SS Undercover Ch 2

Cassie puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot, waiting in the muggy air. She’s not an especially anxious person by nature, but there’s always going to be a touch of nerves when dealing with new people—particularly new people with reputations like CCL girls. She has made no effort beyond the bra and deodorant that she put on to answer Meri’s summons.

The door opens, revealing a distractingly and annoyingly pretty blonde. Her white and blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and little khaki shorts is the cutest outfit that Cassie has seen since coming to Florida. She is struck by instant dislike.

“Hey. How’s it going?” the blonde asks.

Well, it had been going OK until Cassie took this concentrated shot of inadequacy straight into her veins. Of course, it’s not enough that this girl is a living Barbie Doll, she has to be exotic and even from a cool country. Cassie doesn’t know if Australia’s actually cool, but pretty much anywhere looks good at the moment. She tries not to read the news.

“Hi. I’m Cassie. I heard there was board games going on. I’m a freshman. I’m just trying to meet people and do stuff, you know?” It might be a little much, but it’s still succinct and all technically true.

The long moment that passes reveals that this blonde has been drinking. Her smile widens. “Well, you’ve come to the right place. We have people. And games.” She hesitates, squinting. “We have fun and games. Guns ‘n Roses.”

Cassie isn’t sure what she’s talking about. “And beer,” she says.

The blonde beams at her. “Yes! How did you know?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Come in. I’m Kylie, named for Kylie Minogue, wisest and greatest of all Aussies.”

“Thank you. Really?”

“No. I’m named after my great-aunt, who killed her husband and is in prison. But enough of about me.”

“I kinda want to hear more,” Cassie says as she enters the house. It looks big from the outside, and the foyer is huge. Wide stairs lead up to a second floor with a walkway that overlooks the entry hall. Wood-paneled walls hold tons of old photos and newspaper clippings in frames. The place is cleaner than CGH House, which is an accomplishment, and it smells like pine needles. Unlike CGH House, there is so much personality in everything. The rugs probably came from thrift stores, but it works. A huge, old-timey chandelier hangs overhead. The kitchen looks modern, but there is a ton of neat old-fashioned stuff. A grandfather clock ticks nearby. The house isn’t exactly quiet because it seems to have at least twenty air conditioning window units going, but it seems roomy, uncrowded, and peaceful. The opposite of CGH.

A muffled shout comes from upstairs. Cassie looks up in alarm.

“Don’t mind that,” Kylie says. “S’only Donut. Let’s get you a drink. You’ll need it.”

“I will?”

“Yes. This is the wisdom of an experienced, older woman,” Kylie says, not exactly staggering into the kitchen, but she’d better not be planning to drive anywhere. Cassie follows, ready to catch her if she trips.

“Do a lot of people come to your board game night?”

“Not a lot. None tonight. Everyone’s at the party.”

“TRP.”

“Why aren’t you there?” Kylie opens the refrigerator and bends to reach in.

“Why aren’t you?” Cassie shoots back.

“We’re paying for our sins. We had chores to do, and we asked Apple to do them, and she said that she would if we would play with her tonight. And so here we are.” She comes up with a pack of IPAs and shrugs. Cassie follows her out. “Do you like, er, sexy centipede ladies?”

“What?”

They enter a room with a pool table and some other neat stuff, but Cassie’s attention is on the three women at a table covered in… stuff. She sees papers, dice, pencils, as well as a stack of worn-looking paperbacks with vividly horny covers. A few little toy people stand on some kind of sketch of something that Cassie doesn’t understand.

“Everyone, this is Cassie. She likes centipedes and long walks on the beach and she wants to play with us. There you are, dear.” Kylie pushes a cold beer into Cassie’s hands. “That’s Apple.” She points at a narrow-faced coppery redhead whose hair does not agree with the humid climate. She looks friendly behind her round glasses. “Apple is best known for using witchcraft to sexually **** Elsa. That’s Elsa.” She points at the skinny one, who is even more visibly wasted than Kylie. She’s covered in tattoos, and her dyed hair looks like she just got out of bed. “Elsa is best known for being the one who remembers to change the things in the things.”

“HVAC filters,” says the last girl. She’s another blonde, but very different from Kylie. Instead of cheekbones to kill, she has an aggressively round face and curvier build. She wears a UFG hoodie and her hair is up with chopsticks through it. Cassie likes it.

“No, Leni’s the one who brought it up. I guess I’m just the only person here who’s actually ever done it before,” Elsa says modestly, eying the beers in Kylie’s hands.

“The what now?” Apple asks.

“The filters! They hadn’t been changed in like ten years,” the sober blonde says. Soberish, at least. There’s only one empty cup in front of her. “It’s actually important to do. Leni was right. Hi, Cassie. Welcome.”

“And that’s Colby, who is best known for enabling Apple’s shit and Donut’s shit and being very sweet.” Kylie puts her hand on Colby’s head and messes up her hair as she passes to drop into her chair. “And that’s the real meaning of Christmas, Cassie. Did we shag the centipede yet?”

“Excuse me?” Cassie’s still standing there.

Apple glares at Kylie and gets to her feet. “Please. It’s—it’s, we’re playing a tabletop RPG and there is a strong enemy, and the party is trying to resolve it through seduction. That’s all. But it’s not really how it’s meant to be done,” she adds through her teeth, glaring at Elsa.

“The fuck it’s not. It should all be boning,” Elsa says, indignant. “They’re literally smut books. Look!” She grabs one of the paperbacks. “On the cover it’s the guy and his mom, and he’s grabbing her big ‘ol booty. Just grabbing it. Look!”

“Stepmother,” Apple corrects, avoiding eye contact.

Elsa frowns. “What?”

“Stepmother. She’s his stepmother.”

“But I thought…”

“No. No,” Apple says quickly, shuffling some papers and looking away. “All stepmother, stepsisters and so on. Easy mistake to make.” She laughs nervously.

“Oh.” Kylie frowns and picks up one of the books. “That actually makes a lot more sense.”

“Yeah, it works better for me like that,” Colby agrees.

“Never mind,” Apple says, smiling at Cassie. “Join us. D’ye want to be Kesner or Lady Charlotte?”

“Who or what?”

“Kesner’s the slutty hot best friend twinkasaurus and Lady Charlotte’s the main guy’s turbo MILF,” Colby explains.

“Step,” Apple says, clearing her throat.

“Uh…” Cassie takes the two sheets of paper from Apple. “Um, OK. I’ll be the, uh, the lady.”

“Lady Charlotte joins the party,” Apple says, snatching up her pencil and straightening her folder. “D’ye want to sit?”

Cassie looks at the beer in her hand, then takes a drink. There are two open seats, and she feels like she’s in the cafeteria in high school.

Kylie’s leaning way back in her chair with two open beers, whispering in Elsa’s ear. Elsa snorts.

Colby peers at one of the paperbacks with a thoughtful expression while Apple excitedly adds a new lovingly painted figurine to the sheet of paper in the middle of the table.

Should Cassie sit with the nerds or the normal ones? Or put another way, the drunk chicks or the sober ones?