Summary: The first day at Manchester brings plenty of surprises and new introductions for Kathryn, Sebastian and Annette
Authors Note: You might have noticed this chapter is much longer than normally. Since I plan this story to be somewhat long, with many intermingling story lines I planned to have longer chapters rather than have 20-30 chapters. Anyway someone asked in a review if this would be a light story. Not really thought it will have a lot of light elements, especially in the beginning. Look for there to be some dark turns towards the end. Enjoy! (oh Who Are You? will be updated tomm.)
Chapter 2: Lead, Follow, of Get Out of My Way
'Are You A Slave To the Clique?'
Sebastian's eyes quickly scanned over the quiz that asked among other things, do you all wear the same berry-berry lip color on Fridays? Shaking his head he quickly flipped through the rest of the Seventeen magazine wondering if girls his age seriously read this bullshit. Actually the question that was really plaguing him was, why did the headmaster have a teenage girls magazine laying around his office?
Glancing up from the periodical he studied headmaster Hardgrove who was standing behind his desk explaining to Sebastian and the four other matriculating students, why Manchester would be such a rewarding experience for them. Maybe his earlier assessment of the guy being a fag was wrong, he mused. Maybe he was just into little girls. Sebastian shook his head of the thought and then went back to his reading.
They had been in the office for well over forty minutes but so far Sebastian hadn't listen to a word any one said. He didn't need to be introduced to another goddamn school, he knew the drill already. He tried to explain this to the elderly secretary, telling her to just give him his schedule so he could be on his way but she refused until he talked to the headmaster. So now here he was with these four losers: a foreign girl and her short brother, one fat kid and a girl he was pretty sure was a lesbian given the way she kept checking out the foreign chick. As they pulled their chairs up closer to hear Hardgrove speak, Sebastian hung out in the back of the room wearing the required navy blue school uniform and his favorite pair of sunglasses.
At last he was about to set down his magazine when an heading, spelled out in bold pink letters caught his eye.
Why I Plan To Wait: A Teenage Manifesto.
It wasn't that a virgin was all that interesting to Sebastian, on the contrary he preferred his women experienced and on occasion wild. However there was something familiar about the girl staring back at him. She was pretty in that all American girl sort of way so his first thought was he must have slept with her before, but no that wasn't it.
Sitting up in his chair his eyes began to dart around the room. Sebastian scanned over the shelf of books to his left when he found it. Ah ha! Sitting next to the world encyclopedia's was the same picture of the girl staring back at him from the magazine. Quickly he reread the byline and there it was, Annette Hardgrove.
"Oh fuck me" he snickered in astonishment.
Sebastian's sudden outburst caused the headmaster to stop mid sentence and the students to look at him curiously. With a patient smile Hardgrove asked "is there something wrong Sebastian?"
"No" he explained with a pleasant smile. "I'm just really excited about starting my classes at Manchester, sir!"
The headmaster simply nodded and smiled before going back to his lecture. "Like I was saying about clubs and activities..."
Once again Sebastian tuned him out as he focused his attention back on the article. He was looking for specific details but didn't find many. Annette was originally from Kansas, she moved to New York when she started high school because of her father's job, and she had one unnamed boyfriend who she since broke up with for not sharing the same views as her on abstinence until marriage. Shaking his head Sebastian couldn't believe his good fortune, the headmasters daughter was a prude and a perfect target. In another week she would be just another entry in his quickly expanding journal.
"All right, I believe that's everything you need to know. Now if you'll please go and find your guides, they'll help you find your way around the school and to your classes" the headmaster explained. "Good luck and if you have any problems please feel free to contact me."
Tossing the magazine back on the table where he found it, Sebastian got to his feet and started to file out with all the other students. However before he got to the door he felt a hand on his arm, "Sebastian could I talk to you a minute?"
He wanted to tell the older man to get his damn hands off of him but instead he forced a pleasant smile on his face, pulled his sunglasses off and turned around. "Is something wrong headmaster Hardgrove?"
"I wouldn't say there's anything wrong" he explained as he closed the door and stood in front of it. "Not yet anyway. The thing is Sebastian I have been looking over your academic file and frankly it worries me."
I'll bet it does, Sebastian thought to himself. Thinking back over the years he realized he had pulled a few stunts in his time, enough in fact to get him booted out of school all over Europe. Although he was quite proud of his reputation he didn't think Hardgrove would be impressed so once again Sebastian pretended to be pleasant. "I know it looks bad but honestly most of that stuff wasn't my fault. The truth of the matter is I was involved with a bad crowd who often led me on the wrong path. However I have now seen the error of my ways and really want to make a fresh start here at Manchester."
"I hope you mean that son"
"Oh I do, I really do" Sebastian exclaimed as he thought about the look of Hardgroves face when he found out how he popped his innocent daughters cheery. It would make all this ass kissing worth it in the end. "Sir, I promise I will do my best to make up for all my terrible mistakes and become the best Manchester student I can be."
Judging by the look the headmaster gave him Sebastian wasn't really sure if he believed him. Either way it didn't matter because he soon dismissed him, "okay Sebastian, I'm glad to hear it. Now why don't you go join Tony, he'll be your guide and help you find your way around campus."
"Thank you headmaster!" Sebastian exclaimed as gave him an enthusiastic salute. Turning back around he scowled and muttered "bitch."
As soon as he left the office he spotted Tony, a tall blond studious type reading the student activities board. Sebastian was about to approach him when he spotted someone much more desirable talking with the secretary. Breezing past Tony who turned to introduce himself as he passed, he came up behind the attractive blond "hey, are you Annette?"
She turned at the sound of her name and gave him a friendly smile, "yes I'm Annette. Can I help you?"
Sebastian was tempted to say something crass back to her, after all she was an extremely pretty girl, beautiful even. Everything about her was natural, from her soft blond hair to her face which had almost no make up. Usually Sebastian didn't go in for the basic look but he was willing to over look this bias for the headmasters virginal daughter.
With a causal smile he introduced himself, "I'm Sebastian Valmont, I'm new and the headmaster told me you were my guide for the morning."
Her head titled slightly as she asked "he did? That's strange I didn't think I was doing that this year."
"Well if you want I can go ask for someone else..."
"Don't be silly" she laughed. "Of course I'll show you around Sebastian, follow me."
He did just that, making sure as he followed her out of the office to give the bewildered Tony a wave good-bye. Since it was still first period the mahogany halls were all but empty except for a few straggling students. Immediately Annette launched into her tour, pointing out which rooms were which and explaining where the library and cafeteria were. As she babbled on in a friendly, museum guide like voice Sebastian ignored what she was saying and instead concentrated on her ass which looked pretty close to perfect underneath her plaid skirt. "And down the hall to your right is the auditorium where an assembly is being held to welcome everyone back to school later today."
Sebastian nodded "that's nice. Will you be there, maybe we could sit together?"
Annette looked slightly taken aback by the comment before she once again eased into her causal friendly manor. "Well I don't know about that...I might have other arrangements already."
He nodded solemnly as he leaned against the wall. "Annette you wouldn't be lying to me just to spare my feelings would you?"
"Of course not" she explained her eyes betraying the truth. "Besides I'm sure a guy like you will have plenty on girls to sit with. You don't have to be seen with the headmasters daughter just to impress him."
Sebastian pretended to be shocked by what she was suggesting even though he was more impressed than anything at her perception. "That's what you think I'm doing?" he scoffed.
"Isn't that why you ditched poor Tony?" she laughed. "Don't worry Sebastian you aren't the first guy to try to get on my fathers good side by budding up with me."
He was about to proclaim his innocence but then stopped himself. With a seductive smile he stepped closer to her and reveled "okay you got me but, that's not the only reason I did it."
"Oh?"
"Well truth be told you are a lot prettier than Tony."
Annette laughed at this and he smiled back when suddenly the bell sounded. Like a title wave students started to pour out of class rooms and head down the halls with loud, raucous chatter. Looking down the hall at the oncoming students, then back at him Annette said "I think this about ends our tour. Something tells me you won't have any trouble finding your way around here Sebastian."
As she turned to leave he called out to her, "wait a minute, if you knew I was lying, why did you go along with it?"
With a slight, almost sexy smile she replied simply "you're cute. I got to get to class, see you around Sebastian."
Watching her disappear through the crowd of people Sebastian smiled. Perhaps old Manchester wouldn't be so bad after all.
* * * * * *
Making her way down the hallway, Annette dashed down the back stairs towards the girls locker rooms. She was going to be late on her first day if she didn't hurry. It was her fault really, she shouldn't have played along with Sebastian's lie and given him that tour. Now she would definitely be late.
However as she looked back on it she couldn't help but smile. Sebastian was cute, gorgeous even, and although it was completely shallow, that was the reason Annette agreed to show him around. With that smile and those deep blue eyes he would probably be very popular around Manchester. However she also knew almost immediately that he was trouble. Sebastian was the type of guy who wasn't above bending the rules a little or even breaking them entirely if it got him what he wanted. It reminded her of another guy she use to know.
Slowing her steps down Annette began to think about the past and the present. Not much had changed over the last three years and she began to wonder if she really was any happier. Maybe it was time to make some changes. Throughout her life she had always made it a point to avoid guys like Sebastian. Guys who were too charming, too witty, too cute and usually only after one thing. Sebastian seemed to incumber all those traits but as she got to thinking, she realized he might be just what she needed. Perhaps a little trouble would do her good.
Rushing into the girls room Annette quickly made her way past the half dressed girls, towards her gym locker. When she spotted her friend Jennifer Robert's she smiled knowing Jen more than anyone, who appreciate her interest in a guy. "Hey Jen" she laughed flipping her hand through her pony tail as she came up behind her.
Immediately her friend's head snapped back at her and she asked in a cold, fake polite tone, "yes?"
A little startled by the icy look she got rather than the usual happy smile Annette asked "is something wrong?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Oh good, well it's good to see you. We didn't talk hardly at all this summer. What were you up to?"
Opening her locker Jennifer shrugged and replied "Paris, Italy, and the Greek Islands with the parental units. You know just the usual."
Normally Annette would joke that it wasn't usual for her. Although Jennifer's parents had a lot more money than hers they had never made a big deal out of it. Jen had been one of the first friends Annette made in New York but now something was different with her. This new attitude of hers caused Annette to hold back her usual quick witted response and simply reply "that sounds nice. So I just met this guy. He's new and he's so cute. In fact I think I might-"
"Wow don't tell me, he's another student council, Bible thumping, Trevor wanna be" Jennifer snickered.
Completely stunned by the cruel words coming out of her friends mouth Annette finally asked "Jen what's wrong with you? Did I do something to upset you?"
Rolling her eyes she grumbled "of course not. The almighty and prefect Annette Hardgrove would never do anything wrong."
"That's not true"
"Right, you walk around this school thinking you're God's gift, but news flash honey you're just another boring virgin."
Annette recoiled back from her, realizing the girl in front of her was definitely not the same girl who befriended her three years ago. "Why are you saying this?" Annette asked. "I thought we were friends."
Jennifer looked back at her ready to fire another round of insults her way but stopped herself when she saw Annette appeared on the brink of tears. Softening a little she sighed "look Annette I'm s-"
"Jen there you are" Kathryn Merteuil called out as she came around the lockers and stood in front of them. When she spotted Annette her typical phony smile appeared "oh, hello Annette."
Immediately a shiver went through Annette's body and suddenly things started to make sense. Last year Kathryn would never even look at Jennifer let alone talk with her. Everybody loved and worshipped Kathryn at Manchester, everyone that is except Annette because she knew Kathryn for who she truly was. Although the pretty brunette always pretended to be nice to her Annette could tell she was lying. She used her money, looks and popularity to get whatever she wanted. Apparently she wanted Jen.
Annette wasn't really sure why though but she suspected it had something to do with her. Kathryn always struck Annette as the type of girl who whenever she saw somebody with something she didn't have, she would take it from them and make it hers. She saw that Annette had a good and loyal friend and she had to take that from her so she could have yet another groupie.
Although she was thinking all this Annette didn't say a word. Instead she just replied flatly "hello Kathryn." Noticing she was still in her Manchester uniform she inquired "aren't you going to gym?"
"No, actually I'm not. Jen that's what I wanted to tell you. We're being excused"
Jen immediately stopped changing and looked over at her with an amazed smile "we are?"
"Yes, I explained to Ms. Whiter that it was simply impossible to participate in gym today when I have this speech for the assembly looming over my head. So she excused us so I could work on it and you could help me."
"Oh my god that's so cool!" Jen exclaimed. "You're such a genius Kathryn."
"I know" she replied with a cool smile.
As Jen began to quickly change back into her uniform Kathryn leaned against the lockers waiting. "So Annette" she addressed her as if they were friends. "What have you been up to this summer?"
"Not much"
"Hmm, I spent most of it at Joshua's summer place in the Hamptons. You've been there before right?"
It was things like this that made Annette's skin crawl. Kathryn knew Joshua had never taken her there, that's why she purposely asked. She liked to rub it in. Still Annette pretended to be pleasant "no I've never been."
"Oh? Well anyway I will miss him now that he's gone off to Yale. Did you know he left already?"
With a small smile Annette revealed "yes I did, he called me before his plane took off."
Suddenly the smug look disappeared off of Kathryn's face. Her bright green eyes went cold and she curtly replied "how nice. Jen are you ready yet?"
"Yeah just a sec"
Turning her eyes from Kathryn Annette glanced back at her former friend in time to see her slip her shirt on. As she did, out of the corner of her eye, Annette spotted a scar on Jen's shoulder she had never seen before. From the brief glance she caught it appeared to be a 'T', not only that but it was still red meaning it was done recently.
As she stared dumbfounded Jennifer suddenly woke her from her thought with a cold snicker, "take a picture it will last longer."
"Sorry" Annette mumbled as she looked to her ground, her head still racing with what she just discovered.
"Come on Jennifer lets go" Kathryn called causing Jen to quickly brush past Annette to catch up with her new friend. As the two girls disappeared out of the locker room, arm in arm Annette once again felt a shiver creep through her. Something was very, very wrong and it was about time she figured out what it was.
* * * * * *
The universe always has a way of bringing two people together, usually at the most inopportune times and in the strangest of ways. Sebastian was about to discover that first hand as he headed down the hallway towards the auditorium with his fellow students. It was just another stupid assembly which he normally would have skipped but he was hoping he might run into his new blond friend so he went.
Maybe it was his fault really, after all he wasn't looking where he was going. Still Sebastian would later blame Susan Ames and her gorgeous ass for distracting him. For just when he was mere feet from the double doors that led to the auditorium he spotted her and couldn't help but turn around and do a double take. He was walking at the same time and not paying attention. Just as he spun back around, he smacked right into someone. Sebastian was fine but the other person went down immediately.
"Mother fucker" a decidedly pissed off female voice grumbled.
Sebastian was smiling even before he caught sight of her. Sprawled out on the ground, legs spread enough for him to catch a glimpse of her supple tan thighs, he looked down to see he had indeed ran into a female. Her dark hair had fallen over her face so all Sebastian noticed at first was her body. Small, tight, and hot just the way he liked it. Some charming albeit sleazy words were about to fall from his lips when she suddenly tossed her hair back revealing her face.
Right then that was enough to shut Sebastian up. Perfect porcelain skin, soft red lips and the best green eyes he had ever seen on a female. She was in short breathtaking to him, even though at that moment she looked like she was about to tare him apart limb by limb. If she looked like this when she was angry Sebastian could just imagine what she looked like when she was about to cum.
"Don't you look where you're going fuck wit?" she demanded waking him from his temporary haze of lust.
With an amused grin he replied "well if I knew what I was running into I definitely would have turned around."
"How fascinating"
Shaking his head Sebastian bent down, grabbed her by the hands and pulled her up. As he watched her straighten herself up he eyed her appreciably. "Well I think a thank you is in order."
"Excuse me?" she exclaimed. "You're the one who ran into me! I want an apology."
"That I can't help you with, it goes against my motto."
"Motto?"
"Yes" he explained. "No regrets, no apologies. It makes life much simpler that way."
Taking a step closer to him she hissed "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
Even though she was a complete bitch Sebastian couldn't help but be charmed by her. She was beautiful and strong willed with a spark in her that sent a thrill through him. He was almost immediately turned on. Moving even closer to her he introduced himself, "Sebastian Valmont."
For a brief second a look of recognition passed through her eyes. Did she know who he was? If she did she didn't say. Instead she told him "how nice for you" then started to brush past him.
Sebastian was about to pull her back when out of the corner of his eye he spotted someone familiar in the crowd. It was Annette standing with a small group of girls by the stage. As an older man talked with them she looked up and her eyes locked with his. When she smiled at him Sebastian forgot about his encounter with the brunette vixen and raised his hand to wave to Annette. He started to head into the auditorium when he suddenly got kicked hard in the back of the legs, causing him to tumble to the ground in pain.
Sebastian wasn't sure what or who had hit him. He started to get up suddenly when his vixen was standing over him. With an evil but almost child like grin she told him "Kathryn Merteuil ,and my motto is, lead, follow or get the fuck out of my way."
Before he could respond she went charging down towards the stage leaving Sebastian to get up on his own. However he didn't mind, he liked watching the way her hips swung when she walked away from him. God he barely touched her and yet he was already positively hard. Sebastian decided then and there getting Kathryn Merteuil into bed was priority number one.
Taking a seat towards the back of the room his mind remained on his latest encounter, as the headmaster took the stage. It seemed to Sebastian he was wasting most of his life listening to this man drone on. Hiding once again behind a pair of shades, he let his head slump against the seat allowing him to try and drift off to sleep.
Just as his eyes lids got heavy though Hardgroves booming voice announced, "and now here to share some of the upcoming events of the new school year is your student body president, Kathryn Merteuil!"
The sound of that familiar name along with the thunderous applause that followed it woke Sebastian with a start. Sitting up he looked up just in time to see Kathryn walk across the stage, with long confident struts and a smile that was completely foreign to him. It was a nice smile but he also knew it was fake. Right away, before a word was even out of her mouth, he knew she was putting on a show. This wasn't the same girl he just ran into, she was someone else entirely.
What she talked about wasn't important and in fact Sebastian wasn't really paying attention. No he was more interested in watching her. From what he could tell she was confident, intelligent and knew how to work a room the same way she knew how to work her plaid skirt. It was fascinating to Sebastian but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
When she finished she was once again met with applause and then one of the teachers announced the assembly was over. Students started to scatter back into the hallway but Sebastian stayed seated. Instead he watched Kathryn as she stayed seated on the stage as people swarmed around her. She was staring off into space when she noticed him staring at her. The edges of her lips curled into a smirk and it was then Sebastian met the true Kathryn. Then just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished as Kathryn got called away and soon disappeared behind the red curtain.
"Give it up man, it's not going to happen."
Scowling at the arrogant voice in his ear Sebastian turned around to find a black guy sitting comfortably in the empty row behind him. Annoyed at being addressed in such a manor, by a total stranger no less he sneered "excuse me?"
"Our illustrious student body president" the guy explained as he leaned forward, letting his arms drape over the seat. "You dig her right? You're not alone, you and every other guy with a pecker in this school is trying to get into her panties but I'll tell you she's ice through and through."
Looking back at the stage where she once stood Sebastian smiled and shook his head "I don't think so."
"Then you buy her Pollyanna routine?" he challenged.
"No" Sebastian replied turning back to him. "It's all bullshit of course, she's acting like that to get what she wants. That girls a master manipulator and she probably is use to getting every thing she wants, no question. But the thing is she likes a challenge, she likes to play on the edge and I wouldn't be surprised if she enjoys getting her brains fucked out from time to time as well."
"Oh check out the new guy!" the guy laughed. "That has to be a first. I've never seen anyone nail Kathryn that quickly, pun intended."
Shaking his head he turned back and asked him "who are you?"
"Marcus James, and you're Sebastian."
"Is my reputation proceeding me already?"
He just smiled mysteriously and said "you could say that."
"Right. So you know Kathryn?"
Sitting back in his seat Marcus shrugged "everyone does in one way or the other."
Although Sebastian didn't mind talking to the guy, his strange answers to his questions was staring to get on his nerves. Deciding to move off the topic of Kathryn for the time being he gestured over to Annette. "How about her? What's her story?"
Looking past him towards the blond talking up a teacher, Marcus explained "that's the headmasters daughter, she's sort of a legend around here. Last year she published this article in some teen magazine vowing to remain a virgin until she found true love or some bullshit like that. Anyway since then it's been sort of open season on her in you know what I mean. Every guy's been after her but so far not one has been able to claim her cherry."
With a confident gleam in his eye Sebastian replied "I will."
"I'd like to see that" he chuckled. "So tell me Sebastian who are you truly after, Betty or Veronica?"
Turning back to his new friend he asked "who says I can't have both?"
* * * * * *
Kathryn was alone, yet again.
That night, after finishing her first day as a senior, Kathryn walked around her beautiful but cold townhouse. Climbing the marble staircase the only sound that could be heard was the light tap of her stiletto heal against the shiny ground. She took her time going to her bedroom, letting her newly manicured nails scratch against the railing as she wondered not for the first time in her young life, what it would be like to live someplace else. Not that she didn't like her home, she would be crazy not to. All around her was beautiful, expensive things. The whole house was filled with them but it was also a very cold place. It had always reminded her of a museum.
Why was she thinking such things all of a sudden? Perhaps it was because once again Kathryn had to sit at dinner alone. Her parents were as per usual no where to be found. Her father was on another business trip with his fling of the moment who her mother purposely looked a blind eye to. She didn't care if her husband screwed around, just as long as she was allowed the same luxury. Kathryn knew that's where she was most likely at that moment. Off diddling her tennis instructor or some such nonsense as her daughter sat alone at the long dinning room table, sipping her wine, pretending not to care that her family was a joke.
Stopping momentarily in her tracks, Kathryn shut her eyes and tried to force the thought out of her head. What did she care what her parents did? So long as they paid her credit card bills and left her alone they could jump off a cliff for all she cared. Kathryn kept reminding herself of this fact as she arrived at the top of the stairs and went into her bedroom.
She knew what her problem was, she missed Joshua. That was the real reason she felt so empty that evening. Kathryn had all the friends in the world and yet they couldn't make her feel like he did. Before Joshua had left for school she feared she would start to feel this way. As much as Kathryn hated to admit it, she needed him, she wanted him. She loved him.
It was with that thought she finally picked up the phone and called him. Since he left that weekend he hadn't called her and she promised herself she wouldn't be the first to call, yet here she was. Kathryn dialed his cell number then waited with baited breath for him to pick up. He finally did after five rings.
"Yes?"
"Hey, it's me."
There was a slight pause before, "Katie! How's my girl doing?"
"I'm fine, just tired with school and everything" she explained as she relaxed back into the bed. When he sounded happy to hear from her, Kathryn's anxiety began to fade somewhat. "What are you up to?"
"Not much, classes don't start until next week so everyone's basically been partying."
There were people talking in the background and one of them sounded distinctly female. Kathryn felt a twinge of jealousy, a rare emotion for her but she played cool. "That sound like...fun."
"Yeah, so are you adjusting to being leader yet? Any problems?"
"No, no...well not exactly."
"What is it?"
That had been the other reason for her call, there was a problem, albeit a small one. "Well I looked over the files on the upcoming students, they're all pretty much losers except for this once guy, Sebastian Valmont."
"Valmont?" Joshua repeated. "Edward Valmont's son?"
"Yes, do you know him?"
"Edward Valmont is poised to become one of the ten richest men in the U.S. in the coming years. My father plays golf with him sometimes but he never mentioned his kid."
Kathryn snickered "yeah well there's probably a reason for that. The guy's been booted from nearly eight schools for...well you name it he's done it."
"Interesting, well I think you should definitely recruit him then. He could be very useful to the tribunal."
"I agree, but there could be a problem." Kathryn flashed back to earlier that day when she literally ran into Sebastian. He was arrogant, rude and worse yet gorgeous. However she also got the impression that he wasn't the type to follow orders. There were leaders in this world and then there were followers, Sebastian was neither. "Something tells me he won't be interested in the tribunal. He didn't exactly strike me as a follow the pack sort of guy."
"Well then I guess you're just going to have to convince him other wise, won't you?"
She was slightly taken aback by this, "excuse me? That sounded a lot like an order. Need I remind you who is in charge now?"
Joshua laughed "no of course not but you're asking for my advice so here it is. This Valmont guy sounds like he could be a problem if not properly controlled, so I think you should put a leash on him before he can do any damage. Just find something he wants and use it to persuade him to join."
"Well he did seem rather fond of me..."
"Then use that" he advised.
"Are you suggesting I fuck him?"
"I'm suggesting as leader it's your responsibility to do whatever it takes."
It wasn't that she didn't find Sebastian attractive. Actually she found him quite charming in an annoying sort of way. However it bothered her that the only guy she truly cared about was so willing to whore her out. Then again this wouldn't be the first time. With a sigh Kathryn told him "I'll think about it."
"Good, now is there anything else bothering you?"
She was about to reply no, when she suddenly remembered something. "Yes actually, you can explain to me why you called that twit Annette right before you left."
There was a pause on his end before he replied casually "it was no big deal, I just had a few minutes to kill before boarding so I thought I'd say good bye. "
"And that's all?"
"Yes, be careful Kathryn you're starting to sound like a jealous girlfriend."
"Bite your tongue" she laughed.
"I wish you could do it for me" Joshua whispered huskily to her. "Now I have to get going, I'm late for this thing. I'll talk to you soon and...I miss you Katie."
"I miss you too" she told him realizing just how true that was. "Joshua I..."
"You?"
She could feel the words in her mouth, she wanted to say it so badly and yet she couldn't bring herself to take the leap. "I'll talk to you soon. Good bye."
"Bye, baby"
Kathryn listen to the dial tone a moment before at last hanging up. As she did she stared into space and tried to picture what Joshua would say if she told him she loved him. Would he say it back? No, more likely he would get freaked out and stop calling her. That's why she would bottle up her feelings just as she always had.
Looking down at her watch she realized she was going to be late. There was a tribunal meeting in ten minutes, that would at least help to take her mind off of Joshua. As Kathryn dashed out the door she knew right away what topic number one would be, Sebastian Valmont.
* * * * * *
"Oooooooh Sebastian!"
Resting his hand against the back shelf labeled, BRN G-M, as his other hand worked it's way further into Samantha Norton's depths, Sebastian wondered how much longer this would drag on. Not that he minded having his fingers wedged into a nice, tight pussy but after ten minutes and knowing in the end he probably wouldn't be compensated for his efforts, it grew tiresome. Impatient as always he speeded the process along by twisting his hand so his thumb would press into her hard nub. A moment later he was rewarded by a sudden gasp followed by, "ooh...ohhh...gooooooooodddd!"
When he felt her start to gush around his fingers Sebastian looked up at the clock overhead, realizing he only had fifteen more minutes before the library closed. He had come to get the books he needed for his classes but as soon as he walked into the brick building he spotted Samantha with her shiny red hair and small skirt and, well he got distracted. Now here they were in the back stacks screwing around when it struck him he actually came there for a reason.
Pulling his hand out from underneath her skirt, he used her blouse to clean his hand off but the young girl didn't seem to mind. Instead she grinned up at him and asked coyly "would you like me to, um, you know..."
"Um, I don't have time for you to, um you know..." he repeated back to her in a mocking sarcastic voice.
Samantha's face fell when she realized she was being insulted. Pulling her skirt back down she huffed "fine, I didn't want to anyway jerk!"
As she stormed off in the other direction Sebastian watched with a semi amused smile. Seriously if a girl couldn't say 'would you like me to suck your dick?' then he really didn't see any reason to bother with her. Besides he had a late date tonight back at his house but first he had to pick up his books which he had been putting off doing all day.
Restlessly Sebastian began to pace the stacks, trying to match up the call numbers to the numbers outlined on his schedule card. Just as he was picking up his world history book he turned the corner to find Annette in a most unusual position. She was standing on top of two large books, reaching for something on the top shelf. Sebastian watched her a moment with an affectionate smile before coming up behind her and grabbing the book she was reaching for. "Hey what are you...oh it's you" she said turning to him as a smile spread over her face.
"Well my friends usually just call me Sebastian."
"Yes I remember. What are you doing here? No offense but you didn't exactly strike me as the type of guy to hang out in a library."
Narrowing his eyes at her he responded teasingly "I think there was an insult somewhere in that statement. I'll have you know that I love to read."
"Really?"
"Yes" he told her completely serious. Flipping through the thick book in his hand he asked "now what's in this book that's so interesting?"
Annette's jovial manor seemed to fade as she took the book from his hands and replied "it's sort of private."
She went back to searching through the stacks but Sebastian followed after her now curious. "Well that looks like a year book. What the hell could be so private in an old yearbook?"
"It wouldn't interest you."
Stepping in front of her suddenly he said "try me."
After studying him a moment to no doubt see if he was serious or not, Annette finally caved in. "All right I'll tell you but you have to promise to keep quiet about it, okay?"
Holding his hand to his heart he declared "scout's honor."
Annette rolled her eyes at him before sitting down on a nearby bench and opening up the heavy yearbook marked, 1989. "Back in the forties, about ten years after the school was built this group of kids formed this sort of...secret society, they called it the Manchester Tribunal. It was comprised of the wealthiest, most powerful students who would get together and, well, basically do whatever they want. They ran the entire school and controlled everyone in it including the faculty. No one ever knew about it though until the seventies when this girl died at the hands of one of its members."
Sebastian, who had been listening with a serious expression on his face, replied "da, da, da!"
Scowling Annette got to her feat and sighed "I knew you would just make a joke about this."
"I'm sorry" he said pulling her back. "It's just, come on Annette you make it sound all dramatic. It was probably just a bunch of rich assholes sitting around daddy's beach house getting stoned and laid. I seriously doubt any of them would be smart enough to plan a murder let alone cover it up."
"Yeah well I wouldn't be so sure" she said somberly as she resumed digging through the shelves.
Sebastian sighed "why are you so interested in this anyway? If the 'secret' society was discovered back in the seventies I doubt it's likely it's still around today."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that" she replied as she pushed the open yearbook at him. Pointing to a picture of the honor society she said "look at their arms and legs. See that T mark, that stands for tribunal. All their members have the same mark."
"So you think the tribunal is still alive and well?"
"Yes I do" turning away from him she admitted "I saw that same mark on my friend today. Actually she's my former friend since she suddenly decided to ditch me so she could hang out with the nastiest girl in school. Three years ago the same thing happened with a boyfriend of mine..."
Sebastian interest suddenly piqued at this "boyfriend?"
Annette smirked back at him "yeah, it was awhile ago. Anyway one night, when we were still together I noticed this mark on his shoulder. It was the same one in this photograph. Shortly after that he...we went our separate ways."
"Oh well, you are probably better off..." Sebastian started to trail off as he studied the picture closer. There was something about that mark, he had seen it somewhere before, on someone. It took a moment to finally register and when it did he grinned. It had been right before the assembly when he knocked into Kathryn. When she fell to the ground, for just a brief moment he saw her thigh and he saw that exact T scar on her.
"Sebastian" Annette called to him "Sebastian is something wrong?"
Breaking from his thoughts he smiled at her "oh it's nothing important. So what are you looking for exactly in these books?"
"Some sort of proof that the tribunal actually exists. When I find it I'm going to write a story on it and expose the whole thing."
Stopping her frantic motions with his hand Sebastian turned to her, completely serious "you know if these people are as much trouble as you say you should probably watch your back. Something tells me they wouldn't hesitate to retaliate is you tried to hurt them."
"Are you saying I shouldn't do it?"
"No" he said almost too quickly as the wheels in his head began to turn. "No I think you should most definitely do a story on it. In fact find out everything you can, I'll be eager to learn more about this but first, there's something I'd like you to do for me."
"What's that?"
Leaning in closer to her he asked "go out with me tomorrow night?"
A slow smile spread across her lips as he blue eyes twinkled. Sebastian knew his answer even before she told him "I think that can be arranged."
* * * * * *
"We have a possible problem brewing" Kathryn announced to the crowd before her. With a deep scowl on her face she finished "and it's name is Sebastian Valmont."
A nervous murmur went through the group as they all whispered to each other. From her seat in front of the Maguires large ball room, she looked over her loyal subjects, all nestled in cushy expensive chairs. "Settle down" Kathryn called out to them as she rose to her feet. "Now here's the situation. Mr. Valmont recently arrived here from London where he's attended various school's for most of his life. His parents are Tracy Valmont, an heiress from the Quartermain family and his father is Edward Valmont, who many of you might know as a major force in the business world. In short Sebastian is wealthy, smart, cultured and not bad of the eyes" she added with a sly grin.
"Then what's the problem? Ask him to join" a junior named Melissa piped in. When she was met by a sharp glare from Kathryn she shrunk back in her seat and muttered "sorry Kathryn..I just wondered."
Rolling her eyes Kathryn turned back to the crowd. "The problem is that Valmont isn't what you'd call a joiner. He fancies himself a rebel, a rebel who where's custom made Armani apparently. Getting him to enter into the tribunal might prove a difficult task."
"What are you going to do?"
"Well for starters I've taken it upon myself to place one of you in the position of getting close to him. How is that going Marcus?"
From the back of the room the tall attractive African American guy got to his feet. Dressed in a well tailored Gucci suit he was by far one of the tribunals more attractive members, which made him a sometimes bed mate to Kathryn. With his usual confident grin he explained "it's going as planned. We're becoming friends but I think you're right about him not joining. He won't unless he has specific reason to and even if he did I doubt we could control him. The boy's got a mind of his own and you can't fuck with free will."
With a calculating grin she replied "just watch me. Did he tell you anything that might help us persuade him other wise?"
"The only thing solid I got out of him is that he's interested in claiming two females from Manchester."
"Who?"
"Well one is Annette Hardgrove"
This was immediately met by a loud groan and a few snickers from the crowd with one member calling out "get in line!"
With a tired sigh Kathryn rolled her eyes and said "how original of him. Who's the other girl?"
Marcus smiled "that would be you."
There was silence in the room but everyone was staring at each other with small secretive smiles. Although it was known Kathryn screwed around it was never discussed or talked about. It was one of the few forbidden rules. Everyone there just pretended she was loyal to Joshua and vise versa but they all knew the truth. Kathryn noticed the smirks of recognition at this but ignored it. Instead she replied coolly "once again not terribly surprising. Okay look I want you to continue to make friends with him and try to find out anything else that could be useful. In the meantime I'm going to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't cause any problems. Now moving on to Mrs. Turner, what could we do to keep her quiet concerning that little accident during lab? I was thinking we get the bitch fired..."
* * * * * *
Around midnight the meeting finally came to an end and Kathryn was on her way home. As her limo barreled along fifth avenue she thought about what she would do about Sebastian. She needed to find out more about him before making any sort of move towards the bedroom. When they met earlier that day her interest had definitely been piqued and then she heard he also was into Annette. His appeal sudden started to drop for her then.
God the last thing she wanted to do was get into another battle with that little bitch over a guy, she had already gone through it with Joshua. Not that Kathryn had stolen him away from her...exactly. Back when she was a freshman she had been immediately inducted into the tribunal where Joshua was the newly appointed leader. He was seeing Annette then but everyone knew she wouldn't put out. So Kathryn had taken it upon herself to seduce him figuring it would benefit her goal of someday becoming leader of the tribunal. Her plan had worked on all accounts, she got Joshua and the position.
However as happy as they had been Kathryn always got the feeling he never fully got over Annette. Kathryn knew she was good in bed and challenging for him but Annette was decent, kind and pure. All things she wasn't. For the life of her she couldn't understand how a guy who found that attractive could also want her. She would have to pose that question to Sebastian later.
When she arrived home to the house that was still empty she headed upstairs to her room. As Kathryn opened the door to the dark bedroom she realized she wasn't alone. Standing in the shadows was a dark silhouette of a man that made her heart stop. Oh god could it be!? With a smile she flipped on the lights and..."Sebastian?"
He turned around and smiled at her pleasantly "hello Kathryn. Is something wrong?"
She realized her face fell when saw it wasn't him. Kathryn scolded herself for thinking it was Joshua in the first place, that was ridiculous not to mention pathetic. Still it was strange Sebastian had nearly the same body type as her Joshua. Scowling at him she demanded "what the hell are you doing here? Who let you in?"
"One of your maids. This place isn't exactly fort knocks sweetheart but I did find it odd that she just let me in, no questions asked. Tell me do you usually have random guys drop by late at night?"
Approaching him with cautious but confident steps she hissed "unless you've come hoping I'll once again knock you on your ass, I suggest you leave. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep now...alone."
"Fine, then I'll leave you alone" he said brushing past her towards the door. "I'm sure my new friend Annette would be very interested to learn about your part in the tribunal."
Just as his hand was on the door she called out to him "what did you say?"
"Oh have I gotten your attention?" he asked with a smug smile as he turned back to her.
Her face betraying nothing Kathryn demanded "I have no idea what you're talk about. What's the tribunal?"
"Strange I thought you'd be a better liar than that." Sebastian circled Kathryn before standing right in front of her.
"What are you getting-"
"Sh" he silenced her pressing his finger to her lip. "Don't bother to deny it. I know all about your little secret club." Sebastian's hand gently caressed her thigh as he talked in a soothing but menacing voice. Slowly his hand moved up under her skirt until his finger tips began tracing the T shaped scar on her inner thigh.
Feeling his fingers that close to her sex made Kathryn shiver and her breath quicken. She looked up into Sebastian's eyes to find him staring at her intently. Her mind was racing with a million questions most of all how the fuck did he know about the tribunal? She didn't ask him that though, not yet. "What do you want?"
"What are you willing to give me?" he whispered in her ear as his fingers began to brush against her panties.
Reaching down Kathryn grabbed him by the wrist and yanked his hand away. "Well you aren't getting that" she hissed as she turned from him and went to her dresser to get a cigarette. As she lit it she asked "who the hell told you about the tribunal?"
Studying her with an amused glint in his eye Sebastian responded "a friend informed me about it."
"A friend?" Kathryn snickered. "So I'm to assume that little bitch Annette told you. How did she find out about it?"
"Ooh I'm sensing a little hostility here Kathryn" he laughed as he sat back on her bed. "I'm sensing you two don't get along?"
"You're quick" she shot back sarcastically as she stood over him. "I take it you on the other hand are into that loser."
He shrugged "what's not to like? Beautiful, smart and an honest to goodness virgin. I honestly can't think of anything more appealing."
Putting her knee between his legs Kathryn climbed onto the bed, practically straddling him. Leaning over so she would purposely brush his face against her cleavage she asked "is that so? What if I told you I could offer you something better, much better?"
Sebastian eyed her, curious where this was going. "Like what?"
"Like the opportunity to join the tribunal. You wouldn't even have to go through most of the initiation bullshit, just say the word and you're in. I'm offering you the chance to become one of us Sebastian. Anyone in that school would kill for the opportunity to have just a sliver of the power we have."
"Hmm, and if I joined could I have you?"
Kathryn raised an eye brow as she smiled "perhaps."
Sebastian drew her face down to him like he was going to kiss her. However he stopped when their mouths with an inch apart and whispered "no thanks."
Before Kathryn had a chance to react Sebastian tossed her back on her bed and got to his feet. A hand ran through her now mussed hair as she yelled out "excuse me? What did you just say?"
Laughing triumphantly he explained "I said no. Surely I'm not the first guy to tell you that."
"I offer you the opportunity of a goddamn life time and you say no? What the hell is your problem?"
"Well Kathryn even though you make it sound real enticing, my idea of a good time is not following orders from a bunch of rich brats. In fact I would sooner slit my throat than ever join up with your little cult in training."
With a cold sneer she told him "that could be arranged."
Reaching out he caressed her cheek and cooed "you're so cute when you try to be threatening."
"Don't test me Valmont" she warned as she got to her feet swatting his hand away in the process. As Kathryn tried to figure out just why he was turning her down something suddenly occurred to her. "Oh I get it, you have a thing for Annette don't you? Here I thought you were possibly marginally interesting but in the end you're just another love struck, pussy whipped school boy!"
"Oh please" Sebastian sighed with a roll of the eyes. "Annette is just a pawn and in a few days time she'll be just a notch in my belt. I'll have her, humiliate her and in the end I'll accomplish something you're little clique could never pull off. I'm going to ruin the golden girl and show all you losers what a real player can do."
Hearing this sort of passion come out of him made Kathryn furious but at the same time incredibly turned on. She wasn't sure weather to hit him or pull him back down on the bed with her and that impressed her. Still he was threatening her and everything she stood for. That would not be tolerated.
"You don't get it do you? If you're not with us Sebastian you're against us therefor you will be eliminated. As for Annette it will never happen, I'll see to it if only to prove to you how very pathetic your so called talents are. So right now either you're in or you're out. If you don't want to be part of the tribunal I will consider this a declaration of war. What's it going to be?"
His eyes blazing with intensity, Sebastian didn't back down an inch. Instead he strode up to her and replied "I say no...so I guess war it is." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he grabbed her suddenly and kissed Kathryn hard on the mouth before pushing her back onto the bed and storming out of her bedroom.
Still reeling in shock over what just happened, Kathryn slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position. Letting her fingers graze her lips she smiled to herself as she repeated his words, "war it is."
- to be continued (Please Review)