appearing on his face. “But, please, call me Zack.” His uncle chuckled and nodded at that.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Chloe told him, squeezing his shoulder one last time and earning a grin from her best friend.

“We could have a chat ourselves while the men talk. How about it?” Robert’s girlfriend inquired, her green eyes flashing with something Chloe couldn’t decipher. She was twenty-eight and had a petite, nimble body that was covered by a short, dark green dress.

“Uhn… thanks, but I promised I’d go find my friend. She’s waiting for me,” Chloe lied before she walked past the older woman, back into the ballroom.

Leah chuckled and turned to her boyfriend. “I’ll wait for you inside, then, Robbie,” she told him. “Probably make sure that no one gets here until you’re done.”

“Thanks, Leah,” Robert nodded with a wolfish grin before he turned back to Zack. “A lovely girl you have.”

“Uhn?” Zack raised an eyebrow before his eyes widened in panic at the meaning. “Oh, no! Chloe and I are just childhood friends, that’s all.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Robert nodded, hoping that his nephew and that girl didn’t end up like Daniel and his childhood friend. Speaking of his younger brother, Robert could see a lot of Daniel in Zack, but there was something of their father as well. A little bit, but he could definitely see it. “Well, I think I should start by asking what you know about what happened between me and your father.”

Zack pondered as the older man joined him at the railing. Robert definitely was related to him, he looked a lot like his dad, and he even had the same eye-color that Heather and his father had, the electric-blue, while Zack and Taylor had inherited their mother’s icy-blue eye color.

“Not much, I guess,” he finally answered. “Only that you two had a big fight that also involved my grandfather and my dad decided to leave the family.”

“Hmm, I see,” Robert nodded in understanding. “In that case, Zack, I can’t tell you more. It should be your father’s decision, not mine,” he explained, a determined tone in his voice. Daniel wouldn’t forgive him if he stole the opportunity of being the first to offer Zachary his own version of the facts. “I can assure you, though, that it was mine and your grandfather’s fault, and I regret it deeply.”

Zachary slowly nodded, the information sinking into his brain. While he believed his father implicitly, he didn’t expect his uncle to claim responsibility for the falling out, as it didn’t fit the image his dad had painted of him for Zack's entire life. For him to be here reaching out, though…, he must be serious about it, Zack supposed. “It’s alright, I guess.” He didn’t want to sound cold or uninterested, but he genuinely couldn’t come up with anything to offer in that conversation. His uncle was a big, successful business man and he was just an everyday high schooler, after all.

“So, I was watching you earlier, Zack,” Robert commented before he let out an amused chuckle. “And Heather, of course, but don’t tell her that,” he added. “Anyways, I was watching you and noticed you seem to be quite popular with the ladies.” It piqued up his attention because he had always been the exact same way.

Zack raised a confused eyebrow, wondering what the man thought he saw. “I…, those didn’t mean… anything. Even that award, I think it was just someone’s idea of a bad joke,” he explained, his voice getting lower and more unsure at each word. He supposed that, for someone watching from afar, he probably was having the time of his life by dancing with Hannah, Victoria, and Heather, and hanging out with Madison’s group of friends. It suddenly irked him that none of those things meant anything for real.

Robert caught that right away, and it was there that he saw an opportunity to make it up to Daniel. He would help his brother’s son have a memorable senior year of high school. Despite Heather saying that Zack didn’t have many friends, that wasn’t what Robert saw. He saw a young man who had a very easy time making friends with women, but for some reason, remained stuck in the friendzone and never really went anywhere with those girls.

“Now, Zack, that’s not how a Ravers acts,” he told his nephew, a smirk on his face that Zack thought be eerily similar to the one often found on Heather’s face.

“Hmm?” Zack frowned, unable to get what the hell his uncle was coming from. However, Heather had said the same thing earlier, and it was a conclusion he had reached himself after the disaster with Scarlett.

“Let me share a few pieces of life advice that you might find very helpful going forward this year. The cardinal rules of being a Ravers,” Robert said, motioning toward a nearby chair. “You’ll want to sit down, though.”

---

Outside of the convention center, in a small alcove near the parking lot, a mix of what obviously were sounds of a sexual nature disturbed the relative peace of that secluded spot, and could be heard if one happened to walk nearby, but luckily for the pair engaged in such carnal activities, everyone was busy inside the building.

Female moans went hand in hand with male grunts, accompanied by the sickening noise of flesh clashing against flesh. Hidden behind a few small trees, Sharon Miller was bent on a stone wall as Harrison Cullen held her hips and incessantly railed her from behind, almost as if he was hatefucking her. Her green dress had been haphazardly pulled down, so her medium-sized tits and reddish nipples could bounce freely, one of her lover’s hands roughly squeezing her right breast. That would be the sight a curious person would come upon if they investigated the noises, Harry’s long, hard dick thrusting in and out of the ginger’s bare pussy, the lower hem of her dress pulled over her ass for easy access.

“Oh, yes, this feels so fucking good!” Sharon moaned, throwing her head back.

Harry moved the hand that was on her hips to deliver a hard slap on her ass. “Fucking take it, you slut! You’ve got such a tight pussy for all the cocks you take, Miller!”

“Oh, yesss! I fucking do!” She screamed again, then grinning maliciously at his provocative words. “Fuck me! Fuck me hard!”

He didn't need to be told twice and complied with her wish, driving his cock even harder and deeper into the redhead. After losing the ‘Mr. Handsome’ award to his loser cousin, of all people, Harry needed an instant outlet for his anger before he hit anyone, and to his relief, Sharon didn't need much seducing, if any at all. Just a few honeyed words and she was already following him outside in search of a secluded enough spot.

Truth be told, Sharon preferred doing it on a bed, couch, or even the backseat of his car, but there was something hot and primal about getting fucked by the most popular boy in the school in a public place, where anyone could catch them. Being a popular cheerleader, she truly didn’t know why it never had happened between her and Harry before tonight, but she had waited patiently for it, and now she was going to enjoy every second of it, and every inch of his big cock stretching her pussy.

Harry pulled her to him, her back now touching his chest as he fucked her. “You’re so fucking sexy and beautiful,” he told her, staring at her reflection on a nearby window and tracing her soft lips with a finger. “Should’ve easily won against Heather.”

“Yeah?” She purred and licked his finger, his words making her cross-eyed as the pleasure in her body mounted to unimaginable levels. He had such a big dick and was fucking her so well, factors that, when combined with all the right things he was telling her, put the ginger very close to her first orgasm of the night. “Ugh…, fuck, tell me more, Harry!”

“I’m hypnotized by your beauty right now,” he told her, his hips clapping her asscheeks hard as her tight, warm pussy squeezed his hard shaft. Most of it was for her benefit, but he really thought she was extremely good-looking and sexy, and he figured that the more worked up she got, the better she would fuck back, and then he would be able to drown his sorrows in her amazing cunt. **** was for the weak, Harrison Cullen got drunk in pussy. “Shit! We’re gonna be fucking a lot more from now on, Shar.”

“Oh, yeeeahh, fuuuuck! I’m cuuumiiiing!!!” Sharon couldn’t take it anymore and threw her head back, her entire body short circuiting by the orgasm ravaging her whole existence. He was so much better than any of those bragging jocks and college boys she fucked over the past couple of years.

As their heads were so close to each other, Harry tilted her face back toward his and planted his lips on hers, muffling her loud moans in a hungry kiss as she rode out that orgasm. He squeezed her tits hard, adding to her pleasure as she shoved her tongue in his mouth. Her cunt tightened around his invading cock and the delicious friction pushed him closer to his own climax as well.

Harry smirked as they made out, he would soon flood her pussy with his cum, and then a round two in the backseat of his car would most certainly happen, so he could thoroughly enjoy Sharon Miller’s smoking hot body. If I get sex of this quality whenever I lose an award, then I think maybe I should be losing more often.

---

Zack’s mind was spinning by the time he finished talking to his uncle Robert and left the balcony. The man had given him so many tips about how to get girls, and even older women, that Zack still struggled to believe, but then again, Robert Ravers had been seen with so many women after his divorce and before his current relationship that it was probably true. Most of it was obvious stuff, if he could be honest.

Treat a girl right.

Don’t let it show when you feel afraid.

It gets easier with time.

Ravers men always get the girl.

Amongst others, but right in there lied Zachary’s biggest problem when it came to girls. His lack of confidence and fear of screwing it up hindered him like an invisible set of heavy chains pulling him back. So, how was he supposed to practice the suggestions and tips his uncle gave him? That was the million dollar question ringing in his mind. He was thankful for the pep-talk, but saw no realistic way he could put them to good use.

Deciding to get some more air outside, he made his way to the entrance of the convention center, but right as he was passing in front of the bathrooms, a strange noise distracted him and immediately pulled the young man out of those negative thoughts.

”Oh, yeah!”

“What the hell is that?” Zack muttered, looking around the entrance foyer. The whole convention center was very well soundproofed, so the noises from both ballrooms only reached the foyer very faintly, enabling him to hear that particular sound clearly. He slowly paced around that spot until he heard it again.

"Fucking fuck me!"

Wait a sec, I know this voice! Zack thought with a raised eyebrow. Judging by where the sound came from, it seemed they were in the auditorium. Is she… having sex there?! His eyes widened at the possibility, cock stirring as he pictured the girl whose voice he recognized bent over one of the seats as a faceless man railed her from behind.

His heart began pounding in his chest as his shaking hands got sweaty, his feet slow and carefully carrying him to the half-opened double doors. Do I really want to see this? He asked himself, a healthy dose of morbid curiosity festering in his brain before he could stop it. When his hand lifted on its own with every intention of pushing the door open, an entirely different sound halted it midway.

“Zack? What are you doing there?”

---

The voice spooked the living daylights out of Zack, causing him to jump and turn around, his breath catching up in his throat as none other than Scarlett Soren stared at him with a curious eyebrow raised.

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry!” The blonde girl apologized, letting out a giggle. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No problem,” Zack found himself saying after an initial hesitation as he slowly recovered his wits after the jumpscare. His uncle’s words of encouragement rang in his ears at that moment. That was the girl who had offered him sex, after all. “It was nothing, I was just curious to see what it looked like from the inside,” he lied, hoping no more loud moans carried through the half-open door. “It’s been a few years since I watched anything in that auditorium.”

“Right,” Scarlett nodded before she gave him an embarrassed smile. “Zack, I’m sorry for… you know? Back there,” she jabbed her head in the direction of the ballroom. “Sometimes I forget that people can dance to different speeds and songs, so I apologize if I put you on the spot in any way with what I said.”

“Oh,” Zack blurted out, his heart beating just a little bit quicker again as he struggled to keep up the facade his uncle had instructed him about. “Uhn…, don’t worry about it, Scarlett. You just caught me by surprise, that’s all,” he said, wondering how he was managing it. “I wasn’t expecting it.”

He also didn’t expect Scarlett to respond with a provocative smirk and walk closer, her face mere inches from his. “Hmm, so you were up to it, then?”

Before Zack could either hyperventilate again or surprise himself by giving her a positive answer, the thing he was so afraid of had to happen, there was no way it wouldn’t.

”Oh, yeah! What a big fucking cock!”

“Of course,” Zack muttered, an annoyed groan escaping his lips next.

“Shit, someone’s fucking!” Scarlett excitedly said before she grabbed his arm. “C’mon! Let’s go find out who it is!”

"Scarlett! No, dammit!" He tried to get her to release him, but she was dragging him with her already.

"It's coming from here," Scarlett whispered to him, a conspiratory tone in her voice. “I bet that’s what you were perving on, huh? Naughty Mr. Handsome.”

"No, I wasn’t! That's the auditorium!" Zachary lied and tried to dissuade her from the idea. "It's supposed to be closed for tonight."

Scarlett turned around to flash him a sexy grin. "Well, apparently, they forgot to warn that couple in there."

Zack rolled his eyes in annoyance, but stuck around as the blonde rockstar slowly pushed the half-opened double doors and slipped inside before closing it. Their ears were immediately assaulted by the sounds of heavy breathing, some female whimpering, and flesh loudly slapping together.

"Bet you never thought your night would bring you here, did you?" A female voice teased. "C'mon, Andrew, pound the shit out of me."

"Holy shit!“ Scarlett whispered, a look of pure excitement on her face.

"Yeah, I know that voice," Zack muttered in response once again, getting the confirmation for his early suspicion. He just wished he didn't have to witness it, though, as he had gotten pretty good at avoiding it over the years.

"Let's get closer," Scarlett told him and then pulled the young man with her as they circled around several rows of seats to finally get their eyes on the couple savagely fucking near the stage. "Oh, shit."

"Fuck…," Zack whispered, deflating a little bit once he saw Andrew Nordstein sitting on a chair and Hannah aggressively riding him reverse cowgirl-style, her dress pulled down so her massive tits could bounce freely, almost hypnotizing the Bishop boy. "We gotta leave right now," he frantically told Scarlett, trying to pull her away from that scene.

She was having none of it, though. "Hell no, I wanna watch it," she whispered back at him as a naughty smile formed on her gorgeous lips. "Don't you want to?"

Zack stared wide-eyed at her. He didn't know Scarlett Soren too well before that night aside from some very brief interactions at school and hanging out with her while he was with Lisa, but he could never have imagined she was so kinky. "No, we gotta give them some privacy," he weakly pleaded.

"That's technically true, but…," Scarlett purred before her hand trailed down and cupped Zack's crotch, extracting a gasp from the inexperienced boy. "Why are you so fucking hard, then?“

Zack didn't have an answer, he could only manage a strangled moan as she began to rub his erection up and down.

"Wow, Bishop, you feel so… big," Scarlett told him, the arousal between her legs skyrocketing as she caressed the unexpectedly big shaft. It felt longer and thicker than either of the two guys she had been with so far.

She was only the second person to ever touch his cock, something that Lisa also did when they were dating, but that never progressed past that stage due to his distance. So, if Scarlett touched it directly, it would be more than he ever did with his ex-girlfriend already. This was the kind of situation Robert had talked about, the time where he would have to keep his cool and make the decision that was best for him. Zack groaned, with a clear head he would probably have thought about his crushes again and turned his back on the chance, but the feeling of her hand on his dick overrode any coherent thought he could have mustered at that moment.

Stopping her hand, he pulled the blonde to him for a heated kiss, kind of surprising Scarlett, but only for a brief moment, as she kissed him back with abandon. Zack savored the taste of her lips and tongue, cursing himself for going so long without it after the end of his first relationship. She made her tongue dance with his in a way that Lisa never did, something that unexpectedly made him throb harder.

It was then that Scarlett broke the kiss and gave him an incensed stare. “I wanna do this watching them,” she bit her bottom lip as her blue eyes looked ablaze with desire.

Zack didn’t want to watch Hannah getting pounded, he wanted to have some fun with Scarlett and her only, but he couldn’t protest as she pulled him to a spot where they could easily watch the action without getting spotted. He didn’t want to share with her the information that he had a crush on the older blonde, though, he barely knew her. Still, the sight of Hannah’s tits bouncing as she took Andrew’s sizable cock into her pussy over and over, not to mention her loud, lustful moans, was enough to send Zack’s mind into overdrive.

“Pound me harder, Andrew!” Hannah commanded the boy as he spanked her round ass with a resounding thwacking noise. “I fucking need it! So bad!”

Scarlett had just cupped his cock again when he grabbed her arm and turned her around, making her bend over a table. “Oooh, assertive and kinky, I fucking love that!” She teased, giving him her naughtiest look over her shoulder.

Zack stared at Scarlett’s firm, round ass sticking toward him and froze, unable to decide on how to move forward, his old confidence issues rearing out their ugly heads again. His uncle had made it sound so easy, but now that he was basically staring at the opportunity in the face, he didn’t know how to proceed confidently and seal the deal.

“Zaaaack,” Scarlett prompted in a sing-song voice, slowly shaking her rump at him.

However, what made him surge forward wasn’t her teasing, it was Hannah’s moans as Andrew fucked the shit out of her. Zack finally realized that, if he wanted to be the one drawing those noises from his crush, he had to start somewhere else, gaining some experience before he could have a crack at her. With that thought firmly in his head, he gathered the fabric of Scarlett’s blue dress and pulled it over her ass, baring the firm cheeks swallowing a blue thong of the same color.

“Mmm, that’s it,” Scarlett purred. “Pound me just like that guy is doing to Woodsen, right here, right now.”

This is it, Zack thought, slowly unzipping his slacks and pulling his impressive cock out. Scarlett, who was looking back at him, widened her eyes in surprise. He really was a lot bigger and thicker than her previous two guys, even causing her to feel a bit scared as he rubbed his tip up and down on her wet folds after pulling her panties aside. Fuck…, he groaned, staring in awe at his first bare pussy. So, this is how it feels like to touch a pussy with my cock.

“You’re so fucking tight, Hannah!” Andrew grunted near the stage, fucking the Woodsen girl with hard, deep thrusts.

“Tighter than Heather?” Hannah teased, wildly riding her friend’s date.

“Nearly,” Andrew cockily replied, giving her ass another slap.

“Shit, they’re so fucking wild,” Scarlett gushed, bucking her hips back to try and pull Zack into her. “C’mooon, Zack,” she whined. “Just fuck me already!”

Zachary narrowed his eyes, it seemed Andrew was getting all the attention in that auditorium at that moment, and he wanted, no, he needed to prove he could be just as good. Placing a hand on top of Scarlett’s ass and taking a deep breath to steady himself, he finally pushed himself into Scarlett, his virginity dying in a wet, hot furnace.

“Fuuuuck, that’s iiit,” Scarlett moaned, feeling her walls getting stretched as they had never been before. “Get it inside me, you fucking stud.”

Zack halted his movements to let the enormity of that moment sink in. He wasn’t a virgin anymore, he had finally sunk his cock in a real pussy. It’s so warm, wet, and tight, he thought. It had happened with an outcast rocker girl from school that he had barely exchanged a word with before that night, but it was definitely worth it. Scarlett was scorching hot, and if he could use that to build up his confidence, then he could be in for one hell of a senior year.

Scarlett let out a low moan as he slowly stretched her out to capacity, she didn’t want to alert the other two to their presence. “Shit, you’re really fucking big,” she breathed out, closing her eyes at the sensation.

“I am?” The young man asked. He had compared himself to men in porn movies and always thought there was a fair comparison there, but he also never wanted to brag in case he was wrong. He started to fuck the blonde with slow thrusts, just savoring the feeling of his shaft being squeezed by her slick, snug walls as he got used to the motions of having sex. “And you’re so fucking tight.”

She bit her lip to stop herself from moaning at the same moment that Andrew put Hannah on all fours on the floor and started to absolutely rail the wailing, big-titted blonde. Zack was instantly hypnotized by the sight of his crush’s tits swaying freely beneath her.

“Goddammit…,” he muttered, feeling Scarlett’s smooth, firm ass under his palms before he grabbed her hips and began pounding her, fueled by Hannah’s performance.

Scarlett whimpered as Zack sped up his thrusts, his hips slapping against her ass as he pounded her. Fucking while hidden from Hannah and Andrew was already stimulating enough, so there was no time for gentleness. “Ooooh… fuck, this feels amazing!” She purred at him, locking their gazes behind her shoulder.

“Damn right… it does… fuck!” Zack groaned as he pounded her, the warm tunnel felt awesome wrapped around his shaft as he filled her over and over again.

Scarlett covered her mouth with a hand when a loud moan threatened to escape, the rough pounding she was receiving working to bring her close to the edge, her body jerking back and forth as Zack fucked her. “Fuck me, Zack! Dammit, this is so fucking hot!”

“Hell, yeah, Scarlett! Take my cock! You feel so fucking good wrapped around it,” Zack told her, getting off on the fact that they were fucking each other while watching two other people. For him, being his first time, it would be hot regardless of anything else, but there were several additional ingredients that were making it a memorable time for the young man.

She moaned again when Zack gently pulled her head back by the hair and really jackhammered her with all his might. “Yes! Pound me! I can take it!” The volume of her voice was starting to get just a little bit louder than a whisper by that moment, but Hannah’s loud wailing was still muffling it.

Zack didn’t doubt it, she was in really good shape, making him wonder how the work out regime of the guitarist of a rock band truly was. At that moment, Hannah let out another loud moan, Andrew now basically fucking her through the floor.

“Holy fuck! Pound me harder!” The oldest one of the Woodsen sisters screamed as her body began shaking with the **** of her orgasm. “I’m fucking cumming!!!”

“Shit, I’m cumming too!” Scarlett couldn’t help but scream as well, her pussy contracting as she let out another mighty scream and released her juices around Zack’s shaft as her body shook in pleasure.

“Aww, fuck,” Zack cursed their luck as it was impossible for Scarlett’s screams to not have alerted Hannah and Andrew, who were staring at them in complete surprise as the older blonde rode out her climax.

She threw her best friend’s little brother a shit-eating grin, feeling extremely proud of him at that moment. "Well, weell, weeellll, who would've… oooh… thought, Zacky?"

Zack froze in place at being caught, and just when he was working himself toward his own climax, the first one while having sex for real. "Uhn… sorry?"

“Oh, don’t stop on my account,” Hannah purred, she could tell he hadn’t cum yet. “Keep pounding her.”

With Hannah’s approval and the fact that he was too far gone to stop, that’s what Zack did, his grip on Scarlett’s hips tightened and he resumed fucking her, causing the blonde to yelp as she was still riding her post-orgasmic state. Andrew, completely taken over by the lustful atmosphere circling around the auditorium, pulled out of Hannah and began walking in the direction of the younger pair, his hard cock bobbing in front of him. Giving it a cursory glance, Zack was pleased to note that his was bigger, but for Scarlett, it heightened her arousal again as it was just another cock.

Andrew moved the table Scarlett was leaning into out of his way, making her move to an all-fours position before he grabbed a hold of his shaft and waved it in front of the horny teen. “Would be rude to not finish me off after crashing our private party, don’t you think?”

Scarlett’s heart beat even harder, her body flustering all over at the prospect of taking two cocks at once. Even as a rockstar, she had never thought about doing that until now, but presented with the possibility, it became one of those things that she didn’t know how much she craved until that moment. Zack was kind of surprised with the older boy’s attitude, but if Scarlett wanted it, he wasn’t going to interfere. Although, it made him wonder about the true nature of the relationship between Andrew and Heather. His cousin had merely introduced him as a friend earlier, so, there probably wasn’t any cheating going on there.

“Fuck, slide it in,” Scarlett lustfully whispered before parting her lips. Andrew grinned and slid his dick into the younger girl’s mouth, effectively spitroasting her with Zack.

Together, the boys fucked the blonde from both ends, squelching and sucking noises lewdly echoing through the auditorium, as Scarlett sucked and fucked the two cocks.

“Shit, this looks so fucking hot,” Hannah said, a hand lazily petting her pussy. When Zack turned his attention to her, she smirked and waggled her free index finger at him. “Not tonight, Zack. You still need to level up a bit.”

“Level up?” His cock twitched inside Scarlett at the familiar kind of language. The thought that Hannah used it somehow put him even closer to the edge, causing a grunt to escape his lips. Getting an unobstructed view of her big tits for the first time also felt amazing to him.

Hannah just shrugged. “What? You don’t hang out with Pete for so long without picking up a few things he likes.”

Looking down at his cock sawing in and out of Scarlett’s soaked pussy as her tight asshole winked at him, coupled with the fact that his crush was watching, it finally became too much for Zachary. “Fuck, it’s coming!” He announced, his balls churning as he quickly pulled out of Scarlett and gave his shaft the last couple of pumps before it twitched and began spewing ropes and jets of his cum onto the blonde’s ass and lower back. “Shiiit!!! This feels so freaking good!”

Hannah’s eyes widened in surprise and arousal when she caught sight of Zack’s cock. She had no idea her best friend’s brother was so well-endowed, and that made her vow right there and then that she was eventually going to give him what he dearly wanted from her. It’s too fucking big, and luckily, it’s attached to one of the nicest persons I know, she thought. In fact, searching through her memory, it was hard to remember the few ones who were bigger than him, and she suspected he was going to grow even more the next few years. Must be a Ravers thing, she supposed, recalling the rumors about Robert Ravers that had always made their way around Azure Rocks.

When Zack slumped back and his deflating dick slipped out of Scarlett, Andrew pulled himself away from her mouth and quickly helped the younger girl up before pushing her against the nearest wall and unceremoniously shoving his cock into her vacant pussy from behind. Zack and Hannah only watched as Andrew pulled the top of Scarlett’s dress down to free her large tits and cupped them as he pounded the fuck out of her.

“Fuck me, dammit! Fuck me hard!” Scarlett wailed in pleasure. “Make me fucking cum again!”

That wasn’t the debauchery he imagined for his first time, but Zack was satisfied with himself. Scarlett was a cool, nice girl and he felt that the loss of his virginity hadn’t been wasted. He looked up when Hannah plopped herself down next to him, her dress already fixed up and covering what needed to be covered.

“Did you know your sister wanted to come here tonight and Peter stopped her?” She asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“She was?” Zack asked with wide eyes as he tucked his dick back into his slacks and zipped it up. He hadn’t checked his phone since he left the cul-de-sac with Chloe to pick up Hannah. “Wait… are they really coming?"

“Nope,” Hannah shook her head. “She was worried about us, tried to talk Tommy into driving her home,” she didn’t want to tell Zack exactly why Taylor was worried, though. “But Pete convinced her not to. Told me it was raining really badly at Green Hills.”

“Oh,” he nodded in understanding as well, the initial worry dissipating from his mind. “At least he got to talk her out of it.”

“Oh, yeah, congrats on losing your cherry, by the way,” she teasingly grinned and patted him on the back. “The first time is always the hardest one to get out of the way, but now you're gonna have girls flocking to you with that award, aaand I meant what I said about what’s gonna happen when you level up.”

Zack gave her an awkward laugh, the prospect of fucking his crush someday sounding awesome to him. “Right…,” he looked down and before they could say anything else, it looked like their companions were just reaching the finish line.

“Aaaaaaahhh… fuuuuck!!!” Scarlett screamed as her young body was once again ravaged by a powerful orgasm. She had gotten more than she bargained for that night, fucked to an orgasm by two very good-looking guys, and had even been double-teamed in a nice, little spitroast for a short while.

“Fucking shit!” Andrew grunted, emptying his balls in Scarlett’s hungry pussy as he gave her his last few thrusts.

A few minutes later, both Andrew and Scarlett had recovered themselves and fixed up their clothes as they rejoined Zack and Hannah. The older blonde smirked at Heather’s date for the ball.

“And you were playing hard to get,” she teased him. “Look, you got to sample two fine ladies, and that’s not mentioning the third you were going to get anyways.”

“Right,” he let out a chuckle while scratching the back of his head. “Should we get going?”

Zack and Hannah stood up and the four youngsters started leaving the auditorium. Scarlett sidled up to Zack and bumped his arm. “Hey, I had fun tonight, Bishop.”

“Me too,” he gave her a quick grin before she laughed.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind a repeat sometime if you’re game,” she told him, both teens missing the amused smile Hannah gave them. “Hit me up if it sounds interesting to you.”

Zachary only nodded at her request. He didn't know whether he would take her up on that offer or not, but it swelled his ego a little bit knowing that he had done things well enough for the rocker girl to want an encore. When the four opened the door to the auditorium and stepped out into the foyer, Heather was leaning against the opposite wall with an annoying grin on her face, even though she was surprised at the sight of her cousin and Scarlett Soren following Andrew and Hannah out.

“So, what’s the verdict?” The brunette asked the older blonde.

“A very decent lay,” Hannah playfully responded while Andrew rolled his eyes. “You definitely weren’t kidding about him.”

“Told you,” Heather grinned and then turned to her cousin. “Wasn’t expecting to see you with them, Zack. Looks like Dad’s advice had an instant effect... or was it a side-effect of becoming Mr. Handsome, huh?”

Zack found himself blushing a bit, embarrassed by all the attention, a feeling that only increased when Hannah threw an arm around his upper back. “Oh, yeah, Zacky here is the man of the hour. Finally gave his tool a workout, and what a tool, I might add.”

Scarlett chuckled. “I second whatever was said about his tool.”

Heather laughed hard, clutching her stomach, though she had to wonder how much her cousin was packing. “Oooh, I like Zacky. Can I steal it from time to time?”

“Oh, by all means,” Hannah’s grin was so wide that it almost split her face in two. “Someone needs to keep this one on his toes while I’m not here, after all.”

Shit, Zack’s eyes widened at the thought, but soon enough, he joined in the girls’ contagious laughter.

---

When Heather returned to Ravers Manor with Andrew that night, the enormous house was empty. The employees had already gone to bed and her father hadn't come back with Leah yet. Perhaps they were too busy trying to pick up another woman or two for the night, she guessed with a soft laugh.

"And what's so funny now?" Andrew asked with a smile as they headed up to her room on the third floor.

Just like every time Andrew or the rest of his family came to Azure Rocks, he would be staying at the Manor, more specifically in Heather’s room, since Robert did not mind. Although her mother would probably blow a gasket if she knew, Heather supposed. The two of them had been tight childhood friends, as Robert and Klaus Nordstein were also friends and shared some business ventures, so, it was only natural that an attraction developed between two wealthy, good-looking, young people. Ever since Heather asked him to take her virginity at the end of her freshman year, they had been in a friends with benefits relationship. She had fucked other college-aged guys, but Andrew remained her favorite.

“Nothing,” she turned to him with a grin decorating her gorgeous features. “Was just thinking about you, being so **** to go with Hannah. Wasn’t it fun?”

“It certainly was,” Andrew nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning for a quick kiss. He didn’t quite like it when she suggested for him and Hannah Woodsen to give each other a test drive, since he wanted to spend the night with her, but it was a fun experience in the end. “But it would’ve been even better if you were there too.”

“I bet it would,” she raised a teasing eyebrow, placing her hands on his shoulders. She had never done real stuff with another girl before that night, but after that peck she shared with Ashley at the awards, that nagging curiosity that seemed to reside at the back of her mind told her it was likely to happen sooner rather than later. “Maybe someday, if you play your cards right.”

“Minx,” Andrew chuckled and then lowered one of his hands to squeeze her ass. Heather purred and then pulled him in for another kiss, which soon turned up heated as their tongues met in the middle for a fierce duel. He felt himself hardening again as her voluptuous breasts pressed against his chest, but there was no hurry to him. The two youngsters just shared that hungry kiss for about a minute and then she broke it off.

“Hey, there’s one thing bugging me, though,” Heather said. “How did my cousin and Scarlett Soren end up there with you and Hannah? Did she drag them in or something?”

Andrew laughed at that, recalling what happened in the auditorium. “No, it was just me and Hannah for a while, we were fucking and all, but then… believe it or not, we heard this loud moan and found Zachary and that other girl fucking as they watched us,” he explained. “It was so… out of the blue. Hot, though.”

Heather nodded, a grin spreading across her face. “I see. So, he really was the one to make it happen…, well done, Zack, well done,” she muttered. It was kind of strange, though, because she didn’t know Zack and Scarlett were even acquaintances. Unless he had the talk with her father, decided that Scarlett was a hot target, and emboldened by the ‘Mr. Handsome’ award, just went for it, which made everything much more impressive. But then again, he’s half Ravers, so he definitely has it in him somewhere.

“Anyways, we kept fucking, maybe out of surprise, I don’t know,” he continued his re-telling of the night, bringing her out of her thoughts about her cousin. “Hannah and Scarlett came, and I was so amped up that I walked up to Scarlett and straight out asked if she wanted to suck me off.”

Heather chuckled, though she felt the spike of arousal within her as she listened to the erotic account. “Damn, that’s kinda hot,” she chuckled again, her fingers squeezing his shoulders. She had no idea Scarlett Soren liked to be double-teamed. Well, she’s in a rock band, she thought. Heather had never tried two guys at once, but that was another sex act that piqued her curiosity. “Tell me more. What happened, then?”

Andrew grinned, he knew the face Heather always made when she was horny. “Mmm, someone’s enjoying this way too much,” he said, sticking a hand up her dress and finding the crotch of her panties, which were starting to get damp. He loved the gasp that escaped her lips as she tightened her hold on his shoulders even more. “Then your cousin and I pounded her together for a bit, and when he came, I dragged her to a wall and fucked the living hell out of her too.”

“Shit!” Heather moaned as he continued to rub her pussy through her lacy panties. “So you fucked three girls tonight, huh? What a fucking stud, Nordstein.”

He pulled back with a quizzical look. “Three?”

She gave him one of her trademark sexy smirks. “Oh, yeah, the third is still about to happen,” she moved her lips to his ear and flicked her tongue at his earlobe before whispering. “Me, in case you were wondering.”

Andrew chuckled and nodded before he kissed her again and the two fuck-buddies quickly found themselves in Heather’s room, which was nearby. Her bedroom was one of the biggest in the mansion, with everything a wealthy teenage girl could want or need and then some. It was a hungry kiss, their tongues dueling as she made short work of his tuxedo and turned so he could unzip her red strapless dress. Once it was pooled around her feet, he turned her back to him and attacked her pale, big tits, sucking a pink nipple into his mouth as he squeezed the other one hard.

“Fuck, yes!” Heather moaned, clutching his hair as he switched between her sensitive breasts. Andrew could never get enough of her tits, they were easily the most beautiful pair he had ever seen, even if Hannah’s matched them in size, at least.

Eager to regain the pleasure she felt when the older boy was rubbing her center, Heather pulled him away from her chest and pushed him onto her large, fluffy bed. Throwing him a feral smirk, she quickly unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants and boxers down in one go, causing his hard cock to spring out to meet her.

“Oh, good, you’re ready for me,” she teased, wrapping her fingers around the pulsing shaft and pumping it up and down. “I won’t need to suck it to get it hard.”

“Well, I mean, you could suck on it a bit,” Andrew grinned down at her. “Just to make sure.”

Heather let out a chuckle. “Cute, Andrew,” she told him and gave his cockhead a swipe of her soft tongue before she climbed on the bed and straddled him, reaching between their bodies to line up his cock with her pussy.

Much like her tits, Heather’s pussy was the prettiest Andrew had ever seen. Pink, smooth, and wet, with only a trimmed, dark triangle of hair framing it.

“Mmm, yesss…, fuck!” Heather moaned in pleasure as she sank down on her old friend’s cock, impaling her cunt around it.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for all night,” Andrew grinned, bringing his hands to her waist to help her lift herself up and down on him.

Heather moaned and whimpered as she rode Andrew’s cock, giving him a great view of her large tits bouncing at her chest. He grunted, the tightness of her velvety walls gripping his hard shaft like a vice.

“Shit, I’ve always loved your cock, you know that?” She told him, riding him like a cowgirl on a bucking horse as she dragged her fingertips across his chest.

His eyes locked on hers with a grin. “If it’s the same I’ve always felt for your pussy, then yeah, I know,” he replied, his fingers digging into her waist as he thrust up into her, getting even deeper into her fuckhole.

“Fuck, yes!” She threw her head back in a long moan. “Fuck me, Andrew! Fuck me hard!”

Andrew complied with her wish and powered up his thrusts, drawing even louder moans from the younger girl and making him glad that her father wasn’t home, even if she claimed he didn’t mind. Tired of staying in one position, he suddenly flipped her around and made the sexy brunette get on her hands and knees on the bed.

“Mmm, yeaaah!!!” Heather let out a lustful moan as he shoved himself back into her. “Fuck me like a damn animal. Do it, Andrew!”

He grabbed her pale ass and sawed himself in and out of her pussy, watching the firm cheeks ripple whenever their skin clashed against one another. Heather moaned loudly, feeling that hard cock spearing her warm, slick insides as her tits swayed beneath her. Andrew suddenly pulled her back by the hair and crashed his lips against her for another hungry kiss, their tongues fighting a mad duel for dominance inside her mouth for a long moment before the contact broke.

“Such a tight pussy, Heather,” he said, reaching down to cup her swinging breasts. “I fucking love it!”

“Ooooohhh, fuuuck!!!” Heather could only moan in response. She wondered how jealous the boys at Azure Rocks High would feel if they knew that she was getting thoroughly fucked by an older boy at that moment, the thought making her grin as another moan escaped her luscious lips.

Andrew would never say it out loud because he was afraid of losing that connection the two of them shared, but he came to love Heather Ravers ever since their relationship became sexual. The number of girls he usually fucked lowered considerably ever since that fact; he still did it a few times, but it was a fruitless endeavor to try and find someone even remotely liked her. Sharp, smart, sexy, and utterly gorgeous. So, the 20-year-old boy figured he had to make the most of those moments he had with her. Looking down at her ass, he noticed her tightly-closed asshole almost inviting him, and it did make him think about asking her if she wanted to give him her third and final virginity, but he decided to leave it for another opportunity in the end.

“C’mon, Heather, cum for me,” he egged her on, powering into her from behind. “I wanna hear you scream.”

“Yeah?” She gave him a smoldering look from behind her right shoulder as she took his cock into her tight pussy over and over. “Make me, then! Fucking make me cum all over your cock as you always do, Nordstein!”

Andrew saw red at that moment and redoubled his efforts, his body now resembling a jackhammer as he thrust in and out of her needy cunt, loud moans and screams coming from Heather’s mouth like a machine gun as their skin slapped together repeatedly. Both of them were starting to feel like their first orgasms of that session weren’t too far.

“Freaking fuck me! Shove that cock into me!”

“Take it deep, Heather! Take my cock all the way into you!”

The Ravers girl threw her head back and moaned loudly, not really caring if her dad and Leah had come back and could be listening to them. She could feel a mind-blowing orgasm knocking at her door. “Shit, Andrew! I’m gonna cum, you fucking stud!” She screamed. “AAAAHHHH!!!” Her body began shaking as the orgasm ravaged it. It was definitely quite the powerful orgasm as her juices squirted around her old friend’s dick currently stuffed in her cunt.

The added tightness made Andrew grunt first and then let out a groan as his own climax hit him like a freight train. His cock throbbed wildly before spurts and jets of his warm, sticky sperm started painting Heather’s walls white as he flooded the brunette’s womb. “FUUUCK!!!”

It was just the first one of the orgasms that those two would draw from each other’s bodies that night. Both teenagers were so pent up that their fucking lasted far into the night, sleep claiming them much, much later. For now, though, a seemingly insatiable Heather dove down to Andrew’s crotch and sucked his cock into her mouth to try and revive it for the second round, her head bobbing up and down as she sucked, causing him to groan in pleasure.

---

After an uneventful Sunday, where his mother fawned over him for winning the ‘Mr. Handsome’ award, Zack woke up refreshed on Monday, ready for a new week at school. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the ceiling in his room with a silly smile on his face as he recalled Saturday night. Things seemed to have more color now that he wasn’t a virgin anymore, and his morning wood seemed even firmer and more rigid as he remembered the feeling of Scarlett’s warm, snug cunt wrapped around it.

This is the start of a turnaround, I’m sure of it, he thought, getting out of bed and rubbing his face to rid it of any signs of sleep. It has to be.

Orion was still softly dozing off at the foot of the bed, so Zack refilled the cat’s bowls of food and water before he headed to his bathroom for a quick shower to start the morning. He decided to forgo jerking off, believing that he was above such an act now that he wasn’t a virgin. It was a struggle, though. Finally ready, he went up the stairs to get some breakfast before he had to wait for Chloe, Paris, and Gavin to flock over to his house so he could drive everyone to school.

That day marked the first Literature class of the year, and Zack couldn’t be more excited to meet his favorite teacher again after a long summer.

---

"So, Riekan became the King of Kinwald, but in the end, none of it mattered because he was all alone after every single one of his friends and companions left him. It was a shallow victory."

"Thank you, Zachary, an outstanding job as always, you may go back to your seat now," a slender, petite thirty-year-old woman took her student's spot at the front of the classroom and faced the rest of the class of seniors. Mary Moreau was simply everyone’s favorite teacher. She had taken over the Literature class at the beginning of the previous year and instantly turned it into a hit. The way she understood and treated her students, alongside her youthful and sweet nature, ensured she was loved by boys and girls equally.

Her long, wavy auburn hair was up in a bun over her head as always, and her crystal-blue eyes peered at her pupils as she assumed a thoughtful expression, as if she were evaluating her next words. Wearing a short-sleeved, button-up white blouse and a dark-gray pencil skirt, her high heels clicked on the floor as she moved to stand in front of the desk. Ms. Moreau had a slender, yet slightly curvy, figure, and naturally, almost the entire male population in the school dreamed about what it would be like to have a night with her, to enjoy the delights of her natural beauty and the body she usually kept covered behind her professional clothes.

"Alright," she finally spoke. "We have seen many styles of literature over the course of last year, worked with a number of different books and authors, and all of you have exceeded my expectations so far. Congratulations," she smiled fondly at her students as a round of cheers and applause broke out amongst them before she took a quick glance at the watch on her wrist. “But don’t think it’s over now, it’s your senior year, so I predict difficult times ahead for you,” she said ominously. “Obviously, I have faith every single one of you will succeed, based on the work and dedication you have shown me so far. However, this doesn’t mean that you should think there’s nothing else to be learned. I still have a few things I need to teach you and I expect all of you to work hard, okay?”

The bell rang while the students were committing themselves to the work their favorite teacher expected from them. As they began standing up and filling out of the classroom, her gaze found her favorite student. “Zachary, a word before you go, please.”

Zack grinned as he told Chloe to go on ahead to the cafeteria without him. He finished sorting out his stuff and walked over to the teacher’s desk, a spring in his step.

“Your summer assignment was simply amazing, Zack,” Mary smiled as he approached. “I knew you were the right person to assign the fantasy project.”

“Thanks, Ms. Moreau,” he smiled, unable to hide the blush that crept up his face. “It means a lot to me.”

“And that’s actually why I asked you to stay behind. Have a seat,” she motioned for him to drag a chair closer to her desk. When her pupil had done so, she regarded him with a kind smile on her face as Zack swore he could lose himself on her blue eyes. “Have you given some thought to what we discussed back in May?”

Zack nearly winced. “Yes, but…,” he trailed when replying. “I don’t think I’ve got any closer to an answer, to be honest.”

“You’re still sure about applying for Green Hills College, right?” Mary inquired.

He nodded. “And Dragon Lake University as a fallback option, but I really want GHC, all my friends are planning on going there.”

“I suppose I can’t change your mind on that?” She asked with a smile. Dragon Lake University had been her alma mater and they offered an incredible program for Literature, English, and Creative Writing.

Zack gave her a small, nervous smile. “Like I said, my friends are all going to GHC. I don’t wanna split from them.”

“It’s not my intention to put pressure on you, Zack. I just think that this is the time for you to decide on your future,” the teacher said. “And I’d be remiss if I didn’t insist on the advice I gave you last time when you asked my opinion.”

The teen lifted his chin and faced his dear teacher. “You really think I’d be a good writer?”

Mary smiled encouragingly. "Well, the short story you just read in class proves it, don't you think?" She asked him. “Zack, I see a creativity in you that I haven’t seen in any student of mine, ever. Again, I don’t want to be the one telling you what to do with your life, but it’d be a serious waste of your abilities if you don’t do anything with it.”

Zachary was touched that his favorite teacher had so much faith in him, and if he could speak the truth out loud, writing was a career that excited him. Being able to create entire worlds and tales sounded fascinating, having tasted it while completing the summer assignment of writing a short story in a fantasy setting. However, the young man always felt bad about thinking of something other than following his father’s footsteps into the software company that Daniel Bishop fought against his entire family for in the past. Since Taylor was already well on her way to become a doctor, Zack felt it fell on his shoulders to be the one to continue his father’s legacy, even if Daniel had never said anything that indicated he wanted his son to embark in such a path.

“I love writing, Ms. Moreau. I love it a lot,” he finally admitted. “But I have other things I need to think about before I make any decision, and that’s what holds me back.”

The auburn-haired woman reached across the desk and placed a comforting hand over his own, causing Zack to swear he felt an electric jolt going up his arm. “Of course,” she smiled at him. “As I said, it wasn’t my intention to put pressure on you. You and the other students, you all have your own situations at home you need to consider. Even I had to face decisions when I was your age.”

Unconsciously, Zack turned his hand and their palms touched. Mary thought it was a bit odd, but opted to not say anything. “I have a hard time believing it,” he said. “You’re the best teacher we ever had.”

A big smile reached the teacher’s face after hearing that. “Thank you, Zack, but yes, you’d be surprised at how conflicted with myself I was back in my senior year, when I lived in Emerald Shores. God, I wanted to do everything,” she softly laughed at the memory. “Eventually, though, I was able to find it within myself that my true passion was teaching and helping others discover the books I loved so much.”

“That passion shows in class, believe me,” Zack smiled at her, marveling at how cute and beautiful she was. “Everyone loves your lessons.”

Mary felt touched by her pupil’s words, but professionally speaking, she couldn’t encourage students to have favorite teachers or anything of the sort. “Now, Zack, the other teachers are just as passionate, they just have different ways of showing it.”

Zack stifled back a snort. He could believe that in the case of several other teachers in the school, but he had a hard time agreeing that individuals like Jacob Ward, the Chemistry teacher, were passionate about anything other than turning their students’ lives into pure hell. What stung the most, though, was that the grumpy teacher was dating the lovely creature in front of him for a few months now. They were polar opposites, he couldn’t imagine how Ms. Moreau stomached someone like Ward. The thought made him unwittingly close his fingers around her hand in a protective gesture.

“Thanks for your time and the chat, Ms. Moreau. I always feel better about finding a way out of this mess when I talk to you,” he told her, with gratitude in his tone.

Mary grinned, just like she shouldn’t encourage students to have favorite teachers, she wasn’t supposed to have a favorite student herself, but Zachary Bishop made it difficult for her. His love of books aside, she could see bits of herself in him. “No, thank YOU, Zack, it makes me happy being able to help a student find their path, even a little,” she said, softly pulling her hand back from his. “You should go now, your friends are probably waiting for you at the cafeteria.”

“You’re right, they might send a search party if I take too long,” Zack chuckled as he stood up. “Until next class, then, Ms. Moreau. Hope you have a great day and… thanks, again.”

The teacher beamed at her prized pupil. “You too, Zack. Farewell, until we see each other again.”

---

At the cafeteria, Zack, Chloe, Gavin, and Paris were having lunch after the former joined them upon returning from the Literature classroom, when a rather common sight prompted a comment from the Bishop boy.

“He’s really intensifying the campaign,” he said, watching as Duncan Lennox stopped at several different tables to chat with its occupants.

“You guys think he’ll win?” Chloe asked. The election for Student Council President would take place in less than a month after all, right on the tails of Homecoming Weekend.

“Well, he’s the only one who’d get votes in different cliques,” Paris said. “I’ve been hearing that no one has decided to go against him yet. It’s a lost battle.”

“Duncan will be a nice president,” Zack affirmed. “He might come across as a little full of himself sometimes and his friendship with Harrison might become a problem, but he’s definitely not a bully and he’s always trying to learn about everyone’s problems here.”

“Let’s hope, then,” Gavin whispered. Sometimes he faced problems in the hallways with mean jocks or cheerleaders like Sharon Miller and Naomi Collins.

“Hey, guys,” Victoria Walker greeted as she approached their table.

“Hi, Victoria,” Zack perked up as he and his friends returned the greeting. The other three regarded their friend with an amused smile on their faces. “You wanna sit with us?”

“Thanks, but my tray is already there next to Ashley and Heather,” she explained. “I just wanted to give this to you, Zack.”

He watched as she produced a small, golden key from her pocket and extended it to him. “This is a key to the Scout’s office,” she told him. “I’ve had a few copies of mine made and thought it was for the best if you and Alice had one.”

“Thanks,” Zack slowly said, accepting the key in his hands and inspecting it. “I'm really happy you’re trusting me with this.”

“Of course,” she smiled. “Someone needs to be able to get in if I have to miss a day or something happens that I can’t show up.”

“That's good thinking,” Zack nodded. “Are we having a meeting later?”

“No, I decided to do it tomorrow. We might have new members joining us if everything goes my way,” Vicky responded. “Well, I just wanted to give you the key, I need to go back to my table now.”

“Alright. Thanks, again,” Zack grinned at her and returned her wave as the others also did a similar gesture.

“Well,” Paris said with a devious smirk. “Shame it’s not a key to her heart, right?”

Zack chuckled as Chloe and Gavin laughed at the joke. “Shut up, Par,” he half-heartedly said. The joke had been good, after all, even if it stung a little.

---

Nearby, at a different table, Madison, Alice, and Scarlett were still talking about their weekend, including the Sapphire Ball, of course. Scarlett hadn’t told Madison about hooking up with her crush, since she believed it didn’t matter if she wasn’t interested in dating the guy. It would only create unnecessary friction and she didn’t want to end up basically banished from the group as it happened to Lisa when she began dating Zachary. She definitely wouldn’t say no to another round with Zack and his big cock, though, she thought while giving him a brief gaze from afar.

There was a fourth girl at the table, though, none other than the unofficial leader of that pack. Grace Smith was bored, so much that she was starting to get angry with her friends, her emerald-green eyes narrowing as she pushed a strand of her long, slightly wavy golden hair behind an ear and let out an annoyed huff. She had bailed on attending the Sapphire Ball exactly because she didn’t want to know anything about it, and now her friends were thoroughly chatting about everything that happened in it, anyway. It was starting to give her a headache that only worsened when she recalled the girls showed up at her house the previous day with an award that she supposedly had won.

I’m not mysterious, dammit! She mentally cursed, even if deep down, it posed the question of whether she had stuck around her close friends too much or not, projecting an unapproachable front to other people. It was still deep, though, not enough to make the young blonde really question herself.

To make her crappy lunchtime complete, Scarlett was also starting to look at Heather Ravers’ cousin, just like Lisa once did and Madison always raved about. Only Alice was missing now for him to bewitch all of her friends. They had no shame or sense of loyalty, all of them, they knew she and her family hated everything that had to do with the Raverses and still drooled over the guy.

“Oh, frack, I forgot something at the computer club,” she finally had enough and began gathering her stuff. “I’m gonna go get it.”

“What?” Madison inquired with a frown.

My patience, was what Grace wanted to reply, but she bit back her tongue. “Just my favorite pen,” she answered instead, already making a move. “Be right back.”

The blonde didn’t know why she was so averse to parties and things regular teenagers enjoyed, but she was nonetheless, and Grace figured there wasn’t anything she or anyone else could do about it. She stood up, wearing a green flannel shirt over a black tank top, dark-blue jeans, and a pair of boots on her feet. She wasn’t too athletic due to all the time she spent in front of computers, but there wasn’t any ounce of fat on her body as well. She was even starting to practice some yoga on her cousin Victoria’s suggestion.

Grace didn’t have anything to do at the computer club, where she was the president, but she just needed to get away from her friends’ annoying chat, so, a few minutes of solitude around computers sounded like the perfect idea for her at that moment.

“Hold on, Grace,” Alice said, causing her friend to stop in her tracks. “Just a second, please. There’s something I think we need to discuss.”

“Can’t it wait?” Grace inquired, chewing on her plump, pouty lip.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. ‘Well, it could, but I figured that since we’re all here…,” she gave them a smile. “We could just get it out of the way.”

“What’s it, Allie?” Scarlett asked, curious about what the brunette had to say while Grace sank on her chair again, letting out a brief sigh.

“Okay, this is our senior year,” Alice started. “And we’re all in agreement that we need to keep our grades as high as we can so we can get into the best colleges, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the only thing my mom is a hard-ass about,” Madison snickered.

“I don’t really care too much, to be honest,” Scarlett piped in. “The community college is enough for me. I’d only care about getting into the fancier ones to stay close to you suckers.”

“Aww, love you too, Scarlett,” Madison said, and even Grace cracked a small smile.

“Still, I really care about it, okay?” Alice insisted. “I need to have awesome grades if I wanna get a scholarship. Green Hills, Dragon Lake, it doesn’t matter where.”

The other three girls exchanged embarrassed looks. They all knew about Alice’s difficult home situation. Her mother worked in the same bar her grandfather owned, and Alice had been a product of a one-night stand, meaning that she didn’t even know her father. Ever since they became friends, it was known in the group that Alice’s main goal was to get into the best college her grades allowed her to, so she could try and provide a better life to her mother and grandfather.

“What’s your point, then?” Grace asked.

“We all have subjects we’re good at, right? English and History for me, English, Literature, and History for Maddie, Math and Physics for Grace, Chemistry and… Gym for Scarlett…,” Alice explained, briefly biting her bottom lip before she put her idea forward. “I was thinking we could do a study group this year, so we can help each other get better in the subjects we’re only getting passable grades. What do you all think?”

Grace sighed. “True, I’m better at Math and Physics, but I get more than passable grades in everything else already.”

“Well, we struggle with it sometimes,” Madison retorted. “I think Allie’s idea is pretty damn good. It’d help all of us.”

“A study group?” Scarlett said, skeptically. “Do we really need to?”

“Exactly,” Grace said. “I don’t have the skill nor the patience to teach people, and I don’t need to be taught anything.”

Alice scoffed. “You wouldn’t be teaching ‘people’, you would be teaching your friends,” she said, causing Grace to sigh.

“But she’s right. I still remember the time Grace tried to explain an equation to me in eighth grade,” Madison reminisced. “I didn’t learn what I needed and she made me feel dumb for it.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, Miss Cheerleader!” Grace sarcastically fired back.

Scarlett cleared her throat to interrupt the incoming argument. “If we’re really doing this, then, we should find someone else who’s good at everything, or mostly everything, to oversee this whole study group thing.”

“That’s a great idea, actually,” Alice nodded in agreement. “Someone who can help us play to our strengths and get better at everything else.”

“Ooooh, what about Zack?” Madison proposed with a big grin on her face. “He’s easily top three in our year and I bet he’d love to help.”

“Duh? Did you start drinking or something?” Grace shot back, anger rising within her. “Where were you all the times I said he’s a Ravers and I don’t like him?”

“Well, even if he started hanging out with Heather over the weekend, I don’t think he really cares about the name,” Alice said. “Besides, his father dropped it before he was born.”

“Yes, Zack is a Bishop,” Scarlett added, already looking forward to spending more time with the young man’s big cock.

“Exactly!” Madison gushed, excited at the prospect of hanging out with her crush for extended periods of time. “One thing, though,” her expression turned into a glare. “If he says yes, none of you can breathe a word of this to my orc of a brother, got it?”

Alice and Scarlett nodded, but Grace snorted at her friends.

“Well, I’m not going!” She decided, stubbornly crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Shouldn’t you come and make sure that he won’t…, I don’t know…, take advantage of us or something?” Scarlett inquired with a grin.

Grace stared at the other blonde’s annoying face, her skin getting redder with anger until she **** herself to exhale and let out all those negative feelings. “Fine, dammit! But only so I can watch out for your dumb asses!”

“Thanks, Grace,” Alice said with a grateful smile.

“How do you know he’s gonna say yes, anyway?” The Smith girl asked, subtly trying to dissuade her friends from the idea.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Scarlett told her and then searched for the table where Zachary was sitting with his own friends. Looking for Paris, she waited until the blue-haired girl’s gaze found hers before she mouthed at her to come to their table. “Paris will know.”

Paris raised a curious eyebrow, but excused herself from her cousin and friends and stood up to make her way to the girls’ table. She had become an unofficial member of their group over the past couple of years. Lisa Rivera had been a friend of theirs before she started dating Zack, and Lisa was a teammate of Chloe’s in the soccer team, hence why she had been introduced to Grace and Alice. Plus, she had been friends with Madison herself before the tall brunette stopped hanging out with Zack and the rest of them years ago.

“Hey, what’s up, you all?” She greeted, plopping into the only free chair around that table, the one that used to be occupied by Lisa before she was banished from the group.

“Hey, Par,” Alice replied with a grin. Since she had been responsible for the idea, she figured it fell to her to make the necessary arrangements. “So, we were wondering something here. I was thinking about starting a study group, you know, to help us get better grades for college.”

“Oh, that’s great!” The blue-haired Bishop responded, a grin of her own forming on her beautiful features. “Can I join?”

“Of course!” Alice nodded. “We were thinking you could do something else for us as well. Uhn… do you think your cousin would be interested in joining?”

“He has ridiculous grades,” Scarlett explained.

“Zack?” Paris asked, assuming a thoughtful expression. She had no idea if Zack would say yes to that, but it sounded like something he would enjoy. Plus, with Madison in the group, she could go ahead with a thought she had about Zack being quite compatible with the tall brunette. It could be a chance to test out the theory. “Don’t worry, I’ll make him say yes.”

“Yes!” Madison pumped up her fist in the air as Grace let out an annoyed groan.

---

When classes ended for the day, Heather said goodbye to her friends and walked across the school’s parking lot. She hadn’t taken her car that day because her mother called and asked to spend the afternoon with her, so she was coming to pick her up. The cheer captain let out an annoyed sigh, it was always tiresome spending time with her mother, to say the very least. She always had a disapproving word regarding her or her father, and that irked the young heiress so much that she always found it hard to forge a connection with the woman as she was supposed to.

Leah’s already so much better than her, Heather thought while catching sight of a situation that made her raise a curious eyebrow.

Her cousin, his friends, and their younger siblings were animatedly chatting with that rather handsome younger guy that she and Zack met at the Sapphire Ball, Logan Finlay. Of course, she had seen him in the hallways that day, but it was kind of odd how Zack and Josh Bishop could strike up a friendship with him so fast. Giving them a quick wave and a big smile, she continued on her way until reaching her mother’s sleek, silver sports car.

“Hi, mother,” she said in somewhat of a **** cheerful tone after getting into the passenger seat and buckling up her seat belt.

“Hello, honey,” Brooke Lakefield smiled genuinely. “Had a nice day at school?”

“Eh, they’re always kinda the same to me,” Heather replied, shrugging her shoulders while taking a brief look at her mother.

Brooke stifled a sigh, knowing it could spark an argument. Another one. She was forty-years-old, with long dark-brown hair and blue eyes. An elegant, black button-up blouse and a white pencil skirt concealed a slender, perfectly-toned body. She worked at the Blue Lion Media Group, a subsidiary of Ravers Enterprises at Azure Rocks that controlled a radio station and a news TV channel. Even after her divorce from Robert six years ago, he offered her to keep her position as the director of Blue Lion, as he wouldn’t easily find a suitable replacement so readily available in Azure Rocks.

It was then that Heather remembered Logan telling her that their mothers knew each other, and she addressed her mother without tearing her eyes away from her cousin conversing with the new boy in town. “Mother, do you know that boy’s mom? He told me you were friends or something.”

“Oh, you met Logan, then?” Brooke inquired, a smile forming on her face. “Yes, I know his mother from GHC. She was a few years younger than me, but I felt protective of her for some reason and we became friends.”

“So it’s true, huh?” Heather impatiently inquired again.

“Yes, we stayed in contact. I’ve even made the trip to Green Hills a few times over the years to meet her,” Brooke replied with a slight frown. “Why the sudden interest, Heather?”

Heather rolled her eyes and shrugged. “No reason, I was just curious, that’s all.”

“Good,” Brooke said, her expression suddenly changing into a rather serious one that Heather was more used to. “You shouldn’t be getting crushes on younger boys, anyways.”

“I DON’T have a crush!” Heather angrily protested. It was true, she didn’t have any feelings of that nature for the younger guy, but she had to admit he was quite good-looking. He reminded her of someone she knew, but she couldn’t exactly pinpoint it at the moment.

---

When Zack parked his car at his house that afternoon, he and his friends and cousin chatted for a few more minutes before Chloe and Gavin left for their respective homes, but Paris hung back at the garage.

“Hey, before I forget, I was asked something about you today at school,” she told her cousin, leaning back against the door of his sedan.

“Uhn…, what was it?” He hesitantly inquired, wondering if it would be the start of the ‘Mr. Handsome’ fallback.

“Alice Phillips wants to start a study group for her and her friends, me included,” she started. “But they asked me to invite you too. Apparently, you have ridiculous grades, so it makes you perfect to oversee the group, whatever that means. You up for it?”

Zachary raised a surprised eyebrow, and then quickly went over who was in that clique. Madison and Alice were cool, but then there was Scarlett, and the thought of their time together had his dick twitching in his pants. The biggest problem, though, wasn’t the girl he had his first time with. “Well, I think it can turn out to be pretty fun, but…, does Grace Smith know about this? She pretty much ignored me my whole life ‘cause she always saw me as a Ravers or something,” he asked, even though he conceded that other people might see that assessment as true after he hung out with Heather at the Sapphire Ball.

Paris nodded, letting out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, she was okay with it…, kinda.”

“I guess as long as it doesn’t mess up with the group…,” he shrugged. “Think I can invite Chloe and Gavin?”

“I don’t see why not,” Paris responded with a small smile. “Gavin can help with Math and Chloe can use the grades. So do I, to be honest.”

Zack nodded, suddenly recalling a conversation that he and his cousin had over the summer about their futures, colleges, and prospective careers. “Still wanna be a photographer?”

“I think so,” she smiled at him. “Like I said before, either that or something about art and old stuff.”

Zack chuckled. “I had another talk with Ms. Moreau today, I think she convinced me to go for writer.”

“Good! That’s what you want and you’re damn great at it, dummy,” she grinned and swatted his arm.

“Yeah, but she made me confused about where I should go,” he added. “I was set on Green Hills College, but the more I talk to her, the more I think that Dragon Lake University is where I’m supposed to go.”

“Their Literature program is really strong and respected, isn’t it?” Paris asked, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Yeah, and I’ve got the grades if I wanna go there,” he answered, scratching the back of his head. “I just need to maintain them, but I can improve it even more with this study group thing.”

The Green Hills College at the nearby town of Green Hills was where the majority of teenagers in Azure Rocks headed to after finishing high school, with the local community college being a close second preferred destination. His parents had gone to Green Hills, his older sister was currently there, and every one of his friends were talking about going there next year. Still, there was the third option, the Dragon Lake University at the town of Lakewood, which was the farthest option of the three. To get into DLU, though, a student had to have nearly perfect grades, but it was worth it, according to the few people Zack knew that had gone there.

“Why don’t you, then?” Paris asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “It’s clearly the best for your future.”

Zack winced at that. “I don’t wanna get separated from you all,” he explained. “What good is there in heading to Lakewood if all of you guys are gonna be at Green Hills? I don’t wanna be alone.”

“You won’t be alone if I’m there with you,” Paris said, grinning as she put her hands on her cousin’s shoulders. “You’re gonna have to help lift up my grades, but I can go with you, no problem.”

Zack softly chuckled, touched by his cousin’s kindness toward him. “Thanks, Par,” he told her. “You’re my best cousin by far, and I’ve got a lot of them.”

She laughed, swatting him in the arm again. “Well, it was time you said it, dummy!” She told him and then cocked her head to the side. “I guess that other thing you told me about is out of the race, then?”

“What? Cop?” He asked and she nodded. “Yeah, it was more like a childhood dream than anything else. I’m not a physical kind of person, and besides, I wanted to be a detective, not exactly a cop.”

“Well, you’d have to go through Cop to get to Detective,” his cousin reminded him. “I just think there’s no reason you can’t do both, you know? You don’t need college to be a writer, you only need it if you wanna be a teacher, like Peter’s doing.”

Zack scratched his chin, a contemplative look on his face. “You mean, get a degree to be a cop, all the while trying to make it as a writer?” He asked. “Could work, maybe.”

“Technically, you don’t even need a degree to be a cop, but it’d help you get promoted to detective later,” Paris explained, having looked at the matter online after Zack told her about his options and doubts.

“But Uncle Malcolm never made it work and he got a degree for it,” he softly argued, referring to his mother’s younger brother. “I think I shouldn't be trying too many things at once.”

“Well, but he also said a few times that he never really had the talent for it, that he was way better at telling the stories rather than writing them,” Paris retorted, she didn’t want Zack to let go of any of his dreams.

Zack chewed on his lip for a moment, what Paris suggested made sense to him, but he needed to think very carefully about it. Besides, there was the Programmer career that he wasn’t willing to fully discard just yet, in case he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. Even though it didn’t suit his tastes at all.

“I guess I’ll think about it,” he finally conceded.

“Good,” Paris said, and then a teasing grin made her lips curl up. “There’s something else we need to talk about.”

“Uh-oh,” Zack said, staring at his cousin with a worried look.

Paris briefly frowned, pushing a strand of blue hair behind her ear. “Why are you looking at me like I’m about to say something bad?” She demanded.

Zack shrugged in response. “Well, you only grin like that when you’re about to drag me into trouble.”

Of his three closest friends, his second cousin easily was the most outgoing and carefree one, while Chloe and Gavin had always been more introverted and he usually walked in the middle.

Paris actually laughed at that. “Oh, I can assure you that I don’t intend on dragging you anywhere, Zachary,” she told him, the grin coming back to her lips. “Not how Scarlett did it at the ball, anyway.”

Zack’s eyes widened and he let out a long groan. “Aww, fuck! She told you?”

“Relax, dummy, I’m not mad you fucked my friend,” she laughed again. “But, yeah, Scarlett told me. She wanted to make sure you were okay. Said you were acting kinda weird, but I told her that’s your normal.”

Zack rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Oh, that’s… nice of her, I guess.”

Paris chuckled and playfully bumped his shoulder. “You dog, I wanted to fuck her, you know?”

Zack smiled at first, but then his eyes went wide and he frowned, trying to push the image out of his mind. “Oh, Par, I’m… sorry,” he tried to apologize. “I didn’t know you… liked her.”

The blue-haired girl snorted. “Like? Who said anything about liking, Zack?” She inquired, bumping him again. “I just wanted to fuck that sexy blonde, like any good gay girl would.”

“Ookaay,” Zack slowly nodded, feeling some kind of weird sense of kinship with his cousin at that moment. She was incredibly sexy herself, and in a way, he was glad that she liked girls, because that made her immune to being hurt by horny guys. “If it helps, Scarlett seemed quite… how can I put it? Uhn… wild.”

“I know Scarlett, I’m friends with her,” Paris reminded him with a smile, crossing her arms under her medium-sized tits. “But, well…, first, she’d need to be into girls for that to happen.”

“Maybe she’s bi,” Zack guessed.

“Uugh, I don't want bi girls,” Paris groaned. “Before you know it, it’s ‘oh, let’s bring in a guy to spice things up’.” Both teenagers laughed at her impersonation of a kid's voice, and then Zachary looked at his cousin with a surprised eyebrow raised, his cock stirring a bit at the picture she painted.

“Really? Is that how it goes?”

Paris shrugged. “I dunno, I’ve never dated, remember?” She replied with a hint of frustration in her voice. “But I read it online. It’s basically how it always happens.”

Zack gave her a sympathetic smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling his cousin’s warm body to his for a comforting side hug, which Paris appreciated. She knew that Zack was one of the people she could count on, unlike her older brother, for example. He felt the contours of her body close to him, causing his dick to stir in his pants, and that made him clear his throat and pull away from the embrace. Having sexual thoughts about Paris always made him feel bad due to her sexual orientation. Heather, Millie, and Stephanie, his other cousin who lived at Quartz City, were all fine in a way, but Paris always got him feeling guilty.

As for Paris, she smiled contently at the hug. Being into girls, she had always been kind of averse at hugging boys. Zack, her younger brother, Josh, and her father were the only men she let hug her without any bad feelings creeping up. Her older brother, Clark, would be another one, but she genuinely couldn’t remember the last time he had hugged her.

“Alright,” he said, chuckling as they separated. “You wanna stay and have dinner with us later?”

“Oh, no, thanks, I’ve gotta go home and cook for the guys later,” she replied with a grateful smile. “Mom’s gonna stay at the shop until late today.”

Zack nodded and the cousins said their goodbyes before Paris headed for her house and he went into his own home. At that hour, his parents weren’t home, so he figured it was time to check if Orion needed food or water.

---

A little later, it was Monica’s turn to wash the dishes after dinner, and she was focused on finishing it as fast as possible when Daniel came back to the kitchen. “Hey, you,” she warmly greeted her husband.

“Hey, yourself,” Daniel replied with a grin and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before turning to the sink. “Need some help with this?”

“Oh, no, I’ve got it. I’m almost done,” Monica responded as Daniel nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind to watch her as she worked. A few seconds went on before a small smile curled up her lips. “Alright, honey. I promise I won’t be mad, okay?” She softly told him. “But is there a reason you’re staring an awful lot at Diane for the past few days?”

Daniel’s eyes widened, his skin flushing red as he found himself losing his voice for a brief moment. “Oh… I… uhn…… fuck,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, Mon.”

She gave him a soft smile and he lowered his head a bit and rested his chin on the top of her right shoulder, the two of them drawing warmth from each other’s bodies as Daniel put his thoughts in order. She waited patiently for him to speak, as she really wasn’t mad at him in any way for it.

“It’s just… ever since we had that talk about you and that year in high school we were apart…,” Daniel started. “I can’t get that… thing we did out of my head. You know, that one in college when we both…”

“Oh, the threesome,” Monica completed the sentence for her husband, a grin on her face as she recalled the experience. “What was her name again? Andrea, Bridget, Mera?”

“Angela Foster,” Daniel supplied. “She was a year younger, and Theo and Rhonda introduced us.”

“Yeah, I suppose Diane kinda looks like her,” Monica softly chuckled. “Harmony Wright too, now that I’m thinking about it.”

Daniel groaned at the thought that two of their neighbors looked like a girl they had gotten involved with in the past. “Please, don’t make this worse.”

“Why?” Monica curiously inquired. “You want to have another threesome?”

Daniel gasped as if he had choked on his own saliva. “W-what? No!” He vehemently denied. “I love you, Monica! Only you, please believe me!”

Monica smiled and took his hands on hers. “And I love only you, too, Danny,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that time wasn’t fun, don’t you agree?”

Another heavy sigh later, Daniel nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean we should repeat it, Mon. We’re older, we have a stable marriage, nothing good would come out of it.”

“We had been together for a few years at that time and she was single,” Monica said. “Suppose we find a single woman that we can both agree on, wouldn’t you go for it?”

Daniel chuckled, his wife really was the most amazing woman in the world. “No, Monica Bishop,” he gently turned her around and pulled her close, her breasts mashing against his chest. “I don’t wanna open that can of worms. You’re everything I’ll ever need.”

Monica smirked up at him. “Charmer,” she purred and then pulled him in for a kiss just as the sound of their son’s footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement interrupted the moment for the time being.

---

Meanwhile, in the college town of Green Hills, three hours to the northwest of Azure Rocks, a beautiful young woman was curled up on the couch in the living room of that small, three-bedroom apartment, her boyfriend’s arms wrapped around her.

“You think they’ll be long?” The dark-haired man inquired, a finger making random, pleasant patterns on the exposed skin at her waist.

Taylor Bishop chuckled at her boyfriend. “Han and Syd? The party will probably end before they even get to leave,” she gave him an amused grin, her icy-blue eyes fixed on his brown ones.

The twenty-year-old pre-med student had her long dark brown hair flowing down her milky, slightly freckled shoulders, and she was wearing a white tank top that emphasized her medium-sized breasts, along with a pair of blue shorts. She didn’t need to dress up to spend a pleasant evening with her boyfriend.

A year older than her, the business student lightly slipped his fingers underneath her top. “They better hurry, or they’ll walk in on me ravishing you on this couch,” Thomas Rockhall whispered with a grin.

“Tommy!” Taylor gave a mock gasp, her own hand finding the one of his that had been quietly stimulating her warm skin under her top. “You wouldn’t dare,” she provoked, biting her bottom lip as she waited to see what he would do. It was a little game they often played, telling each other things that they wanted to do, but wouldn’t dare actually going for it, boring people as they were, according to friends.

“Please don’t fuck in the couch while we’re here,” a new female voice spoke as a newcomer stepped into the living room. “Come to think of it, don’t do it while we’re out either.”

“Aww, Sydney, that way you’ll make me think you don’t know Tay-Tom at all,” Hannah Woodsen teased as she also walked into the room, dressed in a snug, very short blue dress that almost made her big tits pop out, and Taylor was sure she would be able to see her best friend’s panties if she moved her head an inch lower.

Sydney Reagan shrugged in response. Also twenty like her two roommates, she had long blonde hair, dark green eyes, and large breasts that were poured into a tight red dress that was just as short as Hannah’s.

“You two talk like you haven’t done exactly that more than a few times with those guys you usually bring here,” Taylor fired back with a smile. After Hannah told her that she hadn’t done anything with Zack during the Sapphire Ball back at Azure Rocks, she warmed up to her old friend again, and she was pleased to hear that her brother had lost his virginity to a girl his age.

“They did?!” Tommy exclaimed, attempting to get out of the couch, but Taylor held him firmly.

“Well, we don’t wanna complete the trifecta,” Sydney replied, a naughty grin on her face. “Our neighbors will think we’re running some kind of brothel here.”

Taylor groaned at that, if people told her she was going to be **** to deal with a second Hannah when she came to Green Hills, she would have gone to Dragon Lake University instead. She and their other best friend, Peter Zander, had only come to Green Hills because Hannah hadn’t been able to get the high grades DLU demanded and they didn’t want to leave her alone at GHC. She still had the reasoning that GHC had a good medical program, but Peter totally should have gone to DLU in her opinion.

“Is it that bad?” Thomas asked, he had only been dating Taylor for five months, after all, and they didn’t hang out in her apartment too often. They had met in a pub near GHC about six months ago and quickly hit it off. He would end up asking her out only a month later.

“It’s not, we’re only kidding, babe,” Taylor lied. She didn’t want to scare him with tales of her roommates’ debauchery. At the very least, they didn’t do it together, which was a relief.

“Well, we’re going, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t ask,” Hannah smirked at her bestie. “Sure we can’t convince you guys to go?”

Taylor shook her head. “Positive. I prefer curling up with Tommy here, watch a movie, and then go to bed,” she answered. “I’ve got classes early in the morning tomorrow.”

“They’re totally gonna fuck in this couch,” Sydney snickered.

“Like I said, Syd, it’s Tay-Tom, the most sex this couch is gonna see tonight is the new episode of that TV show Tay likes,” Hannah said, almost in a daring tone. In truth, she would love to see her best friend letting go a bit and becoming more spontaneous. She knew that Taylor and Thomas had had sex in Taylor’s room and in his room at the Zeta Alpha Gamma fraternity, but she was willing to bet a huge sum of money that a bed was the only spot they had done it so far.

“Whatever,” Taylor said, tired of that entire argument. “Is Millie gonna go with you?”

“Nope,” Hannah shook her head. “Your cousin’s just like you. Preferred the company of Netflix for tonight.”

“Now we gotta find someone for her to chill with,” Sydney suggested, crossing her arms and making her tits pop up, but not as much as Hannah’s even bigger ones. “Won’t be hard with that nice condo she got.”

“Alright, you’ll do no such thing. Leave Millie alone,” Taylor ordered, a serious look on her face. Her younger cousin, Milena Cullen, or Millie as some called her, was just starting out at GHC, and she didn’t want the poor girl to be overwhelmed by college shenanigans after the pressured life she led at Azure Rocks.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Tay,” Hannah chuckled and then turned to Sydney, motioning for the other blonde to move to the door as she followed suit. “Okay, time for us to go. Wish us luck, Taylor, root for us so we can each score a nice big cock tonight.”

Taylor just sighed and flipped her friends and roommates the middle finger as they laughed and eventually left the apartment, closing the door behind them. “I’m sorry about them,” she sighed, moving to the edge of the couch and covering her face with her hands.

“They’re quite a handful, I’ll give you that,” Thomas replied, wrapping a comforting arm around his girlfriend’s back. He wouldn’t lie and say that he never stroked one out thinking about Hannah Woodsen or Sydney Reagan, or even all three of them together, but Tommy liked to think that he knew how to differentiate reality from fantasy, and Taylor was his only reality. “But don’t let them bother you, baby. One of the things I admire about you is that you don’t let peer pressure dictate your life. You do what you want, even if others frown at you for it.”

Taylor smiled sweetly at him, but then she frowned and stood up, letting out a sigh as she moved toward the window that had a view of the street below. “That’s very sweet of you to say, Tommy, but I wonder if that’s not turning into a problem for me,” she said, gazing at the people occasionally passing down below. “They think I’m a stick in the mud!”

Thomas got to his feet and walked over to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her waist. Taylor was tall, but he was even taller than her, so he had to slightly lean down to kiss her cheek. “Relax, baby. I’m on your side,” he pulled her to him, feeling his cock stirring at the proximity of her sexy body. “You shouldn’t worry about what people think of you. It never seemed to be a problem with you, you shouldn’t let it become one now.”

Taylor allowed herself to relax against his strong chest, but she was still a bit upset to fully relax, even when he began kissing her semi-exposed left shoulder, causing her to let out an involuntary humming noise. “You shouldn’t… mmm… be trying to convince me otherwise. Mmm… I hate that and I…mmmm… would love it if you…mmmmmm...”

Tommy pushed his erection on her butt, causing Taylor to let out a soft gasp as he continued to kiss and nibble on the smooth skin of her shoulder. He thought Taylor and her reserved, classier personality were incredibly sexy, and he hated sluttier girls, but guys at the fraternity were starting to poke fun at him for barely ever attending parties and events anymore after he began dating the pre-med student, plus, there was the fact that she was always joined at the hip with her old friend, Peter Zander, often infuriating him.

“How about we prove them wrong right here, right now, then, baby?” He asked her between kisses. “Let’s have some fun right here in this den.”

Taylor wanted to protest, her mind was focused too hard on something else to think about sex, but she was gone the moment her boyfriend sucked on the collumn of her neck and raised his hands to cup her tits. She let out a moan in her particularly sexy, raspy voice that made Thomas even harder behind her. Fuck, if I get just a little bit more of stress, I’m gonna explode! Maybe some respite would be just what the doctor ordered right now, she quickly rationalized before making a decision and spinning around in Tommy’s arms to plant a needy kiss on his lips.

Tommy returned the kiss with gusto, slipping his tongue into his girlfriend’s mouth as his hands felt up her fit body. Taylor was beginning to enjoy the idea of letting her boyfriend give her some respite from all the worries in her mind, but it seemed he had more in store for her, he wanted to be naughty at it. Just as their tongues were sensuously dancing together, Thomas broke the kiss and spun her around to face the window once again before he reached for the hem of her tank top and began to slowly inch it up her body.

“Tommy, we’re in front of the window!” Taylor protested, but there was a hint of playfulness and excitement in her voice.

“The street is almost deserted right now,” the older guy calmly countered as he pulled up her top, baring his girlfriend’s milky, slightly freckled lower back to his hungry gaze inch by inch. Hannah and Sydney said they were boring, so he intended to show Taylor how exciting he could be.

Taylor’s breath quickened, her chest heaving as she could feel the heat creeping up her body at his surprisingly bold attitude. Where's the bore now, Han? Looks like I was right again, she smugly thought, staring at her reflection on the window.

When the top reached the underside of her breasts, Tommy slid his fingers under the fabric and lifted it the rest of the way with her help. Both him and Taylor gasped in arousal when her medium-sized tits were exposed to the window, the people walking on the street being none the wiser.

"You're so fucking hot, Taylor Bishop," he growled, his hands coming up to cup and squeeze her firm breasts, pink nipples digging into his palm.

Taylor let out one of her sexy moans as her boyfriend basically mauled her in front of the window where anyone could have been watching. She never had an exhibitionist streak, but that possibility definitely was playing a part in how turned on she was feeling at that moment. "Mmm… Tommy," she whimpered, brushing her ass against his steel-hard cock.

Thomas couldn't deny he felt a stir whenever the voluptuous bombshells who called themselves Hannah Woodsen and Sydney Reagan walked in front of him, but he found out that Taylor’s slender, statuesque body made his dick throb even harder. There was something about his girlfriend that put him in a state of constant arousal and he couldn't wait to indulge himself in her body that night. Unable to contain himself any longer, he used a hand to unbuckle his belt and pull down his pants to free up his hard cock.

The dark-haired girl felt it and turned to passionately kiss her boyfriend again, her right hand wrapping around his average shaft and starting to pump it, drawing a pleased grunt from him. His hands snaked south and grasped her asscheeks over the shorts, squeezing it and trying to pull her even closer to his body. Tommy groaned into the kiss as Taylor kept stroking him, her own arousal skyrocketing as she felt the shaft throbbing in her hand. It was obvious that both of them were ready for some real action.

Taylor broke the kiss, and with a provocative smile to her boyfriend, caressed his shirt-covered chest with her free hand before slowly lowering herself to her knees before him. Tommy’s cock twitched in anticipation in her hand moments before she leaned in and swiped her tongue on his tip.

“Mmm, fuck, Tay…,” he let out a moan and reached down to cup her cheek.

Taylor smiled again. “C'mon, Tommy, moan for me,” she purred and then the sexy, tall brunette took her boyfriend’s cockhead into her mouth to suck on it, wearing only a pair of shorts and blue-colored socks on her feet.

---

In the stairwell outside that apartment, a boy with short brown hair and green eyes climbed up the steps, wondering why his best friends had to get an apartment on the fifth floor. It was rather exhausting for someone who had no background as an athlete like him, Peter Zander thought.

They were supposed to get an apartment together after their freshman year, when they had to live in the dorms as the college’s norms dictated, but then Taylor and Hannah befriended Sydney Reagan, and the girls thought it was better to keep an all-female home. It wasn’t such a big deal for Peter, as he had made a couple of friends himself as well and was able to get a place with them.

Pulling the phone away from his ear, the twenty-year-old raised a confused eyebrow. “Why isn’t she answering hers?” He asked himself. He knew that Hannah and Sydney would be at a party, so he thought Taylor could want to watch a movie together or just hang out. Peter was just starting to get worried when he reached their floor and a noise he never expected to hear from Taylor assaulted his ears, as faint as it sounded.

"Oooohhh!“

He wasn’t dumb or inexperienced, he knew it was the sound of a woman in the throes of pleasure while having sex, but it was such a sexy, raspy moan that it was unmistakable, it was Taylor’s rather peculiar, beautiful voice. His dick stirred in his pants when he heard it again and almost made his eyes pop out of his skull.

”Fuck me, Tommy! C’mon, do it!”

His head instantly snapped toward the door to his friends’ apartment and he stood there, unable to decide what to do. It seemed Thomas had already come over and they took advantage of being alone to have a fun-filled night of their own.

“Shit…,” he muttered in panic. “What am I supposed to do now?”

He knew that his best friends were gorgeous girls who had sexual relationships, it wasn’t any surprise to him, but he never had been **** to confront that reality when it came to Taylor. She had been almost like a sibling to him his entire life, and now listening to her sexy voice moaning for Thomas was creating all kinds of conflicting feelings in his head, thoroughly screwing up with it.

”Take it, Taylor! You’re so goddamn sexy!” Now it was Thomas’ voice and Peter swore he could hear the sound of their bodies lewdly slapping against one another as well.

“Shit, they’re doing it in the living room?”

A frown crept up on his face when Peter noticed his cock was slowly getting hard as he unwillingly listened to his best friend having sex in her apartment. “Stop it!” He pleaded with his dick, wishing to avoid at all costs seeing Taylor as anything else than the close friend she always had been.

”Fuck me!!!”

He groaned at the continued moaning and pleading Taylor was doing on the other side of that door, and he hit the wall in frustration as his dick kept getting harder.

What’s the fucking problem with getting yourself some much needed relief over it? It’d even be like Taylor helping her friend getting his sanity under control, a voice that he could swear was coming from his dick said. Need I remind you that it’s been a while since you scored yourself some nice pussy? Almost eight months, if I’m not mistaken.

“It’s freaking wrong! She’s like a sister to me!” Peter whined, cursing his horny appendage, even though he knew that voice was coming from his own frustrated mind. “Not to mention, I’m not gonna pull out my dick and jerk off in the middle of a hallway where her neighbors could come out and find me at it!”

Being best friends didn’t stop you from fucking Hannah several times in high school, the cock/mind fired back. How is it any different now?

Peter’s blood boiled at the argument until he almost snapped. “Shut up, dammit!” He let out in a louder voice than normal, but still low enough so Taylor and Thomas didn’t hear him, or so he hoped. Incredibly frustrated, Peter hastily made a U-turn and basically ran back down the stairs. He refused to stroke himself off listening to sounds and moans of Taylor having sex. It was wrong, he told himself again. Still, unknowingly to Peter at the time, his own ‘best friend goggles’ sported its first crack; the one he reserved for Taylor, since the Hannah one had been shattered to pieces long ago.

---

Two days later, a young sophomore sat on a bench near the parking lot of Azure Rocks High as he waited for his friends to arrive. Sixteen-years-old, he had short brown hair that he liked to comb up in a spiky style, and his green eyes were calmly watching his surroundings as other students arrived at school for the day.

Usually, Josh Bishop and his best friend rode to school together with one of their mothers, but she was late getting ready, so he had to come alone with his mom. As he waited for her to arrive, Josh let the pleasant wind hit his face. He usually got a bit nervous being by himself for too long without any of his video games or friends, and that was when he slipped into his thoughts and let the environment relax him enough so he could focus on another one of his favorite pastimes; observe other people. Eventually, his eyes fluttered close and he didn’t even notice how much time had passed until he was rudely awakened.

“Stop daydreaming, dammit,” an amused female voice said before his best friend playfully shoved him aside, nearly propelling him onto the concrete floor.

“Fuck, Holly…,” Josh muttered, moving back into a sitting position as she plopped down beside him. “Like you daydream everytime you look at Zack?”

Holly winced, elbowing her friend again. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have told you that, by the way.”

Josh dearly wished she hadn’t either. Petite and slender, Holly McRose was sixteen like him, and she had the most beautiful face he had ever seen, with clear-blue eyes and long red hair falling in soft waves over her shoulders. All the years of friendship ensured Josh developed a crush on the fiery ginger, and learning that she had feelings for his older cousin hurt a bit when she confided that fact in him.

“Well, he’s not here now,” Josh tried to change the subject. “Is it me or is this year boring as hell so far?”

Holly chuckled and shrugged her freckled shoulders. “To get boring, it should’ve been interesting at some point,” she replied. “Which it wasn’t.”

Josh laughed. “Well, unfortunately, we can’t get out of it,” he said, discreetly admiring her beauty. “Where’s Indigo?”

“Indy’s probably in the library as always,” Holly replied in an exasperated tone, referring to her best female friend. “We still have some time until the bell rings, she’ll be there until then.”

“Hey, guys!” A newcomer’s voice called out to them, coming from inside the school.

Logan Finlay was a guy that had transferred to Azure Rocks High that week, and Zack had introduced him to Josh and Holly, hoping they could help him get used to the place. An unusual fact for him, who usually faced some difficulty in making new friends, Josh had quickly struck a friendship with the outgoing boy.

“You were in already?” Holly inquired, raising a curious eyebrow as the other boy plopped down on Josh’s other side.

“Yeah,” Logan nodded. “I came a little earlier, hoping to talk to Brandon Cole, and luckily, I found him when he got here.”

“Brandon?” Josh frowned, knowing it wasn’t easy for anyone who wasn’t a football player or a cheerleader to approach the cocky quarterback. “What for?”

“I wanted to ask him about try-outs for the football team,” Logan replied. “I was thinking about playing while I’m here. Gives me something to do and it looks good for future college applications when I need them.”

“You WERE thinking?” Holly asked, confusion creeping up on her beautiful features.

Logan just shrugged. “Yeah, the positions I’m interested in won’t be available this year,” he explained. “Unless I try out and really outdo one of the current players, I’ll only get a chance next year.”

Holly giggled. ‘Would be fun seeing one of them ousted from the team.”

Logan laughed with her, causing Josh to frown a little bit again. “I don’t wanna ruffle their feathers, you know how fragile those guys’ egos are.”

Josh had to let out a brief laugh at that as well. “You’re not wrong on that, my friend,” he said. “But still, maybe you can get in as a backup. Would make it easier to walk into the team next year.”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it,” Logan told him.

The sound of high heels clicking on the concrete floor interrupted their conversation as Heather Ravers walked by. It was natural for both boys to be entranced by her, causing Holly to roll her eyes, and she caught Logan’s gaze before nodding at him.

“Hey, you,” she amiably greeted. “Settling in well?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he bowed at her. “Zack introduced me to Josh and Holly, they were a great help.”

Heather nodded again, smiling as she turned to Josh. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he and his siblings were her second cousins as well. Perhaps I should make an effort to get to know them too, she wondered. “Congrats on the school spirit, you two. We should always make sure newcomers feel welcome in our school.”

“Uhn…, t-thanks, Heather,” Josh stammered. Even if his crush was Holly, it was impossible to not feel affected by the dark-haired goddess in front of him.

Holly thought the cheerleader captain should tell that to a couple of her squadmates, but decided to hold her tongue. Logan just smirked at her, an expression Heather found quite familiar, along with his eyes that she had noticed before. “Oh, I can assure you I’m happily buried under school spirit right now.”

The older girl returned the smirk, an image that would’ve made almost every guy in the school buckle their knees. “I bet you are,” she teased. “Well, it’s been fun, you all, but I need to get going. Got something to discuss with Principal Hartburn,” she told them and waved her hand. “See you around.”

As she walked away, Heather noticed the two boys staring at her for a few more moments before they went back to chatting with Holly McRose. Once again, she felt the sadness of having grown up alone squeezing her heart, a pain she hoped to heal little by little by befriending her cousin, Zack, and her second cousins that she planned to ask Zachary about.

Stepping into the school building, she purposefully made her way to the Principal’s Office, barely stopping to nod and wave at people who greeted her. It was just her luck that she didn’t need to walk all the way to the office, as she almost stumbled into the principal as he rounded a corner.

“Principal Hartburn!” She cheerfully greeted, smiling sweetly at the 45-year-old man. “Just the man I was looking for!”

Having short black hair that was just starting to show signs of graying, and a pair of sharp, yet kind, gray eyes, the handsome principal, Jack Hartburn, smiled at the young woman. “Well, here I am, Ms. Ravers. What can I do for you?” He asked, letting out a chuckle. He definitely wasn’t one of those principals who hated dealing with his students, so he was well-liked and respected by them, but he always figured it couldn’t hurt to be even more solicitous to children of influential families.

Heather flashed him one of her best smiles, the ones she reserved for situations where she wanted to get her way, as she figured it was going to be needed for what she had in mind. “It’s about the fundraiser. I think I came up with a good idea and wanted to discuss it with you.”

“The fundraiser, huh?” Jack lightly scratched his chin with a smile. “I admit I was only expecting to deal with this matter closer to Christmas. No one had any suitable idea, hence why I put it forward to the students,” he told her. “Tell you what. Mrs. Rossi and Ms. Moreau are helping me with this. I’ll send word to them and you can come discuss this idea of yours with us at lunch time. Sounds good?”

“Perfect, Mr. Hartburn,” Heather nodded. “You won’t regret this, I promise,” she told him. Or so I hope.

“You’ve always been a bright student, Heather,” the older man grinned. “I’m looking forward to knowing what you have in mind for us.”

---

As soon as the bell that signaled the start of lunchtime rang throughout the school, Heather headed for the Principal’s Office once more. It was how she found herself sitting by a round meeting table with Jack Hartburn, Mary Moreau, and Piper Rossi, the Gym teacher, who also was her cheer coach.

She was a quite voluptuous and fit woman at forty, with long black hair and brown eyes. She was always upbeat, which made for rather fun practicing sessions with the Moon Maidens in Heather’s opinion. Having her there made Heather imagine it would become easier to sell her pitch, or less hard, at least. Ms. Moreau was a mystery in this situation, she thought, even if the young teacher was always understanding and supportive about her students, there was no way of knowing how she was going to react to the idea.

None of them, to be honest, the cheer captain thought to herself. She was grateful for the fact that other teachers weren’t there, or worse, students’ parents. The table was certainly big enough to accommodate more adults, judging by the number of empty chairs.

“Alright, now that we’re all here, can you tell us about your idea, Heather?” Mr. Hartburn requested, and Heather got supportive smiles from both Mrs. Rossi and Ms. Moreau.

She cleared her throat to delay it for a brief moment and then lifted up her chin to stare firmly at the principal, the way her father had taught her how a negotiator should act. “Okay, I suppose you all are aware of the awards given every year at the Sapphire Ball, correct?”

The three adults exchanged looks, but only Piper’s was one of amusement, while Mary let out a short, nervous laugh. “Yes,” Jack admitted, chuckling at it. “I can’t say the school is completely happy with that, but since it’s something organized by the students, without any official ties to Azure Rocks High, we chose to turn a blind eye to it.”

“I heard this year’s one was quite the hit,” Piper commented with a grin.

“Yeah, I won two awards,” Heather grinned back, but got serious again a moment later. “But I digress. Given you said that the school isn’t happy with the awards, Mr. Hartburn, I’m not sure if I should mention my idea at all, since it pulls some inspiration from it.”

Mary gave her the familiar, understanding smile she reserved for her students in her classroom. “Why don’t you tell us first, Heather?” She softly inquired. “We might be able to work with it in one way or another.”

Heather nodded with a similar smile on her face, part of her confidence in the pitch having returned. “Well, here’s my idea, then. Keep in mind that it’ll require a bit of suspension of disbelief on your part,” she started, her gaze running across each of their curious faces. “I want to produce two calendars to be sold for charity, one with pictures of female students and another one with pictures of male students,” she explained, seeing in their eyes that they were confused on how that would be attractive enough. “Sexy pictures, I mean, and to choose which boys and girls will be in each calendar, we’d be holding a vote with the students themselves.”

The next minute was filled only by the sound of Jack’s tapping finger on the table’s wooden surface, as Ms. Moreau’s expression cycled between confused and understanding, and only Mrs. Rossi was smiling. Heather stared at each of them, her own expression unwavering. A sharp negotiator can’t show signs that they don't trust their own pitch, she reminded herself.

It was the Gym teacher that finally broke the silence. “I mean…, it’s a good idea. Young people showing off how good and healthy they look, I can see the selling potential, but I can’t say the parents would be so understanding.”

Jack let out a soft sigh. “They would have my head, that’s what they would do,” he said, even though he agreed with Piper’s assessment. “They’d think I’m pimping out their children for charity.”

“But if we keep it to the seniors, who are of age and would obviously have to agree to appearing on the calendar…,” Piper argued with a conspiratorial grin. “Well, it’s for charity! I’ve looked into the things that were done before for fundraisers, this idea is rather tame compared to nearly naked girls doing car washes, for example.”

Principal Hartburn nodded, going over the Gym teacher’s points in his mind before he turned to Mary. “You’ve been quiet, Mary. What do you think about it?”

“Twelve girls and twelve boys. It’s rather unusual and definitely not ideal,” the Literature teacher responded before a small smile appeared on her face. “But I’ve always been supportive about my students expressing themselves and their own truth. If no one is **** into it and you keep it tasteful,” she stressed that last word. “Then I give my blessing as well.”

Heather squealed in delight, having patiently watched the conversation between the adults, eager to know what they would decide. From the looks of things, against all odds, her idea was on the verge of being approved.

“Very well,” Jack let out a tired sigh, but smiled nonetheless. “Heather, I’ll need to consult with the board and more than a few parents first, and only then, depending on the reaction I gauge from them, I’ll get back to you to start the proceedings,” he explained. “Can I trust you to organize the vote if I get the green light? The school can help afterward with the production side of it.”

“Certainly, Mr. Hartburn,” Heather firmly nodded with a victorious smile decorating her gorgeous face as she looked at the principal and the two teachers, who were proud of their pupil for coming forward with an idea. “Thank you for the trust, all of you. I promise I won’t let you down.”

---

Later that same day, after classes had already ended, Zack just finished getting ready in his room and headed back up to the ground floor of his house. It was warm, so he opted for a blue t-shirt and jeans. The first study group meeting would be happening that afternoon at Paris’ house, and he was actually a bit anxious about it.

The previous day had also marked his first Speedy Scout meeting and he had a brief talk about the study group with Alice and Jake, which didn’t do anything in alleviating his nervousness about it. They invited Victoria to it, and he felt kind of sad when she politely declined. There hadn’t been any new applications to join the paper, so he understood if his crush was a little bit out of it herself.

He was nervous about meeting Scarlett again after their tryst at the ball. Sure, they had crossed paths at school, but it had been limited to very brief glances, without any exchange of words at all. Obviously, the presence of Grace always left him on edge, as the Smith girl either acted like he didn't exist or preferred to throw a snarky comment his way.

I hope the girls talked to her about it, he thought, stepping out of the house and locking the door. It wasn’t surprising to see Chloe and Gavin waiting for him at the porch. Gavin was dressed similarly to him, but his t-shirt was green instead. Chloe, despite the heat, was wearing one of her hoodies, which was open to reveal a red t-shirt, and black jeans on her legs.

“Is it true that Grace Smith is in the group?” Gavin inquired as soon as he was out, before he could say anything in terms of greetings.

“Uhn…, yeah, from what I was told,” Zack answered.

Gavin let out a big sigh. “Dammit, Zack, you can’t let that happen!” He pleaded with his best friend. “She’s gonna take all control of it in no time and we’ll be just plants in the background!”

“Oh, believe me, I’m not exactly looking forward to hanging out with her. You know how she’s always treated me,” Zack said. “But I spoke to Alice yesterday, she tried to assure me about Grace. Apparently, she didn’t even want to be in the group.”

“Zack, you don’t understand, man!” Gavin still wasn’t happy with it. “Our sophomore year, she almost didn’t let me join the computer club just because I was friends with you! She only backed down when Kieran said he was gonna bring it to Mr. Hartburn.”

“Wait a sec,” Zack frowned and Chloe walked closer to the boys as well with a similar expression. “You didn’t tell us about this.”

“It wasn’t such a big deal,” Gavin defended himself. “Plus, she didn’t get her way.”

“Still, Gav, you should tell us that kind of shit,” Chloe softly reminded him. “Remember how long it took us to know Sharon was pushing you into trash cans last year ‘cause you never told us?”

“I didn’t want you guys to get in trouble too,” Gavin quietly said, sighing again.

Zack, who was rubbing his temple, turned to Gavin with a serious look on his face. “Gav, I want to know when those things happen, so I can try and help you, got it?” He continued staring at his friend. “It’s no trouble, okay? You’re like a brother to me, we’re together in this, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone trouble either of you two or Paris ever again!”

Gavin was touched that Zack called him a brother, he didn’t imagine his friends cared so much about him, a sentiment to which he got a confirmation when he turned to Chloe and she nodded at him with a big smile. A second of silence later, the three friends met in a three-way hug on the porch of Zack’s house.

The three of them and Paris had that kind of connection that couldn’t be broken, no matter what, forged by years of friendship and closeness. It was like that, as an united front, that the three of them marched along the sidewalk. Passing by the McRoses’ house, then by the Wrights, until they reached Paris’ place. There was an old black car they didn’t quite recognize parked in front of it.

“One of them must be already here,” Chloe commented.

“Hope it’s not Grace or we’ll never hear the end of it,” Gavin piped in.

“She wouldn’t drive this kind of car,” Zack said, realizing he didn’t know what car Grace owned as well.

He tried to guess who was the owner of the black car as they made their way to the door. He knew Brandon drove Madison to school, and that Grace’s car was probably newer and shinier, so the old black vehicle most likely belonged to either Scarlett or Jake, unless Alice also owned a car.

Before Chloe or Gavin could say anything, Zack opened the door of the house. Given the facts that he was Paris’ second cousin and Uncle George was his father’s cousin, Zachary had the freedom to walk in unannounced, a privilege the young man only used when he was expected.

“Hey? Is anyone home?” He called out to the empty living room, a small grin on his face. “Paris?”

It surprised the dark-haired boy a little when none other than Madison Cole emerged from the corridor that led to the kitchen, a big smile on her face. “Hey, Zack!” She enthusiastically greeted him. “You’re kinda early.”

“Yeah…, we were ready, so here we are, I guess,” he grinned back at her, briefly marveling at how cute her smile looked.

“No problem, Paris and Scarlett are in the kitchen. Hi, guys,” she smiled at Chloe and Gavin, secretly lamenting the fact that there wouldn’t be fewer people in the group, which could probably make it easier for her to get closer to her crush. She was wearing a black t-shirt with very short sleeves, a tight pair of blue jeans, and brown sandals on her feet. Her long, dark-brown hair hung free around her face and shoulders.

For a brief moment, Zack took notice of how good her legs looked in those jeans as he gave her a second quick greeting in unison with the others.

It was then that Paris and Scarlett came from the kitchen, each girl carrying a bowl of snacks. “Ditching your chores, Maddie?” The blonde teased before she gave Zack a wink that made his cock twitch at the memory of their time together. She was wearing a red t-shirt and ripped jeans, along with a pair of black socks.

Madison’s head quickly snapped toward her friend, a pointed look on her face that made Scarlett laugh. “That’s fine,” Paris snickered, wearing a blue tank top and denim shorts. “You three, why are you still standing? C’mon, sit!”

“Well, you didn’t invite us to,” Chloe fired back with a grin that Paris returned.

“Oh, forgive me if I forgot to hand out a formal invitation for my cousin and my two closest friends to make themselves comfortable in my house,” the blue-haired girl dramatically replied.

Zack chuckled. “Maybe you should recruit her for your drama club, Madison.”

The tall brunette flashed him a dazzling smile that he quite liked as he moved toward the couches in the living room. Zack was sure Paris had dragged a few armchairs from the den, because he could spot more than the usual layout of the room contained. Chloe and Gavin plopped down on a loveseat, and when Zack indicated he was going to sit on the larger couch next to it, Paris jumped in his direction.

“No, no, no, Zack!” She called out to him, grabbing his arm.

“Par, what the fuck?” He inquired as she dragged him in another direction.

“This is your seat,” Paris explained with a mysterious grin as she pushed him into an armchair that was positioned next to an identical one. “Grace gets grumpy if she can’t sit on a comfortable couch.”

“Very grumpy,” Scarlett confirmed with an eerie smile. Zack couldn't help but chuckle at the blonde. That fit very well with the impression he had about Grace Smith so far.

Paris raised an eyebrow at the brief interaction as she wondered how Madison would react if she learned that Scarlett fucked Zack. Not so good, she guessed, if her friend’s fight with Lisa was any indication. She would need to have a chat with Scarlett later to scale down on the teasing, or her cousin would be too occupied drooling at her to pay attention to Madison.

“Alright, then,” Zack grinned. “No need for ****.”

At the same time, Madison returned from the kitchen carrying a few bottles of water and Coke and put them next to the snacks on the coffee table. “Okay, whoever wants juice, Par has them in the kitchen.”

“Oh, I want some juice,” Scarlett teased once again as she raised her hand, though only Chloe and Zack got it, the former raising an eyebrow as the latter awkwardly cleared his throat. The next few moments saw Madison sitting on the armchair next to Zack’s, while Paris and Scarlett sat in two other chairs next to the larger sofa.

“Besides Grace, who else’s gonna come?” Chloe inquired, trying to change the subject from porn innuendos. Gavin just kept his mouth shut next to her, he felt a little bit anxious and on edge being around all those people. Normally, when he came to that house, it was to play video games with Josh, not to study with super hot girls.

“Oh, just Alice and Jake,” Paris answered, and Zack thought it was cool that another guy besides him and Gavin would be there to balance things out a bit.

Speaking of the basketball player, the sound of a car parking in front of the house had Paris standing up once more. “Must be them,” she said. “Grace’s car doesn’t make much noise.”

The female Bishop cousin went outside, and a few moments later, returned with Alice Phillips and Jake Hayes in tow. The two of them were grinning hard, Alice wearing a black blouse and jeans, while Jake had a t-shirt and basketball shorts on.

“Oh, Grace’s gonna be so pissed that everyone got here before her,” Alice gigled, causing Madison and Scarlett to burst out laughing as well.

“I’m just glad you’re the ones around her on a daily basis, you know?” Jake piped in.

“She’s alright when it’s just us, but she has to get used to hanging out with other people too,” Alice said.

Madison rolled her eyes. “Grace’s so freaking stubborn,” she said, causing Zack to wonder just how difficult of a person Grace Smith really was.

“What should we do now, then?” Scarlett asked, crossing her legs. The rips in her jeans showed plenty of skin and had both Zack and Gavin sneaking glances.

“We can’t start without Grace, so here’s something I was wondering about,” Alice responded. “What’s everyone’s schedule? We gotta come up with ways this group can meet regularly without any kind of conflict.”

Turned out that Zack, Alice, and Jake had Scout meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, unless Victoria changed the days when more people joined, Chloe had soccer practice on Mondays and Thursdays, Madison had drama club on Fridays and cheer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Gavin and Grace had computer club meetings on Mondays, and Scarlett had a part-time job on a record store from Monday to Friday, but her boss told her he could give her a day off if she had a study group meeting. Then there was Jake again, whose basketball practice sessions hadn’t started yet, but when they did, he was looking at an additional two or three occupied afternoons per week as well.

“So, excluding Scarlett, we all got Wednesdays and weekends free?” Chloe commented.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Alice said, chewing on her lip with a contemplative look on her pretty face. “I’d like for us to meet twice a week, if possible. Is anyone okay with this?”

Madison smiled. “It’s your baby, Allie. Besides, I think everyone here agrees that just one session a week won’t cut it,” she said, bumping Zack’s knee with hers. “Right, Zack?”

“Uhn?” He asked, kind of startled by the touch. “Oh, yeah, sure. One session simply isn’t enough,” he explained. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, guys.”

Scarlett let out a playful groan that kind of reminded Zack about the sexual noises she made at the auditorium in the convention center, causing his annoying dick to twitch at the pleasant memory. “I vote we go easy on each other,” she said, earning a few chuckles from her friends.

“Yeah, we’re not here to burn ourselves,” Paris said once it was over. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the most of it.”

Madison enthusiastically nodded at her friend’s words. “Damn right! Now that we’re doing this, I wanna see if I can get the grades to apply for DLU and get the hell away from my brother.”

Jake laughed and Alice nodded. “Yeah, I think all of us are looking for something better with this,” she said. Her friends knew about her life, and she supposed that it would end up getting shared with the newcomers at some point.

Chloe grimaced. “No college near us has a soccer team, so I really need the grades even for Green Hills,” she said. “Though I’ll probably wait to see where everyone ends up going, especially these two doofuses here,” she grinned, nodding at Gavin and Zack before briefly pointing at Paris. “And Blue over there.”

“Watch it, Red,” Paris fired back in a sing-song voice, an amused grin on her face.

“Oh, where are you aiming for, Zack?” Madison asked, turning to her crush right next to her as the others laughed at the color jokes.

Zack exchanged a look with both Paris and Chloe before he briefly cleared his throat. “Uhn…, I’ve been kinda on the fence lately. Always thought I’d go to Green Hills, almost my entire family went there, but I’ve been feeling a pull to Dragon Lake more and more,” he told them. “I’ve asked Ms. Moreau for advice and she seems to think it’d be a waste of my skills if I didn’t go to DLU.”

“If Ms. Moreau said it, it’s how it is,” Madison said with a beautiful grin, hoping to convince him into applying for Dragon Lake University. Zack returned the smile, sharing the sentiment about their favorite teacher.

“I’m **** into trying for DLU,” Jake piped, a resigned smile on his face. “GHC doesn’t have basketball, only football and hockey.”

“I’m like Chloe, just waiting to see where people go, but I admit it’d be nice to have the grades handy in case I decide for Dragon Lake,” Paris said and then turned to Gavin. “You’ve been too quiet, Gav. This is an open forum, share your future with us.”

The lanky boy widened his eyes in shock for a brief moment, but then relaxed when Chloe discreetly gave him a nudge with her foot. “Well…, uhn…, I guess I’ll go…where those three go.” Everyone knew he was referring to Zack, Chloe, and Paris.

Scarlett let out an amused chuckle. “Well, it’s fitting that I’m the last one, since I don’t care much for where I’ll go. I just know I’m going somewhere,” she said, getting an exasperated look from Madison and a smile from Alice. “Where the fuck is Grace, anyway? She was supposed to be here ages ago.”

“I’ll text her,” Alice replied, pulling out her phone.

“I’m gonna hit the bathroom real quick,” Zack said, standing up and heading to the corridor between the living room and the kitchen. It was nice knowing where everything was located in his cousin’s house.

Relieving himself, Zack thought about the beginnings of the study group. Everything was going great so far, but that could change with the arrival of Grace, as he had no idea if the two of them would go along or not. It would largely depend on her attitude, he supposed. Scarlett, with all her stares, winks, and groans, was tough to handle. That was the part about casual sex that Zack figured he had to work toward understanding and coming to terms with. It was hard being in the same room and having to act like nothing happened, even if he had no interest in dating the blonde girl for real.

She told you she wouldn’t mind an encore, he reminded himself, his dick stirring as he tucked it back in his pants and zipped it up.

“Shut up,” he muttered to no one in particular and opened the door, almost stumbling into Scarlett, who happened to be passing on the other side at that exact moment.

“Oooh, Bishop,” she teased with a sexy smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Uhn…, h-hi, Scarlett,” he stammered due to the surprise, his cock slowly hardening as her proximity made every memory in his mind more real. Especially the warmth of her pussy around his hard shaft.

She smirked at him, enjoying seeing him so flustered. “You weren’t being naughty in there, were you?” She inquired. “Recalling a certain moment that happened last Saturday, maybe?”

His eyes widened in confusion a second before it hit him. “No!” Zachary exclaimed, embarrassment kicking in. “Scarlett, I’d never…”

“Never what, Zack?” Paris asked, having caught her cousin’s negative as she walked over to the pair. She gave Scarlett a pointed look and the blonde giggled before making her way back to the living room, an extra sway in her firm ass.

“Nothing, Scarlett was just being funny, that’s it,” he shook his head, unwilling to talk about the act of jerking off with his cousin. Even if she knew about him and Scarlett, there were certain topics that would be best if left untouched.

Paris sighed, she couldn’t tell Zack that she was driving Scarlett off because Madison had a crush on him. He needed to find that out by himself and then figure out what he thought about it. “Look, Grace’s already coming, but I just remembered that I don’t have a snack I wanted to serve,” she told him. “Can I ask you to go get it for me? I’m the host, I can’t leave the house.”

Zack chuckled. “Par, there’s two bowls of snacks in the living room already.”

“Pleeease, Zack, I really want it,” she gave him a cute lost puppy look, cocking her head to the side. “I’ll owe you one.”

Another chuckle escaped his lips. “Well, if it’s really that important to you, then sure, I guess,” he scratched the back of his head.

Paris grinned and hopped up and down a couple of times, Zack having to avoid really hard noticing her tits slightly bouncing under her top. “Thanks, Z, you’re my best cousin by far!” She said, returning the compliment he gave her a couple of days before. “I’ll tell Maddie you’re gonna drive her to the store.”

“Madison’s going too?” Zack asked with a curious eyebrow raised as Paris made her way back to the living room.

“Yep!” The blue-haired girl replied, already out of his field of vision.

---

When Zack got out of his cousin’s house, it was to the rather eye-catching sight of a pair of athletic, denim-covered long legs that ended in a firm, round ass. If he didn’t know it was Madison, the young man would have done a double take in surprise. Madison being hot was the undeniable truth that no boy at Azure Rocks High wanted to acknowledge aloud in fear of Brandon’s wrath, but being confronted by that sight, Zack couldn’t help but admire it for a couple of seconds. He was a teenager, after all.

At last, he cleared his throat and sidled over to the tall brunette on the porch. “So, I hear you’re joining me on this quest?” It was easy to slip into their old friendship that got interrupted years ago.

“Oh, hey!” A smile immediately decorated her cute features as her crush joined her. “Yeah, I’m gonna go with you. Paris gave me a list.”

Zack chuckled as he remembered his cousin’s earlier instruction. “Just a snack, huh?”

Madison raised an amused eyebrow. “It’s never just a snack with us women, Zack. The sooner you learn it, the better it’ll be for you.”

“Fair enough,” he chuckled, and with a smile that made her toy with a lock of hair on her shoulder, motioned for her to follow him across the cul-de-sac. “C’mon, I’ll drive us to the store. If Paris gave us a list, I’ll need an extra hand.”

Madison grinned, unsure if that moment was even real. “Sure, I can help your weak ass carry everything.”

Zack raised an eyebrow at the jab at first, but then he guessed Madison was just being funny as she had been years ago, and that relaxed him. “Or I can carry both the groceries and you.”

The brunette blushed at the thought, her eyes slightly widening as she followed him to the garage. “Well, if you can catch me,” she said in a sweet tone and smirked while walking past him.

Zack was about to fire another reply, but a new sight of her ass straining the jeans almost made him ****. One could wonder how he turned into such a collected, smooth guy bantering with a gorgeous girl, and he would have an answer ready for whoever wanted to know. They could thank Paris and her crazy, yet genius, mind.

---

Several minutes ago, in front of the bathroom…

“Par, wait!” Zack called out for his retreating cousin. “What do you want me to get?”

Paris pivoted on her feet and started going back to the corridor. “I told Madison and… what the fuck, Zack!”

“What?” He frowned at the look of shock on his cousin’s face, looking around himself.

“What the fuck, Zack?!” She firmly repeated, her voice lowering to a hiss as she pointed down with her right index finger.

Zachary confusedly looked down and his eyes widened at the bulge stretching the fabric of his jeans. “Freaking Scarlett,” he whispered without thinking.

“You can’t drive Maddie around with your thing pointing up like this!” She started a whispered argument. “It’s fucking rude!” Even if Madison had a crush on her cousin, Paris figured her friend would certainly feel grossed out and lose all the interest if Zack sported an erection around her. She’d think he’s a fucking pervert!

“It’s not my fault!” He defended himself in the same volume. “What do you want me to do?!”

“Well…, make it go down or something!” The blue-haired girl shot back, mortified at having such a conversation about male problems with a boy. Worse, a boy who was her cousin.

Zack exhaled, rubbing his face. He was just as mortified, even if deep down, his already hard cock stirred again at having that chat with his cousin. “I can’t simply go back into the bathroom and take care of it! It’d take too long and Madison’s already waiting!”

“Dammit, Zack, you freaking… male!” Paris let out a long sigh, and unable to come up with a good idea, went with the first one that popped up in her mind. She turned in the direction that the living room was located. “Scarlett! Can you help us with something here? Hurry up!”

Zack’s eyes widened again, and he felt his stomach dropping as the blonde nymph sauntered back to the corridor with a grin. “What’s up?”

“I’ll show you what’s up, you strumpet!” Paris whispered in frustration and dragged both her cousin and her friend to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

“What’s with the sudden ****, Par?” Scarlett chuckled in amusement, but she was quite confused by the roughness.

“Look what you did with your teasing!” The blue-haired girl angrily pointed at her cousin’s crotch, who looked down at the floor, unable to face the two girls in embarrassment.

“Oooohh, looks like my new friend remembered me,” Scarlett teased before feeling the sting of an open palm hitting her arm. “Owww! Dammit, Par!”

“Zack can’t go drive Maddie to the store with his… thing like that,” Paris said, trying to make her friend focus. “We need you to solve this problem quickly for him.”

Scarlett stared at her friend with a quizzical smile, her words definitely having an effect on the rocker girl as her voice got huskier. “So, let me see if I understand this. You want me to jerk, blow, or even fuck your cousin so Maddie doesn’t think he’s a pervert?” She inquired. At that point, she wouldn’t even ask why Zack couldn’t jerk it off himself or why Paris was summoning her back mere moments after implying she needed to stay away from Zack because of Madison.

On his end, Zack questioned himself why it was so important for Paris that Madison didn’t feel grossed out by him. Well, the tall brunette was his friend too, it went without saying that waving his erection in front of her would be very rude, but Paris was acting like Madison was his girlfriend or a prospective one. There’s only Victoria in my mind for that, but… would it be so bad? He asked himself again before a disapproving frown twisted his features. No, it’d just be another Lisa situation, and I can’t do that to Maddie!

“It was your damn fault!” Paris almost raised her voice but remembered they couldn’t be too loud in the closed bathroom as well. “If you hadn’t seduced him, Zack wouldn’t be like that right now!”

Scarlett ignored Paris and strolled over to the only boy in the bathroom. “You heard that? Your cousin wants me to get rid of that hard cock I gave you,” she told him, a finger randomly trailing over his chest, causing Zack to gasp at the prospect. She leaned into his ear. “I’m not about to turn into a ****, so, you want that?”

Zack could feel the panic trying to take over his mind and body, but then he remembered that thanks to the very girl offering to get him off at that moment, he wasn’t a virgin anymore. That time at the Sapphire Ball had been a blast, which brought him to his Uncle Robert’s words that night, to keep calm and not let the girl realize he was panicking.

“I thought the other night was fun for you too,” Zack said after a deep breath, even managing a small grin. Paris regarded him with a surprised frown, as if she was looking at her cousin for the first time.

Scarlett laughed. “Touché. I did say I wanted an encore,” she smirked. “But we gotta be quick, so I’m gonna do something I didn’t do that night. Well, not for you, that is.”

Paris’ gray eyes widened once she saw Scarlett pushing Zack onto the toilet, and she quickly moved to get out of the bathroom, definitely unwilling to watch her cousin and close friend getting it on, however they were going to do it.

“Where are you going?” Scarlett inquired, noticing her moving friend and craning her neck back.

Paris turned around with her eyes blazing. “I don’t wanna watch… whatever you’re gonna do!”

Scarlett shrugged. “I feel you, Par, but if you leave right now, someone could be walking right outside the door and get a glimpse of what’s going here,” she explained. “What if Grace’s already here and sees this?”

Paris’ left eye twitched twice, her hands balling into fists. She was a lesbian, she didn’t want to watch a girl and a boy doing it, and even if she were straight, the guy in question was her damn cousin. Her lips trembled for a few moments and then she let out a long sigh of frustration. “Fuck you two to hell! Get on with it and be fucking quick!”

Zack felt bad about Paris being **** to stay in the room while Scarlett got him off, but the sight of the sexy blonde getting on her knees in front of him and starting to undo his jeans directed all of his attention to her. Shit, she’s so fucking sexy and confident and… oh, fuck…, his train of thought was interrupted by her wrapping her fingers around his long, thick cock. Is she gonna…? Am I getting my first blowjob?

“Fuck, I kinda forgot how big this was,” Scarlett whispered, lazily pumping it as she grinned up at him.

Zack tried to think about a clever reply, but he didn’t find anything that wouldn’t make him sound like a conceited asshole, so he let his own grin do the talking for him. Just as Scarlett was leaning into his lap, he caught sight of Paris facing the door with her arms around her upper body, and the sight of his cousin’s round ass straining against her denim shorts made his cock twitch at the same time Scarlett engulfed the tip into her mouth.

“Oooh, fuuuck!” He cursed at the barrage of new sensations. So, this is how it feels when a girl puts my cock in her mouth? Daaamn…

“Can you not be so… vocal at it?” Paris requested, her voice betraying a clearly uncomfortable tone.

“Shit, s-sorry…, Par,” Zack said, looking down at the incredibly hot sight of Scarlett’s lips wrapped around the upper half of his cock and sucking it hard as she bobbed her head up and down, her blue eyes locked on his. He let out a long groan of pleasure, not breaking the eye contact.

Scarlet pumped the base of the cock embedded in her mouth, sucking on the top half while wildly lashing her tongue at every inch she could find. She was a woman on a mission, it was important to make Zack nut fast so he could go drive Madison to the grocery store. She only lamented the fact that they wouldn’t be able to have some casual fun anymore if he ended up dating her friend.

“Fuck…,” Zack whispered, as low as he could so Paris wouldn’t feel disturbed. The sight of Scarlett’s soft lips sliding up and down on his shaft, coupled with all the ungodly sensations she was drawing from the sensitive organ was driving him insane. Now I get why every guy is crazy about blowjobs, he thought, unconsciously reaching down to tangle his fingers in the rocker girl’s blonde tresses.

She hummed, taking the cock deeper into her mouth, a couple of inches past halfway point being the farthest she was willing to take it. She had been able to deepthroat Luke and Liam after getting a bit of practice, but there was a considerable difference in size between Zack and her past lovers. Andrew was another one she hadn’t gotten to take all the way into her mouth, and Zack still had somewhat of an edge on the older boy. The thought excited her, making Scarlett suck him harder, her head bobbing faster on his lap as she earned another groan from him.

“Damn, Scarlett…,” Zack moaned, now almost guiding her head up and down on his dick. He found himself wishing that other girls could be so free of hang ups like Scarlett Soren. She simply didn’t give a shit and he really liked that on her.

Paris rested her forehead on the door, the fact that her cousin was getting a freaking blowjob just a few feet behind her troubling the blue-haired girl a great deal. She wished lesbian girls like her were able to score pussies just as easily as straight guys, but a teenage girl in a situation like hers, living in a small town, it was always bound to be difficult. The worst thing about it was that the wet, sucking noises were starting to light a fire between her legs as she wished Scarlett had her cute head buried in her crotch instead.

Holy fuck…, Paris thought, biting her bottom lip as she imagined Scarlett looking up at her as her friend’s tongue lapped at her wet pussy. Her legs squeezed together in hopes of quenching that growing arousal, and it was then that she made the mistake of stealing a quick glance behind her. Dammit! She didn’t look at her friend’s head bobbing on her cousin’s lap, her eyes zeroed into Scarlett’s firm butt encased in the ripped jeans she was wearing. Shit, what I wouldn’t give to bury my face in that fucking ass?

Zack looked at her and the cousins locked gazes for a brief second before Paris squeaked and turned back to the door as he let out another moan. Fucking hell, was she watching us? He asked himself, his mind reeling at the possibility as Scarlett relentlessly blew him.

The thought made his cock unexpectedly throb in Scarlett’s mouth, who felt it and grinned around the steel-hard shaft. Time to make you pop, Bishop, she decided and doubled her pace, now effectively fucking her face with the cock as her hand became a blur at the base.

“Shit…, Scarleeett…,” Zack groaned, his fingers clenching around a few locks of her hair as he guided the sexy girl’s head up and down on his cock. If noticing that Paris was watching them already pushed him closer to the edge, now the rocker girl’s expert sucking got on the verge of making him flood her mouth.

Paris heard all the increased wet suction noises and clenched her facial muscles. All those sounds and the earlier sight of Scarlett’s ass making the arousal unbearable for the poor blue-haired girl who didn’t even want to be there. Unconsciously, her hand made its way to the crotch of her denim shorts and just a soft touch elicited a low, purring moan from her.

“Mmmm…”

That single noise made Zack cross his eyes and roar. “Fuuuuck!!!” He pushed Scarlett’s head down and made her take another inch, his cockhead hitting the back of her throat just as his balls churned and he released her. She pulled her head back just in time for the first rope of cum to hit her across the face.

“Fuck, yes, Zack!” She grinned like a maniac, egging him on while pumping his spurting cock. “Cum hard for me! Spray me over with that cum, c’mon!”

Zack breathed heavily as his cock twitched several times, sending rope after rope of his cum in the air. Scarlett giddily directed his shaft, so the jizz didn’t land on their clothes, which meant that her arm, hand, and face got the full brunt of the cumshots. “Oh, fuck…,” he hoarsely said. “That was… intense.”

“Mmm, so much fucking cum,” Scarlett winked at him, her face streaked with sperm, which made her look even sexier than usual. “Go, I’ll clean myself up here,” she urged him. “Just beware of Grace.”

The Bishop boy groaned as he gingerly stood up to fix his pants. “Fuck, don’t remind me,” he replied, and only then noticed Paris again. His cousin was still facing the door with her arms around her upper body, causing the guilt to creep up on his thoughts again. “Par, I’m sorry.”

Paris let out another long sigh and turned back to him and Scarlett. “You all done?” She asked, noticing he was dressed up again, but her friend was at the sink rinsing off her face.

“Yeah,” Zack responded, feeling terrible for her. “We should ta…”

“Don’t sweat over it, Zack,” the blue-haired girl **** herself to say. It had been the weirdest experience of her entire life and she wasn’t feeling like talking about it. “Let’s go out, I can say you were helping me with something upstairs.”

“Alright,” he reluctantly nodded, sighing before he glanced at Scarlett, a small smile forming on his face after the new encounter with the quirky rocker girl. “Thanks, Scarlett.”

The blonde just gave him a thumbs up while washing off her face and arm, and then Paris pulled him with her, a small grin on her face at how he was acting. “C’mon, you idiot. Maddie’s probably wondering where the fuck you are.”

---

The guilt he felt at indirectly forcing Paris to go through that moment wasn’t something that could easily be forgotten, but if she didn’t want to talk about it, then Zack figured there was nothing he could do for the time being. At least Grace hadn’t arrived yet by the time he went through the living room. He pressed a button on his car key and the garage door lifted up, revealing his blue sedan.

“So, this is my car,” he pointed out.

“I know,” Madison nodded, turning to face him. “I saw you driving it to school a bunch of times.”

“Right,” he chuckled. “Guess you don’t need to fight anyone to call shotgun.”

“Lucky me,” she said with a smile, opening the passenger door and getting into the car that used to belong to Taylor Bishop.

Zack grinned and made his way around the vehicle. Madison was a fun person, he thought, figuring that he should have made a bigger effort to continue hanging out with her when she stopped being a part of their group years ago. What the fuck was that, by the way? Did her dad say she couldn’t anymore? He asked himself while opening the driver’s door; it wouldn’t surprise him one bit, considering how Brandon beat up guys at school that even talked to her for a longer period of time.

"So, what kind of music you have on this?" She asked, reaching for the panel once he entered the car and turned on the engine.

"The awesome kind," he simply answered, an enigmatic smile in place.

"Ass," Madison chuckled. "You know, I miss the mysterious, cryptic detective that used to trounce the others on all those scavenger hunts, but it doesn't mean you get to do it all the time, you know that?"

"Aww, but you’re the only one who likes it," he pretended to whine. “The others always hate me when I find something out before them.”

"You poor baby," she playfully teased, enjoying the hell out of those few minutes they had spent in his car. It definitely wasn't something she thought that was going to happen when she woke up that morning. "So, are you gonna tell me or you're gonna make me **** it out of you?“

"Well, you know what they say. Good things come to patient people, or something like that," Zack winked at her. "Or you can just press that cute green button."

“Oooh, maybe I will,” she teased as he started backing out of the garage. “It won’t make my seat like… eject me out of the car, right?”

Zack laughed at the ridiculous guess. Yes, he definitely missed hanging out with her. “No, it won’t send you flying, Maddie. I’m not James Bond, you know?” He bantered back. “Though one of those other buttons might lower your window. Kinda hot today, don’t you think so?”

“Maybe, buuut…,” Madison shook her head in a cute way. “If someone sees me in your car and tells my brother, you’re a dead man, so I think I can take a bit of heat.”

“Oh,” Zack suddenly swallowed hard. The double meaning making a drop of sweat trickle from his hair as he unconsciously raised his window to a point where just enough air entered the vehicle, so they wouldn’t get fried in there. He would probably need to turn on the air conditioner before they got downtown. “Well, glad you informed me.”

---

As they neared their destination, Zack had to smile when he glanced over at Madison. The brunette’s eyes were closed, and she had been headbanging along with the songs ever since she turned on the radio. It was incredibly cute and even kind of hot if he had to be honest.

“So, did you like what I was hiding there?” Zack asked with an amused grin.

A content smile found its way to her lips as she turned to him. “Oh, yes, old Rock is just what the doctor ordered. Always been a huge fan since my mom introduced me to it.”

“Great!” Zack’s lips curled into a wide smile of his own. “Chloe’s like the only other one who enjoys this stuff with me,” he told her. “Well, other than Taylor and Peter, that is. Oh, and my dad, of course.”

She giggled. “Scarlett’s my only friend for this, though I suspect Grace might be secretly vibing to it sometimes too,” she said, causing him to let out a brief chuckle as the image conjured itself in his head. “I caught her watching old music videos once.”

“Well, we’re here,” an amused Zack announced, pulling over to the sidewalk. The drive had been rather short, as everything in Azure Rocks was close enough due to how small the town was. “You’re gonna stay in the car, right?”

“Yeah,” Madison miserably replied, wishing she could join him. “Can’t risk stumbling into one of Brandon’s friends.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile and got out of the car in front of Bishop Tech, of all places. A two-story building made of red bricks that looked rather old from the outside, but its interior was quite modern. Zack sometimes visited his father there, and it was kind of fun whenever it happened, getting to chat with Daniel and Peter’s mother, Ciara Zander, who worked there as well.

Alone in the car with the music blaring from the radio, Madison let herself sink in the comfortable seat, her mind racing over what she could do about her crush. Hanging out with Zack again, she had all the confirmation she needed that he was still the same kind, funny guy from the first time, not mentioning the fact that he had gotten dashingly handsome and hot over the years too, she thought while biting her bottom lip.

The rookie actress knew she had to do something before another girl wised up and snatched him up under her nose again. But Brandon would kill him on Dad’s orders, she argued with herself. Maybe **** was an over exaggeration, but some beating up would certainly be involved, and she wasn’t sure if Zack would want to risk it for her. No guy would in their right minds, she guessed. Unless I give him ****.

Yes, that could work, Maddie theorized. If she jumped Zack and confronted him with her feelings while kissing the hell out of him, then he would have **** but get involved. It was a genius plan in her head, she just didn’t account for the possibility that he didn’t return her feelings. I gotta wait for the right moment! She grinned, trying to contain her excitement.

Before long, the door opened again, and Zack tossed a bag with the items in Paris’ list on the backseat before he got back into the car and smiled at his passenger. “Ice-cream?’ He inquired, offering a cup to her while holding one for himself.

Madison’s eyes widened in surprise at the rosy, delicious-looking mass offered to her. “Oh, I can’t believe you got my favorite!” She gushed, accepting it from her crush. “Thanks, but you shouldn’t have, Zack.”

Zack kept grinning and shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to. It’s so hot in this car, I thought we should cool off before we go back,” he said, digging into his own cup of strawberry ice-cream. He had decided against turning on the air conditioning, so, the idea of some refreshing ice-cream sounded attractive to him.

The smile on Madison’s face could have lit an entire room. Oh, my God, he’s so fucking dreamy! She thought, wondering if that was the right time to kiss him. “That’s so sweet, but you still haven’t told me what’s your favorite.”

He chuckled. “Well, I prefer chocolate, but they didn’t have it, the heathens.”

“Oh, poor you,” she giggled again, barely believing she was experiencing a moment with her crush that was like a date in all but name.

Zack nodded and then the two of them spent a few moments just savoring their ice-cream before he got a look of uncertainty on his face and broke the silence. “Madison, can I ask you a question?” He inquired. “It’s something I’ve been wondering for a while.”

The brunette girl felt her heartbeat quickening as her mind wildly speculated what it could be. “Shoot,” she replied, sucking on the plastic spoon in a way that made him forget about the question for a very brief moment.

“Uhn…, it’s about Lisa Rivera,” he said, looking into her pretty hazel eyes. “Why did she stop hanging out with you girls last year? Was it ‘cause I started dating her?”

Madison’s eyes widened in panic, wondering what she could tell him. The truth was out of question, she wasn’t prepared to out her crush to him by revealing she had booted Lisa out of the group herself due to the relationship. Her childhood friend knew about her feelings for the boy in front of her and went ahead with her plans, fully aware that Madison couldn’t do anything because of her brother and father.

“Was it Grace?” Zack tentatively asked after a few seconds of silence.

Thank you, Zack! She mentally celebrated and nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes, totally! You know how she’s kinda stubborn about you.”

A sigh escaped his lips at her confirmation. “I thought so. Gavin told me earlier that she almost blocked his entry on the computer club ‘cause he was friends with me.”

“Well…,” Madison fidgeted, not knowing what to say about that. “It’s like I said, Zack. Grace can be a true hard-ass about you and Heather.”

Zack nodded again and then focused on eating the rest of his ice-cream. Madison did the same in silence, there wasn’t any mood for other conversations left. Zachary wished the Smith girl wasn’t so averse to him for something that wasn’t even a part of his life. True, one could argue that he was discovering the bit of Ravers buried deep inside him after getting to know Heather and her father, but he had always been Zack Bishop, not Ravers, and that was how he intended to keep things.

“Why don’t you girls patch things up with her now?” He asked after finishing the cup. “I mean, I’m not dating her anymore and Grace and I will probably be around each other for the study group.”

Hell no! Was the answer that Madison wanted to shout, but she just cleared her throat instead. “Why? You still have feelings for her or something?”

“Oh, no,” Zack let out a nervous chuckle. “Our relationship was always bound to fail. I liked her, I promise, but I kinda had stronger feelings for another girl and Lisa realized it, so she righteously dumped me.”

Who’s the motherfucking whore?! Madison froze, her plastic spoon escaping from her fingers and falling into the empty ice-cream cup. Her hazel eyes were wide in shock and despair from what she had just heard from her crush’s own mouth. W-who’s she?! I need to know right fucking now!

“Anyways, just thought I should ask, that’s all,” he said, giving her a small, rueful smile and dumped his cup on the paper bag he used as trash in the car. “We should be heading back, or I wager Grace’s gonna have our heads.”

“Yeah,” Madison **** a smile, feeling completely miserable as he started the car and began the short drive back to the cul-de-sac. So, Zack liked another girl and that was the reason why his relationship with Lisa was so short-lived. She couldn’t begin to measure how much that knowledge destroyed her, but Madison was sure she was feeling pretty depressed at that moment, even contemplating the idea of asking him to drop her at home instead, but that would only raise questions and there was a high risk of her brother seeing it.

Does he still like this mysterious girl, though? She asked herself. It could very well make her coming clean about her own feelings useless, but on the other hand, Maddie knew that waiting around would achieve nothing as well. Urrghh! What the fuck should I do?!

“Sorry about bringing up Lisa, by the way. I should’ve guessed it was a sore subject for you and the others,” Zack said on the way to his cousin’ house.

“Don’t sweat over it,” Madison quietly replied, making an effort to not sound like she was terribly sad. “Uhn…, Zack? This girl you like, she knows about it?”

Zack briefly chuckled. “Oh, no, no, no. I’m too much of a coward to tell her,” he responded, feeling comfortable around his old friend. “I guess that, as long as I don’t tell her, I can still hope she might feel the same, as pathetic as it sounds.”

A small smile formed on the brunette’s pretty features, she could definitely relate to that. She also knew that now was the time she should come in with some advice, telling him that waiting around wasn’t a life, that he should come clean before someone snatched up the girl of his fantasies, but Madison couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was selfish of her, she acknowledged it, but she couldn’t work to benefit a potential rival, even if it could make Zack happy.

A few minutes later, Zack dropped his car at the garage in his house and the two teens hopped out of it to head back to Paris’ place. A new vehicle, a sleek, dark green car, was parked in front of it.

“Grace’s here,” Madison pointed out. “That’s her car.”

Zack winced at the certainty that he was about to meet Grace but found himself interested in the fact that she drove an electric car. Tearing his eyes away from it, Zack followed Madison into the house, stopping in his tracks when the emerald-green eyes of Grace Smith locked on his icy-blue ones.

“Great, you’re here!” A visibly relieved Paris rushed to meet them, ushering Madison with her to the kitchen.

Zack and Grace were still staring at each other, no one else daring to interrupt the moment, knowing the girl’s aversion to all things Ravers and the fact she could lash out any second now. Zack stifled the urge to sigh at the circus Grace provoked, wondering how she could be so different from her kind cousin, who shared the exact same gorgeous green eyes.

“Took your sweet time,” she was the one to finally break the silence, crossing her denim-clad legs as she sank back into the larger couch next to Alice and Jake. “But then again, the concept of respecting other people’s time probably feels strange to you Raverses.”

Zack finally let out that sigh. “Paris asked me to go get her something, as she no doubt already told you,” he fired back. The Bishop boy didn’t know why she could get under his skin with such ease like no other person could. His parents had taught him to be nothing but a perfect gentleman to women, but damn if Grace Smith didn’t push him dangerously near to breaking that code.

“You should’ve hit the store and immediately came back,” Grace irritably retorted. “Made us waste several minutes we could’ve been using for this study group thing.”

“Well, if you think it’s only a thing, you’re free to leave and occupy your time with something better,” he countered, unable to hold himself back as the stuff Madison and Gavin had told him about the blonde girl boiled over in his mind.

Grace let out a sarcastic laugh. “And leave my friends alone with a damn Ravers?” She asked while Paris and Madison came back with a bowl of cookies. “In your fracking dreams!”

“I’m Zachary BISHOP, you fucking psycho!” He lashed out, finally tired of all that bullshit. “BISHOP, not Ravers! I may be establishing contact with my cousin, but that doesn’t make me one of them! My father dropped that name before I was even born!”

Grace narrowed her eyes at his outburst and an answer was on the tip of her tongue before Paris walked over between them. “Alright, that’s enough, dammit!” The blue-haired girl demanded. “Is it too much to ask you two to act like civilized people here?”

Zack scoffed. “Ask your friend, Par,” he told her. “It’s always unprovoked,” he turned to Grace. “Tell me one time I came over and insulted you of my own volition, just one, and I leave this group forever.”

The Smith girl opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it again when she realized it had been her. The scene repeated itself a few times, and it was starting to amuse Grace’s now snickering friends, with the exception of Madison, who had her mind distracted by something else.

Scarlett was finding it so funny that she finally snorted. “Oh, my, Grace Smith rendered speechless. Quick, Jake, get your camera and record this for posterity.”

“True, we might not see it again,” Alice teased.

Grace gave her friends a **** glare and then turned back to Zachary before she rolled her eyes. “Ugh… fine! You’re just a little less of an idiot than I thought, happy?”

“Not quite,” Zack sighed as he plopped down on the chair next to Madison. “But it’ll do for now.”

“We gotta be able to work together, guys,” Alice reminded them, she definitely didn’t want her idea ruined because Grace couldn’t keep her temper in check.

“I’ll try…to behave,” Grace told her friend. Still, not only Alice, but Madison, Scarlett, and Paris knew it was only a matter of time before she exploded again.

Zack glanced at Chloe and Gavin, getting an encouraging smile from the former while noticing that the latter seemed to be even quieter than usual. Hmm, we gotta to make sure Gavin’s gonna be functional during these meetings.

Paris stood up and looked around, waiting to see if no one else was going to raise trouble. Satisfied, a smile made her lips curl up. “Alright, everyone, let’s not waste any more time and do what we came here for, okay?” She proposed, getting affirmative nods and murmurs in response.

---

A couple of hours later, Zack got back into his house and went straight to his room in the basement, dropping his school stuff on the desk and spending a few minutes with Orion. After his outburst, the study group was able to function somewhat properly, but it was clear that Grace would have to solve some internal issues to deal with his presence. Luckily, Scarlett hadn’t teased him again and Paris kept quiet about the entire bathroom event.

Getting to his feet, Zack and his cat made their way to the ground floor, where he noticed that the back door on the kitchen was opened. Curious, the young man stepped out onto the deck and saw his father sitting on a chaise, relaxing as he watched the slowly reddening sky.

“Hey, Dad,” he greeted, plopping down on another chair.

Daniel smiled at his son, reaching down to pet Orion as the cat bumped his leg. “Afternoon, son. How was the study group?”

“Good, a little agitated for my tastes, but that was kinda expected,” Zack answered.

“You’ve always been good at school, something I’m happy to claim you got from me, but don’t tell your mom that,” Daniel chuckled, earning one from his son. “Hey, I was at work earlier and saw your car parked in front of the office. Thought you were dropping by.”

“I couldn’t. Paris wanted me to get her some stuff she forgot at the store,” Zack explained as Orion got tired of Daniel and climbed into his lap. “We were in a hurry.”

“Oh, I get it,” the father grinned in amusement. “Now, I couldn’t see it properly ‘cause the windows in your car are kinda tinted, but was it Vanessa’s daughter in the car with you? Having ice-cream?”

Zack grinned back. “Yep, Madison. She had the list of things Paris wanted from the store,” he explained and then his eyes widened when his father’s grin got wider. “Oh, no, no, no, it’s not like that, Dad. We’re just friends.”

“Aww, would’ve been nice,” Daniel teased. Being childhood friends with Vanessa, he thought it would be pretty cool if Zack and Madison got together, much like Monica hoped for their son and Chloe, or Damon’s youngest daughter, or even Madison herself. He would never put any pressure on Zack for that, though, Daniel believed love was the kind of thing that could never be ****, it had to happen naturally.

Zachary spent a few moments in silence, just running his fingers through Orion’s black fur. As he thought earlier, Madison was fun, gorgeous, and could be a great girlfriend to some lucky guy out there, but his dreams already had an owner, Victoria Walker. Just like he told Madison, though, hope was all he had until courage appeared. The first meeting at the Speedy Scout had been a total bust, as none of his conversations with the beautiful blonde progressed, and Vicky seemed to be oblivious to everything else when she was in that office.

“Dad?” He finally called out to his father, making Daniel turn his attention back to him. “I know you and Mom were tight friends before you started dating, but how was it for you? I mean, how did you get that courage to risk it all and talk about your feelings?”

“Now that’s a good question,” Daniel smiled at his son and briefly scratched his chin. He knew that Zack had feelings for someone, as he had caught the boy plenty of times staring at a random point in the ceiling or the sky, completely oblivious to his surroundings, just like his old friends Theodore and Mason caught him back in their high school days. “You’ve got to be on the lookout for the signs they give you, Zack. Now, your mom didn’t make it easy and gave me plenty, but as you no doubt know, it’s hard to say for sure at a time like this. What if you’re misreading everything?”

“Yeah,” Zack slowly nodded. He hadn’t reached that stage yet, as Victoria hadn’t given him any signal, or none that he was able to read, at least.

“Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore and went all out. I think Monica told you and Taylor this story already,” Daniel grinned and Zack nodded, the young man thought it had been the most awesome thing he had ever heard. “I’ve rented that horse and rode it into the school at lunchtime. Monica looked mortified when I approached our usual table at the cafeteria, but her whole face lit up when I came clean and asked if she wanted to ride into the sunset with me.”

Zack let out a chuckle. “Dad, I don’t think anyone will ever top that, trust me.”

“Oh, you never know, son,” Daniel winked at him. “Someone might come up with a better idea.”

The younger Bishop nodded, thinking it was impossible. “What about that other girlfriend you had when you and mom were split up?”

“Alexis Stewart,” Daniel said, grimacing at the memories. “She was a friend of ours, there’s not much to tell. A few months without Monica and I was pretty much at the end of my rope, so Alexis kissed me out of the blue after school one day. I admit things got a bit happier for a while, but I knew very soon it wasn’t gonna end well.”

“Mom made too much of an impression?” Zack grinned. He loved to hear about his parents’ love for each other, hoping that he would get to experience it for himself someday.

“Exactly,” Daniel laughed and then turned to the same sunset he had taken Monica years ago. “Don’t worry about rushing it, Zack. Someday, when it’s time, it’s gonna be you and your special lady.”

“I hope so, Dad. I hope so,” Zack whispered, gazing at the beautiful sunset as his fingers ran through the fur on Orion’s head, the cat purring in happiness.

Father, son, and cat lost track of time admiring the natural sight, and it was only several minutes later that Daniel turned back to Zachary. “Oh, yeah, we’re gonna have to fend for ourselves with dinner tonight,” he said, slowly standing up as he stretched his limbs. “One of your mother’s patients went into labor earlier and she’s gonna be taking care of everything.”

“Oh, okay,” Zack smiled as he got up to follow his father back inside with Orion in tow. “I’ll help.”

---

It was lunchtime the next day and Ashley was taking the scenic route back from the library when she stumbled into a rather odd sight. The running back of the football team, Scott Coburn, was sitting by himself on a bench in the courtyard. Raising a curious eyebrow, the cheerleader took a detour and walked over to the brown-haired boy.

"Scott?“ She asked and he turned his compassionate, calm gray eyes in her direction. She always liked talking to him as he was the most polite boy on the team. "Something wrong? You're here all by yourself."

“Well, Trent and Russell were acting up again, planning on going after the basketball guys,” her boyfriend’s teammate softly replied. He took a quick look at his friend’s girlfriend, she was wearing a light blue top with a snug pair of jeans that highlighted every inch of her fit, cheerleader body. Although, one would often argue that Ashley Woodsen’s best feature was the cute, caring expression she always wore on her face.

“Oh, I see,” she bit her bottom lip as a possibility crossed her mind. “Was Brandon involved in it, perhaps?”

Scott gave her a rueful smile. “Uhn…, I’d rather not say.”

She sighed in response. “You don’t need to cover up for Brandon, Scott,” she told him. Ashley had tried to convince her boyfriend quite a few times already to not get involved in the childish rivalry between the football and basketball teams, which always had new chapters initiated by players of the former group. But he listens to me? No, he prefers pretending he never grew up!

“I’m sorry, Ash.”

“What are you sorry for?” Ashley inquired, frowning at the boy. “Brandon’s the one who should grow up, not you.”

“I suppose,” Scott replied, unsure of what he should or even could say at that moment.

Ashley smiled at him. Scott was always so sweet and polite, not to mention cute, that it was a wonder she had never seen him with a girlfriend. Girls should be tripping over themselves to get at him, she thought. But then again, despite being a football player, he always acted so shy and reserved that he simply didn’t enter most girls’ radars. Maybe it’s time for me to get a handle on the situation, she grinned. It was stronger than herself, it was hard for her to idly sit by and not try to find him a girlfriend.

Ever since her middle school days, Ashley enjoyed analyzing her friends to see which ones would be compatible to each other in a potential relationship. When she got to high school, that habit evolved to full-on matchmaking, even if it took her longer to have her own first kiss.

“Okay, Scott, listen to me,” she told him in a serious tone. “This is the last time I’ll see you mope around like this, got it?”

“Ashley?” The soft-spoken boy raised a surprised eyebrow and turned to face the petite blonde. What’s she talking about?

She grinned at him. “You can’t let the other boys get you down like this, so, starting next week, I’m gonna find you a girlfriend,” she rambled, excitedly gesticulating. “Okay? Buckle up, mister!”

Scott choked on his own spit, not expecting that sudden plot twist. “What?! Ashley, no! You d-don’t…,” he stammered. “You shouldn’t worry about me.”

“It’ll be okay, Scott,” she smiled reassuringly at the running back. “My success rate is pretty high, just ask around school.”

Scott opened his mouth to reply, but just let out a sigh instead. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a girlfriend, he did, but aside from the fact that all of them intimidated him on different levels, he was always worried that any eventual girlfriend wouldn’t hold a candle to the one girl he really wanted in his life.

“I suppose I won’t talk you out of it, huh?” He finally inquired, accepting that it would never be possible to get his crush.

Ashley just shook her head negatively, the grin still firmly in place. She already had the perfect candidate in mind, along with a possible Plan B. “Nope!” She told him, popping out the last syllable as she got up from the bench. “I’ll go look for Heather and Vicky now, but fear not, Scotty. I’ve got your back.”

That said, the blonde cheerleader skipped away, happy that she had found another matchmaking case. It was in that mental state that Heather found her best friend as she left the main building.

“Oh, here you were,” the hot brunette told her. “Vicky’s locked herself up in the Scout’s office and I haven’t seen Sharon at all,” she chuckled. “Thought you all had suddenly decided to abandon me or something.”

“Never,” Ashley said, falling into step with her friend as they headed back to the school. “I’m just happy I found a new project.”

Heather had been around Ashley long enough to know what she meant by ‘project’. “Oh, my gosh, Ash! Who’s the poor soul?”

Ashley playfully narrowed her eyes. “Just for that slight, you’re gonna have to wait and find out along with everyone else,” she said before slowing her steps until she came to a halt in the main hallway of the school. “Oh, God, talking about projects made me realize I totally forgot about the fundraiser! We gotta start tossing some ideas around, Heather.”

A big, mysterious grin formed on Heather’s gorgeous face. “Oh, don’t worry about that, I got it covered.”

“Oh, you had an idea, then?” The blonde excitedly smiled, eager to know all the details. “What is it?”

Heather giggled. “Well, you just gonna have to wait and find out along with everyone else.”

Ashley pouted as her cryptic friend continued walking. “Dammit, Heather, tell me!”

Another laugh escaped the brunette’s mouth before she spotted a boy she was looking for as well, a focused look on his face as he closed his locker. “Hey, stranger!”

Zack looked up at the sound of his cousin’s voice and gave them a small, surprised smile when he found Heather and Ashley walking in his direction. “Oh, hey, Heather,” he gave her a brief wave. “Hi, Ash.”

“Hey, Zack!” The blonde returned the greeting with a smile. “How’s it going?”

It was Heather who continued the conversation before he could answer the question, though. “You didn’t talk to me anymore,” she pointed out with an amused grin. “I told you not to be a stranger, dammit,” she told him. “We can’t get to know each other if we don’t chat every now and then.”

Zack let out a chuckle, instinctively reaching up to scratch the back of his head. “Oh, sorry, Heather,” he told his cousin. “I just had a busy week, that’s all. The Scout is short on members, so we’re working double.”

Heather grimaced. “Yeah, Vicky’s been acting kinda cranky for it too.”

Zack nodded, wishing he could find a way of making things better for Victoria. The other reason why his week had felt a little suffocating was the study group’s first meeting, but he figured it wouldn’t be wise to tell the two girls about it, as new reasons to provoke Grace’s wrath was the last thing he wanted.

“We can sit together at the cafeteria if it’s cool by you,” Zack tentatively proposed, unsure about his cousin’s reaction. “My usual table mates all abandoned me today.”

“Oh, poor Zacky,” Heather teased before she turned to Ashley. “What do you think, Ash? I suppose we can take a stray cub with us to our table.”

“If we’re talking about THIS cub, definitely,” Ashley nodded with a happy grin.

“Well, lead the way, then,” Zack pretended to bow at his cousin, who playfully rolled her eyes and led the other two to the cafeteria. She just hoped Sharon wouldn’t be an ass about it if she was hanging out at their table.

---

Nearby, in another corridor, Harrison and Sharon advanced briskly in search of an empty bathroom or even a storage room to sate the growing horniness within their bodies. They had been chatting with Duncan and Naomi at a table in the cafeteria when Harry felt Sharon’s nimble foot snaking up his leg. He tried to keep up his practiced straight face while responding Duncan’s annoying questions about the election to Student President, but it was hard not to remember the multiple sex sessions he had shared with the vice-captain of the Moon Maidens at the Sapphire Ball.

The other thing currently hard was his cock when he finally felt the redhead’s toes on it. Deciding that she needed to be reminded who was in charge, he abruptly stood up during one of Duncan’s rants and asked for Sharon’s help in picking up a book from the library. A pathetic excuse, he knew that, going from the cheerleader’s almost nonexistent interest in studies, but Duncan was so entrenched in his plans for the election that Harry was sure his friend barely noticed them leaving, and as for Naomi, well, she had insisted more than once for him to nail her friend a few times.

“I can’t believe Duncan was so oblivious,” Sharon chuckled as they continued the search, the sexual tension guiding the duo through the corridors.

Harry snickered, his eyes on her round ass straining against the jeans that looked like it had been painted on her toned legs. “I swear, if that guy could bend his campaign over a table and fuck it hard, he would.”

Sharon laughed but bit her bottom lip as she recalled how well Harrison Cullen had fucked her the previous Saturday. Multiple times, even. It definitely had been worth waiting for his impressive cock and now she wanted to try it again.

“Fuck,” Harry grunted when she reached over and cupped his erection. “Can’t wait to get a piece of it, huh?” He smirked, his own hand snaking around her body to squeeze her firm ass. “You’re so slutty that you want me to rail you right here against these lockers, aren’t you?”

The ginger gasped at the picture, her pussy gushing juices and drenching her panties. “Oh, fuck, yes, Harry,” she whispered hotly. “Fuck me right here and show those losers how it’s done.”

None of them would actually go through with it, but it was fun to fantasize, and it made the pair even more eager to find a secluded spot. Still, in a split-second decision, Harry decided to push the cheerleader against a locker and kiss her savagely. Sharon kissed him back immediately, their lips parting so the tongues could begin a fierce duel in her mouth.

It was risky, as both of them had a reputation to uphold, after all. However, it was that moment of uncontrollable desire that caused the mean teenagers to get caught. A sudden squeak alerted them to a third person walking into that corridor and they broke the kiss as soon as the annoying noise reached their ears.

“Uhn… I-I’m sorry!” The meek freshman boy tried to apologize, but it was too late, he had been caught.

An evil grin crept up Sharon’s soft lips, the same one many underclassmen had faced several times over her high school career and came to fear. “Come with me, this will be fun,” she whispered to Harry, who raised a confused eyebrow and followed her.

“I…I didn’t s-see any…anything, I s-swear!” The scared boy stammered, backing off as the two seniors approached him, but he soon ran out of floor as his back hit a locker.

“Aww, but there’s nothing you could’ve seen,” Sharon drawled. “Of course, no one cares about what nobodies have to say.”

Harry watched how the freshman cowered under Sharon’s confident attitude, and for some reason, he found the redhead even sexier than before. Knowing who she was and how high she was in the school’s pecking order was incredibly attractive to him.

“Isn’t that right, Harry?” Sharon snapped him out of his musings with that question. “Tell him.”

“What?” He returned the question, unsure of what she was talking about.

“Tell him what happens to smartasses who think they can bite more that they can chew,” the redhead told him.

“But I promised I wouldn’t say anything!” The boy pleaded, nearly in tears.

“Oh, better yet, show him,” Sharon egged on.

Harrison looked between the two with an uncertain expression on his handsome face. Sure, he believed in hierarchy between the students of Azure Rocks High, had been guilty of barking a few rude answers to silly questions every now and then, but he had never actively bullied someone before.

“C’mon, do it, it’ll be so fucking hot,” Sharon insisted, her dark green eyes blazing with desire.

It was then that a smug smirk appeared on the Cullen boy’s face. If doing that meant that he would get to see even more of that extremely sexy Sharon, and even better, sample all the delights her body had to offer, then he figured that treading deeper into the dark side was worth it. Yes, he knew it was the dark side, but Harry simply didn’t care.

His gaze caught sight of a trash can near them, making the smirk gain evil contours around his lips. “Well, the cheerleader is always right, you’ll do well to remember it from now on,” he grasped the boy’s shoulders roughly. “But for now, you’ll be right at home where your opinions belong.”

The freshman then squeaked louder as Harry lifted him up and threw him ass first on the trash can, instantly getting the boy stuck in there. “Please! I won’t say anything! Get me out of here!”

“You heard anything?” Sharon asked in a husky voice, incredibly turned on at what she had just witnessed.

“You mean the breeze outside?” Harry had time to ask before the redhead pulled him into another hungry, lustful kiss, their hands feeling up each other’s bodies right in front of the bullied boy’s wide eyes.

---

Later, after classes had already ended, Zack found himself in the Speedy Scout’s office for a meeting with Victoria, Alice, and Jake. The chief editor was feeling kind of miserable once again, as no one else had volunteered to join the paper and help the four of them. It pained Zack to see her that way, but he wasn’t sure what he could do to help, as the people who were close friends to him had no interest in school newspapers. It also had the unpleasant effect of making it difficult to engage the beautiful blonde in conversations.

After a couple of hours discussing and writing articles, a disheartened Victoria sighed and decided to start talking about future editions. “Alright, that’s enough for today, we have plenty of material for the next edition,” she told them. “As for what we can look forward to, I think we should touch on Homecoming next week.”

“Yeah, it’s in two weeks already,” Alice nodded. “I can set up some interviews with the football players. Jake will help me.”

The basketball player ruefully smiled at that. “Well, someone’s gotta protect you from those trolls.”

“Love you too,” the brunette winked at her boyfriend, reaching over to briefly squeeze his hand, and affectionate gesture that brought a genuine smile to his face.

“Not all of them are trolls, you know?” Victoria asked with a chuckle. After Ashley started dating Brandon, she had hung out with a few members of the football team by proxy and could tell that most of them weren’t the demons that the basketball team thought. Just like said basketball team wasn’t made up entirely by saints.

“Enough of them are,” Jake said, a bit distracted by his thumb making circles on the palm of Alice’s left hand.

“What about the fundraiser?” Zack asked, honestly tired of all the rivalry between the two sports teams in the school. “You said we were gonna write up an article to encourage people to come up with ideas.”

“Well, Heather apparently got it covered,” Vicky replied, but was pleased that he had remembered one of her article ideas.

“Oh?” Zack raised a surprised eyebrow. His cousin hadn’t mentioned it to him when he joined their table at lunch. Maybe that’s what Ashley kept insisting for Heather to tell her.

“What is it?” Alice curiously inquired.

Victoria let out an ironic chuckle and joined her hands on the top of the table, twinning her fingers. “I don’t know. In true Heather-fashion, she only said ‘trust me’,” she tried to mimic her old friend, to the amusement of the other three. “We’re going to know soon enough if Mr. Hartburn approves it.”

“You don’t sound so confident,” Alice grinned, twirling a pencil in her free hand.

The green-eyed blonde only shrugged in response. “Well, knowing Heather, she might have just suggested to revive the bikini car wash event or something equally outrageous.”

Jake raised an eyebrow, his mind unwittingly conjuring images of Alice in a skimpy black bikini, her body drenched with soap as she rubbed herself all over a car. Fuck, he shook his head to try and get rid of it before his dick decided to harden at the incredibly sexy fantasy.

Zachary, whose brain tried to give him images of Victoria doing the same, coughed twice to try and push it away, only for his traitorous mind to replace it with Madison’s long, toned body in a blue bikini, leaning back over the hood of his car as a topless Scarlett wearing a sexy white thong squirted soap all over her friend with a sponge. The fuck was that?! He demanded of his brain as his cock violently twitched down south.

Victoria sighed again and gave her fellow Scout workers a small, resigned smile. “I guess it’s all for today, guys,” she admitted. “Unless one of you wants to bring up something else we can do.”

Zack felt heartbroken for her, it was visible that running the paper with only four members was taking a toll on her initial enthusiasm. He wanted to talk to her, tell her that everything was going to be okay in the end, but he had no means of guaranteeing that. It could very well happen that no one else would want to join, and raising her hopes only for it to be dashed again with time, it seemed even crueler to him.

Resigned, Zachary began packing up his stuff when Jake sidled up to him. “Hey, Zack. So, me and the other guys from the team will shoot some hoops at that court near the mall in an hour or so,” he told the blue-eyed boy. “I was wondering if you wanted to join us. I know you won’t try out again this year, but you’re a pretty good shooter and I thought it’d be fun.”

Zack stared at the other boy with mild surprise on his face. He hadn’t thought about hanging out with the basketball team again, but it could be nice as a way of blowing off some steam. “You know what, it might be fun,” he scratched his chin in a contemplative gesture. “Who’s gonna be there?”

“Me for starters,” Alice said, interrupting her boyfriend’s answer. “I like sports and Jake,” she simply added as an explanation, causing him to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“And I love when you watch me play,” Jake kissed her on the cheek before he turned back to the dark-haired boy. “Well, I think everyone’s gonna be there. Clark reached out to Kevin and asked us to help train Ralph Griffin,” he explained. “You’re his neighbor, is he any good?”

Zack hesitated at the knowledge that his cousin was going to be present, but it wasn’t that much of a big deal. “Well, I’ve never seen him play, but you know how Clark takes basketball seriously. If he says Ralph is good, then he is,” he answered and then let out a brief sigh, followed by a smile. “I’ll be there.”

“You know, maybe I can hit up the girls and see if they wanna hang out too,” Alice proposed. “Hmmm, Scarlett will be at the store and Maddie’s probably leaving cheer practice right now,” she mused. “Well, I’ll just gonna fire a message to all of them. Whoever shows up, it’s good.”

“You should ask Gavin and Chloe too,” Jake suggested to Zack.

Zack grimaced. “Chloe always gets pretty pooped after soccer practice, she’ll probably be a ‘no’,” he explained. “As for Gavin, well, wish me luck.”

“You wanna come too, Vicky?” Alice turned to her friend, who was still in the process of gathering up her stuff to go home.

“Thanks, Alice,” the beautiful blonde gave the other girl a small smile in response. “But I’ll need to take a raincheck. Got a pile of homework to do when I get home.”

“Oh, okay. Next time, then,” the brunette nodded, biting her bottom lip. It worried her because she had never seen Victoria looking so stressed out like that.

“Alright, you all,” Jake said, giving Zachary two taps on the back. “See you there, Zack.”

“See you,” the Bishop boy nodded and then followed the couple out of the office, not before throwing one last look at his exhausted crush, his chest tightening up when he realized there was nothing he could do to help.

---

Carrying a few pairs of eyes with it, the orange ball completed a graceful arc in the air before smoothly sailing down the basket, with barely any disturbance to the net. The two boys working with the shooter cheered loudly on the perfect scoring, the reddish sky decorating a pleasant afternoon for them.

“Damn, Zack. Looks like your shooting got even better,” Kevin Jackson grinned at his friend. “Sure you don’t wanna try out a final time?”

“Hey, no poaching from the paper,” Jake laughed as he picked up the ball.

“I sympathize with Victoria, but with a shoot like this, it’d be a waste if Zack didn’t join the team,” Kevin said, circling his teammate as he prowled the painted area with the ball. “Besides, what’s she gonna do when our official practices start and you get unavailable?”

Jake attempted to dribble past Kevin, but the small forward took advantage of his distraction and stole the ball. “My role in the paper was always supposed to be limited to photographer. I help where I can, but Victoria knows I won’t always be there,” he explained before turning to his girlfriend sitting on a bench at the sidelines. “Isn’t that right, babe?”

“Listen to him, Kevin!” Alice responded with a smile on her face, giving her boyfriend a thumbs up.

“Well, I’ve got no intentions of ditching the paper, anyway,” Zack said as Kevin, instead of shooting, passed the ball to him at the last second. “The team boat already sailed for me.”

The Bishop boy then attempted another shoot, a three-pointer that time, and it bounced on the rim twice before slowly falling in, a move that had Kevin cheering. “See? Told you!”

Zack let out a chuckle and then looked around the court as Kevin and Jake squared off against each other. Chloe and Gavin had been a no, so Paris was the only one from his camp sitting next to Alice on the bench. The rookie reporter claimed her own friends were all possibilities at the moment, with the exception of Scarlett, who had to work. On the other side of the court, Clark was working with Ralph in the company of Liam Watson, Troy Carter, Paul Martinez, and Cyrus Adams, the only sophomore on the team. He still had to try out to be officially in, but since he was the coach’s son and a damn good player, no one thought there was a chance he could be rejected.

Cyrus was Ashley and Hannah’s cousin as well, but Zack had never had much contact with the boy. Josh and Holly always claimed he was a bit of a jerk, but Zachary was yet to see that kind of attitude from him.

Sweat dripping down his forehead like a waterfall, Zack took a deep breath, a bit out of stamina after neglecting his physical activities for almost a year. Disheartened after failing the try outs for the team the previous year, he only kept up with the daily jogs that Chloe and Taylor insisted he maintained for health reasons.

“Alright, guys, I’m gonna take five. Not used to all this running around,” he chuckled before nodding at the two boys and jogging toward the bench.

“I’m gonna take a breath too,” Jake said and followed the blue-eyed boy.

“Suit yourselves,” Kevin laughed and then went over to help Clark with the exercises he had been trying to drill into Ralph.

Clark noticed his most capable teammate joining and nodded at him before his gaze shifted over to Zack sitting on the bench. He had been impressed by his second cousin’s accurate shooting from the few looks he threw at the other side of the court. It had been a surprise because he had caught a cold the previous year when Zack tried out and missed the whole thing, but since Zack hadn’t been any good at all in the try outs the year before last, he didn’t ask around to learn what had happened.

Shooting like this, why the hell did he fail? The older Bishop boy wondered as he observed Zachary with his little sister.

Meanwhile, Zack had just plopped down on the bench, getting a playful frown from Paris, who was wearing a dark blue top and jeans. “Eew, you’re stinking already,” the blue-haired girl jested while Jake sat next to Alice, but had the decency of not putting a sweaty arm around her.

“Sorry, Par. Might come as a shock to you, but we can’t do physical activities without sweating,” he teased back.

She rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. “I know, jackass. Remember I go with you on your runs sometimes?”

Zachary nodded and looked around the court again, he had never played in there, but it was a very nice spot. Its floor was made of concrete, and it was surrounded by a tall iron fence to prevent balls from straying too far. It had been built in a recreative area near the Steeltown Mall.

“So, Zack, how does it feel to be back in a court?” Alice inquired, smiling at her new friend.

He returned the smile, thinking that Jake was a very lucky guy, as Alice certainly was quite the pretty girl with her styled shortish hair. She was wearing a black top with denim shorts that showed off her toned legs. “It’s great, actually. Don’t get me wrong, I love basketball, but I really don’t wanna leave the Scout to risk another failure,” he explained. “We’re understaffed as it is, already.”

His mind took him back to the junior year try-out and why he had failed at the time. It had happened right around the time he saw Victoria starting to hang out with Dustin Lewis, so he wasn’t able to properly focus on anything in fears that he was losing his crush to someone else. Those concerns were justified a few months later when Vicky and Dustin began dating, but by then, the try-outs were long gone, and he wasn’t a part of the team.

“Yeah, if we don’t get more members soon…, well, let’s just say that one of us leaving isn’t something Vicky would take lightly,” the brunette told him. She thought that a guy like Zack would be perfect for Victoria to get over Dustin, but aside from making sure they spent time together at the paper, she had no idea what else she could do in terms of matchmaking. I’m no Ashley Woodsen, she thought with a grin. Even for girls out of the cheerleader clique, Ashley’s penchant for matchmaking was well known around the school.

Jake chuckled. “But seriously, it’ll be really cool to have another guy around when I hang out with those chicks here,” he said, high-fiving the other boy and bringing another smile to his girlfriend’s face.

Zack smiled. “Yeah,” he looked down at his feet and some thoughts that very rarely swam up to the surface of his mind emerged once more. The hard, undeniable truth was that, aside from Gavin, he had no true male friends, and due to Gavin’s extremely quiet and reserved personality, Zack guiltily wondered what it was like to have other guys as friends. The mental conflict was so much for the young man that it suddenly brought tears to his eyes.

“Oh, Zack, what’s wrong?” Paris was the first to notice her cousin’s soft sobbing and instinctively wrapped her arms around him as Jake and Alice looked on with concern. Even Clark raised a worried eyebrow when he caught sight of it from afar, but he kept playing with the other boys.

“Was it something I said?” Jake asked.

“No,” Zack got himself under control a little better and wiped his eyes. “It’s just, I’ve always been better making friends with girls, so much that the only guy I’m friends with is Gavin, but he’s getting so difficult to connect with, and after Peter went off to Green Hills, I’m always thinking I’m alone and wishing I could have more friends, you know, to talk about normal guy stuff,” he admitted before a few more fresh tears escaped. “But whenever I think like that, I feel guilty as fuck ‘cause I think I’m giving up on Gavin and I don’t want that…”

Paris hugged her cousin tighter as Alice and Jake stared in surprise at the sincerity emanating from the blue-eyed boy and his words. “Zack, you know Gavin will never think you’re giving up on him, you’re like brothers,” the blue-haired girl attempted to soothe him, his face buried in her shoulder. “But…, life happens. Sometimes people don’t get as tight as they were before for any reason. Just look at you and Ashley, you two drifted away, but would you say she’s not your friend anymore?”

Zachary took a deep breath and pulled away from the hug, giving his cousin a grateful smile for being there for him. “You know I’d never say that.”

“Zack, bro, you don’t have to feel alone again, ever,” Jake affirmed with honesty in his tone. “You can hang out with me and Kevin whenever you want, hell, he’s always talking about how cool you are. Even if you’re not on the team, we’re buddies, man.”

Zack let out an emotional chuckle as Alice gave her boyfriend an approving smile. She then wiped a tear from her own eye. “I think this study group idea might be the best one I’ve ever had,” she said, thinking about all the new opportunities for making friends that people from both cliques would get from it, which made her wonder if extending the invitation to a few other players from the basketball team wouldn’t make it even better.

“Oh, totally,” Paris agreed with a grin. “Speaking of that, the others should’ve been here already.”

Alice laughed. “Well, Maddie said she’s coming as soon as she showers after cheer practice, though she might end up having to ditch her brother, so who knows?” She explained, causing her friend to laugh. “Grace said she might come and Scarlett’s at Stereo Land, she won’t be able to.”

“Wait a sec,” Zack raised a curious eyebrow. “Scarlett works at Stereo Land?”

“Yeah, why?” Alice replied, turning to him.

Zack was the one to laugh this time. “Damn, what a small world,” he said. “The owner of Stereo Land is one of my uncle’s best friends.”

Jake chuckled and pointed at the other side of the court where the other boys were playing. “He’s also Liam’s uncle, who had a quick little fling with Scarlett last year.”

“What the fuck?” Paris giggled at all the coincidences. “What’s this town? A TV show or something?”

“Scarlett Soren…,” Zack said it slowly before he turned to Alice. “Out of curiosity, does Scarlett have a relative called Vivian?”

Alice raised a surprised eyebrow. “It’s her aunt, actually. Her dad’s younger sister,” she answered as a smile formed on her lips. “You won’t tell me Vivian is friends with your uncle too, will you?”

Zack’s laugh got louder and deeper. “Oh, I will, and I’ll raise you one on that. They freaking dated a few years ago!”

“No way!” Alice let out an amused chuckle, her mouth agape for a moment at the new information.

Zack snickered. “If that isn’t enough, their other friends are Ashley’s aunt and our History teacher,” he told them. “So, yeah…, small town.”

“Huh,” Alice said, the gears in her mind spinning faster as they did whenever an idea took shape in her inquisitive young mind. “I wonder how intertwined the families actually are in Azure Rocks. Maybe we should do an article on family trees, or just a fun senior year project about it, I don’t know.” She might have never met her father, but that didn’t stop her from being curious about her friends’ origins.

“That’d be pretty fun, actually,” Paris piped in, agreeing as Jake also nodded next to his girlfriend, though both of them wondered if her home situation was the reason why Alice came up with that idea.

“Yeah, maybe,” Zack muttered, briefly scratching his chin. He just knew his family tree would involve a lot of old families from Azure Rocks. Just in recent times, there were Bishops, Raverses, and Campbells, and it made him wonder what else he could find by digging deeper.

Alice smiled at the other three. “Well, let’s not commit to anything yet. We’re already short on time as it is,” she said, letting out a laugh. Zack had never hung out with the brunette reporter much before that week, but he could see how the study group idea had come from her. Besides her sweet and friendly personality, there was a quick, sharp mind behind it.

She and Vicky are perfect for running the Scout, he thought.

“Speaking of time,” Jake stood up with a grin. “It’s time for us to get on with it, Zack.”

Zachary groaned in response. “Do we have to?” He inquired in a soft whining tone, causing Paris and Alice to giggle.

“Yep, friends look out for each other,” Jake replied, extending a hand and helping the other boy stand up from the bench.

As soon as Zack was up, though, the iron door to the basketball court opened and a smiling Madison stepped in, followed by a grumpy-looking Grace. She looked beautiful in a white blouse and jeans, while Grace looked rather cute in a green t-shirt and a black skirt.

“Hi, everyone!” Madison happily waved at her friends.

Zack couldn’t help the big smile that broke out on his face at the sight of the pretty brunette’s arrival. He waved back at her when her hazel, greenish eyes connected with his icy-blue ones, her own grin becoming wider at that moment as well.

---

“Why am I fracking doing this again?” Grace complained as she held up her phone in the direction of the court, where the nine boys had organized a full game of basketball of five against four, making sure, of course, that Kevin and Clark were in different teams.

”Cause you’re the only one who doesn’t wanna watch the game, for whatever reason!” Scarlett Soren’s voice came from the phone to answer her question. When Alice let her know what they were doing in a text, Scarlett demanded that someone pointed their phone at the game so she could entertain herself from a slow day at the record store.

The green-eyed blonde rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed huff, but didn’t turn her screen away from the court. “Don’t you have to… what’s it called? Oh, yeah, work?”

”Just watch the game, Gracie, maybe you’ll find something fun to look at,” Scarlett retorted and Grace could practically hear her friend’s smirk. ”Even Paris is watching.”

“I’m watching the orange ball, nothing more, nothing less!” The blue-haired girl fired back from the other side of the bench.

“Don’t look at me, I have a boyfriend,” Alice raised up her hands in mock surrender before she got an amused smile on her face. “Maddie’s the one who’s not even blinking.”

Scarlett let out a barking laugh. ”That’s cause she knows that sweet dreams are made of these!” She pointed to her own screen all the way at the store, where she was watching all the action unfolding on the court through Grace’s phone.

“Shhh! Let me concentrate!” Madison shushed and whispered at her friends, her hazel eyes locked on Zack’s shirtless chest as he passed the ball to Kevin, who jumped and dunked it on the basket.

The boys decided to have one team playing in shirts and the others had to be shirtless. Zack, Kevin, Troy, Liam, and Ralph were in the shirtless team, while Clark, Jake, Cyrus, and Paul were playing in shirts.

For a girl who had been pretty much forbidden from hanging out with boys ever since she started growing up, Madison couldn’t help but let her gaze rake over the five bare torsos on display, not just Zack’s, much for her own chagrin. Her crush’s lean muscles looked just as mouthwatering as she expected, but so did Ralph and Liam’s similar builds, and Kevin and Troy’s larger frames with buffed up muscles were just incredible, she thought with a light bite on her bottom lip. That wasn’t even mentioning the guys playing in shirts, like Paris’ brother, for example. Cyrus was handsome, but still a bit young.

”Christ, Maddie, shut the dam on that drool, will you?” Scarlett snickered when Grace pointed the screen at their dark-haired friend. ”I know those hunks are yummy as fuck, but damn, control yourself, girl,” she warned in a jesting tone, causing Madison to reach a hand to her chin in panic and glare at Grace’s phone when her fingers didn’t find any drool.

“Frack, Scarlett, don’t be so crass,” Grace whispered in annoyance, quickly turning the screen to her own face to show her disgust at her friend.

”I promise not to be if you turn me back to the court,” Scarlett replied with a cute smile, causing the Smith girl to roll her eyes again and do as her friend requested.

“Ignore her, you know how Scarlett gets when she’s bored,” Alice whispered to the blonde.

“I know, I just don’t like being used as a fracking tripod!” Grace shot back, the volume of her own voice lowering into a whisper as well so the others didn’t hear their conversation.

“Well, you could watch the game too,” Alice suggested with a smile. “It’s cool. Before you know it, you won’t even notice you’re holding up the phone.”

“Hey, Smith!” Paul called out to her a moment after Clark sank a three-pointer. “Filming us so you can watch later?”

Able to hear Scarlett’s laughter from her phone, Grace just flipped him the middle finger before she gave Alice a pointed look. “You were saying?”

The green-eyed brunette just let out an amused chuckle. “Don’t mind Martinez, he’s all talk,” she said, her gaze finding Jake and smiling back when he caught it with his. “Hmm, perhaps we should find you someone to focus too?”

Grace snorted at that. “Yeah, right,” she replied and then turned to the court just in time to watch as Zack flexed his entire body to attempt a jump shot. Her eyes unexpectedly raked over his sweaty torso and the way the muscles on his arm flexed as he threw the ball toward the basket. Her tongue unwittingly licked her plump upper lip as she followed the ball’s trajectory, finding herself hoping deep down that it hit its intended target.

“Ahaaa!!! Great one, Zack!” Kevin’s enthusiastic praise was the noise that broke her focus, making her notice that Zachary had indeed scored from the shot.

Scowling, she pretended to hit her forehead. The frack are you doing ogling Ravers, you idiot?! She angrily demanded of herself. Sure, he probably was the best-looking guy on that court, but she just didn’t do that. Not to guys she knew, at least. Point is, he’s a damn Ravers!

No, he’s not. Remember when he so eloquently shot you down at Paris’ place? Her traitorous mind tried to remind the blonde.

Stop trying to confuse me, dammit!!!

---

After playing for close to an hour, the boys decided to call it a day and most of them went to drink some water from a tap that had been installed near the court. It used clean water and served both the basketball court and the nearby skate park. A few of them had already drank some, and when Zack was about to get in the queue, he noticed that Troy and Paul were chatting in hushed tones as Ralph waited behind them, and the subject of their conversation made him hang back several steps.

“Damn, man,” Paul, a Hispanic boy with short black hair and dark brown eyes, started. “We should always let Jake bring his girl to our games, see the quality of pussy she drags with her?” He was the backup for both the power forward and center position, which left him with a lot of free time in his hands as Jake and Troy almost never left their games.

Troy, a dark-skinned young man with black hair and eyes, chuckled at that. “I know, right? Makes us play even harder,” he said. Being the starting center, he was the one with the biggest frame in the team.

“Harder-better or harder-harder?” Paul joked, causing both his teammate and Ralph to laugh with him.

A brief silence followed before Troy grinned. “So, which one is your favorite?”

“Shit, I don’t know! It’s like asking me if I prefer steak or pork chops!” Paul initiated another round of laughter. “But damn it if Alice herself isn’t hot as fuck, man! That little toned body, mmm!”

“Scarlett’s gotta be my favorite, still pissed that Liam got her last year. But yeah, I get it on Alice,” Troy nodded. “Bouncing that spinner on my dick would feel so fucking good.”

Ralph raised an eyebrow. “Guys, she’s Jake’s girl, should we be talking about her like this?”

Still chuckling, Paul slapped the boy’s back in a gesture that was supposed to be friendly but made Ralph stumble forward a bit. “That’s what makes it fun, Griffin, grow a pair!”

Troy crossed his big arms in front of his chest. “Aww, I don’t know. Don’t think it’d be fun to go after a friend’s girl like that. I can look and appreciate it, but that’s as far as I go,” he said as a grin formed on his face. “Besides, there’s plenty more delicious fish in the sea, man. Look at Scarlett, Madison, Smith, as hard as that’d be, hell, even Clark’s sister.”

Ralph rolled his eyes. “Guys, going for Paris would be even harder than Grace, she’s a lesbian.”

“Thanks for the info, Griffin, but we already know,” Paul said with an annoyed expression. “Nothing that can’t be reversed when she meets the real me, of course.”

Now Troy was the one to let out a booming laugh. “You mean the one and only Paul Martinez she already met and we put up with every day?”

Zachary watched as Ralph joined in the laughter and Paul attempted to hit Troy, only for the bigger boy to deflect his blows. Zack then tuned their conversation out after that. It was interesting to learn that the other members of the team kind of lusted after Alice, making him wonder if he would be breaking some kind of code by telling Jake all about it.

“They’re hogging the tap again?” A new voice inquired, and Zack turned to see Liam Watson sidling up to him.

A smaller guy if compared to Troy and Paul, he had short, dark brown hair and eyes in a slightly lighter shade. With the graduation of the previous holder of the starting shooting guard position, Liam was in line to take over, but everyone seemed to be waiting to see how well Ralph would do in the try-outs before deciding who was going to get it.

The Bishop boy chuckled. “Some interesting bits of conversation too.”

Liam grinned in response. “As always,” he said, starting to move toward the trio. “Let me see what I can do.”

Zachary watched the other guy walking away and Paris’ words about Ashley and Gavin came back to him. Liam had always struck him as a nice enough guy, but for some reason, they never connected. It certainly was a case of different interests preventing a deeper friendship, and it was fine, some people just weren’t meant to be close friends, no matter how similar they were.

---

When Zack returned to the court a few minutes later, Clark was working with Ralph and Cyrus on one side while Liam, Troy, and Paul were squaring off against each other on the opposite side. Kevin and Jake were standing near the bench, chatting with the girls.

“Hey, Zack! C’mon!” Madison excitedly called him over. “We’re talking about the next study session!”

He walked toward the bench and was mildly surprised to see Kevin in the conversation as well. “I take it that Kev’s in now?”

“Yep, we just invited him,” Jake nodded with a grin.

Kevin nodded back. “It’s great idea you guys had,” he said. “I’ll probably need the grades before the year’s out,” he explained. Zack then remembered that Kevin usually started the year with fine grades, but once the basketball season began, his average grades slowly dropped as he couldn’t focus too hard on the two things.

“Welcome aboard, then,” Alice proudly told him, a big grin on her face. “It’s so nice seeing more people joining.”

“We’ve decided to watch the others a bit more before making any formal invitation, though,” Paris chimed in, nodding at the court. “Including my brother.” They were all being careful to not speak too loudly, even if Madison, of all people, was talking a little too loud moments ago.

“Well, it’s all cool about Kev, but have you guys decided when we’re gonna meet next?” Zack inquired, that was something he was curious about ever since their first meeting ended.

“Saturday night, at my house,” Grace drawled. “Parents will be out.”

Zack raised a surprised eyebrow as he locked gazes with the blonde, a frown slowly taking over the expression on his face. She found herself frozen in place by his icy-blue eyes, as if an invisible **** was holding her down, at the entire mercy of those incredibly good-looking azure orbs.

“What? I said I’d try to behave,” she snapped out of it and defensively retorted. “This is my way of extending an olive branch. For the group’s sake.”

He stared into her gorgeous emerald-green eyes for a few more moments, the shade inevitably reminding him about her cousin, the one he couldn’t strike up any interesting conversations with and was causing an immensurable amount of frustration to boil within his being. “Okay, fine,” he finally let out a sigh. Having never been a confrontative person, he had no problem being nice if she reciprocated it by being nice as well, though the prospect of visiting a big house such as the Smith’s made him a little bit nervous. Shit, at least it isn’t their mansion at Silver Lake.

“Wouldn’t it be fun if we did a sleepover?” Madison suggested, imagining that the opportunity could offer her a few chances to hang out with Zack in a more intimate environment.

“Oh, that’d be fun!” Paris grinned.

“Oookay, hold your horses!” Grace raised up her hands to placate her friends. “I don’t know if I’ll get permission for a sleepover. I’ll ask my mom and give you an answer tomorrow.”

That seemed to cool down any new ideas to transform the study group session into something bigger, and a few moments later, the boys that were still playing began coming back to the bench. A ball rolled up to Alice’s feet and she smiled before picking it up.

“I think I wanna shoot a couple free throws,” she turned to Jake, who grinned in response.

“Court’s all yours, baby,” he replied, turned on at the sight of his girlfriend with a basketball in her hands. “Just like I showed you.”

“Oh, this I gotta see,” Paul piped in.

“Any of you wanna try it too?” Alice turned to her friends with a challenging smirk.

Madison shrugged and jumped to her feet. “Why not?” She grinned. “I have no idea how to do it, though.”

“I’ll show you,” Troy readily volunteered before Paul could do the same, causing the latter to glare at his friend. Madison had hoped Zack would offer, but she wouldn’t throw Troy’s kindness on his face.

“Yeah, maybe some other time,” Paris said, frustrating Clark a little bit. He was kind of curious about seeing what his sister could do with a basketball.

“Grace?” Alice inquired with a hopeful tone.

“Oh, I’ve never thought even for a second about picking up a basketball before in my life,” the blonde retorted, shaking her head and waving her arms.

“You’re chickening out, then,” Madison teased, causing her friend to narrow her eyes.

“I’m not a fracking chicken!” Grace shot back. She was really starting to get annoyed at her friends that afternoon. That was exactly the reason why she hated when they tried to have their group hang out with other people, the unpredictability put her in those situations more often than people could realize.

“Maybe Zack could show you how,” Alice suggested, much to Paul, Cyrus, and Ralph’s chagrin. “You know, if you’re really serious about that olive branch?”

Zack’s eyes briefly widened in mild shock and he turned to the blonde, who was just letting out a long sigh. “Frack, I can’t win with you all, can I?”

Paris laughed at her friends’ antics. “You love us, you grumpy cat. Admit it.”

Grace sighed again. “Fiiine…, but I won’t make any effort to be good at it,” she affirmed, turning to Zack as if she was directing that at him.

He just shrugged, not interested in being a coach either. With all that decided, Alice was the first one to head for the free throw line. Jake followed his girlfriend and stood a couple of feet behind her, his gaze drinking in the sight of her toned ass encased in her tight denim shorts.

“You can do it, baby, c’mon!” He encouraged her, making the brunette crane her neck back to flash him a loving smile before she turned back to the basket with a determined look on her face.

The others on the bench watched and some of them even cheered as Alice performed an awkward, yet capable, shot and saw it bouncing off the rim. She smiled as Jake went to pick up the ball for her. “Aww, that wasn’t so bad,” she said, glancing at her friends.

“You can do it, Allie!” Madison cheered, clapping her hands.

“Yes! C’mon!” Paris added, and even Grace gave her an encouraging smile.

“Alright, your second one,” Jake said and handed the ball back to his girlfriend, not before planting a peck on her lips that had Madison, Kevin, Troy, Paul, and Cyrus doing a teasing whistle.

Jake flipped his middle finger at his teammates as Alice took her position to shoot again. The brunette spent a few seconds staring at the basket, her green eyes unblinking, before she did the exact same moves her boyfriend had taught her and her shot went smoothly into the rim.

“Yes!!!” She punched the air, turning around moments before Jake proudly swept her into his arms and the couple shared a loving kiss as nearly everyone on the bench cheered loudly at them.

“Go Allie!!” Madison and Paris yelled in unison.

Jake broke the kiss and scooped Alice up, carrying her bridal style to the bench as she pretended to kick and scream. “Let me go, you handsome brute!”

“Make me,” he jested, plopping down on the bench and putting his girlfriend on his lap. Alice wrapped her arms around his neck and the two proceeded to nuzzle their noses together, occasionally sharing a brief peck.

“And they’re out,” Troy said as he turned to Madison and nodded at the post. “Wanna go next?”

The brunette nodded and stood up, discreetly throwing one last look at Zack and seeing he was busy looking at something in his phone with Paris and Kevin. She then kept walking toward the free throw line, where Troy handed the ball over to her with a grin. “Thanks,” she smiled and turned to the post. “So, how do I do this?”

“Like this,” he replied and then she froze when he firmly gripped her forearms near the elbows and showed how she should position them.

What the fuck? She thought, and then a warmth began to spread from her crotch when she felt him get closer to her and something rigid brush against the top of her jean-clad ass. Oh, my gosh…, her breath quickened, Troy was even taller than her and his breath on her ear made a shiver go down her spine.

The scrambling that her mind was going through made Madison shoot the ball before he was even done explaining what she should do, but she wasn’t even listening anyways, so the ball didn’t even hit the rim once it clashed with the backboard and then plummeted to the floor.

“Ooooohhh!” Alice booed the airball. “C’mon, Maddie! You can do it!”

“Easy there,” Troy said with a grin when he retrieved the ball. “I wasn’t even done.”

“Uhn… sorry,” the dark-haired cheerleader absentmindedly apologized before he took up his position behind her once more. On the bench, Grace frowned at how close the team center was getting to her friend.

Madison swallowed hard once she felt his touch again. She knew what was going on, of course, it wasn’t the fact that Troy was pressed up against her that was making her hot, it was simply because he was a boy. Not used to a boy touching her after the sheltered life her father and brother **** her to lead, the male touch of his fingertips gliding along her arms and the rigidness grazing her butt at that moment was making her knees go weak, even if it wasn’t the guy she liked.

I can’t let Zack see me like this! She told herself, but after a quick glance, she saw that her crush was still watching something in his phone with Kevin and Paris.

“That’s alright, now do as I say and you’ll score,” Troy gently told her and then gripped her arms a bit tighter, causing her breath to hitch as his growing erection brushed against her ass. He tried to control himself and not come at her so strongly, but it felt incredibly arousing to have the sexy twin sister of Brandon Cole, a hated figure amidst the basketball team, completely at his mercy like that.

Madison stifled a moan as she felt his dick pressing tighter against her ass. Part of her wanted to rub against it, but the part that won reluctantly put some distance between her fine butt and his bulge. Back on the bench, Clark and Liam rolled their eyes at Troy’s antics, but Paul and Cyrus grinned in amusement, the former imagining a number of hot situations between them and Alice’s friends. Grace, Jake, and Alice also found it strange, but the reporter thought it was nice that her old friend was finally getting some action, as fleeting as that grinding looked from afar.

Troy let his fingers glide along Madison’s arm as he positioned her. “Okay, now shoot,” he whispered in her ear.

Eager to get away from that confusing situation, the tall brunette quickly took her shot, a decent one even, but the lack of practice meant it only bounced twice on the rim before falling harmlessly to the floor.

“Not bad at all, Cole,” Troy praised while Alice cheered from the bench. “Text me, okay? Maybe we can practice some more without all the rush.”

Her eyes widened in surprise at that, but Madison quickly recovered before awkwardly nodding back at him, a polite smile on her face. “We’ll see.”

Grace sharply turned to Alice, a rare fearful look on her face. “Tell me I won’t need to do that,” she whispered at her friend.

“Zack’s not like that, don’t worry,” the reporter shook her head. “We only let Troy get away with it so poor Maddie could get some action.”

The blonde scoffed and then jumped to her feet, noticing that Zack was distracted with his phone. “Hey, Bishop! Let’s get this over with!”

“Oh, sorry!” Zack looked up at the sound of his last name and quickly stood up as well. At least she had used his correct last name, he thought. As he walked over to the free thrown line, he hoped Grace wouldn’t be as difficult as her demeanor suggested. Zack didn’t want to play the coach before, but since he was doing it, he figured he could at least make an effort to teach the blonde. “Alright,” he said, picking up the ball and presenting it to her. “This is the ball, you need to throw it inside that rim behind me to score a point.”

Grace rolled her eyes in annoyance, that wasn’t going to go over well. “I know how basketball works, dumbass,” she fired back, staring down at the ball with a hesitant expression.

“Go ahead, it doesn’t bite,” Zack couldn’t help but quip, his lips curling up in a teasing smirk.

“Yeah, but I do,” she said before she could think, causing him to briefly raise an eyebrow, but she didn’t notice the possible double meaning of her words. “Okay,” she slowly put her hands on the ball and pulled it to her, studying it as she had just found an alien object buried on Earth.

Zack watched as she tentatively bounced the ball a few times on the floor with just one hand, unwittingly thinking to himself how cute that scene looked, especially with the faint breeze making her skirt flap around, just not enough to make it go up. She then looked up at him with the emerald-green eyes that affected him so much.

“Now what?”

“Uhn, I need to show you some positioning,” he answered, receiving a glare from her in return. The Bishop boy didn’t understand it, since he hadn’t seen what happened between Madison and Troy, so he just chalked it up to her being as grumpy as always. “Alright, face the post.”

Grace stared at him for a couple of seconds and then reluctantly did it, deciding to give him a vote of confidence. They couldn’t make it work if she kept snapping at him at every opportunity and she would be damned if she let everyone think that she was the one to blame for it. “Just be careful, okay?”

Zachary didn’t understand what she meant, so he just positioned himself behind her. The top of her head came to just about the same height as his mouth, a little bit shorter than her cousin, he noticed. He slowly and carefully extended his arms, gently closing his fingers around her arms as he kept a respectable distance from her body.

Grace’s breath slightly hitched at the touch, but from then, it was nothing like Madison and Troy. Her mind absorbed his patient instructions as he positioned her arms with the ball and told her how she should stand. “Alright, this should be it,” he said, reluctantly pulling his arms away and unconsciously remarking to himself how good she felt in his arms. ‘Right’ was the word he was looking for but didn’t think at that particular moment.

She then focused her eyes on the rim, tested the ball’s weight in her hands, and ran some calculations in her mind, crossing it with the information on how she should throw the ball. Her friends then watched with bated breath as the computer expert did a perfect shot, all the way from her movements to how much **** she put in the throw, the ball doing a graceful arc before sinking into the rim with a satisfying swooshing noise.

“Dammit, Grace!” Alice, Paris, and Madison yelled from the bench. The boys looked shocked at the perfect shot until Clark, of all people, let out a brief chuckle.

“Maybe now we can finally replace you, Paul,” he said, earning a glare from the backup player. “She can score, at least.”

Grace finally turned to her friends with a smug smile. “And that’s how it’s done, bitches!” She boasted moments before the three girls engulfed her in a group hug. She wasn’t used to that much physical contact, but figured it was fine after such a feat.

Zack smiled at the obvious happiness of the girls, feeling happy himself for playing a small part in it, although he was greatly impressed with how well Grace absorbed it. As he walked over to the bench to join Kevin, Jake, and the others, the sound of his last name made him stop in his tracks and turn around.

“Bishop!”

Grace was uncertainly smiling at him with the other girls flanking her, but there was a thankful look to her expression as well. “Thanks.”

He smiled back at her, unsure of why those eyes were making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “You’re welcome, Smith.”

---

About twenty minutes later, everyone was getting ready to leave, the boys too tired to play anymore and the girls eager to get home. As Zack left the court, he heard the sound of someone jogging toward him.

“Zack, a word,” Clark asked, causing the younger Bishop to frown in surprise. It was quite rare for Clark to come and talk to him, especially when they were alone.

“Clark?” He asked with a bit of hesitation. “What’s up?”

“I saw you training with the guys earlier and then when we all played together,” the older boy told him. “I’ll be direct, I want you to consider trying out for the team again this year.”

“You do?” The frown on Zachary’s face deepened due to the shock. It was one thing for Kevin to say it, but to hear his cousin repeating it…, it was a completely different thing. It sounded more real coming from someone who didn’t need to be polite or friendly.

“Yes, with the shooting I saw today, I think you can be a damn good shooting guard, even more than Ralph or Liam. You just need to work a bit on your defensive aspects, maybe your physical shape and stamina, and you’d be good to go,” Clark explained. “Honestly, this is my last year on the team and I really want to win that championship, leave a legacy when I’m gone, you know? I think you’re the missing piece our team needs.”

Zack was touched that his usually reserved and quiet cousin had broken out of that shell to tell him all those things, it made him believe more in his skills, but there was a slight problem with all that.

“It’s… nice to hear you say that, Clark, it really is, but…,” Zack hesitated a little. “I’ve just joined the Speedy Scout. My try-outs went terribly wrong the past two years, so I decided to just save myself the embarrassment, you know?” He explained with a sigh. “Victoria, she’s really counting on me,” he admitted. I hope.

“Oh, alright, then,” Clark replied, disappointed in his cousin. “The choice is yours, of course. Just promise me you’ll think about it, okay? I really think you can contribute, and it’d be a waste of those skills if you didn’t use it.”

“Uhn…, I promise, I guess,” Zack said, a huge conflict kicking off in his mind.

“Good, do it,” Clark nodded and patted his cousin on the back. “See you around,” he said and left to his car, as if they didn’t live in the same neighborhood.

---

Later that day, one of the best and most well-known restaurants in Azure Rocks, The Lakeside, was having quite the busy night with patrons moving left and right across the place. Besides its excellent food, the restaurant was famous for its cozy, family-oriented environment. A group of four friends relaxed in front of the fire at a lounging area near the tables, the couch and armchairs providing comfortable options for people who just wanted to hang out, such as that close group.

Malcolm Campbell smiled as his grayish-blue eyes shifted up from his book to peer at his friends doing their own thing. The Lakeside was their favorite hangout spot, not only to chat or eat some delicious food, but to relax and just enjoy each other’s company. The 35-year-old man scratched the back of his head, cursing himself for messing up his short brown hair before putting a mark in the latest mystery novel he had picked up a couple of days ago.

His friends were lost into their own world anyways, he thought with a grin.

Across the coffee table in the middle of that cozy sitting area, Alan Morgan was in the middle of reading through his students’ latest assignments, a patient look on his face as he sipped from a cup of coffee. The History teacher at Azure Rocks High, he had always been the voice of reason in their little group at thirty-six. He was often calm and soft-spoken, but Malcolm knew how angry he could get when someone interrupted Alan at his job, a deep disrespect in the teacher’s eyes.

Shifting his gaze to the nearby couch, Malcolm softly chuckled at his other two friends’ behavior. Ezra Watson and Vivian Soren split their time between laughing at something she was showing him on her phone and exchanging heated kisses. The two most sexual persons in their group, Malcolm honestly didn’t know why it took them so long to get involved with each other. Or ‘having fun together’ as Ezra preferred to put it. Malcolm knew first-hand how much of a sexpot Vivian could be as he had dated her himself for a couple of months four years ago.

At thirty-five, brown-haired Ezra had always been Malcolm’s best male friend, ever since their elementary school days. His friend’s carefree ways complimented his own calmer approach to life, and they had been inseparable since then. A fan of old music and instruments, Ezra now owned an old record store, Stereo Land. Vivian was the youngest in their group at thirty-three, and she was a gorgeous woman, with long blonde hair and gray eyes, and as for her body, what she lacked on her chest, the curvy, wide ass downstairs compensated it quite nicely. She was a microbiologist and worked at the pharmaceutical division of Ravers Enterprises.

“You know, I think Vanessa’s on the verge of dropping by to check who’s being so loud,” Malcolm said with a chuckle, nodding at his older sister’s friend, who nodded back all the way from the counter. She was the co-owner of the restaurant, along with an old friend of hers, Susan Rivera.

Ezra laughed again, though not so loudly. “Oh, shut up, dude. You’re just jealous you’re not banging this anymore,” he said, squeezing Vivian’s shoulder. Malcolm grinned back and flipped the middle finger at his old friend, the insults that he and Ezra often traded back-and-forth were all in good sport and devoid of any malice.

Vivian squeezed her nails into Ezra’s arm, causing him to yelp. “Behave, baby. You know exactly why Malcolm and I broke up.”

“Ouch, I do, dammit!” Ezra whined, rubbing the sore spot. “You’ll draw blood from my arm someday, woman,” he playfully complained, making her stick her tongue at him before she turned to Malcolm.

“Yes, we all do,” she grinned at her ex-boyfriend.

Malcolm let out a chuckle. “I’m over that, guys, really,” he tried to assure them. “Over both, actually. You all know more than anyone how many girlfriends I had after Viv.”

“We’ll need to start charging for every girl that comes into our group and leaves a couple of weeks later,” Ezra jested.

“An imaginary revolving door?” Malcolm asked with a grin.

“You know it, dude,” Ezra leaned across the coffee table to high-five his best friend.

Alan softly cleared his throat. “Yes, though I do think your choice of girlfriends has been quite questionable of late, Malcolm.”

Vivian turned to the older man, her mouth agape as she pretended to be shocked. “Alan! Even poor old me?”

“Oh, no, my dear. I’ve said SINCE then,” the teacher dodged the question with a small smile. “Now let me get back to your niece’s work, it’s quite… enlightening.”

Vivan and Ezra both laughed at that, the latter also having a nephew in Alan’s classes. As a matter of fact, everyone in the group had a nephew or niece learning from their friend at school.

“So, if you’re really over her, you mind if I try?” Ezra quipped, only to be hit on the arm by Vivian again.

“Speaking of her…,” the blonde drawled. “There’s Dakota!”

Malcolm instinctively turned to the door of the restaurant, where his other best friend had just stepped into the place. At thirty-four, incredibly gorgeous, and wearing a simple outfit that consisted of a red t-shirt and jeans, the athletic, blue-eyed blonde rushed to meet her friends.

“Sorry I’m late, guys!” Dakota Adams apologized, making a beeline to the couch and plopping down next to Vivian with a huff. “Things were kinda hectic at the precinct.”

“Don’t sweat, girl,” Vivian smirked at her. “We were just talking about you, actually.”

“Oh, really?” Dakota asked and then turned to Malcolm. “What about me?”

She had always been Malcolm’s official best friend, ahead of even Ezra. Brought together by their older sisters, who were childhood friends themselves, nothing had ever been able to tear them apart. Of course, shortly after puberty, Dakota’s incredible looks ensured Malcolm developed a crush on his best friend, but much like other members of his family, the young man could never muster the courage to say anything.

None of his rare girlfriends could ever compare to Dakota in his mind, which ruined every single one of those relationships. When things went south with Vivian four years ago, Malcolm vowed to let go of those feelings, and that resolution worked, to his surprise. Since then, the number of girlfriends that passed through his life increased greatly, but as Alan had eloquently put it earlier, they were all questionable, to say the least, and none of those relationships lasted for more than a couple of weeks, give or take.

Still, every time he laid eyes on Dakota, Malcolm could feel those deeply buried feelings threatening to come to the surface, and he worried every single day about her job as a police detective.

“Nothing much,” he lied. “We were just wondering where you were, but I figured you were still at the station.”

“Yeah, work’s been killing me lately. Killian is all sunshine and rainbows like always,” she jested about her gloomy partner. “I’m sure the chief only puts up with him ‘cause he’s the Mayor’s little brother.”

That broke a laugh amidst the friends, and even Alan had to smile at the picture. “Well, it is what it is, you can’t change it,” Malcolm tried to soothe her nerves. “Damn, all this talk about work made me remember I still have to finish the script for tomorrow’s show.”

“Oh, you better, buster,” Dakota warned him. “Your boss is there,” she waved in the general direction of the tables. “On a table with a friend.”

Malcolm frowned at the info. “Brooke’s here? Shit, I’ve gotta say hi before we leave.”

---

Outside the restaurant, a shiny, sleek, blue sports car smoothly parked on the street.
It belonged to none other Robert Ravers, who had dismissed his chauffeur for the night and drove his girlfriend out himself.

“Here we are, The Lakeside,” the wealthy, handsome man announced, resting his hands on the wheel. “God, I love the food here.”

“I know, that’s why I suggested it,” Leah replied, reaching over to place her left hand on his upper thigh. “Maybe if we’re lucky, we can find another kind of food there, huh?”

Robert smirked at the way his redhead assistant and girlfriend always seemed to know what he was thinking. It was the reason why she had broken his resolution of not entering a relationship with anyone after the divorce with Brooke, the way she was always ready to accommodate every single one of his desires.

“Great minds, Leah, you know what they say about them,” he replied, pulling her for a heated kiss that had his cock twitching with her hand so close to it.

Private kisses between Robert and Leah often bordered on animalistic, the way their mouths seemed intent on devouring each other, with tongues entering a battle for dominance that he always won, knowing each and every shortcut in her body to drive her crazy. Releasing her, Robert was pleased to see his hellcat panting in desire.

“Fuck, let’s go in before I request a thorough pounding from my big boss right here in his car,” she purred.

Robert’s smirk grew. “Yes, let’s see what they have in the menu,” he told her before adding with a wink. “Both of them.”

Exchanging one last smirk, the couple stepped out of the vehicle and Robert activated the alarm before he gave his arm to his young girlfriend and led her to the restaurant. Of all surprises Robert could have predicted for the night, the one he found inside wasn’t quite the one he expected. Or he should have expected it, given the fact that he knew his ex-wife also loved to eat at The Lakeside.

“Your ex-wife is here,” Leah said, almost in an amused tone. She had nothing against the dark-haired woman, but it seemed Brooke always made sure to have only the necessary conversations with her. The professional ones required between the director of a subsidiary and the CEO’s assistant.

“I have to go say hi,” Robert told her, and the implication was clear, to stay behind and wait for him.

His heartbeat quickened every time he laid eyes on Brooke Lakefield. How could it not? She made a lasting impression on him the moment he saw her for the first time at Green Hills, loved her after their first few conversations, and the divorce didn’t change that. He never cheated on her when they were together, but his need for more women was what ultimately destroyed their marriage, as Brooke didn’t want anything to do with it. The divorce had actually been his idea, as Robert feared he was close to crumbling, and so he figured that hurting Brooke once with the split was better than breaking her heart multiple times with the cheating that would surely come.

“Good evening, Brooke,” he smoothly greeted her before she could notice his presence. She looked really elegant in a red dress, the normal for the spectacular woman she had always been. “You look as gorgeous as ever.”

“Robert?” The brunette’s blue eyes widened at seeing him here. “Oh, good evening! What are you doing here?”

“Uhn… eating?” He responded, wondering why she looked so uncomfortable by seeing him there.

Brooke then let out a nervous chuckle. “Of course,” she said, a brief frown crossing her face when she noticed Leah Green near the entrance.

Much like her ex-husband, she had never stopped loving him, and she actually admired the reasons he gave her for the divorce once the shock and despair wore off. He was only trying to preserver her, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. What made it worse was that the saying that went around about women never being able to have something else after Robert Ravers was undeniably true. Brooke had never been able to find another man with half of the sophistication and swagger of Robert, not matter how many dates she went on. She hadn’t been celibate since the divorce, but sex for the director of the Blue Lion Media Group was extremely rare.

“So, how are things at Blue Lion?” He inquired after that awkward silence.

She raised a surprised eyebrow. “I’ve sent the latest results to your assistant over there.”

Robert let out a chuckle, it didn’t escape him how Brooke had used assistant rather than girlfriend. “I wasn’t talking about numbers, Brooke. I want to know about the general mood there, how’s everyone?”

“Oh,” Brooke was kind of surprised by the question. “Well,” she cleared her throat. “As you know, the move to streaming was a gamechanger. Now, the whole world can watch our products and the revenue multiplies each month,” she explained. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that there isn’t an unhappy employee at the BLMG.”

Robert grinned proudly. “See? That was your idea, you did that,” he praised her. “And you tried to tell me you weren’t the right person for the job when I offered. Yeah, right.”

Brooke couldn’t help but feel herself blushing at the praise. “Well… thanks,” she felt like butterflies had taken residence in her stomach and she desperately tried to push them away. She had gotten her love for Robert under control, and the last thing she needed was for it to flare up again.

For the first time, Robert noticed the second plate in the table, and he felt like a lion roared in animalistic anger inside his chest. Now it made sense why she looked uncomfortable when he arrived. “A friend?” He pointed at the plate, barely able to mask his anger.

“Oh, yes,” Brooke’s eyes widened again as she got nervous once more. “She’s in the bathroom.”

Before Robert could actually feel relieved that it was a woman, the friend in question walked back to the table, and Robert, unable to ever forget a pretty face, felt his eyebrows shooting high into his hairline. An expression that the newcomer also shared.

“Well…, okay,” she said, letting out a nervous chuckle. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to do this tonight when I got out.”

Brooke sighed. “Robert, by the look on your face, I see you remember Audrey Finlay, don’t you?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Robert slowly nodded, his gaze roving over the other woman. “How are you, Audrey? Damn, I haven’t seen you since… you know.”

Audrey Finlay was a gorgeous woman of thirty-seven, with long, slightly wavy blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes. Her slender, yet toned, body was clad in a light blue blouse and black jeans, with a pair of high-heeled boots on her feet. His cock throbbed in his expensive pants at the memories it elicited.

“Uhn…, I’ve been great, Robert, thank you,” Audrey awkwardly responded, smiling at him. “I guess I don’t need to ask how you’ve been,” she laughed nervously. “Mr. CEO, right?”

“Yeah,” Robert grinned and then turned to Brooke. “I didn’t know you two stayed friends.”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Robert, Audrey is basically my only true friend from my Green Hills years,” she said. “Why do you think I sometimes drove back there after we moved to the Manor here?”

“Well, I figured it was a friend, but I had no idea it was Audrey,” he responded.

“Now you know,” Brooke said, and then sensed how nervous Audrey was getting. “Don’t you have dinner to eat?”

“Oh, yes, of course. I’m sorry,” Robert had the courtesy of looking ashamed, both at interrupting their meal and leaving Leah alone at the entrance for so long. “Enjoy your dinner,” he rubbed his hands and reluctantly went back to his girlfriend, giving one last look at the two women over his shoulders.

Once he was gone, Audrey let out a huge, long breath that she had been holding ever since she saw Robert. Brooke immediately reached for her hand as soon as her friend sat down, trying not to shed tears after the encounter.

“You okay?” The brunette asked. “I know it wasn’t easy, but you’ve been very brave, Audrey.”

“Thank you,” the blonde smiled through the tears. “I thought I’d crumble just like I’m doing now. I’m glad you were with me, Brooke, I don’t know if I would’ve kept up that mask.”

“As I said, you’re brave, always been,” Brooke squeezed her friend’s hand one final time and retracted her own. “Look, it doesn’t have to be now, but…, will you really tell him?”

Audrey’s gaze found Robert being seated alongside his redhead girlfriend across the restaurant and shook her head. “It’s the plan, but I don’t think I can do it now,” she answered before turning to the woman who quite possibly was her best friend. “Would you be with me when I do it?”

“Sure, whenever you want,” Brooke nodded with a smile of her own, reminiscing how their friendship came to be.

Years ago, when the two women were in college, Audrey had just entered the same sorority Brooke was a part of, and the brunette quickly took the blonde under her wing, the two becoming fast friends. A few months later and Robert was in his worst phase of wishing he could be sleeping with more women, the birth of their daughter apparently making him a little bit skittish. Brooke, deciding to see how she really felt about it, asked Audrey if she wanted to have sex with her husband, as the younger woman had just dumped an asshole boyfriend of her own. Brooke didn’t stay in the room, but she could hear the noises and screams of enjoyment through the night while fussing over baby Heather, which made her realize that sharing Robert would never be an acceptable option.

The unexpected consequence came in the form of Audrey’s birth-control pills not working, just like hers a couple of years before, and a pregnancy inevitably happened. Looking back, Brooke realized it wasn’t her best moment, but she convinced Audrey to not tell Robert about it in exchange of help with the baby, both emotionally and financially. She just knew that a kid with another woman would seriously mess up with Robert and their marriage, so she thought it was the best course of action at the time. When Audrey was due to give birth, the two of them even made a secret trip to Azure Rocks, so the baby could be born at his father’s hometown. Eventually, they all graduated, and Brooke moved to Azure Rocks with Robert, but she always made sure to make the trip back to Green Hills at least once a month, to check up on Audrey and her son.

When the divorce came six years ago, Brooke’s visits to Green Hills increased in frequency, as she needed her best friend’s emotional support this time, and because she realized it was time for Audrey to reveal the whole truth to Robert. She knew how Heather often felt sad for growing up alone, making her feel horrible for withholding a brother who already existed from her daughter. Audrey’s son was starting to look more like Robert every day, but he wasn’t the cocky, insufferable man his father had always been, the only saving grace about the whole situation, Brooke supposed. Logan had instead developed a charm of his own, which wasn’t that all surprising, considering who his father was.

For six years, Brooke tried to convince Audrey, but it wasn’t only until a few months ago that that her friend finally decided to move to Azure Rocks. She quit her job and took Brooke’s offer to be her assistant at the Blue Lion Media Group. Neither of them told anything about Robert to Logan yet, but they heard he had already befriended two of his cousins without knowing about the relation, as Brooke had seen the time she went to pick up her daughter at school at the start of the week, and even Heather had spoken to him a few times as well. Both Brooke and Audrey were okay with the whole thing, but they had to wonder how Logan would react to the news that he had a father, that said father lived at Azure Rocks, and belonged to the most powerful family in the small town.

---

It was finally Friday, Gavin Westher wouldn’t have to worry about being around people for two and a half days once he went home after classes ended later. It seemed like a dream come true to the young geek as he walked along one the school’s corridors on his way to the cafeteria.

He couldn’t be around Zack, Chloe, and Paris all the time, that was a fact. He was grateful to them for trying, but even he could see the strain in their friendship due to all the different interests that his friends had, mainly hanging out with other people. It was okay, though, he knew that they would always be close by if he needed them, especially Zack, but maybe it was time for him to hang out more with like-minded people or just enjoy the peace and quiet that came with being in his own company.

Gavin was so distracted by his thoughts and looking down at the floor that he never saw the other person turning a corner right in front of him. He could only feel the impact as the air was knocked out of him and he fell backwards on his ass.

“Awww, dammit!” It hadn’t been a big fall, but his butt stung from it.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” a female voice quietly apologized. “Are you okay?”

Gavin did not respond at first, he only saw the feminine, athletic legs and froze. His eyes then ran up until he faced the girl, a cute blonde who was worriedly looking down at him.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

“N-no,” he replied, blushing under her intense scrutiny. He adjusted his glasses and gingerly stood up, noticing he was quite taller than her. Gavin wanted nothing more than to skedaddle away from there but had the decency of realizing it would be rude.

“Uhn… you’re Gavin, aren’t you?” She asked, squinting her gray eyes at him.

His own hazel eyes widened at that question. “H-how?” It was the only thing he could ask, completely taken aback that a cheerleader really knew who he was. Aside from Ashley and Madison, who had previous history with his group of friends, he didn’t expect others to share the knowledge.

The girl let out a cute laugh. “It’s Heather, she can’t stop talking about her cousin these days. We all know about him and his friends,” she explained, extending her hand at him. “Alright, you probably know me too, but let’s do this properly,” she said as he quickly shook her hand and let it go just as fast. “I’m Fiona Graham, a junior. I’m in the cheer squad with your friend’s cousin.”

“Uhn…, n-nice to meet you, F-fiona,” Gavin stammered, he couldn’t stop looking at the younger girl.

Fiona felt a faint blush reaching her cheeks at his continuous staring. “Well, Gavin, it’s very nice to meet you too,” she said. “Were you going to the cafeteria? Me too, you should escort me the rest of the way.”

“S-sure…,” Gavin replied, fearfully following the cheerleader after she had put some distance between them.

---

In another corridor, Grace and Madison were heading to the Speedy Scout’s office, having been asked by Scarlett and Paris to find Alice once their friend didn’t show up at the cafeteria and didn’t reply to any of their texts either. They needed to finetune a few details about the study group session and subsequent sleepover the following day and couldn’t do it if they weren’t all present there.

“They don’t have paper meetings today,” Grace tiredly said as they stepped into the corridor where the office was located. “Why’d Alice be there?”

“Well, Allie has a boyfriend, maybe they just decided to spend some quality time together,” Madison shrugged. I know I’d use it every chance I got, she mentally added. The tall brunette had an ulterior motive for why she wanted to find Alice as well.

After Troy provoked all those sexual urges in her with just a few touches and brushes of his hands the previous afternoon, she wanted the opinion of the girl who had a boyfriend about the whole situation. When Troy invited her to practice more, Madison knew what he truly meant, she wasn’t dumb. She thought that perhaps Alice could shed some light on her conflicted mind. Even if her old feelings for Zack were stronger than ever, would it be okay for her to get some “practice” with another boy?

“Yeah, you may be right,’ Grace mumbled as they got to the door. She turned to Madison and put a finger in front of her lips before leaning into the wooden surface, pressing her ear to it. “Hmm, I can’t hear anything. Maybe they’re not there.”

Madison chuckled. “There’s plenty of stuff they can do without making loud noises,” she said with a grin, and then softly knocked on the door. “Alice? You in there?” She inquired in a louder volume. “Jake? Anyone?”

There was no answer for a few moments and Grace regarded her friend with an ‘I told you so’ look. “See? Told you there was no noise.”

“Yeah,” Madison slowly replied, pressing her own ear on the door as well. “Looks like there’s no one home.”

“Hey, you two. It’s not nice to eavesdrop and spy, you know?” A teasing feminine voice, yet devoid of any malice, remarked as the sound of high heels clicking on the floor echoed in the corridor.

Grace could only let out an annoyed groan, not even needing to turn around to know who it was. “Ravers…,” she grumbled.

Madison smiled as her cheerleader friend approached them, yet she was worried about a possible Grace outburst. That was the reason why she didn’t hang out with Heather, Ashley, and the other cheerleaders much even after becoming one of them, she didn’t want to irritate Grace. That, and she didn’t like Naomi Collins, Sharon Miller, and their bullying one bit.

“Hey, Heather,” she nodded at the cheer captain with a smile, planning on preventing potential explosions from her blonde friend. “Just passing by?”

Grace chuckled before the other brunette could say anything. “You kidding, right?” She finally turned to the girl she saw as her nemesis at Azure Rocks High with a scowl on her face. “Like you’d pass the chance to be a nuisance after seeing me here.”

Heather just smiled innocently in response. “Well, believe it or not, I’ve got better things to do with my time,” she said and then shifted her gaze to Madison. “Is Vicky here? I need to talk to her.”

“I don’t think so,” the hazel-eyed brunette answered. “We knocked and called for Alice, but it looks like there’s no one in there.”

The cheerleader captain grinned and reached into her purse. “Luckily for us, we don’t have to wait like plants out here,” she produced a key and jiggled it. “Vicky gave me a copy of the key in case I needed it.”

“Oh, sweet!” Madison grinned back.

“Of course she has the fracking key, how silly am I to think she wouldn’t?” Grace mumbled in annoyance as she watched Ravers unlock the door for them. She reluctantly followed the two dark-haired girls inside the office, a place she had been at only once since the school year started, to hang out with Alice.

“So, where do you think they all are?” Heather asked as the girls went to the lounging area and she plopped down on Victoria’s desk.

“I know it’s hard, but can you show some respect?” Grace demanded. “That desk is not yours!”

Heather just shrugged, letting out a brief chuckle. “Oh, Vicky doesn’t mind,” she said, a challenging expression on her face. “You’d know that if you took the time to actually know your cousin.”

Grace ground her teeth, fists balling as she turned to Madison. “Alright, alright, let’s just calm down, okay?” Maddie put her hands up to placate her blonde friend as she became, for once, the person telling someone else to calm down. More than once, she wondered why Grace, someone who just didn’t give a fuck about societal conventions, cared so much for an old family rivalry.

“Tell that to your friend,” Heather smirked as she picked up a pen on the desk and began twirling it around her fingers. “I’m calmer than Vicky’s sex life.”

Madison rolled her eyes and looked at the other cheerleader with a pleading expression. “Heather, please.”

“Why do you have to be so fracking annoying?!” Grace lost it and got right in front of the brunette, a pissed off look on her face.

“Fracking?” Heather smiled, tossing the pen back-and-forth between her hands. “How cute!”

At that moment, her left hand failed to catch the pen when the right one tossed it, and the object went flying across the office before falling on the floor, rolling underneath an armchair that was between Grace and Madison.

“Uhn…, can you please pick it up?” The captain embarrassedly asked the blonde planted in front of her.

“Why me?” Grace retorted, shrugging. “You’re the one who dropped it!”

“You’re closer?” Heather offered as an answer.

Grace stared at her nemesis’ face for a couple more seconds and then just threw her hands up in exasperation, tossing her bag on the armchair as she crouched down to retrieve the slippery pen under it, her round, jean-clad butt high in the air. The chair was low and there was just a small gap between it and the floor, so when she stuck her hand in that space, the back naturally brushed against the other unnatural object that wasn’t supposed to be there.

“What the frack?” She mumbled, an inquisitive eyebrow rising.

“What’s wrong, Grace?” Madison asked, peering down at her friend.

“There’s something else in here,” the blonde replied.

“Eeeww!” Heather gagged, a frown spreading across her face. “Did some gross idiot stick something down there?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Nothing like that!” She barked. “Feels like a box or maybe a book. Hang on.”

Heather walked closer and Madison also kept watching as Grace put her other hand under the armchair and proceeded to fumble around until they all heard a ripping sound. The Smith girl then pulled what looked like a book wrapped in tape.

“A book, then?” Heather inquired.

Grace quickly ripped off all the tape still stuck to the object to reveal a leather-bound book. Not too old, from the looks of it, there were just some spider webs hanging off it that the blonde girl also cleaned off.

“No, looks more like a journal,” Madison pointed out.

“But who put it there?” Grace asked, wondering if it was her cousin. For what purpose?

“Well, open it!” Heather urged, getting impatiently curious about its contents.

“No!” Madison blurted out in disagreement. “Journals and diaries are private!”

Grace hated to agree with Ravers, but she was quite curious herself to know what was in it, and to whom it belonged to. “Well, sticking it underneath a chair, the owner probably wanted other people to find this thing,” she said. “I’m opening it.”

Madison sighed and then the two brunettes flanked the blonde as she opened the journal to a random page in the middle and it was blank. Turning a few pages in both directions yielded the same result, it was all blank.

“Doesn’t have anything!” Heather said. “Who’d stick a blank diary under a chair?”

“Looks kinda new, though,” Madison added. “How long do you think it’s been down there?”

Grace had continued to turn the pages as the other two talked, until she finally decided to go all the way to the first page and her green eyes slightly widened as she found something at last. Bingo!

“Oh, what does it say?” Heather inquired as the three of them huddled together to read the unfamiliar handwriting.

‘Whoever finds this, whenever you do, I hope you have better luck in uncovering what really happened than I did. I don’t know how much time passed until you found this, but as a student or faculty member at Azure Rocks High School, you must have heard about the tragedy of 2020. A young junior, Erica Keller, tried to kill herself by jumping off the school’s roof a week before Christmas, shocking all of her friends, classmates, and teachers. Fortunately, Erica survived the fall, but has pretty much retracted into herself by the time I’m writing this, and her parents decided to pull her out of school to finish her education at home.’

’From what I’ve heard and was able to confirm, Erica went through psychological evaluation, and there was nothing for the doctors to find because she just decided to end her life when she woke up on that fateful day. Granted, seeing her in the hallways, the cafeteria, the gym, I could always see a happy, regular schoolgirl, and that was pretty much what her friends confirmed, shocked and confused as they were. I don’t buy that, though. I refuse to believe someone would decide to end their own life on a whim just because they suddenly felt like it. I tried talking to her parents and even Erica herself, but they didn’t want to comment on it. Someone in my position can only do so much, so as I’m graduating and leaving this place, I’m entrusting this to you, and hoping you find the truth I’ve looked so hard for.’

’Azure Rocks High School has always been a place where unusual stuff that no one could explain sometimes happened over the decades. Now, I could never get into the whole supernatural nonsense, but I don’t believe it’s a coincidence, either. Trying to find some sense in all that is like searching for a needle in a haystack, though. A word sometimes pops up in articles, mentioned or whispered in random conversations, but my research never led me into anything, making me speculate if perhaps I have imagined it all. That word is Flawless.’

The trio of girls kept staring at the page and the words written in it until Grace closed the journal and the three of them exchanged confused glances until Heather couldn’t take it anymore.

“What the fucking heck was that?!”

---

The next afternoon, a Saturday, Grace was in her room at the house her family lived at in Azure Rocks, waiting for the time her friends and their friends would arrive for the study group session. The Smith House in Azure Rocks was located in one of the fanciest neighborhoods, near the Cullens, Collins, and Stewart-Lennoxes, for example, but it was rather small if compared to their main home, the Smith Manor at the nearby town of Silver Lake.

The Smith family originated from Silver Lake, but the town never evolved past a touristic spot, with lake cabins and the nearby Silver Lake Park. Therefore, the family eventually moved to Azure Rocks, a town that offered more of an urban environment, and kept the Manor as a summer home that they also used for Christmas and other extended holidays. The move had occurred several decades before Grace was born, so she had only known the Manor as the place where she spent her vacations and holidays. It was where she could see her Uncle Lance as well, as he was the mayor of Silver Lake and the only family member who lived there permanently besides her grandparents, who mostly traveled the world and just used the Manor as a base to rest until the next trip.

Even with the study group session almost upon her, and all the nervousness she would normally feel at having friends at her house, for a sleepover, no less, Grace couldn’t stop thinking about the journal that she, Madison, and Heather Ravers found in the Speedy Scout office the day before. It was one of the most confusing situations she had ever been in.

The three of them briefly discussed what was written in the journal, but much like its author, they didn’t see any sense in the events described in that first page. Of course, each of them remembered the day Erica Keller jumped from the school rooftop, being only sophomores then. The following days were hell, the police basically occupied the school, interrogating everyone to try and find a line of investigation that could possibly make the whole thing a crime.

As for the identity of the author, as their words suggested, it was easy to surmise the journal belonged to someone who graduated in the same school year and was part of the newspaper’s roster back then. The names were public knowledge, but none of them had any ties to those people, making it hard to ask them. The closest link they got was that Ravers’ father was best friends with Peter Zander’s father. As for the Flawless word, the trio hadn’t wasted much time trying to decipher that, as it seemed to be conspiracy theory material, which made them wonder if the whole speculation was just that, a theory cooked up by the vivid imagination of that author.

It was the reason why they agreed not to delve into the matter and not tell any of their respective friends about it. However, looking at the journal sitting on her desk at that very moment, Grace knew it would be increasingly difficult to ignore it for too long. It had even distracted the young blonde from her anonymous hacker gigs that entire day.

Sorry, Keystroke, surprisingly not in the mood today, she apologized to herself with a small, tired smile.

“Knock, knock,” a teasing voice spoke from the door and Grace had to roll her eyes when her older sister stepped into her room anyways, without waiting for her answer.

“What do you want here, Pietra?” The younger sister growled, followed by a long sigh.

A gorgeous young woman strolled toward her little sister. At twenty-one, Pietra Smith had long, dark brown hair, the same emerald-green eyes her sister had, and a slender, toned, model-like body. It was funny because she really was a model who usually traveled all over the world, but for that weekend, as luck would have it, she was back in town visiting her family and old friends.

“Seeing how you were, of course, Gracie,” Pietra responded with a grin, shamelessly displaying her body in a black crop top and snug denim shorts. “Or can’t I do that anymore?”

Grace rolled her eyes again when Pietra threw both arms around her neck from the side, as her leather chair was too tall for her older sister to do it from behind. “Well, I’m fine, you saw it. Now leave me alone, I’m busy,” Grace tried to extricate herself from her sister’s arms.

Pietra had always been a worldly person, even when she was in high school, there were no ties on her of any kind. She was always trying to get Grace to let loose a bit more, meet new people, and not to spend so much time in front of her computer. One of her favorite subjects to tease her sister about, though, were boys.

Pietra laughed as she let go, already used to Grace’s endearing crankiness. “Now, don’t be so grumpy, sis,” she said, a smirk curling up the corner of her lips. “What’s this that I’ve heard downstairs about you hosting a sleepover, huh?” She then faked a gasp of shock. “With boys included, no less?”

“You done?” Grace turned the chair toward her sister, all serious-like as it was her usual. “Yes, I’m hosting a sleepover. Yes, there’ll be boys. But no, we’re not doing anything like your parties, Pietra,” she explained, her arms crossed in front of her chest. “The girls decided to do a study group this year and I’m merely helping them, that’s all.”

“Ooohh, so responsible,” Pietra snickered. “Doesn’t mean a little fun can’t be had, though.”

“What do you mean?” Grace inquired, even if a little bit fearful about the answer that would come. She remembered all too vividly what happened at the basketball court, after all. Madison being basically groped by Troy Carter, and herself being taught how to shoot a free throw by Zachary Bishop, of all people, even if it was a way tamer version of what Troy had done, and Bishop had been a perfect gentleman through it all.

“Wellll…,” Pietra looked up at the ceiling and walked around her sister’s chair, a seemingly perpetual grin on her face. “Are any cute boys coming over? Or girls, for that matter?”

“What does it have to do with anything?” Grace shot back, hoping that Pietra let go of it if she played dumb.

“I’ll take it as a yes, then,” Pietra said, plopping down on her sister’s desk, grinning at her as she turned the chair toward herself. “You got your eye on any of them? Fuck, this is so exciting! Finally chatting about this with my little sister! Gahhh!”

Grace’s eyes widened at her sister’s enthusiasm, moments after Bishop’s face at the end of the free throw lesson flashed across her mind for a couple of seconds, the moment she thanked him. “No!” She shook her head to get rid of it. “This is a study group! They’re here to study, not to party!” She barked angrily. “And get out of my room, I gotta… get ready! Yeah, I gotta get ready!”

Pietra’s grin now threatened to split her face. “But it’s also a sleepover, all bets are off once the studying ends, little sis,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “And fuck, yeah, you need to get ready! C’mon,” she hopped off the desk and grabbed Grace’s arm. “Let me help you with that!”

“No!” Grace’s eyes now almost bugged out of her skull as Pietra tugged her to the closet in her room. “Let me fracking go!”

Pietra just gave her a devious smirk in response. “Frack yes! You’ll let me work my magic,” she simply said, copying her sister’s variation, and then Grace stared fearfully at the closet door, having never been more afraid of it in her life. At least she knew that there weren’t stupid clothes in it, Pietra wouldn’t find a way to embarrass her.

---

About an hour later, a reddish sky was slowly covering the Royal Grove cul-de-sac across town. Zack had already left to a sleepover at the Smith House, of all places, a fact that confused Daniel a little bit, but he had no intention of questioning it. That said, he was looking forward to an eventful night with Monica, filled with much love and sex, obviously.

Noticing his wife’s absence, he remembered she said something about hitting the pool, so he headed to the en-suite bathroom in the master room and stepped into the shower, relaxing as the water washed the exhaustion from the day away. His mind, though, couldn’t help but drift to the question Monica posed a few days ago, that if they found a single woman they both agreed on, they should have another threesome. Daniel let out a long sigh, his cock twitching at the images it provoked. Still, he loved Monica with all his heart and the thought of doing something that could jeopardize that even remotely, it seemed completely absurd to him. Plus, it seemed so much like a thing his estranged older brother would do that Daniel couldn’t help but feel iffy about it.

Robert always showed up in the social news with that younger girlfriend of his, but it wasn’t rare for him to appear with the girlfriend in one arm and another woman in the other, a different one every single time. Going from conversations he had with Damon and Franklin after his brother’s divorce as well, he found out that the reason Robert split from his wife was because he wanted to bring other women into the relationship, just like he was doing with his current girlfriend now. Daniel dreaded the thought of doing something that Robert would do, of inadvertently becoming his older brother.

What if Monica enjoys it and wants it all the time? He asked himself with uncertainty, even if fantasizing about Monica entwined with another woman made his dick throb hard. Or worse, what if she gets the idea of another man?

Shaking his head to get rid of the questions and relax his mind as well, Daniel finally finished his shower and put on a pair of swimming trunks to join Monica at the backyard, wondering if she had opted for the pool or the hot tub. As he made his way downstairs, he heard Monica talking to someone, another woman.

"What the…," he muttered, following the noises to the backyard.

When he stepped out onto the deck, the sight that greeted Daniel was Monica swimming in their pool as Diane sat on a chair near the edge. His cock twitched at the view of their neighbor’s toned legs sticking out of a pair of denim shorts as her large tits almost strained a dark green tank top. He did a double-take, shocked that Monica had invited the blonde.

“And there he is,” Monica said with a teasing smirk on her beautiful face once she also caught sight of her husband.

Diane only looked back and didn’t say anything as she couldn’t help but take in the sight of her co-worker’s husband, his chiseled chest and how handsome he was. Daniel nodded at the blonde, wondering what his wife was playing at. “Diane.”

She gave him a small smile in return. “Hi again, Daniel.”

“I’ve invited her to take a dip with us, honey,” Monica explained as Daniel dropped his towel on the edge of the pool. “You know, with Zack at the Smiths’ for that sleepover and Gavin at Louise’s place with Josh, I thought all of us could use the company tonight.”

“I hope I’m not imposing or anything,” Diane said, a bit of uncertainty in her voice. She didn’t want to **** her presence on what seemed to be a private moment between her best friend and her husband. “I was facing a night alone at my place and Mon invited me, so…”

“You’re always welcome here, Diane,” Daniel, ever the gentleman, said with a smile. “We’d never allow any of our dear friends to face boredom alone if we can help it.”

“Thanks, Daniel,” Diane chuckled at him before turning to her friend in the pool. “You too, Monica.”

“Told you it’d be okay,” the sexy brunette said.

“Well, let me check out how this water feels,” Daniel announced, suddenly diving on the pool and not splashing Diane in the process by very little. He heard the women calling after him and he would have laughed if he wasn’t underwater at the moment. A few moments later, he surfaced behind Monica, noticing that her amazing body sported a rather interesting dark-blue bikini. “What are you playing at, you naughty girl?” He whispered into her ear as his arms wrapped around her midsection.

“Who, me? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mister,” Monica innocently replied, making sure to rub her round ass against her husband’s growing erection. “Shush now, Danny. Or you’re gonna miss the show.”

Daniel raised a confused eyebrow, but then noticed that Diane was kicking off her sandals on the edge of the pool. The blonde then pulled the tank top over her head to reveal her large breasts encased in a simple black bikini top before she did the same with the denim shorts, unveiling the matching bottoms hiding her secret treasures from view.

"She's so hot, don't you think?" Monica leaned her head back a bit to whisper. "Your dick seems to think so."

"Yeah, she is," Daniel nodded, unwittingly rocking his erection against his wife's butt. He was slowly getting himself carried away by whatever plans Monica was cooking up in her devious mind.

Now properly prepared for a swim, Diane dove into the pool to join the couple, spending a few seconds underwater before she surfaced next to them, a big grin on her beautiful face.

“I know I’ll sound like a broken record, but thank you so much, you two,” she gushed. “This already feels so much more fun than watching TV all by myself at home.”

Monica gave her friend a knowing smirk. “And I already told you, our door and pool are always open to dear friends,” she told Diane before her icy-blue eyes got an evil glint in them. “Now let’s have some fun!” She declared before proceeding to splash the blonde doctor, who squealed as she retaliated against her co-worker and Daniel got caught in the middle.

“Oh, you two are so gonna get it,” he said, a playful grin on his face.

---

Meanwhile, Grace sat on the spacious den at her house, completely mortified around her four friends. They were scattered across the three couches and five armchairs in front of a fireplace that had a big TV mounted on the wall above it. She felt completely uncomfortable, and she was grateful that none of them had touched the subject, but she could tell they were dying to. The girls had decided to show up a little earlier and hang out for a while before they had to study.

Glancing at Scarlett, she saw that the other blonde opened her mouth and closed it every time she looked at her, while Madison and Alice threw her confused stares every once in a while, and only Paris seemed to be acting normally, thought she could notice the blue-haired girl giving her strange looks every now and then.

“Alright,” she finally let out a sigh and turned to Scarlett. “Let’s hear it.”

“The fuck is that on you?!” The rocker girl blurted out, staring at her as if she had grown a second head. “Never thought I’d see you in a get-up like that.”

“Did you hit your head when you got out of bed today?” Madison threw the next question.

Alice frowned. “You have to admit it’s not like you at all, Grace.”

Paris shrugged her shoulders. “You look really good, though,” she said, and the others nodded in agreement.

The Smith girl let out another sigh and sank into the comfortable couch, thoroughly embarrassed in front of her friends, all thanks to her damn sister. “It’s all Pietra, okay?” She told them. “She wouldn’t fracking leave me alone until I wore… this, so I just let her do what she wanted.”

Earlier, once Pietra saw that Grace’s closet didn’t have any sexy clothes at all aside from a few cute skirts, she dragged her little sister to her own room and closet, and that was when Grace’s nightmare began. Pietra stripped her to her bra and panties and disappeared behind the legions of clothes for several moments. Grace was starting to feel cold there until her sister came back with a cute, cream-colored blouse, whose sleeves were cut just below her shoulders and the hem was just long enough to cover her navel. Her other hand, though, held a pair of black leather pants that Grace swore it felt all squishy on her body with how snug it felt on her legs and butt. A pair of high-heeled, open-toed black boots completed the outfit.

She protested until her throat hurt, but Pietra was having none of it, and Grace eventually conceded, if only to get her sister off her back. When she commented on the fact that the clothes seemed to be fitted more for her size than Pietra’s, the older Smith sister just grinned and said they were always meant for her, waiting for a chance when her little sister would accept suggestions on her wardrobe. Grace felt touched at that moment, but it didn’t change the fact that she also felt extremely uncomfortable in those clothes.

“What? She thought we’re gonna throw a party or something?” Scarlett laughed.

“Something like that,” Grace annoyingly confirmed, the leather pants making a squishy sound in the butt area when she moved.

“Is Pietra here?” Paris inquired with some interest in her voice. “I mean…,” she blushed. Pietra Smith was one of her celebrity crushes, she even had a poster of her friend’s sister taped to her wardrobe’s door, from a bikini photoshoot she did about a year ago, but she would never tell that to Grace. She had briefly talked to the older girl a few times on other visits, but Paris always cursed herself for how tongue-tied she got on those occasions.

“Damn, you just might have to open the door and kill the guys with that before they even enter,” Madison commented. She had put on a daring outfit her mother helped her choose, so she could try and get Zack’s attention, but Grace’s blew all of them out of the water.

She was wearing a dark red tank top, with a short, black skirt that reached her upper thighs, and a pair of black high-heeled sandals. Scarlett was wearing a black tank top with a red flannel shirt that she alternated between actually wearing it and tying it around her waist; she also wore a snug pair of jeans, black and ripped, and red sneakers on her feet. Alice had a dark green blouse with a simple pair of jeans on, while Paris had opted for a dark blue tank top and denim shorts.

Grace groaned. “Let’s just not talk about my clothes anymore, okay?”

“Okay…,” Madison hesitated a bit, staring at all her friends in turn before she cleared her throat. “There’s something that happened to me, and I wanted you all’s input on it.”

“Sounds important,” Paris remarked.

Madison blushed at the memory of what happened at the basketball court two days before, and since she was alone with all of her best friends, Maddie figured she could take advantage of that fact.

“Okay, remember how Troy taught me how to shoot a free-throw that other day?” She asked her friends.

Grace scoffed. “You mean how he rubbed himself all over you in front of everyone?”

“Wait!” Scarlett raised both eyebrows in complete and utter surprise at that. “When was this?”

“Two days ago, at the basketball court,” Alice supplied. “It was after you…, well, left,” she explained, referring to when customers started to arrive at Stereo Land and Grace ended the video-call that was showing Scarlett what was happening at the court.

“And no one saw it fit to inform me about this grand development in Maddie’s life?” Scarlett insisted, feigning a shocked, hurt look.

“I thought they wanted to forget about it, to be honest,” Paris answered. “But hey, Grace made her shot. Perfectly, I might add.”

“Paris’ cousin showed me how,” Grace explained at Scarlett’s even more surprised stare. “Without being a horny pervert.”

Scarlett sank into the armchair she was sitting on, fanning herself with a hand a bit before she stared off into the distance. “Huh, the kind of funny shit you broads get yourselves into when I’m not looking. Damn!”

“Can we get back to my problem now, please?!” Madison asked in a louder volume, annoyed at her friends for derailing the topic. Scarlett and Grace looked at her in mild shame, but she paid no mind, she wasn’t really angry at them. “Alright, after he was done, Troy asked me to text him if I wanted some more practice.”

“Why’d you want to learn that?” Grace inquired, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “You don’t want to play basketball. There isn’t even a female team in our school.”

“Oh, Gracie, Gracie, Gracie,” Scarlett laughed as she shook her head. “That wasn’t what Troy meant at all.”

“I figured as much,” Madison sighed, ignoring Grace’s inquisitive look.

“Oh, Maddie, what do you wanna do about it?” Alice gently asked, a sympathetic smile on her face.

Madison took a big breath. “I’m thinking about saying yes,” she admitted. “You know, see what happens and all that?”

“But what about Zack?” Paris blurted out. The strong crush Madison always had on her cousin had even gotten a member of their group booted out when she dared to get into a relationship with Zack, which caused the blue-haired girl to cast a discreet, worried look at Scarlett.

“I dunno,” Madison threw her arms up. “I think it can be practice for him, maybe. It’s the first time a guy seriously asked me out, knowing about my whole situation, and well… fuck, I don’t wanna wait forever!”

Grace rolled her eyes at her friends’ antics. “Can someone please tell me what the frack is going on?”

Scarlett giggled. “Troy asked Maddie out. Shooting hoops was just a sneaky way of putting it without actually saying the words.”

“Well, I’d say you should think very well about what you want to do next, Maddie,” Alice advised. “If you go with Troy and something happens, there’s no take-backsies, you’ll have to live with that decision.”

Paris nodded emphatically. “Totally! Say you…, I dunno, start dating Troy or something, and then Zack finally notices his cousin’s smoking hot friend,” she chuckled. “What will you do then?”

“Other than crawl into a hole and hope to die, you mean?” Madison replied with a lazy grin.

“I don’t see how this is an issue,” Grace chimed in. “You shouldn’t go out with Carter after what he did to you that other day.”

“Yeah, but maybe a guy getting handsy is what I want and need for my life, Grace,” the Cole girl reluctantly admitted. “Someone who’d just give zero fucks about my orc of a brother and show me what I’ve been missing!” Her words got a little more passionate as she went on. “Like I said, I can’t wait forever.”

Scarlett felt she had to keep her mouth shut at that moment. If Madison ever heard about her hook-ups with Zack and didn’t like it, it would look bad on her if she pushed her friend into dating another guy. She discreetly bit her bottom lip, recalling how Zack’s big fucking cock felt in her pussy and mouth. Coupled with the way he never bragged about himself when he had every reason to, damn, the guy made himself look extremely attractive to any girl with eyes, not just Madison. How else could she explain the way she kept coming back to tease him whenever they met?

“Just think about it before you do anything rash, Maddie, okay?” Paris pleaded with her friend. “I really think you and Zack could happen if he gets his head out of his ass.”

Madison gave her blue-haired friend a grateful smile, a big, violent war taking place in her mind at that very moment. It was like being at war against everything she believed about herself.

Alice then noticed the time on her phone on top of the coffee table. “Think they’re already coming? It’s almost the time I told Jake to be here.”

---

Across town, the sky had timidly started to darken over the Bishops’ backyard, causing the water in the pool to become a little bit cold for the women’s tastes. Monica, who had been enjoying watching her husband squirm, quickly had an idea to remedy that. Or torment him further.

“It’s getting chilly out here, how about we take this to the hot tub?” She proposed, looking back-and-forth between Daniel and Diane to gauge their reactions.

Daniel remained silent, wondering what his wife’s friend would say, and the blonde was quick to give her co-worker a soft frown. “I don’t know, Mon. It’s getting late and I don’t want to intrude any longer than I already did,” she said, and continued when Monica opened her mouth to protest. “I know you two said it was fine, but you probably want to enjoy your solitude in the house with Zack out. I just don’t wanna get in the way, that’s all.”

“Well, my stance hasn’t changed,” Monica said, nonplussed at her friend’s ****. “But maybe,” she turned to her husband. “We should let Daniel decide.”

Daniel stared at his sexy wife for a moment. He knew what she was doing, she was giving him control of every step from now on. If something indeed happened, it would be because he allowed it to happen. If he could be honest, he still wasn’t sure about going all the way and having a threesome, he didn’t even know if Diane would be up to it, but Daniel wasn’t ready to let the night end just yet. After getting teasing glimpses of both their perfect bikini bodies in the pool, he wanted the clearer picture that going to the hot tub would provide. Yes, Daniel was aware that he could have sex with Monica at any time, but this prospective scenario his wife concocted, it could very well end up being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“We’ve told you, Diane,” he finally nodded at the blonde with a smile. “Why fight boredom at your place when you can stay here with us?”

Diane actually let out a soft laugh. “What am I gonna do with you guys?” She inquired, clearly touched by her friends’ gesture.

“I can say ‘I told you so’ as many times as you want,” Monica teased.

“Did you remember to turn on the tub, though?” Daniel asked her. “You know it takes ages for that thing to warm up.”

“Please, honey, you know who you’re talking to, right?” Monica replied before she winked at him and then swam closer to Diane. “Wanna go test it out?”

Diane nodded and the two beauties climbed out of the pool, giving Daniel an awesome view of those two firm, round asses swaying as they walked over to the deck. He let out a groan at the way their bikini bodies looked. Even though he had seen Monica naked countless times, his dick throbbed at the sight of her sexy body next to Diane’s, who looked incredibly hot in her black bikini as well.

“Wait for me,” the man called out, figuring it was better to get into the tub before he sprouted a full erection, which would be impossible to hide from Diane.

Daniel waited for the two women to get in, getting another incredible view of their glistening asses as they stepped into the tub. Once he was in, Monica cuddled up to her husband, her hand finding his half-hard cock over his trunks and giving it a squeeze. Daniel had to stifle a grunt, so Diane, who was sitting directly across from them, wouldn’t realize what his wife was doing. The bubbles could only cover sights, after all, she was bound to suspect Monica’s moving arm.

Diane was ashamed to admit to herself, but she couldn’t believe how good Daniel looked. She knew he was handsome for a long time, but it had been a few years since she had seen the older man shirtless and showing his lean muscles like that, which caused her to feel a certain warmth simmering between her legs. What bothered her the most, though, was Monica. She wasn’t envying her best friend’s form or anything, it was how sexy she looked in that bikini, causing the blonde to question everything she knew about herself.

Her breasts look amazing and mine are definitely not small, she briefly checked her own deep cleavage when Monica leaned in to press a quick kiss on her husband’s lips. The fuck am I thinking? I’ve never been attracted to women in my entire life! It couldn’t be possible to suddenly get attracted to a woman she had been sharing a workspace with for several years. Right? She asked herself. She and her incredibly hot husband?

Monica was satisfied with how hard Daniel’s cock was getting under her stimulating fingertips, and if she was reading Diane’s slightly awkward behavior correctly, her plan was probably working on her co-worker as well. “Mmm, this is nice,” she let out a noise of satisfaction that sounded a lot like a moan, causing her husband’s dick to twitch and her friend to bite her bottom lip. “We should play a game,” she proposed. “I think it’d be fun to pass the time.”

“What kind of game?” Daniel inquired, getting a sexy smirk from his wife in response.

---

Meanwhile, Zack parked his car in front of the Smith House, with Chloe being his only passenger that evening. Paris had come earlier with Scarlett, while Gavin, after feeling completely overwhelmed and intimidated over the first studying session, decided to quit the group, and was now playing games with Josh and Ralph Griffin. It saddened Zack, just one more sign that his old friend was drifting away from them.

A chuckle coming from Chloe distracted him from those depressing thoughts. “What?” He asked with a curious smile.

“Well, could you ever have imagined yourself coming to Grace’s house for a sleepover?” The redhead asked, throwing him a teasing grin.

That wrenched a laugh out of him. “I know, right?” He returned the question to her. “I guess things are changing. It looks like Paris finally got to join her two groups together.”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe nodded with a big grin of her own. “The only thing that’s not changing anytime soon is us, I guess,” she said. “You better not leave me alone if you do another one of those shootarounds, okay? Paris told me what happened.”

Zack let out another laugh. “Don’t worry, Chlo, I’d never leave you,” he reached over to briefly squeeze her hand. “Although, if I’m not available, most of them are good guys. They’d protect you in my stead, oh, fair maiden.”

Chloe reached over and lightly slapped him in the arm, but there was an amused smile on her face. “I don’t need to be protected, I just don’t wanna be alone, that’s all.”

“Never, I promise,” Zack replied, smiling at his oldest friend. “Like you said, you and me, that’s the only thing that can’t change.”

At that moment, another car pulled over behind his and Zachary grinned as he recognized it. Apparently, Chloe did as well. “Is that Kevin’s car?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you he joined the study group,” Zack clarified. “C’mon, let’s go say hi.”

The best friends hopped out of Zack’s vehicle and headed over to the other car, waiting for its occupants to get out as well. On the times Zack had hung out with Kevin, Chloe was present for a few of those occasions and had struck some kind of rapport with the basketball player by proxy. He was one of the nice members of the team, that was for sure.

“Hey, you two,” Kevin grinned as he and Jake got out of the car. Since they were both going to the Smith House, the two boys had decided to go together and flipped a coin to see whose car they were going to take. It ended up being Kevin’s.

“Hi there, man,” Zack replied, shaking his friend’s hand.

“Nice to see you here, Kevin,” a smiling Chloe said as Zack went over to greet Jake.

“You too, Chloe,” the smile on Kevin’s face was bigger than the others’, he had enjoyed hanging out with the redhead in the past. A girl who was also an athlete was always fun to talk to in his opinion.

“Fancy neighborhood, huh?” Jake remarked, looking around after he greeted Chloe as well.

“You never been here?” Zack inquired with an eyebrow raised. “Not even with Alice?”

The light brown-haired boy shook his head. “Never, it seems Grace doesn’t like having her friends over too much from what Allie told me.”

“I’ve never been in a rich home like this,” Kevin said as the four of them stopped in front of the iron gates.

The Smith House was a big house, just like the other ones in that neighborhood, featuring tall outer walls, a big, spacious front lawn, and a two-story house larger than any of their own. It wasn’t a “Manor”, though. Quite possibly, the honor of being the only mansion in Azure Rocks belonged to Ravers Manor. Zack briefly wondered when the inevitable invitation for a tour would come from Heather, but he decided to push that thought aside for the time being as the iron gates swung open on its own.

“Guess they want us to come in,” Kevin said, naturally taking the front as Zack and Chloe followed him and Jake brought up the rear.

The four teenagers walked along the cobblestone path until reaching the front door of the Smith House. They glanced at each other, wondering who was going to knock, when Zack took a step forward and raised his hand. When he was about to touch the carved wooden door, though, it swung open to reveal the grinning face of none other than Scarlett Soren.

An involuntary grin reached Zack’s face. “Scarlett?”

The blonde raised a confused eyebrow at him. “Who’s this Scarlett you speak of? I am Ms. Sorenworth,” she said in somewhat of a British accent. “You must come in, please. Mistress Smith is expecting you.”

“Mistress?” Kevin asked, completely dumbfounded.

“C’mon, Scarlett, you had your fun. What’s going on?” Zack said as she ushered them in. Weird as it was, it was kind of fun seeing her like that too, his eyes quickly taking in the sight of her ass in the black jeans she was wearing.

“Ms. Sorenworth!” She suddenly exclaimed, sharply turning back to him. “I must insist that I don’t know this Scarlett,” she giggled. “Mistress neglected to tell me her friends were such comedians. May I take your coat?”

“Oh, I don’t know who’s the comedian around here,” Zack chuckled.

Chloe cocked her head to the side. “I don’t think housekeepers are supposed to dress like rockstars.”

Scarlett guffawed, unable to keep in character any longer. That was when Madison came forward from a side corridor into the large, neatly decorated front foyer, smiling at Zack as Alice, Paris, and finally Grace followed her. The boys’ eyes were instantly draw to her leather-covered legs, but they wisely chose not to comment on it.

“Excuse her, guys,” the tall brunette said. “The drama club is kinda short-handed, so I’ve asked Scarlett if she wanted to sign in and she insisted to greet you all like a British housekeeper,” she explained before turning to her blonde friend. “I’m impressed, Scarlett. You weren’t fazed at all by their surprise and kept in character longer than I thought you would, congrats.”

“Thank you, thank you, I know I’m awesome,” Scarlett bowed at her friends as Jake walked up to Alice and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Even Grace had an amused smile on her face, her gaze sweeping through every one of her guests for the night, it certainly was a large group. “Okay, everyone, let’s do what you all came here for, no?”

---

Back at the Bishops’, Monica had the three of them fire questions at each other, kind of like a game of Truth or Truth. It had to be like that, I Never was out since Daniel didn’t drink. However, from what she could see, all of them were comfortable enough for her to take things to the next level.

“We’re having fun, right?“ She asked her husband and her friend.

Daniel only nodded, while Diane gushed. “Totally! I definitely don’t regret letting you two talk me into this.”

“Well, maybe we should turn this into Truth or Dare, then,” she proposed, feeling Daniel’s fingers squeezing her upper thigh underwater.

Diane let out a laugh. “Kinda high school for us, isn’t it?”

“No one’s around to see us,” Monica retorted with a shrug. “I think we can allow ourselves to get silly for a night.”

“You’ll have to forgive my wife, Diane,” Daniel said, wrapping an arm around Monica’s shoulders. “Sometimes she thinks she’s back in her cheerleader sleepovers.”

“She does have a point, though,” the pediatrician said. “It’s important for one’s health to be silly every once in a while.”

“Oh, is that so?” Monica teased, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. You’re a doctor too, you know those things,” Diane confirmed with a playful nod. “So, I dare you to kiss your husband.”

“You know, that would be considered a lame dare in high school settings,” Daniel commented before Monica lightly swatted him in the arm.

“Shush, just play the game,” she smirked at him and then Daniel pulled his wife in for a kiss, their eyes immediately closing as they got into it.

Diane bit her bottom lip as she watched her friends passionately kissing in front of her. Definitely not the kind of kiss two adult people would share in public, judging by their dancing tongues and undulating bodies. She was willing to play along for the time being, but she also had to wonder where all that was going. The thought both scared and excited the 34-year-old woman.

Monica and Daniel broke the kiss and he cleared his throat, turning to Diane with a bit of an embarrassed look on his face while Monica gave the blonde a saucy grin. “What do you say? Dare completed?”

“Oh, yes,” Diane nodded. “You knocked it out of the park, Mon.”

“Good, because you’re next,” Monica winked. “Truth or dare, Diane?”

Diane stared at her friend for the next moment, she looked so… incredible with that sexy grin on her face. She couldn’t help but get swept away in those new urges bubbling inside her body, “You know what? Hit me up, dare,” she responded. “There’s been enough truths already tonight.”

The smirk on Monica’s face had even Daniel feeling a little bit scared as she leaned into the center of the tub and stared at her co-worker. “Stand up, bend over the edge of the tub, and shake your ass for us for thirty seconds.”

Daniel’s breath hitched as Diane gasped in shock. “Mon, maybe tone it…”

“I’ll do it,” Diane interrupted, a grin of her own forming on her lips. Having kind of idolized Monica since she met her for the first few times back when she moved to the cul-de-sac, Diane felt she should prove that she could play in the bigger leagues alongside the other doctor.

Fuck, Daniel thought, his wife’s hand finding his cock under the water and pumping it as Diane slowly rose to her feet, droplets of water cascading down her fit body while she turned her round ass to her friends. The firm cheeks were swallowing the bikini bottoms as she began shaking the tush, resting her hands on the edge of the tub.

“She’s so fucking sexy,” Monica whispered into her husband’s ear, leisurely stroking his long, hard cock to the sight. Daniel couldn’t believe their sweet, hot neighbor was presenting her butt for him and his wife like that, but he definitely wouldn’t complain. His cock certainly didn’t as Monica expertly stimulated it.

I bow down to her devious mind, I can’t believe this is happening.

About forty seconds later, an excited Diane turned back around and plopped on the tub again with a splash. She was very embarrassed, but the arousal countered it quite effectively and she was now more determined than ever to see where Monica intended to take that night. She was used to striking out with men, so if there was any chance that situation would end up in some hot, depraved sex, she absolutely had to take it.

“My turn,” she said, green eyes blazing as she didn’t even wait for the other two to acknowledge it. “I dare Monica to take off her top.”

Daniel’s heart started beating faster as he turned to his wife to find her blue eyes flashing with arousal as well. “Mmm, great, you’re getting into the spirit of the game,” Monica said, taking her hand off her husband’s shaft and reaching to the back of her neck to untie the blue bikini top. The bubbles prevented her breasts from being revealed, though, frustrating her husband’s (and a bit of Diane’s) expectations. Before her friend could say anything, she struck, waddling to the center of the tub. “Same dare, Diane,” she gave the blonde a challenging grin.

Diane wasn’t about to feel intimidated now. Approaching her friend, she also kept her chest under the bubbles and quickly removed her black bikini top, grinning at Monica as she did so. Daniel felt his dick throbbing underwater, knowing those two gorgeous women were topless right in front of him but he couldn’t see anything due to the bubbles, which increased his frustration.

“Alright, then I dare you….”

“I dare both of you to rise above the water line and kiss each other,” Daniel firmly said, interrupting Diane and causing the two women to turn back to him. He didn’t flinch, keeping up a small grin as he stared expectantly at them.

Monica felt a surge of arousal deep inside her pussy at her husband’s assertiveness. That was something she knew he was capable of but rarely did, maybe because he knew it turned her on so damn much and he wanted to drive her crazy. The Ravers in him, she thought, letting out a mewling noise as she turned to Diane and cocked her head to the side, as if she was asking what her friend wanted to do.

It was the moment of truth for Diane, she could either run home with her tail between her legs or give in to her newfound attraction to her best friend and said friend’s husband and let them guide her throughout the night. Breathing heavily, she made her decision and closed the remaining distance toward Monica, their big breasts mashing together as she planted her lips on the brunette’s.

Monica kissed back, her arms wrapping around the waist of the woman with whom she shared a clinic, the mother of one of her son’s closest friends. Their tits pressed closer together as the women surrendered to that moment. Diane had never kissed another woman, ever, but she thought that Monica was one hell of a first sapphic kiss, as she was the most stunning woman the blonde knew. It was soft and alluring, a departure of every kiss she had experienced over the years.

Remembering the first half of her husband’s dare, Monica pulled Diane up without breaking the kiss when her neighbor’s arms encircled her neck. The two pairs of breasts were finally exposed for Daniel to see and he had to wrap his hand around his cock to pump it when he noticed the women’s nipples rubbing against each other. Diane’s tits were gorgeous, just a little bit smaller than Monica’s large ones, with light brown nipples erect and dueling his wife’s larger pink ones.

“That’s it… amazing,” Daniel commented, grinning as his eyes traveled all over their bodies and he kept pumping his big cock. It was Diane Westher, their neighbor and Monica’s co-worker there, but he couldn’t help but let his mind flash back to that one time back in college when Monica was kissing their old friend, Angela Foster, and the night held all kinds of festivities for all three of them.

A few moments later, Monica broke the kiss and saucily grinned at Diane, who had her mouth gaped and her eyes semi-closed. The blonde was still in the process of fully comprehending what had just happened to her.

Am I really about to have a threesome with my friend and her husband? What am I doing?

Her answer came when Monica took her hand. “I’ve got an idea, do you trust me?” She asked the younger woman.

Diane frantically nodded. “I do, Mon. Fully.”

“I’m glad,” Monica smiled and then let go of Diane to waddle back to her husband. “C’mon, sit on the edge, Danny,” she said, urging him up.

The confidence in himself and his wife now in high levels, Daniel only grinned and stood up, revealing his long, thick, and hard cock, which wrangled a shocked gasp from Diane.

“Jesus, I never knew they could be so big and I’m a doctor,” she said, eyes glued to the cock just a few feet from her. “A doctor for kids, but still…”

“Alright, you show-off, sit,” Monica grinned in amusement, pointing at the edge of the tub.

“I just love when you get all bossy like that,” Daniel replied as he did as he was told. “See? He likes it too.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” the sexy brunette doctor bantered back as she sank to her knees in front of her husband, her face now level with his rather impressive dick.

Daniel and Monica shared a loving smile moments before she gripped his shaft and enveloped the tip with her warm mouth, causing him to briefly throw his head back with a hiss as his hand rested on the top of his wife’s head. Diane licked her lips as she watched Monica starting to bob her head up and down on the dick, her own fingers finding her pussy under the water to rub it at the sight.

“Fuck, Mon,” Daniel whispered, his eyes locking with Monica’s as she sucked his cock as expertly as she always did, her big tits grazing his thighs as she moved. His gaze then moved to Diane and his shaft throbbed in his wife’s mouth at the sight of the sexy blonde wantonly touching herself, earning a smile from him. The bubbles were covering it from sight, but the motions of her arms were unmistakable, one was stimulating her pussy as the other groped her own tits.

Monica pulled back with a hard suck and grinned as she swirled her tongue around Daniel’s cockhead. She was acutely aware that Chloe’s bedroom at the McRoses’ house was the one with a view to their backyard, but since the half of the deck where the hot tub was located had its own roof, and the kids weren’t even there that night, she wasn’t worried about potentially being seen by her son, niece, and their friends. Which was why she also had no qualms about craning her neck back toward Diane as her hand kept pumping her husband’s dick.

“C’mon, help me with this, Di,” she said with an encouraging grin.

Diane’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but she was fired up enough for the initial hesitation to fail in stopping her as she waddled closer to her friends and smiled at the grin Monica was still giving her. The brunette then pulled her in for another heated kiss that had Daniel groaning in satisfaction. It had been a long time since he saw Monica kissing another woman, so every single one of those kisses were affecting him more than it normally would.

As soon as their lips separated with a smacking noise, Monica winked at Diane. “Get his balls, sexy,” she instructed before inhaling her husband’s cock again. Diane watched it with bated breath for a couple of seconds before she looked up at Daniel’s handsome face and he gave her a nod of encouragement. That was all she needed to lean in and duck her head a little bit under Monica’s, extending her tongue to lap at Daniel’s sack.

“Holy… fucking shit,” Daniel grunted, looking down to see two pairs of eyes tending to his cock, blue and green. The former sucking his shaft up and down as the latter drew a ball into its owner’s mouth. It actually made him wonder how many men had wandered into their clinic and wished they could be in this exact same position with the two gorgeous doctors.

Monica then pulled back and guided Diane’s head to her previous spot so she could take Daniel’s cock into her mouth, causing him to let out a moan of pleasure at the sight. Diane sucked the hard cock up and down vigorously, getting bolder at each bob of her head. It was the first time she had a penis in her mouth ever since David died, as the few guys she got involved with in the subsequent years were anything but creative.

“Dammit, Diane, what a… mouth,” Daniel groaned, reaching down to thread his fingers in her blonde hair as Monica grinned and alternated between sucking his balls and nibbling on the base of his shaft.

Diane moaned around the cock when she felt Monica’s fingers reaching down to play with her needy pussy. That caused her to release the dick and then the brunette attacked one side of it before the blonde recovered and attached her lips to the other side.

“Girls, you’re gonna kill me, fuck…,” Daniel said, watching his wife and her friend nibbling and sucking his long cock from each side, occasionally kissing each other with his cockhead in the middle. Even with the lively sex life he enjoyed with Monica, it was impossible for him to withstand that dual stimulation for long and his cock was soon pulsing with pleasure, sandwiched by those two soft, warm mouths. “Shit, I’m gonna cum, Mon. You two get ready!”

Monica’s pussy heated up at the thought of pumping Daniel all over Diane’s face, but she had a better idea to conclude the first act of the night. She pulled back a little bit and guided her husband’s cock into the blonde’s mouth. Diane quickly understood it and accepted the gift, sucking hard on the older man’s cock once again. “C’mon, Danny,” Monica gave him a naughty, provoking look. “Fill up Diane’s mouth, give her your hot cum.”

Daniel looked at Diane’s almost innocent expression as she worked on coaxing all the cum from his cock, in tandem with Monica’s sultry stare as she gently squeezed his balls, and he finally lost it. A roar escaping his mouth, his cock twitched and began unloading jets and ropes of his white hot cum into the blonde’s eager mouth. Diane’s body trembled as she felt her mouth slowly filling with the sticky substance, moments before Monica pulled her back and smashed her lips on hers, Daniel’s final ropes hitting the side of their faces and arms.

“Fuck…,” he croaked out, watching as his wife and her friend shared his cum, their tongues sticky with the seed.

Once both of them had swallowed a portion of the cum, Monica smiled brightly at Diane. “So, how was it? Enjoyed yourself?”

Diane let out an amused chuckle. “Yes, I did. Thanks, Monica. It had been…a while since I ate cum like this,” she admitted with a faint blush before her face took on somewhat of a bashful expression. “I hope that’s not where we stop.”

“Oh, no, where’d you get that impression?” Monica laughed. “I can assure you this night is far from over, my dear.”

“Definitely,” Daniel nodded, his semi-hard dick ready for another round. “But for the next phase, we need to get inside. It’s gonna be way better in a bed.”

---

The three adults quickly dried themselves, picked up their discarded swimwear, and turned off everything that needed turning off in the backyard before they went into the house. Daniel locked the back door and followed the women, catching up with them in the stairs leading to the second floor of the house. They were still wearing their bikini bottoms, but he strongly suspected those would come off really soon.

Monica led Diane to the master room, a place the latter had only been to a few times ever since meeting her friend for the first time years ago, as there never had been a real reason for her to be there. Now though, she was about to have a threesome with Monica and Daniel Bishop, her friends and neighbors, parents of her son’s best friend, as wild and crazy as that sounded.

This IS fucking crazy!

Inside the room, Monica took Daniel’s right hand in her left and Diane’s left hand in her right before making them face each other. “I wanna see you two together.”

Daniel's dick was well on its way to fully hardening again at Monica's request and the lustful look in Diane's green eyes once he turned to her. She looked exquisite, fit and voluptuous at the same time, her big tits still firm and perky. Diane didn't need to be told twice, she wrapped her hand around his thick cock and tugged him closer to her, turning to Monica at the last second.

"You sure about this?”

“Dead sure,” Monica said, raising a challenging eyebrow as she laid back on the bed behind her.

Daniel appreciated the sight of his wife’s naked body sprawled on the bed for a moment as Diane slowly stroked his cock to full hardness. He then turned to the blonde and gave her a lopsided grin before leaning in for a kiss. Diane kissed him back hungrily, her arms wrapping around his neck as his hands went straight to her firm, toned ass. He deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue into her mouth and pulled her up, the blonde doctor squealing into the kiss as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Walking over to the bed, Daniel never broke the liplock as he gently laid the younger woman beside his wife. Spreading her legs, Diane let him nestle himself between them as their tongues did a sexy dance inside her mouth. Soon enough, though, air became a necessity and Daniel broke the kiss.

“Tell me what you want, Diane,” he told her, breathing heavily as his blue eyes locked on her green ones. From his peripheral vision, he noticed that Monica had gotten rid of the bottoms and her right hand was busy pistoning two fingers in and out of her pussy.

“Oh, gooosh, fuck me!” The sexy doctor pleaded, her blonde hair spread like a halo on the pillow. “Stick that big fucking cock in me and screw me hard, Daniel! Please!”

Daniel spared a brief look toward Monica and his wife returned it with an amused, aroused grin, Diane’s wanton chants only spurring her on to fingerfuck herself harder. Smirking, he redirected all his attention to the hot blonde in front of him and the first thing he did was to divest her of the last piece of clothing in her toned body, the black bikini bottoms. Diane’s pussy, unlike Monica’s, was shaved completely bare, and he touched the reddened slit to find it totally drenched with arousal.

“Damn, you’re so fucking wet,” he said, causing Diane to let out a loud moan when his fingertips rubbed it up and down for a few moments. His heart beating madly at the thought that he was about to have sex with another woman other than his wife for the first time in eighteen years, he took a hold of his hard cock and lined its tip up with Diane’s entrance, the blonde breathing heavily as she watched it with wide eyes. Unable to wait any longer, Daniel slowly pressed in, his cock opening up Diane’s incredibly wet and slick walls.

“Oh, fuuuuck!” The blonde moaned loudly at the intense pleasure. It was mixed with a little bit of pain, as she had never been so stretched by a dick before. “It’s… sooo biiig!!!”

“I know, right?” Monica appeared at her right side and grinned before leaning for a kiss that Diane readily accepted.

Spurred on by the incredibly arousing sight of his wife and her friend making out, Daniel pulled back and thrust hard into the blonde, causing her to scream into Monica’s mouth. The brunette reached down to cup one of her friend’s big tits as Daniel began to fuck her in earnest, the free tit bouncing mesmerizingly for him to enjoy.

“And you’re so amazingly tight,” he said, scooping up her fit legs and spreading them in the air. “Are all the single men in this town idiots or something?”

Monica broke the kiss and flashed him an approving smile. Diane continuously moaned at the thrusts and the feeling of that big dick sliding in and out of her pussy. “Ooohh… fuuck, yeesss!” She screamed. “Yesss! My luck h-has…beeen q-quite shitty… ugh… so faaar! Fuck yes, right theeere!”

“Well, you’ll find someone, don’t worry,” Monica said, nibbling on her friend’s neck as she pinched her hard nipples. “In the meantime, you’re welcome to join us anytime you want,” she gave her husband a naughty grin before slithering down to capture Diane’s right tit into her mouth.

Daniel’s eyes widened at the offer his wife made, his cock throbbing deep inside Diane’s pussy as he quickened his pace, fucking the blonde with quick, deep thrusts that had her moaning loudly as she clutched Monica’s head to her chest. He let Diane’s legs rest on his shoulders and powered into her, grunting as her tight, velvety cunt caressed and squeezed his thick shaft.

“Mmmm, yeesss…,” Monica gasped, releasing Diane’s nipple when her husband’s fingers found her pussy and slid inside. She kneaded her friend’s tits and felt Daniel’s other hand joining hers, giving the blonde’s left breast a nice squeeze that had her squealing louder on his cock.

“You two look so hot like this,” Daniel grunted, plowing Diane with all his might knowing that his beloved wife would be next. He loved Monica with all his heart, but damn if it wasn’t tremendously hot to see Diane’s athletic body jerking back and forth at every thrust of his cock, loud sexy moans escaping her mouth that he provoked with all the might of his fucking.

“Fucking fuck me!” Diane couldn’t help but scream, her tits bouncing as Monica caressed them. “Break me open, stretch me with that freaking big cock, Daniel!”

“Damn, this is so sexy,” Monica said, pulling her friend in for another kiss, knowing Daniel would get off on seeing their tongues dancing as he pounded the blonde. A few moments later, she pulled back and grinned at her moaning friend. “Tell me, Di. Are you a squirter?”

“Shiiit! I t-think so… ughh!” Diane replied amidst moans and grunts. “A-at least I… oh, fuck… I w-was back with… D-david!”

The brunette doctor smirked at that answer and turned to Daniel. She moved to a kneeling position and pulled him for a kiss that was supposed to be brief, but Daniel’s arousal prolonged it as husband and wife passionately made out as he fucked their friend. At last, Monica broke the kiss and put the smirk back on. “Let’s switch for a bit, I wanna see if my skills are still good.”

Daniel grinned at the mental picture she painted and pulled away, slipping his cock out of Diane, who groaned at the loss of that thick column of flesh filling her up. She didn’t have time to recover, though, for when she looked down, Monica was kneeling and settling between her legs. “Oh, fuck, Mon? You’re gonna…?”

Monica nodded with a smile. “Yes, Di, I’m gonna eat your little pussy until you scream my name,” she declared, causing the blonde to let out a big whimper of pleasure when her tongue touched the wet slit. Monica didn’t want Daniel’s efforts to go in vain, so she went right back to work, flicking her tongue all over Diane’s slit and clit, getting familiarized with the act of licking a pussy once more. Her last time had been with Angela in college eighteen years ago, after all.

“Shit, Mon! Your tongue…,” Diane moaned, clutching the sheet as she let the onslaught of her co-worker’s tongue sweep her into a new world of pleasure. Monica was definitely licking her out better than any man ever did. “Oooh, gooosh!!!”

Daniel stroked his cock as he watched his wife eat out her friend, their glorious naked bodies like a fine painting on the bed. Shifting his gaze away from Diane, he caught sight of his wife’s upturned ass and a surge of love filled his being at the familiar sight. However, an exquisitely hot idea to punish his wife for how naughty she had been so far that night popped up in his mind. Busy as they were, neither of the girls noticed when he walked over to Monica’s nightstand and pulled from the drawer a tube that was familiar for him and his wife when she was feeling kinkier than usual. Squirting a copious amount of lube all over his cock, he pumped it until the gel left it greased enough for what he intended to do. Daniel doubted that Monica would see it as punishment, but he figured it was the thought that counted.

“Don’t mind me,” he playfully told the women and then kneeled behind his wife’s work-of-art butt, lining up the tip of his cock with her asshole.

Monica’s eyes widened as she briefly paused feasting on Diane’s honey pot. “You naughty genius,” she looked at her husband behind her shoulder with a lustful expression in her blue eyes. “Do it, break my ass open with your monster cock.”

“Is he…,” Diane stared at her best friend’s expression between her legs. Monica’s could only be described as one of painful delight if such a thing existed. “Fucking your ass?”

“Oh, you c-can bet he is,” Monica grunted, feeling her puckered hole slowly relaxing and giving passage to her husband’s wonderful dick. “His cock is taking my poor asshole.”

“Does it… hurt?” Lust flashed behind Diane’s green eyes as she asked that. “I’ve never had the chance to do it.”

“A little, but it can feel amazing if you know what you’re doing,” Monica replied before smirking up at the blonde. “Wanna try it?”

Diane bit her bottom lip, hating how David’s **** and her inability to properly connect to other men had left her a bit inexperienced in some areas of sex. “Maybe another time,” she finally replied as a confident smile returned to her face. “Now, I believe someone was curious to see if I can squirt or not.”

“Ooh, someone’s feeling bossy,” Monica teased before she lowered her mouth to Diane’s pussy once more, never breaking eye-contact. The blonde doctor’s body jerked when she felt her friend’s tongue sliding into her pussy for the first time.

“Holy fuuuck, that feels good!!!” She reached down to thread her fingers in Monica’s dark locks, throwing her own head back in pleasure.

Daniel groaned at the mind-shattering sensation of Monica’s asshole yielding to his invading cock. They practiced anal sex kind of regularly, but for some magical reason, his wife managed to keep her backdoor as tight as any anal virgin, perhaps even more so. Grasping her hips, he started a slow thrusting movement, letting her hole get used to the new invasion.

Monica moaned into Diane’s pussy, her tightest hole stretching to accept her husband’s cock. She started bucking her hips against him, hoping that he assfucked her faster, and that was what Daniel did when he sensed that Monica wanted it. He thrust faster into her rear passage, groaning and throwing his head back at the sheer pleasure of it. Meanwhile, Diane could only let out a chain of incoherent moans and screams as Monica went to town on her pussy, her best friend definitely knew what she was doing down there.

The brunette doctor came up for a brief moment to get some air and screamed loudly. “That’s it, Danny, pound my fucking ass!” She demanded, fingerblasting Diane’s cunt as her husband’s cock jackhammered in and out of her asshole. “Break me open while I make our friend squirt all over my face.”

Daniel almost saw stars at the lewd way Monica was acting with Diane. Even if he was the only one who had orgasmed back at the hot tub, his wife’s ass was dangerously close to getting him off again. “Then eat her out, show her what you’re capable of, Mon!”

Diane thought she was about to pass out at the onslaught of Monica’s tongue, she brought her hands up to her own tits and roughly squeezed the soft globes in an attempt of adding to her pleasure. “That’s it, Monica! Stick that tongue in me and make me cum,” she pleaded. “I don’t know how long I can hold back!”

Monica wrangled her head away from her friend’s crotch with a crazed look on her face as she fingered the pussy her tongue had just been in. “Let it out, Di! Don’t hold back!” She ordered. “Squirt it all over me!”

A series of moans, grunts, and screams were the only sounds heard in the master room for the next few moments as Diane’s body went still and her pussy gushed a torrent of juices all over Monica’s face, who reveled in making another woman cum once more after so many years, her tongue catching as much of the sweet juice as she could. Daniel couldn’t withstand the arousing sight, and combined with the tightness of his wife’s asshole, he roared and his cock began spurting jets after jets of cum deep into Monica’s bowels as a shockwave traveled through his entire body.

The last one standing, Monica felt her own orgasm coming quickly as she began rubbing her vacant pussy. Making Diane cum and having her Daniel’s cock lodged deep inside her backdoor were too much for the sexy doctor. “Fuck me a little longer, Danny!” She pleaded. “Just a little longer, I’m so fucking close!”

Feeling his dick on the verge of softening, Daniel **** himself to give a few quick thrusts into his wife’s ass, fighting against the natural exhaustion after having climaxed twice. “Fuck, Mon, I… can’t,” he finally gave up, but just as he pulled out, Monica’s fingers did the trick and she screamed loudly, so much that both Daniel and Diane were afraid the neighbors would listen to her. Her entire body felt like she was having a seizure as the orgasmed ravaged it.

“I’M CUUUMMIING!!!”

That was the cue for the three adults to collapse on the bed, stamina almost completely depleted after such a heavy physical effort. Daniel fell behind Monica as she rolled to her side next to Diane, the trio breathing heavily in the afterglow of their orgasms. No one said anything for close to a minute, until a soft chuckle broke the silence. The chuckle soon multiplied and shortly after, Diane Westher was laughing on their friends’ bed.

“God! I can’t believe we did this.”

Her face full of female cum, Monica lazily smiled at her co-worker, her husband’s arm wrapping around her waist as she let her index finger do slow circular patterns on Diane’s leg. “You can't say it wasn’t fun, though.”

Diane returned the smile, feeling closer to her best friend than ever. “It was way more than fun, it was hot as fuck.”

Daniel let out a soft laugh behind Monica. “And we meant what we said, you’re welcome to join us any time you want,” he said, pulling his wife closer to him. “Didn’t we?”

“Oh, we sure did,” Monica replied, playfully rubbing her butt on his spent cock. “My horny Danny.”

Diane grinned at them in return. “Thanks, guys,” she pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and looked at the ceiling. “I should go home now, though. Gavin’s gonna be back from Louise’s in the morning before he goes to school, and… I still don’t want questions.”

“Zack’s gonna come home too,” Daniel said, linking his fingers with Monica’s as he wondered how his son was faring at the Smiths’.

“You two are right, but…,” Monica paused, a sultry look taking over her beautiful features. “It’s still kinda early, we can have some more fun.”

Diane laughed again and Daniel squeezed his wife’s hand. “You’ll learn my wife is quite the insatiable one, Diane,” he said, also looking forward to sinking his cock into the blonde’s mouth and pussy again, maybe being the one to take her asshole for the first time as Monica suggested. “I need some water before I can go for another round, though,” he told them, jumping off the bed. “Who wants some?”

---

At Smith House, the study group session was slowly coming to an end in the den Grace had brought them to study, the flames burning at the fireplace making for a nice, pleasant ambient noise as they discussed the several school subjects. Zack was pleased to see that it had gone much more smoothly than the first session, his fears over Grace creating difficulties proving to be unfounded as their hostess participated more actively in engaging with everyone, especially in the subjects that were her specialty.

The hard part about it for the boys was to concentrate with her wearing those snug leather pants that emphasized her round ass. Whenever they managed to look away from it, a squishy noise reminded them about how sexy it was on the girl that had never worn something even remotely like that in her entire life. Not that they had seen it, that is. Zack and Kevin even exchanged a look about it that ended up with both boys shrugging at each other.

Speaking about Kevin, the basketball player fit in seamlessly as well. He was knowledgeable enough at school and Zack doubted that he knew a more friendly guy than Kevin Jackson. He could make everyone he met feel comfortable and valued in a conversation, attentively listening and providing insightful commentary when prompted. It made Zachary regret not making a bigger effort to really befriend the small forward of the basketball team the times they spent together.

“Please, tell me this is the last one,” Scarlett pleaded as she glanced at Grace and Alice in turn. “I don’t think I can take any more stuff tonight, my head feels about to burst open.”

Alice smiled at her friend. “You just don’t give yourself the credit,” she said. “You’ve been keeping up just fine so far.”

Chloe let out a chuckle. “You guys are great going over it with us. If only all of our teachers were like that.”

“All our teachers are good with their subjects, especially Ms. Moreau,” Madison nodded. “But I agree some of them look like they could get better at passing that knowledge to us.”

“Ward!” Scarlett faked a cough that sounded suspiciously like their Chemistry teacher’s last name, causing a few laughs to break out amongst the teenagers.

“Are we seriously talking about our teachers after all this studying?” Paris inquired, nervously shifting her gaze to the corridor leading to the den, as she had occasionally done the entire night. She wasn’t sure if she wanted Pietra Smith to show up there or not. Probably not if she was going to get tongue-tied in front of her crush, the blue-haired girl decided.

“So, what now?” Jake leaned back on the couch, one arm around Alice’s waist as she put her school stuff away.

“We still got a couple of hours,” Kevin commented.

“You kids need to be in bed before midnight or something?” Scarlett teased, addressing the three boys in the room.

Jake chuckled. “Not really, but even when it’s not basketball season, we gotta keep the same sleeping hours,” Jake explained, and Kevin nodded in agreement.

“We try to, at least,” the other athlete added.

Alice squeezed her boyfriend’s arm around her. “Well, we girls were talking about a movie earlier,” she told them. “Should be finished before your bedtime.” Jake let out another chuckle at his girlfriend’s dig.

“Which one you all picked?” Zack curiously asked.

Madison grinned. “We didn’t decide yet, but I can vibe with any movie,” she said, ever the resident actress in the group.

“We’ve looked at a list of new ones that were supposed to come out this weekend,” Chloe said, nodding at Zack.

“Oh, found any good ones?” Kevin asked, to which the redhead smiled in confirmation.

Grace sighed and stood up. “Be that as it may, we gotta change first, I can’t take this fracking squishing anymore,” she complained, awkwardly moving her legs in the leather pants her sister had gifted her. “The boys need to know where they’re gonna sleep too, so, c’mon. We’ll talk about this movie later.”

Zack, Kevin, and Jake eyed each other, but decided to not comment on it as they started gathering up their school stuff to follow their blonde hostess across the large house.

---

The boys ended up together in a guest bedroom with three single beds on the second floor of the house. While there were enough rooms for each of her guests to get an exclusive one, Grace explained that her parents had allowed the use of only one wing of the house for the guests, and not to use the extra guest rooms near the family bedrooms. So, the girls got an exclusive room each, and the boys had to share a room amongst themselves.

The three of them had already changed into their sleeping clothes for the night. Zack was wearing a black t-shirt with dark blue shorts, Kevin chose a white wife beater and red shorts, while Jake opted for a light gray t-shirt and lime green shorts.

“You and Chloe found some good movies, then?” Kevin asked as he and Zack waited for Jake to come back from the bathroom.

The Bishop boy chuckled. “A few,” he shrugged. “Not as many as Chloe would have you believe, though.”

“I hope they don’t choose some romcom chick flick,” Kevin said with a grin. “I enjoy me some romance as much as the next guy, but in movies, naaah.”

“Well, the girls usually like that stuff, so maybe you should buckle up for it already, man,” Zack snickered at the other boy’s expense.

“Speaking of girls, what was that on Grace, dude?” Kevin asked, letting out a whistle of appreciation. “Did you get a good look at her ass in those pants?”

“Oh, I did,” Zack answered, unsure of what else he could have said. Having only Gavin as a male friend in his teenage years had left him seriously uneducated in how guy talks were supposed to go. “She looked really good in it,” he added, because indeed, Grace’s round butt looked insanely sexy squeezed into those snug leather pants.

“Just good? That ass looked fantastic in leather, bro,” Kevin laughed. “I sure wish she wore stuff like that to school, she’d give your cousin a run for her money, that’s for sure.”

Then it was Zack’s turn to laugh. If there was one universal truth in Azure Rocks High about girls, it was the one that Heather Ravers was the most desired babe there since Hannah Woodsen. Zachary had to agree, even if she was his cousin and he preferred Victoria Walker.

“Your words, man,” he held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m not talking about my cousin.”

Kevin chuckled. “Fair enough, bro,” he nodded and then leaned back on the headboard of his bed. “So, you’ve been hanging out with these girls an awful lot lately, Zack. You already got your eye on one of them or something?”

Zack had to cough, suddenly feeling his mouth drying up. “Uhn…,” he stammered, his mind filling with flashes of fucking Scarlett at the Sapphire Ball and her sucking him off in the bathroom at Paris’ house, giving Madison a ride to the grocery store, teaching Grace how to perform a free-throw, and even Chloe’s foot brushing against his erection the week before, something that seemed like it happened a lifetime ago after everything else he experienced since the ball. “Not really…,” his brain course-corrected to images of Victoria. “I… guess?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kevin grinned. “Hey, bro, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, but call me curious. Did you ever do it with Lisa when you dated her?”

Zack frowned in confusion at first, but a moment later it dawned on him what the other boy meant. “Oooh, no! We didn’t do it, haven’t got the chance before we broke up,” he explained before letting an opening for another question slip. “Not with Lisa, no.”

The grin on Kevin’s face widened and it looked like it was about to split in two. “Ohhh, Zack Bishop, you dog! So it wasn’t with Lisa, but someone else, then?” He had been meaning to ask Zack about Chloe, and if she was interested in anyone. So, besides learning about his friend’s exploits, it could be useful to know if there was anything deeper going on between the best friends, in which case he would certainly back off.

Zack’s eyes widened when he realized his blunder, causing him to let out a long sigh. Now he would have to say something, and he definitely wasn’t the type to fuck and tell, it sounded so disrespectful to the girl. Still, he was amongst boys now. Friends, he corrected himself. Perhaps there wouldn’t be any harm in telling Kevin, and Jake, if the latter came out of the bathroom. They were okay in his opinion.

“Alright,” he said, lifting up his chin and locking gazes with Kevin. “It was Scarlett. The Sapphire Ball and again during the week at my cousin’s house.”

Kevin nodded appreciatively at the other boy, impressed at him. “Damn, Zack! Scarlett?”

“What? You fucked Scarlett?” Jake asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, a look of complete surprise on his face. He knew that his girlfriend’s sexy friend was coveted a lot by guys, but he was only aware of Liam and Luke Olsen getting anywhere with the blonde.

Zack sighed again. “Yeah, I did,” he tiredly admitted. “Please, don’t tell anyone,” he didn’t want those exploits to become public knowledge, mostly in respect to Scarlett, but that information couldn’t reach Victoria’s ears as well. It could mess up his chances with his fellow Scout member.

“Damn, I still remember when Liam hooked up with her last year,” Jake said, plopping down on his bed.

“Got Troy pissed as fuck,” Kevin chuckled and then turned back to Zachary. “So, you did it twice with Scarlett, then. Looking to turn it into something more, maybe?”

“You mean date her? N…,” Zack paused himself before an answer could roll out. He certainly had a lot of fun with Scarlett and her teasing, she was beautiful and extremely sexy, but to actually date her…, no, it was probably too much to consider. I wouldn’t be able to handle someone like her, he told himself, but it was too late to stop his brain from conjuring that fantasy of Scarlett and Madison in skimpy bikinis leaning on his car. Though this time, Scarlett was by herself, lying topless on the hood of his car and wiggling her right index finger back-and-forth, beckoning him to her like a sexy rockstar singing her bewitching siren’s song. Maybe that’s why her last name is Soren? Zack wondered and then suddenly shook his head. “Yeah, probably not,” he **** himself to answer and get rid of that fantasy.

Jake teasingly smiled. “Took too long to answer that one, my friend.”

“Uhn…,” Zack nervously laughed, he was beginning to feel uncomfortable at being put on the spot like that, so he had to come up with a way to divert the attention from him. “What about you and Alice, Jake? You guys look really serious.”

He actually envied the silly smile on the light brown-haired boy’s face at the mention of his girlfriend. “Yeah, I told myself it was stupid to let myself think like this before I even got to college, but…,” he let out a chuckle. “I think she might be the one, guys.”

“Good for you, bro. Don’t try to fight it, it is what it is,” Kevin told his teammate with a big grin on his face. He had heard what Paul and Troy said about his best friend’s relationship, though. That after nine months, Jake still hadn’t gotten Alice to have sex with him, and that made him wonder if everything was truly okay.

Zack had to smile to himself as he watched his two newish friends. Even if it had been uncomfortable to him at times, it felt really good being able to talk about guy stuff like a normal teenage boy, something that he sadly had never been able to do with Gavin. I can balance different groups. If Chloe and Paris can do it, then I definitely can too! He told himself while glancing at his phone. “Hey, guys, maybe we should go to the theater room? The girls are probably waiting for us already.”

Kevin chuckled. “Oh, Zack, you had a girl as best friend for years and never learned that they always take longer getting ready?”

Zack laughed, recalling a few times he had to wait for Chloe and Paris, even Taylor and his mother. “Yeah, you’ve got a point there, man.”

“He’s right, though,” Jake stood up, eager to see Alice to find out what she would be wearing. “We should go.”

The trio then left the guest room and trudged to a room Grace had shown them earlier, the place she instructed the three of them to go after they got ready. The theater room, right in the middle section of the second floor, was a room designed for a family to watch stuff, obviously. There were three comfortable couches that could fit three people each, positioned in a semi-circle, with a fluffy white rug in the middle that looked amazing to lie down if someone thought it seemed better than the couches. A big TV was mounted on the opposite wall, almost taking up that whole space, while a large cupboard and a mini-fridge occupied the left wall. Windows covered by curtains made up the wall on the right side of the room.

“Shit, this place is bigger than my room,” Kevin muttered.

Jake let out a soft chuckle, patting his friend in the back. “Having a girlfriend who’s friends with Grace Smith sometimes nets you benefits like this.”

“Damn,” the black-haired boy laughed. “You hear that, Zack? You better lock down Scarlett fast, bro,” he said, making Zachary roll his eyes. “Between you two, we’ll always be here enjoying this.”

“Maybe we should find you one too,” Jake shot back, smirking at the grin on Kevin’s face. He knew that his friend enjoyed his occasional hook-ups, but the truth was that he wanted a girlfriend to call his as well.

“They’re here!” A female voice spoke, making the three boys turn to the door to see Chloe looking at someone outside the room.

The redhead was wearing a long, black t-shirt that reached the middle of her thighs, leaving most of her athletic legs bare. Zack and Jake only gave it cursory glances, but Kevin found himself staring at those milky thighs, wishing the shirt was just a couple of inches higher.

How did Zack manage to stay best friends with her for years and never make a damn move? He wondered in awe, gaining a newfound respect for the blue-eyed boy.

Following Chloe, Grace and Scarlett also stepped into the room, the latter causing Zack’s heart to beat faster as he recalled their time together at the Sapphire Ball. Grace was wearing a simple gray t-shirt with a very short pair of shorts in a green color, which basically left the entirety of her toned legs on display for the boys’ awkward, discreet gazes. It was fleeting, as none of them wanted to be caught at it and provoke their host’s fury. Scarlett, though, she looked ravishing.

“Bishop! We’re matching!” The blonde teased, pointing at his shorts and then at the silk slip she had on, which was of the same dark blue color. He couldn’t help but let his eyes rove over her fantastic body, the deep cleavage peeking out of the low-cut top and how much of her fit legs the short hem left on display.

“Yeah, what a…, uhn…, coincidence,” he nervously laughed. That sexy outfit really resembled her Sapphire Ball dress as well, albeit in a different shade of blue, causing his cock to stir at the vivid memories it brought. Sliding himself in and out of her warm, wet pussy as they watched Hannah fucking Andrew Nordstein had been one hell of a first time for him.

“Alright, now let’s decide what we’ll be watching,” Grace said, crossing her arms.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” Chloe inquired with a raised eyebrow.

The green-eyed blonde shrugged. “Not really, the less people to chime in, the faster we can pick something,” she explained. “They won’t get to change our minds too.”

Damn, the three boys and Chloe thought in unison. Jake had some idea, but the other three didn’t know exactly how ruthless Grace Smith actually was.

“I’ve got a suggestion, actually,” Scarlett said, prompting Grace to give her a skeptical look. “No, it’s a solid one, I promise,” she rolled her eyes with an annoyed expression that quickly shifted into a grin. “So, what about we watch that new movie everyone’s talking about, Secrets of the Locker Room 2? It’s supposed to be really great!”

Kevin and Jake exchanged worried glances, but it was Zack who actually spoke up, having watched the first movie. “Isn’t the Secrets franchise supposed to be po… ouch…!!!”

Scarlett pulled back her foot from discreetly kicking the boy in his leg. “Possibly great! Yes, Zack, thank you for clarifying it!” She said with an exaggerated smile, trying to quickly change the subject. “You won’t regret it, guys, the first one was awesome!”

“Huh, I’ve never heard of it,” Grace said, tapping the fingers of her left hand on her right arm. “But if it has secrets in the title, might be good enough for me,” she added with a shrug of her shoulders. “Fine with you all?”

Kevin and Jake shut their mouths and nodded, the former eager to watch that movie with a bunch of girls and the latter feeling just about the same, only with his girlfriend in mind. They had watched the first movie too, an old production from the early 90s that remained famous amidst teenage boys for years.

Chloe was another person who had watched the first movie, way too many times if she had to be honest, so she had no idea how those people were going to react to the borderline explicit sex scenes that would surely come. Being relatively new to that group, she decided to keep quiet about it, though. Maybe it was something they enjoyed; she didn’t know. What made the athletic ginger really nervous was that no one was aware of the fact that she was addicted to watching porn, not even Zack. That thought made her feel **** and anxious, her toes clenching on the fluffy rug as she imagined everyone noticing her hand between her legs and making fun of her for it.

“Fine, I guess,” Zack nodded. If Grace wanted to take Scarlett at her word, then he supposed it would be fun to watch her reaction when the movie started getting steamy. He only hoped she wouldn’t find a way to pin the blame on him. Hell, do I wanna watch a softcore porn movie with this many people? He hesitantly asked himself right before a chuckle threatened to escape. Guess it’ll be fun just for the reactions. Perhaps that’s what Scarlett’s going for, he guessed, noticing the gleeful grin decorating the blonde’s pretty features.

“Hey, babe,” Alice said as she walked into the room, making a beeline for her boyfriend.

“Hey, you,” a grinning Jake wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned down to give her a peck on the lips, slowly appreciating her outfit while at it. A green t-shirt with a white pair of shorts that left her toned legs on display. It would be incredibly hard to keep his hands off her during the movie.

“Have you all decided about the movie?” Alice curiously inquired.

“Yup,” Grace replied. “It’s…”

“Hold on! Wait for us!” Paris called out from the corridor before she and Madison barreled into the theater room, the two last ones to finish getting ready.

“Did they pick one?” Madison asked, smiling at Zack, but she pouted when noticing he wasn’t looking at her in that moment.

Paris was wearing a blue tank top with white shorts, attracting quite a bit of attention for the toned, shapely contours of her body, while Madison, wanting to attract Zack’s attention, had opted for a red t-shirt, just long enough to hide a pair of white sports panties, and knee-high black socks, the latter item making her long legs look even longer. Since Zack was chatting with Chloe, though, Kevin was the one who appreciated it the most, with even Jake throwing a few discreet glances her way.

“Just in time,” Grace wryly responded. “As I was telling Alice, Scarlett’s suggestion was Secrets of the Locker Room 2. Any objections?”

Scarlett smirked. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“Oh, cool,” Madison chimed in. “I’ve always wanted to see the first one, but Dad never let me. Which, of course, makes me want to see it even more.”

“Don’t we need to watch the first one to get the second?” Paris asked, crossing her arms.

“Supposedly not,” Kevin was the one who answered.

“Yeah, it only takes place in the same universe,” Chloe added without thinking, causing everyone that knew anything about the first movie to look at her with surprise written over their faces. The redhead realized it and her eyes widened in shame before a blush spread over her freckled cheeks under Kevin’s intense, appreciative gaze.

“It’s decided, then,” Grace quickly announced before a new discussion could begin, unknowingly saving Chloe from the curious gazes she was receiving, specially from Zack. “Take a seat wherever you want and let’s watch this damn thing.”

She turned to go look for the remote, giving everyone a delightful view of how the bottom of her asscheeks were peeking out of her shorts, the boys and Paris swallowing hard at the sight. It was now safe to say Chloe’s near slip had definitely been forgotten in favor of a new fact.

---

Despite Grace’s apparent hurry to start the movie, Paris ended up asking if they were going to have some popcorn, which prompted the Smith girl to grab her blue-haired friend and Madison to accompany her to the kitchen and make some for everyone.

Zack studied the room after the three girls rushed past him and noticed some of the others were already choosing their seats as Grace had ordered them to. Alice and Jake got a few blankets from one of the cupboards and dropped the pile near the couches, so the ones who wanted it could pick one for themselves. The couple then proceeded to fill two of the seats in the middle couch. Kevin stretched himself out across the left one, and Chloe and Scarlett sat on the one to the right, leaving an empty spot between them. Quickly debating between that vacant seat and making himself comfortable on the rug, Zachary soon made his choice and joined the girls after picking up a blanket.

“Oh, hey,” Scarlett grinned as he plopped down between them. “Nice choice, Bishop, these couches are comfy as fuck.”

Chloe let out a chuckle, relieved at her best friend’s proximity even though she was still nervous about people knowing that she had watched the first Secrets movie. “I think so too.”

Zack smiled at the redhead in response. He wanted to be near her, even though it meant getting distracted by being closer to Scarlett and all her sexiness. “Well, I hope the movie is good, at least, or it won’t matter if we’re comfortable or not.”

Scarlett groaned. “Shit, you’re right,” she nodded, recalling the many times she couldn’t focus watching movies in the cinema at the Steeltown Mall because the seats were too rigid and uncomfortable. She gave Grace grief about it a few times, as her family had constructed the mall in a partnership with the Cullens. Her friend would always roll her eyes and say the stores in the mall weren’t her family’s responsibility.

“Are we watching it with the lights on?” Kevin asked from his own couch.

“You can turn it off if you want,” Jake replied as Alice nestled herself under his arm. “But I’d wait for the girls to come back. Grace might yell at you.”

Alice couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, she totally would, you know?” She asked Kevin in a mock-threatening tone.

Kevin briefly frowned and shook his head. “Never mind, then,” he mumbled and pulled the blanket higher on his chest.

Back on their couch, Scarlett was fiddling with her phone as they waited for her friends to return and Zack, as hard as he tried, couldn’t help but sneak glances at the blonde’s large cleavage every now and then. He hadn’t seen her breasts when they fucked during the Sapphire Ball as she had kept her dress on, and there simply had been no time for that when she blew him in Paris’ bathroom, which was making the Bishop boy quite curious about it as his cock stirred again. He wondered about how her nipples and areolas would look, what color they would be, and if her whole tit would look as big and full as it seemed to be right now, covered by the fabric of her slip. The way her nipples were poking through it, Zack almost thought she was doing it on purpose to tease him. If that was the case, she really was one hell of an actress, tapping on her phone with a straight face as she willed her peaks to harden, just so she could provoke the boy next to her.

Zack suddenly felt a hand gently, yet firmly, pulling him in the other direction until his nose almost crashed into Chloe’s. “Something you wanna tell me?” He heard her whispering into his ear.

“What do you mean?” He whispered back, an eyebrow raised as he stared inquisitively at her.

Chloe glanced at Scarlett over his head, briefly widening her eyes to indicate the blonde. When Zachary still didn’t seem to understand, she rolled her eyes and moved her mouth to his ear, so she could whisper more effectively. “Why are you gawking at Scarlett Soren so damn much?”

It was his own eyes’ turn to widen at that question. Zack realized he had never told Chloe about what happened between him and Scarlett, and that made him want to shove his head into a hole in the ground to hide his shame. Their friendship had always been the closest one, there had never been secrets between them, or at least he liked to think so.

“Well, let’s just say you missed a few things,” he limited himself to whisper. “I’ll tell you later, okay? I promise.”

“Huh,” Chloe nodded, a suspicious look on her face before she noticed her best friend glancing at their couch mate again and a teasing grin formed on her freckled face. “You sure you don’t need to take care of something before the movie starts…, Mr. Hard On?” She chuckled while whispering the question, mirth dancing behind her blue eyes. “I mean, seems to be that kind of movie.”

Zack rolled his eyes, wishing she hadn’t brought that up again. “You’re still on that, huh?” He said, recalling the incident a bit more than a week ago, when he was interrupted during a jerk off session by a message from Ashley that he felt the need to discuss with Chloe right away, and his best friend ended up feeling that he was hard when her foot brushed against his dick.

Chloe softly laughed, carefully so the others wouldn’t hear it. “You can’t tell me it isn’t funny.”

He wouldn’t exactly call it funny, but it was nice to see Chloe could joke about matters like that when she was with him. “I guess,” he finally replied.

On his couch, Kevin glanced at them and frowned once he saw that Chloe had covered herself with the blanket, as he was rather enjoying the sight of her athletic legs on display. At that moment, Grace, Paris, and Madison burst into the room carrying three large bowls filled to the brim with popcorn.

“Alright, who wants popcorn!?” Paris animatedly announced, holding her bowl high above her head like a trophy. “We’ve got traditional, buttery, and chocolate!”

Zack looked at Chloe and Scarlett in turn, silently asking if they wanted some, but neither of them did, shaking their heads at the offer. “We’re cool here,” he told his cousin, who nodded at him.

Madison didn’t hear what the others said, as she was too busy glaring at Chloe and Scarlett flanking Zack on that couch. She had gone to the trouble of picking a sexier outfit than she had even worn in front of a guy, so she could entice Zack to keep his eyes on her for the entire movie, maybe even sneak some fun under the blanket if she was feeling bold, but now those two stole the only possible spots where she could make it happen. Fuck, I gotta make Scarlett get the hell out of there! Unglue your fucking eyes from that damn phone!

“You coming, Madison?” Grace asked once she didn’t move from the door.

“Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, jeez,” she sighed, closing the door and walking deeper into the room, only to notice in great annoyance that Paris had beaten her to the next best option, the rug right in front of Zack’s couch.

She could have stretched herself out in front of him and she knew her crush wouldn’t have another choice than to ogle her toned body the entire night, but now Paris had taken that spot, and Grace had picked a spot in the middle, which left Madison with only three choices. Sit next to Jake and Alice, the one she promptly denied, unwilling to become a third wheel. Scoot next to Kevin in his couch or lie down in front of his couch on the rug, the option she ended up picking. Throwing Scarlett one last look, the brunette gritted her teeth at seeing her friend was still on the phone, so she picked up a blanket and covered herself from head to toe, much to Kevin’s chagrin, who was expecting to have that finely-sculpted show next to him for the whole movie.

Well, maybe she ends up feeling hot under that blanket. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit with the scorcher we’re watching, he thought while Madison invented creative ways of ejecting Scarlett from that couch in her mind.

While they waited for Grace and Paris to start the movie, Jake pulled Alice even closer to him under the blanket and pressed his lips to her temple, his arms tightening around her waist. “Mmm, I love your outfit, baby,” he whispered to her, causing the brunette to hum in satisfaction, nuzzling against his neck.

“Yeah? Isn’t it too… I don’t know…, revealing?” She hesitantly inquired, voice muffled by his shirt.

“Baby, you’re hardly the most underdressed here,” he replied, gently lifting her chin with a finger, so he could stare into her beautiful green eyes. “I loved it, it’s just… you.”

Alice beamed at her boyfriend for the compliment, happily allowing him to lean in and plant his lips on hers, initiating a loving kiss. His right hand felt her waist up and down, her skin warming up his palm as she lazily threw her left leg above both of his. The couple was besotted with each other, the kiss deepening just a little bit when the tip of their tongues touched one another.

The purr that escaped Alice’s throat made Jake’s dick twitch in desire for his girlfriend. She was so fucking cute and hot at the same time, it was incredibly difficult for the young basketball player to not think about her that way all the time. His hand snaked down to her back and cupped her firm ass, eliciting a low moan from the brunette. Aside from this kind of loving interaction, the most they ever did was some groping of each other’s private parts and plenty of grinding, which almost never failed in bringing the couple to a crashing orgasm.

Troy and Paul sometimes made fun of him for never ever fucking Alice in the nearly nine months they had been together, but the way she looked so petite and adorable, it always halted his urges when the thought of fucking her crossed his mind. For someone who had plenty of experience before the relationship, it could be maddening at times, but Jake simply couldn’t bring himself to doing it. The replacer had always been to jerk off hard thinking about her, or even her fooling around with her friends when he was horny enough. Oddly enough, he would always picture her alone or engaging in some exclusively girl-on-girl fun with her friends; he never inserted himself in the fantasy, for reasons he was never able to understand. It just felt hotter to him, somehow.

Sometimes, Alice was the one who tried to initiate things, but just like her boyfriend, she always chickened out before it could get too steamy.

Jake let the lust for his girlfriend get the best of him and the hand squeezing her ass slowly returned to her waist before his fingers started to dip underneath the waistband of her shorts. As soon as he felt the silky texture of her panties, Alice broke the kiss and gave him an apologetic smile that they both knew all too well.

“Sorry, Jay,” she softly whispered, lovingly looking up at him as he pulled the daring hand off her shorts.

He smiled back and pressed his lips to her forehead before staring down at her lovely features. “You’ll never have to apologize to me, Allie,” he told her, a lopsided grin forming at his face. “I told you many times before. Whenever you want, I’ll be here, not a moment sooner nor later.”

Alice had to stop her eyes from watering at how understanding her boyfriend had always been ever since they started dating. She gave him another loving smile and nestled her head on his shoulder, waiting for her friends to start the movie. As she reached for the bowl of buttery popcorn at the empty seat to her left, she wondered for the umpteenth why she just didn’t bite the bullet and give in to the urges Jake stirred deep within her.

Ever since she started high school, her mother had cautioned her about getting in too deep with a boy and forget to use protection for sex. Even though Alice was still a virgin, she had been put into birth control pills to avoid a pregnancy, as her mother, Lydia Phillips, knew how serious her daughter was about Jake. Both her mother and grandfather didn’t want her to repeat Lydia’s moment of weakness and get pregnant in a way that prevented her from realizing her full potential at college. Alice fiercely loved them for bravely raising her and going above their means to give her the best opportunities they could. That was the reason why they never let her help at her grandfather’s bar as well, as it had been exactly there, after a one-night stand, that Lydia had gotten pregnant with her. Their words always echoed in her brain whenever she and Jake were about to get hot and heavy.

I won’t disappoint you, Grandpa, she silently vowed, hugging Jake’s arm tighter to her body. I’ll be the best journalist this town has ever seen and make you proud of me, Mom.

Noticing Paris and Grace seemed about ready to finally select the movie, Zack also saw that Scarlett was still glued to her phone. “Uhn…, Scarlett, you’re not gonna watch the movie?” He queried. “You suggested it.”

The rocker girl turned off the screen and faced him with a teasing grin. “You know why I suggested that movie, right, Zack?”

He felt the skin on his cheeks flushing under the intensity of her blue gaze coupled with that suggestive smirk. “Well, maybe,” he replied, trying to change the subject before she raised a challenging eyebrow. “Okay, just some idea…, t-that’s all.”

“Bullshit, you tried to tell Grace it was porn,” Scarlett playfully whispered to him and then let out an amused chuckle, his gaze unwittingly lowering to the enticing cleavage her silk slip created. “Looks like someone has been a naughty boy, huh? Watching pornos in his room at night, hidden in the darkness.”

Zack frowned at her. “I don’t need hiding to watch porn,” he defended himself, nearly spluttering in the process. He remembered quite vividly one of the most embarrassing moments of his teenage life, when his mother had given permission to watch porn in the house a couple of years ago, as long as he wore headphones and hung a sock on his door, so there wouldn’t be a risk of someone walking on him with a hand wrapped around his bare dick.

Scarlett tried to stifle the teasing laughter that threatened to escape. “And I’m thanking my lucky stars you don’t,” her whispering dropped a few volumes and became huskier. “How’d you have gotten as fucking good as you were at the ball if you did?”

Now Zack’s cheeks matched the red in Chloe’s hair, his cock throbbing as he remembered how tight the blonde’s pussy had felt around it, how warm her mouth had been in his cousin’s bathroom. “Dammit, Scarlett…,” he said, his icy-blue eyes staring at her own twin ocean-blue pools before flickering down to her soft, moist lips, recalling the kiss they shared at the ball and how fucking exhilarating it felt at the time.

“What?” She whispered back, lips morphing into the most teasing grin he had ever seen on someone. Why does making him flush always feels so freaking fun?

“You three,” Paris called out from the floor. She didn’t know which ones were mumbling like crazy near her, but she decided to just generalize and call out all three of them. “Whatever it is that’s making you whisper back there, leave it for later. Movie is starting now,” she informed them just as Grace selected it with the remote.

“Sorry, Par,” Chloe told her before she cast Zack and Scarlett a suspicious look, her couch mates having turned to the TV as if nothing had happened. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but it was throwing her for a loop, Zack had never been friends with Scarlett Soren and just a few times they hung out weren’t likely to have brought such a dramatic change. Well, he did tell her at the Sapphire Ball that Scarlett wanted to fuck him, which made her raise an eyebrow.

Unless… no, he would’ve told me. Well, he did say I’ve missed stuff, she mentally rambled as the movie opening went on. Her eyes widened as the conclusion hit her like a ton of bricks. Damn, she fits his type, a blonde. More like Hannah and Jennifer than Victoria, though, the redhead thought as a soft chuckle escaped before she could stop it. Oh, you better be ready for her, buddy. Shit, Zack fooling around with a rockstar, how cool is that?

Unwittingly, the thought made her gaze shift to Kevin’s muscled chest as the blanket slipped down his body, slowly and tantalizingly, causing her own milky skin to flush just like Zack’s a few moments ago. Fucking shit, Chloe, control yourself, dammit! She admonished herself as she squeezed her legs together under the blanket that was covering Scarlett, Zack, and herself.

---

The bunch of teenagers shut up when the large screen finally came to life with Secrets of the Locker Room 2. The movie had barely started when a young blonde girl was shown walking through what seemed to be a school at night, curiously looking around as she crossed the hallways and corridors.

“Why do these movies always start like this?” Jake asked.

“She’s probably looking for something,” Zack supplied.

“Or someone,” Scarlett jested.

“Shhhh!” Madison insisted before stuffing her mouth with the buttery popcorn Grace had positioned between the two of them. She just wasn’t in the mood to listen to Scarlett’s voice at that moment.

The teens then watched as the blonde girl met up with a janitor in a deserted classroom and they began arguing before the whole mood shifted and a kiss happened, causing Zack, Grace, and Paris to groan in annoyance as the others perked up. The dark-haired boy didn’t want a sex scene so soon, as it gave him the impression of a bad story, while his cousin preferred to avoid watching a sex scene between a woman and a man.

“Ugh… tell me when it’s over, please,” the blue-haired girl pulled the blanket all the way over her face.

Grace snapped her head to the right and glared at Scarlett over the lump that currently made up for Paris’ body. “Why should I’ve known about this, Scarlett?” She inquired through gritted teeth. “Is there any plot to this at all?”

“Just watch the movie, Gracie, you’ll like it,” the rocker girl replied before pointing at the screen. “Oh, that looks fun!”

Chloe had her eyes fixed on the screen as the muscular janitor quickly stripped off the young blonde, exposing her breasts and ass to the camera before he started taking off his clothes as well. Heat began simmering between the ginger’s legs, pursing her lips to try and fight off the arousal she felt when the characters clashed together on the screen. Her gaze briefly shifted over to Zack right next to her and she grinned at seeing that his eyes were glued to the screen as well. “You’re gonna make it?” She whispered, as a way of trying to distract herself.

Zachary could indeed feel his own dick stirring when the janitor groped the pretty blonde’s body all over, the movie using clever camera angles to avoid showing her pussy and his dick. He gave his best friend an annoyed look at her playful question. "Yeah, Chloe, I will. Don't worry about it," he replied and then, out of reflex, glanced at Scarlett, who was looking at him with a teasing smirk. He stifled a gasp, staring into her oceanic eyes while a sex scene was going on in the movie probably wasn't such a good idea, so he quickly jerked his head back forward.

While Grace huffed in annoyance and Jake squeezed Alice’s hand tighter under their blanket, Madison crossed her arms, angrily chewing on a handful of popcorn as she was unable to enjoy the impending sex scene. Kevin, even though he was interested in what happened between the actors, couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe’s face. It was the only part of her above the blanket, but the arousal on her expression was obvious to the basketball player, his cock hardening as he studied her flushed cheeks and half-lidded eyes.

She looks so damn hot, he thought, having fantasized about the athletic redhead a few times over the past few weeks. Lift up that blanket, Chloe, just a little bit, please?

In the movie, the janitor had just pushed the blonde girl to her knees, and judging by the motions the actors made, the scene was supposed to imply she was giving him a blowjob. A desk was blocking her entire body from view, except the top of her head, which was bobbing back and forth on the guy's crotch.

"Alright, that’s fracking disgusting!" Grace complained, earning a groan of disgust from Paris, coming from underneath her blanket.

“Then don’t look,” Madison mumbled, her anger already spreading to everyone in the room by now, as frustrated as she was.

"Damn, I can kinda hear smacking noises," Kevin said and the blue-haired girl on the rug almost retched in her hiding spot.

Jake swallowed hard and his dick stiffened painfully in his shorts at the sexy scene playing out on the screen. His left hand, with Alice’s right one in its grasp, unconsciously moved closer to his crotch, making his girlfriend’s heart skip a bit as she bit her bottom lip. Feeling worked up due to the movie already, the brunette glanced up at her boyfriend, and seeing his gaze glued to the screen, she took a deep breath and said nothing, turning back to the movie as well as her conflicted heart began beating harder in her chest.

Chloe's right leg twitched under the blanket and she tried to rub her thighs together to quench the unwanted feelings coursing through her young body at that moment. She didn't want to slip her hand down there when her best friend was right next to her, after all. Still, if the movie was starting with the actress basically giving her co-star a blowjob, then she and her friends were in for a wild ride, and Chloe wasn't sure if she would be able to hold herself back for the whole movie. It was nearly unbearable already and they were only in the first scene.

Another dick was rising over the bold blowjob scene, and that belonged to Zack, the young man wishing he could adjust his legs just a little bit, but given the fact he was sitting in the middle of two girls, he figured it was simply impossible to do it without drawing attention to his predicament. Shit, how did we get talked into this? He sarcastically asked himself, recalling just who had suggested the movie in the first place.

Slowly glancing to his right, he could see Scarlett with a shit-eating grin on her face as she let her gaze sweep over the room until it landed on him. The playfulness on her demeanor increased once she saw he was staring at her, and the way her lips curled up sent a jolt all the way to his rigid dick. “Does that…,” she purred while leaning closer to him. “Remind you of anything?”

Zack knew what she was talking about, and as his eyes soaked in the view of her sexy cleavage, his brain was instantly assaulted by memories of that grinning mouth wrapped around his cock in Paris’ bathroom, her head bobbing up and down while his cousin struggled not to look at them. It was a knee-jerk reaction that **** Zack to glance at the lump of covers cowering from the scene on the TV before he turned back at Scarlett. He was nearly powerless to stifle the groan that threatened to escape at the beautiful sight, but he instantly pulled himself together as best as he could, narrowing his eyes for a brief second.

“Should it?” He replied, his uncle’s advice to always be confident repeating like a mantra in his head. “Sounds like it rings a bell to you, though. You’re the one mentioning it.”

Scarlett’s grin turned into a knowing smirk, it amused her so much making Zack Bishop flush. It was like taking a bite of her favorite sweet, it was addicting. “Maybe I did, but I’m still willing to bet you’re fucking hard for it right now,” she purringly whispered, each of her words sending a shiver down his spine. “Am I right, Zack?”

Swallowing hard, he stared deeply into her ocean-blue eyes, cock throbbing in his shorts. “Like you’re not soaking wet too,” he fired back, breathing hard as he experienced that exchange.

“Oh, I am, but at least I’m honest about it,” the blonde purred back at him, reaching over to trace his arm with her right index finger. “Raise your left leg.”

He raised a confused eyebrow instead. “What? My leg?” He queried, goosebumps raising along the trail her finger made. “Why?”

Scarlett only gave him another teasing grin. “Well, you want Chloe to know what we’re doing?”

Zack was about to ask her what she was talking about when he felt the same hand that was touching his arm slipping under the blanket and making a quick path toward his crotch, forcing him to suck up a breath and instantly raise his left leg as she had instructed. The fuck, Scarlett?! He tried to warn her, but as it turned out, it only happened in his head. In all honesty, Zachary had no intention of stopping her hand as she reached into his shorts and encircled his hard, throbbing erection, making it twitch in her grasp. Ooohh, fuuck…

“Mmm, Zacky, so big and hard, just as I thought,” she said, using the nickname Hannah Woodsen had given Heather Ravers permission to use that night at the Cobalt Convention Center. The rocker girl felt her pussy clenching in unison with his pulsing cock, leisurely pumping it as Zack bit the inside of his cheeks to stifle the incoming groans.

He couldn’t believe she had the gall to try and fool around with all those other people in the same room. Her close friends were almost in hearing-range, and of course, his own best friend sitting right next to him, sharing the same blanket. It was risky and naughty, but glancing at her gorgeous features framed by that golden curtain of hair, oceanic eyes staring right back at him as she stroked his cock, Zack found out he liked the thrill. It made his chest heave and he twitched in her hand, a sensation akin to feeling alive for the very first time in his life.

“F-fuck, what are you doing?” His rational mind made him whisper, though, voice breaking at a few moments from the sensation of that soft hand around his shaft, delightfully moving up and down.

“Just making this movie even more fun for us. Now just watch,” she casually chided him, lightly tightening her grasp on his cock. “Again, want Chloe to see you?”

Risking a look at his best friend, Zack noticed she seemed to be engrossed in the movie, and then he quickly averted his gaze, unwilling to be staring at Chloe while another girl expertly pleasured his dick. Shit, where did I get myself into? Zachary tiredly asked himself, stuck between a rock and a hard place on that couch as he tried to distract his thoughts with the movie.

Suddenly, the janitor pulled the blonde girl up and bent her over the desk before taking his position behind her. The boys noticed the drool around her lips and their respective eyes widened.

Fuck, she was really sucking him off, the notion making Jake’s dick twitch under his shorts, Alice’s hand dangerously close to it. Still, having it in his grasp meant that he was in control of whatever happened from now, and that had him torn between following her pace as he always did or pulling it the rest of the way to his cock for the first time in their relationship. Alice was breathing heavily, her thighs squeezing together as she clenched her fingers around the blanket, the movie now just an excuse to look forward as she expectantly waited to see what her boyfriend would do. The brunette wasn’t sure if she would have the willpower to deny him again if he decided to play with her.

Chloe bit her bottom lip when the man began thrusting into the blonde actress, prompting her to start letting out delightful moans as her face contorted in pleasure. Well, they’re really good actors, if that counts for anything right now, she tried a stray thought to distract herself from how horny she was getting, unaware that every time she blushed or her teeth captured her bottom lip, Kevin was intently watching her from across the room, a hand beneath his blanket as the athletic boy lazily rubbed the growing bulge in his shorts.

"Are they doing it?" Paris' muffled voice asked from under the blanket. She didn't dare to peek, afraid she could end up seeing something she didn't want to.

"Camera angles again, you can come out," Madison told her, but Paris didn't budge.

Grace scoffed, glaring at the screen. She couldn’t understand why her friends could be that horny, or why women could ever want to be so submissive for men as the young character in the movie was acting, bent over in front of that guy. Grace wasn’t a robot, she felt the need to touch herself every now and then, but never over something so vulgar as porn. This movie better be going somewhere after this scene or Scarlett will regret it! She gritted her teeth, clenching her fingers at the debauchery playing out in the TV.

Zack struggled to really watch the movie with a hand other than his own around his dick. It was like he was looking at sexy girls on the internet and someone else was jerking him off, as he had seen that actress in other movies and thought she was really hot. How the hell that director convince those actors to fuck for real in his movies? Zack wondered. Now that he had first-hand experience at sex thanks to the girl stroking him off, he knew there was no way that scene was all about camera angles, the actor’s cock truly was buried in the actress’ cunt. A moan died at his throat just before he could release it when Scarlett twisted her grip around his shaft and used her thumb to play with his tip. Shit, she’s so freaking good at this!

Almost the entire scene was filmed from the front, focusing on the girl's expression of pure pleasure as she moaned, and sometimes it moved to a diagonal position to showcase both actors' bodies. Though a shot from behind the man was shown a few rare times, focusing on his flexing ass as he "pretended" to thrust into the girl. Zack was expecting their combined juices to drip on the floor any second now, but it really looked like the production team wanted to avoid giving any hints as to what was going on between the actors.

Shifting his gaze to his left side as the fucking and moaning in the movie got kind of stale to his tastes in comparison to what was going on between his legs, Zack was amazed at the intense look on Chloe’s face, the clear-blue eyes reflecting the action on the screen as she lightly bit her moist, rosy lips. It was the same look she got whenever she was on the soccer field tearing through her opponents’ defense and scoring one of her countless goals. It was always quite impressive watching her play so passionately.

Damn, a voice that he soon realized to be his own echoed in his mind, but just as that thought crossed his mind, another expert flick of Scarlett’s thumb on his cockhead made him let out a low groan, the raised leg unconsciously lowering to reveal his crotch area.

A startled gasp coming from his left made Zack snap his head back to Chloe, his best friend now staring wide-eyed at the moving lump on his lap. His own eyes almost bugged out of his skull at the very second. Even for an inexperienced girl such as Chloe, she had watched enough porn to know without a doubt what was happening right in front of her. Scarlett grinned like a madwoman when she noticed the two best friends staring at each other, the pace in her stroking slowing down as she waited to see what was going to happen.

For Zack and Chloe, it was like a defining moment in their longstanding friendship, several words and none at all exchanged in that stare at the same time, the moans and slapping noises coming from the TV now completely forgotten by the two teens. Wordlessly, a trembling Chloe couldn’t take it anymore, even it that boy was almost like a brother to her, she had to get herself off, so she slightly lifted the blanket and let Zachary see she was reaching a hand under her long t-shirt.

His cock unwittingly throbbed in Scarlett’s hand, a silent groan escaping Zack’s lips at witnessing Chloe in such a revealing state, and those two signs were like the password for Scarlett to resume her stroking of the blue-eyed boy’s long, thick cock as he watched his old friend unraveling herself in front of him. Shit, this is even better than that lame movie! She bit her bottom lip, squeezing her legs together in an attempt to sate her soaked pussy.

Kevin couldn’t believe how sexy Chloe looked from across the room, the expression of pleasure on her face sending jolts to his own cock, forcing the small forward of the basketball team to reach into his shorts to play with his own pulsing member. He could see that Scarlett was doing to something to Zack’s dick as well, and that was the likely reason for Chloe’s current state. Lucky man! Way to go, dude! He silently cheered on his friend, his gaze briefly catching Scarlett’s toned leg sticking from under the blanket before he redirected all his attention to Chloe.

In the middle couch, Jake seemed unwilling to take the final leap and bring Alice’s hand fully onto his hard cock, which was almost frustrating the lovely brunette as his fingers held her in a tighter grip than ever. The brazen pounding occurring in the movie was getting to her by now, her cheeks flushed as her mind threatened to conjure images of herself and Jake in the same position, maybe in a classroom, the school’s locker room, or even the Speedy Scout office.

Down on the rug, things were pretty much the same across the three girls. Paris was still hiding under the covers, while Grace had turned to Madison, angry at Scarlett for her movie of choice, but she couldn’t help but take a quick peek every now and then to sate her curiosity as she waited for the scene to be over. Madison, who acknowledged she would likely be rubbing herself at that insanely hot scene under different circumstances, was also furious at Scarlett and unable to enjoy the movie. She refused to even look at the couch and see Zack sitting between her friend and his own best friend, the spots that were supposed to be hers.

Fucking dammit! The tall brunette mentally cursed the two girls. Even though Chloe had no idea she had feelings for Zack, Madison couldn’t help but lump her together with Scarlett as the harbinger of her doom.

As for Zack, Scarlett and Chloe, there was no need for words or even visual stimulation. The blanket hid everything from their eyes, but the vivid imagination in those young teenagers’ minds more than made up for it. Chloe let out a low moan when two of her fingers slipped under her cotton panties and made contact with her slick pussy. Zack’s breath hitched, not just for the insanely erotic noise that came out from his best friend’s mouth, but Scarlett’s soft, skilled hand pumping his cock up and down and further blowing his mind.

A realization suddenly hit Zachary like a ton of bricks. If he hadn’t received his Uncle Robert’s advice about women at the Sapphire Ball, the extremely weird, yet incredibly hot, situation he was experiencing would never have happened. Without the boost of confidence, he wouldn’t have fucked Scarlett at the ball, wouldn’t have gotten that blowjob at Paris’ house, and most certainly there wouldn’t have been a reason for him to banter with the sexy rocker girl moments ago, leading to her stroking him off as they watched Chloe pleasure herself.

I really gotta thank Uncle Robert next time I see him, he decided.

Chloe never thought she would ever masturbate in front of her best friend, but there she was, rubbing her slit up and down as Zack watched. She was too far gone to consider potential circumstances, all she cared about was how naughty it was to slip a finger into her welcoming opening in a room full of people. The guilt would come later, she was sure about that, but now, the horny ginger could only moan as the hand at Zack’s crotch sped up a little.

Zack, y-you… oohh… fucker, she bucked her hips, biting her bottom lip as she flicked her gaze between her best friend’s face and his lap.

Scarlett wanted to reach between her legs and do the same thing McRose was doing, to quench the arousal building up in her horny pussy. If she had been soaked as soon as she began pumping Zack’s massive cock, then her core almost became like a fountain when she realized Chloe had caught them in the act. There was something so naughty about that moment, to push two best friends who were almost like siblings into discovering each other, it turned the blonde girl on like crazy. Scarlett had to chew on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from escalating things with a moan, or even better, by pushing Zack into taking more of an active role.

He fucking wants to touch her, I know it, she thought, knowing that it would take an exceptional event to **** him into actually going through with it.

“Fuck,” Zack couldn’t help but whisper as he heard the wet noises of Scarlett’s stroking, immediately panicking about that sound reaching someone else’s ears as well. A quick scan of the room told him that the others were still engrossed in the movie as the couple in the screen shared a loud, nearly explicit fuck. It was the only plausible answer to explain why no one had heard what was happening on their couch.

Zachary noticed Kevin staring at Chloe, but he figured it was almost hypocritic of him to blame the guy, his friend looked so good making all those flushed faces and strangled noises. It made his cock throb harder in Scarlett’s hand, and then, turning to the exquisitely hot blonde, she teasingly smirked at him, leaning in to press her lips against his shoulder for a brief moment.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” She inquired, thumb playing with his tip once again, causing Zack’s legs to tremble under the blanket. “Naughty Zacky, I had no idea you were this fun.”

“Even after all we did?” He fired back, almost as if in autopilot. “You blew me with my cousin in the same room.”

Chloe threw her head back at their bantering and the sordid details they were freely offering. Fuck, so Zack really fucked Scarlett and she sucked him off in front of a cousin? Paris or Heather? She asked herself, whimpering at how fucked up and hot both options sounded, her index and middle fingers finally breaching her molten opening as her palm grazed against her red pubic hair. When she opened her eyes again, the first thing the aroused redhead saw was Kevin’s intense gaze staring right back at her from the other couch, the motions at his own lap leaving no doubt as to what he was doing, causing a hot shiver to go down her spine. H-he’s doing it f-for… me?

She moaned again and turned back to see both Zack and Scarlett staring back at her. The blonde girl smirked and reached her other hand to the blanket, slowly lifting it up to reveal the sexy treasure hidden underneath it. Right then, Chloe became sure that if she had been standing, her legs would have given off under her at the sight of that massive penis she had no idea her best friend possessed, the twitching shaft secured by Scarlett’s elegant fingers. How did I never notice his fucking boners?! Was it like this that day with my foot?

“Wanna help?” Scarlett teasingly queried, eliciting a low moan from both Zack and Chloe as she kept pumping the long, hard shaft in a slower pace to try and entice the ginger into action.

Chloe stared back-and-forth between Zack’s face and his big cock, her heart hammering into her chest as she suddenly felt herself unable to breathe. It overwhelmed her so much that Chloe yanked her fingers out of her pussy and quickly scrambled off.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled, bolting for the door.

Madison looked expectantly at the empty spot, but frowned in disappointment when Zack seemed to fiddle with himself for a bit and then jumped to his feet as well. “I gotta hit the bathroom!” He said, immediately following Chloe out of the room.

Scarlett threw the covers off herself and gave no explanation as to why she also decided to head out. The deserters would have a final member in Kevin, who discreetly excused himself and ducked under the TV as he passed by it before finally leaving the theater room as well.

Grace frowned as the screen finally blacked out when the sex scene ended. “The frack is wrong with them?”

---

A **** Zack ran past the door, not really caring if he closed it or not, as his only worry was to chase after his dear best friend. How could I’ve been so stupid?! Let it get to that point?! That was freaking Chloe, you idiot! He mentally chastised himself. The blue-eyed boy had let himself be carried away by Scarlett’s seductive wiles and now he could very well have lost one of the most important persons in the world for him.

Shit, shit, shit, please don’t shut me out, Chlo! Zachary silently pleaded, doing the final sprint to catch up to his best friend, following her into the bedroom she was going to sleep that night, Scarlett slipping in just before he closed the door.

“What are you two doing here?” Chloe quietly inquired, her body twitching. It gave Zack and Scarlett the impression she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It tore the young man’s heart to see her like that.

“Chloe, I…,” Zack took a tentative step toward the redhead, cursing himself again for the state she was in. He began reaching a hand in her direction but ultimately lowered it, ashamed of his actions. His best friend was not only that now, she was also a gorgeous, smoking hot girl, one that he just helped to hurt, he realized as a tear threatened to escape the corner of his left eye.

“I… I…, I s-shouldn’t have done… that,” Chloe mumbled, now hugging herself to try and cover the curves in her body as best as she could. “I must’ve looked pretty ****, huh? Stupid, naïve, pathetic Chloe,” she let out a nervous laugh, lips trembling as if she was about to burst crying in front of them. “Letting my b-best friend see how m-much of a… h-horny p-p-ervert I truly am!!!”

Zack broke down and tried to go to her side, but an arm stopped him in his tracks. Frowning, he turned to the side to see Scarlett smiling reassuringly at him. “Let me,” she mouthed at him and then confidently walked over to the other girl. “Now, Chloe,” she gently said, ignoring the redhead flinching and trying to move away when she touched her arm. “You’re NOT a pervert, okay? Horny…, maybe,” she chuckled, giving Zack a warm feeling at seeing her comforting his best friend. “But aren’t we all?”

Chloe gave her a weird look before narrowing her eyes. “No! I’m a freaking pervert, okay?!” She shot back, extricating herself from the other girl’s arm. “I’m the girl who spends all of her free time locked in her room watching porn. Porn, porn, porn!” She yelled, her milky, freckled face flushing. “Almost every fucking type of porn you can imagine, I’ve watched! If there’s porn of it, chances are that I watched it, so yeah, I’m a filthy pervert, Scarlett!” Her chest heaved as she panted, a wild, feral look on her face as she focused on the blonde and avoided looking at Zack. “Now I can’t even control myself around my best friend from the looks of it! Swell, isn’t it?!”

Zack’s eyes almost bugged out of his skull as he stared at the two girls, but mainly at Chloe. He could never have imagined his best friend had that hobby. It puzzled him how he had never suspected it, even for a moment, but at the same time, it was hot discovering that detail about the girl he had grown up with. Just like her playing with herself right next to me, he recalled, eyes widening as he realized the truth that eluded him for a long time when a certain pair of ‘best friend goggles’ shattered into a million pieces. Fucking hell, Chloe’s freaking hot! I gotta tell her!

“So?” Scarlett shrugged, placing a hand on Chloe’s arm again. “Everyone watches porn these days, Chloe. I do, Zack does, everyone in that room does…, yes, even Grace… or maybe not, but the point is that it’s completely normal, alright?” She attempted to calm down the ginger. “Again, you’re not a pervert, ‘cause if you are, then every single one of us are damned perverts too.”

Chloe stared into Scarlett’s eyes, slowly coming to terms with what happened as the blonde girl’s encouraging words clicked in her mind, but then she turned to Zack, staring expectantly at them, and that made her turn back to Scarlett’s grinning face in panic. There was another hurdle for her to overcome, Chloe realized as it weighed down on her like a hundred tons and **** her to wrap her arms around herself again, mainly covering the swells of her chest.

“But I’m disgusting!” She screamed back. “This carrot top hair, those spots all over my fucking body like a damn Dalmatian, and… and… and T-THESE BALLOONS!” She pointed at her chest. “I have to be the pervert locked up in her room playing with herself, ‘cause…,” her lips trembled again as she came close to crying. “’Cause no one else will ever want to!!!”

“Don’t talk about my best friend like that,” Zack immediately replied, finally stepping in as he sidled up to the two girls. “She’s the most awesome person I know, and I’m terribly sorry for always being, well… dumb. That’s the hard truth,” he stared expectantly at her, unshed tears in his eyes. “I should’ve told you ages ago, Chloe, multiple times, every single day. You’re just…, you’re fucking gorgeous.”

Those words, coming from her best friend’s mouth, glued Chloe’s feet to the floor as she stared back at him in complete and utter surprise. The next moment, a few tears began escaping through the corner of her eyes and she had to wipe it with her arm. “You… you have to say that,” she quietly said, lowering her gaze to the floor. It made her happy hearing that, but she just couldn’t bring herself to believe it. “We’re best friends, it’s kinda your job.”

“Absolutely not!” Zack stepped into her personal space and tentatively reached to touch her upper arm. “Shit, Chloe, I’m not saying that just to make you feel better. How could you not see how great you look every time you look in the mirror?” He inquired in a **** tone, unwilling to lose her there. “You’re unique. Your blue eyes are gorgeous, your freckles, fuck, your hair! I don’t think anyone in our year has this awesome shade of copper in their heads,” he rambled, and impulsively, lifted up her chin to make her look at him. “Plus…, you’ve been my rock ever since we were babies, we laughed together, we cried together, damn, there’s no one else I’d take to a deserted island with me. I don’t care if you like porn, hell, it’s just one more thing we can watch together!” Zack admitted, and that finally got a chuckle out of her. “So, please, Lady McRose, believe me when I say you’re fucking beautiful, and not just on the outside.”

Scarlett, who was staring at Zachary in awe as he rolled off his speech, snapped out of it and grinned at the redhead. It kind of made her a little jealous of Chloe at that moment, as she only had girls for best friends growing up. “He’s right, you know?” She said, causing Chloe to turn to her. “And I’d be an asshole if I didn’t mention it, but those things you call balloons? You have any idea just how many girls in our year not called Heather Ravers would kill for tits like those?” She laughed, bringing another smile to the other girl’s face. “I love mine, they're full and big,” she said, glancing down at her deep cleavage. “But yours? Pfftt! They’re just another league, girl.”

Chloe wiped off another tear and gave them a small, embarrassed smile. “You know, Zack told me you wanted sex with him at the Sapphire Ball, but the doofus forgot to tell me you two actually did it,” she said, turning to Scarlett and choosing to not mention the cousin threesome they had alluded to earlier. “I guess I’ve got you to thank for emotionally fixing my best friend. So, thanks, Scarlett.”

“Hey!” Zack blurted out with a light frown, causing the two girls to chuckle in amusement.

“You’re welcome, Chloe, but I can’t take all the credit. It was all in there already, you did a fine job with that one,” Scarlett explained with a saucy grin toward the dark-haired boy. “I just gave him a tiny little push, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s how it works,” Zack mumbled, crossing his arms.

Chloe grinned, it felt good to hear those words coming from someone who had no obligations to be nice to her or butter her up in any way. She always thought Scarlett was badass as a guitarist, and having a person like that complimenting her, it felt truer to her. Not that she didn’t believe Zack’s words, she trusted him with her life, but a second, unbiased opinion was always great to hear. The redhead couldn’t contain the burst of emotion she felt at that moment and threw her arms around Scarlett. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Scarlett!” She gushed, catching the blonde by surprise as she slowly returned the hug with a smile, touched by the other girl’s kindness. “Thank you so much!”

Zack watched as the two girls hugged, a big smile on his face at seeing Chloe happy again, but then he REALLY took a good look at them. He already thought of Scarlett as an incredibly sexy girl, and with the goggles that covered Chloe now shattered, he could see how hot his best friend also was, his horny brain just telling him he had two gorgeous girls pressed against each other right in front of him. Fucking hell, he thought, and his cock, that had never gone fully soft after fleeing the theater room, began stiffening in his shorts again.

Chloe’s rounder, larger tits lightly pressed into Scarlett’s large, full pair, the blonde having to bend her knees just a little bit to be at the same height as the redhead. His gaze heading south, he could see their toned, bare legs, leading to two pairs of feet almost touching on the immaculate carpeted floor, causing his dick to throb as it reached its full length.

That was the sight Chloe and Scarlett faced when they let go of each other, the copper-haired girl gasping again, just as she had done back at the couch, when Scarlett revealed it to her. The two best friends remained frozen, mostly staring at each other, but occasionally letting their gazes drift toward parts of interest, her exposed legs and feet in Zack’s case, and the long, thick cock tenting his shorts in Chloe’s case.

“Uhn…,” both teens stammered in unison, hearts now on the verge of bursting through their respective chests.

“See?” Scarlett asked with a grin, sauntering over to Zack and gesturing to his erection. “If you’re so hideous, then how come you can get this reaction from your best friend, huh?”

Chloe fidgeted, her fingers grabbing handfuls of her long t-shirt in nervousness. “Well, it could’ve been all you,” she whispered, slightly lifting up her chin to capture Zack’s gaze once again.

Sensing that they were about to lose the ginger again and unwilling to have Zack say the wrong thing, Scarlett quickly jumped into action again. “Well, there’s only one way to say for sure, right?” She asked, and then hooked her fingers on the waistband of Zack’s shorts.

“Scarlett,” he warned in a whisper, reaching over to grab her wrist. “Not again.”

“Shush! Just trust me,” she gave him a mock glare before tugging his shorts down, causing the long, thick, and already fully hard cock of Zachary Connor Bishop to pop out and slap his stomach, drawing another gasp from Chloe.

Her chest was thumping, and she could actually feel her pussy drenching the gusset of her panties as Zack’s cock was revealed to her. Properly this time, not under the shadow of a blanket in a badly-lit room. Now, Chloe had seen quite a few dicks in porn movies, and the fact that her best friend’s one wasn’t too far in size to those? It kind of scared her, but at the same time, a growling sensation deep in her belly added excitement into the mix of emotions she was feeling at that moment; it started feeding her some much needed confidence.

Zack fought the urge to groan when Scarlett wrapped her fingers around the now familiar cock and began pumping it in front of a wide-eyed Chloe. “Now, where were we?” She purred, resting her head on the boy’s shoulder as she began feeling the usual heat that dominated her whenever there were sex and boys involved.

He felt overwhelmed by the entire situation, unsure if he should look at Chloe or Scarlett’s cleavage, just a short distance from his gaze. Unconsciously, he wrapped an arm around the blonde’s waist and squeezed her to him, earning a pleased gasp from her. “Fuck, Scarlett…,” he said when throwing his head back, but then, opening his eyes, they locked with Chloe’s, who was now playing with the hem of her t-shirt. “Chlo…,” he whispered after a few moments, his dick throbbing in Scarlett’s grasp at the cute expression of arousal in his best friend’s eyes. “You wanna… w-wanna continue where we left off?”

Chloe’s first instinct was to glance at Scarlett, she didn’t know what exactly Zack’s deal with the rocker girl was, but she figured her explicit permission was needed in that situation. “You know what? I’ve got a hotter idea,” Scarlett responded her unsaid question, a pleased grin firmly in place as she extended her free hand toward the other girl. “C’mon, come closer, Chloe.”

The soccer player bit her bottom lip as she stared at her best friend and his dick, anxiety growing even more within her before she decided to just move her legs and take a step forward before fear could dominate her mind and body. Somehow, she knew, though, the growl wouldn’t let her falter now.

Zack felt like he was about to have a heart attack when Chloe began moving, coming closer to him with each and every step as a hunter stalking her prey. He wasn’t dumb, he knew what Scarlett had in mind, he just wasn’t sure if his heart could endure it. What’s this look on her face now? I’ve never seen her walking so confidently before, he asked himself as a smile reached his lips. Looks great on you, Chlo.

When Chloe got to them, Scarlett smirked and slowly lowered to her knees in front of Zack’s right leg, causing his breath to hitch, and yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe, the two best friends vaguely hearing Scarlett’s instruction for her to kneel as well. Keeping the eye contact that conveyed many sensations and feelings at once, Chloe copied the blonde’s position and folded her knees, lowering herself in front of Zack’s left leg. The Bishop boy felt petrified, unable to move at the sight of those two beautiful girls kneeling before him.

Who am I kidding? Do I really wanna run from this?

“Looks big, doesn’t it?” Scarlett teasingly queried, stroking his cock in front of his best friend’s cute face.

It was only then that Chloe broke the stare and shifted her gaze to the cock towering before her. Zack’s cock, she reminded herself as her breath also hitched at the realization of where she was at that moment. “Yeah.”

She then watched as the blonde leaned in and inhaled Zack’s cock into her mouth, drawing a hiss from the young man. “Shit, Scarlett…, a warning next time,” he breathed out, steadying himself. It still took some time getting used to having his dick played with by another person. Chloe let out an amused chuckle next to the other girl and Zack turned to her with a surprised look that soon morphed into a grin. “Oh, you think this is funny, don’t you?”

Chloe shrugged, her nipples poking the fabric of her t-shirt. “I dunno, you tell me,” she said, her gaze alternating between staring at him and watching Scarlett bob her head up and down on his cock. Damn, that really looks massive, she thought, noticing that Scarlett couldn’t take much past halfway point and her lips were really stretched out. The warmth between her legs got hotter at the realization that she had been watching porn whenever she could and her best friend had a veritable snake hidden in his pants all that time.

Scarlett pulled back with a popping noise and smirked at her. “Yeah, maybe you really should tell him how fun it is,” she said, her fingers sliding to the base of the cock and angling it toward the redhead. “Wanna try it?”

Chloe drew in a sharp breath as she stared at the scary-looking member in front of her, glistening with Scarlett’s spit. For a split second, her will faltered, but that same growling, rumbling deep within her, filled her entire body with the confidence she needed, and for the first time that night, Chloe wondered what the hell that growl meant, as she had never felt or heard it before.

“Chloe, you don’t need to if you don’t want…,” Zack tried coming to her rescue once he felt her initial hesitation, but he was interrupted.

“I’ll do it,” she blurted out, looking up at him and then smiling. “That is…, can I, Lord Bishop?”

“Fuck, yes, you can, Lady McRose,” Zack sufferingly replied, taken aback by how much he wanted it to happen. A frown passed by Scarlett’s face at that interaction, but she quickly replaced it with another teasing grin.

“Guess you two didn’t think you’d ever play together this way, huh?” She inquired, absentmindedly reaching up with her free hand to squeeze her own tits while looking up at Zachary.

Zack and Chloe weren’t listening, though. Their entire world was reduced to her hand finally wrapping around his thick shaft, earning a moan from him as his legs almost buckled at the intensity of that moment. The redhead whimpered when she felt it throbbing in her hand, satiating a longstanding curiosity of hers as she held it and tested several grips and angles.

“Dammit, it IS big,” she muttered, inspecting it for a little while longer before she looked up and noticed how pained her best friend’s expression seemed to be, which pushed her into action. It started with shy, slow pumps, but soon enough, Zack was groaning as she truly got into it, stroking his cock just like she learned in the pornos she watched over the past few years.

“Yesss, Chlooo…,” he moaned, feeling his best friend’s soft hand lovingly gliding up and down his cock. It was a surreal moment, it didn’t look real, but he was willing to believe.

Scarlett reached over to caress his balls. “Oh, Chloe, with a cock like this, just some stroking won’t do,” she said. “You gotta be willing to take it into your mouth and suck it good, you know?”

“A blowjob?” Chloe inquired, mostly to Zack as she kept staring at him while pumping his rigid shaft. She had seen women sucking men off in porn movies and always wondered what it would feel like. The idea made the creature within her growl louder, as if it was hungry and she needed to feed herself in order to sate its own needs.

The word made Zack’s heart skip a beat, but he managed to reassure her. “Only if you want to, I won’t **** you into anything.”

“Here, I can show yo…,” Scarlett leaned in with every intention of taking Zack’s dick into her mouth again, but Chloe beat her to the punch and dove forward, wrapping her lips around it and taking about a third of her friend’s cock. “Damn, that… works too!”

“Fucking hell, Chloe, yessss….,” Zack could only moan, looking down at his best friend with almost the entire top half of his cock crammed in her mouth and starting to bob her head up and down. “Shit…”

Chloe took a hold of the base to steady the shaft and proceeded to get acquainted with it, sucking hard and pumping it up and down, her tongue going crazy as she tried to reach every spot she could. She went at it hungrily, testing out every trick she thought pornos had taught her. It was like she needed nourishment from Zack’s big, hard cock to feed the growling in her belly, and so, her enthusiasm made up for lack of experience as she felt it throbbing in her mouth.

Meanwhile, Zack was thinking that Chloe’s mouth on his cock was one of those things he never thought he needed, but now that it was happening, he couldn’t go without. Unconsciously, he reached down and began threading his fingers in her silky, copper hair. “Fuck, Chloe, you’re really beautiful, I’m so sorry for… everything,” he managed to say, earning a genuine smile from her as she kept blowing him for all she was worth. Scarlett had more skill the time she sucked him off at Paris’ house, but somehow, the fact it was Chloe doing it right now, it felt to him like no one could do a better job. She was even bringing him to the edge faster than Scarlett did the other time, as the first signs of an impending climax began hitting his body from all sides, but he valiantly tried to hold it back, wanting to enjoy that moment for as long as he could.

Scarlett’s expression turned into a frown as she watched that scene unfold before her very eyes. As someone who was used to be on center stage, playing her guitar and sharing the mic in her concerts, she didn’t appreciate being basically forgotten by the other two. Fucking dammit, I was the one who put them in that situation! I thought we were having fun, Zack. What the fuck!? Still, she was afraid of trying to join in by sucking on Zack’s balls, as it could break the spell between the two best friends and that would be her fault if it happened. It was so hot to watch it, though, that she couldn’t help but reach under her silk slip and brush two fingers over her sopping cunt, almost letting out a moan at the temporary relief.

Chloe was really enjoying whenever Zack’s cock twitched in her mouth. For her, it was a sign he was enjoying what she was doing for him. She was glad it was Zack for her first blowjob, as she definitely couldn’t see herself doing it for any other guy at this point in her life. A fleeting thought of how it would feel like if he ate out her pussy crossed her mind, but she quickly pushed it back, as she figured this moment was about him. She sloppily sucked his cock, for the first time trying to take another inch or two and get closer to halfway point. It was like that growl was making her even hungrier, pushing her to try more, to be better. It didn’t help that this… wolf-like growling seemed to be feeding the arousal in her horny pussy as well, cotton panties drenched with her slick juices.

“Hell, Chloooe…,” Zack moaned, slightly tightening his grip at the back of his best friend’s head, still unable to fully comprehend that it was her sucking him off at that moment. “It’s coming…, fuck! I’m g-gonna cum soon!”

Chloe pulled back for the first time, taking a deep breath as strands of her spit connected her lips with the tip of his cock. “Oh, shit! Really?” She asked, excited to see a guy cumming live after watching it in pornos so many times. Trying another thing for the first time, she extended her tongue and swirled it around the sensitive tip, wrestling a pained groan from Zachary. “You’re really gonna cum, Zack?”

“Fuck, he is!” Scarlett was the one who replied, recognizing the signs of a guy about to spurt his cum. “Let me help,” she said, and then quickly wrapped her lips around his cum-filled right ball. Chloe understood it and eagerly inhaled the cock once again, sucking hard as she dearly wanted to see her best friend cumming, knowing it was her who did it for him.

“C’mon, Zack! Cum for us!” Scarlett ordered after a brief respite, only to capture his ball again.

“Fucking heeellll!!!” Zack roared like a lion, the sensation of two mouths on his cock finally doing it for him as the young man experienced a feeling akin to a seizure. His balls churned and sperm traveled up his twitching shaft until it began exploding from the tip in several white, hot jets.

The next chain of events happened inside of a short span of time. Scarlett pulled Chloe’s head away from Zack’s cock, grabbing the redhead by the hair as they watched the cum flying up like a fountain, before falling and splattering on her t-shirt, the two girls eyeing it hungrily. The expression on the blonde was no match for the feral look that suddenly crossed over Chloe’s face, though, as she almost looked like someone had stolen her food. If Zack had been looking down instead of possessed by the post-orgasmic haze, he would have been afraid of the possibility that Chloe might jump on Scarlett’s neck.

Instead, what stopped it from happening was the door opening with a bang and Kevin barging inside with a **** look on his chiseled features. “Uhn…, I heard a scream?”

Chloe and Scarlett turned to the other boy with confusion written all over their faces, though the horny rocker girl also couldn’t help but notice the impressive boner outlined by his shorts. “Fuck, now what?”

---

Back at the theater room, the four teenagers had been gone for several minutes without coming back, and that fact piqued Paris’ curiosity. The sex scene had obviously ended, and aside from some hot girls in bikinis decorating the screen, the blue-haired girl was finding it extremely difficult to get interested in the movie.

“Where the fuck are they?” She whispered to Grace, who was lying next to her on the rug. The blonde seemed even more bored than her if that was possible.

“Perhaps they’re waiting to come back together, or even decided to get something from the kitchen,” Grace whispered back, her arms crossed. “And yeah, that’s a code for something better than this movie. Which is anything if I wasn’t clear enough.”

Paris stifled a chuckle at her friend’s grumpiness. “Alright, I’m gonna look for them, see what’s going on,” she said while throwing off the blanket. “Be right back.”

Grace huffed in annoyance, vowing to herself that, if one more person left the theater room, she was going to turn off that idiotic movie. The story wasn’t resonating with her, and she couldn’t take the contents of the journal out of her mind, preventing her from focusing on anything.

On her end, Paris padded out of the theater room and reached the corridor, raising a confused eyebrow at the lack of her cousin and the other three. Walking over to the bathroom Grace had shown them earlier, she got even more spooked at finding out the door was open and no one was inside. “What the fuck?” She murmured, coming back into the corridor and almost suffering a heart attack when a nearby door opened and someone other than the friends she was looking for stepped out. “Gaahh!!!”

Pietra Smith let out an amused laugh as she supported herself with a hand on her bedroom door. “Gosh, am I that hideous, Paris?” She teasingly inquired. “Hasn’t been that long that you don’t recognize me anymore, has it?”

“Yeah…, I mean, no!” Paris replied as she started getting her breath under control, only to remember that it was her celebrity crush in the flesh talking to her, which sent the Bishop girl into a fit of coughs. “On the contrary, actually,” she nervously laughed. “You could never be hideous, Pietra.”

The older girl grinned sweetly at her little sister’s friend. “It’s all in your eyes, kid, they’re gorgeous,” she said, walking closer and peering into the younger girl’s grayish-blue eyes, causing Paris to get agitated. Her crush was so close right now, the hypnotizing green eyes almost crushing her under their weight. It was something that she felt around Grace a few rare times, but her friend didn’t need to know that. “So, did Gracie pick a boring movie again?”

“Uhn, it was Scarlett, actually,” Paris explained, faking a cough so she wouldn’t need to look Pietra in the eye. “But yeah, too much straight sex for my tastes.”

“Ah, I see,” Pietra laughed, making her medium-sized breasts bounce in the tank top she was wearing. “In that case, wanna hang out in my room? I could use the company.”

Paris’ eyes almost bugged out of her skull at the offer, which she couldn’t accept fast enough. “Hell, yeah!” She blurted out, blushing once she realized how enthusiastic she sounded. “I mean, yeah…, of course, I’d r-really like t-that.”

“Super! C’mon, then,” Pietra motioned for the younger girl to follow her, giving Paris a view of her toned, round ass encased in a pair of micro shorts very similar to the one Grace was wearing at the theater room. She could feel her core heating up at how the bottoms of the model’s asscheeks peeked out of it.

Fuck, she looks hotter than that poster in my room! Paris mentally gushed as she stepped into the brunette Smith’s room. She couldn’t believe that she was about to enter her crush’s realm.

“I love your blue hair, by the way. It’s ridiculously stylish and really fits you,” Pietra said, causing Paris to blush as she entered the room and heard the door being closed.

“Oh…, thanks,” she mumbled.

“You’re lucky you can do whatever you want,” Pietra told her while plopping down on her bed and motioning for the younger girl to join her. “In my senior year, I wanted to dye my hair dark green, but it was just around the time I was recruited by my agency.”

“They didn’t let you?” Paris queried.

“Nope,” Pietra chuckled at the memory. “They wanted me as natural as possible. I’m thankful for that, of course, got really proud of the work I’ve done so far.”

“I think you look awesome this way,” Paris blurted out before she could stop herself. “Uhn…”

That put a nearly predatory look on Pietra’s perfect features. “Aww, thanks, Par,” she replied in a slightly huskier voice as she eyed her sister’s friend’s toned legs. “But I think you could be a model too, you know?”

“Me?!” A wide-eyed Paris shot back, her hands getting sweaty at the compliment.

“Oh, yes,” the actual model grinned. “I love your features, your body, and most of all, your lovely, spunky attitude, they’d be such a heavy hit!” She enthusiastically explained. “Not mentioning your name, of course. Paris Bishop, it basically screams fashion, girl!”

“Me, a model?” Paris asked, her heart becoming like a jackhammer in her chest. She liked to photograph objects and other odd stuff as a hobby, not pose for a camera herself. However, she couldn’t deny the idea sounded quite appealing in her mind. Being the inspiration of desire for girls just like Pietra was for her made the Bishop girl incredibly wet.

Pietra smirked and shuffled closer to the blue-haired girl, her lips close to Paris’ ear, who shivered at the proximity. “What, you don’t believe me?” She purred as Paris turned to her, gray eyes locking on the older girl’s green ones.

Paris’ gaze dropped to Pietra’s moist lips and felt light-headed, fantasizing about where that moment could lead. She could feel her pussy bubbling with desire, soaking her panties, it was such an overwhelming sensation that she thought she was going to faint any second now.

“You’re so beautiful, Paris,” Pietra purred, reaching over to lift the younger girl’s chin. “And so fucking sexy.”

That said, Paris’ chest almost exploded as her crush’s lips landed on hers, her eyes shooting open in shock. Pietra Smith is kissing me, I’m kissing Pietra fucking Smith! She chanted in her mind before finally believing in the present and closing her eyes. It wasn’t her first kiss with a girl, but doing it with her crush blew all of her few past experiences out of the water.

A moan rumbling from Paris’ throat was the sign Pietra needed to deepen the kiss and gently push the blue-haired girl onto her back on the bed. She noticed how Paris looked at her, being bisexual herself and not a rookie in tangling with other girls. Fortunately, Paris was exquisitely hot, and so, it definitely was a pleasure for Pietra to indulge the younger girl’s every fantasy about her.

Starting now.

---

Scarlett couldn’t help but notice the impressive boner outlined by Kevin’s shorts as the young man stared at her and Chloe crouched in front of Zack. “Fuck, now what?”

In response to her question, Chloe’s eyes widened and she awkwardly tried to shuffle behind Zack while still on her knees. The blue-eyed boy turned to Scarlett and then back to Kevin with a panicked look, unsure of how to react. “Uhn…, Kev… you see…”

The rocker girl sighed, and noticing Kevin now looked as dumbfounded as Zack, she came to a decision right then and there. She jumped to her feet and rushed over to the basketball player, grasping his hand. “C’mon, Kevin,” she told him with a sexy grin. “We don’t wanna intrude.”

Kevin’s dick twitched at that look, but he still couldn’t shake off what he had walked into. “Scarlett? But…”

“C’mon!” She told him more insistently and dragged the bigger guy out of the room, not before giving Zack and Chloe a thumbs up and closing the door.

“What the fuck, Scarlett?” Kevin inquired more incisively once they were out. “What was going on there?” He demanded. The veiled interest in Chloe had been recent, but it was still fucked up seeing the redhead on her knees in front of a guy with his dick out. It confused the young basketball player.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. Boys could be so slow to get stuff sometimes, she thought. “Look,” she pointed at the door behind her. “Those are two best friends at a defining point in their friendship. Whatever it is that you wanna tell Chloe? It has to wait, get it?”

Kevin was the one to let out a sigh this time, a long one. He had lost his chance, Zack and Chloe would realize how good they were together, and no one would be able to get at either of them. Truth be told, he couldn’t begrudge them, both Zack and Chloe were great people, and if they wanted to be happy together, then Kevin was happy for them. It stung to think about it, though.

“I can see that,” he finally said. “But where does it leave us, huh? As I reckon, you were pretty tight with Zack too.”

Scarlett swallowed hard, he was right, but she refused to entertain that thought in her head. It was too much to understand and she didn’t like the image of a heavy iron chain tied to her leg that just flashed behind her eyes. She found it way easier to let her eyes rove over Kevin’s broad, muscled chest as she reached to touch it. “Well,” she smirked. “We can entertain each other as they talk things over. What do you say, Kev?”

Kevin’s cock just throbbed in his shorts at her words. Scarlett Soren propositioning him some fun. Sexual fun, he hoped. That wasn’t something that happened to a guy every day. “I’d say you need to explain what you mean, Scarlett,” he said, eyes drawn to the cleavage her silk slip created. “Otherwise, a guy might not get exactly what you want, you know?”

Scarlett grinned up at the handsome small forward of the basketball team, she liked to play that game. “Oh, I’m sure you know, Jackson. I’ve heard rumors.”

He reached over to place a hand on her waist, feeling the silky fabric massaging his palm. “Enlighten me.”

An amused chuckle escaped her lips. “Damn, a girl can’t win with you guys, can she?” The blonde purred, her hand ghosting down until it brushed against the impressive bulge on his shorts. “I’ve heard there’s this game where you’re just as good as you are in the basketball court,” she said, enjoying the pained groan he let out when her fingers closed around his still clothed erection. “Well, well, well, looks like I was right.”

---

Meanwhile, Grace huffed at the movie Scarlett picked for the umpteenth time that night. Glancing at Madison, she noticed the brunette had her eyes fixed on the screen, though there also was a deep frown marring her face, as if she was watching it to get over something. Turning to the couch behind them, she could see that Alice and Jake were watching it as well, but they definitely seemed more relaxed than Madison.

Her own gaze shifting to the empty spot left by Paris, she raised an eyebrow. What’s going on that people are leaving and not coming back? She asked herself. The movie was a failure, yes, but that continued exodus made the green-eyed blonde wonder if her friends were really looking for something better to do instead of sitting through that monstrosity.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Grace didn’t bother with an excuse for leaving and stood up before padding out of the theater room. Stepping into the hallway, she didn’t hear anything, which was odd. Where the frack are they? She wondered and then took off in the direction of the rooms she had assigned for the others. What the young Smith girl had no idea about was that the decision she had just made would be a life-defining one for her.

One of her eyebrows instantly raised as soon as the first groan reached her ears. Getting closer, Grace identified it as male groans, which set off all kinds of alarms in her head. Scaaarleeett! She mentally yelled, getting ready to severely tell off her old friend for whatever craziness she was committing. She ignored the wet noises and pressed forward.

Any harsh word she was preparing, along with every rational thought in her mind, died as the blonde abruptly stopped in her tracks at the sight she almost stumbled on. Frack! She scrambled to hide behind the nearest wall and then peeked again, a sudden, hot sensation flaring up between her legs like a bonfire.

Pressed up against a door, Kevin Jackson groaned in pleasure as Scarlett Soren pumped his impressive hard cock up and down, a teasing smirk on her face as the basketball player mauled one of her exposed tits in his large hand, the silk slip lowered to her waist.

“You like that?” Scarlett teased, skillfully stroking. “Mmm, such a sexy cock, Kev.”

Grace watched as the dark-skinned boy only moaned in response to it. No! No, no, no, she can’t be doing… this right in the hallway! She tried to deny what was happening right before her eyes, but her feet had already glued themselves to the floor. Noooo…, Grace mentally whined, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene.

She had often thought some boys at school were handsome, Kevin being one of them, and it was on his face that she tried to focus her attention, but it was impossible to ignore Scarlett’s fingers wrapped around the long, dark tool. A penis…, Grace acknowledged, her gaze stopping on it for the first time. A dick…, frack, are they always that big?

The familiar hotness became nearly unbearable, Grace now having to squeeze her legs together to quench it. Her logical mind questioned why seeing the implied version of sex in the movie and witnessing two people she knew doing it for real felt so different. It’s… naughtier? She asked herself, unconsciously biting her bottom lip as her green eyes followed Scarlett’s hand stroking Kevin’s thick penis up and down. It looked so big and imposing, just like the person it was attached to. Grace wasn’t blind, she had noticed a few times that Kevin had the rare quality of being good-looking AND nice, which naturally caused her to throw him the occasional lingering look every now and then.

Frack! How am I supposed to look him in the face now?!

“Yessss, fuck, Scarlett! Just like that,” Kevin finally spoke and made Grace’s heart skip a beat behind the wall. He squeezed her tit harder, drawing a moan from the busy blonde. “Shit, you’re so fucking hot.”

“Told you this was a fun way to pass the time,” Scarlett teased again, using her other hand to cup his balls, another purr escaping her lips when one of his fingers flicked on her hard nipple. “With a cock like this, damn, you might find me asking for an encore every now and then.”

Kevin grinned at the topless siren. “Well, encores are your specialty,” he replied. “You’ll probably need to remind me why I should give you the chance, though.”

Scarlett gave him one of the naughtiest smirks Grace had ever seen on her friend’s face, and the voyeur blonde found herself waiting with bated breath to see what Scarlett would do. Yes! Show him, Scarlett! C’mon!

She and Kevin watched in awe as Scarlett gripped his cock tighter and slowly lowered herself to her knees, never breaking the eye contact.

“Fuck…,” Kevin whispered, his entire body tingling in anticipation of what was about to happen.

She’s not gonna…, Grace’s green eyes widened in complete and utter surprise, her heart beating madly as Scarlett leaned in and took the head of Kevin’s cock in her mouth, a hissing noise escaping the basketball player’s lips. The combination of shock and the need to give them some privacy finally freed Grace from her temporary paralysis and she fled from that hallway as fast as she could.

There was one thought in her mind, though. Kevin’s penis looked just as handsome as his face.

---

Nearby, in Pietra’s room, a now fully naked Paris watched in anticipation as Pietra drew ever closer to the bed after excusing herself to hit the bathroom. Just as the older girl had predicted, the blue-haired girl’s body was amazing. Shapely and exquisitely beautiful, her medium-to-large breasts sat proudly atop her chest, with a pair of pink nipples erect and ready for any action the night could bring. It still felt like a big dream to her, as if she had fallen asleep in the theater room. She couldn’t be about to lose her virginity to Pietra Smith, her crush of all people.

A shiver went down Paris’ spine as Pietra crawled over her and leaned in for a kiss. The Bishop girl was amazed at how good of a kisser Pietra was before the model deepened the kiss and licked her lips to ask for entrance. Paris granted it with a moan, and just like that, the tongue of a woman slid into her mouth, quite some time after her previous experiences. Looks like I might end up having a few firsts tonight, she fantasized, tasting her friend’s sister’s sweet tongue in a lazy dance.

Pietra had taken a gamble kissing Paris, she thought while peppering kisses down the other girl's neck. Even if she knew Paris was a lesbian, or at least bi, she had no idea the younger woman was so into her. It’s almost as if she has a crush on me. Oh, how cute!

She arrived at Paris' breasts and sucked the right nipple into her mouth, causing the blue-haired girl to arch her back and let a cute moan escape her lips, the new sensation threatening to overwhelm her. After she feasted on her those tits for a few moments, Pietra pulled back with a smirk on her face as her hands reached the tie on her robe that she had put on in the bathroom, teasingly working to undo it.

Paris watched with bated breath as the belt came loose and the robe parted before Pietra shrugged it off her shoulders to reveal her full nudity to her. Holy fuck…, she’s gorgeous, the high-schooler thought as her eyes roved over Pietra’s body. She had rubbed her pussy countless times to photoshoots the Smith woman had done since her modeling career started, but the naked version was so much better. It wasn’t even fair to compare. The other woman’s breasts were perfect, a bit smaller than her own, with pink nipples that were already hard, and her pussy was glistening with the juices of her arousal, a trimmed triangle of dark hair framing her slit. “Shit, Pietra!”

Pietra smirked wickedly. “I know, I always get that,” she said, moving up so her chest was inches from the blue-haired girl’s face. “Here, have a taste.” Paris’ eyes widened as she found her body moving in autopilot, such was the spell Pietra seemed to have put over her. Her mouth made contact with a woman’s nipples for the first time in her life, and her lips parted to take the tit into her mouth as she tentatively sucked on it. Pietra hummed at the sensation, her fingers tangling in Paris’s blue hair as the teen added her hands into the mix, squeezing and feeling up the soft flesh in all kinds of grips to test it. “Mmm, that’s it, Par, milk me. Doesn’t even look like your first time with a woman.”

Paris pulled back with an indignant look on her face. “It is my first time, Pietra!” She retorted. “Not by choice, though. I would’ve done this a long time ago if I could!”

The Smith woman grinned and cupped her sister’s friend’s head with her hands. “I know. Won’t be the first time for too long, baby,” she said before pulling Paris for another soft kiss, their tongues dancing as Pietra gently pushed the teenager on her back and lied on top of her. Their tits flattened against each other as Pietra pressed herself tighter to her body. Paris was stupefied at how much she liked kissing Pietra, wondering what the hell they were going to do. Tongues, fingers? She enumerated in her mind. D-dildos?

She had broken her own hymen a couple of years ago, but Paris had no desire of getting penetrated by a dildo or anything larger than a finger. She always figured that was for straight and bi girls, not for her.

Pietra broke the kiss and began nibbling her way down her body, Paris gasping each time she hit a pleasurable spot, like her nipples, belly button, and finally, the top of her thighs.

That’s it, a woman is going to lick me, her tongue is going to be in me, Paris’ breath hitched as she stared down at Pietra, arousal evident in both women’s expressions.

“Ready?” Pietra asked with a smirk, and at Paris’ affirmative nod, she began kissing and nibbling at the top of her thighs, she wanted to see the feisty lesbian a little bit more **** for her tongue before she gave it to her.

That didn’t take long. Soon enough, Paris was panting above her. “Please, Pietra…”

“Mmm, please what, baby?” Pietra asked, squeezing the teenager’s ass as she lightly bit the inside of her right thigh.

“Please…….lick me! I can’t take it anymore!” Paris writhed in desperation on the bed.

And that’s my cue, Pietra decided before touching Paris’ pink clit with a wet finger and rubbing it, causing the blue-haired girl to almost skyrocket off the bed.

“Oh, fuck!” Paris cursed.

Pietra grinned and leaned in, flicking the nub with the tip of her tongue, earning another loud moan from the teen. She briefly regarded Paris’ pussy with a small, trimmed triangle of dark hair above it, and then swiped her tongue across the whole extension of her slit, the blue-haired girl trembling at her ministrations. Damn, she must be really pent up, I’ve barely even started and she already looks like she’s gonna go off anytime now. Pietra then snaked her tongue into Paris’ opening and licked the soaked insides, the sweetness of her juices flooding her tastebuds.

“Oh, fucking hell, Pietra! That feels so good!” Paris cried out, planting her feet on the older girl’s back.

Smiling, Pietra continued feasting on that teenage honeypot until Paris began moaning and shaking uncontrollably, which was barely a minute later.

“Fuck, Pietraaaa! SHIT, I’M CUMMING!” Paris let out a loud scream, her body going stiff as her orgasm washed over her and her pussy actually squirted a couple weak jets of her juices on Pietra’s face.

“Mmm, you’re delicious, Paris Bishop,” the Smith woman told the other girl, her tongue darting out to lick what she could reach. As she watched the teen ride out the climax, a conundrum presented itself in Pietra’s mind, she didn’t know if Paris was up to licking or even fingering her, and she wasn’t sure about her sexual stamina either. “Okay, Par, baby steps, I’m not gonna make you lick me tonight.”

Paris’s eyebrows creased in confusion, she desperately wanted to taste her crush’s cunt as well. “But I want to…, this isn’t fai…” she was silenced by a finger on her lips.

“I’ll be the judge of what’s fair and what’s not,” Pietra said with an air of finality. “There’s a way both of us can get some pleasure and it won’t require you sticking your tongue in my pussy, as badly as you want to, little one.”

Paris’s expression shifted into one of astonishment as it dawned on her what the other woman meant. Pietra smirked and moved to a sitting position before her. The dark brown-haired woman then proceeded to intertwin their legs and scoot forward until the women’s crotches touched, as if the lips of their pussies were kissing. Paris gasped at the feeling. “Fuck, Pietra…, this is fucking awesome!”

Pietra only grinned in response and thrust her hips against the teenager’s, mashing their pussies and making their clits touch. The sensation that spread over their bodies made both women moan in pleasure, and it actually caused Paris to start grinding against her friend’s sister, impatiently wishing for more contact.

“Shit, this is so freaking fun!” Paris bellowed, grasping Pietra’s shoulders and watching as her tits bounced in her chest. “Oooohhh…”

“I just knew you’d love scissoring, baby,” Pietra told her, throwing her head back and moaning as Paris’ pussy continuously rubbed against hers. “You already came once, so I’m in charge this time,” the Smith woman said, and before Paris could know what was happening, she found herself being pushed back on the bed and Pietra thrusting her pussy against hers as if she had a dick doing the job.

“Oh, my freaking God!” Paris moaned at the rough treatment, the hard impact of Pietra’s clit against hers was even more of a turn on. “Fuck me, Pietra! Don’t stop!”

“Congratulations, Paris, you’re no longer a virgin,” Pietra said in a teasing tone moments before her expression contorted into one of pure pleasure and she let out an incredibly loud moan. As for herself, Paris had a silly grin on her face moments before she burst into a second orgasm.

Pietra was right, she was no longer a virgin, and that meant it was open season on the girls of Azure Rocks High. She would no longer be denied what was hers.

---

When a flustered Grace came back to the theater room, Madison only gave her a quick glance while Alice threw her friend a worried look, though she decided against saying something. Grace’s temper could be difficult to deal with when she was worked up for any reason. However, there wasn’t much she could do with her hand trapped in Jake’s **** grip.

It wasn’t a secret that both of them were getting aroused by the sex scenes in the movie, and Alice felt she could be persuaded into going further than she and her boyfriend had ever gone before, but Jake seemed content in just holding her hand near his crotch, something that made her relieved and frustrated in equal measure. If there was a moment that her resolve could crumble, it would certainly be during those peaks of arousal.

Aaaahhh, what should I do?! She mentally screamed before turning to Jake, his unblinking gaze locked on the screen. There were times the brunette reporter wished she could read her boyfriend’s mind to know what was going on in there. What’s his deal? She wondered for a moment and then turned back to the movie. He was probably experiencing the same reaction every boy got when watching porn.

In reality, Jake was feeling extremely invested in one of the storylines the movie presented, for reasons he couldn’t exactly pinpoint at that moment. There were two male friends and one of them had a girlfriend, though the story was portraying the dynamic between the girlfriend and the friend with subtle flirting undertones, as if it could explode at any second. The boyfriend not only seemed to be okay with it, but he was shown observing the interactions between his girlfriend and friend very closely, a faint grin on his face. The young basketball player felt his cock twitching whenever those three were on the screen together. Such as now.

The boyfriend was sitting in an armchair near a couch, where his girlfriend and friend were chatting, occasionally turning back to the former to include him in the conversation. Everything seemed amiable, an inconsequential scene, until the mood began to shift. The friend and the girlfriend began to touch each other’s arms, and then he put a hand on her thigh. The girl, a redhead, glanced at her boyfriend, who was smiling at her, and then her expression darkened. She didn’t resist when the friend pulled her in for a hungry kiss.

Jake’s cock throbbed violently at that moment, his eyes widening further. The hell?! His body started shaking, the grip on Alice’s hand tightening. This is so fucking hot!

Alice raised an eyebrow at the unusual set up of the scene, but even more at Jake’s apparent interest in it and the way he squeezed her hand so tight that it was starting to hurt her. “Jake!” She whispered, trying to catch his attention while pulling her hand away from his grasp, but her boyfriend was oblivious to it, entranced by the movie.

On the screen, the friend and the girlfriend began stripping each other’s clothes until they were both naked, the actress sporting quite the nice pair of big breasts. Judging by the way her nipples were erect, she seemed to be aroused by the scene she was acting as well. That, or the studio was cold when they filmed it. Jake watched with trembling hands as the friend leaned in to suck on the girlfriend’s tits, drawing a moan from her as she turned to look at her boyfriend again. The guy had his pants around his ankles, and going by his hand movements, he was stroking his cock to the scene, something they couldn’t show in an explicit way.

That’s it, watch your girl get fucked, man! Jake didn’t realize, but he had started to egg the boyfriend on to pleasure himself to that “betrayal” happening before his very eyes. A sudden flash in his mind replaced the guy with himself, and the redhead being mauled by the friend with Alice. Shit, what was that?!

It had been quick, just a flash, but it was enough to make his own cock twitch madly. Jake had to squeeze the shaft to stop himself from busting a nut. The fuck is going on here?

The scene didn’t stop there, the friend maneuvered the girlfriend to straddle his lower body, giving the viewers a spectacular view of her round ass before he “pretended” to line his dick up with her cunt. Jake had his gaze glued to the screen, his nails almost drawing blood from his palms, as he waited to see what would happen. The moment when the friend grasped the girlfriend’s hips and pulled her down, his cock piercing her cunt as she let out the most erotic moan Jake had ever heard, would be forever seared in his mind.

The image was a lot clearer the second time. In his mind, he was the boyfriend stroking his hard dick as he watched a faceless man pounding Alice, filling his girlfriend with cock over and over again as she screamed in pleasure like a banshee. Oh, fucking shit! His entire body felt like he was getting electrocuted before his dick twitched once more and stained his boxers and shorts with ropes and ropes of cum.

Alice noticed him rolling his eyes, spooking her out even more, and then Jake abruptly jumped to his feet and rushed out of the room. “Jake!” She worriedly called out after him but got no answer.

“Maybe he needs the bathroom too,” Madison snidely remarked.

The green-eyed brunette looked at her friends on the rug and opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and decided to keep her thoughts and worries to herself. I wish you talked to me, Jake. It’s like I don’t even recognize you sometimes.

---

“Holy fucking shit! Fuck me hard with that cock, Kevin!” Scarlett’s moans echoed through the room she had been assigned to by Grace as the basketball player grasped her hips and fucked her bent over the bed, her warm pussy stuffed by his hard cock.

With their clothes scattered around the room, Kevin couldn’t believe he was fucking the sexy Scarlett Soren that night. Just like that, with no effort or strings attached. He had heard stories from Liam, had seen her with Luke Olsen, listened to Troy raving about her, but he never thought the chance of screwing the smoking hot rocker girl would fall on his lap as it did.

“Damn, you’re so fucking tight,” he groaned, absolutely pounding Scarlett’s brains out, the clapping sound of flesh hitting flesh being music to his ears alongside her moans, which were getting progressively louder. It had successfully gotten Chloe out of his mind for the time being, so, it was a win as far as he was concerned.

Scarlett craned her neck back and smirked provocatively at the boy, her blue eyes flashing with lust. She wasn’t one to get hung on stereotypes, but she was surprised at the knowledge that his cock wasn’t as big as Zack’s. Still, it was Kevin fucking her at that moment, so she decided to just relax and enjoy the fuck, as he wasn’t small or thin by any means. It was quite the contrary, even.

“Yeah? You like my pussy?” She teased him, bucking back against his body to get his dick deeper into her. “Then pound me, Kev, stretch me out in this bed like you mean it, c’mon!”

“Good lord!” Kevin blurted, closing his eyes at the feeling of that wet pussy squeezing his shaft almost painfully. He let his right hand slide up to cup her hanging right tit, squeezing it roughly as it drew another loud moan from her. “You’re so hot, Scarlett! I can’t believe we’re doing this!”

Scarlett just mewled in response, her fingers trying to tighten around the headboard as she felt his cock repeatedly punching her insides and splitting her pussy quite nicely. It turned her on that she had fucked Zack a week before, and now, Kevin was the one doing it, as unexpected as it was. Life was made by random moments, she guessed with a pleased grin.

“Oh, fuck yes! Fuck me, Kev!” She chanted, the pleasure slowly taking over every single one of her senses. She didn’t know how many times they would go, but her first orgasm wouldn’t take too long to wash over her, that much she knew.

“Fucking awesome,” Kevin said and then surprised the young woman by grasping her blonde head and roughly pulling it back, causing Scarlett to let out a long, loud moan. It had been a while since the last time he had sex, so the young athlete wanted to savor every moment of that opportunity.

“Oh, yesss!!!”

Kevin began fucking her with quick, deep thrusts, her medium-sized tits bouncing at her chest as the basketball player took her hard on that bed. Her toned ass rippled each time Kevin shoved his hard cock into her pussy, and suddenly, Scarlett couldn’t take it anymore. She gasped and bit her bottom lip before a series of sharp moans began escaping her lips.

“Oh, my God! I’m gonna cum!” The words tumbled out of her mouth as he kept relentlessly pounding her. “You’re gonna make me cum, Kevin!”

“Then cum, dammit!” Kevin bellowed, feeling that exquisite, wet cunt tightening itself around his shaft as Scarlett screamed her orgasm for anyone that could’ve been passing by that door to listen.

“Finally!!!” She blurted out and then her vision went white as her body started shaking with the pleasure waves ignited by the climax. Scarlett almost went limp when the sensation subsided, but then Kevin sensed it and began pounding her for all she was worth.

“You’re gonna take my cum, Scarlett!” He simply told her, feeling incredibly powerful as he roughly fucked her until he hit the point of no return and moaned. He pulled out and stroked the slick shaft a few times, pointing it directly at her smooth back before she felt the hot, sticky jets of his cum landing all over her body, everywhere he could find to paint her white with his sperm.

“Yes! You look so fucking good now!” Kevin said before he finally let her go and leaned back, breathless.

Scarlett remained on all fours, feeling empowered with all that hot cum covering her back and ass. She craned her neck back to stare at Kevin as he tried to regain his breath after that intense sex session. “So…,” a naughty grin curled up the corner of her lips. “Round two when?”

Kevin stared back at her for a moment and then burst out laughing before she felt his palm colliding with her asscheek in a light smack. “Whenever you want, I’m a basketball player, remember?”

“Mmm, guess I’ll be the judge of that,” she purred. “Prove you’re not all talk, Jackson.”

It would be about two hours later that Kevin and Scarlett finally fell asleep, with absolutely no energy after countless orgasms and climaxes. His balls were hurting by the time he begged for mercy and she let him rest.

---

Thanks, Scarlett, Zack thought, as soon as the door closed when his blonde friend dragged their other friend out of the room. Turning to his best friend next, he kneeled down in front of her and smiled reassuringly. “You’re okay, Chlo?”

The sudden fear having passed when Kevin went away, she smiled back at him and nodded. “Yeah,” she responded, letting Zack help her stand up. “Guess I’ll still get spooked by others seeing me like this for a while.”

Zack nodded, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “Yeah, about all that…, you wanna talk or something?”

“You mean after I sucked your dick?” Chloe asked with a grin. She really was like a different person when it was just the two of them, or around Paris and Gavin, Zack happily noted. Her words made said dick twitch again, though. “You know I’ve never done that, Zack,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “What should we talk about?”

Zack lowered himself next to her, his flaccid penis still on display as he stared at the floor between his feet. “I dunno. How about where are we right now?” He nervously responded, terrified about what had just transpired affecting their friendship in a bad way. Zachary wasn’t sure if he could live without Chloe McRose as his best friend.

Chloe played with the hem of her t-shirt, still stained by her best friend’s cum. The cum that she sucked out of his balls and dick, she mentally added with a nervous frown. The turmoil in her mind was the exact same one ravaging his mind at that moment. There were some people she could live without if push came to shove, but Zack Bishop definitely wasn’t one of them. The idea of losing his friendship terrified the redhead, and she felt that thought trying to push a tear into escaping her left eye.

“I mean, should we d-date or something?” She inquired, turning to him at the same time he did the same gesture.

His icy-blue eyes met her sky-blue ones. “Do you w-want to?”

The best friend duo stared intensely at each other for a few moments before they both burst out laughing at the same time, as if a switch had gone off somewhere in the room. “Yeah…, probably not,” they said in unison, smiling at each other.

“I mean, maybe we should understand this first,” Zack suggested. “Don’t jump right at it without thinking, you know?” Suddenly, though, the idea of dating Chloe didn’t seem as absurd anymore compared to when people mentioned that possibility in the past.

“Yeah,” Chloe grinned. She knew he had had a girlfriend and now a few experiences with Scarlett, but she was still a newbie at sex, despite all the porn she consumed her entire teenage life. However, now that she knew Zack was okay with what happened, she felt more at ease, letting her urges dominate her actions once more. “But well…, maybe what Scarlett said was true,” she held his gaze with a cute smile. “We’d never thought we could play this way, but now that we did…,” she let the sentence hang suggestively, voice getting huskier as her expression darkened with lust.

Fuck, Chlo looks so hot all worked up like that, Zack thought, smirking at his best friend as he tentatively brought his right hand to her bare left knee, slowly sliding it upward, gliding along her smooth, milky skin until it reached her upper thigh.

Her breath hitched when it teasingly came to a stop less than an inch before the hem of her t-shirt. A different kind of beast had been living inside the dark-haired boy lately, one that was dormant for a long time, even during his short relationship with Lisa Rivera, and a combination of Scarlett’s actions and his uncle’s advice had been responsible for awakening it. Instead of growling, though, this beast roared for the whole jungle to hear.

“Yeah, I think it’d be only right if I returned the favor for earlier,” he said, cock slowly hardening again as he watched Chloe’s face flustering at the suggestion. His fingers ventured between her inner thighs, slightly parting her strong legs. His heart beat harder as he waited for her response.

Chloe gasped at the sensations coursing through her body again. “Oh, yesss…, we always shared everything equally, didn’t weeee?” She queried, letting out a low moan that fed the starving lion in Zack.

He grinned at how she leaned back on the bed, supporting herself on her hands. That posture gave him unspoken permission to do whatever he wanted, and for a second, his mind flashed with the image of Chloe on her back, legs wrapped him as he pounded into her over and over again, causing his cock to throb violently at the sheer power of that fantasy. He opted for a different course of action, though. When that happened, if it happened, he preferred to make it more special than a romp in the guest room of a friend’s house.

“Too right, and I’d hate to break tradition, Lady McRose,” he said, letting his hand travel underneath the t-shirt and finally make contact with Chloe’s clothed pussy, a louder moan escaping her lips as she threw her head back. Shit, it feels scorching! He realized, his fingers brushing against the drenched cotton fabric of her panties.

“Yesss…, you definitely… s-shouldn’t, Lord Bishop,” she replied, whimpering again when he began to lightly rub her slit up and down. The ginger had underestimated how horny she got sucking her best friend’s cock and watching it spurt.

“Fuck,” a slack jawed Zack muttered, reaching down to give his cock a couple of strokes at the sight before him. His best friend, Chloe McRose, spread out and moaning, was simply breathtaking. He didn’t think he would enjoy it so much. I’m touching Chloe’s pussy. After she sucked my cock…, damn…, he remarked to himself, fingers busy at the cotton fabric that covered her treasure. So, technically, he still wasn’t touching her cunt directly, but Zack didn’t care. All he could think of was that his best friend looked insanely hot at that moment.

Seeing Chloe like that even pushed the image of his best friend bent over the hood of his car into his overactive mind, wearing just the powder blue one-piece he knew she owned. It was just like he had pictured Madison and Scarlett in a not so distant past.

“Mmm, yesss…, touch me, Zack, please!” Chloe chanted, slightly opening her eyes to stare into his right in front of her in the bed. It was definitely true what she read about the touch of other people in her private spots feeling so much better than her own. Oh, fuck! The urge of experiencing everything porn actresses did in their line of work attempted to take over her consciousness, a demanding growl wishing for the same in the deepest pits of her belly, but Chloe **** herself to push that thought away. I’m not even ready for that…, am I?

If she thought everything Zack was doing felt good, then nothing could have prepared the young redhead for what came next as a result of his impatience. Fueled by her sweet moans and whimpers, Zack finally pushed her panties aside and touched her steamy pussy directly.

“Holyyy fuuuck!!!” She threw her head back with a long scream of pleasure.

“Shit, Chloe, you’re so fucking wet!” Zack said, almost overwhelmed by the situation. That was his best friend’s pussy he was touching, and the Bishop boy was quite pleased at feeling some pubic hair there, an aesthetic choice he rather enjoyed on girls.

“Dammit, I’m feeling so freaking good, Zack!” Chloe moaned, bucking her hips to try and rub her pussy against her best friend’s hand.

“What about this?” Zack asked with a grin as he shallowly dipped the tip of his index and middle fingers into her moist, warm folds, causing Chloe to tremble for a few moments. In truth, he had no idea how to do that properly, instincts were his only guide. “Is this okay, Chlo?’

The redhead bit her bottom lip and quickly nodded affirmatively in response. “I’ve broke it in soccer practice a few years ago,” she answered his unspoken question, her hard nipples poking through the shirt.

Zack nodded back and slowly slid the two digits into his best friend’s wet entrance. “Fucking hell…, it’s so warm,”, he said, earning another long moan from her as she felt his fingers spreading her nether lips and invading her scorching fuckhole. Addicted to her sweet moans, he began pumping his fingers in and out of her pussy, squelching noises adding to her whimpers and heavy breathing.

“Fuuuck, Zaaaack!!!” Chloe screamed, nearly growling at the end as her beloved friend started his exploration of the hole where nothing else but her own fingers had entered before. It felt fucking fantastic!

---

Soon after Grace came back to the theater room and Jake hurried out, it was Madison’s turn to take a trip to the bathroom. Truth be told, the frustration bubbling within her was preventing the tall brunette from focusing on the movie to truly enjoy it. Even the sex scenes were flying right through her.

I can’t freaking believe Scarlett! She clenched her fists while stepping into the corridor. Her friend knew all about her crush on Zack and still monopolized his attention during the movie when she definitely had to give up her spot on the couch next to him. Hmm, maybe she thought Zack was fair game after I said I was considering taking Troy up on his offer? But Scarlett doesn’t date, it makes no fucking sense!

Madison hated feeling like her actions were dictated by the crush. It already made her push away her childhood best friend, and now the same thought was forcing her to single out Scarlett, something that made her feel like a complete bitch. She didn’t want to lose friends because they did something as simple as sitting next to Zack during a movie. Why do I like him so fucking much?! She wondered, coming to a stop in the corridor and wrapping her arms around herself, suddenly feeling rather ****.

Zack wasn’t only handsome and dreamy, but he was one of the funniest and coolest guys she had ever met, and that was saying something. Madison had met a lot of guys coming in and out of the house over the years, as Brandon always had several friends due to football. None of them came even remotely close to swaying her opinion about Zack, though, mostly because they simply weren’t allowed to, what with the threat of Brandon looming over them. “Maybe that’s why Troy affected me like that,” she muttered. The basketball player had taken action when he boldly touched her the other day at the court, which was more than any other guy could say.

She had come to the decision of accepting his invitation, figuring she couldn’t wait for Zachary Bishop forever, but just the imaginary threat of losing him to one of her friends screwed up her thoughts all over again, which frustrated the hazel-eyed girl to the point she wanted to let out a big, loud scream. Then there was Chloe. Having been friends with Zack and Chloe back when they were kids, she always thought the two of them were an explosion waiting to happen, and that no girl could ever hope to catch his interest if he got together with Chloe.

They’re always joined at the hip, but something else was going on in that couch, I’m sure of it! Maddie guessed, then frowning at the next possibility that crossed her troubled mind. Shit, are they all together in one of these rooms?!

The cheerleader fearfully glanced at the doors as she padded through the corridor, until a rather curious shout from a voice she knew very well brought a huge smile to her lips.

”God, yes, Kevin! Fuck me hard, c’mon!”

“Scarlett, you naughty slut,” Madison fondly whispered, silently thanking her friend for not stepping on her toes with Zack. Another issue rose with it, though, which was enough to wipe the smile right from her face. Fucking hell, he’s with Chloe, then!

Frantically looking around, Madison tried to remember which one was the door to the room Grace had given to Chloe. She was relieved to realize it was the one right in front of Scarlett’s, but tiptoeing closer to it, her heart sank when a loud moan of pleasure hit her ears.

“Fuuuck, Zaaaack!!!”

Madison’s first instinct was to drop to her knees and cry her eyes out, but right then and there, the feisty brunette figured there was no time to lose if she wanted to have a chance. She would have to conquer her fears of rejection and finally try to stake her claim. Crying could come later, she decided while grabbing the doorknob and slowly twisting it.

The sight that greeted her inside was the one of a moaning Chloe as Zack pistoned his fingers in and out of her underneath the long t-shirt that the redhead was wearing. Fuck, that looks so hot! Madison thought despite everything, her own panties getting moist with arousal. However, what almost made her squirt right by the door was the imposing tool sticking up from between Zack’s legs as he used a hand to pump it up and down.

Fucking hell!!! He’s freaking huge!!! Her hazel eyes widened at the discovery. Having seen dicks in porn, she couldn’t have imagined that her crush was packing something awfully close to the ones she saw in those movies. I’m completely and utterly screwed now, she thought, feeling a sudden spike of arousal right on her pussy. He’s handsome, nice, and has a big dick. Holy fuck, Zack!

Chloe’s growling-like whimpers were what snapped Madison out of that Zack-induced trance. They do look good together, dammit, she admired the best friend duo for a couple more seconds and then discreetly closed the door behind her. Creeping closer to the bed, she was amazed at how loud the squelching noises Chloe’s vagina produced every time Zack drove his fingers into it sounded. She must be wet as fuck…

Her foot brushed against the leg of a chair, and the noise made Zack become the first one to notice her arrival. His eyes widened in confusion and shock, the pace of his arm faltering a little before he snapped out of it. The blue-eyed boy cursed himself right then and there for the fact that Scarlett distracted him from noticing how good Madison Cole looked that night. Even for someone who had a thing for feet, he had to admit that the knee-length black socks she was wearing made the tall brunette extremely sexy, her legs looking even longer than usual. Naturally, his cock twitched at the sight of a new mate to play with.

“M-maddie?” He croaked out, letting go of his cock. Although his fingers never stopped thrusting into Chloe.

“Where? Whaaaaaat?!” Chloe’s eyes snapped open in surprise, but the question turned into a moan when Zack hit a particularly pleasant spot within her slick walls.

Madison coughed hard, figuring she needed to have confidence in her attitude, or she risked losing everything she was playing for, the old competitiveness from her volleyball days coming out to play once more. “Well, I was lonely out there watching that movie,” she said with a lustful smile while pulling up some of her acting chops as well. “So, I was wondering, you two got room for one more?”

Despite the initial surprise, a new sensation made Zack grin confidently at his other old friend, his blue gaze locking onto the brunette’s hazel one. “Well, the bed’s big enough,” he told her as a way of extending the invitation. At the time, he wasn’t capable of thinking much about possible consequences to that. How things would get between them or fear about her brother’s likely reaction to it, for instance. All he cared about was that this fun, sexy as hell, brunette wanted to enjoy herself with him and Chloe, and he, as any red-blooded guy in the same situation, would absolutely never deny such a request.

Madison grinned back and started climbing onto the bed, both dark-haired teens missing the low growl rumbling from Chloe’s throat when she joined them. Although, when her lust-muddled mind pulled itself together and saw it was Madison, she was actually able to quiet that annoying sound down. Not entirely, though, as she couldn’t seem to get it to shut up whenever she turned to Zack, who for his credit, never stopped fingerblasting her cunt the entire time it took for Madison to settle behind him.

“I think your hand must be tired,” Maddie purred, reaching around his body and eliciting a pained groan from her crush as her fingers boldly encircled his throbbing, warm shaft.

“Oh, fuuuck, Madison!” He cried out, briefly squeezing his eyes shut to get the barrage of sensations under control.

“Hell, it feels so warm and… and… throbbing!” Madison whispered, tentatively stroking the first penis she ever held in her hand. It earned a few more groans and moans from him, which in turn, made her entire body feel like it was on fire, and Maddie decided she enjoyed the fuck out of that new feeling. “Yeah, I’ll take it from here.”

“Shit!” Zack began to unwittingly thrust into her tight grip, his fingers pumping in and out of Chloe’s hot, squelching pussy. “You okay, Chlo?”

“Oh, yesss…, just d-don’t stop!” The copper-haired girl moaned in response, thrusting back against his insistent digits as they spread her folds over and over again.

Madison couldn’t help but feel jealous of that attention, wishing it was her own horny cunt that her crush was playing with. She was loving to feel his cock gliding along her hand, giving her a sense of power over him, at last. “The three of us playing together?” She whispered into his ear from behind. “Just like old times, huh?” The only ones missing from their old playdates were Ashley and Paris, but she wasn’t about to mention even more girls at a time like that.

Zachary was able to **** out a chuckle, the pleasure that her soft hand gave him being too much for the boy to form any kind of overelaborated thought. “Not really,” he grunted. “As I remember…, fuuuck…, a-all of us… had fun those times,” he managed to finish the sentence and then reached back to blindly feel for the brunette’s body.

Oh, shit! Madison mentally exclaimed in surprise, but then her legs unconsciously parted to help Zack on his quest. His free hand felt all around her smooth, long legs until it disappeared under her red t-shirt and found her own steamy entrance, covered by a pair of sports panties. “Oh, Zaaack, hell yeah!” She closed her eyes at the pleasure and the sheer overwhelming sensation that was her crush touching her intimately for the first time. “Fuuuuck!!!” She began thrusting against his questing hand, eager to see if she could get even more of that feeling.

Does this count as a threesome? Zack suddenly thought, busy at work with his two friends. I think it does…, daaamn!

The three teens fell into a synchronized rhythm after that, as much as their inexperienced bodies and limbs could manage, at least. Zack fingerfucked the wet furnace that was Chloe’s pussy as his other hand slid up and down against Madison’s own center, the brunette’s hand pumping his hard cock with admirable diligence as she was eager to make her crush cum.

“Ughhh… yesss! This f-feels so fucking gooooood!” Madison wailed as she came forward, clinging to Zack’s back at the same time Chloe fell onto her back on the bed. The two girls exchanged a brief look over Zachary’s shoulder, and in the midst of all that intense pleasure, they had the time to share a small smile, as brief as it was.

“Fucking hell, Madi…son, y-your hand…,” Zack groaned, even after feeling the warmth of Chloe’s mouth around his dick, the firm, assured grip of Madison’s hand felt just as good to him, and he fucked back against her hand, sensing that the edge was near.

“You like it?” The hazel-eyed girl purred, trying to sound assertive.

“Fuck, yeah!” Was the only answer Zack could give, pleasuring the two girls harder and faster, their increasing moans being like music to his ears. He loved to know he was the cause of those sweet noises. The undeniable truth, though, was that all three of them would climax very soon, and he wanted to make as much of that moment as he could.

He looked down at Chloe, her body bucking against his hand, eyes closed in pleasure. “Chloe, give me your foot,” he impulsively instructed.

Her eyes snapped open in confusion. “M-my foot?” She asked. “What for?”

“Oh, shiiit…, just lift it up, please,” he begged, and then Chloe, thinking back to the time he massaged her feet and seemingly got a hard on over it, complied with her best friend’s wish. She lifted up her right foot, responsible for so many goals for the school soccer team, up to his face.

Zack could feel his cock throbbing in Madison’s hand as he stared at Chloe’s long foot. He didn’t know why he had that fetish, but it was there, anyway, so he wanted to indulge in it while he had the chance. Fuck! The blue-eyed boy thought while leaning forward to nuzzle the smooth sole, and Madison was amazed to feel him pulsing in her grasp. By the time he extended his tongue and took a long lick through the entire length of it, tickling Chloe, his balls churned and triggered the chain reaction that took place over the next few moments.

Thrusting hard into the tight ring of Madison’s grip, Zack felt his impending orgasm bursting through the dam, and with a roar that was partially muffled by Chloe’s foot planted on his face, his cock began twitching madly. Everything happened as if in slow-motion. His index and middle finger thrust deeply into Chloe’s pussy, the brush of his thumb over the redhead’s clit setting her off like a firework. Simultaneously, his left hand pressed hard on Madison’s clothed slit, his other thumb rubbing her own clit and wrenching a loud scream from the brunette as her orgasm also washed over her.

“FUCKING HELL!!!” The three teenagers bellowed almost in unison as shockwaves coursed through their young bodies.

Zack’s cum spurted high into the air before plummeting down and splattering over Chloe’s t-shirt again. The two girls screamed, moaned, and twisted around, experiencing the most powerful orgasms of their lives. Chloe let herself sink further on the bed as Madison supported herself against Zack’s back, the two of them quite breathless as well.

After cumming twice, Zack felt completely exhausted and drained, so he extricated himself from Madison’s arms and fell right next to Chloe. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, Madison quickly cuddled herself up to his other side. No words were exchanged, the post-climax clarity meaning that an awkward conversation would need to be had, one that neither of those three young teens were ready to have. Perhaps Madison could have had mustered up some courage, but Zack and Chloe decided to stay with just that other chat they had before he began pleasuring her.

In no time at all, sleep conquered the trio and they fell asleep in that guest room at the Smith House. Madison’s last thought was that she only hoped Grace wouldn’t be too mad at them for fooling around in her house.

---

The next morning, it was like no one wanted to talk about the stuff that happened the previous night. The most they got was Scarlett throwing stupid little grins toward Chloe and Madison, as she had come later to check on the redhead and found the two of them sleeping next to Zack. She then woke up the Bishop boy and sent him off to the room he was supposed to be sharing with Kevin and Jake, before Grace could find him there. She also caught a special glimmer in Paris’ eyes, but didn’t have the chance of interrogating the blue-haired girl, sadly.

Thanking Grace for the hospitality, the guests started filing out of Smith House after breakfast. Madison hitched a ride with Scarlett, as they lived near each other at the Spark Road neighborhood, and despite her coyness about commenting on what really happened during the night, the brunette was incredibly happy when she got off her friend’s car and headed to her home.

She finally had a breakthrough on Zack after pining over him for so long. It was like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. At least I know now he kinda likes me too, she thought, a myriad of plans and strategies already swimming in her mind to try and make even more progress soon.

Unlocking the door, she stepped in and yelled in front foyer. “I’m home!”

“Good morning, Maddie,” her father firmly said once she walked further into the house and passed by the living room.

“Morning, father,” she emotionlessly responded. She hated how the mere sight of her father could dampen her happy mood, but Madison couldn’t help it, the way he always treated her like a prisoner made her hate him with every fiber of her being. “Where’s Mom?” She asked, eager to share what happened with her mother, who was basically her sole ally in that house. It almost brought a smug smile to her face, knowing she was standing right in front of the bane of her existence, and he couldn’t do nothing to stop Zack giving her the most awesome orgasm of her life.

“Your mother had to be at the restaurant, and Brandon went to play some football with Trent and the other boys,” Waldon Cole responded. “As you know, the Homecoming game is in two weeks.”

Madison fought the urge to roll her eyes, she had no interest in her orc of a brother either. At least her father hadn’t put much of a fight when she decided to be a cheerleader, seeing it as a normal tradition amongst girls her age. Although, he seemed to be forgetting about the mooning she would have to perform as a senior in the Moon Maidens before each home game. Something she wasn’t eager to remind him.

“Alright. Well, I’m gonna head to my room, we’ve spent the entire night studying and I’m kinda pooped,” she said, already making the move to leave the room.

“It’s a very admirable decision, creating a study group with your friends, Madison,” Waldon interrupted her, setting his newspaper on the coffee table and standing up on his feet. “No good comes from keeping your mind full of boys. Good girls study in order to go to a respected college, I’m proud of you.”

“Of course, father,” Madison nodded, offering a fake smile. His pride meant nothing to her, after all.

“Being friends with the Smiths can get you far too,” Waldon added. “Were all your friends there?”

Waldon Cole was forty-four, with dark hair and deep brown eyes, almost like an older version of Brandon. A natural of Mountain Falls, he met Vanessa when visiting a friend at Green Hills College. After dating her for a while and marrying, he decided to come live in Azure Rocks to try and kickstart his car dealership business, instead of insisting for her to come live in Mountain Falls with him, as he thought his wife’s hometown was ripe for business opportunities. Everything about his way of seeing the world, he learned from his father, another person Madison hated. But now, he was filling Brandon’s head with the same kind of bullshit and it made her life even more of a living hell.

“Yes, all five of us, present and accounted for,” the young girl replied, almost through gritted teeth.

“Yes, I think it’s good you’re not associating yourself with the Rivera girl anymore,” her father continued. “Her mother can be too… modern for my tastes. If only your mother could see that,” he continued. “I’ve offered to help her fund the purchase of the Riveras’ half in the restaurant, but she looked at me like I was crazy.”

I wonder why, dear father, Madison sarcastically replied in her mind, showing no emotion.

It kind of made her heart ache, thinking about Lisa, how they had always been friends and then cut off ties only because Lisa dated Zack for a while and Madison decided that was a betrayal. After the previous night, Madison wondered for the first time if it wasn’t the moment to let bygones be bygones.

“Who drove you home?” Waldon inquired, slightly narrowing his eyes as he observed his daughter with a penetrating gaze.

Madison wanted to sigh, but thought better of it. “Scarlett. You know she lives nearby.”

“Right,” the man replied, reaching up to rub his temples. “I’ve been hearing some rumors about the Soren girl, Mad…”

“Good morning, father! I really need to go take another nap,” Madison cut him off with a well-practiced, fake yawn. She was not in the mood to hear him badmouth Scarlett, and quickly fled upstairs to her room, leaving an irritated Waldon behind. Shit, Mom’s a fucking saint, that’s the only explanation. How else can she put up with him?

Stepping into her room, Madison dropped her bag on the floor and threw herself back on her bed, the silly little smile returning to adorn her face once more. Zack made me cum! My freaking God! It really happened! She was careful to not let out any noise of happiness, in case her father heard it and wanted to know the cause of it.

However, things would be even more difficult now, Madison assured herself. Now that she knew Zack possibly was interested, or at least open to the idea of starting something with her, she would have to work hard to hide it from Brandon at school or in any public places. The study group will be our safe haven, she conjectured as a frown came over to replace the smile. Damn, I forgot about Chloe. What exactly is their deal?

The phone in her pocket vibrating cut off the tall brunette’s worries and refocused her mind. Who the fuck it is now? She pulled it out and saw Ashley had sent her a text. Huh? Figuring it could be related to the Moon Maidens, she opened it.

‘Maddie, is Bran still home? We’d made plans for a date this morning, but he didn’t show, and I can’t reach him.’

Madson let out a huge sigh, it was just like Brandon to stand up his girlfriend to go play ball with the guys. It made her wonder just how many times the idiot had done that in the months since he and Ashley had started dating. Fuck, that orc will end up losing her real soon and it’ll be totally his fault, she thought while typing a quick reply to her fellow cheerleader.

---

As always, Chloe rode back home with Zack. She spent the entire ride wondering if they should discuss the new side of their friendship further, but Paris, who was also riding with them in the backseat, seemed to be in the chirpiest mood they had ever seen her. Something that Chloe guessed to be giving even Zack a little bit of whiplash, she noticed with a chuckle.

When Zack parked his car in front of his home and she and Paris hopped out of it, Chloe exchanged a smiling stare with her best friend as they walked away from each other, a million things said through that smile that held many of their past secrets and now guarded the juiciest secret of them all. A growl rumbled in her stomach again when Zack entered his house and had the redhead shaking her head in confusion.

“Probably just hungry again,” she muttered while heading for the next door.

Unlocking the door, Chloe was met by her parents watching the morning news in the living room. “Morning,” she smiled at them.

“There’s my little rose,” Roy said with a grin, beckoning her to sit next to him, though Chloe only walked closer to the armchair he was sitting on. “Had fun on your sleepover?”

You have no idea, Dad, she thought when giving him a smile in return. “It was cool, we studied for hours and then watched a movie.”

“Oh, which one was it?” Charlotte inquired, crossing her legs on the nearby couch, her abundant breasts almost popping out of her green sundress. “Maybe your father and I can watch it tonight too.”

Chloe felt the blush covering her cheeks, recalling the movie and what it caused. “Oh, you probably haven’t heard of it. It’s for kids,” she answered before lifting her chin to look at her mother, a nervous chuckle escaping her lips.

Charlotte held her daughter’s gaze and squinted her eyes, a contemplative expression taking over her striking features. “Hmm, there’s something different about you this morning,” she said, causing Chloe’s heart to drop. If her mother suspected anything happened between her and Zack, she’d never hear the end of it. Mrs. Bishop would probably hear about it, which would mean hell for Zack too.

“There is,” Roy agreed, loosely pulling his daughter closer to his chair by the waist. “She’s even lovelier than yesterday when she left.”

“Dad!” Chloe blushed again, recalling Zack’s encouraging speech to her the night before, which sent shivers down her spine and threatened to get her all worked up again.

“Yeah, that’s probably it. You’re gorgeous, pup, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Charlotte agreed, though the grin that formed on her lips meant her original train of thought was still running in her head. She could feel it, after all.

“Stop it, you two,” an embarrassed Chloe pleaded, but she was smiling this time. The events from the previous night would likely allow her to believe more in those kinds of compliments in the future. “Well, I gotta drop this stuff in my room. Be down in a sec.”

When she entered her room, Chloe left the door open, as she planned to go right back downstairs, but as she put her bag next to the bed, her younger sister stepped into the room.

“Hey,” Holly greeted. “Didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”

“Why?” Chloe smiled at the other ginger. “We did everything last night.”

Holly chuckled and then walked over to the window that had a view to the Bishops’ backyard. “So, Smith House, huh? Was it cool there?”

Chloe shrugged, joining her sister at the window and plopping herself down on the couch there. “I dunno, you know I don’t care for all that fancy stuff, Hols,” she explained with a laugh. Holly had painting as a hobby, but she usually appreciated other kinds of art as well.

“I know, Ms. Soccer, don’t worry,” the younger redhead joined in the laughter. “Was Zack there? Did he like it? All the sculptures and portraits lining the walls?” She rambled. “Do they have all that? Silly me, of course they do, it’s a damn mansion!”

The older sister’s heart sank at that question. She always knew Holly had a major crush on Zachary, and it must have sucked big time to hear their mother say all the time how good Chloe and Zack would be together. Chloe never gave much thought to it, as the possibility of engaging in sexual stuff with her best friend always had been below zero. It didn’t cross their minds at all.

Until last night happened, and now, sitting in front of her little sister, Chloe felt guilty as fuck.

“Uhn…, well, if he did, he certainly didn’t tell me,” she nervously tried to wave off the subject.

“Oh, he definitely did!” Holly excitedly told her, pushing a few strands of her own red hair behind an ear. “He’s so freaking smart, he has an eye for that kind of stuff, I’m telling you!”

I don’t know about that, but he has a big dick that I sucked, Chloe’s mind replied, causing her horny pussy to start heating up again at the memory of her first blowjob, which made her eyes widen in sudden shock. Shit, I sucked a dick last night. My best friend’s… big…, hard…, cock.

Chloe felt light-headed as Holly continued rambling about all the kinds of art they must have stumbled into at Smith House and that Zack supposedly loved. Until she couldn’t keep a lid on the arousal bubbling between her legs and she jumped to her feet like a lightning bolt, startling her younger sister.

“The fuck, Chloe!?” Holly blurted out. “Need the bathroom or something?”

“Yeah! Uhn…, I mean…, I think I need a shower, Holly,” Chloe tried to come up with an excuse on the spot. “Can you give me a few minutes, please?”

“Oh, sure,” the 16-year-old sister shrugged. “You must be stinking,” she jested, good-naturedly.

Chloe rolled her eyes and then grinned. “Alright, out!” She urged Holly out of her room. “I’ll find you later if you wanna talk more about the Smith House, sounds good?”

Holly smirked. “Don’t make an offer you don’t want me to accept, just saying,” she quipped in a singsong tone before winking and leaving her sister’s room through the bathroom that their bedrooms shared.

A guilty Chloe nervously chuckled and then slumped against the door for a few moments, figuring her fingers would be insanely busy in a just a few seconds. “Fucking hell,” she muttered, squeezing her legs together. It felt like she had never been so horny before, as an increasingly familiar growl reminded her.

---

Never breaking eye contact with Chloe until he unlocked the door to his house, Zack finally had to do it in order to enter. Once inside, he let his back rest against the door, a chuckle escaping his lips. In a way, he had a rather weird threesome the previous night. It started with him and Chloe, a fact he still tried to wrap his mind around since he woke up earlier, but then the sexy as hell Madison joined them, something Zack definitely wasn’t expecting to happen.

Where do we go from here? He asked himself, unconsciously referring to both girls. He had no idea if it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing or they wanted to repeat it, the thought making his cock stir in his pants. Well, Chloe implied last night she wanted to do it again, but what about Madison? She could’ve been just feeling horny for the movie and barged in the first room she could find.

“Oh, Zack’s here,” Monica Bishop said as she stepped out of the kitchen, interrupting his musings. “Morning, sweetie. Had fun?”

Hell, Zack thought as his mother approached. Ever since he became sexually active, it seemed as if he became more acutely aware of how hot she was, something that already happened before, but with less intensity. Right now, the dark-haired woman was wearing a light blue sundress that displayed just the right amount of cleavage. Which, in her case, was a lot. “Uhn…, y-yeah,” he stammered a bit, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Had a lot of fun, Mom.”

Monica grinned and then pulled her son for a hug, Zack stifling a groan at how delightfully his mother’s pillowy breasts pressed into his chest. It was over just as quick as it started, though, and she was already regarding him with a grin when pulling back from the embrace. “So, tell your mom,” she said, wrapping an arm around his waist and walking him over to the kitchen. “Are there many girls in this study group of yours?”

“Mom!” Zack whined, having had this conversation too many times to already know where it was headed. “Hey, Dad,” he smiled at his father once they entered the kitchen. Daniel, who was in the middle of sipping some coffee, just grinned and waved at him.

“What? I’m just curious, sweetie,” Monica replied, the grin widening as she sat next to Daniel and Zack remained standing next to the table.

Zack rolled his eyes. “It’s just the usual ones. Chloe, Paris, a couple of guys from the basketball team, and Paris’ friends.”

“Oh, is Kevin Jackson one of them?” Daniel asked. He and Mason Jackson, Kevin’s father, had formed a close trio with Theodore Young back in high school, and Daniel always thought it was cool that his son and Mason’s could be friends too. If only Theo and his family hadn’t moved to Green Hills after college was done.

Zack grinned at his father, grateful for the diversion. “Oh, yeah, Kevin’s there!”

“Don’t change the subject, both of you,” Monica playfully warned her boys, picking up her glass of orange juice. “You were telling me about the girls, buster. Spill it.”

Zack had to chuckle at his mother’s insistence on nudging his love life in all directions. If she only knew the things I’ve been doing, he thought, even if it brought him some guilt as well from hiding the life-changing conversation he had with his Uncle Robert. Especially from his father. “Why the girls in the group interest you so much, Mom?”

Monica simply smirked at the younger of her boys. “It’s simple dear. Homecoming is in two weeks, have you thought about who you’re asking?”

Zachary’s eyes widened in recognition; he had completely forgot about homecoming. He usually took Chloe to school dances, except for the one time near the end of the previous year that he took Lisa. It was always friendly, but after last night, things had just taken an entirely different meaning between them, and it kind of made him excited for it, he realized with a small grin.

“Oh, no need, I’ll just ask Chloe,” he shrugged, shifting his duffel bag from one shoulder to another.

His mother gave him a wistful, sympathetic look. “Oh, Zack, this is your senior year, sweetie,” she told him. “Don’t you think you should change things up this time? I don’t know, maybe you can find an interesting option in that study group,” she grinned suggestively while offering that suggestion. “One you can keep dating after the dance, perhaps?”

Zack grinned back and reached to steal a cookie from his father’s plate. “I stand by my answer,” he responded and then sauntered off toward the stairs to the basement. “I’m off to shower!”

Daniel began laughing uncontrollably at the gobsmacked expression on his wife’s face. “Oh, he got you good there, Mon!”

A wide-eyed Monica tried to stand up, stunned by her son’s answer. Or was it a joke, she couldn’t tell. “Young man, get back here right this instant!” She called out to her son, but Daniel’s laugh muffled it and she ended up letting out a chuckle of her own. “I take it this is amusing you, Danny?”

“Pretty much,” Daniel nodded through a mouthful of sandwich.

Monica smirked and slid her shoe off before snaking her left foot up his leg, causing him to instantly shut up and let out a groan. “That’s better, honey.”

Daniel quickly recovered himself and smiled back at his wife, his hands encasing her lovely foot. “Perhaps we should find a more appropriate battlefield for this… little dispute of ours?” A faint roar echoing deep down in him as he held her icy-blue gaze with his electric-blue one.

Monica actually moaned at the prospect, her core heating up all of a sudden. “Oh, you really know me so damn well, Danny.”

---

When Zachary drove Chloe, Gavin, and Paris to school the next Monday, he realized he couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes away from his copper-haired best friend, and she unconsciously fueled it, throwing him blushing smiles every now and then. Liking it or not, the dynamic between the two of them had changed, even if slightly, and they both hoped it wouldn’t end up screwing everything. Paris was so happy about her own milestone that she never realized it, and Gavin usually was oblivious to that kind of stuff, anyway.

Zack didn’t even notice he wasn’t thinking much about Victoria that day. If he even thought about her at all since waking up.

Once lunchtime arrived, it seemed like every talk and whisper his ears could catch were about dates for next week, when there would be a football game and a dance to celebrate Homecoming. Previously, Zack and Chloe had this agreement where they would just attend school dances together, forgoing the need to ask each other at all. However, Zack sensed a change in the air after what happened.

Shit, I gotta ask her this time, he told himself, panicking a little bit as he watched the redhead chatting with his cousin over the table. Is she even expecting me to do it, though? Fuck, I don’t know!

The way the light hit her red hair made it look like it was a gorgeous curtain of flames, forcing Zack to ask himself how he had never noticed it for real before. If the annoying, buzzing noise of a microphone being turned didn’t make him snap out of it, it was very likely the girls would’ve noticed he had barely touched his tray.

“What’s going on?” Paris inquired, turning around to see what was happening.

“Heather?” Zack mumbled, seeing his other cousin climbing on top of a table with a microphone in her hand.

“Can everyone hear me?” Heather asked, her voice coming out slightly distorted. “Good,” she said, without waiting for anyone to respond. “There’s something I need to tell you all. About this fun, little plan I had that Mr. Hartburn has just given me the green light to put in action.”

“What is it, Ravers?” Harry Cullen asked from the back. “You’re kinda interrupting our lunch, you know?”

Heather just gave the boy a fake smirk. “Sit down, Cullen, I bet you’ll enjoy this too,” she teased. Only Victoria, Ashley, Tanya, and Sharon had an inkling Heather was planning something for the fundraiser, and most boys in the cafeteria were just busy, appreciating the view of her toned legs encased in a pair of rather snug jeans, all the while fantasizing about her somehow deciding to dance for them up there. “It’s about the fundraiser, everyone. As I said, Mr. Hartburn got the board to approve my idea.”

Grace scoffed from the table she was sitting with her friends. “Huh, I bet there was no pressure at all from Robert Ravers,” she sarcastically mumbled.

“Tell us, dammit!” Sharon urged, staring expectantly up at her fellow cheerleader. “Enough with the fucking mystery!”

“Sharon!” Ashley chided her friend.

Heather laughed. “I can see you all are eager to know what I’ve planned, so let’s just get on with it,” she announced, enjoying one final pause. “I thought we could produce two calendars. They will obviously be sold, and 100% of the profits will go to the charity projects our school is gonna support this year.”

A two-second silence was followed by Harry guffawing. “Well, you just lost that bet, Ravers!”

Sharon blinked twice in confusion. A calendar? She didn’t know many G-rated ways they could raise money, but she also couldn’t see how Heather intended to sell something people could go anywhere to buy. She’s getting bonkers, the captainship went to her head, a tiny smirk appeared at the corner of her lips.

“Well, that sounds easy,” Chloe commented amongst her friends.

“I think she’s not finished,” Zack said, watching how Heather had a smirk of her own as she waited for the initial reaction to subside.

“Of course, you might be thinking that a couple of calendars are too… simple and even lame, that I should’ve picked something more exciting, but don’t you worry, you all, I got you covered,” Heather said, sounding completely at ease in the spotlight. “Allow me to explain. We’re gonna be in this calendar, yeah, the senior students. Buuut…, it won’t be just any kind of picture.”

“Oh, that’s starting to sound better, Ravers!” Harry teased, even though he didn’t fully believe she was talking about the same thing that crossed his mind.

“And it is, Cullen, thank you,” the cheer captain sarcastically smiled at him and then turned back to the rest of her classmates. “I was inspired by ‘The List’ awards we hand out at the Sapphire Ball each year, so here’s what we’re gonna do,” she finally started to get into the meat of her pitch. “I put a box in Mrs. Rossi’s office for you all to drop your votes in. Votes for the hottest senior girls and guys of Azure Rocks High, and the twelve winners of each gender will be in the calendars.”

An immediate uproar rose in the cafeteria, people frantically whispering and muttering about the shocking news. Some of them were excited by it, others thought it was absurd, but nevertheless, Heather couldn’t speak louder than the incessant chatter even with the microphone’s help, something that was frustrating the young heiress until a loud whistle could be heard.

Everyone turned to the table where Zack Bishop was seated, the source of the noise. Slightly blushing at the attention, Zack just gestured in Heather’s direction. “She’s not finished.”

“Thanks, Zack,” Heather beamed at her cousin. “Alright, everyone can vote for one boy and one girl, or just one of them if you prefer. Write your votes in a slip of paper along with your Student ID and drop it in the box,” she explained. “This is to ensure no one can vote twice, so non-existent IDs will also be discarded along with any double votes. Mrs. Rossi and Ms. Moreau will be counting the votes, before anyone accuses me of directing the count somehow.”

“Is there any doubt about the result?!” Harry called out, reclining on his seat as he smirked at Heather.

“Oh, thanks for reminding me of one last rule, Cullen,” Heather gave him a fake sweet smile. “No one can vote for themselves, and that’s final,” she gave Harry a long stare that he returned with narrowed eyes before she diverted her gaze to Sharon for a moment. “The pictures in the calendars will be… suggestive in nature, we wanna sell it, after all,” she let out a chuckle. “But don’t worry, no one will get pressured into it. If you win a spot and choose not to pose, you can just tell me, and I’ll give it to the 13th place. No hard feelings.”

Before another round of chattering could start, Heather tapped the microphone. “Okay, this is everything I had to say. Thank you all, the votes will be accepted until mid-November, most likely, and now you can discuss it amongst yourselves however you want,” she said, starting to climb down the table before she remembered one last instruction. “Vote wisely! See you in the calendar!”

Once she had put down the microphone and sat down on her spot again, Heather was met by Victoria’s disapproving stare.

“Really? A pinup calendar?” The blonde queried. “Is that your idea of charity, Heather?”

“Well,” the brunette chuckled. “You can’t tell me it won’t sell, Vicky.”

Sharon smirked. “What? Afraid you won’t make the cut?”

“Hey!” Ashley frowned. “She’ll probably come out in front of you in November.”

Victoria crossed her arms, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter, I’m not going to pose if they vote for me.”

Heather smiled at her old friend, wishing she could be less strict with herself. “And no one’s gonna **** you. Hey, I meant what I said, no one’s obligated to.”

“What about you?” Sharon turned to Ashley. “Think Brandon’s gonna let you do it?”

“He’s my boyfriend, not my owner,” the petite blonde responded, her eyes narrowing as she recalled being stood up for a football game the day before. “If I get voted and I’m feeling like it, you can be damn sure I’ll pose.”

“Oooh, sounds like trouble in paradise to me,” Sharon quipped.

“None of your business, Shar,” Ashley limited herself to say while Heather raised a concerned eyebrow. Neither she nor Vicky liked Ashley’s choice for a boyfriend, but they didn’t want to see their friend unhappy and hurt as well.

What did the orc do this time?

---

Harry smugly laughed in the company of Duncan and Naomi at a table near the back of the cafeteria. “Shit, this election might be even easier for me than the Student Council one will be for you,” he said, regarding Duncan with a teasing, yet condescending, gaze.

Duncan let out an amused chuckle. “Well, may I remind you that you didn’t even win ‘Mr. Handsome’ at the Sapphire Ball this year?”

Harry glowered at his friend for a moment before he got bored and turned to Naomi. “Think you’ll be in it?”

The brown-haired girl just shrugged with a small grin firmly in place. “Don’t really care, got bigger things to think about.”

“Like showing your ass in a football game?” Harry jested.

Naomi returned it with a sickeningly sweet smile. “Stepping stones, Harry. Stepping stones.”

“Well,” Duncan cleared his throat. “If either of you want to be in that calendar, then I suggest you start cleaning your act. People aren’t the cattle they used to be in the past, they won’t vote for you if they hate you.”

Harry laughed even harder. “Please, man, like they would resist voting for all this,” he gestured toward his own body.

Naomi chuckled. “Well, there’s a reason you lost on ‘Mr. Handsome’, Harrison dear.”

“Think about it,” Duncan said, tapping his own head with a finger and making his dark-haired friend glare at him once again.

---

Zack was taken aback by the whole idea as Heather climbed down the table. It wasn’t what he expected, but it definitely sounded tamer than the car wash the Moon Maidens used to promote back at the time his mother was a member. Despite the risqué nature of the calendar Heather idealized, he was impressed by her business prowess, as it was undeniable that a calendar full of teenage girls in sexy poses would sell like water in the desert.

Not sure about the one with the guys, though, he mused, his eyes widening a second later. Shit, they’re totally gonna vote for me, won’t they? After that ‘Mr. Handsome’ thing… fuck, he let out a subtle groan, unable to complete the thought.

Paris let out a chuckle. “Damn, our cousin is bold and smart as fuck, I’ll give her that.”

“Think you two will get in?” He inquired, his shoulders sagging.

The blue-haired girl turned to him with a coy smile. “Oh, you calling me hot, Zack?”

Zack exhaled as he sank further into his chair. “Just saying, don’t be surprised if you two get voted.”

Chloe let out a nervous chuckle. She felt better about her image after Zack and Scarlett’s encouraging words to her at Grace’s house, but she still couldn’t imagine herself being voted by her classmates to be in a sexy calendar. “Don’t be ridiculous, Zack,” she bantered.

“Actually, there’s only a couple of free spots for the girls, if you look at it,” Paris rationalized. She didn’t mind the idea of being voted, she just thought it wouldn’t happen, as she had never given attention to any guy. “We’ve got eight senior cheerleaders and they’re no-brainers. I bet Scarlett and Victoria get in too, so that’s ten already.”

“Well, that’s still two spots,” Zack commented. “And I’m not sure it’s gonna be so straightforward as you think.”

“The way you’re talking, it really seems like you wanna see us in that calendar,” Chloe joked, causing Zack to splutter at the small, teasing grin on her face. Before Saturday night, she would never have cracked such a joke.

Paris noticed it too and it absolutely shocked the blue-haired girl, though she quickly recovered and extended her hand across the table for a high-five. “Damn, Red, that’s a good one! Left poor Zack all gobsmacked,” she giggled.

“Thanks, Blue,” Chloe laughed as both girls had their fun at Zack’s expense.

Zachary couldn’t bring himself to shoehorn Paris into the fantasy, but his mind was more than happy to give him Chloe bent over the hood of his car once again, his dick hardening at the memory of her moans as he fingered her warm pussy.

---

After people began dispersing from the cafeteria, Heather hurriedly caught up with Grace in a nearby corridor as she headed to the computer club room, making the blonde girl glare at the cheer captain once she noticed who was following her.

“Oh, congrats on getting your idea approved,” Grace sneered. “Kinda last century, but hey, this is how Azure Rocks works.”

“Now, Grace,” Heather smirked, finding it amusing. “I thought we were friends. You know, after… you know what.”

Grace stared at the brunette queen bee for a moment and then let out a tired sigh. “Whatever. What do you want?”

Heather took a few steps toward the other girl. “I was just wondering if you did anything about that journal we found.”

“What’s there to be done?” Grace shot back, shrugging her shoulders. “Besides talking to Erica Keller’s friends, I don’t see what we could do. I really wanna know if something weird happened, but for all we know, what’s written there could be just the ravings of a mad lunatic.”

“Fuck,” Heather whispered, agreeing with the assessment. “I won’t even ask about that Flawless non-sense. It’s even weirder than suspecting Erica’s case.”

“Well, exactly,” Grace said, as if it was obvious.

Heather scoffed. “So we do nothing, then?”

“Look, I just know I’ve got tons of stuff to do, and I can’t have that thing taunting and distracting me all the time,” Grace replied, a wild expression on her. “I’m thinking about just dumping it on Alice, she loves that kind of thing.”

Heather slowly nodded, thinking of how Victoria would love an actual mystery to investigate, though with the newspaper, she figured it was for the best if they didn’t bother her with it. It was sad that Grace didn’t know that fact about her cousin, though, she pointed out to herself, wondering if it had anything to do with Vicky being her friend.

“Alright, then,” she agreed, letting out a brief sigh. “Will you tell me when you pass it to Alice?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “I’m not your fracking employee.”

“Will you PLEASE tell me when you pass it to Alice?” Heather replied, nonplussed by it.

“If I remember,” Grace couldn’t help but throw in one last jab. “Now let me go. As I said, I’ve got a lot of things to do other than dancing and waving pom-poms.”

Heather let a long sigh escape as the other girl walked away. Grace had two older siblings, so she had no idea if the blonde was slated to take over Smith Industries in the future in the same way she was being prepared by her father to be the head of Ravers Enterprises. If that happened, Heather wasn’t sure how the two companies would be able to get along in Azure Rocks, and the worst thing about it was that the root of the issue was a century-old grudge no one remembered anymore. Blowing a strand of dark hair away from her left eye, Heather pushed it behind an ear and headed back to the cafeteria.

---

The next day saw Madison and her cousin Kieran chatting on a stone bench at the courtyard during lunch time. She was still extremely anxious about having joined Zack and Chloe Saturday night, but what really made her nervous was the silence that followed. Zack hadn’t come looking for her to talk about it ever since, and as he spent all of his free time at school glued to Chloe’s side, she was just starting to believe things weren’t going to be so smooth as she hoped.

Dammit, are they a couple or not?! Was the question playing on repeat in her mind since yesterday, effectively tuning out her cousin’s words.

“Madison!” Kieran spoke a bit louder than before, causing her to jump as her gaze snapped back to his face.

“Shit, Kieran, you scared me, you dummy!” She hit him on the arm.

“Ouch! Then stop tuning me out, for fuck’s sake,” the young man retorted before his expression softened. “Maddie, you basically **** me to join the drama club, but how can we do this if you don’t even pay attention when I come to you with a question?”

She exhaled, lazily watching the other people lying under the trees or walking around the school’s external pathways. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?” She turned back to him. “It’s just that… something happened and I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Okay…,” Kieran slowly nodded. “Is it something I can help with?”

Maddie gave him a smile, sometimes she wished he was her brother instead of Brandon, the orc. “No, I don’t think so,” she told him, immediately getting anxious about the possibility of having to explain what was troubling her.

“Hi, you two,” a familiar voice saved her from it, and she smiled at the sight of Alice walking over to join them.

“H-hi… Alice, how’s it going?” Kieran greeted her friend in a way that made Madison raise an eyebrow.

“Eeehh, I’d be lying if I said I’m fine,” Alice responded, sitting down at Madison’s other side, sandwiching the tall girl between her and Kieran.

Kieran frowned as Madison kept her left eyebrow raised, concern for Alice replacing the worries about her own situation. “What’s going on? Where’s Jake?”

“That’s exactly it, actually. Jake,” the brunette reporter replied with a fake smile. “He hasn’t answered any of my calls since Saturday night and didn’t even come to school the past two days.”

“That’s weird, he’s never done that,” Madison commented. “You tried stopping by his place?”

Alice nodded. “I did yesterday, after school, but his mom said he’s in Mountain Falls helping out a cousin with something,” she answered. “I was like, okay, but missing school while at it?”

“You believe it’s true?” Madison asked.

“I’ve no idea,” Alice shrugged. “Sounds suspicious as hell, but why’d Jake lie to me?” She recalled his strange behavior as they watched the movie, and how he bolted from Grace’s theater room all of a sudden, but she had no idea what caused that.

Did he reach a breaking point? She asked herself. Maybe he wanted to touch her and didn’t because she told him she preferred to wait. But, I was so consumed by the moment that time, I think I gave him enough signs he could touch me.

“Allie!” Madison shouted, startling the green-eyed girl. “What you’re gonna do?”

“There’s nothing much I can do besides waiting,” she gave her friend a small smile. “That means a big problem for me, though. Jake and I were supposed to interview some guys in the football team on Thursday, you know, for the Homecoming game,” she explained. “But now I have no idea if he’ll even be here.”

“Oh, don’t sweat, Kieran here can help you,” an unfazed Madison offered.

“Can I?” Kieran blurted out, his green eyes widening in shock as he looked at Alice and felt his heart skip a beat.

“Of course you can,” Madison smiled sweetly at his cousin, bumping his leg with the tip of her shoe. “You don’t have anything better to do on Thursday, right?”

“No, but…,” he trailed off once he looked at Alice’s hopeful expression. Ever since Madison befriended the petite brunette and they grew up, he had developed a little crush on her. It had been very disheartening to see her with Jake, and he had to insistently tell himself not to be happy at the basketball player hurting her.

“Can you, Kieran? Please?” Alice pleaded. “I really gotta do those interviews in time for next week’s Scout.”

“Uhn…, sure, yeah!” Kieran grinned at her in return. “Hell, yeah, I can do it!”

“Oh, thanks, Kieran!” Alice reached across Madison to give him a quick hug. “You’re a lifesaver!”

Madison grinned at her old friend’s happiness. “Now, am I a great friend or what?”

Alice laughed. “Yeah, Maddie, you’re the best friend.”

You’ve got no idea how great you are, Madison, Kieran mentally added, grateful for his cousin’s crazy ideas for once.

Madison smiled, happy that everything seemingly worked out. Slightly turning her head to the side, she caught sight of Troy Carter walking in the direction the gym was located, and he looked at her as well, as if sensing her eyes on him. When he teasingly winked, she was reminded of his hands all over her that afternoon last week and a shiver went down her spine. She never gave him an answer regarding his invitation to practice some more free throws, but now that she had fooled around with Zack, any interest she could have had in that pursuit fizzled out. Or did it?

---

Meanwhile, Paris was sitting under the shadow of a tree in the courtyard, just basking in the calmness of the faint breeze blowing through the leaves that created a rather soothing sound for her ears. Now that she had had sex for the first time, with her celebrity crush no less, everything looked nicer and felt sweeter for the blue-haired girl. Yes, Paris Bishop was on top of the world, and she was willing to bet nothing could get her to come down from there.

Just the thought of scissoring Pietra was enough for her to feel her nipples stiffening under the shirt and bra she was wearing, and her legs slightly squeezed together to quench the incoming arousal.

“Hey, Par,” a face suddenly appearing in her field of vision made the Bishop girl jump and scramble to move back to a sitting position.

“Fuck, Lisa!”

Lisa Rivera laughed in amusement at her estranged friend. A voluptuous, Latina beauty of long black hair and warm, chocolate-brown eyes, Lisa had been basically pushed away by Grace’s group of friends when it came out that she was dating Paris’ cousin, Zack, near the end of their junior year. Madison had a longtime crush on the boy and felt betrayed by her best friend “stealing” the boy from her. Since then, a few months had passed, Lisa dumped Zack, but none of them had actually talked to her again.

“A warning next time, will you?” Paris complained, a hand going to her chest and feeling her heart beating madly.

“Sorry,” Lisa apologized with a genuine smile. “Uhn…, so, can I sit?”

Paris stared at the olive-skinned girl, unsure of how to respond at first. But damn, if Lisa hadn’t gotten even hotter over these past few months they hadn’t spoken to each other. She always thought Lisa was incredibly hot, the kind of blatant sexiness Scarlett also possessed, and sometimes it baffled her to think Zack couldn’t make the relationship with the Latina work.

“Well…, sure, I guess,” she finally replied, watching as her former friend plopped down on the shadow next to her. “So…, what’s up?”

Lisa shrugged. “I’m living. Focusing on school and soccer, you know?”

Paris nodded, looking at the grass between her legs before she turned back to the brunette. “That’s nice to know,” she said, biting her bottom lip as she couldn’t hold it back anymore. “You know we never wanted to just… kick you out, right?” She blurted out the question. “It’s just…, Maddie was so hysterical and out of herself that we didn’t have another choice.”

“I know, don’t worry,” Lisa gave her a big, grateful smile. “Maddie was right, though. We were childhood friends; I should’ve never touched Zack.”

Paris let out a chuckle. “Well, at least he was a dummy and botched it, right?”

Lisa laughed along with her. “Yeah, that’s right,” she nodded. “How is he, anyway? Chloe doesn’t tell me much in our practices.”

“Well…,” Paris trailed, figuring it wasn’t okay to tell Lisa all about her cousin’s sexcapades with Scarlett. “He’s fine, just the same dork as ever.”

The soccer player laughed even harder at that. “Good, he shouldn’t change. Your cousin just needs to have more tact with girls.”

Paris grinned. “That’s what I always tell him.”

The two girls shared a look for a few moments before they slowly embraced each other in a friendly hug. “I miss you all,” Lisa quietly said, and Paris felt her heart racing when the other girl’s large breasts pressed into her medium-sized ones.

The blue-haired girl smiled. “I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all miss you too, Lis. Yeah, even Maddie,” she said, earning a brief laugh from Lisa.

“I wish we could all, I don’t know, meet somewhere and talk,” Lisa said once they broke the hug and settled under the shadow of that beautiful tree, wiping a tear that escaped. “This has to stop, I love you girls too much.”

Paris felt her lips trembling and she almost shed a few tears as well. “You know what? You’re damn right, Lisa,” she firmly nodded, surprised at seeing the usually so feisty Lisa Rivera crying. “Leave it to me, I’ll convince the others to take you back.”

The beautiful smile on her friend’s face made Paris’ heart skip a beat. “Thank you, Par!” She launched herself over Paris for another hug, and the Bishop girl guiltily enjoyed her friend’s curves squeezed tightly to hers. “I didn’t know what I expected coming here to talk to you, but now I’m glad I did.”

Paris chuckled. “You have no idea how glad I am too, you dummy,” she said. “Like I said, don’t worry about the others,” the new hug soon ended as well, and she grinned wickedly. “Now, tell me what you’ve been up to.”

---

“What about a list of previous Homecoming game winners?”

“Oh, great idea! Peter was the last one who thought it was a nice companion piece to the article about the game itself.”

“Maybe that’s ‘cause our team always loses it.”

The gorgeous green-eyed blonde let out a hearty laugh that surprised even Alice, who was diligently working on her own assignment nearby. Zack smiled at the reaction his comment caused, he hadn’t even realized how easily he was talking to Victoria that afternoon. It was after school, and the three of them were in the Speedy Scout office working on the next edition of the paper.

“I shouldn’t laugh at that,” Vicky said, unable to stop herself as she slapped the surface of her desk. “But it was too funny!”

“Damn,” Alice smiled from the couch where she was perched. “I think you broke her, Zack. She never laughs like that.”

Victoria turned to her fellow reporter and grinned. “Well, you should’ve told me better jokes, then.”

“Cheekily talking back too,” Alice remarked before shaking her head in amusement. “Yeah, looks like I’m seeing it all today.”

The chief-editor composed herself and let out one final chuckle. “What about your interview, Alice? Is everything set for Thursday?”

“I’m just putting the final touches on the questions,” the petite brunette replied. “Though I’m not sure if Jake will show up, so Madison offered me Kieran’s help earlier.”

“Her cousin?” Vicky inquired, quickly recalling who she was talking about.

“Yeah, he’s in the drama and computer clubs,” Zack explained while wondering what was wrong with Jake. “My friend Gavin hangs out with him sometimes. He seems to be cool.”

Alice nodded frantically. “He is! Promptly said yes when Madison suggested it.”

“Well, that’s nice of them,” Victoria commented. “We can’t let the work stop.”

Three sharp, quick knocks on the door interrupted their conversation.

“Enter!” Vicky called out, a curious eyebrow raised as Zack and Alice also looked at the door.

It opened to reveal one of their senior classmates, though it wasn’t one either of them had much contact with before. With shoulder-length black hair and a slender body, the girl of Asian ancestry had her sharp brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. She looked rather stiff to the three teens.

“Are you still looking for more members?” She rudely asked, staring directly at Victoria.

“Uhn, yes, we are…,” Victoria replied, almost forgetting to feel excited that she was potentially getting another member. “Reiko Ishida, right?”

“Oh, good, you can remember things,” Reiko said, briefly adjusting her glasses as she marched over to the desk and sat on the chair opposite of Victoria’s. “I want to join the paper.”

Zack and Alice exchanged a weirded look as Victoria seemed to be taken aback by the newcomer’s attitude. “Uhn, sure, Reiko, we’ve got a few open spots,” Victoria explained. “Everyone else graduated, so Alice and I had to rebuild the roster from scratch.”

Reiko rolled her eyes. “Great, another bunch of amateurs,” she scoffed, fixing her gaze on Victoria, who looked down at the remark. “But then again, I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

“You’ve got a problem or something?” Zack asked, unable to just watch anymore.

Reiko snapped her face toward the boy standing next to the desk and narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down. “What’s it to you?”

Zack let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Well, you can’t…”

“Yes, we’re short of members, Reiko, but we’ve already finished everything we needed to for today,” Victoria stood up and interrupted his upcoming outburst. “So, if can you come back on Thursday after school, I’ll have something for you to do, then.”

The Asian girl pushed up her glasses and let out a condescending sigh. “Fine,” she stood up and began walking back to the door. “Until then.”

Victoria waited for the door to close again before she turned to Zack with an expression that was a mix of seriousness and amusement, if that was possible. “You know you didn’t need to do that, right?”

Zachary was the one who sighed this time. “I know, I’m sorry if you didn’t like it, Victoria, but I couldn’t let Ishida saunter here and start with that name-calling, accusing us of being amateurs,” he told her, offering a smile. “Especially you two,” he glanced at Alice. “Who’ve been here since freshman year.”

“Well,” Vicky paused, an unexpected blush covering her cheeks, as faint as it was. “Thanks, Zack, really. It was sweet of you, but I can fight my own battles, okay?” She said, walking back to her desk. “I’d never let her walk all over me.”

“I never said you would,” he grinned at her, getting a beautiful smile in response.

Alice smiled widely at the interaction. “Who does that girl think she is, anyway?”

“Reiko Ishida,” Zack exhaled as he sank into an armchair. “Gavin told me about her. She was in the computer club last year and apparently tried to butt heads with your cousin every single meeting,” at that, he looked at Victoria. “But Grace showed her up every time, and when the year ended, she kicked Reiko out of the club. Maybe she’s here to make your life hell on some twisted **** against Grace or something like that.”

“Damn, call me shocked. I’d never have expected Grace to put up with someone like her for that long,” Alice commented with a frown. “She never told us about this.”

“Well, she can forget it, then,” Victoria said, standing up and moving to the window behind her desk, giving Zack a view of her spectacularly round ass encased in a pair of jeans. “Just like the computer club is Grace’s domain, this office is my turf now.”

“What do you wanna do?” Zack curiously inquired, grinning at her.

“What you should do when facing people like Reiko Ishida,” she craned her neck to look at him, returning the smile. “You gain her respect.”

---

A bit later in the day, Zack had just gotten home and was in his room putting away his school stuff when he heard two soft knocks on his open door.

“Hey, champ,” Daniel said with a smile. “Got a minute?”

“Sure, Dad, c’mon in,” Zack grinned back. “Had another Speedy Scout meeting, that’s why I got home a bit later.”

“Oh, I’ve got to remember that,” the father chuckled, making himself comfortable on the couch. “Tuesdays and Thursdays, right?”

“For now, at least,” the son laughed as Orion hopped next to Daniel. “So, what’s up?”

“Alright, you got anything planned for tomorrow after school?” Daniel inquired, absentmindedly petting the cat.

Zack shrugged, crossing his arms. “We had left it implicit that Wednesday afternoons would be for the Study Group, but no one said anything so far. Why do you ask?”

“Good, don’t commit if they ask you,” Daniel instructed, to what his son raised a confused eyebrow. “Something came up, we’re gonna need to stop by the ranch tomorrow afternoon.”

Zack immediately frowned, worry building up within him. “Is something wrong with Grandpa and Grandma?”

“No, no, don’t worry about that,” Daniel quickly clarified to reassure his son, happy that he and Taylor considered his uncle and aunt their grandparents. “There’s gonna be this medical conference in New York over the weekend, neurosurgery stuff, and my cousin Gregory is coming from Quartz City to attend it.”

“Oh, sh… damn,” Zack facepalmed himself, already knowing where it was going. “He’s gonna be dropping by Azure Rocks, isn’t he?”

“There you go,” Daniel nodded. “He’s gonna visit Gabriel and Amelia at the ranch, and they asked all of us to come. Make it a family reunion.”

The younger Bishop sighed, his father’s cousin, who was basically Zack’s uncle as Daniel had taken up the Bishop name, was one of the most difficult persons to be around, but somehow, there were worse people. “Is the Devil bringing his spawn?”

Daniel let out an automatic chuckle. “You know you shouldn’t say that… in public,” he told his grinning son. “According to Amelia, Gregory’s only managed to convince Stephanie to come. Apparently, Christopher is tied up with college, and Nancy was too busy,” he explained. “Not that your grandma was eager to put up with her daughter-in-law.”

Zack laughed. “Well, Stephanie is kinda bad, but not as much as Christopher,” he said, relaxing a bit. “Can I bring Chloe?”

“That’s taken care of,” Monica said, stepping into the room before Daniel could answer. “Gregory invited Charlotte, and she wanted to catch up in person with her old friend, so the McRoses are a go,” she explained, joining her husband at their son’s couch. “We’re bringing Diane and Gavin too.”

“Oh, that’s gonna make things considerably better, thanks,” Zack exhaled, causing his parents to chuckle in amusement. With Chloe, Gavin, Paris, Josh, Holly, and even Clark there, then he could face his uncle and cousin from hell any day.

---

The next afternoon saw Zack in the backseat of his parents’ car, on the road to the Bishop Ranch. Since they were going to the same place and would stay there for the same amount of time, there was no point in taking separate vehicles.

The Bishop Ranch was the first house built by the Bishop clan in Azure Rocks when they followed Ryker Ravers out of Silver Lake. It was inhabited by the siblings Zachary, Gideon, and Hope Bishop. Hope ended up marrying Ryker Ravers, but Zachary and Gideon eventually married women from other clans and expanded the ranch over time. Zachary was a doctor, and Gideon thrived as a farmer, the one who truly made use of the land, though he sometimes accompanied Ryker Ravers in his hunts. Several generations of Bishops occupied it over time until Gabriel Bishop and his wife, Amelia.

It was located about a ten-minute drive away from downtown Azure Rocks, in the Cobalt Lake area. Very soon, the entourage led by George Bishop’s car, and followed by Daniel’s and Roy McRose’s, which was also taking Diane and Gavin Westher, crossed the old stony gates of the ranch, driving through the gravel road covered by the overarching trees that grew on both sides of it.

“I’ve always loved this entrance,” Zack grinned, looking around.

Daniel smiled through the rearview mirror. “It’s definitely peaceful in the nicest way possible.”

Monica playfully rolled her eyes. “Yes, this place is really nice, but I don’t know. I can’t see myself ever living in a farm,” she said with a knowing smile to her husband.

“But it’s so close to the rest of the town,” Zack argued.

Monica craned her neck to the backseat and grinned at her son. “You’re right, sweetie, but can you imagine how much work it takes to keep this place spruced up and running?” She queried. “Amelia and Gabriel have my respect, doing this for so long.”

“They love it here. True, it got even better for them when they decided to close down their practices,” Daniel clarified. “Buuut…, George’s already talking about moving them to his house in a few years, when all the kids are gone. They’re not getting any younger, and as you said, the ranch means a lot of work.”

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Zack mumbled, glancing at the stunning views of the entrance road, until it widened into a large green field with fences on both sides. A variety of animals on one side, and crops on the other.

The gravel road continued for a while until it reached a beautiful garden in the middle of a circular road, located in front of the house itself. The Bishop Ranch was an imposing building made of orange bricks and wood, raising itself on two floors that extended to both sides for a good distance. On the cozy front porch, an elderly couple eagerly waited for their arrival. As everyone started getting out of the cars and stretching their legs, Zack hung back with Chloe, Gavin, and Holly, waiting until Paris, Clark, and Josh greeted their grandparents.

“It’s been a few years,” Chloe said, looking around.

“Five, to be precise,” Gavin nodded. “I mean, if it’s the same occasion I’m thinking about.” Holly rolled her eyes at his capacity for acting like a robot sometimes.

Zack chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think any of you came here after that time,” he explained. For him, it had been five months since he had last visited the ranch, the busy school life preventing the young man from showing up more. It saddened and even made him a little ashamed, not taking his car and making the short drive there more often. He always loved the peace and quiet in the ranch, it was quite easy to lose track of time there. Not to mention, visiting his grandparents was always great.

“Now you, Zachary,” Amelia Bishop said, urging him to come forward and let her envelop him in a fierce hug. “My, you look like you’ve grown even more since we saw you last month!”

“How is it going, son?” Gabriel gave him a kind smile while patting the young man on the back.

“All great! It’s nice to see you, Grandpa, Grandma,” Zack returned the smile while regarding the older couple. He loved and admired them a lot.

Gabriel and Amelia Bishop, sixty-four and sixty, respectively, weren’t exactly his grandparents, though. Gabriel was the older brother of Zack’s paternal grandmother, but since Daniel had decided to become a Bishop, and contact with his own parents ceased, Gabriel and Amelia became like his parents instead. That was how Zack and Taylor always saw them, as grandparents, and the feeling was mutual.

Gabriel had silver hair and a full beard, with intense, steely-gray eyes. He had been the most well-respected cardiologist of Azure Rocks before retiring, the same field his eldest son specialized himself in. The beautiful, elegant Amelia had long, kinda wavy silver hair that she always kept dyed to its natural black color, and kind blue eyes that she was directing at the kids at that moment. She had a slightly curvy body, as shown by the tight jeans and the button-up yellow blouse she was wearing. Amelia had been a veterinarian, but retirement couldn’t stop her from working with the animals she loved so much, and there were plenty to take care of around the ranch.

Amelia pulled him in for another quick hug, her breasts briefly pressing against his chest. “Later, you all are gonna tell me everything,” she told Zachary, but looking at Paris, Clark, and Josh as well. The sweet woman then turned to Chloe, Holly, and Gavin. “Now, I believe I haven’t seen those three in ages. Hello, dearies.”

While his mother fussed over the kids, George approached his father, his own arm around Louise’s waist.

“So, where’s my little brother?” He asked with a grin. “Making everyone wait again?”

Gabriel just shrugged, a resigned smile on his face. “Well, you know Greg. Methodical to the end,” he replied. “Your mother talked to him on the phone. He and Stephanie didn’t leave their hotel in New York until lunch was properly served.”

“He just wanted to make sure our granddaughter was well-fed, honey,” Amelia said as she came back to their side, and immediately opened up her arms at the sight of Charlotte McRose. “Ooohh, you come here right now, dear!”

“Amelia, Gabriel, it’s been such a long time,” Charlotte greeted the older couple, accepting Amelia’s hug.

The Bishop matriarch held a big soft spot for the redhead, as she had been her younger son’s best friend and then girlfriend when they were in high school. She hoped the relationship would be enough to keep Gregory tethered to Azure Rocks, but her boy put an end to the romantic part of the friendship and moved across the country to Quartz City for college. There, he met his future wife, Nancy, and made his life as a successful neurosurgeon. Still, Amelia was quite content to see how happy Charlotte was every time they met, even if it wasn’t by her son’s side.

“How are Clyde and Eileen?” Gabriel inquired when it was his turn to hug his son’s former girlfriend. “Haven’t been able to reach them in a good while.”

“They’re great, thanks for asking,” Charlotte responded with a pleased smile. “I’ll **** them to get in contact more often,” she rolled her eyes next. “They never got much into new technologies and what not, you know?”

“It’s alright, dear,” Amelia said, slightly turning to the spot where the kids were chatting. “It’s incredible how Chloe and Holly look exactly like you at their age, especially Chloe.”

Roy chuckled, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Yeah, they’re our little blooming roses.”

Amelia smiled widely, barely stopping herself in time from making a comment that could possibly upset Charlotte’s husband. She was about to remark on how much looking at Chloe next to Zack, and Holly laughing with Josh, reminded her of Charlotte and Gregory in their childhood and teenage years.

Monica was the next one to approach the older couple, motioning for Diane to follow her. Daniel’s eyes were drawn to both women’s fine asses, Monica’s straining her jeans and Diane’s outlining her flowery sundress, his mind taking him back to the threesome a few nights before. He hadn’t seen Diane ever since that night, and now he was actually asking himself if Monica was talking seriously when she said the hot blonde was welcome to join them anytime.

Hell, what can it mean for our marriage? He wondered while Monica introduced Diane to his aunt and uncle. Even if Gavin had been at the ranch with Zack before, his mother had never visited it herself.

Monica noticed her husband’s gaze on them and discreetly bit her bottom lip as Diane talked to Amelia and Gabriel. A smirk was all she could muster to stop herself from squeezing Diane’s ass right then and there, but she figured it was too public of a setting to do that. She and Diane had worked together at their clinic for three days after the threesome, and somehow, they hadn’t discussed it at all, despite Monica’s eagerness to know what her friend was thinking about it. Maybe Diane was being bashful, but Monica needed to know where she stood, as she couldn’t wait to convince the sexy blonde into joining their bed once more.

Simultaneously, Zack unconsciously took the chance to gaze at Chloe when Gavin walked away to hang out with Josh and Holly started questioning Paris about something. She looked incredibly cute in a red sweater and a black skirt that left part of her athletic legs on display. She almost never wore skirts, so it was a pleasant surprise for him.

What’s up with me? I can’t stop gawking at her all of a sudden! He asked himself, his palms sweating the longer he stared at his best friend.

Their time together over the weekend got him on the verge of obsession with the thought of Chloe. Her beauty, sexiness, and all the other missed opportunities during the years they had been friends. Her hair was blowing with the faint breeze like dancing flames, and Zack thought he could almost count the freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. Suddenly, she sensed his gaze on her and turned to him, smiling fondly as those amazingly bright blue eyes stared into his, causing his own lips to curl up.

“Okay, everyone,” his grandmother’s voice broke the spell as she called for the attention of everyone present. “We’re still waiting on a few other guests, but there’s no reason we need to stay rooted here, so let’s go in.”

Zack barely missed the nod between her and Gabriel, and when the large group slowly filled into the large, rustic-looking home, his grandfather’s hand on his shoulder stalled his path.

“Grandpa?” He turned to face Gabriel Bishop’s kind, understanding smile.

“You’ve been… usually contemplative ever since you all got here, Zack,” Gabriel patiently said. “Now, this is a look I’m used to seeing on Clark, not you, so, is there something I can help you with?”

Zack’s first instinct had been to grin at the older man. Gabriel had always been able to tell when someone wasn’t feeling exactly right, or just when there was something wrong with that person, plain and simple. Zack had often talked to him about his issues before, feeling like he could trust the man with secrets and troubles that were just too embarrassing to tell his parents.

He scratched the back of his head. “Am I that easy to read?”

Gabriel let out an amused laugh. “You wear your heart on your sleeve, son. That’s not exactly a bad thing but makes it easy to know when something is amiss,” he explained. “C’mon, let’s chat in my office. Dinner’s far from ready out there, anyway, and your grandma’s on top of everything.”

Zack just nodded and followed the man through the corridors and rooms in the main building, marveling at the architecture as he grew nervous all of a sudden, wondering what he could tell his grandfather. Chloe hadn’t been the only one of his worries, and if he could be honest with himself, she was the lightest one of them. There were other problems swimming around in his mind, ones that he tried not to focus on too much.

Gabriel’s office was awesome, Zack thought, having been there on other occasions. It had the same brick and wood architecture, a large wooden desk with a computer, several bookshelves filled to the brim with books, a corner where the older man kept the medical setup he rarely used anymore, and a lounging area with two couches and a TV.

While Zack approached the window that overlooked the back of the property, Gabriel walked over to the mini-fridge behind the desk and pulled out a can of Coke that he handed over to his grandson. “Here you go,” he grinned and then poured a drink Zack didn’t recognize for himself.

“Thanks,” Zack smiled back and opened it, taking a gulp before Gabriel spoke again.

“Your father also looks troubled by something, but he usually comes to me when he’s ready,” the old man said. “So, let’s talk about you, son. What’s ailing you these days, is it still that college problem?”

“No, actually…, I think I’ve got it. Your talks and my Literature teacher helped a lot on that,” Zack explained. “Thanks, Grandpa.”

“Oh, you’re quite welcome,” Gabriel chuckled. “That teacher of yours, she sounds like one hell of a smart woman.”

“She is,” Zack let out a chuckle of his own before falling into silence once again to gather his thoughts. He wanted to talk about Chloe, but if he could be truthful about his best friend, Zack already had it figured out, deep down.

“But something else is bothering you,” Gabriel prompted. He didn’t mean to pry, but in his experience, talking and being frank about problems were always the better way to get a start on solving them.

“Uhn…, yes,” Zack admitted, taking a couple more gulps of his Coke to stall for a few more seconds. This made him far more nervous, as mentioning it to Gabriel didn’t make him feel any better than taking it to his father. “Uhn…, you know my uncle Robert, right?”

Gabriel let out another chuckle. “Oh, yes. A real piece of work, that nephew of mine.”

Zack slowly nodded, gaining a bit more of courage and then launched himself into the tale of how Heather had approached him on Robert’s behalf, how he had enjoyed connecting with that side of the family, and especially, how his uncle’s advice, that he didn’t specify in which field, was making him bolder and actually improving his life. However, he also shared his concerns on how it could make his father feel if he ever found out about it.

Gabriel stood silent for a few moments, a contemplative look on his face as well. It made Zack start to believe he should not have told his grandfather about it, before the man finally smiled. “Son, I could give you a million reasons of why you should be careful letting Robert Ravers into your life, but fear of your father’s reaction isn’t one of them,” he said. “You need to form your own opinion, and the only way you can do that is by getting to know the man.”

“But Dad will be so freaking disappointed, Grandpa!” Zack argued, wishing the old man would admonish him. “You are too, I can tell.”

“I’m not disappointed, Zack, just a little surprised, that’s all,” Gabriel clarified, careful to not sound judgmental. “Only you can tell what’s good for your life. Our job, mine, your grandma’s, and your parents’, is to guide you as best as we can, but the choice is yours.”

Zack sighed. “But… something happened between them that made Dad leave the family and come to you guys,” he said. “I have no idea what it is, but I know it’s something awful, okay? I just don’t want my father looking at me like an enemy, Grandpa!”

Gabriel put his hands on the young man’s shoulder, a worried look on his face. “Zack, look at me, son. Daniel is one of the best men I ever met in my life, you and Taylor are the reason for his existence. Zachary, listen to me, he’d absolutely never see you as anything than the son he loves.”

A tear escaped from the corner of Zack’s left eye. “But, if I start acting more confidently, like Uncle Robert tells me to, then I’ll start turning into a Ravers, Grandpa!” He argued. “That’s always been my true lineage, anyways,” he sobbed. “I’ve always been a fake Bishop.”

Gabriel sighed again, a small smile on his face. “Don’t let labels define you, Zack. There’s no such thing as acting like a Ravers or a Bishop, and besides, if it propels you forward, makes you evolve, then you definitely should listen to Robert,” he explained, patting his grandson’s shoulder. “As for being a fake Bishop, that can’t be farther from the truth, son. Even if she’s not my favorite person right now, you’ve got the blood of my little sister Lillian in you. Bishop blood,” he told the young man. “You’re just as much of a Bishop as I am, or George, Gregory, or any one of their children.”

Zack cried harder, touched by Gabriel’s words, but he couldn’t go with that, he just couldn’t. “But if I…,” he started saying, until a comforting smile and the firm touch of his grandfather’s hand on his arm stopped the rant before it could begin.

“Zachary, you are a true Bishop, son, and I know just the way I can prove it to you,” Gabriel said before he spun on his heel and headed to an old cupboard behind his desk. “There’s something I need to show you, I just need to find where it is.”

The young man didn’t say anything, his icy-blue eyes just observed his father’s uncle searching for something in that cupboard, curiosity written all over his face.

“The Raverses, they’ve always been about their lions and symbols. Honestly, they always put a lot more stock in it than us, the other clans,” Gabriel started explaining as he tried to navigate the old stuff in that cupboard. Frankly, there were objects there that he didn’t use and could easily move to a storage room outside.

“You mean the other clans that followed Ryker Ravers from Silver Lake and built Azure Rocks?” Zack inquired, wondering where Gabriel was going with that.

“Yes, I’m talking about us, the Austens, Woodsens, and Stewarts,” Gabriel nodded. “An obscure part of our history says that Ryker wasn’t the only one who chose a symbol and colors for his clan, though I admit his was rather flashy. A royal-blue shield with a bronze sword and pistol crossed behind a golden roaring lion.”

Zack nodded, he had seen the Ravers crest all over Azure Rocks, but what his grandfather was telling him was news to the dark-haired boy. “You mean the other families also have symbols and crests?”

“Precisely. Think of it as a… court of felines around the Ravers lion,” Gabriel replied before a grin spread across his face. “Ah, here it is! Take a look, son, and I dare you to tell me again you’re not a real Bishop.”

Zack raised an eyebrow and then his eyes almost bugged out of his skull when they landed on the wooden sculpture that Gabriel was offering him. “What the…,” he whispered, accepting the object into his hands. It depicted a shield as well, but in a softer, darker blue color, almost like navy-blue, with a pair of silver swords behind a roaring ebony panther.

A green-eyed black panther. Exactly like a bigger version of Orion.

Tears freely flowed from Zack’s eyes now, and his father’s uncle put a hand on his shoulder again. “You understand it now?” Gabriel softly inquired. “When I learned you had adopted a stray kitten exactly like the one in our family’s crest, your grandmother thought I had lost my damn mind from how hard I grinned for days,” he laughed. “Can things like that be a coincidence? Perhaps, but hey, this old man can dream, can’t he?”

Zack looked at the old man, his eyes shiny with tears, and then launched himself over him in a fierce hug. “Thank you, Grandpa!” Was the only thing he managed to say between sobs. That crest managed to center the world for him again like a compass, all thanks to his grandfather and Orion.

---

When Zachary stepped out of the house with his grandfather, his thoughts were pretty much in order after a long time. While he wasn’t ready to broach the subject of Robert with his father, he wasn’t afraid about acting this or that way again. As Gabriel had said, he was a Bishop if he wanted, and touching on his Ravers side every now and then wasn’t going to change that. He still had problems, but that didn’t mean Zack couldn’t deal with them eventually as well. The young man was in a much better mental state than the time he woke up in the morning.

The back porch of the house exited into a fenced, grassy area where a few picnic tables had been placed to accommodate a large group of people. A pool had been built next to it as well, but no one was currently using it. The adults, with the exception of Amelia, were congregated in one table, whereas Chloe and Gavin were sitting across from each other in another one.

“Where’s the others?” Zack inquired, plopping down next to Chloe and comfortably reaching for her hand to give it a squeeze under the surface of the table. Not that Gavin would have noticed, anyway, the way he had his nose buried in the screen of his phone.

Chloe smiled at the gesture, blushing a little. “Your grandma took them to the animals,” she answered. “Paris and Clark wanted to see his horse, but then Hols asked if she could see the crops, and Josh decided to follow.”

“Sounds like them,” he chuckled before nodding at the busy Gavin. “Again, huh?”

Chloe just shrugged and smiled ruefully. “You thought it’d be any different?”

Zack shook his head, he didn’t want to give up on making Gavin more functional just yet. “Hey,” he leaned to whisper into Chloe’s ear. “We should hide that phone later.”

She grinned and put a hand in front of her mouth, keeping their heads close together. “Oh, he’s gonna be so pissed,” she whispered back. “But it sounds so freaking fun!”

Zack covered his own mouth as well. “Totally! Just imagine him freaking out looking for that damn phone,” he softly laughed, earning one from the redhead as well. “But seriously, Gav needs to talk to people a little and this is the perfect testing ground for it.”

“No, I hear you, I’m in,” Chloe nodded frantically, their blue eyes locking on one another as they held that staring contest.

The close proximity was intoxicating for the two of them, feeling each other’s scent, breath, and the memory of Saturday night fueling the mounting lust in their young bodies. His cock twitched, slowly hardening as she felt that rumbling sensation growling deep into her core again, causing her panties to feel damp with arousal.

Shit, what’s going on with me? The copper-haired girl demanded of herself. It looked like she couldn’t be near Zack without getting horny as fuck.

Zack stifled a groan when their noses brushed together, pulling back and jumping to his feet before extending a hand to his best friend. “Hey, you wanna take a walk?”

“Hell, yeah,” Chloe heatedly whispered, accepting his hand, and letting him help her stand. Somehow, she knew just what they would be up to in a short while.

“Gav, we went for a walk if anyone asks,” Zack absentmindedly told his other close friend, getting a brief wave in response as he and Chloe marched toward a path next to the pool.

Monica and Charlotte observed that rushed exit with a huge smile on their respective faces, though neither one was aware of the other.

---

Zack dragged Chloe through a dirty path in the trees that he hadn’t walked in years, his heart thumping into his chest as she kept up with him, trusting his judgment that he actually knew where he was going. The best friend duo was laughing and skipping, like a young couple in the start of a relationship. Even though there was nothing official between them so far.

I just hope Grandpa and Grandma didn’t take it down, he thought, pushing a hanging branch aside to clear the path and smiling once he saw it was still there.

There was an old stable at the end of that path that Gabriel and Amelia hadn’t used in years, due to how far it was from the crops and the spot where the animals were kept.

“Oh, damn, is this safe, Zack?” Chloe asked as she let her gaze inspect the unused building. Wooden boards were hanging or even missing altogether, and the red paint was chipping in several places.

Zachary chuckled. “I hope so, but I haven’t been here in a few years, so we’ll see,” he told her, nodding at the stable. “C’mon, let’s go check it out.”

Chloe let him pull her into the building, which seemed to be in even worse condition from the inside. The roof had big holes in it, the floor was cracked in more than a few spots, and it was basically empty besides a few piles of hay, a couple of rusty pitchforks, and a broken wheelbarrow.

“They used it to store hay, basically,” he explained as they took a few steps into it.

“It’s cool, in a… rustic way, I guess?” Chloe offered, giggling as she looked down at their joined hands. They hadn’t let go of each other since leaving the others behind.

They just smiled at one another, none of them knowing exactly what to say until Zack broke the silence. “So, uhn…, I wanted to ask you something, Chlo.”

“Ask me?” She replied, raising a curious eyebrow and tightening her fingers around his hand.

“Yeah,” he slowly nodded. “I wanted to… uhn…, damn, this is hard,” a chuckle escaped his lips.

Chloe grinned cutely at her best friend. “Zack, this is us. Whatever you want to say, you can say it to me.” She desperately didn’t want things to become weird between them after the most recent developments.

“Right,” Zack nodded again, a bit embarrassed by how he was acting. He just thought he couldn’t screw it up in any way. “Uhn…, so, here it goes. Chloe, I was wondering if you’d like to go to the Homecoming dance with me?” he finally asked. “I mean, as my… date?”

The grin on her face widened a little bit. “But…, Zack, we always go together to those things.”

“I know,” his fingers tightened around her hand this time. “I just thought that…, considering everything, I should ask this time,” he nervously explained. “I didn’t want to assume anything just ‘cause we had that… night. I couldn’t do that, not to you.”

The admission made the redhead blush, as she never thought she would ever be in the receiving end of a date proposal. Sometimes she wondered how it would feel like, but her image issues and the fact that no guy at Azure Rocks High really piqued her interest made her think it would never happen.

“Well, you didn’t need to do that, but I appreciate it,” she replied, squeezing his hand. “That was a yes, in case you’re wondering. I don’t have anyone else I’d want to go with, anyway.”

Zack released a breath he didn’t know he was holding, followed by a nervous laugh. “Thanks,” he squeezed her hand as well before a faint frown shadowed his face. “You sure about that? You never liked anyone at school? At all?”

After Saturday, Zack found himself wondering all sorts of things about Chloe, and this was one of those facts. Now that he realized how beautiful she was, the fact that she was never asked out by any boy baffled him. Which gave him the frightening thought that maybe someone did, and she just never told him and Gavin.

“Nope,” Chloe shook her head, popping out the last syllable. “I’ve always been the celebrity crush kind of girl, Zack, plus, the guys at school never looked twice at me.”

Somehow, Zack didn’t believe that was the case, perhaps the guys just felt intimidated by her hanging out with him and Gavin all the time, or she just never noticed those looks. “Shit, I can’t even call them stupid, ‘cause until Saturday night, us being best friends made me pretty much blind to how beautiful and sexy you are, Chlo.”

“I… like hearing you say that,” she admitted, her cute smile becoming wider, and Zack took a step closer to her, their faces now inches apart.

“To tell you the truth, I couldn’t stop thinking about Saturday night,” he told her.

“Gosh, me too,” Chloe said, her voice getting huskier all of a sudden. “I touched myself every day thinking about you and what happened between us.”

Fuck, Chlo, you’ll drive me crazy here, he thought, cock twitching at her admission. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. Twice a day,” she replied with a wolfish grin as they kept getting closer.

By now, her pillowy tits pressed against his chest and Zack’s breath hitched. He had never noticed how big Chloe’s breasts actually were, but now that he was feeling it on him, it just became one more fact why he was obsessed about her. His gaze dropped to her moist, soft lips and then went back to her blue eyes, his own icy pools staring intensely at her freckled face. Reaching up to push a strand of her silky copper hair behind an ear, Zack grinned and leaned down, brushing his lips against hers as their eyes slowly closed.

Chloe felt her body warming up all over at her first kiss of all time, the growling getting louder in her belly. It felt different, but a natural progression to what she and Zack had been doing, and she thought there wasn’t anyone else in the world she wanted to share that moment. She pretty much let him lead, as he had previous experience in kisses. Her lips followed his gentle, caring moves, just letting their mouths get acquainted with one another.

Zack’s lips felt on fire at the touch of Chloe’s soft mouth, like he couldn’t believe he was kissing his best friend even after fingering her to an orgasm the other night. It was rather different from kissing Lisa Rivera or Scarlett Soren, like he didn’t want to let go. The big truth was that he couldn’t get enough of her at that moment, so, he released his arms to wrap around the small of her back as her own hands found a place on his chest. Their mouths smacked and nibbled at one another as his hands roamed her strong back.

She hummed at his touch, and when he unwittingly lowered his hand to close around a firm asscheek, she moaned into the kiss, allowing his tongue to dip into her mouth and make contact with hers. That blast of sensations was enough for Chloe to pull back, breaking the lip lock and staring up at him with an animalistic look on her face.

The best friend duo stared at each other, both out of breath after that intense experience. For the two of them, kissing somehow felt even more taboo than the sexy moment they shared during the sleepover Saturday night. It was more intimate.

“That was my first,” she whispered, giving him a shy smile.

“Really?” Zack returned the smile. He didn’t expect that she would have told him if someone had kissed her in the past, as it seemed more like something she would have informed Paris instead.

“Yea…,” she started saying, but a glance down south made the word die in a whisper as his rather large bulge strained the pants, causing Chloe’s lower body to heat up as her horny mind brought back the experience of having that dick in her mouth. “You’re hard again,” she pointed out, her voice gaining a husky tone to it once more.

Zack choked as he also recalled having his best friend’s mouth around his cock, bobbing up and down as she sucked on it. “Like I said, I can’t stop thinking about Saturday night, and… being here, kissing you,” he made a pause, grinning at her. “It’s turning me on… a lot, Chlo.”

A naughty grin he had never seen on his best friend’s face before decorated her features before her right hand shot forward and cupped his bulge, causing his legs to buckle for a brief moment. “Can I suck it again?” Chloe asked, so quickly that he almost didn’t understand what she meant at first.

The idea of experiencing a new blowjob from his best friend made his cock throb as she lightly rubbed it over his pants, and Zack almost caved in, but he always figured that sex was about reciprocating. Yes, he had given her an orgasm Saturday night, but he had used his fingers, while she had gone a step further and pleasured him with her mouth. Zack had always been curious about how a pussy would taste like, so it was high time to repay Chloe for the favor, he decided with a grin.

“Thanks, Chloe, but no,” he gently put a hand on her shoulder and gently made her walk back until her ass touched a pillar. “Today, it’s my turn.”

Chloe frowned in confusion at first. “Your turn for wha… oooh,” she started asking, and her heart raced when she got his meaning, eyes widening when her best friend crouched down in front of her. “Oh, shit.”

Zack immediately put his hands on her strong, athletic legs, recalling the feeling of caressing those soccer-playing weapons last Saturday, but now he was going to take it to the next level. Leaning in, he began peppering her thighs with kisses, a hand pushing her skirt up a little bit. “Hey, Chlo, hold this for me, please?” He asked, and then nibbled on her smooth skin when she complied with his instruction.

The horny redhead whimpered at the feeling, she couldn’t believe how turned on she was already getting with so little stimulation, the ever present growling seemingly amplifying that sensation. Zack guided her hand to lift up her skirt even further, exposing her black cotton panties to his curious gaze. He remembered her wearing a similar pair Saturday night and fleetingly wondered if his best friend didn’t own sexier underwear.

Well, it doesn’t matter, this is Chloe, he decided, heart beating harder at the thought that he was about to see his first live pussy. When he fingered Chloe the other time, it had happened under that long t-shirt she had been wearing, after all. Looking up to check with Chloe if that was okay, he was amazed at the flushed, feral look on her face. Fuck, she looks so hot, he thought, almost as if she was going to bite his head off if he didn’t get on with it soon.

Hooking his fingers on the waistband of her panties, Zack pulled it down in a quick move, baring the hottest sight he had ever seen to his awed, unprepared gaze. Chloe’s slit was red and dripping with her arousal, wetting a copper-colored bush that she kept around her engorged entrance.

“Sorry I’m not… completely bare down there,” she said, mistaking his momentary silence for disgust.

He let out a chuckle. “You kidding? I love this,” he told her, leaning in and nuzzling her pubic hair with the tip of his nose, lips kissing her soaked slit as Chloe McRose’s sweet flavor finally assaulted his taste buds. The contact **** Chloe to throw her head back and let an erotic moan escape her lips.

“Oooohhh!!!”

Once again, Zack saw himself in a situation where he had no idea how to proceed, but hoped that he could pick something up from all the porn he watched in his teenage years. If the moans and whimpers Chloe was producing at the first swipes of his tongue were any indication, he was in the right path, Zack figured with a grin. “Just relax and let me do this, Chlo.”

Chloe leaned back against the pillar and instinctively reached down to press her best friend’s head on her crotch as he boldly began to lick her wet slit. Moaning in pleasure, her fingers threaded in his short dark hair. “Oh, fuck, Zack! Don’t stop!”

As if I want to, he thought, licking and sucking on the ginger’s horny cunt like it was the last meal of his life.

Soon enough, Zack grabbed Chloe’s hips to steady himself and slipped his hungry tongue into her fuckhole, causing a copious amount of her sweet juices to flood his mouth. She moaned and trembled, clutching his head even tighter to her, unable to believe that oral felt even better than having his fingers there the other night.

“Fuck, yes, Zack! Lick me, right there!”

Happy to comply with his best friend’s wishes, Zack kept working relentlessly, his enthusiasm more than making up for his lack of experience at pussy eating. Not that Chloe would have noticed that, of course, being even more inexperienced. His jaw was starting to show the early signs of getting tired, but he braved on, dead-set on making Chloe cum by his tongue. At that moment, Zachary felt he couldn’t understand guys who didn’t enjoy doing that for their girls, Chloe’s moans and whimpers acting like sweet music to his ears. A few moments later, his hands unconsciously slid from her hips to the firm, round ass at her back, causing his cock to throb violently and Chloe to let out a long moan when he squeezed it.

“Shit, my butt, Zack!”

Zack looked up at her, never taking his mouth off her delicious pussy, and saw his best friend in a gorgeous state. Chest heaving up and down, eyes shut tightly, her cheeks all flushed red like her hair. Fuck, Chlo, you’re gonna kill me, he thought, and then in a horny impulse, he moved his hands back to her hips and flipped his best friend around. Chloe squealed in shock and a bit of arousal as she suddenly saw herself spinning and facing the pillar.

“Zack?” She called back in a mix of fear and excitement, wondering what he was about to do.

Zachary took in the view of Chloe’s milky, freckled ass exposed to him in all its glory, a puckered asshole above the soaked cunt he had just been tonguefucking. “You’re so fucking hot, Lady McRose,” he said in a husky voice that made the virgin redhead tremble all over. She squealed again when he cupped both asscheeks and squeezed it tightly. “I’m gonna make you cum so hard, Chlo.”

Chloe’s heart skipped a beat, and she could only moan really loud when her best friend dove between her asscheeks and slid his tongue into her horny pussy again. “Fuck, Zack! Yes, fucking do it! Shit!” She moaned and cursed, scrambling to grab the pillar for support. It was basically an **** of feelings and sensations for the young woman. Zack had a firm grip of her butt as his tongue slid in and out of her pussy like a snake. Her fingers clenched around the rough wooden surface of the pillar as she moaned and bit her bottom lip, hoping that the stable was far enough from the house for no one to hear what they were doing.

For Zack, having his best friend so exposed in front of him like that as he tasted and tongued her slick folds, it was something akin to a feast. He couldn’t get enough of it, the more he licked her, the more he wanted her. As he tongue-fucked his moaning friend, he thought about trying to play with her other hole, just to test the waters, but figured it was better to leave it for another opportunity. Right now, his focus was to make her have a smashing orgasm.

Chloe was moaning and screaming louder by the second, the combination of Zack’s bold tongue and the position she was in bringing the copper-haired girl closer and closer to an orgasm like a train with no brakes. She was basically humping her ass against her friend’s face by now.

“Ooohh, keep going, Zack! I’m almost there!” She wailed, reaching back to pull his head against her rump.

Bolder than ever, Zack kept squeezing her ass with one hand, but brought the other one around her body to rub at her excited clit, wrenching a mighty wail from Chloe as he relentlessly devoured her hole. His cock was throbbing painfully in his pants, but he didn’t want to think about it now, as there wouldn’t be time for the favor to be returned that afternoon.

A few more licks and rubs later, and Chloe’s entire body began shaking and trembling, the heat spreading through all of her limbs as the growling rang in her ears louder than ever. “Fuck, I’m cumming, Zack! You’re making me cum, shit!”

Fucking hell, Zack thought in awe as he licked his best friend through her orgasm, watching as she thrashed about, letting short, yet loud, moans, until her legs gave out under her and he scrambled to catch her fall.

Wiping off his mouth, he cradled her to him, pulling her panties back up as Chloe slowly recovered herself. She was breathing hard, completely ravaged by that climax that had easily taken the top spot as the strongest one of her life. Zack chuckled and grinned down at her, their blue eyes locked on one another until a small, lazy smile took over her beautiful features as well.

“That was fun,” she mumbled, looking like she was still a bit dazed by the experience.

“Yeah, it was,” he laughed, nodding.

Her wobbly hand went down and landed on his groin, though not exactly on the impressive bulge trying to burst out of it. “I wanna suck it again, Z,” she told him with a wolfish-like grin.

Shit, Zack thought, wishing nothing more than to take her up on that. “R-raincheck?” He **** himself to ask, helping his best friend to her feet. “We’ve been gone for too long,” he said, the fact that the others could be looking for them implicit in his sentence.

“Okay, then,” Chloe nodded, a playful smile forming on her face. “But,” she reached over and patted his cock. “Next time I’m making you spurt again,” she teasingly told him before skipping out of the stable. “C’mon, let’s go back!”

Zachary dumbly stood there, staring at the threshold she had just crossed, until a laugh shook his body and he walked away to follow her, idly wondering if he should do something about his breath before re-joining his family and friends.

---

When Zack and Chloe made their way back to the main house, it was to a surprise neither of them was expecting. Their classmate, Alice Phillips, was there with an older man that Zack thought looked vaguely familiar. He leaned toward Chloe, fighting the urge to squeeze her ass again over the skirt. “I’m gonna hit the bathroom, if anyone asks,” he told her, figuring he needed to get rid of his current breath.

Chloe nodded and smiled, watching him leave as she went to re-join Gavin. Zachary didn’t take long in the bathroom, as he decided against the idea of jerking off. Though his curiosity was piqued as to what Alice was doing there. Did Paris invite her? But she didn’t say anything.

His curiosity was killed when he stepped out into the back porch and found his fellow member of the Speedy Scout climbing up the steps.

“Now this is a surprise,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hi, Zack,” the brunette chuckled. “I guess I didn’t really know about this, but my grandfather is friends with yours. When Grandpa said he was invited and asked me to come, I just couldn’t refuse the chance to see the historical Bishop Ranch for myself, you know?”

“Ah, a journalistic interest, then,” Zack replied, sitting on the steps and watching as she did the same. “That’s your grandfather?” He briefly pointed at the man chatting with his father’s uncle and aunt. “He looks kinda familiar to me, but I can’t place where from.”

“Well, he owns a bar in town,” Alice offered. “But I don’t see why you might’ve been there.”

“Oh, the Captain Cove?” It finally clicked for Zack, and she nodded. “That’s where I learned how to play pool.”

Alice laughed. “Get out, you play pool?!”

He shrugged his shoulders with an amused smile. “Well, I wouldn’t say I really play, as in regularly,” he clarified. “But I know a few things. Ashley Woodsen’s older sister, Hannah, taught us both how to play a few years ago.”

“Aww, and here I was, innocently thinking I’d found someone to play with,” she teased.

“We can play one of these days,” he let out another laugh. “I just can’t vouch for my skills.”

“Hmm, I’ll be the judge of that, Bishop,” Alice playfully challenged, and then burst into giggles.

Zachary thought it would be awkward, since he had never hung out with Alice by herself, but as he had garnered from other chats at the Scout and the Study Group, she was quite a fun person to be with. Sharp and just a little bit sarcastic, she was also incredibly gorgeous. The shorter hair gave her a classy sexy vibe, if he could put it that way, her jade-green eyes full of mirth. Which only made him remember Jake. Her actual boyfriend.

“So, any news about Jake?” He asked. “Still in Mountain Falls?”

The way she sighed and immediately turned downcast almost made him reconsider the question. “Yeah, there hasn’t been any new developments on the Jake front, but I’ve got a more urgent problem to worry about, actually,” she explained, causing Zack to raise a curious eyebrow. “Remember that I had to get Kieran’s help for the interview tomorrow? Since Jake is MIA?” She asked, matter-of-factly. “Well, now Kieran bailed on me too. Yes, he caught the flu, but that doesn’t solve my problem.”

Zack reached to the back of his head to lightly scratch it. “Well, Alice, if that’s alright with you, I can always do it if it’s not something terribly specific that only one of them can do.”

The gorgeous smile on her face was worth it, he decided. “Oh, you’re sure?!” She asked with a hopeful expression, biting her bottom lip, and then grinned again when he nodded. “Thanks, Zack! It’s not that hard, you’ll see. I’d just need you to carry a few studio lamps and take some photos while I talk to the players.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Zack smiled. “I’ve already finished the piece Victoria asked me to, so I won’t need to stay in the office tomorrow. I can join you in the field,” he said, letting out a chuckle. “That feels kinda exciting, actually, being in the field.”

Alice giggled. “Oh, I’ll take good care of the rookie, don’t worry,” she said, giving him a wink. Without Jake by her side, it didn’t escape Alice how handsome the boy in front of her actually was, fully deserving of the ‘Mr. Handsome’ trophy, but she didn’t dwell on it. She was too worried about Jake and her relationship to really think about other guys.

“It’s always great learning the ropes from one of the best,” Zack replied, quite enjoying the grin she gave him, but the faint blush wasn’t noticeable. It was then that he winced quite exaggeratedly. “Oh, crap, but that means Victoria will be alone with Reiko.”

Alice grimaced at the thought. “Oh, fuck. I’ve asked Grace about her, turns out she might be even worse than we’ve seen,” she revealed. “Vicky has the patience of a saint, but I’m really worried that she might be in over her head with that talk about winning over that bitch’s respect.”

Zack was surprised by the venom in her voice, wondering what exactly Grace told Alice about the Asian. Maybe I should ask Gavin for more details on this, might be useful to deal with Reiko in the future, he pondered. “I guess we should see how Victoria deals with her tomorrow, then if things go south, we can make plans on not leaving them alone again.”

The petite brunette gave him a rueful smile, still worried about her good friend. “Yeah, I think this is the best we can do for now, the Scout can’t stop.”

“Agreed,” Zack nodded, a sudden thought regarding the friends they were talking about crossing his mind. “Hey, Alice. I guess I never really thought about it, but the reason why Grace doesn’t get along with Victoria is the friendship with Heather, isn’t it? I mean, I just can’t really see Victoria holding a grudge over anything.”

Alice let out a chuckle. “That sounds like Vicky, yeah. And you’re right, it’s completely one-sided, Grace really can’t get over her cousin being friends with someone she hates, and since Vicky and Heather are friends since they were kids, I guess Grace just got used to not seeing her as a friend figure herself,” she explained. “It really gets to Vicky sometimes, you know? I can see she gets sad sometimes when I mention Grace.”

“Yeah, I was just wondering here, if Grace sort of tolerates me now, then maybe we could get her to at least talk to Victoria,” Zachary suggested. “I’ve got a few cousins, and I can’t imagine living estranged from some of them, like Paris, for example. I guess, what I’m trying to say is that maybe we’ll be surprised with the result if we do this.”

“Oh,” Alice’s expression turned contemplative at that, thinking back to her own life. She didn’t have any cousins, since her grandfather had never had another child other than her mother after his wife passed away. She couldn’t exactly understand the feeling but figured that perhaps it was similar to the affection she harbored for all her friends and Jake. She never wanted to lose any of them, it was a scary thought to even entertain. Especially after the loss of Lisa that she never fully got over. “I think it’s very sweet that you thought of doing that for them. Count on me, I really wanted to see those two in friendly terms for a long time.”

“Cool,” Zack nodded, smiling as he once again thought of how good she looked, but this time his unruly gaze also took notice of her outfit, a black tank top with an unbuttoned blue flannel shirt, snug jeans that made her fit legs look amazing, and a pair of boots. Shit, what about Chloe, you moron?! You gotta control yourself now!

Nearby, at the table the adults were sitting around, Monica observed Zack chatting with the Phillips girl on the steps with intense curiosity. She had the curse of thinking that her son looked good with any girl, but she could sense something else there. Maybe her boy’s future lied in a completely different path than the one she imagined. Which kind of pained her to consider, especially after seeing Zack sneaking off with Chloe.

At that moment, the loud sound of a horse’s hooves galloping on the ground could be heard getting closer and closer to the house, interrupting every conversation taking place in the backyard. Soon, Clark crested over a hill and rode his beloved white horse, Olfin, toward the house.

“Hey!” He called out to everyone. “Gregory and Stephanie are here!”

---

Zack and Alice stood up straight and joined Chloe and Gavin as Gabriel, Amelia, George, and Daniel rushed into the house, no doubt to greet his uncle Gregory. Clark rode his horse into another direction, but Paris, Josh, and Holly soon joined them there, and the blue-haired girl was surprised to see her close friend there.

“Allie?” Paris raised an eyebrow, but she was pleased. “What are you doing here?”

While Alice explained the connection between their grandparents, Josh nudged Zack with a curious frown on his face. “What now? Where’s everyone?”

“Gregory and Stephanie are here, at least that’s what your brother said when he rode into the backyard on his big, white horse,” Zack chuckled.

“Shit,” the younger boy cursed, smashing his left fist into the right palm.

Holly’s features assumed a spooked expression at the gesture. “Why are you guys so worked up over them?”

“Because Uncle Gregory and Stephanie aren’t the easiest kind of people to deal with,” Clark responded the question from his little brother’s best friend as he walked to their table. He had ridden Olfin to the stables and rushed back to the house. He was mildly surprised to see Jake’s girlfriend there, but in true Clark fashion, he didn’t mention anything, only gave her a respectful nod.

Chloe and Holly exchanged a quick look. If Clark, who was usually seen as a distant kind of person, claimed that his uncle and cousin were difficult, the sisters wondered how bad they actually were. Chloe thought she must have met them, plus Gregory’s wife and eldest kid, a couple of times years ago, but she didn’t remember how it went. She only knew that Zack considered Stephanie and her older brother, Christopher, just as bad as Harry Cullen. His bad cousins, Zachary often claimed.

Zack drummed his fingers on the wooden table, growing restless at how long the adults were taking. Chloe, Holly, and even Alice, were watching him with growing concern, while Josh and Gavin chatted about video games and Paris and Clark also alternated between throwing wary glances toward the house and nervously looking around. The truth was that none of the Bishop cousins enjoyed hanging out with Stephanie and Christopher, and even if only one of them was currently coming their way, it was more than enough.

Only a minute later, Zack couldn’t take it anymore and was the first to break the silence, looking at Paris and Clark, in turn. “You know what? We should get out of here, all of us, and hang out somewhere else.”

“Oooh, I really like that idea,” a big grin started forming on Paris’ face.

Clark found himself considering it as well, but then shook his head. "Don’t be silly, they’re already coming,” he said, crossing his arms. “Besides, dinner will be ready soon.”

“Uhn, no, it won’t,” Paris threw her brother an exasperated look. “It’s still early, look at how red the sky is.”

“You know Grandma likes to serve dinner only when it’s dark,” Josh piped in from his spot.

“I just…,” Clark spoke, only to let out a sigh. He didn’t want to be there as much as his siblings and cousin, but he also thought it was disrespectful to flee just as their annoying relatives were coming to join them.

“Oh, c’mon, Clark. You wanna get out of here as much as we do,” Zack insisted, cocking his head to the side. “Stephanie won’t miss us, so let’s just enjoy the ranch for a little while longer and then we come back when night falls. What do you say?”

Clark sighed again and stared into his cousin’s eyes, not breaking it for a few moments, then he turned to his sister grinning at him, and he finally broke at the discreetly hopeful expression on Josh’s face. “Fine, okay, let’s get out of here,” he said, allowing a tiny smile to reach his own features.

“Yay!!!” Paris threw her fist in the air, blue hair flying wildly as she did so.

“Where do you suggest, Zack?” Clark queried, getting to his feet. “You’re the mastermind of this plan, so I hope you’ve got an idea, at least.”

Zack Bishop smirked, allowing a bit of Ravers to mix into his expression. “Oh, but I do,” he responded, glancing at the friends who weren't too familiar with the ranch. “C’mon, guys, I’ve got a place I wanna show you.” He exchanged a smile with Chloe and was glad to see she readily got to her feet as well, with Gavin and the others following right after. Zachary also figured they couldn’t be slow when passing by the adults that stayed behind. “Mom, we’re gonna explore the ranch a bit,” he quickly informed Monica, never stopping to chat.

“What? But they’re gonna be here soon, Zack!” Monica tried to call out to her son as Diane, Louise, Roy, Charlotte, and Grant watched the whole scene with varying expressions.

“We’ll be right back, Mom!” Clark was the one who replied, nodding at Louise with a smile. She returned it, thinking it was rare to see her eldest son like that.

“Did anyone understand that?” Grant inquired, letting out an amused chuckle. A former marine, the 59-year-old man had a strong build to him, his black hair already receding a bit, with a few streaks of silver. His hazel eyes, though, were as sharp as ever.

Roy laughed heartily, reaching for Charlotte’s hand. “Oh, you’ll see that these bouts are rather common when it comes to those kids.”

Diane nodded, content at the scene they just witnessed. Gavin looked happy with his friends, and that was enough for her. Screw protocols.

As Zachary led the group, the other Bishops kept a closer pace as they sort of knew where he was going, but the others didn’t and had to follow the four of them. As Clark suspected, Zack crossed a short grassy field before they reached a few trees and passed by it to finally find a pond in a small clearing.

“Whoa!” Holly said, looking around in awe. “This is awesome!”

“It’s beautiful,” Alice added, inspecting the calm waters. The red sky provided a faint orange lighting, making the glade look even more gorgeous. Zack nodded affirmatively as he stared at the brunette before he moved closer to Chloe, wishing he could wrap an arm around her waist.

“We used to come swim here way back,” Paris giggled, touching an old wooden swing tied to a tall tree. “Glad to see it didn’t change one bit.”

“Yep, I came here to check it out the last time I visited the ranch,” Zack explained. “Grandpa and Grandma usually don’t make too many changes around the property,” he added, thinking back to the old stable where he dined on his best friend’s pussy.

Clark nodded, a serious look on his face as he placed a hand on the trunk of a tree. “The whole ranch is amazing, I love it here,” he admitted.

“Yeah, me too,” Zack agreed, leaning back on a nearby tree and gazing at the pond. “I wonder what’s gonna happen to this place, you know, in the future? My dad was saying that your father is planning on relocating Grandpa and Grandma to the cul-de-sac in a few years.”

“We know,” Paris replied with a rueful smile. “They told us some time ago.”

“Well, I won’t let it go to someone who’ll destroy everything,” Clark affirmed, his right fist clenching tightly. “I already decided I’m gonna move here when Grandpa and Grandma move to the cul-de-sac.”

Josh raised an eyebrow, he had dropped down to sit under the shade of a tree next to Gavin. “You’re gonna need help to keep everything running and maintain all this, you know?” He reminded his older brother. “Plus, you’ll likely be very busy being a doctor already.”

“Obviously,” Clark said, a small smile showing up at the corner of his lips. “I’m gonna find a way, though. I refuse to sit on my ass and do nothing for the Ranch.”

Zack had assumed a contemplative expression when Clark began talking about moving to the Ranch, as the same crazy idea had popped up in his head more than once in the past. His cousin was right, the Bishop Ranch belonged to the family, and it would fall to them to preserve it once their grandparents and parents couldn’t take care of it anymore. In his mind, there was only one possible solution.

"I wanna help," he said, fixing his gaze on Clark to let his cousin know he was talking seriously. "I thought about it before. This place is big enough for us, so when you move here, Clark, I'll do the same. Maybe even before you do, you know?" He smirked. "Med School's gonna keep you away for an awfully long time, after all."

The genuine smile that spread across his cousin's face was one that Zack was ashamed to say he had rarely seen on the 19-year-old boy. Even Paris and Josh had to admit the same to themselves. Clark put a hand on his shoulder and nodded approvingly.

"Oh, I can already see that happening," he chuckled. "Welcome aboard, Zack. I really mean it."

That moment was a milestone for Zachary, it made him really happy to finally find a common interest with Clark other than basketball (that had never really contributed to their relationship an awful lot, he thought). On his end, Clark felt the same, it was a nice feeling, letting his guard down, even if just for a few moments, to reach understanding with Zack. An amused laugh interrupted the moment.

"Well, this is all nice and dandy, buuut…," Paris said, looking at both of them in turn with a grin on her face. "Aren't you two doofuses forgetting something?"

"What, Paris?" Clark smiled as he asked his younger sister.

"Would your future wives even want to live here?" She asked, leaning closer to the boys' faces and shrugging her shoulders. "Just some food for thought, you know, in case you didn't bother to plan that far ahead."

"Don't listen to my sister, Zack," Clark requested, using a finger to softly bop Paris in the nose and then trying to avoid the incoming flurry of slaps. "Maybe she wants to grab HER future wife and join us here."

The rest of the Bishops and their friends watched in a mix of shock and amusement as Paris started chasing Clark around the pond, acting as, well, brother and sister. It wasn’t that they had a bad relationship, but the wall Clark put between himself and other people meant that even his siblings had a hard time breaking it. In Zack’s mind, though, another kind of thought echoed, almost as if it was taunting the young man. His future wife.

His gaze immediately found Chloe, sitting by the pond and giggling as she watched Clark trying to dodge Paris’ slaps. Over the last few days, he had gotten addicted to thoughts of his copper-haired best friend, but wife? His mind unwittingly shifted to the young woman who had been his crush for almost his entire high school career so far, as Victoria was the one who usually popped up in his mind whenever the concept of wife and marriage were presented to him in one way or another. Even his oldest fantasies of marrying Hannah Woodsen or Jennifer White crossed his thoughts every now and then, but those were more sexual in nature.

His musings were interrupted by the return of a softly chuckling Clark. Apparently, Paris had caught up and gave him a swift kick on his left shin. It gave Zack a smile as well, it was definitely great to see Clark in high spirits like that. As they approached the spot where Josh and Gavin were sitting, he could see from the corner of his eye Paris grabbing Alice and Chloe and dragging them to the other side of the pond, with Holly in tow.

“You guys are really thinking about moving here when we’re older?” Josh inquired, interrupting his chat with Gavin for a moment.

“You’re not?” Zack asked in response. “This place is fun and big enough for us to make it work.”

“Well,” Josh replied in an uncertain tone. “I gotta admit the idea never crossed my mind, but now that you’re talking about it…, it does sound like fun…, kinda.”

“The Bishop Ranch is ours, Josh, there’s just too many memories,” Clark tried to explain. “We can’t let it fall in someone else's lap just like that.”

“I’ll… think about it,” Josh conceded. “Paris has a point, though, what about your wives? You… uhn…,” he let his gaze find Holly across the pond for a brief moment. “You ever thought about who that’s gonna be?”

Clark let out a long sigh, he had never talked about this with anyone. Not even Ralph, much in part due to the strong suspicion that his friend would eventually blab it to other people. “I know very well who I wanted it to be,” he said, staring at a random point in the red sky. “But it’ll never happen, so let’s leave it at that.”

“Why?” Zack queried, his curiosity piqued. The ever stoic Clark had a crush and no one knew, that was incredible for his mind to comprehend. “Does she have a boyfriend or something?”

The older Bishop turned to his cousin and actually considered the possibility of telling him, but in the end, he just shook his head. “Like I said, let’s just leave it at that, okay?” He requested, looking at his brother and Gavin for confirmation as well, which they gave him. Reluctantly, in Josh’s case.

“I’ve had a crush since high school started, or should I say I still have it? I'm not sure,” Zack told them, even though Gavin knew about said crush. “I never had the guts to say anything, and it messed up a lot of good stuff for me,” he recounted, picking up a pebble and tossing it in the pond.

Clark slowly nodded, it seemed men from their family were cursed to harbor feelings for girls that didn’t return that affection in this generation. “I always thought it wasn’t worth it to try looking elsewhere and ultimately lie to myself,” he said. “You either get over the girl or keep trying, no distractions. At least that’s how I see it, less people get hurt.”

The expression on Lisa’s face when she dumped him flashed across Zack’s mind, causing him to wince.

Josh frowned at his cousin. “Why did you say that you weren’t sure about your crush?”

Gavin scoffed at that, his gaze flicking to Chloe across the pond and then back to his other best friend. “Let’s just say that, if you both get your way, you and Zack will be brothers-in-law too instead of just cousins.”

Zack’s eyes widened in shock at his best male friend. “Y-you knew?”

The bespectacled boy let out a sigh. “Zack, give me some credit. I may not know anything about how to talk to other people, but I like to say I can notice when my best friends are acting all googly-eyed when they think no one’s looking.”

Josh raised a surprised eyebrow and even Clark thought it was unexpected. “Chloe?”

“I’m so sorry, Gav,” Zack ashamedly looked at Gavin. “It’s just… we didn’t know how to approach you with this. Well, it’s not like we even know what it is either, so we’d appreciate it if you all kept it between us.”

Clark and Josh nodded their agreement, even though the former thought his cousin was approaching the situation in the wrong way. It simply wasn’t his business to interfere, though.

“It’s okay, I guess I’m on both of your moms’ sides when they say you two make sense,” Gavin chuckled, but then his expression grew serious all of a sudden. “I just wanna ask you something. No more crush, okay?” He stared right into his best friend’s eyes. “Don’t repeat the Lisa situation. Not with her, Zack.”

The seriousness in his tone made it feel like a somber moment, so Zack respectfully nodded. “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ve got no intentions of ever hurting our girl. I'd **** myself to **** first,” his gaze searched for Chloe across the pond, finding her just as she sought him as well, causing a big smile to grow on both of their faces.

“That’s all I ask,” Gavin nodded, smiling approvingly at the two of them.

The moment was interrupted by the noise of a pair of boots firmly crunching grass and dry leaves beneath its heel. Oh, hell, was the simultaneous thought that flashed across the Bishop kids’ minds. True to their suspicion, a rather pretty eighteen-year-old girl with long, light-brown hair, hazel eyes, and a firm, slender body finally stepped into the pond. She was wearing a yellow summer dress with floral patterns and the customary sneer on her face.

“So, this is where you all scampered off to?” Stephanie Bishop inquired.