Chapter Twenty One: The Neon Angels

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Victoria Chase stood there together with the Vortex Club, yet alone. Out of everyone with her, it seemed like she alone could not fucking believe she was about to party in a literal junkyard.

She had the better part of a month to digest the idea but standing here now she felt unnaturally nervous; because even if she had time to prepare, she was still stepping into uncharted territory. This insecurity was probably the worst feeling she could have right now. Especially when she knew that the hosts of this gathering would be buzzing around her, showing her that they were so much better at hosting these sorts of affairs then she could ever be.

The party had seemed to have started hours ago. Rachel was true to her word had managed to relay dozens of junior students from Blackwell to the Junkyard apparently called 'American Rust'. Numbers of nameless kids were there in various states of intoxication. All of them watching as the Blackwell Elite approached through them towards the centre of the party. All of them mistrustful of them after the Courtney incident and the Rachel clean up.

Only one member of the Vortex Club was missing and that was Nathan. He had been summoned home by his Dad for a dinner party. It wasn't just a family thing though; Sean Prescott only summoned his son when it was in his interest to do so. It was all very hush-hush but apparently they were courting the famous photographer Mark Jefferson into taking up a teaching position at Blackwell.

Mark Jefferson… If the Prescott's pulled off this coup, it would greatly increase the visibility of both the school and her own chances of making her fledgling talent into something on a professional career course. It was a real chance to finally step out of her parent's fucking shadow and into something she built for herself.

"Damn, those two actually pulled it off... Impressive" Victoria heard Dana Ward speak approvingly as she stepped by Victoria,

Dana was being trailed by Zach and Logan, one or both of whom she was no doubt was going to fuck tonight… Or she'd try her luck with Juliet… honestly Dana Ward was a confusing mess these days thanks to Rachel and Chloe making it chic to be out in the open. Dana Ward had turned into an ambiguous wildcat on the prowl. Victoria supposed a ho would be a ho regardless.

The fire had to be huge, because the sky was a brilliant red, clashing with the neon green and blue mood lights and the seemingly endless strings of Christmas lights which flickered on and off like cheap strobe lights. It was total punk trash chic, but somehow fit into the theme this party was. She had expected that the party would be nothing but that droning noise that blared from their dorm every morning, but instead very entrancing Autechre.

That was when Victoria and by extension the Club saw them; because they had become neon angels.

Rachel Amber and Chloe Price were wearing torn vintage wedding dresses, drenched in glowing neon paint. Chloe's was a little less girly. Form fitting, but conservative… but it was a dress nonetheless. Victoria could only imagine the fight Rachel must have had to get her in it; but it worked. Rachel was far more decked out, her wedding dress frilly and long dragging in the mud.

In exchange of the bridal veils, both of them were wearing fucking funeral veils. It was a creepy fucking contrast of vibrancy in the colour, love in the dress and death in their head wear which brought Victoria to a cold understanding that they weren't just throwing this party for the fuck of it.

Today was the anniversary of the day they had buried Rose Amber.

If that was the reason they through this celebration, no one knew for sure. Most were watching as the two of them were ritualistically dancing around the massive bonfires, waving blue road flares high over their heads. Chloe surprisingly moved more fluid of the two, while Rachel was more violent, more explosive. The smoke of the flares followed their movements like shadows and engulfed them as though they were the sources, as if they were the fire.

Occasionally they collided into each other, their bodies touching, their lips meeting; unabashed and unashamed in their public affections. After all this was their party. Everyone else was just tourists, venturing into their private world for the evening.

The first ones to make a noise was Logan and Zachary, both of them wolf-whistling leeringly at the sight of the girlfriends as their bodies pushed together and moved in perfect harmony; Chloe, calming Rachel down and Rachel firing Chloe up until they both met in the middle. Through the fire and smoke Victoria could see the huge grins on their faces as they pressed their noses together and moved back and of them cared for Zach and Logan, or anyone for that matter. In their world, everyone else was just a bug to step on or a pawn to play with.

Rachel was the first to look their way. Chloe was too busy sucking on Rachel's neck. She did not move out of her girlfriend's grip but instead through her flares into the fire. A move imitated by Chloe so that she could wrap her arms around Rachel's body.

"Welcome, dearest Vortex Club to this, our humblest of festivals!" Rachel greeted in a high pitched stage voice as she struggled to stay in control with Price's lips wrapped around her neck. "Please help yourself to refreshments and whatever you find edible. Please keep any sexual activities consensual because my lovely Chloe reserves the right to take a fucking crowbar to anyone's knee if you act out against this rule in particular!"

Price pulled her mouth away from Rachel's neck, and then it was Rachel's turn to latch onto to Price, it was far more aggressive, from here Victoria could see teeth; it actually made Price's legs quiver.

"Consider yourselves lucky, Rachel talked me down from genital swipes," Price managed to echo out to them. "Second, you will not liquor up the junior partyers any more than they already have. They drink and smoke what they bring, and you drink, smoke, pop and snort what you bring. And what do you suppose will happen if you break this rule?"

"Let me guess. You take a crowbar to our knees!" Hayden Jones shot out as though it was a competition.

Chloe blinked at the answer she got and looked to Rachel, who was smirking.

"Nice initiative, Hayden, but no. What do you think I am… a maniac?" Price spoke again, a little surprised. "No… you get sent off and any party in the future we throw, you don't get the invite!"

Price rolled her eyes as if Hayden had been completely off the mark. It was probably bullshit on her part; she just didn't want to be upstaged by a guest.

"Final rule: Stay the fuck away from the shack!" Price pressed on, gesturing to the run down painted old garbage shack. "That is an officially designated Rachloe zone. If I catch any of you fuckboys or fuckgirls peeping, that's when I get to take the crowbar to your genitals-"

Rachel reached out and pressed her hand against Chloe's mouth and allowed a dazzlingly false smile for all of them to take in.

"Other than that, please have fun, get lit and dance the night away!" Rachel concluded, stepping the two of them out of the way and gesturing the new guests to come in and co-mingle with the younger and less prolific Blackwell students.

As the gathering of Vortex Club kids broke apart into their various subgroups, Victoria naturally standing alone with Taylor at her side. Taylor herself was looking around incredulously, and obviously impressed at how they turned a literal junkyard into something almost liveable. It had been strange but it seemed as though Taylor was gravitating more and more into the orbit of Chloe and Rachel, or at the very least she decided to be friendly to them, which as probably more likely. Taylor was very much into the Vortex Club scene.

Victoria looked around as the theory she was toying with was becoming true. In her and Nathan's efforts in driving out the less savoury elements out of the Vortex Club to make way for rich and ambitious, they had left many at the sidelines. Followers, poor people, losers they may be, but all of them were looking for a guide. A guiding force which they found in Rachel and Chloe.

It now appeared that Amber and Price had effectively placed the entire school population minus the Vortex Club under their dominion. The worst part… the absolute worst part was that somewhere in this sea of juniors were future Vortex club members, who would take what they learned from Rachel and Chloe's shitty fucking theme of inclusivity and re-fucking-apply it back into the Vortex Club, effectively nullifying everything Nathan and her had achieved.

Victoria wanted nothing more than to rip the fucking flesh from the two smug cunts standing in front of her… but she just couldn't. She had to hand it to them. Whether they knew it or not (Rachel probably, but Price was a bit more short term) they had out played her, choosing to take short term losses in high profile positions to Victoria to achieve a total victory in the near future.

…And here Victoria was fucking helping them celebrate their win!

The bitches deserved to burn… but not tonight.

"Hello Victoria, hello Taylor," Rachel finally greeted the two of them, breaking their silence. "We're glad you both managed to make it."

"Thank you for the invite…" Taylor spoke suddenly, startling the three social superiors she stood with. "After what happened I thought-"

Rachel raised her hand up to silence her, a drunken smile was on her face and it shone for Taylor.

"Welcome to the party, Taylor," she reiterated as she reached out and dropped her hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Courtney's shit does not reflect on you."

Next to Rachel, Price nodded her head up and down sloppily.

"You're cool as fuck, when you want to be…" Price added in her two cents because of fucking course she had to. "You keep it up and you'll overshadow certain people who start with V and end with ictoria Price."

Furrowing her brow as Taylor shot them a dazzling smile, Victoria stepped forward towards the two hostesses. Rachel had the good enough grace to look at least somewhat genial, but Price… Price looked triumphant. She had Victoria Chase in a subservient position and she was only too eager to assert her dominion over her.

She remained silent, only glancing to Taylor for a moment to suggest to her that it was in her best interest to leave right now and give Rachel, Price and her some room. Taylor thankfully obliged and ran off to join both Dana and Juliet who were currently chatting with a reject in a beanie. The mega dyke who was too open with her nerd passions and never got a girlfriend of her own, primarily because she set her goals too impossibly high to achieve.

Victoria turned back and was nearly startled by how close both girls were into her personal space. It was obviously that they were both drunk and stoned off their asses already. The liquor and weed could be smelled now wafting off them. She ignored their stupid smiles through their veils, she ignored Price's narrowed, luscious baby blues and the fiery hazel of Rachel's as she seemed to inspect Victoria standing there before them in a blouse and slacks. Completely out of place for a low class party like this, but neither of the wedding dress wearing lesbo girls seemed to mind.

Blinking as she averted her eyes from the two girls across from her, Victoria inwardly cursed herself. She would not be entranced, not by the likes of them. She was not like them. Not at all; and she would keep telling herself that until it was irrefutable. She exhaled and forced herself to get a fucking grip and swallow a lot more than just her simple pride.

"Rachel, Price… this is honestly the weirdest fucking party location I've ever been to with easily the weirdest fucking hosts…" Victoria spoke slowly as she looked back to the quasi rivals. "…but… it's not bad for a couple of fashion disasters."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced up to Chloe, whom had clamped her eyes shut. She reached out and gently nudged her girlfriend

You hear that, Priceless?" Rachel said without missing a beat. "She hates our outfits… now you got to like wearing it."

Rachel glowered and moodily pulled at the gown she wore. She could hate it all she wanted, but that punk trash could really pull off a dress if only she tried…

Victoria gave herself another mental shake. These were those thoughts she was not to have.

"Well, we'll take that as a compliment," Rachel said on behalf of herself and her silent companion. Her hand reached out and grabbed Price's shoulder as she added. "We really are glad you made it, Victoria… You've been a very good… egg to us and neither of us have forgotten our secret frenemy status."

"The Rachloe love nest is now open to one very, very special pixie secret girlfriend…" Price immediately added. "No homo, of course… unless you're ready to drop the fuck charade-"

Chloe's thoughts were brought to a standstill as Rachel reached up and kissed her deeply. Victoria winced at the wet sound she could hear from where she stood. She was just grateful the fire was so massive that the heat radiating off it could mask the embarrassment brewing in her.

"Let's not scare her off too fast…" Rachel breathed to her as she pulled back.

Price glanced to the obviously discomforted Victoria and nodded, leaving Victoria scrambling for a distraction… which thankfully she had been provided by an absent friend.

"Oh…" Victoria said as she opened her purse and fumbled inside. "Nathan sends his apologies for not making it, and has offered a gift."

Feeling a small baggie at the bottom, Victoria pulled it out flashed and flashed the small baggie with a half dozen circular pills inside. She stood there, expecting that the girls in front of her knew exactly what they were looking at. It was something Nathan had to name before she understood; but neither of the girls seemed to know for sure, they had their guesses and they didn't seem too particularly thrilled by what they were looking at.

"Molly? MDMA? I'm sorry I figured you burn outs would know right away," Victoria haughtily explained as though she was an expert just to rub their ignorance in their face; it was a small victory of the Neon Angels, but she would take it as she added. "They're uncut... apparently. He figured it was only right to offer up a small token of apology."

Rachel and Price looked at each other, wordlessly debating whether or not they wanted to do it. Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and puffed herself out more than she usually had. In truth she was no less nervous than they obviously were. This was her first experience and from the written instructions Nathan had left her, she was a little worried. He suggested that she only take half a pill and the pop the other half thirty to forty minutes later. It was a lot more complicated than sitting around getting drunk and smoking up…

Rachel turned back, radiating a small little smile for her. There was obvious refusal was in her face, but Victoria decided against teasing her over it. They had every right to be as worried as she was.

"It's very… tempting… but can we rain check the E trip, preferably at a time when we aren't hosting a party in the middle of nowhere?" Rachel said causally. "We have to be relatively sober for this hosting. In a few hours the kids are going to really feeling it and we need to be alert."

Price stepped forward, one arm still gripping her woman's waist. She snatched the baggie out of Victoria's hand and carefully examined it.

"Why don't you give it a test run and we'll take care of you," she said as she handed the bag back into the waiting hands of the slightly glaring Chase. "We'll drop some next week before you fuck off back to wherever you're from. We'll watch anime which isn't entry-level bullshit like what you watch, cool yeah?"

Deciding against saying where she was from in case Rachel and her Price showed up on her doorsteps with that rusted out piece of shit truck and in need of a place to stay for the duration of the summer, Victoria bit the proverbial bullet and opened the baggie. Without blinking, she snapped a single pill in half and dry swallowed the half pill powder. It was a bitter mess but she was in no position to chicken shit out now.

Looking up as she swallowed, she noticed triumphantly as Rachel and Price blinked as if they were impressed by the rash action. In spite of her incoming head trip, it was another small victory she took.

"You're on, bitches…" Victoria capitalized on their stunned shock. "But… you two… better take care of me, right?"

Blinking, Price was the first one to turn back to look to Rachel. Rachel turned back to and in silence they debated the request Victoria had made. She wasn't sure if the pill was already kicking in or her own paranoia overwhelming her, but she could have sworn she heard one of them say 'We'll play it by ear, okay?'

The girls sealed whatever they were thinking with a kiss and with a final smirk; Rachel turned and waved goodbye to Victoria.

"I suppose we'll have to see, Icky Vicky… see you later!" Rachel taunted her, using Price's fucking nickname.

Victoria blinked as she watched the two of them walk away hand in hand, leaving her with no definitive answer and minutes away from experiencing her very first exploration into the wild world of amphetamines alone. Swallowing the knot in her throat and determined not to do this alone, she moved as swift as she could to find Taylor and see if she'd join her in the trip.

Behind her she heard Price laugh. Whether it was at her or in general, she did not know. All she knew for sure was that she really did hate those two fucking bitches right about now…

…

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Short chapter I know. I had ambitious multi-chapter plans, but honestly I'm getting to a point where I just want to hurry up and this was bogging me down. It didn't come out on time because my power was on and off over the weekend, slowing me down even further.

Anyways, enough of that. Thanks for reading and all your kind words!

Next Chapter: No more next times previews. Nothing sinister, in fact it'll be kinda sweet (maybe) I just feel I give too much away. Back to it being me to tell, and you to find out. See you soon!