by Ana Huang
She would just have to continue her “mission” later.
* * *
"God, I love the food on the first day of school," Venice said, taking a huge bite of her gourmet burger. She closed her eyes in gastronomic delight. "If I ate like this every day, I'd be 300 pounds by now."
"You do eat like this every day," I pointed out, unscrewing the cap of my Voss. Trust Valesca to even have fancy water.
"I'm not talking about the quality, I'm talking about the quantity," Venice explained. "Not that my mom would let me eat so much anyways." She rolled her eyes.
Venice's mom is a former model, and even though she had retired over a decade ago, she was still super conscious about her—and her daughter's—appearance.
"Oh." I took a sip of my water and glanced around the DC. It had been spruced up over the summer, and looked more like a high-end restaurant than a cafeteria. It was also noticeably lacking one component.
The Scions' table, the closest to the slanted glass wall overlooking the campus' lushly landscaped grounds, was empty.
Their lack of presence was obviously felt by everyone else in the DC. The girls looked glum they couldn't throw themselves at the four's feet and the guys looked both relieved and disappointed that their idols weren't here for comparison.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Venice leaned over the table excitedly, her gray eyes sparkling with excitement. "What are you doing this Saturday night?"
"Why?" I asked warily. Things never turned out well whenever she asked me that question with that look in her eyes.
"Just answer me," she insisted.
Definitely not a good sign. I was about to say I had promised my family I'd go to dinner with them when she added, "And don't bother using that tired old family dinner excuse. In case you've forgotten, you told me your dad's away on a business trip until next Monday."
Damn it! This is one of those moments when I definitely regret telling her so much. "I guess I'm not doing anything," I admitted grudgingly. I hadn't realized how hard it is to come up with a believable excuse on the spot until today.
"Good." Venice beamed. "Stan Hoffman's having a party at his house and you're coming with."
"What? No way!"
"Why not?" she pouted. "You already said you're not doing anything."
"Because…what if I have a lot of homework due or something?" I argued feebly. It sounded lame even to my ears.
Venice gave me a cross look. "Maya Lindberg, you are a healthy, 17-year-old teenage girl. You do not need to do homework on a Saturday night and miss the school year's first party!"
"But the Scions might be there," I pointed out a bit desperately. "Like you said, it's the first party, and they're bound to be there."
"Uh…not really. They're super picky about which parties they get seen at, remember? They're probably not even going to be there, sadly."
Ok, so truthfully, it's not just about the Scions. I just don't like parties. Don't get me wrong, I'm not morally opposed to them or anything, but I've been to a few last year and they just seemed to consist of people getting drunk and hooking up with each other so others will gossip about them the next day. Not exactly my idea of a good time.
"Pleeeease?" Venice begged.
I shook my head stubbornly.
"Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"
When I steadfastly refused to reply, she let out an exaggerated sigh and leaned back in her chair. "Fine. But then I'd have to go alone, and if I end up getting so drunk I have sex with some random guy and get knocked up you better become the godmother."
"Venice France!" I nearly shouted, the use of her full name not nearly as intimidating as I might like it to sound thanks to the sheer silliness of it. "Don't even joke about stuff like that! Haven't you ever seen 16 & Pregnant?"
She shrugged. "Technically, I'm 17. Besides, who knows? Things like this happen…"
"How about if you don't go instead?" I gave it one last shot.
"Do I really have to answer that?"
I scowled. Even though I knew the chances of Venice drunkenly hooking up with a stranger were slim to none—the girl couldn't even stand the smell of beer, much less drink it—I still didn't want her going to Stan's party alone. The football player was a renowned womanizer, second only after Parker, and his parties seemed more like giant orgies than actual parties. "You should be glad I'm such a good friend," I groused.
Venice smiled cheekily. "Oh, cheer up, Grumpy," she said cheerfully. "It'll be fun. I promise."
* * *
Carlo deftly dribbled the ball around Zack and passed it quickly to Roman, who managed to break through Parker's formidable defense to slam-dunk the ball into the net, breaking the 80-80 tie.
"Whoo!" Carlo gave his partner a high-five, grinning as they continued their consecutive winning streak.
"Man, you guys always win," Zack complained good-naturedly, pulling up the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face and revealing a chiseled six-pack that bore no hint of the thousands of calories he shoveled into his mouth every day.
"Sorry, man, we can't help being better than you," Carlo joked, draping a friendly arm around Zack's shoulders.
"Uh, you are not better than us."
"I think our record more than speaks for itself."
"Hmm…yeah, you're right," Zack said thoughtfully. "Or not!" Abruptly turning, he grabbed Carlo in a head lock, laughing as his friend let out a surprised grunt.
However, it took Carlo only two seconds to recover, and he managed to extract himself from Zack's grip and pin him to the ground, wrestling-style, in even less time.
Parker burst out laughing at the look on Zack's face. "Come on, Perry, you know he's not a black belt for nothing."
"Yeah, yeah," Zack huffed, even though he was smiling. "Let's take it to the stage and see how you fare then."
"Hey, I never said music was my thing." Carlo shrugged. "Bit too sappy for me."
"Are you calling me sappy?" Zack asked suspiciously.
"You guys are ridiculous," Roman said, taking a swig of his Gatorade. "Why do I still hang out with you?"
"Because your life would be a boring wasteland without us?" Zack guessed.
"Because you would have to face all the people you offend without anyone to back you up," Carlo added.
"Aaand…" Parker paused dramatically. "Because you would just sit in your grand old mansion every day and not interact with the rest of society if we're not here to force you to do so."
Roman looked slightly affronted. "I would not," he snapped. "I'm a very sociable person."
His statement hung in the air for a moment, before Zack, Carlo, and Parker collapsed into fits of laughter.
"Haha…sociable person…that's a good one," Zack gasped.
Roman scowled. "I don't see what's so funny."
"Oh, I think he's serious," Carlo said, attempting a straight face and failing miserably.
"For someone who barely talks in school you sure have a lot to say when it's just us," Roman muttered. He glared at his friends.
"STOP LAUGHING!"
The other three Scions quieted down, but their mouths still twitched with amusement.
"Oh, come on, Rome," Parker cajoled. "You're not exactly the most social person on the planet and you know it. The only people you talk to is us."
"I talk to Adri," Roman pointed out.
"She doesn't count," Carlo countered. "She's practically one of us."
"Yeah, if Zack gets on our nerves too much, we can just sub her in," Parker suggested, earning himself a punch in the arm. "Ow! Watch it, these biceps are precious."
"Only to your ego." Zack stood up and brushed himself off. "Speaking of Adri, how're you feeling about that little…conversation between you guys earlier?" he asked Roman.
The head Scion shrugged. "She'll never manage it," he replied confidently. "Girls like that don't exist."
Parker shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. How can you be so opposed to girls when you hav
en't even really had a girlfriend?"
"I barely like most of them enough to hook up with them, much less date them." Roman picked the basketball up from the floor and spun it absentmindedly on one finger. "They're too manipulative and high-maintenance."
"So would you rather date members of the same sex?" Carlo asked innocently.
Parker and Zack hid their smiles while Roman glared at his Colombian friend. "I wish you're really as silent as you appear in school."
"Sorry, no can do." Carlo crossed his arms over his chest. "But back to the subject. What happens if Adri does find the right girl? Would you actually be truthful and say something if you had feelings for her?"
"It's not gonna happen."
"But what if?" Carlo persisted.
Roman exhaled sharply. "If that happens—and I'm telling you right now it won't—I'll be truthful. When have you ever known me to lie?"
"That's good news, or else I won't hear the end of it at home," Zack noted wryly. Suddenly, a loud ping sounded, and all four boys reached for their phones.
"It's me." Parker quickly scanned the new text. His lips curved into a smile. "Ok, gentlemen, it's been real, but I have some business I need to take care of," he announced, pocketing his phone. "Talk to you later." He slapped hands goodbye with the other three and with one last wave, exited the Fioris' indoor basketball court.
"I bet his 'business' has something to do with a certain hot little waitress he met today," Zack remarked.
They had ended up going to Il Serrano for lunch after all.
Carlo shook his head. "Always ditching us for the ladies. What happened to bros over ho's?"
"It went the way of the CD player," Zack replied, earning himself an odd look from his friends. "What? I thought that was clever! You know, cuz no one uses CD players anymore..." Blank stares. "Oh, forget it," he huffed. "I see my sense of humor is under appreciated here."
"Apparently." Roman smirked.
Another ping sounded; this time, it was Zack's phone.
I need ur help. Come home now.
-Adri
"Not even a please," Zack grumbled. "Sisters." That was what he got for popping out two minutes later than Adriana.
Hmm…maybe she'll appreciate his wittiness.
Then again, maybe not.
"You're leaving too?" Roman asked.
"Yeah, Adri needs my help with something," Zack replied.
"I bet it has something to do with her search," Carlo remarked helpfully.
"I don't want you guys planning anything behind my back," Roman warned. "Or else I'd think you want Adri to win."
"Of course not," Zack said, even though he secretly did. That was one of the few things he and Adriana agreed on: Roman seriously needed a girlfriend. Stat.
* * *
"Did you seriously spend your whole day looking at this thing?" Zack asked skeptically, flipping through the yearbook draft.
"Yes," Adriana answered somewhat defensively. She'd made a copy of the draft and given the original back to the DSA earlier. The copy she made had giant X's through the freshman and sophomore sections, as well as smaller X's through all the guys and upperclassmen girls who hadn't made the first cut.
"Gee, you're really serious about this whole challenge thing."
"Of course I am! Or else ten years from now everyone will be married and Roman will be by himself, miserable."
"Either that or he would have married some trophy wife and be perfectly content."
Adriana rolled her eyes. "Stop contradicting me and help me out with this," she ordered.
"It would be nice if you said 'please' every once in a while."
"Fine. Please."
"That wasn't very sincere."
"Do you want me to smack you?"
"Oooh, yeah, cuz that's going to hurt sooo—OW!" Zack yelped, rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, that's not fair! You have long nails!"
"Sue me. Are you going to help me or not?"
"Be very glad I'm such an amazing brother." Zack snatched the book from her hands.
Adriana smiled sweetly. "You know I love you."
"Yeah, yeah. Now what exactly is it you want me to do?"
"Wellll…although I like to think of myself as doing pretty well on the Valesca information front I've only still been at school for a day so I don't know that much about the people—"
"And you want me to cross out anyone who I think Roman won't like," Zack finished.
She beamed. "You really are the best brother ever."
"Don't get so happy yet," Zack said dryly, examining the page in front of him. "I don't know much about a lot of these girls, except—oh, definitely not her. Gold-digger to the max. And not her either." He lowered his voice. "I heard she went through seven plastic surgery procedures over the summer. Rome definitely won't like that, he prefers girls who are more natural. That's what he says anyway."
Adriana gave her brother a look. "For a guy, you're kind of gossipy."
"You're only just figuring this out?"
Eh. He had a point.
An hour later, the Perry siblings were collapsed on Adriana's bed, barely moving.
"Holy shit, I had no idea looking at pictures would be so tiring," Zack groaned. "I hate you for making me do this, Adri."
"Hey, Roman's your friend too, you know, and this'll be good for him." Adriana buried her face in her pillow. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a good person."
Zack snorted. "I think your wish came true a long time ago," he joked, earning himself a jab in his side. "Stop abusing me," he pouted. "It's not very nice."
"You weren't a lot of help," Adriana sighed, too tired to even be really annoyed. "You only crossed out six names!"
"Well, I'm not the girl expert in the group," Zack pointed out. "You should've asked Parker."
His sister sat up straight. "Oh yeah…you think he would be able to come over now?"
"I doubt it," Zack yawned. "I think he's with some girl."
Adriana made a face. "Right. Typical," she mumbled. "Well, I guess if I can't do this objectively, I would just have to get to know everyone better in person," she decided. "I heard there's a party this Saturday."
"You're talking about Stan Hoffman's party?"
"Yeah, I think that was his name. You know him?"
Zack shrugged. "Yeah. We have him run some errands for us sometimes. He throws pretty cool parties."
"Good." Newly energized, Adriana closed the yearbook and placed it in her bedside drawer. "Then we're going to that party."
"By we you mean…"
"Me, you, Parker, and Carlo, if he wants to come. I don't want Roman to know what I'm up to. Better surprise him with who the girl is so he doesn't have time to put his defenses up."
"I think it's just gonna be us and Parker. Carlo doesn't really care much for Stan's parties. Besides, we need someone to distract Roman."
"True," Adriana allowed. "You actually said something smart for once."
"Thanks," Zack said sarcastically.
"No prob," Adriana chirped, already looking forward to Saturday.
This was going to be fun.
CHAPTER 3
I heard it before I saw it: the deep, thumping bass of loud party music, which I could feel vibrating my seat even though we were halfway down the road.
"Oh, come on, move!" Venice grumbled, pressing down on her car horn. Hard. She narrowed her eyes at the line of cars snaking up the street, all waiting for their chance to park and party.
"I think this is a sign," I announced, running a hand nervously through my hair. It usually had a hint of wave to it, but Venice had flat-ironed it to sleek perfection earlier. "Maybe we're not supposed to be here tonight."
"No…Stan's parties are always like this," she answered distractedly, trying to maneuver around the Mercedes in front of us, to no avail. "It's the first party of the year! Of course there's going to be a lot of people."
"Great." I slumped down in my seat.
"Remember what you promised me e
arlier?" Venice asked pointedly. "You said you were going to keep an open mind and not be such a Debbie Downer."
"I know, I know." I sat up straighter. "You're right. Even though I despise the person throwing this party, don't know anyone else here, and completely disagree with the way things work in this town, that does not mean I can't have a good time!" I paused. "That came out a lot more sarcastic than I intended."
