Sour Sugars and a Cranky Cupcake

The busty blonde shook her body from side to side while peering up at the stone-faced man. Rolling her eyes, the seductress proceeded to use the arms wrapped around his neck for leverage as she leaned up. Then, moving her mouth close to his ear, she whispered an order.

“Stop looking so damn uncomfortable. Dance!”

“They can all tell,” the twenty-four-year-old moaned.

“No, they can’t!” Yelena hissed.

“My fiancée and my parents can see us. They’ll know,” Gage Barringer insisted, nearing a state of panic.

“Gawd! They’re all clueless,” the sultry Sugarbee stated. “Watch!”

Suddenly, Yelena dropped her arms from around her longtime neighbor's neck, took a step back, and whipped around. Although Yelena wore a black-and-gold dress that served more as a bra and miniskirt, the swift turn had enough **** to send the thigh-high skirt fluttering in the air.

Next, with a sweet, innocent expression plastered on her face, the teenage man-stealer backed up until her toned assed met the engaged man’s groin. Even over the loud music, Yelena could hear Gage’s groan at the contact.

Seducing the neighbor she'd lusted after for six years had crossed a name high off of Yelena's list. His large cock and close proximity meant that she'd demand repeat trysts. However, his whiny, panicky attitude could grow annoying fast. So that left the teen to show that nobody suspected anything about their dancing and socializing.

Scanning the crowd, Yelena spotted Mr. and Mrs. Barringer watching with amused expressions. She could tell they found it adorable that little Lena from next door was dancing with their son. How clueless can you people be? How can you not have seen all the guys parading in and out of my house over the years? Your windows face our house, for fuck's sake! And that doesn't even count my mom. Sure, she tends to use hotels for her affairs, but come on!

On some level, Yelena felt mild disappointment over how easily Gage fell under her charms. She could lie and tell herself that she was just that talented, but Yelena wouldn't do that. Instead, she had to admit that the current law school student lacked the necessary qualities to have a flourishing career in a courtroom without profound changes. I guess I can see what I can do. I like Gage enough to try for his sake. But he needs to show way more confidence and ruthlessness to succeed. Getting him to fuck around on his little twit of a fiancée can only help. Look at her! She’s giggling at how uncomfortable her man is with me. The dumb bitch is missing every sign.

“I got to go!” Gage announced abruptly when the song ended.

Peering over her shoulder, Yelena watched as he speed-walked over to his fiancée. She noted with wry amusement as the oblivious sweetheart teased her true love about dancing with the little girl next door. With some satisfaction, the Sugarbee watched as Gage leaned in to kiss her cheek while making sure to avoid letting the brunette feel the erection caused by the buxom blonde. And she noticed how he turned down his fiancée's request for a dance, instead leading her over to the bar.

"Better watch it. He might confess," Bianca warned. She'd just turned down a request by Griffin Green for a second dance. The college senior only got the first because his father and Bianca's dad occasionally did business together.

“Not happening. Gage is on break until the end of January. Miss Clueless has to go back this week. He’ll be back in my bedroom within days.”

“If you say so.”

“Wanna bet? How about I have Gage pick me up from school?”

“Jesus, Lena, you’re one of a kind,” Bianca replied, chuckling at her best friend’s confidence. “I hope he wasn’t your hookup plan for tonight.”

“Not even in the slightest.”

“Oh, so who’s it going to be? Married, engaged, or merely dating?” Bianca teased.

“Hmm, I think who your bedmate will be is the more interesting riddle,” Yelena responded, arching an eyebrow. She preferred to deflect from her intentions for the rest of the night.

The two Sugarbess walked off the dance floor and toward their table. Automatically, Jasmine appeared out of nowhere to join them. Two dancers from last year standing near the table nodded at the new arrivals before heading off to dance. Looking around, Bianca found herself upset again about the limited number of girls from her squad in attendance.

“I am not pleased with this piss-poor attendance. Heads will roll,” the dark-haired vixen declared.

“But you said that Olivia and the twins have valid excuses,” Jasmine reminded.

"I'm not talking about them," Bianca responded dismissively. To be honest, she wouldn't punish Olivia as she suspected that Whitney was waiting for a chance to swoop in to recruit her likely successor. "The other juniors will be in my doghouse for the next month. But it's Rosita and Tandy that are going to feel the pain."

“Choosing Milner’s tacky house party over this seems white trash,” Yelena remarked.

"Precisely!" Bianca exclaimed. "The ball is always the social event of the winter in town. And this year, we had a solid reason to be here."

"Not to mention getting dressed in fancy outfits," Jasmine giggled.

A fourth squad member walked over and asked what was so funny.

“As if you deserve to know,” Yelena snapped at Ariel.

“What did I do?” the lone Sugarbee sophomore challenged.

Bianca liked the backbone that Ariel showed. While she demanded loyalty, the captain also appreciated a fiery attitude. There could only be so many yes-girls like Jasmine on a squad before it suffered.

“Please. As if we haven’t noticed that you’ve been spending all your time with the Babybees tonight,” Yelena declared. “Unless you’re plotting something against them, you should be with us.”

“That’s enough, Lena. Ariel is merely hanging out with friends her age,” Bianca defended. That caused her best friend to swing her head over to gawk at her in disbelief. “Besides, some of those Babybees will be Sugarbees next year. So there is nothing wrong with Ariel scouting the competition.”

“Well, yeah, that’s not why I was hanging out with–”

“And we are not plotting anything against the cheerbitches tonight,” Bianca continued, cutting off Ariel. “So don’t go start any trouble.”

“Me start trouble?! Hold up a fucking second. Who was the one who started the whole brawl after fawning over Austin?” Yelena questioned her BFF.

"I know it was me, but there will be no more incidents. Mrs. Singer was liked by a lot of parents, and my mom made several explicit threats about what would happen if I started another fight," Bianca admitted.

“Speaking of…” Ariel muttered, noticing an approaching person.

“Look sharp, Bi,” Jasmine hissed.

All four teens looked over as Austin approached them. The star quarterback appeared to stand up straighter as he realized he’d caught their attention. Then, holding out his hand, Austin addressed the dance captain.

“Tall, blond, and handsome is here to kick off your New Year properly, Bianca. Shall we dance?”

"Are you here for little ole me?" the dark-haired vixen teased. Next, Bianca ran her hand down her exposed neck and upper chest until it settled on her left velvet-covered breast. "Or for this?"

The Sugarbees watched with mild amusement as Austin’s eyes widened, along with a visible gulp that he attempted to hold in. That only caused him to **** slightly.

“Cat got your tongue? Or are you thirsting for some of this milk?” Bianca added, clearly squeezing her breast.

As expected, several ball-goers noticed the suggestive move. Some of those onlookers nudged those who hadn’t noticed, leading all of them to step closer.

“Is…Is that my reward?” Austin asked, finding his confidence after an initial stumble. He also continued to hold out his hand.

“And what have you done to earn this as a reward?” Bianca questioned. She emphasized the reward being offered by pushing her hand downward. Leaving her large breast, her hand ran past her flat stomach until reaching the dress’s hem. Then, situated directly between her thighs, Bianca’s fingers teased going under the material.

“I earned it by being a hero,” Austin proclaimed, his confidence turning into arrogance.

“A hero? My, my, my, that’s a bold statement.”

“Bold is for the brave,” Austin stated, smirking.

“And you think you’re brave? Oh, Rusk, I meant your statement was bold because you lied,” Bianca clarified.

“Lied? I never lied,” Austin denied, his confident expression wavering. His hand also finally dropped to his side.

“Did you hear that, Lena? Austin thinks people are still going to believe his bullshit story.”

“Pathetic if you ask me,” Yelena remarked.

“But, I did save Whitney and Tarver. The other version is just from people jealous of me,” Austin insisted.

“Oh, Austin,” Bianca said, moving forward to pat his cheek. “Have all those hits damaged your brain that much? Everyone knows that you barely helped and that Sean rescued Whitney.”

“Se–Tarver is the liar. He’s always been jealous of me since we were kids. And he’s been making moves on my girl,” Austin argued, sounding angry.

"First off, you don't have a girl any longer. Second, the only guy getting a hero's reward is Sean. However, I'll let Whitney issue hers first, as she's the one he saved. Mine can come later on."

"Y–You and Tar–Tarver?!" Austin stammered in shock. "Wha…Why?!"

“Big Sean–No, that’s not right,” Bianca stopped herself before turning around to face her friends. “What were the Babybrats calling him?”

“Sir Sean,” Ariel supplied. “I think I heard Dr. Sean as well.”

"Thank you," the dance captain responded before returning to face the outdated school hero. "Yes, Sir Sean will visit these in the near future. He's certainly packing the proper equipment."

A horrified expression took over Austin’s face as Bianca ran a finger up and down her exposed cleavage. That she’d done the same exact move for him just before Lacey attacked her wasn’t lost on the befuddled teen.

“B-But you said I’d get to visit that vacation home.” Austin nodded at her cleavage with almost a whine in his voice.

"Tourist season is over for you," Bianca snapped dismissively.

“What? But you and me…you’ve been after me for years to break up with Lacey and date you. The two of us are–.”

“Oh, so close, buster. Me and you?” Bianca began, pushing a finger into his chest. “There is no me and you. There is only you, me, and Lacey.”

“Huh?”

“Gawd, this is taking longer than I expected,” Bianca complained over her shoulder to Yelena. “Okay, listen up, Austin. I do not want you. I’m not getting wet over anything to do with you. You are never going to touch this body in any of my most desirable parts. Got that?”

“No! What about you chasing me for the last two–”

"Damn, you're dumb. Austin, I wasn't after you because you made me cream my panties. I was after you because you were Lacey's boyfriend."

“That makes no sense!”

"It's about our feud. You see, our families go after each other's boyfriends. Lana went after Teresa's; my mom went after Mrs. Stratton's. Our cousins, aunts, grandmas, and so on have all done it for several generations. It's basically expected. The one rule is that we don't go after the men once a ring is in play. Well, there was that one time…but that doesn't matter," Bianca explained. "So, since Lacey is the good girl of the two of us, I was always going to go after her boyfriend. It doesn't matter if his name was Jayden, Jesse, Percy, or Austin. It just ended up being you."

“I…I just don’t understand,” Austin responded, bringing his hand up to his head as it now hurt.

"You will someday. Just move along for now," Bianca ordered, motioning with her hand for him to leave. "After the last two years of you fucking up my ****, I don't feel like dealing with you any longer."

“But…But who am I going to get with…”

"Well, I can say that it won't be any Sugarbees. And I'm certain that it won't be any cheerleaders. Hey, maybe you can find nerds or band geeks that still think you're special," Bianca said, turning her back to him. Then, she motioned again with her hand. "Now move along, Rusk."

“Damn, that was cold and awesome,” Burton Dempsey snickered from among the shocked onlookers.

Austin opened his mouth, but couldn't find a comeback inside him. Instead, he shuffled his feet over toward the bar.

For a New Year’s Eve well past midnight and technically into New Year’s Day, the emergency room’s waiting area was as packed as one would’ve expected. The usual assortment of grade school-aged children holding back tears from their bumps, bruises, or sickness tugged at Lacey’s heartstrings. A solid mix of drunken mishaps filled the room. One dazed-looking man kept up a stream of mutterings about the world ending and his need for painkillers. A middle-aged wife chattered away on her phone to friends dismissively about her husband's chest pains. Two men in their mid-20s were on their phones. One quietly texted while the other annoyed many with his loud recounting of their friend’s fall on the ice.

“Holy fuck, man! You would not believe how far Harry flew in the air…yeah, those stairs. We warned him about the ice…yep, you know Harry. But it turned out epic. What? Nah, I didn’t see any blood.”

With the jam-packed waiting room, the Strattons had expected to be here for a long time. However, the reporters–real or sketchy—had altered their night. Hospital security had to be called down to **** them out of the waiting room. Rachel had to pull Lacey back from going off on Gordon Green from The Daily Flyer. The petite redhead’s threats and vows to tell Grandpa Rollie and Ramsey about Gordon had earned her a cheering section among the waiting patients. But even with the reporters kicked out of the hospital, they still caused a disruption with their cameras going off from the other side of the glass windows. The continued annoyances had finally **** the ER’s staff to take Clive inside the next available room. That led to some complaints about special treatment, but the general consensus seemed to be contentment as long as it kept the reporters from being a nuisance.

A marathon of House Hunters played at low volume on the television in the corner. Although most of the waiting room occupants didn't care to hear Gavin and Sharon from Denver's fake rationale for choosing a home to buy, the mere presence of their three choices allowed everyone else in the room to ignore them. Lacey scoffed at the show as she'd heard that the prospective buyers usually had already decided on a home before even filming the segments. Still, the show kept people occupied, except for the occasional loud question about how much longer they had to wait. And, from what the hospital staff had told Rachel, they were lucky they hadn't arrived earlier, as an argument had broken out over which New Year's Eve countdown show should be on.

“Stupid ice,” Lacey grumbled, sitting near the outside glass doors with her arms folded. “Not my fault the ice caused the car to skid. And it’s only several small scratches. But, oh, no, Lacey’s never driving Dad’s car again.”

The incident had occurred while Lacey turned her father's sedan to enter the hospital's parking structure. It hadn't helped that Rachel and Clive had ordered their daughter to do two different things at the same time. Rachel had wanted Lacey to drive up to the ER's doors to let her father out, while Clive insisted he could walk from the garage just fine. And because Rachel was tipsy and Clive was in pain, Lacey knew they both wouldn't remember exactly how the car slid. In their minds, Lacey continued her streak as an accident-prone driver.

“Not my fault that everyone is drunk in my family. Blame the only sober Stratton, Trimble, and McCracken. I should have made Cadence drive them. That’d serve Mom and Dad right.”

Deciding to check her phone, Lacey saw multiple text messages from friends. Figuring they were likely all about her breakup, she passed on reading them. Next, she brought up The Daily Flyer website, only to immediately close it upon seeing her dad’s picture with a caption about corruption allegations. Finally, the petite redhead brought up Nosy Nectar.

Her first thought came from the surprising number of posts tonight. That’s strange. I’d expect New Year’s Eve to be a busy night on here. It’s shockingly light on posts. Still, she decided to scroll down to the newest update, which caused Lacey’s eyebrows to shoot up.

“Holy…Miss Graff slapped Mrs. Lufflu–I mean, Miss Goose, whatever her fucking name is!” Lacey swore in frustration. Then, she noticed several people looking over at her. “Sorry!”

Rapidly reading the short gossip article, Lacey’s shocked expression widened even more as she saw that Peyton had escalated the situation with Kimberly. Nosy Nectar portrayed Fawn in a good light by claiming that she’d come to the aid of a former student. The gossip bit also made sure to point out that Peyton was the older sister of Honey Hollow’s current hero.

Lacey couldn't help but smile at that description of Sean. She was super happy that he was finally getting recognized, but her heart skipped a beat at the possibility that he and Whitney nearly died. And to think that Rammy broke his heart only minutes before. I am so making sure that Sean gets a fabulous Valentine’s Day. He deserves a girlfriend and romance.

Going backward, Lacey’s blood rose as she saw several pictures sent in by Nosy Nectar followers that the site had passed along without much comment beyond the names involved. So while Lacey didn’t have a context for the photos, she knew the picture of Ashlynn Nish, her mom’s school secretary, dancing with Reilly McCracken, her mom’s younger cousin, didn’t make sense.

What the fudge?! Ashlynn is supposed to be dancing with Coach Colcord. I set them up before we left. Heck, I also tried to set up Reilly with Rammy’s mom, but she ran off to cover the dumb crap about the elections. How did this happen?

Scrolling further back for additional information, Lacey stopped upon seeing her own name and face. With a sigh, Lacey felt weird reading about her own life, but knew she needed to know what was being said about herself and Austin.

Wow, Nosy Nectar really makes me out to be the girlfriend in denial until I finally snapped. It is nice to be called sweet, friendly, and caring. I mean, Austin isn’t as bad as they make him out to be…whoa, whoever runs this really doesn’t like Auss. No, no, don’t feel sorry for him, Lace.

The sliding glass doors' opening caused Lacey to look up, leading her to do a double-take before jumping to her feet. Her heart immediately started beating faster as she recognized the faces of multiple classmates entering the ER.

“Ohmigawd! Marcus, what happened?”

Marcus Withrow half-carried, half-helped a pale-faced sophomore inside the hospital. Lacey recognized him as Kip Peavy, a student manager for several school athletic teams. On Kip’s other side, Max Moxey held a towel that was wrapped around the sophomore’s hand. Lacey could see that the once-white towel was now soaked in blood.

“Can I get a nurse over here!” Marcus shouted.

“Hey, Lace,” Max greeted with a partial smile.

“Hiya, Lacey,” Kip said, sounding a bit woozy.

Lacey watched with deep concern as two of Austin's nicer friends carried the younger teen over to the door that led back into the ER rooms, as a nurse rushed out after seeing the bloody towel. Sensing another presence behind her, the petite redhead turned to find two more football team members walking in. Xavier Glove had an ice bag to his head, while Kona Sango appeared unharmed.

“What happened?” Lacey repeated.

"Shit got crazy at Milner's," Xavier replied, with Kona nodding.

“Is Kip okay? How did that happen?” Lacey rattled off.

“You! This is all your fault!”

Lacey turned to find that two Sugarbees had followed Xavier and Kona inside. Rosita Veliz held onto Tandy Cantrell, who hopped on one foot. It was Tandy who had yelled, and it was her finger that pointed at Lacey.

“Me?!”