Book 2: Chapter 12 (1/2)

“Where have you been?” The kitchen woman barked, glaring at me.

“Ah, I…”

“Nevermind that, refill the punch bowl. These older boys don’t tolerate waiting…”

“Ah, yes.” I nodded, brushing off my apron and immediately grabbing a large pitcher that was filled with red liquid.

I had just left Brooke in the bathroom, although I didn’t pay the intimacy we shared very much mind. It wasn’t like anything was done on purpose. I did want to make sure she was okay, but Brooke was on my payroll, so I thought she can probably get over it. At the very least, I had more important things to worry about at the moment.

I headed back into the music-filled room. There were people dancing, although it was mostly groups of girls. The men stood in batches on the side. It almost felt like the dancing was an appraisal. The women danced on the floor with each other while the men watched and decided their worth. Perhaps they were deciding who got who tonight. I noticed a tall guy with short spiky hair who seemed to be the leader of the group of seniors.

He raised a glass of punch towards Rebecca, the Wrath president. She glared back icily before turning away. As if she gave a sign, the other women around her turned as well, effectively shunning his group of boys.  On top of the four I had seen her with, she seemed to have gotten another five. I wondered what the seniors had on her that got her to come to this thing. The guy only responded by chuckling.

I kept my head low and headed over to the refreshment table. Aiko was over near Lyra and a couple of girls with her. Lyra seemed to be smiling, although every once in a while her eyes would wander over to the groupings of men and she’d look like she was having a miniature panic attack. Then she’d immediately turn back, and put the expression back on her face. Ice queen, seriously?

“What is your name, darling?” A voice caused me to jump.

I was standing in front of the table of punch with the pitcher half-way to pouring. I was looking around for Madison desperately but still didn’t see her. I only had Brooke’s word to go on that she was safe.

“Clarice,” I said sharply, pouring the pitcher into the bowl.

The boy wasn’t one of the seniors, but his voice sounded familiar. He was one of the guy’s alongside Ben. These were the men who were plotting on getting my sister drunk! I absolutely wouldn’t allow that to happen. Even though I was here in disguise, I couldn’t bring myself to smile at this man.

“Could I… buy you a drink?” The guy asked, giving a shit-eating grin that made me want to punch him.

“I’m working, obviously.” I responded as shortly as I could.

“Oh? Well, I think all the food is out. It doesn’t matter much anyway.” The boy shrugged. “The name’s Damien. We’re the ones who threw this little party. How do you like it?”

I fought from rolling my eyes. If I created too much of a scene and ended up getting kicked out of the party, I’d never forgive myself. Instead, I put on a chilly look, trying to replicate the appearance I’d seen on women in my old world trying to say they weren’t interested.

“Like? It’s a job. I’m working.” I responded stiffly, pouring the last of the punch into the bowl.

“Mm-hmm…” the boy seemed to barely be listening. “So, my friends and I have a corner over there. I’d love it if you came and drank with us. It’s just more fun drinking with girls?”

My teeth tightened at those words. Exactly how naive did this asshole thing I was? It was fun to drink with girls present? More like he wanted to have sex with said drunk women. Just as I was about to tell him off, my eyes landed on the area he was pointing. The other two boys, including Ben, were over there sitting in some couches moved in a way to create their own isolated area hidden from the main hall. That part wasn’t what caught my eye. What did was the presence of Madison. She was sitting on the couch next to Ben. My eyes immediately narrowed as I saw him put his hand on her knee. She politely readjusted, moving her knees away from his hand, but out of the corner of his lips, I saw a smirk.

“On second thought…” My frown grew. “I’ll be happy to join you.”

“Haha! Splendid!” Damien laughed. “Come, come. Take off your apron. Join us.”

As he pulled me across the room by the wrist, I saw Aiko walking by. Noticing me being lead away by a boy, she held up her hands questioningly. I nodded towards the couch and Madison. Aiko responded with a sigh and head shake, but I couldn’t really stop it now. Even if I wasn’t there for Madison, it would be difficult for any girl to keep from being dragged around when a boy decided on it. Aiko would likely get yelled at about this, but there wasn’t much I could now.

“Hey guys, this is-“ Damien suddenly stopped and hit his head. “Ah, damn… what was your name again.”

“Clarice…” I repeated, my teeth slightly grinding.

Was this really what women had to put up with from men? A guy who didn’t even remember your name? I thought I was already a pretty selfish and inconsiderate guy, but this took things to a completely different level. These guys weren’t just inconsiderate, they were completely narcissistic!

The three boys gave each other knowing grins that they seemed to think I wouldn’t notice, which only irritated me further. Madison didn’t notice the looks because she was looking down at the cup of punch in her hands. She seemed to be lost in deep thought, not really paying attention to much. She barely acknowledged my introduction, only glancing up for a second before looking away. It looked like my disguise was sufficient enough that even my own sister didn’t recognize me. Part of me felt annoyed, while part of me felt relieved.

“Clarice…” A flat voice suddenly caused me to look down. “Welcome.”

There was a woman sitting in the chair. She had a small mousy appearance with big ears and eyes. Her irises were green, and her hair was oddly grey. She had thick black plastic framed glasses, which fit her larger eyes well. Her hair was straight and tied with a ribbon. At appearance, she looked very cute, like a small animal. The only thing off-putting was her demeanor. She sat up straight, with a very business-like expression on her face. She had her legs crossed and was sipping from a cup of tea. She resembled the apex of a professional.

“Ah… Clarice…” Damien smiled at me in a nauseating way he probably thought was ingratiating. “My mates are Ben and Charles. This is Dia. And over here is Madison. These are your upperclassman?”

“A-actually, I don’t go to Academy…” I responded, trying to make myself seem less interesting to this man.

“Really? You’ve made it into this club and you’re not even in Academy?” Dia raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, actually, I’m part of the catering staff.” I gestured to my clothing signifying that it was my uniform.

Dia looked me up and down in a way that made me feel like she might be ferreting out some of my secrets. I looked away, not able to keep the redness of a blush from reaching my cheeks. However, when my eyes looked up, I saw Damien staring at me practically panting. He swallowed some saliva, and I swallowed some vomit.

“Actually, we’re still missing a few people.” It was Ben who broke up this moment, and I thankfully took it to sit down next to Dia.

This left Damien who was about to gesture to have me sit next to him in a loveseat in a strange position. I looked away, pretending not to notice. He sat, recovering from his disappointment in an instant and clearly unperturbed. Before he could speak though, Dia shot me a strange look.

“I have to say, I’m surprised you so boldly sit next to me, considering our status difference.”

“Huh? Status?” I looked over at her questioningly before it hit me. “Ah! That’s right, you’re an upperclassman. Can I not sit here?”

Dia’s eyes widened even larger, “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Ahem…” Damien coughed, wearing an awkward smile. “Dia’s mother owns the clothing line Meta.”

I continued to stare, having never heard of that brand before in their life.

Dia suddenly chuckled. “Perhaps someone has never heard of Meta before. My family is quite high society. My godmother is a senator even.”

“O-oh…” I nodded, trying to figure out what she was getting at. “Then… I can’t sit here?”

Dia raised her other eyebrow, seemingly not sure how to answer. “I mean… it’s fine if you do.”

“Oh good.” I dropped my shoulders, lying back on the couch.

I had been worried I made some kind of fashion foo pah, so I was genuinely starting to worry. If anything, this entire event had been stressful. I was becoming very stressed. More than anything, my throat felt dry. Seeing a fruit punch on the table, I reached out and grabbed the cup. Lifting it to my mouth, I drank it up. It was a decent tasting fruit punch, but I wasn’t really caring about that. At least there wasn’t alcohol in it. I could tell that much, at least.

“Ah… that’s mine…” Dia made a noise, although her expression didn’t seem annoyed.

She looked more helpless, helpless and amused. I didn’t really know what was amusing but realizing I was drinking her drink, I immediately stopped and spit it back into the cup.

“Ah… s-sorry…”

I put it back on the table, snapping my hands onto my lap to keep me from doing anything else stupid. She had a strange look in her eyes. She was some rich girl and here I was acting quite a fool. However, she didn’t seem to be angry.

“S-sorry, Dia!” Charles seemed slightly agitated and reached forward to the cup. “Here, I’ll get a fresh drink for yo-“

Dia casually reached out a grabbed the cup first. She immediately picked it up and brought it to her lips, drinking the entire cup in one gulp. As she did, she had a strange smile on her face, and her eyes didn’t look away from me.

“Ah…” Damien seemed to be lost on how to respond as well.

“It seems I’m out of drink. Clarice, would you like to join me in getting refreshments?” Dia asked with her smile unchanging.

“Actually, ladies, stay here. We’ll bring it!” Damien suddenly stood up, gesturing to keep Dia from moving.

Dia slowly broke her eye contact with me, turning to Damien and giving a slow deliberate nod as if this was natural. Meanwhile, I had no clue what was going on, and could only shake my head in confusion. Women in this world were weird. I already knew this, but it seemed like this problem permeated every level. I, at least, thought the upper class would be some semblance of normal.

“How about I bring you girls some cocktails,” Ben said excitedly.

“I’ll just take punch.” Madison shot, looking up at the pair of us girls before blushing and looking back down.

A flash of annoyance showed on Ben’s face and was gone an instant later. My hand tightened on the banister of the couch, but I otherwise kept my expression neutral.

“Actually…” Charles spoke up. “We’re going to have a toast. You can take a toast, right?”

Madison looked over at him disinterestedly. “About that…”

“Don’t worry.” Ben gave another shitty smile. “I’ll bring both. Just drink for the toast, okay?”

“We’re actually missing some people for the toast, right?” Damien stood up. “You girls should stay here and chat, we’ll get everyone and toast this. Just the other’s helping with the welcoming committee. Definitely the teacher Mako and Lyra as well.”

The expression on my face felt extremely fake, but I used every ounce of my strength to keep it on my face. What they really meant was that they were trying to gather all the queens and get alcohol in them. Exactly how much alcohol would be spiked in those drinks? About the only thing that made me relax was that I was in the exact position I wanted to be. Madison was in my sight. I wouldn’t touch their drink, and when the time came, I’d protect my sister. I might even save the other queens while I was at it.

The three boys gave each other more knowing grins over our heads that made me want to throw a shoe at them as they left to set up the final round of this stupid stunt. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a boy and understand what those looks mean, or if my 35 years of experience made them far more noticeable than they are to a kid, but those looks were seriously starting to piss me off. I really wanted to punch these guys out. Just a little longer, this night was almost done.

“Don’t drink the alcohol,” I said once the boys left, giving both girls a look. “They mean to get us drunk and have their way with us.”

Dia shot me a surprised look, then burst into a chuckle. “This isn’t my first party. If these men really wanted to fell the Career queen, they would need to seriously up their game from a little bit of alcohol.”

“You know?” I asked in surprise.