CHAPTER ONE: THE CALL

The distinctive ringing noise of the telephone penetrated Jeff Morgan's concentration. Grumbling angrily under his breath, he slammed his textbook shut, then straightened up from where he had been stooped over his desk. Jeff strode out of his fit for a king bedroom and onto the landing. His fingers deftly plucked the phone off of the hook, Jeff sneering at the mouthpiece as he snapped:

"Hello?"

Down the other line, a woman's voice flittered into his ear. "Oh hello, it's Teresa Hunter. May I speak to Jeff please?"

Jeff snorted. "You are speaking to him, Mrs Hunter."

What came was an embarrassed muttering and apology, which Jeff tuned out before words emerged that made him listen in, a gleeful grin lighting up his freckled features.

He purred: "Dinner at your house? Of course! I'll be there in half an hour."

Not bothering to listen to her farewell or provide one of his own, Jeff ended the call, setting the phone back into place. He went back to his bedroom, changing out of his pristine school uniform into a tailored suit. Though he would be going to a dump, he needed to make a good impression.

After finishing combing his mop of red hair, Jeff pulled on his shoes and pocketed his phone. On his way out of his house, he called out good-byes to his parents, stopping to leer at the maid as she bent over to clean behind the sofa.

Jeff shut the front door and started his trek to the Hunter house. On the exterior, his cold eyes glinted dangerously, warning anyone who dared to look at him that they would sincerely regret such an action.

However internally, he was jumping for joy. Now he had the chance to torment Wheezy in the weakling's own home!

'And his idiot of an older brother and that clever Glass girl.'

Jeff smirked as he rounded the corner into the street which housed the Hunters and Glass family. He couldn't wait to see their faces at his appearance.

'And they can't kick me out! Otherwise, Mrs Hunter will have a go at them!'

As he neared the house, Jeff withdrew his phone and scrolled through his contacts till he hit 'Peter.' He shot off a quick text to his fellow Prefect, detailing the events of his evening with a chuckle. Whilst Jeff was striding up to the front door, Peter responded with:

'Great! Make sure you terrify Wheezy enough that he pisses himself.'

Jeff snickered at this as he rang the door-bell, tapping off:

'Will do, brilliant idea, Peter. I'll message you later.'

He sent the text then pocketed the phone, plastering on a dazzling smile, which showed off his perfect teeth as the door opened.

"Hello, Mrs Hunter. My! What a lovely dress you have on!"

Mrs Hunter giggled to herself as she stepped aside, allowing Jeff to enter.

"Why, thank you Jeff! What would you like to drink?"

Jeff scoped the hall-way whilst Mrs Hunter shut the door, bustling past him into the kitchen.

"Just a glass of water please, Ma'am."

Mrs Hunter's cheeks glowed rosy as she began pouring a glass with water from the tap. 'Oh, what a gentleman! The boys could take a few notes from him.'

She located Jeff in the living room, handing over the drink to the seated boy. Jeff took a sip, then asked cheerily:

"Where are the others?"

"Dinah is upstairs and the boys are out with their friends. You know Mandy, Ian and Ingrid, don't you?"

Jeff nodded. "Oh yes, we encounter each other at school a lot." Thankfully, Mrs Hunter didn't detect the slight sneer in his voice, instead exclaiming:

"Oh, Jeff! You look wonderful in that suit! I'm sure that it would fit Lloyd. What shop did you get it from?"

As Jeff enlightened her, he thought: 'Only the BEST can shop there. So your son has NO CHANCE of buying this suit and at least it looks better than that god awful dress you have on.'

The sound of feet padding down the stairs sparked Jeff's interest. He smirked as Dinah Glass entered the living room, her hazel eyes immediately landing on him. What resulted, a brief dose of surprise and fear flashing across her face, caused his smirk to broaden. Dinah, once again stoic faced, wrenched her gaze from the hated Prefect onto her foster mother.

"Mrs Hunter, may I set the table?"

Teresa nodded happily, declaring that she would be in the kitchen and to call if anyone needed anything. Waiting for Mrs Hunter to leave, Jeff set his glass down, then reclined on the sofa, sneering:

"Well, look who it is! The Orphan! Still missing your family, Glass?"

The lower half of her face remained impassive, but Dinah's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I am an orphan and my parents died when I was one. I barely knew them. What are you doing here, Jeff?"

Jeff smirked in a smug manner, remarking: "I was invited to dinner as a friend of the family."

Dinah felt horror build up inside her. Evidently, Mrs Hunter had brushed off her son's announcements about what Jeff was truly like, instead being fooled by his façade of friendliness enough to warrant an invite over.

Dinah went to retort when the front door slammed. Her narrowed eyes widened as she heard Lloyd call out:

"Mum? Is dinner ready yet? Me and H are starving!"

Jeff smirked as he glanced at his Rolex, purring: "And just when things were starting to get boring…"

Lloyd Hunter slid into the living room in his socks, shouting:

"MUM! Is dinner re-"

He ground to a halt, speech wise, when he spotted who was on the sofa. His jaw dropped as Mrs Hunter re-entered the living room, smiling merrily. She disregarded her eldest son's facial expression and exclaimed enthusiastically:

"I know it's a bit of a surprise, but I invited Jeff over to eat dinner with us this evening! Isn't that great, Lloyd?!"

Lloyd choked, loosening his collar. "Y-Y-Yeah, g-great."

His gaze connected with Dinah's as Harvey's high pitched voice drifted in.

"Mum? Can we have pork chops? I'm really craving som-"

Like his brother, Harvey cut off mid-sentence upon encountering the person on the sofa. He gasped in fear, beginning to tremble. His tormentor was grinning right at him, grey eyes lit up in wicked glee.

Harvey squeaked when Jeff spoke in a fake cheery tone. "Hello, Harvey! Good to see you! You too, Lloyd! Dinah and I were just chatting about school and how simply marvellous it is! Don't you two agree?"

The two brothers ignored their mother's gesture to answer, opting to gawp at each other. Both of their minds were filled with the same sentence:

'This can NOT be happening.'

Mrs Hunter jumped when the ding of the microwave sounded. "Ooh! That's your dinner, Jeff! Come and get it!"

Jeff climbed to his feet, striding into the kitchen. Dinah hastily hurried after him to set the table as she had requested, whilst Mrs Hunter shooed her sons upstairs.

"Go and change into something presentable. Oh, this is going to be a marvellous evening!"