Chapter 8:

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Reid proudly trotted off to win the bet, and the date agreement of the woman sitting alone at a lunch table, and left his disbelieving friends behind. He looked back once to smile back at their smirking faces, letting his ecstatic face tell them he was still just as confident as ever.

"Hey guys," Kate said, finally joining them for lunch and setting her tray in Reid's old seat next to Pogue. "Where's Reid off to?"

"He has a bet with Tyler," Pogue said, barely keeping from laughing out loud, though Caleb wasn't having as much success. Both boys' eyes were unwaveringly glued to their doomed blond friend. "Reid's going to get verbally bashed by that chick again."

"He's so going to get dissed," Caleb confirmed with a nod.

Tyler seemed quite pleased with himself, feeling very self-assured to the fact that they spoke truth, and was glad they were all in agreement about it.

They watched Reid go to Elle with a resolute stride, then stop before her table with that devious smile he couldn't help but do. The three others he left behind leaned in to be sure to catch every word…

-

"Hey there," Reid said when Elle didn't notice him standing before her. She looked up with surprise.

"Oh… um… Hi?" she replied with confusion. Reid sat down on the other side of the table.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked good-naturedly. She looked at him like he had just told her he was a gay alien bloodsucker.

"History…?"

"That's cool," he said with a nod. "Where was your dad today?"

Elle frowned, unable to get a grasp on the reason this man was sitting before her.

"Upstate… his mother's sick."

"Oh," Reid said with a sympathetic look. "Sorry to hear it…"

"I'm sorry-- Does this petty exchange serve a purpose?" she asked, her bewilderment very obvious in her voice. It didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Yeah, listen," he said with a winning grin. "There's this party tomorrow at--"

"Wait, wait," she interrupted, then began to chuckle in disbelief. "Are you going to ask me out?"

That's when Reid's cool began to waver.

"The thought had crossed my mind…"

They sat for a moment in silence, as she stared at him with complete bafflement, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Tell me, Reid," she said at last. "What makes you think that there is even the slightest chance in hell that I would go out with you?"

"Whoa!" Reid said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Chill out, stress fest—it's just a party."

"Grow up, Reid," Elle snapped, standing up and gathering all her books together and stuffing them in her bag. Reid got up and tried to help her, but she flicked his had away.

"Com'on," Reid coaxed. "You've changed—so why can't you accept that maybe I have too?"

"Oh, good line. Did you think that up all by yourself?"

"Can you believe I did? I have more—but it's hard to remember them all. Sometimes I use notes."

She fought hard to hold back a smile at his joke, and it worked. She gave him a skeptical look instead.

"I mean it though," Reid said assuredly, taking a step closer to her. "Give me a chance to prove it. Just one. Go to the party with me, at least…"

He took her hand in his, and she didn't pull away. In fact, she seemed rather flushed by it. She was silent for many moments, staring at his hand holding hers like she couldn't believe that it was there. Reid wasn't sure if this was good or bad, but he found out soon enough.

"You're incorrigible," she said with a shake of her head and raised eyebrows. She yanked her hand out of his. "Damn you! You don't fool me with that cute little smile of yours or that little 'begging' thing that you do. You are the biggest, most selfish BASTARD that I have ever met. Do you think I'm stupid? Don't you think I know that you're only here because you had some sort of bet going with your friends?"

"Wow," Reid said, his eyebrows shooting up with surprise. "News travels fast."

"I saw you, you idiot. And you can tell your little group that you just lost… in more ways than one."

With that she splashed her drink in his face and stalked off. Reid wiped the red liquid off his eyes, still stunned.

"So that's a 'no'?" Reid called after her with a frown, hoping for that one last chance to make her agree.

"That's a hell no," she replied on her way out the cafeteria door.

-

"Bet against wannabe ladies man in date wager," Pogue muttered as they saw Reid crash and burn. "Twenty dollars each."

"Lending said ladies man Winterfresh gum to freshen breath and better his chances," Caleb added. "Twenty-five cents."

"Watching Reid get undeniably dissed by the hot girl… again…" Tyler said last.

All three of the boys looked at each other and grinned broadly.

"Priceless!"

-

Reid's chest caved in to the fact that Elle had completely and utterly rejected him, and there was no way to get her to say yes. Ever. He stood in paralyzing shock, staring at the door in which Elle had just left, wondering how… why… what had just happened? If someone had told him three years ago that he would be standing alone in the middle of a crowded cafeteria suffering heartache for 'Smelly Ellie', he would have laughed at them and told them to stop smoking whatever crack they were on.

Now those people would have all the rights in the world to laugh at him. He would've kicked himself, if it would do him any good.

But the truth was, insult had already been added to complete injury, and Reid was reminded of this when Kira passed by with Sherry, giving him another one of those finger waves before she left the cafeteria. He was definitely her new choice in Ipswich victim.

Reid didn't dare go back to his Covenant brothers back at the table, for he knew he would only be asking to be teased relentlessly if he did. He looked to the ground, hanging his head in defeat.

It was the only way he would have seen it.

A book, lying on the floor, probably dropped by Elle in her hurry to get away from him. It was a simple little leather notebook, no doubt containing school-related scribblings. It was the very same brown leather notebook that he always saw her scratching away in at the library.

Reid's curiosity overcame his better judgment, and he bent down to pick it up, and flipped through inside.

His eyes grew wide at what he found.

He immediately turned back and weaved his way around the tables, heading back for the others, but they were already on their way out the door of the mess hall and down the corridors of the school. As soon as Reid caught up, the snide remarks poured out.

"Well, look who's back," Pogue said with a smile. "After a display like that, I was sure you'd never show your face around here again."

"Shut up and listen--" Reid commanded, pulling out the book, trying to get them to see.

"What's the matter, Reid?" Tyler said as he flauntingly counted his winnings. "I think you and Kira make a cute couple!"

"I said shut UP!" Reid snapped. He looked around for teachers scouting the halls, and when he saw it safe, he shoved everyone into a dark, empty classroom, Sarah and all.

"Look at this!" Reid commanded, holding up the book for them to see.

"If that's your notes of despair at how the world hates you, I'm not interested," Tyler scoffed.

Caleb, as usual, became the only one of reason, peering over Tyler's shoulder to look at the notebook, concern expressed on his face. Sarah joined him.

"Who's is that?" Sarah was the first to ask.

"It's Elle's," Reid replied promptly.

Caleb's eyes suddenly went wide as well, as soon as his gaze had fallen on a few words.

"Oh, my God, it's all of us!"

Reid sighed in frustration. When they saw that Caleb was alarmed, the others faces fell to the same expression of unease.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, you dumbasses!" Reid insisted. "Now will you shut up?!"

Reid turned the book around so that he could read it aloud.

"Listen to this: 'Orville Garwin, 1872, became curiosity of the old west when he felled an entire field of buffalo with a single revolver. Bernard Garwin, 1960, became first person to earn a lifetime ban in Las Vegas after he beat the Arabesque Casino out of then record of 12 million dollars in a single night. Peleg Parry, 'miraculously' caused a British war fleet to run aground in Boston Harbor, saving the city. Percival Parry, hired by Theodore Roosevelt to scout initial route for Panama Canal. Curiously the sole survivor of the doomed expedition.'"

Reid stopped and looked at his friends seriously.

"She goes onto Caleb and Tyler too. There's pages and pages of it. Timelines, family trees…"

"She's reading up on us," Tyler said, stating the obvious again as he liked to do.

"Here's the clincher," Reid said. "'The Chronicles of Paganism, published in Boston. Author dies from an intense case of the pox. During the same year, the four remaining founding families of Ipswich achieve great wealth.'"

He lowered the book to look them all in the eyes.

"She's onto us, guys. She's found out everything."

"Gee, and I wonder how she found out?" Caleb said with anger sarcasm.

Reid glared right back but didn't defend himself.

"What do we do?" Pogue asked.

"We have to talk to her," Caleb said. "We need to talk to her before she goes to the cops."

"Tomorrow," Tyler piped up. "When I pick her up for the party. I'll talk to her myself beforehand."

"Alright," Caleb agreed with a heavy sigh. "Let's hope to God she hasn't exposed us to someone already."

-


Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue

PS. All facts and information of the Sons's history taken from the Covenant Official Site.