The Cork Party (Episode One)

“Shit, this is way too far to walk in this weather,” Xavier Glove complained, stopping his silver SUV. Glancing at the camera screen, he checked his mirrors before backing up to parallel park on the street.

“Don’t clip that Beemer, X. I think it’s Quilla,” Marcus Withrow noted, peering back from the passenger seat.

“Man, do I look like Moxey up here?” Xavier challenged, halting to reverse directions.

“That was one time!” Max protested. “You try parallel parking on a busy street with Millie barking orders. I’m not Will.”

“Winkie’s driving history is way too easy to use as an example,” the former defensive captain of the football team pointed out, turning the wheel sharply.

“Don’t worry. Wink doesn’t take offense,” Kessler noted, slightly elbowing the notoriously clumsy kicker and punter.

“Leave Max and Winkie alone. We’re late to the party because of one person,” Kona Sango called out from the back of the SUV, where he reclined in the rear hatch.

“Oh, we know indeed!” Xavier laughed. “Thanks for nearly getting arrested at the liquor store, Travis.”

“I did not almost get arrested,” Marcus shot back, ignoring the sting of his teammate’s slap across his chest. “Travis Tanner and Old Man Pezzo don’t see eye-to-eye about the validity of his driver’s license.”

“Yeah, cause it’s a fake,” Kona reminded.

“It’s a legitimate license. Just not of me,” Marcus argued. “And how was I to know that Pezzo would be working at his store this late on a Friday night? He never does!”

“True. His sexy granddaughter usually looks the other way,” Xavier admitted.

“It is a damn good fake,” Kessler praised, preparing to open the car door now that they’d finished parking. “Brace yourselves.”

Hopping out first, Kessler instinctively reached out to catch Wilbur Winkie when his friend started to slip on the slush-turned-ice on the side street. Sliding out the rear hatch, Kona yowled, before catching himself on the hood of Quilla’s expensive luxury car. Paying attention to their surroundings, Xavier pushed Kessler back toward his vehicle as a little beater car slammed its brakes on next to them. The passenger side window rolled down.

“Yo, where the party at?” Braxton Bascom asked, grinning madly. Unlike his recently graduated brother, the younger sibling chose to play JV football rather than soccer. While not as obnoxious as Beaumont, Brax could be a smart ass, which is why he leaned over to hit play on the car’s radio.

Uh-oh-oh-oh
(Uh-oh) Oh-oh-oh-oh
(Uh-oh) Oh-oh-oh-oh
If the party's where you're at, then let me know

“Hey, Abner!” the driver greeted, while the other sophomores in the backseat waved at the older guys, who they saw as the coolest at their school.

“Hey, Ryne,” Kessler greeted. Despite hating his first name, he let it slide, as he didn't mind Jewel Romer’s little brother. It also didn’t hurt that he’d hooked up with the older dancer a few times over the years.

Belvedere in the rear of the club
Pulled up on dubs and we 'bout to go and buy the bar up
So So, for sure we ain't playin' (uh-uh)
Hang with no lames, hit the park and sayin'

“Turn that down!” Marcus yelled from across the SUV’s hood about the blaring music. “We don’t want the neighbors calling the cops this soon.”

“Aw, where’s the fun in that?” Braxton asked, starting to dance and sing from the passenger seat. “Leave it, Doig!”

Taking the senior’s advice seriously, Gennadi Doig had attempted to reach the radio from the back seat only to get his hand slapped away.

Ayy, where the party at?
Girls is on the way, where the Bacardi at?
Bottles and models, talkin' all of that
Know I can't forget about my thugs
Where the party at? And all my girls
Where the party at? Off in the club
Where the party at?
If the party's where you're at, let me hear you say

“Fucking sophomores,” Xavier muttered as they walked carefully on the sidewalk while the music still bumped from where the other car attempted to park. “Maybe Delilah was onto something with banning them from her party after what went down at Fletcher’s.”

“Bascom isn’t as bad as his brother,” Kessler noted. ”The other kids are alright.”

“Beau could be great for starting trouble, especially between Katie and Palmer,” Marcus reminded. “Imagine the drama if Little Beal and Little Bascom started dating.”

“Still, I wouldn’t mind some Bacardi,” Xavier admitted.

“I hear that!” Kona agreed.

“Claudia’s parents do have a fine selection of liquor locked up in that cabinet,” Kessler recalled from previous parties.

“Kess, you know what to do,” Glove directed. “It’s not like Winkie can pick locks. You’re our only hope.”

“Unless Manske is around. That girl’s a master thief,” Marcus chuckled, as they turned up a long walkway that led to the Corks’ front door.

“Odette is a terror,” Kona cracked.

An older house in the harbor district, Claudia’s home sat directly across from one of the main piers. That meant far fewer neighbors around to complain about a party, but also allowed the wind to whip off the lake with fury if the conditions were just right, which they were on this already bitterly cold night. Hunched over with their hands in their coat pockets, the six-pack of football players rushed through the front door.

“Damn!”

“Motherfucking cold!”

As the guys enjoyed the sudden warmth inside the foyer, they immediately spotted Jasmine and the twins milling around in their Sugarbee uniforms. It didn’t take much deduction work for Marcus to figure out why they’d been assigned to monitor the door. He knew how Bianca and Yelena’s minds worked.

“No Guzzle Crossing ladies yet?”

“Some, but not the Jennets,” Isla revealed, while Ilsa nodded, looking bored with their assignment. Loyal to the core, Jasmine frowned at the twins’ attitudes.

“Auss is asking for trouble if he brings them here,” Max said, worried about his childhood friend’s recent behavior. Lacey had been what grounded his rising arrogance.

“Like he cares…What the hell?” Marcus began to reply before the tight end noticed the music playing.

Get up on the hood of my daddy's tractor
Up on the tool box, it don't matter
Down on the tailgate
Girl I can't wait
To watch you do your thing

“Eww! Fuck this,” Xavier declared, shuddering. “Wink, go change this shit.”

“Already on it,” Kessler responded.

Walking briskly into the living room, where a makeshift dance had been created by moving the furniture against two of the walls, the star linebacker shook his head. Only a couple of girls danced, which wasn’t right at a party after a big game. Heading directly to the back of the room, he found Mr. Cork’s sound system, which was hooked up to a subscription service. Mumbling, he asked, “Who the fuck played this country crap?”

Aw, country girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me
Country girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me
Girl, shake it for me

Searching for a better song to shake it to, Kessler scrolled past one option before returning. Muttering, he went with the clean version of an older dance song.

Shake it fast, but watch yourself
Shake it fast, show me what you're working with
Shake it fast, but watch yourself
Shake it fast

“About fucking time!” Iona yelled, appearing magically from out of thin air to hit the makeshift dance floor. The hyper brunette also turned to drag Abby Pharr, her teammate, into a close dance between the two girls.

With his duty done, Kessler walked over to slap the soccer star’s toned ass before sliding up against it. Always one to get into a song, Iona definitely shook her ass into his groin while practically humping her friend from the front.

I came here with the mic in my hand
Don't make me leave here with my foot in yo', be cool
And don't worry about how I'm ripping this
When I'm flipping what I'm kicking, that's just what I do
I'm effervescent and I'm off that crescent
Nastier than a full grown German Shepherd
You better keep stepping
They don't mess with me and they don't
Y'all can't catch me and they won't

The change in songs switched up the mood in the living room. As a volleyball-hosted party, Brennah Karpinski took the honor of escorting the game’s MVP onto the dance floor. Her teammate Erica Gane swiftly joined them, while Annika Bergstrom moved in at a slower pace, due to her semi-dating status with Mason Angle since the holidays.

Kessler stuck around until the end of the song, briefly sliding between London Olmstead and Marcie Huff before Claudia’s cousin, Charlie, joined the dance, bringing in Hazel Tarte. Deciding to find himself a drink, the stocky brown-haired guy held off on tackling Mr. and Mrs. Cork’s liquor cabinet. The breaking and entering could wait until the party filled up more.

Go, go
Go, go, go, go
Go, shawty, it's your birthday
We gon' party like it's your birthday
We gon' sip Bacardí like it's your birthday
And you know we don't give a fuck it's not your birthday

The next song hit perfectly as Kessler cut through the hallway and into the kitchen. Fist-bumping Howie Cline and Chet Ragg, he wondered how long it would take the latter to hurry after Abby. Scanning the kitchen, Kessler noticed three things. First, his friends had made their way into the adjoining family room in the rear of the house. Second, Bianca, Yelena, Rosita, and Tandy huddled in a corner of the kitchen with a less-than-enthusiastic Olivia. The junior dancer didn't enjoy drama like her older squadmates, so he guessed this had further to do with the impending arrival of the Jennets. Finally, Ramsey Swift ignored the party around her while she interviewed Lucas Prescott, their class president.

No cheerleaders in the house yet. Or at least none of the ones that matter. The party won’t really start until they arrive and the Sugarbees hit the dance floor, the teen knew from past experiences.

Smiling to himself, Kessler went straight to the refrigerator, where he found five bottles remaining from a six-pack of expensive imported beers. Without even a glance back to where the interview took place, the stocky linebacker filled his hands and arms with four beers.

You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub'
Look, mami, I got the X if you into takin' ****
I'm into havin' sex, I ain't into makin' love
So come give me a hug if you into gettin' rubbed
You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub'
Look, mami, I got the X if you into takin' ****
I'm into havin' sex, I ain't into makin' love
So come give me a hug if you into gettin' rubbed

Entering the family room, Kessler kept a beer for himself before handing the other three off to Marcus, Max, and Xavier. As a bit of a lightweight, Winkie needed to start his night at a slower pace, while Kona already went off to search for hard liquor to make one of his popular fruity cocktails.

“Thanks to Prescott for his taste in beers and idiocy for leaving them always alone in a refrigerator,” Xavier proclaimed, toasting their smug classmate. Nobody ever felt guilty over stealing Lucas’s beers. It happened with regularity, yet the school politician kept expecting it to stop.

“To our future congressman!” Marcus toasted, unable to keep from laughing. Peering into the kitchen, he noted the body language. “Anyone want to place a bet on how badly Ramsey rejects him tonight?”

“Nobody will give you the odds,” Max pointed out, shaking his head. Even Lucas couldn’t be that delusional to think he had a chance with the school editor.

“Now sitting at 12-7, how confident are you about making the playoffs?” Daisy asked, attempting to interview Louis McCall, the team’s co-captain.

Unfortunately, while the basketball team had claimed the family room’s furniture, which gave the sports beat reporter an opportunity for follow-up questions, Louie’s girlfriend occupied his attention. Sweet and kind, Heidi Ceet was also one of the biggest lightweights at Honey Hollow High. Despite barely drinking so far, the brunette found herself already tipsy and sitting on her boyfriend’s lap, leading her to practically dry hump Louie in an unusual display for her.

“How about some insight into your matchup with Adamson? The two of you have had fierce battles over the past three years,” Daisy prodded, but Heidi had stuck her tongue down Louie’s throat.

As one of her good friends, Daisy already felt annoyed and worried by the swift pace of this behavior. She’d already caught Evan checking out Heidi’s firm ass once, with Dex up to three times and counting. After catching him staring for the third time, the dirty blonde had sent her brother off to interview Taube, over on the other side of the room.

The consequences of her friend’s already **** state worried Daisy the most. These moments usually led Hazel to swoop in to steal her cousin’s man. Practically an open secret with many students, the ongoing affair ate away at the reporter. While Louie seemed to genuinely care for his girlfriend, he couldn’t resist her seductive cousin at parties. Daisy went back and forth about telling her friend the truth. She knew Heidi would be heartbroken, so she often prodded Evan to address his teammate’s unfaithfulness, who usually blamed the ****.

“C’mon, McCall, did Coach Grimm give any decent advice or motivation at halftime, or did he just scream as usual?” Daisy questioned. Frustrated with the lack of a response, she slapped her drunk friend’s wiggling ass while the couple made out. “Could you stop for a minute?”

“Oww! Wait, why are you here, Dais? Oh, right. We’re at a party,” Heidi recalled after looking over her shoulder to find the person who slapped her.

“Why can’t you ask Evan and leave us alone?” Louie questioned, nodding at his friend, who leaned against the side of the sofa.

“I can’t always go to my boyfriend as my source,” the sports reporter pointed out before throwing her hands up. “Forget it! I’ll interview Jayden.”

“Be nice and interview Denny! He needs the confidence boost,” Louis called after the departing reporter.

“If I ever interview your friend, it will be about those fake nudes he got caught with!” Daisy shot back, causing Evan to scurry after her.

“C’mon, Dais. Don’t bring that up. It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to Denny,” Evan suggested.

“Yes, it would,” the angry blonde shot back.

“Alright, alright,” Evan responded, holding up his hands defensively. “At least take a break, so we can enjoy the win. Seven games in a row is a big deal.”

“I’m swamped. Why do you think I’m working at this party?” Daisy challenged, coming across more aggressively than she’d wanted. Spotting Norah and Odette, the reporter sighed. “Go enjoy your victory, Ev. I need to deal with Odie.”

“I wanted to celebrate with you,” the disappointed boyfriend mumbled, watching the blonde march over toward the two younger girls.

“You’d better have a damn good explanation,” Daisy declared, seething as she grabbed Odie’s arm to drag her out of the room. “If not, Rammy can start learning what you’re up to.”

Seeking help, Dex looked for it from Norah, but she decided to follow his sister and the troublemaker, whom she’d rescued.

“No way! That’s what I thought when you guys tied the game. It’s just like the time that Reggie tied the game in season two of Allure Academy. Only Tom missed the game-winning shot before Zeke slammed it in,” Nancy Weller babbled, causing Taube and Dexter to wonder if the junior didn’t have a comparison for every real-life moment to her favorite TV shows.

“Um, back to the game. Are you at all concerned about playing Gilman next year?” Dex asked, noticing how grateful the male junior appeared for a question about basketball.

“Ohmigawd! Do you think Tyler will get reward sex tonight like Reggie did?” Nancy shrieked.

Outside and far down the block, that very topic found itself hotly debated.

“I am not fucking Blick just because you announced somebody would if we won the game!” Kaitlin yelled.

“With Shortstuff going home, you’re the only option,” Cat shot back. “Unless Roxanne wants to finally enter womanhood.”

“I’m not losing my virginity to reward a guy for making a bunch of baskets!” Roxie exclaimed as she maneuvered her car into a parking spot.

“And Rory is not losing her virginity either,” Whitney declared. “Katie, it will have to be you.”

“No way! I have enough drama in my life thanks to you.”

“What’s that mean?” the cheer captain challenged.

"Because of you, I have to deal with my sister and her friends fawning all over Tarver daily. That's what!" Kaitlin complained, turning to face Caterina, who sat next to her in the back. "Why can't you fuck Blick? You're the one who shouted the promise."

“She does have a point,” Whitney agreed. “It’s either you or we pass off the honor to Bianca’s girls.”

“What?! You can’t be serious,” Cat growled, reacting as her captain expected.

“None of the juniors can be considered a treat,” Whitney stated before mulling it over. “Okay, maybe Dreama, but I’m not going down that rabbit hole.”

“Don’t even think of offering up a Babybee. Kizzy and the brats are already getting out of control,” Katie said, getting out of the car.

“I have Sean to reward,” Whitney preemptively argued before Cat could suggest her. “What now?”

The blonde queen bee wasn’t in the mood for more arguing, but that’s what she got after stepping out into the cold night. A sedan and an SUV had also parked nearby, which Whitney immediately knew as the source of the loud voices. Spotting the lone guy struggling to stay upright on a small snowbank, she had another worry and gripe.

“I was trying to stay close, so we didn’t lose you,” Saylor explained loudly.

“By tailgating me?” Zoey questioned.

“Hang on. We weren’t eating,” Kizzy declared, sounding confused. Across the street, her older sister palmed her face in disbelief.

“She didn’t mean that kind of tailgating,” Zara clarified.

“I meant that you were basically up our asses!” Zoey yelled. “I know I felt a nudge at the stoplight over on–”

“I did not hit you,” Saylor insisted.

“We’d never do that to Sir Sean’s car,” Kizzy agreed, causing Zoey, who had driven Sean’s car, to glance over at Winnie for backup.

“I’m not…Don’t drag me into this!”

“Oh, my gawd,” Whitney muttered, joining Katie in palming her forehead.

It didn't take a detective like Seamus Fallon to figure out what had likely happened. With Zoey driving Robin, Winnie, Zara, and Sean in the latter's sedan, Kizzy or YoYo had insisted that Saylor not lose the other car. Their paranoia about being separated from Sean had probably overruled Beatrice and Harley's warnings about safety. Rather than deal with the juvenile nonsense, Whitney addressed the one problem she had.

“How did you not drop Sean off in front of the house?”

“Huh?” Saylor sounded.

“Ohmigawd!” YoYo shouted. “You monster!”

“More like a torturer! Sir Sean can't walk this far in this weather!” Kizzy sceeched. “He’ll catch a chill!”

“He will not! He’s not a baby,” Zoey shot back. “Sean can walk to the house with the rest of us.”

“Fuck this. I’m not waiting around to get frostbite on my legs,” Cat announced, hurrying down the sidewalk.

With everyone except for Sean, Zoey, Robin, and Winnie in skirts, an argument broke out about parking so far away, while the cheerleaders all hurried down the somewhat slippery sidewalk. A second argument broke out about who could help Sean, with Robin and Zoey winning because they had pants on. The hobbled teen had broken the tie in that decision.

“I should’ve driven with Digg and Billy or gone home,” Sean muttered, well past the point of losing his patience. “Maybe I can call Uma for a ride.”

“What? No!” Kizzy squealed.

“Don’t get any ideas. You’re staying,” Whitney yelled, already turning up the walkway toward the house.

“Wait, where’s Yumi?” YoYo asked, suddenly causing a commotion among the JV cheerleaders.

“She went home, too,” Katie explained.

“Why?”

“Arrgh!” Whitney roared, clenching her fists.

“Lacey and Yumi went home to get a good night’s rest. They’re meeting Amberly for brunch tomorrow morning,” Roxie explained softly.

“So why is Miss Bossy upset?” Saylor inquired, causing Beatrice to wince. The JV captain knew that her mentor heard everything.

“Just for that, Waterhouse, you’re stuck playing nursemaid for tonight,” Whitney growled, issuing what she saw as a punishment.

It turned out to be a major miscalculation.

“What? Why is she rewarded?” Kizzy whined.

“Shit. I'd better find a way to get into trouble at once,” YoYo said, already plotting a way.

“Ooh, you’re mine tonight,” Saylor declared, falling back to firmly grip Sean’s butt in a display of ownership.

“You see? This is what happens without Lacey around,” Kaitlin told Roxie, as they started to pile inside the house.

Music hit the group. But despite its volume, Kizzy’s scream cut right through it.

“Sean!”

“What now?” the elder Beal sibling groaned.

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Sean insisted, even as five pairs of hands grabbed at him. The step up to the porch had proven to be one task too much, as his foot had slipped, causing the already hurt teen to plop onto his butt.

“Get him into the family room,” Whitney barked her order before turning to see Aurora, who had arrived minutes ago with Delilah and Beyza. “Report.”

“Tyler is getting around on the dance floor. Nobody has staked a claim yet, but Margo is circling like a vulture,” Rory relayed.

“Like that’s happening,” Cat remarked.

“Joyelle threatened to gut Nancy Weller, who was chatting Taube’s ear off. No sign of Dreama, but Greta and Elaine immediately went after Pumphrey. He’s hiding in the bathroom over there,” Rory finished about the junior year cheerleaders.

“They’re a worse embarrassment than the Babybees,” Katie muttered, earning a punch in the back from her sister.

“Cat, you take Margo,” Whitney directed. “Beatrice, go save that poor kid from Greta and Elaine. They might be varsity, but you have a captaincy. Don’t take any shit.”

“Yo, Gibble, where’s your sister?” Kyler Hogan asked, blocking Zoey’s path. He didn’t believe for one second that his girlfriend had gone home with her mom. “Who’s she really with?”

“Try anything, and we cut you,” Kizzy threatened, following the large wrestler’s eyes as they locked in on Sean.

That Saylor flipped open a pocketknife on her keychain did cause Kyler to hesitate. It gave the younger cheerleaders enough time to escort Sean into the rear of the house. While walking down the hallway, Kizzy spotted Norah inside the den, where she watched Joel Barrow flirt with several younger girls from Guzzle Crossing.

“Hi, Norah. Dex around?”

“Somewhere,” the mousy brunette told his next-door neighbor.

“Alright, who told Fern to wait by the bathrooms back at school?” Roxie questioned, reading the message on her phone. Denials laced with giggles responded, causing the more reliable senior to sigh. “Well, it’s your funeral. That girl somehow managed to worm her way into a ride here with Mercedes and Cadence.”

“Oh, crap. That’s not good,” Saylor replied, realizing at once how pissed her two bitchy friends might be when they arrived.

“You, move it!” Whitney ordered, pointing at a blond-haired, blue-eyed sophomore, who sat in the middle seat on a sofa. “Actually, all three of you need to go.”

“B-But, they told us that basketball players got the seats in here,” the blond dared to point out to the school’s queen bee.

“You’re not basketball–”

“Cade, Tevin, and Liam are on the JV team,” Harley disclosed.

“And they don’t need to get up. What’s going on, Liam?” Sean asked, fist-bumping JoJo’s cousin.

“Yes, they do. Your school and town hero needs to sit,” Whitney announced. “Besides, if you’re JV players, you need to go to bed soon. You have a game early tomorrow.”

“But we have a game–” Kizzy started to argue before YoYo covered her mouth.

“Shhh, don’t give her any ideas.”

“No, no, we can move. Have a seat, ladies,” Cade Barber offered, smiling smoothly at the cute girls while his two friends also stood up.

Chatting with Liam, Sean didn’t have enough time to argue further before Whitney turned him around and pushed. The shove sent him sprawling back on the middle seat, which promptly found its nearby cushions claimed by YoYo and Kizzy. Sighing at the seating arrangement, the varsity captain warned the girls to behave until she returned.

Back in the office, the sixteen-year-old nephew of the local congressman fielded questions from the out-of-town visitors about the local history hanging on the wall. Already following in his brother Jed’s footsteps, Joel bullshitted with authority.

“So, like, your town is really confusing,” a cute redhead started, twirling her long hair around a finger.

“I thought the historical society was in the Cork mansion. I visited it almost a decade ago,” a brunette recalled.

“And the girl hosting this party is one of those Bee Girls?” the redhead added.

“That Diamond girl is one too, right?” a leggy blonde asked. “Her mom grew up with my uncle in Guzzle Crossing.”

“All daughters of prominent, wealthy families are Bumble Girls. I, myself, come from new money, but I’m super close to all the–” Joel boasted until a firm voice interrupted.

“Wrong,” Norah stated, stepping forward. “Barrow is as full of shit as his uncle. Don’t let the congressman label fool you; nobody with a brain likes Morgan Barrow. Besides, Joel often lies and claims to be his son.”

“I do not!” the indignant sophomore exclaimed.

“Hi, I’m Norah, and I’m a reporter for The Buzzy Bee. Let me give you a quick tour of our city’s history that won’t be a bullshit spiel to get into your pants.”

The five sophomores from Guzzle Crossing introduced themselves before following the petite brunette over to the other end of the wall. Pointing at the black-and-white photograph, Norah began to explain the history of Fairwater, the town's original name.

“Eventually, the early settlers discovered the vast colonies of bees in the area. The Noble family’s fortune grew out of that, with others benefiting tremendously. While Paige Noble isn’t one for parties, you’ll meet a few of the descendants of those major families around this house tonight. The Barrows are not one,” Norah said, dismissing Joel entirely from the den. “Your host, Claudia, and her cousin, Charlie, are direct descendants of the legendary Captain Cork. He helped found Fairwater, and later played a significant role, along with the Falkenburgs, in transporting Noble honey to the rest of the country.”

“I think we met Charlie already,” the leggy blonde remarked, causing several of her friends to twitter.

“Be careful around him. That’s unless you like guys who think they’re God’s gift to women,” Norah revealed. “Captain Cork’s original home, the mansion, is the location of our local historical society. It’s a short drive from here, across from the old harbor. The piers you see across from this home are usually called the new harbor.”

The brunette nodded, as that made more sense from what she could remember from her only other trip to Honey Hollow.

“As for the Bumble Girls, that refers to Bumble Boulevard, the main road in the ritziest neighborhood in the city. Not every Bumble Girl lives on that street, but they all live within two blocks of it, in the same neighborhood. Also, living on Bumble Boulevard is seen as the ultimate sign of status in that so-called high society. Families that live on a side street, even by a single house, are often looked down at by the cream of the crop,” Norah explained.

“But what are the Bumble Girls?” the cute redhead asked. “How do they become one?”

“Yeah, is it just a clique?” the leggy blonde added.

“Somewhat. Usually, when you hear someone refer to the Bumble Girls, they’re talking about the high school club version. They’re involved in charity events and social stuff, and they vote every year for an incoming senior to be head girl. The current head, Olena Olesky, is a serpent, so be mindful of that,” Norah warned.

The reporter went on to detail that Olena hadn’t been considered a serious contender for head girl. She mostly won because of a few factors. Allegations of vote-rigging still got whispered about. The other significant reason for the unlikely victory was a pair of expected candidates showing no interest in the position.

Every single generation, dating back to the unofficial club days of the 1930s, always had a Noble daughter, if not two or three, as head girl. Thus, many of the older generations had expected Paige to assume her legacy. However, the school-obsessed teen had never even bothered to join the Bumble Girls, when they usually did so in junior high school. Instead, she horrified the high society matrons by continuing to align herself with the Bumble Bastard, her best friend Fletcher Wynwick.

Fletcher’s bastard status and the treatment before his birth against his teenage mother also played a part in Sienna Thirlby essentially exiling herself from the social clique, which had multiple family members preside over the club throughout its history, including her mother, Sela. While she bickered constantly with her obnoxious cousin, the ice queen still felt protective towards him. Besides having no use for the brown-nosers who usually filled the Bumble Girl ranks, Sienna largely abandoned the club because her best friend, Rylee Kittle, wasn’t a member. Refusing to participate in anything without her shy friend, Sienna only agreed to join the Bumble Girls for her future offspring’s sake. Outside of that, she hadn’t shown up at a meeting or party in years.

“However, with the Bumble Girls officially existing since just after World War II, their families and children have long been referred to as Bumble Families. This is where it can get a bit tricky. Not every old-money or influential family is part of the neighborhood high society,” Norah revealed. “Whitney Diamond isn’t a member because while her family might live at the end of Bumble Boulevard, in Pollen Circle, they’ve been hated enemies of the Wynwicks for over a century. Additionally, prominent families like the Corks, Jinkersons, Bowes, Penfolds, and Strattons aren’t members either.”

“Whitney isn’t a Bumble Girl? Wow, we thought differently,” the redhead admitted.

“Such a weird group,” the leggy blonde remarked, causing Norah to shrug.

“You get used to the weirdness.”

Suddenly, almost every phone belonging to a Honey Hollow High student rang or beeped with an incoming message. As that included Norah’s phone, she swiped to read it. This left the girls from the visiting school in confusion or awe.

“Is that…the gossip thingie you have here?” the brunette asked.

“Nosy Nectar? It is. That’s what happens when they send out a special message, we call a blast,” Norah explained, holding out her phone for the other girls to read.

“Spotted: Princess Purity risking her soul to snitch on the happenings at Captain Cork Jr.’s party. You have been warned.”