The Azure Nobles

Azure Rocks, a month before Spring Break…

Droplets of sweat trickled down the young man’s forehead, almost going between his icy-blue eyes, causing him to wipe it off for the umpteenth time that Sunday afternoon. The heat had been unbearable so far that year, Zachary Bishop thought as he ran a hand through his short, dark hair, which was wet and soft as well due to the ungodly weather.

“I might need another shower at this rate,” he mumbled, smiling at how his pet cat, Orion, seemed to be taking everything as lightly as a stoic feline normally would, napping on his bed. A bit out of character for the usually affectionate green-eyed black cat.

Zachary, or Zack, as most of his friends and family called him, walked over to the desk in his room at the basement of his house. He winced, staring at his homework for the weekend; with how much exhausted he felt, it had barely been touched. A quick break to recharge his batteries before a final sprint to finish it all until the night sounded like the best course of action. As he climbed up the stairs to the ground floor of his house, Zack reflected on his year.

Senior year had been more brutal than he thought so far. It featured a few bright moments here and there, but classes looked like a video game that had been set on the Legendary difficulty mode. He had never been one to struggle for grades, far from it for someone who held one of the top spots in his year, but if it wasn’t for the Study Group he and a few friends had set up back in September, Zack suspected his overall performance in classes would have slipped a little bit. It was a relief that it didn’t, though. Since he changed his mind about going to Green Hills College and decided on Dragon Lake University, he knew that nothing but impeccable grades would be needed, as DLU only accepted the best of the best. Especially on their Literature course.

Fucking hell, I can’t wait for Spring Break, Zack thought as he stepped into the foyer.

“Oh, right on time, sweetie,” he heard his mother’s cheerful voice as she came in from the front door.

“Mom?” He raised an eyebrow, stopping in his tracks as she walked over to him. She had a dark, charcoal-gray envelope in her hand. It wasn’t what stood out the most to the teenage boy, though. Due to the heat, she was wearing a black tank top that barely contained her very large breasts, and denim shorts that looked painted on her body left a pair of fit, athletic legs on display. He tried not to look at his mother that way, but her blatant sexiness always made that task extremely difficult.

“C’mon, your father’s in the den,” Monica Bishop just grinned at him and nodded at the room in question. “This letter’s for you.”

Zack scratched the back of his head, wondering what was up with all that mystery, and more importantly, who the hell would send him a letter. On a Sunday. A physical letter.

”Zaaack!” His mother called him again.

“Coming!” He replied, snapping out of it and rushing to the den. The sight of his grinning parents bumping and elbowing each other on the couch never failed to bring a smile to his face.

Both thirty-nine, Daniel and Monica Bishop had met each other still in middle school, and began dating a few years later in high school. Aside from a brief period in their senior year when they broke up, those two had always been together, and Zack considered them a staple of how a loving relationship between a couple should be.

I only wish I get someone as good-looking as Mom, though, he mused, thinking about girls and classmates he was attracted to for a reason or another.

The odd thing that no one in the family talked about because they were already used to it, was his father’s last name. Bishop was the maiden name of Zack’s grandmother, Daniel’s mother, and he was a little hazy on the details, but his father had renounced his family and original last name, Ravers, for something that had to do with Monica, which made him admire his dad even more. Taylor, his older sister, had implied a few times that she knew what had happened, but Zachary never remembered to ask. He and his 20-year-old sister knew their father’s original family was the wealthiest of Azure Rocks, but they preferred to not dwell on that fact as their parents still managed to give them a very good and comfortable life.

It had all become a moot point, anyways, as Daniel and his older brother, Robert Ravers, had started to reconnect over Christmas after an effort from Zack and his cousin, Heather. A slow process, for sure, but the families now had a relationship, and it was better than having none at all.

At that moment, Monica turned around and saw him observing them, a smile reaching her face. “There you are,” she sweetly said. “C’mon, have a seat.”

Monica had long, slightly wavy dark-brown hair, icy-blue eyes, and a perfect, voluptuous figure that turned heads wherever she went. She was an Ob/Gyn doctor and owned a private clinic in downtown Azure Rocks with a neighbor that was the mother of one of Zack’s closest friends.

“Hello there, champ,” his father amiably greeted him. “Handling the heat?”

Daniel had short, dark-brown hair and electric-blue eyes, aside from an almost permanent smile on his face. He really was thankful for the life and family that he built with Monica after leaving the Ravers family behind. He was the founder and owner of Bishop Tech, a software development company he idealized after graduating college.

Zack let out a chuckle. “Trying to, at least,” he said. “Orion looks pretty pooped too.”

“Let’s bring him up here later,” Monica said, and then pointed to the dark envelope on the coffee table. “But, first things first. That came for you.”

Zack regarded the envelope and picked it up, very curious about what it was. It was only when his eyes landed on the name printed on the elaborate-looking envelope that he almost dropped it in shock. “What the…?” He turned to his parents, who were watching him with wide grins on their faces.

“Congratulations, Zack,” Daniel chuckled. His son knew how much it was a point of pride for the father to have participated and won the first edition of that contest twenty-one years ago. He never shared too many details about how he did it, figuring it would add to the mysterious aspect of the competition.

Zachary stared at the words as if he didn’t believe it was real. Perhaps he was still in his bed, dreaming about it all. In the middle of the dark envelope, printed in an elaborate light gray font was the name of the sender, ‘The Shrouded Veil’. He knew that, being his senior year and the third year after the last event, he was eligible for it, but Zack simply hadn’t sent an application. Going from what he knew, though, applications could be sent by another person.

“How?” He looked back-and-forth between Daniel and Monica. “Was it you, Dad?”

Daniel grinned at him. “I wish I could claim that idea, but no, son,” he answered. “It was all your sister and Peter. They had the idea and sent an application in your name.”

“Oh,” Zack mumbled, feeling like he could start tearing up any time now. “Taylor and Peter…, they really wanted to go to this thing,” he said, recalling how he chatted with his older sister and her best friend a lot about it. Being twenty, though, the two of them simply weren’t eligible at the last competition, and now they were already in college.

“That’s why they wanted to make sure you had your chance, Zack,” Monica told him. “And besides…,” she let the sentence hang, and turning to her husband, Daniel only shook his head with a smile, causing her to give him an exasperated look in return before she redirected her gaze to Zachary. “Well, why don’t you open it?”

“Wait!” Daniel pulled out his phone and turned it on. “I wanna film it,” he laughed, earning a laugh from his son. It was the first time that the son of a previous winner was joining the competition, so he wanted to have it properly documented.

Zack took a deep breath and finally started opening the big envelope. Careful so as to not damage it, he pulled off the lid and turned it upside-down on his lap, a colorful folder and a few slips of paper that looked like waiver forms, besides the obvious letter, falling out of it. The dark-haired boy grabbed the letter and began reading it.

Congratulations, Mr. Zachary Connor Bishop! The Shrouded Veil has selected you to participate in our next Young Sleuths Challenge. You have impressed our selection committee with your application, showcasing your mystery-solving abilities, or a past challenge winner has vouched for your talents. So get ready to test your deduction abilities in a series of mysteries designed by our founders, Rex and Tish Hardaway.

The Hardaways were once similar to yourself but as members of a mystery-solving quintet. They honed their investigatory skills by exposing and apprehending fiends such as Old Man Mosby, the Swamp Vixen, and the Peach Street Puppets. Ultimately, Rex, Tish, and their friends capped their teen gumshoe careers by doing what no adult could. Following clues that had been available for over two hundred years, they discovered the elusive treasure of the nefarious pirate, Redbeard.

With the ability to do what they wished, Rex and Tish created The Shrouded Veil, an organization dedicated to encouraging the next generation of teen detectives. To further that goal, the Young Sleuths Challenge was created twenty-one years ago to help test and train mystery-solving clubs from throughout America. Winners earn not only bragging rights but also a fabulous trip to the Thundering Isle, scholarships, and most importantly, The Spectacled Sleuth Cap trophy.

The Youth Sleuths Challenge's location varies for each invitational and is chosen based on a real mystery from the region. Past challenge sites have included a magnificent mansion, an isolated offshore island, a southern plantation, a ski lodge, and an amusement park. As in the past, the Hardaways create a series of mystery quests for competitors based on the location's history. You will find information in this packet on the location of your detective adventure, limited details of what to expect, and recommended items or clothing to pack.

As your team's leader, you will need to select five additional young Sherlocks. We must receive your selections no later than one week after receipt of this invitation. We highly recommend that you choose your members wisely for each of their skill sets. A sleuth of any age should prepare for the unexpected.

P.S.: Seeing as you haven’t selected a team name so far, we would advise you to do so, Mr. Bishop. Oh, and say hi to Daniel for us, would you?

Good luck and good investigating!

Zack read and reread the letter twice before exhaling and handing it over to his parents. “I’m in the Challenge,” he whispered, the fact finally sinking in as real. “I’m in the Challenge!”

“You surely are, sweetie!” Monica laughed, happy at her son’s enthusiasm as Daniel read the letter and laughed at the end.

“Rex and Tish Hardaway, this brings back memories,” Daniel fondly said, turning to his wife and squeezing her hand. “I wish you had come with me that time.”

“We were taking a break at the time your father was accepted,” Monica told Zack as a way of explanation, and then caressed Daniel’s hand in return. “Well, you took a good team and brought the trophy home.”

“Yeah, but you being there would’ve made it even sweeter,” he leaned in to give her a peck on the lips under Zack’s smiling gaze. “So,” he turned to his son. “Where is it gonna be this time?”

Zachary picked up the info packet and ran his eyes over it. There was a host of interesting and useful information about the event, such as what to pack and a list of towns which would have competing teams, but they were being purposefully cryptic about what challenges he could expect. That was something he guessed his father was honor-bound to keep in secret as well. “Ah, here it is. Wicket Valley, in Wyoming,” he read. “Near a town called Drygully.”

“Yeah, that’s a little bit far,” Daniel said, exchanging a quick, worried glance with Monica. “But I can take you and your friends there, no problem.”

“It says here it’s gonna be exactly over Spring Break,” Zack said. “You sure you can take us, Dad? We can take a bus, or worst case scenario, I can drive my car there.”

“Don’t worry, champ,” Daniel grinned in amusement at his son. “I’m not gonna let you drive there all by yourselves. I can take a few days off and leave Ciara in charge, the perks of being the owner.”

Monica laughed. “I bet the gears are already spinning wildly in that mind of yours. Who are you planning on taking?”

Zack grinned. “Well, I don’t care how wisely I should choose, I can’t see myself not taking Chloe, Gavin, and Paris,” he gushed. “Then maybe Ashley and Heather? Though I’m not sure if Heather would want to lose Spring Break for something like this,” he bit the inside of his cheek. Which would open up a spot for M..

Monica and Daniel exchanged another glance, this time a rueful one. “Sweetie,” Monica said with a sympathetic smile. “I’m really sorry, but I don’t think Chloe and Paris will be able to join you. The McRoses are planning on making a trip to Mountain Falls over Spring Break to visit Roy’s parents, and Louise told me yesterday that she and George will be taking the kids to Quartz City to visit Gregory’s family.”

“Oh,” Zack’s expression fell as he became saddened over the news. Not having his best friend and favorite cousin sharing that experience with him would suck big time, but at least Gavin was available. Especially now that he was finally getting his other best friend to let loose a bit more. A summer camp with girls roaming around might be just what the doctor ordered if he managed to convince Gavin into joining him. “That’s fine,” he chuckled. “Guess I’ll just have to talk Gavin into going.”

Daniel put down his phone, he wanted to tell Zack to choose his team wisely as the Hardaways said in the letter, but he couldn’t begrudge his son wishing to take his friends. That was what he did and they ended up winning. Nothing is impossible, he thought and then turned to his wife, covering her hand with his. “You know what? This deserves a celebration, call our neighbors.”

Monica smiled widely. “Oh, but Malcolm will be thrilled to know Zack got in too!” She said, referring to her younger brother who loved mysteries. Unfortunately, much like Taylor, he was a year younger than needed when the time came for the second edition eighteen years ago.

“You guys don’t need to do that,” Zack weakly said, getting embarrassed by such a reaction from his parents.

“We don’t, but we want to,” Daniel replied, noding with a big smile. “C’mon, you can ask Gavin when he and Diane get here.”

Zack stared at the two overly content adults and let out an amused chuckle. “Alright, then,” he stood up and gathered the envelope. “I’m gonna go get ready.”

Monica smiled at her son’s happiness as he went back to his room, and then turned to her husband, a naughty grin on her face. “You have any idea how horny you get me when you talk about your sleuthing days?” She purred, reaching over to his groin.

Daniel choked at the suddenness of her move, but then smirked and placed a hand on top of hers, grabbing it. “C’mon, Mon, we can have some fun while you call everyone,” he proposed, thoroughly enjoying the squeals that escaped his wife’s lips as he pulled her upstairs with him.

---

The next day, at school…

"Jeez, I thought you got better on this!"

"I did, but you're asking me to sit near the hottest girl in this school and pretend I’m not freaking out! I’m not ready for Nightmare mode yet!”

Zack rolled his eyes and chuckled. "You'll be fine, c'mon!" He told his best male friend, nearly dragging him to the cafeteria.

Gavin Westher groaned in anxiousness. A tall, lanky boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes, he adjusted his glasses as his friend nearly made him tumble to the floor. "Watch out, dammit!" For nearly all his life, Gavin had been basically afraid of talking to girls other than his close friends and relatives, but with Zack and the rest of the Study Group's help, he had been slowly getting better at it that year.

"Then walk straight," Zack whispered as they approached the table that was already occupied by two gorgeous girls.

Every Monday, Zack had lunch with his cousin, Heather Ravers, instead of his usual friends. That had started pretty early in the year when Heather approached him to try and think of a plan to mend the fences between their fathers. They had hit it off, and nearly eight months later, Zack couldn’t imagine his life without her. Being popular, and the captain of the cheer squad, Heather had given him invaluable advice on how to carry himself with more confidence, while he taught her to be more tolerant with people.

“Hey,” he smiled at the brunette beauty, her alabaster skin and electric-blue eyes dazzling both him and his companion. Heather truly was the supreme beauty of Azure Rocks High School, though there was close competition in his opinion. “I see you brought a friend. Hi, Ash.”

“Well, you told me to,” Heather replied, rolling her eyes and smirking as she noticed Gavin was struggling not to stare at the deep cleavage created by her blouse. “My eyes are up here, Gavin.”

Gavin’s eyes widened and he yelped when Zack discreetly kicked his left foot under the table.

“Ignore her,” Ashley Woodsen said with a smile. “Hi, Zack. Hello, Gav,” she greeted in her usual sweet tone.

A petite, slender blonde with crystal-blue eyes, Ashley was in the cheer squad with Heather, but beyond that, she had been friends with Zack nearly all his life, their mothers and older sisters also being close friends. However, during the course of middle school, they had drifted apart a little due to different interests, and only got back to the same level of friendship that year after Zack befriended Heather.

“So, is there any reason you called for this get-together?” Heather casually inquired. Normally, none of their friends joined them on those Monday lunches, so it kind of surprised her when Zack texted her to bring Ashley, and it made her even more intrigued to see Gavin following her cousin as he arrived.

“What? Can’t I just want to hang out with my cousin and old friends?” Zack couldn’t help but throw a little joke into the conversation.

“You’re predictable, dear cousin, you rarely go off the road,” the brunette smirked at him and leaned on the table, giving both boys a view of her large breasts squished together. “So, spill it.”

“Well, I gotta say I’m really curious too,” Ashley admitted, her smile still a bit dampened by recent events. Zack couldn’t say he blamed her, if he had to be honest.

Zachary exchanged a brief look with Gavin and took a deep breath. “Alright, you guys know about the Young Sleuths Challenge, right?”

“The what?” Heather asked with an amused look as she sipped from a straw.

“The Young Sleuths Challenge,” he repeated with an annoyed eye-roll.

Ashley squinted her eyes, a contemplative expression on her cute face. “I think I’ve heard Hannah talking about something like that a long time ago,” she said, tapping her chin with a finger. “Wasn’t it that thing Peter wanted to get in, but it wasn’t the right year or something?”

“Yes! Thanks, Ash. Peter and my sister wanted to get in, but the competition wasn’t held in the years they were eligible,” Zack explained and earned a pleased smile from the blonde cheerleader. “It’s a mystery competition, basically. An organization called Shrouded Veil picks a number of teams from different cities and towns, six high school seniors or college freshmen, and sends them to a remote location for a week to solve staged mysteries based on local legends or stories that would make sense on that place.”

Heather slowly nodded, she had never heard about anything even remotely similar to that. “So, someone sends a bunch of people on a tourist trip and they have to solve some riddles?”

Zack chuckled at the way she put it. “In very broader terms, yeah.”

His cousin just stared at him for a moment and then shook her head with a grin. “Sounds crazy, Zack.”

“Why did you bring it up?” Ashley asked, sensing there was more to it.

“Well,” Zack awkwardly reached back to scratch at the back of his head. “I was wondering if you two wanted to be in my team.”

Ashley grinned at her old friend. “You got picked?”

“Yeah,” he enthusiastically nodded. “Taylor and Peter sent my application and I got a letter from Shrouded Veil yesterday. Definitely wasn’t expecting it.”

“So, you’re going on that thing and you want us to join you?” Heather asked, happy that her cousin got something he wanted, but unable to understand why he was inviting her.

“Basically, I think it’d be fun,” he said, hesitating a little at her reaction. “But…, it’s gonna be on Spring Break, so I understand if you guys don’t want to or already have other plans.”

“But, Zack, neither of us are that into mysteries and that sort of stuff,” Ashley told him, a small smile on her face. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re happy you got it and I’m touched you want me to go, but shouldn’t you be considering people that will actually help you with those riddles and puzzles?”

Zack smiled at the two girls. “You’d be right, Ash, if I was focused on winning,” he told them. “Of course, my father won the first edition twenty-one years ago and it’d be pretty sweet if I could repeat history, so to speak, but now that I got this, I found myself thinking…,” he made a pause, a thoughtful look crossing over his features. “What good would it be if I can’t share it with my friends and family? Plus, I think I’d be able to coordinate everything better since I trust all of you implicitly.”

Heather was about to beg off going, as giving up on her last Spring Break as a high school senior for what would certainly be a boring trip in her mind sounded too crazy to even consider. But Zack’s words touched her on a level she couldn’t explain. When she sought him at the start of the year to help with their fathers, she had done it because she grew up basically alone in a giant mansion. So, the idea of approaching her cousin and finally having some family to count on seemed really appealing to the girl who had many friends and still felt as lonely as ever. Even after discovering a long lost younger brother a few months ago, Zack still was really important to her. Listening to him inviting her like that and saying he trusted her, it sounded like the confirmation that she was right all along, and Heather struggled with herself to not shed tears at that moment.

“We’re going,” the Ravers heiress said with an air of finality that surprised the other three.

“We are?” A wide-eyed Ashley blurted out, as if she was seeing one of her best friends for the first time in her life.

“Yes, Ashley, we are,” Heather repeated. “You, especially, can use the distraction to get over the Orc.”

“Heather!” Ashley admonished her friend for name-calling her boyfriend out of reflex, but then she immediately recalled the events that led to Brandon Cole becoming her ex-boyfriend. “I mean, yeah, being away from the Orc would be pretty sweet, but still… Zack, Heather’s smart, I get it, but why me?”

“I told you, Ash, you all are my closest friends, I want you there to make me happier,” Zack reassured her, reaching across the table to briefly squeeze her hand. “That way I can really focus on the tasks.”

This time it was Ashley’s turn to almost burst into tears, and a stray one even escaped the corner of her left eye. “Okay, then,” she wiped off the tear and smiled widely at him, even blushing a little bit. “Thanks, I won’t disappoint you, never! It’s gonna be just like the hunts we did when we were kids, you’ll see it!”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Zack grinned at her, extremely happy for securing the presence of an old friend like Ashley on his team.

Heather genuinely smiled at the scene, she had wondered a few times if the possibility for those two to end up together existed in some way or form, but Ashley claimed she had a more appropriate candidate for Zack’s heart.

“Damn, Vicky would’ve loved to go on this, she really enjoys investigating,” Ashley said, letting out a brief laugh. “But she’s obsessed with the Scout, even told us not to include her in any Spring Break plans.”

Zack stiffly nodded at that. The now chief-editor of the school newspaper, Victoria Walker, had starred in his fantasies as his crush for the better part of his high school career, but nothing ever happened because he had always been too scared to make a move. That year, though, entering the Study Group had opened up a whole new world of possibilities for him that eventually erased that crush from his mind. After losing his virginity to Scarlett Soren, the school’s rockstar, right at the beginning of the year, Zachary had acquired a bit more experience with a few other girls around the school, such as Tanya Jones, one of his cousin’s cheerleaders, and Wendy Lloyd, the resident goth girl. He had even fooled around with Chloe a bit, being responsible for his best friend’s deflowering earlier in the year.

“So, it’s gonna be the four of us, plus Chloe and Paris in this trip?” Heather queried with a raised eyebrow.

“Uhn…, no,” to her surprise, it was Gavin who answered, for the first time since they sat down. “Chloe and Paris can’t go with us.”

“Oh, so you’re still missing two?” Ashley asked, a sudden interest in her voice. “Do you know who you’re asking yet?”

“Well, I might have an idea about one of them,” Zack responded. “I was thinking about asking Madison if she wants to come. She’s in the drama club, might be able to pick up stuff we don’t when talking to suspects or something like that, I dunno. What do you think?”

“Oh, she’s perfect! She’s always talking about books, novels, and stuff like that!” Ashley gushed, nearly clapping her hands in excitement at her friend’s decision. “She’s exactly the one I was gonna suggest.”

“Either way, here she comes,” Heather said and then raised her arm to wave at her fellow cheerleader. “Hey, Maddie! Over here!”

A tall, beautiful girl with flowing dark brown hair turned on her heels at her name being called, a cute smile lighting up Madison Cole’s face as she walked over. “Hi, guys!” She greeted, a glint on her hazel eyes. “What’s up?”

“Zack has something he wants to ask you,” Heather said with a smirk.

Her heart started beating harder, even after hanging out with him all year at the Study Group, she wasn’t able to get over her crush on the blue-eyed boy. If anything, it seemed to be have grown even bigger. “Oh, really?” She pushed a strand of dark hair behind an ear and turned to him. “Is it about the next Study Group meeting?”

Zack gave her a nervous smile. Being old friends that drifted apart and reunited later in life much like Ashley, he was thoroughly enjoying hanging out with Madison that year. It was like she knew what he was thinking every time and all the ways to make him laugh with her jokes. She was insanely gorgeous too, just another one of the facts that had been nagging at his mind to try and ask her out on a date, just to see where things went. Previously a girl that had been basically unattainable for each and every boy in the school, the recent change in her home situation opened up that possibility.

“Uhn, you know about the Young Sleuths Challenge?” He asked, figuring it was best to start that way, and if she did, he wouldn’t have to explain everything. She didn’t disappoint.

“If I know about the challenge?” Madison let out an amused chuckle. “Hell, I’ve sent them an application! What about it?”

Zack grinned. “Well, turns out that someone sent an application for me and I got in. I was wondering if you…”

“Yes! Fucking hell yeah!” She blurted out, interrupting him and launching herself over him into a tight hug, her medium-sized breasts pushing against his chest and making Zack get quite excited down south. “Of course I want to! Thank you!”

“Well,” Heather turned to Ashley with a smirk. “Guess we shouldn’t even ask if she’s allowed anymore.”

“Definitely,” Ashley replied, watching the pair with rapt attention. “Not even Brand…, I mean, the Orc, can hold her back now.”

Ever since middle school, right around the time she started growing up, Madison had been forbidden by her father of being around boys, and he even put her twin brother, Brandon, as her guard at school to prevent that from happening. That was what kind of ended her friendship with Zack back then. Eventually, she even needed therapy to deal with the anger issues that surfaced from basically being a prisoner of the men in her life. If it wasn’t for her mother being her only ally, Madison wasn’t sure if she would be able to endure all those years.

About three months ago, though, everything changed. Her mother had enough of her husband’s behavior around the house and how he treated their daughter. She divorced his ass and took Madison to live with her, effectively ending the reign of terror that was her daughter's life in a swift move. As a result of that, Madison felt way happier nowadays, and it showed in how she carried herself and smiled a lot more lately.

It hadn’t been all roses, though. Brandon felt lost at all the sudden changes in his life and became even more of a jerk, culminating in Ashley dumping him after a particularly nasty tirade he unleashed on her when she found out he had cheated on her with Amanda Marion. The blonde stared at her ex-boyfriend across the cafeteria and dared him to make a scene, with Heather reinforcing the silent warning.

I’m gonna ruin that piece of shit if he says even one word. C’mon, make my day, Cole, the brunette vowed, but the quarterback just turned away in the end.

Madison pulled back and cleared her throat, kind of embarrassed at such a public display. “Uhn, I mean, yeah, I… of course I’ll join your team, Zack,” she said, giving him a cute, blushing smile. “Can’t let my study buddy face all those challenges without me, can I?”

Zack chuckled, he had really enjoyed the feeling of her slender, fit body pressed up against him. “I suppose you can’t, but I’m really happy you’re on board, Madison. I really am.”

Her grin got even wider at his response, and she **** herself to turn to the others at the table. “So, who are your six?”

Gavin made a swirling motion with his index finger, indicating their table, and she had to laugh at that. Heather also grinned at the geeky guy, amused by his antics.

“Alright, all five of us,” she nodded, acknowledging the information. “Oh, that means you’re missing one! Who are you thinking about?”

“Honestly, I’ve got no idea now,” Zack admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“Okay, who are you not taking?” Madison asked next. She had a very good idea about a final member, but she wanted to know what kind of people Zack was considering.

“Well, Chloe, Paris, and Clark will be out of town, Kevin and the boys will be busy with basketball, Victoria has the Scout, which I suppose eliminates Alice and Virgil too,” Zack made a show of counting on his fingers.

Madison gave him a pleased grin, he wasn’t picky about the kind of member he was looking for. “Right, hear me out,” she said. “Grace has one hell of a mind, she can file away info and clues like a computer. Ms. Moreau told me that Veil sometimes has contestants doing more than one case at a time, so we’ll probably need someone like Grace.”

“Wait a sec, Ms. Moreau was a contestant too?” Zack asked in surprise, completely ignoring the first half of her sentence and missing the frown on Heather and Gavin’s faces at the mention of Grace. That made her the third person he knew to have participated in a previous edition of the Young Sleuths Challenge.

“Yep,” Madison nodded, popping out the last sound. “She competed for Emerald Shores twelve years ago, helped with my application. Oh, she’ll be thrilled to know you got in, Zack!” Ms. Moreau was their Literature teacher, and easily everyone’s favorite in the school.

“Well, Maddie,” Heather said. “Back to Grace, I don’t think we’ll need her. We already have Westher here for all those human computer duties.”

Gavin sharply turned to her. “I’m not…, well, okay,” he ended up conceding. He wasn’t keen on having Grace on the team too, and most of all, he didn’t want to say no to Heather. She rewarded him with another grin for being on her side.

“Well,” Madison smugly crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Do we have a better option?”

“Guess not,” Ashley chuckled. On her end, she didn’t mind Grace on the team. She was Victoria’s second cousin, but they’ve never been too close. It was a chance to get to know her, as she hadn’t been to many meetings of that Study Group of theirs.

“Grace, huh?” Zack mumbled. After spending some time with the girl on their Study Group meetings, he supposed their relationship was a lot better now, as opposed to how frosty it was until that year. She simply hated all things Ravers and lumped him into that package without properly knowing him. It was a matter of family rivalries that he never felt like getting into. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have another person like her in the team. Think she’ll be up to it?”

“She doesn’t like getting out much, but we’ll convince her,” Madison enthusiastically responded as she pulled out her phone and motioned for everyone to stand up. “She’s in the computer lab right now. C’mon, I’ll text her to let her know we’re going.”

“Wait! We’re going now?” Heather blurted out. She really wasn’t keen on dealing with Grace Smith during her lunch time.

“Might as well take care of it now,” Madison shrugged and then looked at Zack. “Unless you wanna wait on this one. You’re team leader, it’s your call.”

“No, let’s go, the sooner, the better,” Zack firmly said. The prospect of wrapping up his team sounded too good for him to pass on the opportunity.

“Great, I’ll text Ms. Moreau to meet us there too if she can,” the tall brunette gushed, already busy on her phone once more. “Shit, can’t wait to tell her a team from Azure Rocks is in the Challenge!”

"And I guess we're off to see the Smith," Heather rolled her eyes, causing Ashley to giggle at her friend's discomfort.

Zack smiled at that as the others began gathering their stuff. Seeing that happy grin on Madison’s face was like an infectious feeling, and he unconsciously found himself thinking of ways he could use to see it more often on her as they headed for the computer lab.

---

"Bishop," Grace Smith nodded once the group began stepping into the computer lab, one by one.

"Grace," Zack returned the gesture. At least she used his correct last name after so many Study Group meetings. Back at the start of the year, it was usually 'Ravers' followed by either a scoff or a sneer.

He watched her repeat the gesture with the others, using a warmer greeting for Madison, who was her old friend, but completely ignoring Heather. It pissed off the haughty brunette, but Ashley managed to stop her from starting something that could only result in an argument.

"Gavin, go finish what we started in the last club meeting, you've got time now," Grace told the bespectacled boy, who knew better than to argue and begrudgingly headed for the nearest computer. Zack knew his old friend kind of feared Grace, and right there he saw a potential problem with Heather that could arise if both girls tried to be bossy at the competition.

"So, what's this about that I had to interrupt my lunch?" She asked Madison.

Madison rolled her eyes. "Please don't be a bitch, we both know you're not really like this."

Grace's eyes briefly widened at the accusation, and then she scoffed, conceding the point. "Fine," she turned to Zack. "Maddie said you might need my help with something. Well, what is it?"

Zack stared into her emerald-green eyes, the same eyes that her cousin, his old crush, also possessed. Despite her sometimes difficult attitude, he had always found her quite beautiful, with long, slightly wavy blonde hair framing that face, and a petite, yet surprisingly curvy, frame on her body. Once someone got past that frosty demeanor, she was quite fun to be around, though she rarely showed that side even in the Study Group meetings.

“Okay,” he snapped out of it. “Have you, by chance, heard of the Shrouded Veil and the Young Sleuths Challenge?”

Grace slowly nodded. “Hmm, I heard a few things about them and that mystery competition of theirs. Isn’t really my thing, so I never got deeper into it. Why?”

“Uhn…,” Zachary hesitated, Grace always had this way of making him think he had to please her to avoid her snapping at him. “My sister got me an application and I need to select a team of six. I’m in need of a sixth member and I’d like it to be you, Grace. What do you say?”

The blonde stared into his icy-blue eyes for a moment, begrudgingly recalling that a big part of why she warmed up to him was that, besides the fact he proved to be incredibly capable, was that she couldn’t get over how handsome the Bishop boy was. He had even won that silly ‘Mr. Handsome’ trophy in the beginning of the year, voted as the hottest guy in their class by the senior girls of Azure Rocks High. Still, she knew how to separate things.

“Well, like I said, it’s not really my thing,” she finally said, shrugging her shoulders. “I get curious at times, but that’s the extent of it.”

“Oh,” Zack’s own shoulders sagged, surprised at how disappointed he felt at her decision. Heather discreetly smirked at the back, while Gavin had to hide the smile that formed on his lips behind the computer he had just booted on.

“Dammit, Gracie!” Madison narrowed her eyes and planted herself in front of her friend’s chair, hands going to her hips. “You’re really gonna do this to me, your dear old friend? I promise we’ll do most of the heavy lifting, you won’t even need to walk around much, so please, think again! We need you, Grace!”

Heather scoffed at the back and Ashley gave her friend an admonishing glance. That attitude definitely wouldn’t help Zack lock the final member of their team.

Grace and Madison entered a staring contest that seemed to go on forever. The Smith girl really didn’t want to spend days walking around in the nature chasing clues, plus, she was pretty sure they would be going to a place with no internet connection, which was bound to make her crawl up the walls rather soon into the trip. Still, she also didn’t like the idea that one of her closest friends would think she couldn’t count on her. Plus, the puppy-dog look on Bishop’s face almost made her grit her teeth.

“Frack…,” she rubbed at her temples, trying to make a decision. “When will this contest take place?”

“Uhn, Spring Break week next month,” Zack told her. “It might go on for a couple more days, though, I’m not really sure.”

The green-eyed blonde nodded, the gears in her mind fast at work. She had some hacking gigs to complete until that week as her online persona, Keystroke, but she couldn’t exactly tell them that, even Madison. However, Grace figured that, if she got started on those tonight, then maybe she would be able to finish it before Spring Break.

“Okay,” she finally conceded, staring at Zack and Madison in turn. “Now, I’m not saying yes just yet. I need to confirm a few things first, but let’s say I’m in.”

“Yes! Thank you, Gracie!” Madison launched herself over her friend for a hug. Ashley smiled at the back as Heather frowned at the decision.

“Thanks, Grace, I really appreciate it,” Zack smiled at her, which almost made the blonde blush as she released Madison. For some reason, he felt really happy about her answer and looked forward to their next debates, perhaps over a bonfire at the camp. “I gotta send them a reply with my full team until this Sunday, though. Can you confirm by then?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I believe so,” she said. “On one condition, though, you all better not screw up, you hear me? If I’m gonna join this team, we’re going there to fracking win it.”

Heather snorted. “Worry about yourself, Smith.”

“I better not catch you scooping up boys there and slowing us down, Ravers,” Grace retorted, though there was a tiny grin on her face. Somehow, that idea made Gavin frown on his seat.

Before the argument could go any further, a soft knock on the open door put a stop to it, and a soft, compassionate voice addressed the teens. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Ms. Moreau! No, come in!” Madison gushed as Zack also grinned widely. The others smiled as well, as the teacher was pretty much loved by almost everyone in the school.

A slender, petite thirty-year-old woman stepped into the computer lab. Mary Moreau was simply everyone’s favorite teacher. She had taken over the Literature class at the beginning of the previous year and instantly turned it into a hit. The way she understood and treated her students, alongside her youthful and sweet nature, ensured she was loved by boys and girls equally. Her long, wavy auburn hair was up in a bun over her head as always, and her crystal-blue eyes peered at her pupils as she smiled at them. Wearing a short-sleeved, button-up white blouse and a dark-gray pencil skirt, her high heels clicked on the floor as she moved closer to them. Ms. Moreau had a slender, yet slightly curvy, figure, and naturally, almost the entire male population in the school dreamed about what it would be like to have a night with her, to enjoy the delights of her natural beauty and the body she usually kept covered behind her professional clothes.

“Zack Bishop, I’m kind of disappointed in you,” she finally said, regarding the young man that probably was her favorite student, something that she could never admit out loud. “Why haven’t I heard that you sent an application for the Young Sleuths Challenge?”

“Well, Ms. Moreau,” Zack grinned in return. “I had no idea you were a past competitor as well.”

“Touché,” the teacher’s smile grew and she stepped forward to embrace her pupil. “Congratulations, it’s going to be a wonderful experience for all of you.”

Zack was surprised by the hug, but he enjoyed the hell out of it, his teacher crush felt amazing in his arms. Her soft, warm body next to his as his hands splayed on her back, the flowery scent on her hair as her medium-sized breasts pressed against his chest. At last, teacher and student broke the embrace and she just smiled proudly at him, blue eyes locking on his. He got a strong, yet quick, urge to lean in and kiss her, but held himself back, that action would have brought an inordinate amount of trouble to both of them.

“Full disclosure, it was my sister and her best friend who sent my application,” Zack explained, his tone a bit shaken. “My letter arriving yesterday was the first I heard of it.”

“You have a wonderful sister, I must meet Taylor Bishop and Peter Zander someday. Yes, I’ve heard of them both,” Mary explained before her gaze did a quick scan of the room and smiled approvingly at the varying personalities and different types of sharp minds. “I assume this is your team?”

“You assumed correctly,” Heather was the one who replied, smirking at the teacher. “Tell us what happened when you were there, Ms. Moreau! We’re dying to know!”

“Yes, please,” Grace nodded in interest. “I wanna know what to expect.”

“Oh, well, how can I put this,” Mary took a deep breath while pulling up a chair for her to sit. “As a past competitor, I’m kind of honor-bound to not disclose too many details.”

Zack let out a chuckle. “Yeah, my father and former babysitter didn’t want to say too much either. They claimed it ruins the surprise.”

“And they’re right,” Mary said, only now making the connection in her mind between Zachary and the first winner, Daniel Bishop. “Although, I’m not sure I like the idea of you all going in completely blind, so, ask me a few questions and I'll see if I can answer them.”

“We won’t have to sleep outside with the bugs, will we?” Grace asked, her tone betraying some of the panic she was feeling.

“I kinda wanna know about that too,” Gavin agreed.

They were surprised to see Mary shuddering and then letting out a small laugh. “Oh, we stayed at this rundown hotel next to the amusement park we were working on. God, it was almost falling all over us, we were constantly looking at the ceiling and jumping at the smallest creaking noise,” she laughed again. “Where will you go this year?”

“Wicket Valley, in Wyoming,” Zack answered, seeing he had the attention of everyone else, as he had only told Gavin about it. “It’s a valley with a summer camp. Maybe they have cabins in it, but if not, we’ll probably have to sleep in tents. They did tell us to pack some camping gear.”

“Frack…,” Grace groaned, her head falling forward as she looked down at the floor. She was already having second thoughts about joining.

“No problem for me,” Heather gloated. “I’ve gone camping plenty of times before,” she nudged Ashley with her elbow, and the blonde nodded.

“Yeah, when we were kids,” she clarified. “It’s been years since we went camping.”

“Well, hopefully, there’ll be cabins we can use,” Gavin said, being the optimistic one for once.

“What kind of challenges they’ll have us do, Ms. Moreau?” An hyperactive Madison inquired. “Oh, I hope they have us solving a crime!”

The teacher only gave her pupil a small smirk. “That I can’t tell you, it would be seen as helping,” she said. “But expect multiple cases to work on, as I told Madison when she did her application. It probably won’t be just a big one for the week.”

“At least this is not just a big scam to kidnap kids,” Grace commented. “If we didn’t have you or Bishop’s father as examples of someone who’ve been there, I’d probably have tried to knock some sense into his head by now.”

“I’d have… joined you on that, actually,” Heather added, reluctantly agreeing with the blonde for once.

“Haha, very funny,” Zack sarcastically retorted. “Well, I guess the only thing left is to choose a team name.”

“There’s that too?” Ashley asked, already thinking about possibilities.

That made Mary laugh hard again. “Oh, yeah, the Hardaways expect all teams to have a name. We were the Emerald Sirens, an all-female team,” she chuckled. “Before any of you ask, we finished third. Our leader just didn’t pick the team right,” a look of reminiscence came over her beautiful features before she shrugged. “It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. The girl who won was just a beast when it came to mysteries.”

“We’ll win it for you, Ms. Moreau. I promise,” Zack blurted out, he didn’t know what possessed him to go and say that. It was worth, though, going by the gorgeous smile on the auburn-haired woman’s face.

“Well,” Ashley picked up on her old friend’s blunder and interrupted the moment, wanting to save him from the embarrassment. “The school’s mascot is a knight, so, should we go with that?”

“The Azure Blades?” Gavin proudly suggested.

Grace groaned. “Sounds too violent, try another one.”

“Azure Knights?” Ashley went with her original idea.

“Too on the nose, Ash,” Heather grinned.

Zack shrugged. “Maybe a variation on the knight-theme without sounding too aggressive,” he theorized. “Azure Lords?”

“We’re not all lords, though,” Madison smirked. “There are more ladies on the team, actually.”

“Hmm,” Heather tapped her right index finger on her chin, a thoughtful look on her face. “How about, ‘The Azure Nobles’?”

“I actually like that,” Grace reluctantly nodded.

“Very glamorous, I love it too,” Madison agreed, and Ashley nodded her acceptance as well. As for Gavin, he just shrugged, but secretly enjoyed the suggestion of being a noble.

Zack exchanged a look with Mary and she just grinned, leaving the decision to him, as he was the team leader. “Azure Nobles it is, then. Thanks, Heather,” he smirked at his cousin, who just mockingly bowed at him and the others. “You know what? I rather like that name too.”