Author's Note: Hey guys I just wanted to let you know that there will be no updates next week. I will be on vacation from 7/26 until 8/2. I may put a chapter out on 8/2 but that's doubtful. So anyway, the next chapter of Sweet Revenge will be out in two weeks. Enjoy!
Chapter Forty – When the Bough Breaks
Jarod and Conrad were working on their project in their family studies class. They were currently going through piles of photos they had brought from home of their families to decide which pictures would look best in the portfolio they had compiled.
"I think we should use this picture of your mom and Jessie. What do you think?" Conrad asked pushing a photo of a pregnant Chloe hugging Jessica. It had been taken during the summer when they were at the beach.
"I don't know, I like the one of my mom by herself … that one." He picked up a photo of Chloe taken a year before she had become pregnant. She was wearing a long floor length black evening gown with her hair pinned up in curls.
"Yeah I guess so but isn't that kind of dressy for the album."
"Eh, put it in the pile anyway we may be able to use it."
Conrad looked at the photo for a moment before placing it in the pile of photos to keep. Scratching his head he surveyed all of the photos that they had picked to put in the album. So far they all were just causal photos of the family.
"Jarod, Conrad how is your project coming along?" Ms. Lee, their family studies instructor asked, as she looked down at the photos they had all over the table they shared.
"It's coming out just fine Ms. Lee. We've already finished the written parts the only thing left to do is put them together with the pictures." Jarod answered promptly.
"Well, good I'm glad to see you two boys have also completed your project. Good job. Now, you know if you have any problems at all you can just come to me for assistance."
Conrad nodded. "We will." Then Ms. Lee moved on to check on another students' progress with the project. "Hey did you get a chance to ask your dad about the bet, yet?"
"Nope and I've decided I'm not going to. I talked to Dominic about it on Friday. It turns out he already knew about the bet. According to him everyone does," Jarod rolled his eyes. "Anyway, he pretty much called me an idiot for every getting upset about it in the first place since it happened when I wasn't even born." He shrugged. "I figured that he was right, although I'm not telling him that it would go to his head."
Conrad nodded in agreement. "So, I tried to call you this weekend, to ask you if you liked the Ring, but your mom said you weren't allowed to use the phone. So are you on grounded again or something?"
"Something like that," Jarod hedged, uncharacteristically vague, which made Conrad even more curious. "Oh man, the movie was the freakin' greatest, just wait until you see it. You'll love it."
"Great. So, what did you do?"
"What makes you think I did something?"
"Because, I know you. So, spill already."
"True enough. Well, on Friday my Dad let us watch The Ring. So it was me, Dom, Ana, Rena, and Rocky with my Dad. Anyway, I was totally fine with the movie but it really freaked Dom out. Man you should have seen him, Rena set the DVD to watch the extra footage, and Dom hightailed it out of there so quick he knocked over the last of the popcorn. It was any wonder that he made to the end of the movie let alone to even attempt the extra scenes. That's when I go the idea to really get him. So I got together with Ana and the girls on Saturday morning and I got Ana to wet her hair and pull it in front of her face with this old nightgown she had. We all snuck into his room and I took the remote and cut on the TV, Ana stood in front of it dripping wet. We waited for Dominic to wake up and then Ana started to walk near him like the girl in the movie. When she got to his bed she repeated a line from the movie and Dom shrieked." Jarod finished laughing.
"Oh man that's brutal. So what's your damage, how long you grounded for?"
"Eh, not that long. Mom was madder at Dad for letting us watch the movie than she was at me so I'm basically not allowed to play any games, touch my computer for anything other than school work and no phone for two weeks. But, man it was so worth it to see the look on Dominic's face. It was classic – totally unforgettable." He laughed just thinking about his brother's horrified expression at Ana's appearance.
"Hey Kiriakis, who's this?" A classmate named Brian came and asked as he looked down at some of the pictures on the desk.
Jarod stopped laughing on a sigh as he reached over to pick up the photo. It was a photo of Chloe taken when she was still in high school. It was a picture of her watching his father playing at a baseball game. She was intently was watching the game. "That's my mom. It's a picture of her taken when she was at a baseball game of my Dad's."
Brian turned to Ted, his friend who had just come to stand beside him. "Dude, doesn't his mom look like that girl on the flyer for the that website that Sonny showed us." He took the photo from Jarod and showed it to the other boy.
"Yeah, she does kinda look like her."
"What website are you talking about?"
Ted handed the photo back to Jarod shrugging. "Oh its just this website that was closed down by the cops a couple of years ago."
"What kinda site gets closed down by the cops and what does that have to do with my mother?" Jarod questioned lightly.
Ted scratched his head. "It was like some porn site or something, I think—,"
"What!" Jarod exclaimed then looking around seeing other kids look at them strangely, then quite a bit he repeated his exclamation. "What?"
Brian protested hands up. "Dude, its so not what you think. We're talking about the website that Conrad's mom and this chick Jan Spears set up that and posted naked photos of your mom taking a shower on it. It was a complete scandal for years ago. But, I'm sure you've heard about this before." Then knowing the wide-eyed looks of shock on Jarod and Conrad's faces he asked another question. "Wait a minute you did know about the website and everything right?" Brian asked finally seeing that the shock on their faces was real.
"You can't honestly believe that we think you're serious Brian. I mean we weren't born yesterday. That story sounds too far-fetched to be true." Conrad ranted. "Give me a break."
"Yeah what do you take us for, idiots or something. Whoever told you that story should try to be a little more realistic. As if my Mother would let someone take photos of her naked— whatever." Jarod huffed indignantly.
"Hey this is a true story. Besides your mom didn't let anyone take photos of her naked. Look let me tell you the whole story. Basically, you mom and Con man's mom didn't get along in high school. This Jan Spears chick, who was complete bad news didn't like your mom either so she and your mom set up an experiment to go wrong. Jan duped some geek into putting some chemicals on Jarod's mom's hair so she would have to take a shower at school where they had set up a camera in the girls' locker room. So then on the night of the last day of school, they had this end of the year dance where they would post pictures of the students throughout the school year. It was the last dance of the night and then this photo of your mom covered in bubbles pops up with a message to visit operagirl.net to see more photos—"
"I don't believe this for a second. There's no way a chaperone would ever let something like that happen." Conrad disagreed clearing not believing anything that he had heard. He wrote it off as another attempt to get a dig at Jarod. Besides, there was no way his mother would ever do something like that, he was sure of it.
"Hey, I don't know. Maybe the chaperones were a bunch of slackers or something, but it happened, for real dude. Everything came out the next day. If you don't believe me you can just check the newspaper. It was in the papers and everything." Brian finished.
"Look that's a nice story and all but I don't believe it either. " Jarod replied finally after thinking it through. Although, he felt as if there was something he was missing.
Brian held up his hand in offense. "Hey don't believe it. Check it out for yourself. Ask your mom, she'll tell you the truth and if she doesn't its in the newspaper … they don't lie." Brian and Ted turned and left leaving Jarod and Conrad to themselves.
After they left Conrad turned to Jarod. "Do you think he's telling the truth?"
"I don't know but if it is true and I'm not saying it is, but if he's telling the truth then where was my father when it happened?"
Conrad had no answer for him as he wondered if his mother could be so cruel as to post naked pictures of someone on the Internet for the entire world to see.
~*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, at Salem High JT Brady was in the process of gaining entrance into the teacher's lounge. He had agreed to complete the latest senior prank on the teachers. In all honesty, it was pretty lame, but he'd do it anyway since Isaac had dared him to.
Focusing back on the job at hand JT easily opened the door to the teacher's lounge with his so-called master key – a tiny screwdriver used to tighten up glasses pushing open the door he quickly walked inside. The last thing he needed was to be caught breaking into the teacher's lounge. As the door finally closed he finally got a look at the teacher's inner sanctum. In truth, the lounge was anything but span spectacular. It was a small room to begin with but when you add in the large rectangular table, small circular table, sofa, some chairs, counter with a microwave, a sink, and a kitchen sized refrigerator, a water jug machine from Deer Park, a coat rack, and two doors that presumably held storage and a closet and it was kind of cramped.
"This isn't exactly what I thought this room would be like. Jeez, I thought this room would be bigger look better. I don't know anything but this. Oh well let me just find those water bottles so I can drop this coloring in it and get out of here without getting into any trouble." He began to look through some of the cabinets for the placement of the other jugs. But, after quick glimpse into each cabinet, he realized the jugs wouldn't be there. "What was I thinking? No one in his right mind would put water jugs down there." He rose to his feet thinking of where to look next when he heard the knob on the door jingle and two women's voices. Not knowing what else to do he quickly dove behind the sofa and prayed whoever came into the room wouldn't find him. The door opened as two female teachers walked into the lounge immersed in their own conversation.
"So anyway Zoey you never told me what happened with you and Adam after that parent teacher-meeting." One of the voices said.
"What's to tell we went to Joanie's meeting together like good little parents and then he went back to his little French tart and I went home to my dog." The voice, which apparently belonged to Zoey, replied moving around opening the door to the refrigerator. "Nothing happened. But, I did see the most delicious sight while I was there."
"Well do tell." Someone said as the set the microwave.
"Well apparently they were calling in the parents of the 8th graders because I saw Mr. Brady "Sex on Fre-eakin' Legs" Black."
Behind the sofa, JT cringed.
"Did he look as good as he does in pictures in the paper?"
"Oh honey, those pictures do not do him justice. The man is Gor-ge-ous honey, 100% better up close and in person. Sara, I'm telling you if he wasn't a married man— heck if he wasn't so far gone on his wife I'd do anything for some of that." The microwave beeped.
"Oh you," Sara giggled like a schoolgirl, and then leaning in close she assumed a haughty position. "Well my Suzanne tells me that his son, Conrad and his little friend Jarod Kiriakis are and I quote 'the hottest guys in the 7th and 8th grade.'"
"Not surprising I mean Jarod Kiriakis is the son of Philip Kiriakis — Mmm that man is just as good looking as Brady Black."
"And apparently just as in love with his wife. I hear that Chloe Kiriakis is pregnant with their fifth child. Five kids can you imagine that? I have enough trouble with my two."
"Well Philip Kiriakis could impregnate me anytime. I'd be on my back faster than you can say buttermilk biscuit."
Sara said as she headed toward the doorway,
"I know, but hey, a girls gotta have fantasies. I wouldn't want to be a boring librarian, at least this way I can have my fantasies to save me from boredom." The door opened and closed moments later.
JT waited a few minutes just in case they came back before getting up from his hidden position behind the sofa. "Geez, who ever knew librarians could be so dirty-minded. And about Philip and Brady too – eww!" He shivered in disgust. Then continued his search for the water jugs. The sooner he got out of the teacher's lounge the better because the last thing he wanted was to be privy to anymore discussions about people he actually knew.
He opened the door to the closet and found several jugs of water waiting to be used. Bending down he took out a packet of food coloring tablets from his pocket. He opened the top of the jug and just as he was about to place the tablets into the jug someone cleared their throat behind him. Hesitantly, pausing in dropping the tablet, he turned to see Vice Principal Helmsey standing above him hands crossed.
"Mr. Brady may I ask what are you doing?"
JT glanced back at his hand holding the pill over the water jug before looking back. "Purifying the water?"
Vice Principal Helmsey arched his brow in response.
"I'm in trouble right?" JT asked standing up.
"Yes, you are John Thomas, yes you are."
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