Where My Girls At?

“This is one of my mom’s favorite songs. I love it!” Yumi announced, starting to sway to the music.

Kaitlin barely acknowledged the comment. She’s heard it before. The other two girls watched as the bubbly cheerleader danced while slowly turning in small increments.

Where my girls at?
From the front to back,
Well is you feelin' that,
Well put one hand up, can you repeat that,
Tryin' to take my man, see I don't need that,
So don't play yourself.

When Yumi finished her 360-degree turn, it became apparent that she’d been mouthing along to the song the whole time. Rylee flashed an amused grin. Next to her, Sienna’s facial expression made one wonder if Yumi had grown a second head.

“What’s the big deal, Beal? I have a busy schedule to keep,” the blonde ice queen snapped. Unfortunately, her limited patience had already been used up.

Rylee shifted her attention from Yumi to her best friend. Sienna noticed the new facial expression.

“Knock it off, Ryls. I have things to do! So don’t give me that look.”

“Hold on a sec,” Kaitlin responded, never looking up from her phone as she typed a group message. Strangely, she held a second phone up against her body.

A loud huff came just as the cheerleader finished her message and sent it.

“Alright, alright, stop with the bellyaching. No! You want to know this,” Kaitlin warned, holding up a finger to cut off Sienna’s next round of complaints. “So the other day, I stopped by The Spout. While there, I had the misfortune of seeing some of the contents of Denny’s phone.”

The brown-haired cheerleader brought up the second phone, scrolling over to find the correct picture. Once she did, Kaitlin handed the phone over to Sienna.

“So?” Sienna questioned, glancing down at the photo. “I’m sure Whitney has plenty of these out there. Although I didn’t think she’d be a big enough slut for Conway to have one on his phone.”

As Sienna felt a shiver run down her spine, Kaitlin’s face showed confusion.

“What? What are you talking about–Oh!” Katie exclaimed as Sienna held up the phone’s screen toward her. Immediately, the brunette turned her attention to her friend. “Yumi, close your eyes!”

“Is that Whitney? Why is she naked?! What is she doing with–”

“Close your eyes!” Katlin ordered, throwing her hand to block the innocent cheerleader’s gaze. “Close them!”

Satisfied that her order was followed, she turned her focus back to Sienna.

“Go back a picture.”

With an annoyed sigh, Sienna did so, leading her face to harden at what she saw. Next to her, Rylee leaned over to see the screen.

“Eek!”

The high-pitched squeak sounded as Cheyenne, Quilla, and Lux walked over. Seconds later, London and Annika joined from the opposite direction. All waited to speak after Kaitlin held up her finger.

“What the hell is this?” Sienna growled, glancing up from the phone. Then, noticing the other girls joining them, she added, “Are you intending to humiliate me with this photo?”

“Back off, Thirlby,” Kaitlin shot back as Bianca and Yelena arrived. “That’s not why I’m showing you–”

“The picture is an obvious fake,” the ice queen scoffed, holding the phone out to Kaitlin.

“All of the pictures of you, and you, and you, and you are fakes,” Kaitlin stated as she pointed at each classmate her group text had summoned.

“What now?” Bianca challenged in confusion. Quickest on her feet, the Sugarbee captain snatched the phone out of Sienna’s hand. She swiftly began scrolling through its contents.

“Denny has fake nudes of all of us. Plus, girls up to a few years older than us and fakes of teachers,” Katie announced.

Angry murmurs and outraged comments followed.

“That sick fuck!” London shrieked.

“Creepy motherfucker,” Yelena hissed.

“How do I look?” Lux inquired, earning a shove from Quila in response.

Before the girls could go further, a voice interrupted.

"Beal! Evan said you stole my…phone," Denny trailed off as he saw the group of girls turn toward him with **** in their eyes. His gaze found his phone, now in Cheyenne's hand. "Ah, I didn't…flattery is…oh, shit!"

The starting small forward on the basketball team ran for his life.

“Get him!” Cheyenne bellowed.

Nearly every girl agreed and raced after Denny. Unfortunately, the members of the angry mob wore high heels, making it impossible to catch up to him.

Nearing the bar, Denny looked over his shoulder, causing a victorious grin to form on his face. None of them could close the distance before he reached the rear hallway that led to the restrooms. Once he escaped, Denny figured he could lie low until the heat died down as the time for the New Year’s ball drop neared.

However, Denny’s internal gloating vanished when he turned his head back around. He barely saw Fletcher stepping away from the bar while double-fisting two drinks. They collided, sending Denny to the floor.

“Wha–the fuck?!” Fletcher roared as a clear liquid in one glass drenched the front of his white tux. Fortunately, he’d managed to keep the dark-colored drink from spilling much. “Denny! I should’ve—Do you know how much work it took to score these?”

While Fletcher bitched at his classmate, the group of girls finally caught up with their target. Suddenly, his griping ceased as the crop of beauties began to praise him, much to his shock.

"Way to go, Fletch!"

"Our hero!"

“Did you hurt him? I hope so!”

Wearing a confused expression, Fletcher appeared speechless for once in his life. Fortunately, Quilla supplied the missing piece of the puzzle.

“You’re going to pay, bastard. No one makes nude fakes of me!”

Suddenly, sensing an opportunity, Fletcher tossed his remaining drink's contents down at Denny. The dark-colored liquid splashed all over the still-fallen teen.

“The hell, Fletch?!” Denny squawked.

“That’s for not respecting women, asshole,” Fletcher declared, earning an eye roll from his cousin.

“Hey, is this rum and Coke?” Denny asked, licking his lips.

Sienna put an end to Denny’s inquiry when she stormed over to kick him in the balls.

“Fletch! Our hero!” London proclaimed as several of the girls surrounded the accidental hero. Their cheers drowned out Denny’s painful howl and whimpering.

The current owner of Denny's phone, Cheyenne, deleted her fake nude picture. Then, she passed the device around so each girl could delete their photos. Many also deleted any fakes of their friends not at the ball. Finally, Kaitlin found herself the last person with the phone. She deleted the remaining batches before throwing it at Denny.

“Oww!” the basketball player howled after it hit him in the head.

“Whoops! Sor–” Kaitlin nearly apologized out of politeness, but caught herself.

“Listen up, pervert,” Bianca ordered. “Any copies are to be deleted, got that? We’re going to be watching you. And if we see any hint of more fakes, you won’t survive the rest of the school year. Understand? Do you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Denny replied, rubbing the growing welt on his temple. The teen would be entering the new year with another head injury to go along with his broken nose.

To further her threat, Bianca, Yelena, and Jasmine stood towering over Denny as the others walked away. Finally, after the culprit rose and scurried away, Bianca made another proclamation, this one to her fellow dancers.

“Listen up. With Whitney gone, this ball is now officially a Sugarbee party. No one–and I mean no one–will interfere with our getting the men we want.”

“Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead,” Yelena cracked, not realizing a fourth person stood near them.

“What?! Whitney is dead? Ohmigawd!” Yumi shrieked. Then, scanning the crowd frantically, she fled with tears already streaming down her face.

“Shit!” Bianca cried. “Jas, stop her before she reaches Katie.”

“Got it.”

“Way to fuck up our night, Lena,” Bianca scolded her best friend, who for once looked sheepish.

“Pardon me,” Larry apologized for interrupting the conversation. “I’m curious to know if any of you has seen Fred lately. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced him.”

Rachel broke off her conversation with her friends’ moms. She, Gabby, and Shayla had been discussing Bridget’s departure and their concerns over her state of mind with Pepper and Virginia. The redhead closed her eyes momentarily before responding.

“Larry, how do you misplace a person?”

“Well, I was in the middle of a fascinating discussion with Abraham and Dahlia Abbott. Our topic dealt with a delightful bit of Honey Hollow history. Did you know that in 1909, the Wynwick family–”

“Get to the part about Fred, Larry,” Gabby ordered.

“Oh, yes, right. Well, I don’t know how it happened. One moment, Fred was sitting at the table in front of me with a full glass of his favorite–”

“Wait, Fred’s been drinking?” Rachel questioned sharply.

“Yes, you didn’t know? He began toward the end of dinner. There was a distraction at our table, and he slipped away to the bar.”

“Great. Another thing to worry about,” Gabby grumbled.

“Maybe it won’t be too bad this time,” Shayla suggested, although her face showed she didn’t believe it either.

“Dammit!” Rachel cursed. “We'd better find him before he makes certain that everyone knows–”

“Brandy!” Pepper shouted upon noticing her youngest child arrive back at the ball.

Gabby and Shayla shared a look as Pepper marched over to the group now entering the ballroom. Virginia muttered, “Oh, dear,” and hurried after her friend and neighbor.

“Hey, Mom,” the youngest Fallon sister greeted with fake cheerfulness.

“Where have you been?” Pepper demanded.

Brandy, Fawn, Wrenn, Teddy, Nate, and Barney all noticed people were converging on them from different directions. Barney managed to slip away. Nate also tried, only for his uncle to grab his arm to keep him in place.

“Really, Mom, it’s not my fault. I did it to help Fawn!” Brandy defended herself.

That gave Pepper pause, but none of the returnees noticed.

“Me? Don’t blame me. I only wanted to help my student. I didn’t send her into that bar,” Fawn argued.

“Please, you loved every second of it, Dee,” Wrenn pointed out. “How long has it been since you threw down with a Klack–”

"Shut up, Wrenn," Brandy hissed, hoping to keep a few crucial details from her parents.

“What did you do…It doesn’t matter.” Pepper held her tongue. Whatever trouble Brandy got into this time could wait. “Your sister needed you, and you weren’t–”

“Now, hold on a second, Pep,” Seamus interrupted. That led Brandy to swear under her breath. “Who did you get into a fight with? Did I hear Wrenn correctly? Was it a Klackhurst?”

“Brandy!”Pepper exclaimed, actually shocked. “You…you know better than to repeat…Did you injure one of them again? Did you? If so, we’ll need to call an attorney right this minute.”

“I didn’t hurt anyone! I merely had a few words with Peggy Dow while Fawn orchestrated the escape.”

“Escape? Who was in–” Pepper questioned until a voice overran hers.

“Nathan! What happened to your face? Were you in a fight?” Virginia rattled off, rushing forward to check on her grandson. She examined a couple of bruises on his face, along with a slightly split lip.

“Peggy Dow? You were at The Penalty Pub, “ Seamus stated, knowing the players in the Klackhurst gang.

“Brandy, you took Nathan into a Klackhurst bar?!” Pepper exclaimed. “What were you thinking?”

"Nate never went inside. Instead, he stayed in the alley to provide a distraction for Fawn to slip inside the side door. Give me some credit, Mom," Brandy replied, shaking her head.

“And I suppose Nate just banged his head into a wall to get those injuries,” Pepper shot back.

"Kinda," Nate said, causing heads to turn in his direction. "I mean, I didn't expect to fight two guys, especially with one a giant that could be a wrestler."

"That guy is Bear Burke's nephew," Teddy revealed, causing his nephew to grin at the identity.

“Seriously? Ah, that makes my story so much cooler now.”

“Teddy–” Virginia started to question her son about taking his nephew to a criminal bar, but another person exclaimed the same name.

“Ted! Where have you been?” Olympia shouted as she rushed over to her husband. “I can’t find the children. Are they with you?”

“I hope not,” Seamus muttered.

“C’mon, Dad, we’re not that irresponsible,” Brandy responded.

"I told you, dear. Tenille and Trey are with Sandy's girls," Virginia reminded her daughter-in-law.

"And no one knows where they are either," Olympia stated, nodding in the direction of an approaching Sander and Cherry.

“I wouldn’t worry. I also saw little Zoey and a few of her friends with the kids,” Virginia reassured.

“The Babybees?” Fawn questioned. “I thought all of them were minding Sean.”

Rachel and Gabby shared a concerned glance. They still had yet to get to the biggest bombshell.

“Who the hell is Zoey?” Olympia questioned, growing more frantic over her young children’s whereabouts.

“Jillian Gibble’s youngest,” Virginia replied.

“Don’t you know anything?” Brandy mocked Teddy’s wife.

“They live next door to Bridget,” Pepper informed after shooting a glare at her daughter.

“Maybe not for long,” Olympia muttered.

“Did you just actually say that? And in front of my family?” Pepper challenged, stepping toward the younger woman.

“Olympia! How dare you talk like that?” Virginia scolded.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Brandy questioned, picking up on the extra tension in the Fallon and Day’s moms.

“I want to know where you went, Ted?” Olympia challenged.

“Somebody had to be the getaway driver,” Brandy added to make things worse.

“What?! What does that mean?”

“Look, Hearst’s niece got into a bit of a jam. And I couldn’t let Nate go without helping,” Teddy explained.

“Go where?”

“A gang bar,” Brandy stated.

“Dammit, Dee! Shut up,” Teddy ordered.

“Technically, The Penalty Pub isn’t a gang bar. It’s more of an affiliated...shutting up, Pep,” Seamus said, catching his wife’s expression. Then, he slid over toward Fawn. “Are we expecting any blowback?”

“I don’t think so.”

“How could you leave and not tell me?”

“Well, I know how you get about my helping the girls,” Teddy replied to his wife.

“Girls? They should be acting like grown–” Olympia started to point out.

"Zip it," Brandy ordered, scanning the crowd around them. 'Okay, something else is going on here. What did we miss?"

"That's why we needed you here," Pepper pointed out. "Your sister is getting a divorce."

“And that’s a big deal? Shit, Bev’s been heading toward a divorce since day one. Still, I didn't think Giancarlo had the balls to–”

“Not Bev, it’s Bridget and Leonard,” Pepper clarified.

“Why the hell did you think it was me, you little brat?” Beverly yelled from a table nearby. She started to get up until Pepper’s evil eye halted the movement.

Fawn and Teddy gasped at hearing Bridget’s name. Nate suddenly checked his phone, in case his mom might demand details.

“I need to sit down,” Wrenn muttered. “I’m not used to all this drama these days.”

“Bridget’s getting a divorce? Where is she? How’s she doing? How is Peyton? Oh, no, how’s Sean taking it?” Brandy rambled, scanning the ballroom wildly for them.

Fawn gasped again at the mention of Sean. They both knew how much he romanticized relationships and love.

Pepper opened to mouth to reply, but was interrupted again by a bloodcurdling scream from the hallway near the restrooms.

“Aieeeeeeee!!!”