Hello everybody! How are you? (lol) Can't answer me can ya…

Guess what! I don't have a long note today… No further thoughts for now. Only one little thing I'd like to say. I have two stories I'm working on at the moment, Alternatives (this one), and Forgotten… It's a little bit of a struggle updating them both and keeping track of which one deserves to be updated (written) sooner… Not that I have an answer for that, just patience. :) (I honestly don't understand how some of the extremely talented authors on here juggle between 3 or 4 stories, all amazing…) (Suppose they don't update as quickly as I do –cheeky wink) THANKS.

Enjoy. Laugh a little. Eat a bag of chips. :D

Chapter 17: Master of Subtlety

Naomi's PoV

"It's so fucking squishy in this car." Katie mumbled, ruining the effect of mumbling, because it was loud enough for all of us to have to hear it.

"Katie, you got the front, so just shut the-" I was cut off by Effy who was sitting on the other side of the car.

"Just please be quiet Katie."

I don't know why 'shut the fuck up' was so bad, but maybe Effy didn't want to sit in the car with an annoyed Katie. Perhaps it was for the best.

We had arranged it so that Panda was sitting in the back with most of the luggage, she didn't mind though because she was comfy sitting on all of our bedding. Then in the middle of the van was Effy by one window, Emily in the middle, me, and then Panda's fucking cozy chair. I would have left it at the school so we'd all have more room but apparently, it was special to her. Personally, I've never found any physical item special… nor have I really found anything special for that matter… until recently.

Emily was using up most of the space causing me to get pushed into the chair next to me, but I definitely preferred her sleeping on my shoulder than Effy's. Every now and then I couldn't help but plant a kiss on the top of her head. She's had such a rough fucking week…

"So Effy where the fuck are we going?" Katie barked.

"Oi- you aren't going to ask you lovely chauffer?" The boy with a black faux hawk spoke up for the first time after Effy just told us his name and he said hello, nothing at all other than that, besides a crude remark towards Katie.

"No, because you're a twat."

"Just cause I said you're a hot piece of-"

"We are going to a hotel per say, for awhile…" Effy cut in again.

"Better be a nice fucking hotel…" Katie mumbled again.

"Uhm, Eff, how exactly are we going to pay for a fucking hotel…" I questioned. The entire car besides for Effy burst into laughter… I don't know why this always happens to me. Any basic fucking question I ask always has an obvious answer that everyone knows but me… it's so fucking annoying. "Shhh, Emily's sleeping." I said, conscious of the sleeping angel amidst all the obnoxious laughter.

Everyone was effectively silenced; we all wanted Emily to sleep. Nobody had actually said anything aloud but we were all feeling really scared for her.

"Naomi, right?" the guy asked while keeping his eye on the road.

"Yes." This guy was really a fucking tosser, Effy must've just picked him up off the street without getting to know him… I just can't figure out what kind of potential Effy sees in him.

"Let me tell you something you've failed to pick up on, did you notice the big Stonem sign over the dormitories?"

"Yes, but how do you-" I was going to ask how he knows that, he's a fucking boy… and it's an all girl institution… but he fucking cut me off, it's like there is a sign on my head today, 'please don't let me finish whatever the fuck I'm saying because it's obviously not fucking important.' Fuck sake.

"The education there may be shit, but the actual facility is top fucking grade, anddd, it's all paid for by the Stonem's. So, Effy here, to put it bluntly, is fucking loaded…" He laughed lightly.

"What do your parents do?" I directed towards Effy, definitely more curious on the back story she always kept to herself….

"Shit. They do shit. Didn't earn a fucking penny of it by working." Effy said, before turning to the window trying to end the conversation there.

I felt something vibrate in my pocket and tried to get it without waking up Emily, which was a bit of a task considering it was in the pocket I was sitting on…

*1 new text*

KFF: Her brother got hit by a bus. They sued for millions. Stonems won the case. Don't talk about it.

Na0m1: Thanks.

KFF: Don't say I told u if u let it slip, or I'll fckin get ya

Na0m1: Ok…?

I looked up while pocketing my phone into the front pocket this time, and saw Katie looking outside the window. That girl could probably text without even fucking looking…

It was starting to feel awkward with the silence drifting about in the car, I was pretty sure Panda had fallen asleep in the back and everyone else was looking out their windows. I found an easy excuse to break it…

"So David, how do you and Effy know each other?" Yes, I was being a bit nosy, but Effy's so fucking quiet, if I couldn't ask about her brother, which was understandable, then I could ask maybe something else about her.

He laughed.

But Katie was just as curious. "Oh stop laughing and tell us!" she slapped his arm playfully…

"Hey I'm driving, no fucking slapping!" He laughed again. "It's a funny story, really… I had been hanging around the school for awhile, had been sleeping in the pool room secretly when I decided to leave it out of much boredom, and upon my walk I stumbled into Effy, tripped on her really… she was just sitting in the hallway against her door in the dark chilling and we just you know, talked. After I apologized, of course." How chivalrous… I rolled my eyes.

Katie and I both questioned further at the same time, but he was able to make out each question anyway.

"Wait, why were you in the school if you're a boy?"

"Why is that funny?" The latter question mine. I'm definitely not easy to amuse… unless you're Emily, that is.

"I suppose that's the same question, really. Y'see I'm Harrolton's son."

"What the fuck." Fucking hell. Katie and I were on a roll, talking at the same time.

He laughed before expanding, "It's not so simple though, see, I'm not actually her son, anymore. She disowned me. I was kind of staying in her school secretly playing mindless tricks just to piss her off… she didn't exactly leave me anywhere to go when she disowned me…"

Naomi was relieved that he didn't seem bothered at all by talking about it. She was about to ask why he was disowned when he continued knowing exactly what they were about to ask him.

"I'm gay. The most out and proud there is, I like to think. And needless to say, but I'll say it for you Naomi, since you tend to miss the obvious bits, Harrolton doesn't like that at all. When you have a son who won't conform to your logic it's best to just chuck him, doesn't look very good to parents to have a rebellious son if you're running a fucking religious school. Not that I mind, I would've left the bitch anyway… It's a lot more fun being a free man." His laugh was adorable.

"Wait, but you said I was a hot piece of ass." Katie was thoroughly confused.

"Well, you are. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't tell an ugly slag from a hot one…" He laughed, and Katie just blushed, unaware of the backhanded compliment. I covered my mouth to hide my own laugh, wow, nice one. Calling Katie a slag, right to her face and she doesn't even notice. He winked at me in the mirror when he saw I caught on, and then he turned to face me at the stop light and said, "You catch the subtle stuff but not the blatant stuff? Clever." I just flicked him off before he turned back around.

"You know Katie, not all gay boys have that feminine look or voice… I consider myself a testosterone gay man." Katie blushed further; she must've definitely had that general prognosis about gay guys.

"Hey, I'm not fucking that bad, my sister's a fucking lezza for fuck's sake, it's not like she's sporting the dyke haircut and plaid shirt with doc martens look." Katie quipped, trying to hide her own embarrassment.

"It's okay Katie, I'm just having a bit of fun at your expense."

"Fuck you."

I could vaguely hear Katie and David bicker while I faded in and out of sleep, enjoying the warmth of the body that was snuggling more and more into me every time the van hit a bump.

"Wake up princesses, we're here." David honked the car, and had a good laugh watching our agitated faces and fingers flick him off one by one.

"Where the fuck are we?" Katie's loud mouth was the first one to have a complaint at the giant warehouse we were parked in front of. It looked like it had been abandoned for years, unattended and left to be covered in vines, practically making the structure completely green.

"Welcome to the Fantasy Factory. The most fun fucking mansion there is in all of England, probably all of the world, if I say so myself." David had a bright white smile on his face.

"It looks like a dump." Way to go Katie.

"That's because you haven't been inside… if I made the outside as great as the inside then everyone would want to live there and there'd be no room for you lot…"

"How profound." I muttered.

"It's brilliant." Emily whispered. I quietly laughed to myself when I saw the glow on her face; she was like a child excited for a brand new toy, just bouncing up and down until she gets to unwrap it.

"Wait 'till we get inside!" David was as enthused as Emily.

"Inside of what?" Panda's head popped out of the trunk rubbing her eyes. We had forgotten all about her. The tired look on her face mixed with wonder was enough to make us crack up.

"C'mon Panda, let's go." Effy said before getting out of the van and opening the trunk for her to get out.

Everybody grabbed their own suitcases, aside from Katie, who had begged David to hold most of her shit, claiming her limbs were sore from being smushed in the small space the front seat had to offer. He rolled his eyes, but decided it wasn't worth the fight.

When he got to the doors, two large metal frames with a big padlock he dropped Katie's luggage, laughing when she scoffed at his carelessness, and continued to twist it until it clicked off.

"It's dark so you won't be able to see inside until I've hit the switch, don't worry though you shouldn't hit anything if you stay to the left, just err, lean against the wall so you don't get lost, while I turn on the lights."

All of us walked in, Katie followed us last mumbling complaints to avoid showing any sign of uncertainty about the place. She managed to even pick up her own stuff while David went to hit the lights.

*Click*

"Holy shit" "What the fuck?" "WHIZZER!" "What…" Everyone but Effy were in shock. David's hearty laugh was heard in the background taking in all of our bewildered reactions, while we all looked on in awe.

THANKS FOR READING.

Can't wait to find out what's inside?

Fantasy Factory was a reference to Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory if you've heard of his show… it's fucking hilarious. It's going to be amazing I tell ya.

And a little note about David: I was originally going to put Cook, however, I mentioned Cook as Katie's boyfriend previously, and I had already written the character in this chapter as unfamiliar to Katie, not to mention I enjoyed created a new character. I'll explain him a little more in the future chapters. He's definitely a lot of fun… So Harrolton's son won't be a total bitch like his mum.

So…

WHOOOPEEEEEEE. Lol. THANKS to those who review/read/alert/favorite/share/and laugh. :D

-Shira

Will be updating soon. Going to have a shitload of fun with the inside of the warehouse. Just imagine… what would you put inside a "Fantasy Factory?" if you had unlimited money….