graphic by oceanwaved

Mon,

You don't need to worry about me. I've already lost all I had to lose, and that was you.

Love Chlo

"Now that he's not lurking, want to do some shots?" Maddy offered once William was out of earshot.

"Sure," I said. Then I remembered William's advice the night before, and so I planted a sheepish smile on my lips. "You know, I'm really not used to drinking very much."

Maddy looked surprised, but her attention was temporarily occupied with reading the labels of several expensive spirit bottles which had been lining a nearby end table. Her ebony hair was smoothed back out of her face, and her cheekbones were contoured so sharply they could almost be weaponized.

"Well, tonight can be for special occasions," Maddy said perkily. I wondered if there were more to her words that celebratory drinking, but before I could process them a shot was pressed to my palm. "Drink up."

I did as told, and promised myself that from now I'd be more careful about my consumption. I needed to be tipsy to blend in, but letting my guard down around level one could be my downfall.

"Now, come downstairs with me for a moment, will you?" she asked before I'd had the chance to unscrew my nose from its expression of distaste.

I followed suite and we descended back down the ivory stairs. My gaze searched for William one last time before he'd be out of sight, but there were too many people to catch a glance. I wondered who he could be talking to. Would he speak to Lola tonight? Should I be worried about our image?

Maddy weaved through the drunken high schoolers as if it were a talent she'd long been practicing, her hand clenched tightly around mine. I recognized a few others from our school, all level twos mingling with people I'd never seen before – likely students from other private schools in the area.

We sifted through a hallway and into what looked like an oversized study. The room was filled with bookshelves and papers, all hoarded into messy piles and strewn over every surface. A computer on a desk took up a lot of the room, but there was still enough for a large sofa, which was where a handful of unfamiliar people were mingling.

Maddy seemed to recognize one of them. The music which had been amplified in the larger rooms was muted down here, so much so that I could hear each clink of her Jimmy Choos against the wooden floors, the conversations of the occupants now ceased. I had no idea what she was doing.

"Lola sent me," Maddy said, her eyes hooded as she took in the tall boy in front of her. He was dressed in dark clothing and his eyes were a frighteningly pale blue. The shimmer of a jewel hung in his lip.

"Great. Where does she want to do it?" he asked. His eyes swept from Maddy's eyes and down to her chest, before darting over to where I stood beside her. He smirked slightly, which made me irritated.

"Upstairs in ten. Your largest guest bedroom. Don't bring company," she said, her gaze flickering over at his companions who lounged nonchalantly at his sides.

"Whatever you want, babe," he said, his snide tone taking away any affection his words may have placed.

"He's such a creep," Maddy said as soon as we'd exited the study and were walking back down the hall.

"Who is he?" I asked. "And what are you doing with him?"

She laughed in a rather condescending way. "So naive, Chloe. He's Jonas, this is his party. We've got some... gifts to exchange."

I didn't say anything more, already sensing that I was in far too deep. Just as we were about to return upstairs, I felt a hand coil around my upper arm.

"Chloe!"

I spun to see Jack, his smile as white and bright as always. I tried to alter my distressed expression into something more welcoming, but I must have failed because instead concern washed over him. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded, perhaps a little too forcefully. "Yeah, sorry, hi! Fancy seeing you here."

He looked around. "It's a party! And you're into this kind of thing now, right?"

Beside me, Maddy shifted her weight in impatience. I shrugged in response.

"Where is your Prince Charming?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I said honestly, wracking my brain for a way to end the conversation. "Look, I'll see you around later, okay? I just have to do something."

"Oh, sure. Find me later!" he said. His face fell, but his smile was as wide as ever. He nodded to me and Maddy, and I didn't miss the starstruck gaze he seemed to maintain, the one everyone else wore around the level ones.

"Cute friend," Maddy noted as we climbed the stairs again. This time I was feeling a little woozy.

The party on the first floor was just as it had been before we left, the voices loud and the expensive drinks flowing. I needed to find out whatever secretive business Maddy and Lola were managing, because I had a good hunch that it could be imperative in taking them down. But, even so, I felt extremely uneasy about it.

We navigated towards where Lola and Sophie were standing by a large window, the dark night's sky framing the pale of Sophie's voluminous curls perfectly.

"You found him?" Lola asked sharply. All I could think about was her perfectly poised lips pressed against the fullness of Will's. I hoped it didn't show on my face.

"Yes," Maddy said. "You bitches better be grateful, everything Jonas said is bordering on sexual assault."

Just as I'd suspected, it appeared Maddy was doing their dirty work. Level one had an internal hierarchy of its own, and Maddy was almost certainly on the bottom. She might be a royal to the general population of our high school, but to the royals themselves, she was on the lower rung of the ladder. It made sense, considering she was secretly screwing their king.

Lola and Sophie didn't seem bothered by Maddy's discomfort. If Maddy was low, then I couldn't afford to be there too. I didn't quite know where I stood, but I didn't want to be in a place where I'd easily be knocked down, especially when I was still in my trial period.

The four of us cut through the large entertaining area and down the upstairs hallway. We passed several doors before opening one on the right and spilling through it and into a huge bedroom. The enormous bed in the center was draped in silk, every feature in the decor screamed luxury.

Once the door was shut behind us, I half expected them to tell me to leave. I almost wanted them to, which wouldn't benefit my agenda at all. But, they seemed to ignore my presence completely, choosing to pace through the room, lazily observing the furniture. Would it be me next time? Doing their dirty work?

Was this what they had Monica doing? She'd never tell me. She wanted me to think her time with level one was rosy.

The door opened after what seemed like an eternity. Sure enough, Jonas had come alone, armed only with his chilling grin.

"You got the stuff?" he asked, to nobody in particular.

Lola stepped forward, claiming the attention with a thoughtful pout. "You got the cash?"

"Of course," he said, and then he slipped his hand into the inside of his blazer and retrieved a wad of bills.

Lola didn't say anything. Her lips spread into a smile and she reached into her purse, retrieving a baggie of fine white powder.

No way.

Why on Earth would someone like Lola Davenport need to deal drugs? She was stupidly wealthy, a high achiever – dealing drugs could only be dangerous. But maybe that was just what she wanted. Danger.

I watched the exchange with wide eyes. If Lola was dealing drugs, then I had all the information I needed to wipe her away from Arlington for good. If her father saw her blemishing his reputation there would be no way she'd be allowed to stay here. She'd be sent away, probably to some uptight boarding school in the middle of nowhere, for rich kids who misbehaved.

But, if Lola regarded this endeavor as such a risk, there'd be no way she'd let someone like me witness it.

Or, maybe this was a threat of some kind. A message that I was already in too deep.

Jonas slipped the baggie into his pocket, giving Lola a wink. "You're always my favorite to do business with."

"So glad," Lola said, her tone flirtatious. "Nice party, by the way."

He gave her a grin which I was sure translated across more than I could see. "You girls be good in here. We just had this room redecorated.

"Of course."

After we'd returned to the party, I sought Will out immediately. I had so much to use, but it felt so... dangerous. Like I'd been handed a grenade without the pin, and I had nowhere to throw it.

"Hey," he said. He was observing a tray of cups which were filled with what looked like a citrus infused mix of vodka. He picked up two and handed one to me.

"Hi." I enclosed my lips around the straw and drained the cup in a few large gulps. William looked amused, handing me another.

"You guys are all psychos," I said when I caught my breath.

"I thought you already knew that," he said, his tone amused. I gave him a sharp look of warning. I wasn't in the mood.

"The girls are pretty bad I guess," he admitted when he sensed my annoyance. "Do you want air?"

"I'd love some." But, I'd spoken too soon. Just as I looked wistfully towards the staircase, I spotted Francis and Lola walking briskly across the room, his hand locked possessively around hers. "Where do you think they're going?"

"No idea," William said, taking a drink. "But I'd really rather not know."

And then, some nosy – and completely impulsive – part of me made me construct a plan. A plan for eavesdropping on Arlington's power couple. "I would."

"What are you doing?"

But before I could explain, I was already lost to him in the crowd of people. I needed to be careful, and I couldn't draw attention. Channeling all the stealth I could muster, I tried to scan for them in the crowd. I spotted them as they rounded a corner and disappeared down the hall.

I didn't follow them immediately. Instead, I paused in the threshold, trying desperately to hear over the thrumming of the music. After almost six seconds exactly, I heard it. The closing of a door.

Down the hallway, almost every other door had light emanating from beneath it. It was lucky I already had a good guess at which of them they'd occupy.

Out of the two doors adjoining the guest room, only one was illuminated, and I quickly chose the other. Hesitation could cause suspicion, and I couldn't afford that.

Thankfully, there was no drunken couple making out in the ambiance of a dark room. It was empty. It appeared to be a sitting room of some kind, family photographs spanning its walls. I automatically turned to see if the door locked. It didn't.

I thought quickly and turned to a wooden chair which sat beside a matching table. It worked in the movies, right?

I latched the chair beneath the handle, testing my method slightly with a satisfying pull to the handle. Then I turned to the wall which separated me from Lola and Francis. It probably wasn't thin, but when I listened hard I could make out the faintest of murmurs.

Luckily, I was perfectly prepared for this kind of situation.

The first thing I did was turn to the crystal cabinet which sat by the window, praying it wasn't guarded by a lock. My chest filled with glee as it slid open, and I removed what appeared to be an ordinary glass cup from the shelf.

Secondly, I unzipped my purse and pulled out my phone, loading up the app I had smartly stored which amplified sound. I knew it would come in handy this year.

Not wasting any more time, I fell to the floor and leant up against the cold white wall, armed with the glass and my phone.

Trickles of sound began registering, and my phone began regurgitating it back to me.

"How dare you?" the sound of Francis' booming tone spoke, the sound almost crackling through the speaker. I could have heard that without the help, his voice was loud enough to carry through the walls.

"So you're pretending you don't do the same shit all the time?" Lola asked coldly. Her voice was quieter, a little less easy to understand.

"What, brag to people that I've fucked someone else?" he asked.

"It was a joke, Francis!"

"So you're pretending it didn't happen now?"

"No! Just that – that she wasn't going to believe me anyway." Lola Davenport was never someone to stutter.

"So word got back to me because she didn't believe it, huh?" he asked. I heard heavy footsteps around the room. "I don't think so."

There was a pause, and I craned my neck closer to the wall, trying to decipher anything.

"Are you trying to humiliate me?" Francis asked. "Trying to make me look like a complete idiot?"

"No!" Lola almost shrieked. I'd never heard so much emotion from her before. As someone who always wore a mask, it was frightening to hear her so desperate.

"You swore to me this wouldn't get out," he said. "Yet you still did it."

Then there was the sound of shattering glass. Then silence, only hindered by what sounded like frantic sobs.

A sudden, unfamiliar feeling ripped through my chest, so cold it sobered me into panic. I was worried for Lola Davenport and what was happening to her in that room.