Not a lot ... but not nothing.

“I mean, I’d have appreciated a heads-up,” Zack argued on the way to his car, other students streaking past them in a hurry to end Monday.

“Madison’s a friend, Zack. And Brandon’s sister,” Chloe pointed out as they reached Zack’s blue sedan, Chloe immediately walking to the passenger side as the locks beeped.

“Sort of my point,” he continued, leaning his arms on the roof and peering over it at Chloe. “He’s a little touchy right now. I mean, we’re still good, but if he hears I was driving his sister around right now …”

“Oh my God, BOYS!” Chloe groaned, grabbing the roof and leaning back, then jerked herself up to eye level with Zack again. “I’ll stay with her the whole time, to defend her virtue! Satisfied?”

“Whose virtue are we defending?” Madison asked, walking up behind Chloe. Chloe turned to face her and had to be very careful not to stare. Though spending time with the girls had become more normal since Zack and Brandon connected, then he and Ashley RE-connected, it occurred to her in this moment she’d never seen any of them actually wearing their uniforms up close. Between sports seasons being pretty much over the first time last year Zack dragged her out to one of Heather’s parties and then summer, it was … a shock.

The top wasn’t too surprising, just a sleeveless, blue piece with the shape of a bear imprinted on it. A little short, exposing her midriff, framed pleasantly further by her unbuttoned denim jacket. God, it was way too cold for that, how was she not buttoning that up? Not that it would have covered the extremely short, red, folded skirt, or her long, graceful legs, which Chloe was having a hell of a time not imagining all the way up. ‘Um,’ Chloe thought accusatorily at herself, both for the ogling and that she was doing it to another girl. It was … unfamiliar territory.

“Yours,” Zack answered while Chloe did her best not to stare too much. “Chloe was saying you probably shouldn’t be alone with me, lest your worth as a maiden become soiled and leave you in an unmarriageable state.”

“That seems dangerous,” Madison noted, opening the door to back as they piled in. “Given the circumstances, y’know.”

“Howsat?” Zack asked. Chloe glanced back for a moment, giving Madison time to affix her with an honestly-pretty-adorable smile.

“Well, I’m a virgin,” she sighed, holding up one finger. “Chloe’s a virgin. You’re not. So, you leave me and you alone, that’s one of our honors being defiled. Now, you leave Chloe and me alone …” she clamped the second finger she’d put up for Chloe with her first, her smile turning decidedly devious, “that’s a two-for-one virtue-removal right there.”

“Look, who am I to stand in the way of a good bargain?” Zack answered back with a playful smile. Chloe, for her part, managed a similar expression briefly before turning back around as Zack’s pulled out on to the road proper. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. ‘God, calm down!’ she snapped to herself. ‘You don’t even like girls, you’re probably just getting all horny because you’re hitting a week from your period. Right? Right.’ She made a mental note to take care of the situation when she got home. Thankfully, the cold, early fall weather meant it wasn’t doubling up with her body issues. Being able to hide behind a good hoodie or sweater was paramount for the redheaded senior, and she’d hate to imagine what this would be like in summer. Like, in shorts. Or a swimsuit. Or nothing …

“I promise to behave if you will!” she called back to Madison, trying to snap her attention to reality. Madison gave a short laugh, which Chloe noted was actually very melodic and seemed unaffected. ‘Cool. Helpful,’ she chided herself at the characterization.

“Ugh, FINE!” Madison said, leaning forward between her and Zack. “But so you know, this will be factored into my dowry.”

Logan’s house wasn’t quite as bombastic as Ravers Manor, but he’d told Chloe before that his dad liked it that way. It let him get away from the family when he needed to focus, not to mention the hyper-modern design and preponderance of windows was more “him.” Logan had also mentioned it was more his style, too, which was one of the few things he seemed to have in common with Daniel. Chloe always found it a bit odd how much both the Ravers kids at school seemed to take after Heather’s dad.

Zack pulled into the driveway, parking into the oddly-angled spaces in front of the main entrance with ease. The three stepped out of the car and approached the massive doors. Zack pressed the button below the intercom, which buzzed once, then crackled to life.

“Hey, jackass, where were you all day?” he shouted into it, making sure to enunciate. “You missed SOME STUFF, man!” No answer. It’s possible they weren’t even here. It wasn’t that unusual for any of their family to be at the manor, even overnight. But then Heather would have most likely known where he was. Zack pressed the button again. “Logan? Dude, it’s Zack, are you in? Mrs. Ravers? Dan?” Hearing Zack called Daniel “Dan,” was a little funny, but while Logan and his father didn’t have a ton in common, Daniel and Zack actually did. Between his shared interests with both of the men of the house, he actually could be sort of a bridge between them, which had helped a lot after Logan had a tumultuous junior year.

“I don’t like this,” Chloe interrupted as Zack went for the button a third time. The fine hairs on the back of her neck and arms pricked up, and her eyes scanned the perimeter without her full permission. She couldn’t shake the idea she was being watched, legs tensing to run to or at something. “We should go.”

“… fuck that, I’m going in,” Zack said a few seconds later. “It’s probably nothing, but if this is just Logan being broody, I want to yell at him before we get out of here. And I think you’re being paranoid, but if you’re right, what if they’re hurt or something in there? Walking away isn’t gonna’ sit right.”

“Makes sense to me,” Madison responded, leaning down. By the time she stood back up, hefting a large rock from the neat display bed of flowers, both Zack and Chloe were staring at her. “What?”

“I … I have a key …” Zack told her slowly, holding it up.

“Oh.” Madison looked a bit embarrassed, slowly putting the rock back where it belonged. She paused before rising again, giving it a small, conciliatory pat for not being put to a more exciting use. Chloe laughed very, very softly. “Shut up, it made sense at the time,” the cheerleader told her with a grin. “Well, key?”

“Right.” Zack opened the doors, stepping in a bit familiarly. Chloe thought it a little strange he had a key, but he HAD house-sit for them over the summer. And knowing how Zack liked to be prepared, Wal-Mart could make a duplicate in no time flat. ‘Not sure Mr. and Mrs. Ravers would be too happy about this, though …’ she worried as they entered the very white, pristine living room, floor-length windows towering up and lighting filling the early autumn night in the yard elegantly. “Okay, if Logan’s here, he’s probably on the far side. Maybe don’t touch a lot, but can you guys check out his parents’ room?” He pointed to it as he spoke, then started to head off on his own.

“Come on, then,” Madison prompted Chloe. Standing frozen for a second, Chloe followed after her nerves wore off, Madison springing up the steps to the second floor. A walkway gave the upper level of the living room an open feeling, especially coupled with the conversation pit on the ground floor, while the clear material making up most of the stairs left only the steps and the top of the handrail visible. The entire space was very strange to Chloe, who was used to her rich friends having older-style tastes or her parents’ humbler one-story at the edge of downtown. Absolutely none of this was too avoid looking up as Madison ascended ahead of her in her dangerously short skirt, no sir. That would be inappropriate.

“This is a nice room …” Chloe observed, half to herself and half to Madison as they stepped into the Ravers’ master bedroom. The sheets looked almost decadently smooth and soft, a deep grey aesthetic carrying from the sheets to the pillows with a more traditional quilt she suspected was a family thing at the foot. “Should we have taken off our shoes or something?”

“Shag feels nice on the feet,” Madison answered, her mind on a completely different reasoning. “No one in the bathroom, either. Do you really think something bad happened?”

“It’s just a feeling. I mean, Heather got that family thing, Zack couldn’t get him to text back all day … Logan could just be out of cell service range.” She shivered, checking the walk-in closet briefly before turning back to her partner-in-probably-crime. “Not a lot to go on … but yeah, I do.”

“Hey, instincts are important,” Madison agreed as they went back down to the living room. No Zack yet. “If you try to double-check every single detail in the moment, it can fuck you real bad.”

“Yeah, there’s just also a place for, y’know, evidence,” Chloe said as they sat down in the slight depression on the ground floor. The couches in the pit were as enviably soft as Chloe expected, and she was hit by an urge to just go to sleep immediately that clashed with her still-raw sense of danger. “How’re you doing, by the way? I know you’re usually an oversharer, but you looked like you were holding back with Ash.”

“Only ‘cause I was.” Madison put her feet up on the table with a lack of worry Chloe sharply envied. “I’m furious. At both of them. Ashley should have dumped Brandon first. Cheating on him was shitty. But she’s not wrong that he’s been taking her for granted for a BIT now. And yeah, I’ve seen her try to get him to admit it’s a possibility, never goes anywhere … I just don’t, like, WANT to be mad at either of them.”

“Think you’d have a lot of practice with Brandon,” Chloe joked. “Sorry, was that out of line?”

“Nope. He’s got women issues. Ever noticed it’s usually the guys who don’t do right by their girls who get all super-macho about their daughters and sisters?” Chloe giggled, nodding in agreement. “Whatever. College next year, we are DEFINITELY not heading the same place. I plan on making up for lost time. Just gonna’ be a HUGE whore.”

“Thought you didn’t want your first time to casual?” Chloe countered. She certainly didn’t. It was a little silly, but Chloe didn’t even want to get past second with anyone she didn’t love. And she … hadn’t really loved anyone. Not romantically. Her boyfriends always disappointed her, one way or the other, and the farthest any of them got was some over-the-shirt boob-squeezin’.

“After that,” Madison waved off, stretching out for a moment to get comfortable.

Chloe was only given the chance to appreciate the arc of her legs and back and neck for a moment before standing bolt-upright. Madison jumped up to sitting position in response, staring at Chloe. Chloe’s head whipped around, looking at the dimly-lit edges of the yard. She didn’t feel like she was being watched; in the moment, she KNEW she was being watched.

“Are you okay? What’s going on?” Madison asked, also looking around, but more haphazardly. Chloe’s blue eyes fixed on the north edge, massive windows giving her a good view. She stood up, walking towards it. Someone was out there. She couldn’t see them, but they could see her. She felt like she was staring right into their eyes as she reached the window. Beginning to squint, Chloe thought for a moment she could see the shape of a person near one of the trees …

“Guys?!” Zack yelled, running up from the far side of the house. Chloe’s attention broke, turning to face her panicked-looking friend. “Hey, we need to go about nowish.”

“What is it?” Chloe asked, casting a furtive glance back to the window. Nothing registered this time. Even with the new lights suddenly appearing, flashing through the windows.

“Oh, shit!” Madison hissed, blue and red spilling into the monochrome main room.

“I MAY have forgotten the alarm,” Zack admitted as the trio watched four police officers make their way towards the door. Chloe glared at Zack, who shrugged weakly as all three of them knelt and raised their hands as the cops spilled into the Ravers’ house.