Chapter 6: One Scandal at a Time

"Evil, when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty."

-Simone Weil

Today was not going to be the best day of Cecile Caldwell's life, but the high school senior didn't know it yet. In fact, as she smiled beatifically at the mirror, dressed in her Manchester Prep school uniform, she thought about how perfect life was for her. She had everything a girl could want. A loving, handsome boyfriend, hundreds of friends who greeted her everyday, a new car courtesy of her dad, and... She sighed, a picture of rich, handsome Court Reynolds catching her eye. Oh yeah, another boyfriend. Maybe her life was almost perfect, but she wasn't complaining.

Of course, that just shows how she's a stupid little twit.

During the same time Cecile Caldwell was grinning like an idiot at her reflection, another set of pretty green eyes stared at the mirror mounted on her blue and gold walls doubtfully, contemplating whether or not she would wear that adorable five million dollar ring or the diamond earrings she had purchased on her last day in Paris. With her hair pulled up in an elegant chignon and her body adorned in a tasteful black suit that enhanced the seriousness in her determined, beautiful face, Kathryn was planning to have a productive day. She had woken up to find her bed empty, although she remembered having her stepbrother with her last night.

"I should have locked the door." She grumbled to herself, now fully aware of what had happened.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier." That voice, dammit, what had Sebastian been doing in her room last night?

She shook her head, as if to shake the previous night from her mind.

"This doesn't change anything."

Finally settling to forgo the ring, she picked up her purse and headed to the dining room, where the smell of freshly baked croissants filled her nostrils. Gag. She rolled her eyes, her lips tightening in annoyance at the otherwise soothing smell of coffee and the sounds of murmuring at the not-so-often used Valmont table, her heels clicked against the marble floor and she tilted her chin up, fully ready to face the very picture that could otherwise ruin her first morning in New York.

And there it was. If Kathryn saw this everyday, she probably wouldn't have to stick her finger down her throat just to throw up. It made her sick. Sick, perversely jealous, and utterly hateful. Sebastian's strong, tanned arm was slung around Blondie's waist and the two were laughing at something Annette said.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" he asked her gently, his blue eyes probing into hers with an unmistakable look of concern. "You looked pretty out of it last night."

"I know somebody else who was out of it last night." Kathryn interrupted breezily, before Annette could say something nauseating and loveydovey to her pussy whipped asshole of a boyfriend.

The two looked up from their breakfast, and Annette's face fell at the sight of Kathryn looking absolutely smug.

"I think I just lost my appetite." She winced, pushing her plate away.

"Well I would have lost mine if I continued to watch you and exchange another lovestruck look, so too bad, Dorothy."

"Assuming you actually eat something. I just thought you threw up all the time." Sebastian glared at her, his handsome features hardening into a scowl.

"Well, what would I throw up if I didn't have anything to eat?" she snapped back, turning her attention to Annette. "Don't you have anywhere else to be? You're ruining my day."

"Listen, you—"

"It's okay." Annette interrupted, practically feeling like a referee between a boxing match as the two argued. She laid a hand on his wrist, smiling in assurance. "I have to go meet Daddy later anyway. You remember, don't you? About the fundraiser for underprivileged children in the city, right Sebastian? You promised me you'd go."

He narrowed his blue eyes at Kathryn, who was looking suspiciously amused beneath her haughty expression, as if to warn her not to even think about making a nasty side comment.

Surprisingly enough, she didn't, but it wasn't because of the look he gave her.

In fact, they were all gaping at a very much naked muscular man who had just entered the room with a sleepy look on his face.

"One of yours, Kathryn?" Annette inquired.

"Sadly, no." Kathryn cast an admiring glance at his toned abs. "I was otherwise preoccupied with a different man last night."

Last night. The mention of their strange meeting last night caused Sebastian to wince, and before he could answer, the brown haired guy finally spoke.

"Where's the bathroom?" he asked, scratching his scruffy jaw.

All three simultaneously pointed down the hall, and even Annette could feel a blush creep across her cheeks as the man walked away.

"Disgusting." He muttered, now losing his appetite as well. He glanced at Kathryn, who was checking out Tarzan's ass as he practically sauntered out, and felt a twinge of resentment towards her.

"Who the fuck was that?" he said warily, not even seeing Annette try to avert her eyes to her unfinished breakfast.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but was he feeling just a tiny bit of jealousy against a different woman?

"He's with me." Came a lighthearted, smooth female voice. The tall, blond model strolled in, wearing a silk robe than was loosely opened, exposing a piece of tanned skin. She looked relaxed, contradicting the otherwise tense look on Kathryn, Sebastian, and Annette's faces. Noticing the grim faces of the couple and her sister's smirk, her deep set gray eyes quickly sensed the situation. "Good morning, everybody. I trust you three had a great night?"

Sebastian and Kathryn's eyes met for the briefest moment before replying. "No."

"No?" Belinda said in mock surprise. "I could've sworn I heard voices last night while I was with John…"

"What are you doing in my house?"

"Oh, that's right… We haven't been properly introduced." Her long hair casually pulled back in a loose ponytail, Belinda smiled evenly. "I'm Belinda Van Ryan."

"I know who you are. Model. Probably narcissistic and a bitch, with just a tad of alcohol and drugs on the side. What are you doing here?"

"Sebastian!" Annette looked horrified at her boyfriend's rudeness. She was scandalized at the way he was behaving towards this woman, granted, he had been that way with Kathryn earlier (in which case, she probably deserved it), but Annette didn't really think this woman deserved such a treatment. She was about to tell him to apologize when Kathryn said the words that gave her a sudden chill.

"Belinda's my sister."

Sebastian's jaw dropped and Annette paled, "What?"

"She's… my… sister… You know? Sibling? We have the same parents?" She enunciated each word properly as though Sebastian and Annette were idiots. "What, have you two been sucking face so much that you've lost your intelligence?"

"Oh, God… This is too much to handle at the moment, I think I'd better be going." Annette answered, her discomfort increasing as she glanced from one Merteuil to another. This could not be good.

"Annette, you just used the Lord's name in vain. Don't you have to go torture yourself in guilt now?"

"Screw you, Kathryn."

Belinda's lips turned up into a familiar sneer that somewhat resembled Kathryn's. A part of her admired Annette for having the guts to bitch at Kathryn, who, from what Belinda gathered, was pretty fucking evil. The other part of her, however, the larger part, merely saw her as an amusement. A passing fling, if not more. Still, even though she would have liked to put in her two cents worth, she decided there would be more of that later.

"Oh, Kathryn, cut her some slack. She was sick last night, the least you could do is be nice. Where's mother, anyway?"

"Off in another attempt to deplete the Valmont wealth, I'm sure." Sebastian replied, snarling at the glaring brunette before him.

"Only because your fornicating father decided to diddle his slutty secretary in Aspen again." Kathryn sighed, "Your father has such a bad taste in women."

Sebastian smirked, "Clearly. He married your mother, didn't he?"

"Well, that apparent trait runs in the family." She glanced disdainfully at Annette. "Like father, like son."

Annette rolled her eyes, standing up to peck Sebastian on the cheek. She'd had enough of Kathryn Merteuil's bitchy attitude for today. "I'll see you later, Sebastian. It was nice meeting you, Belinda."

"Au revoir!" the blonde smirked, enjoying at the unsettled look on her face never left while she exited. Sebastian didn't even seem to notice that his girlfriend was gone, because he continued his ranting with Kathryn as if nothing had happened.

"No, that trait had stopped three years ago, when I chose to continue my relationship with Annette."

"Oh? So is that the reason why you were in my room last night?"

"You were in Kathryn's room last night?" Belinda exclaimed in surprise (Well, not really, but she wanted to see the looks on their faces.)

Sebastian's tanned face flushed, his crystal blue eyes narrowing at the brunette. With a strangled voice, he shot back. "It's not like you were pushing me away! 'Come sit next to me, Sebastian'" he mocked her voice, perfectly copying Kathryn's coy tone and making Belinda chuckle.

"I was on drugs, Sebastian." Kathryn laughed coldly, brushing off his remark. "What's your excuse?"

"I don't need this crap. I'm leaving." He muttered, storming out of the house in an angry huff.

Belinda raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows at Kathryn, "Would you care to explain?"

"No." Kathryn pulled out her cell phone and dialed Blaine's number. The last thing she wanted to talk about was last night, especially to Belinda of all people. Her sister was certainly many things, but understanding was not one of them. And besides, even she didn't understand her fucked up relationship with Sebastian.

"Hello?"

"Did you do it?" she demanded, "Did you release the video?"

"Of course, princess. Check the society pages and you might be so overjoyed that you might even consider blowing me."

"That's the furthest thought from my mind, however…" a wicked smile spread across her lips. "I might be willing to reward you financially."

As soon as Kathryn hung up, she grinned at her sister. "Do me a favor and hand me the newspaper, will you?"

Belinda complied, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get dressed. I'm meeting Gisele for lunch." She rolled her gray eyes. "What other way to waste a perfect morning than to wine and dine with a self obsessed model who resembles a giraffe. If she talks about Leo one more time I might strangle her. Oh yeah, and can you tell John to get the fuck out if you see him?"

"Fine. Talk to you later?" Kathryn said absentmindedly, flipping through the paper disinterestedly until a particular headline caught her eye. She would have had a go with John the naked guy herself, but she didn't particularly like sloppy seconds.

"Sure."

Once again, Kathryn was left alone. But, unlike the previous night, she felt a triumphant laughter escape her lips. There, in front of her, was the testament of her revenge. Or at least, the first part of it.

"Socialite Bunny Caldwell's Daughter Caught in Porn Video Scandal"

Calling out for the driver to prepare the limo, the chuckling Kathryn brought the newspaper with her as she entered the car, intending to elevate her mood some more.

"Where to, Ms. Merteuil?"

" Manchester Prep."

The smell of blood was drawing her closer, and as Kathryn caught a fleeting glimpse of Sebastian heading out to his precious Jag, a reminiscent smile played across her lips. His face was, of course, impassive, just as it had always been. In another lifetime, she would have invited him to watch the twit blubber and cry at the scandal that would ruin her pathetic little life. She knew that even though Sebastian never particularly liked watching the outcome of her manipulations, he would nevertheless go with her, not because he had a sick fascination with the devastation, but because Kathryn would ask him to.

"Who are you calling?" his blue eyes watched her as she picked up the black cordless phone.

"Cecile." She answered promptly, only to have him grab the phone from her and return it to its cradle.

"What are you doing?" Kathryn huffed in annoyance.

Sebastian had a serious look on his attractive features, "Before we go through with this, I just want you to be aware of the damage we're about to cause."

Like she would ever give it a second thought, but Kathryn humored him anyway. "I'm aware."

She picked up the phone, but he snatched it away again. "Are you really? I mean, we've done some pretty fucked up shit in our time but this… I mean, we're destroying an innocent girl. You do realize that."

Fuck. That should have been the first clear indication of Sebastian's descent into the fucking light. Oh well, she almost regretfully tore her eyes from him before settling in to read the article.

His turn will come soon enough.

---

"Hey, Tamara!" Cecile grinned perkily, making her way to the steps of Manchester Prep. It's going to be a beautiful day, she thought giddily, an extra bounce in her steps. Her iron straight light brown hair shone and her dark eyes glittered as she headed over to her room when she noticed something was a little off…

People were staring at her, and not in a good way. Even her, as Cecile proclaimed it, BFF Tamara Smith was snickering at her while holding a newspaper in her hand. Odd. Tamara never even knew what a newspaper was for…

As her small brown eyes narrowed in confusion, she passed by Tommy, who was holding a handheld computer and watching her with a leering look in his eyes.

"Oh, Ronald!" she froze at the sound of her own voice coming from the speakers of the handheld.

"Wh-what the hell is that?" she sputtered, trying to get a glimpse of what was in it (although she had a pretty good idea) only to have Tommy hold it out of reach.

"Damn, Cecile I didn't know you gave good head." The football player licked his puffy lips. "Want to give me a shot?"

"Give that to me!" she cried out, panic spreading through her body. When she finally managed to take a look at what was being played, she suddenly wished she had stayed home.

There she was, in full color, very much naked and sucking her other boyfriend Ronald Clifford's thing off. They were in his room, and it even though it had probably been from a hidden camera, it still provided a clear picture of what the popular Cecile Caldwell did after school hours.

"Just like that, baby." The Ronald on screen gasped, pushing Cecile's head into him.

"Turn it off!" the girl screeched, her face turning a bright red.

Tamara came up to her with a disgusted face and threw her the newspaper, which bore the article that made Cecile almost lose her breakfast.

"Socialite Bunny Caldwell's Daughter Caught in Porn Video Scandal"

"Disgusting." Her former best friend muttered, casting a glare at her before walking off. Everybody in the hall was silent now, apart from the occasional 'Oh, Ronald!' that still came from other handheld computers.

Her life was over. Cecile couldn't breathe and tears started filling her now panicked eyes, she pushed past the murmuring crowd and headed out to the courtyard, where somebody was waiting for her.

"Court." She struggled to catch her breath, but her racing heart didn't allow her to. She felt humiliated, and now her other boyfriend was here. Court Reynolds was holding the newspaper with a shocked look on his face.

"Would you mind telling me what the fuck this is?"

For once, Cecile felt like she was a freshman student again under the tutelage of Kathryn Merteuil, whose commanding presence immediately demanded silence. "I-I…"

"YOU WHORE!" Court threw the paper at her, "Don't you realize how humiliating this is for me? To have my girlfriend cheat on me with some middle class loser?"

Not like he didn't cheat on her anyway, but that's not the point. Those roofies weren't purchased for nothing.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed, "It just happened!"

"Oh yeah, you tripped and your mouth landed on his dick." Court spat, throwing her the same disgusted look everybody else at school was giving her at the moment.

Cecile trembled at her harsh words, but what she saw next made her stomach drop.

Someone very beautiful and very familiar was approaching them with a graceful, confident strut. "Oh, God." She groaned out loud at the realization, "Kathryn."

"What?" he momentarily looked surprised at the sudden mention of his ex's name.

With her long brown hair pulled up, Cecile could see the slow wicked smile that played across her features as she raised a hand to wave at her.

"Oh, hello." She greeted them politely, flashing Court a flirtatious grin. "I just came by to donate a somewhat paltry sum to my former school. How are you, Cecile?"

"Like you don't know!" Cecile's face turned bright red again, although this time it was from anger. "You did this! You set me up! You're the only one who knew about Ronald, you vindictive bitch!" she raised a hand to slap that smug smile that only she seemed to see off Kathryn's face when Court stepped in front of her.

"Cecile! Are you insane? Kathryn had nothing to do with this!"

As if on cue, Kathryn's large green eyes began to water with tears. "Cecile, I know this must be a rough time for you… Being betrayed by Ronald and all… But I want you to know that I'm here for you… I'm still your friend, remember?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU SET US UP!"

"I did no such thing!" Kathryn let out an upset cry, perfectly falling into Court's arms as he soothed her while glaring at Cecile.

"It's over, you whore." He snapped at the bewildered girl. "Can't you just accept the fact that your loser music teacher got off on making disgusting porn videos of the two of you having sex?"

"Really? Like you haven't begged me to blow you while you had a video camera in your room!"

Kathryn almost let out a laugh at the way Cecile was stomping her foot on the ground, but managed to let out another sob instead. Court's arms remained tightly wound around her waist, and was it her imagination or was he actually starting to squeeze her ass? She rolled her eyes, smiling nastily at Cecile, who lunged at her once more.

"She's playing you, Court!" she screamed angrily. "She's the bulimic headcase you dumped remember?"

"Shut up!" her now-former boyfriend shoved her roughly, before addressing Kathryn with a guilty and embarrassed look in his eyes.

"Baby, I never said anything like that about you." He spoke to her, the obvious lust in his voice almost making Kathryn drop the wounded-friend act and kick him in the groin. "Can I drive you home?"

"Okay." She sniffled, allowing Court to hold her arm gently as they walked back to his car. "I can stop by some other time."

"You bitch!" Cecile yelled, not caring anymore as the entire student body gaped at her outburst.

Kathryn stopped for a moment and turned, the tears still in her eyes but it was clear that the emotion was not. As her pink, glossy lips mouthed out the words, Cecile felt like she had been stung.

"Fuck you." She made sure to speak slowly so that Cecile would understand her. Then she wiggled her fingers at her and never looked back.

"Kathryn? Are you alright?" Court asked her with a concern that didn't reach his brown eyes, probably because he was too busy leering at her chest.

Disgusting fuck. She sighed, now wiping the tears from her green eyes. "I suppose…" she said uncertainly, giving him a smile. "I just feel so sorry for poor Cecile…"

A/N: Sorry for the slow update!

Nicole: I'm not making any promises as to who will go after whom, because promises lead to details, details lead to spoilers, and spoilers lead to no more fun for me. As for getting rid of Annette… Don't worry, my dear, it'll come in due time. I'm not a K/S shipper for nothing. ;-D

Sam: One word: Update. ;-) Okay, maybe not just one word... Update Now. There. Better! Congrats on the new story, btw. Great job!

Wicked vamp: Aww thanks for the review even though you shouldn't be in front of your computer… Don't worry I'll try to write as fast as I can so you'll have more than one chapter to read when you're done with your exams.

Katie: Don't you like poor Belinda? Yeah, I like Kathryn better too. Don't worry, it'll all come together in no time! ;-P


Death eater: Thanks for the reviews! ;-)