CHAPTER III - Checking Up On The Others

A pair of hazel orbs observed the quartet from afar, causing the young woman to let out a frustrated sigh. With her long dark-brown hair up in a bun, Madison Cole looked stunning, to sum it up in just one word. Much to her chagrin, though, the guy she wanted to be noticed by was currently escorting not just his girlfriend, but two other dates to this ball, or party, whatever. Wearing a blue dress that wasn’t too provocative (her brother insisted), only the top of her medium-sized cleavage was visible, and the fabric went all the way down to her ankles, her heeled feet peeking out from underneath it. Still, her fit curves were hard to hide, the dress being just the right kind of snug to make her feel sexy without showing too much skin. The round ass pushing up behind her frame as she slightly leaned over the table was enough proof of that.

She wanted to **** Lisa Rivera, her former friend. Not that she had ever advertised the fact that she had a crush on Zack, but if Paris noticed it, Lisa should have paid attention to how Maddie always acted around the Ravers scion. But then again, Paris always had something of a freakish sixth-sense when it came to her cousin. She knew they were pushing for Alice to take Lisa’s place, and Madison cursed herself for not being more proactive, courtesy of the oppression her father had submitted her to ever since she became a teenager.

“If it makes you feel any better…,” a familiar male voice spoke from her left side. “He’d be one I’d fight Dad to let you date.”

“Thanks, Bran…,” the brunette emotionlessly replied.

Brandon Cole sighed, the well-built black-haired boy placed a comforting hand on his twin sister’s shoulder and squeezed before pulling it back as he took position next to her. The school quarterback was well aware that he could be the cause of her frustration sometimes, but unlike their father, he had a very small group of friends that he would love to see her with, if it meant putting a smile on her pretty face. Zack was the first name on that list, and even if he made Maddie suffer, Brandon couldn’t blame the guy for not knowing about his sister’s feelings if she didn’t exactly display it openly.

“Just remember why we’re here tonight,” he softly told her. “You’re one hell of an actress, Maddie, we might need you before the night’s over.”

Madison cocked her head to the side and turned to her brother with an inquisitive look on her features. “What’d you say if I needed to sweet-talk a guy to get us closer to the tape?”

“I’d say let one of the others do it,” Brandon promptly replied, nervously fidgeting with the bowtie that completed the look of his black tuxedo.

“You said it yourself, I’m the actress,” Madison argued, the years on the drama club, both in middle and high school ensured that. “I might end up being the last resort.”

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, okay?” He responded in a firmer tone than he would have normally used. Besides, the high school athlete had noticed the hungry stares Madison was getting from men ever since they entered the ballroom and he was hating every second of it. A menacing growl when one of those men realized they could be related and seemingly tried to approach their table caused an angry groan to come from his sister.

“Ugh! Can you freaking stop that!” The female twin angrily whispered at him. “Those guys won’t come near me as long as you’re here.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel any better?” He replied, suddenly alarmed. “Now I can’t even go to the bathroom without worrying someone will snatch you up!”

“Not so loud, dammit!” Madison warned through gritted teeth. “And just listen to what you’ve said. This is a fancy ball, I highly doubt someone will walk up here and drag me kicking and screaming!”

Brandon let out a sigh, feeling the familiar beginnings of a migraine coming up. “Look, I have an idea,” he said, one that in his mind would be the solution to a lot of their problems. “Why don’t you go join the girls as another one of Zack’s dates? It’ll only play up his cover as this huge playboy and you’ll be safer with a date that doesn’t look like your brother.”

Madison opened her mouth and closed it again, the suggestion catching her off-guard. “Bran, we’ve decided our roles,” she replied in a half-hearted tone, and yet unable to deny her interest. “No…, I can’t just throw a wrench in it all of a sudden!”

“Maddie, as we’ve already established, you’re the best damn actress I know, you’ll sell it better than any of the other three,” he reached over to squeeze her hand encouragingly. “Besides, we prolly have enough people on the floor, anyway.”

She bit her bottom lip, flattered by her brother’s trust in her and now seriously tempted to go chase her dream guy. “But… what will you even do if I go?”

The school quarterback just shrugged with an easy smile on his face. “Guess I can go join our friends playing security guards,” he looked down at himself. “My suit’s not that fancy, I’ll probably blend in really well. What do you think?”

His sister giggled. “You’ll be a dashing bodyguard,” she responded. “Okay, you’ve convinced me,” she looked down at herself as well and tried to smooth wrinkles on her dress that existed only in her mind. “Don’t do anything reckless, you hear me?”

“Right back at you, Maddie,” he let out a chuckle, and after squeezing each other’s hands one more time, he observed as his esteemed twin went out in the direction Zack and the other girls had taken. “Zack, you better take good care of her, dude,” Brandon whispered before setting out to look for his good friend Trent.

Of course, the young man was blissfully unaware of just who he was going to see in that exact same ballroom. The last person he expected to be there that night. Not only one, but two huge surprises.

Outside the Windgrad Hotel, in one of the more deserted side streets, a large van had been parked as inconspicuously as possible. With all the attention on the event and the building itself, very few people gave it a second thought as they passed by the vehicle. The driver and passenger’s seats were empty, as the true purpose for that van being there was currently happening in the back. Where the real magic took place, as some people would say.

A pretty blonde girl had her sights fixed on a group of screens as she busily typed on a keyboard. Her clear-green eyes were almost unblinking as she lightly bit on her plump bottom lip in concentration. She found that complete focus helped a bit in her attempt to ignore the stuffy heat in the van.

Frack! I definitely underestimated how warm it’d be tonight, Grace Smith mentally cursed herself for the decision to wear her white hoodie for their little ‘operation’.

She could always take it off, of course, but there was no way that hoodie would hit the floor in front of the person her friends had foolishly paired her with, not while wearing the old tanktop Grace had to borrow from her older sister before leaving their mansion. Focusing on the task at hand, she let her gaze shift from one screen to another, having managed to hack into the security cameras monitoring the hotel lobby and the ballroom. She needed the feed from the private conference rooms where the auction was going to take place, but those were linked to a different, more restricted system that had way better protection, so she had to find another way in, one that was to be provided by one of the other girls. One of the cheerleaders. Grace truly wanted to hope that the bimbo didn’t screw things up too badly, but she was not exactly a faithful person.

Logan Ravers reclined on the couch of the fully equipped surveillance van that Heather and Grace had managed to score for the night. Absentmindedly tossing a mini basketball from one hand to the other, the young scion had to fight himself very hard not to let boredom take over his mind. He was fully aware that showing his face at the event could be a mistake, had even been the one to point that out, but spending an entire night in the back of a van with someone that hated him for no reason wasn’t exactly how he dreamed his night could unfold. Being there, flirting with a beautiful woman, maybe even helping Sharon with her task, would be infinitely more interesting than his current predicament.

“So,” he risked speaking, training his eyes on the chair Grace was sitting, his gaze inevitably lowering to the lower hem of her hoodie, where a peek of her round, plump ass hugged by a tight pair of light-blue yoga pants could be seen. It was like she had no idea how fine it was, perhaps even up to Victoria Walker’s level. “We need Sharon to get into their IT room and plug in that flash drive?”

“Yes,” Grace replied in an unreadable tone after a moment to take a breath and not blow up at the interruption. “If she’s as badass as she claims to be, assuming whatever cosmic forces you might believe in align, and she doesn’t let anyone catch her in the act, then that’s exactly what we need.”

“She might surprise you, you know?” Logan remarked, spinning the ball on his right index finger. “Sharon’s sharper than many people give her credit for,” he added. Including herself.

The blonde rolled her eyes, not bothering to turn around and face her companion. “Huh, of course you’d defend your little girlfriend.”

“A, she’s not my girlfriend, just my best friend,” the Ravers boy held up a finger as he let go of the mini ball. “And while we’re at it, B, what in the fucking hell crawled up that butt of yours?”

“Typical,” Grace shot back, getting annoyed faster than she thought she would. “The Almighty Ravers can do no wrong,” she threw her hands up while swiveling around in her chair to face him, green eyes blazing. “How silly of me to put such a sacred word in doubt!”

Logan raised a confused eyebrow. Okay, he knew she hated him, but that wasn’t an usual hateful response, there was something personal there. “Hold on a sec, you’re gonna have to exp…”

“The frack? Shut up!” Grace abruptly interrupted him as she caught sight of something from the corner of her eye and immediately. “Who’s that guy Zack and the girls are following?”

Logan walked up behind her and his own eyes widened as he looked at the scene in the ballroom over the blonde’s shoulder. “Shit, I should’ve known that man was gonna show up tonight.”