(Author's Note: Please Read and Review!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for everyone who already commented and thanks for reading!!!!!)
What would the World do if every General was off Playing Strip Poker?
The musty smell of the classroom still lingered in the air. It reeked of old textbooks, and the perfume of old Mrs. Waukesha, who always claimed that it was Chanel. Funny how Chanel smelled like rotten bananas, though. It didn't matter, anyway. Mrs. Waukesha was the only one in the "C" building who didn't have a sixth period class.
Duke pinned Jade against the whiteboard. "Hmm," he breathed in her hair, which helped block out all the other weird smells in the room. "Did you miss me over break?"
"You have no idea," Jade told him before navigating his mouth with her tongue, and he found her mouth again. He sighed. This was the way it should always be. When Jade wasn't being hung up on her family problems, he loved her insanely because she could be so much fun.
"You think old Mrs. Waukesha would mind if we used her classroom for more than just kissing?" Duke murmured against her collarbone, as his lips found their way down her throat.
"I think what Mrs. Waukesha doesn't know, she doesn't need to find out," Jade whispered back to him, as she grabbed the waistband of his jeans, and pulled him towards her even more.
Duke laughed softly, and then slid his face against her bare shoulders. It was a good thing that neither of them had this class. If they did, it would've been awkward to function in a place where they hooked up every sixth period, when the classroom was dark.
It was Duke who'd found out that every sixth period, Mrs. Waukesha would leave for the teacher's lounge, and leave her classroom unlocked and unguarded. At first, he couldn't believe his luck. The room was on the second floor, so no one could see in through the windows. And besides, it was tucked away in a corner, so that hardly anyone chose to look into the blinded windows anyway. Aside from the smell, there wasn't a more perfect place for just the two of them.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked, kissing both her eyelids.
She looked up at him. "Nothing," she replied, "Just the day I saw you. You were in seventh grade, and every time you walked past me, you would look at me. That look bothered me so much."
"Why?" he asked her, stroking her luscious, brown hair tenderly.
"Because I couldn't intimidate you into not looking at me," she said, one part in love, and another in slight exasperation, like a child who just didn't understand why she couldn't jam puzzle pieces together.
"And I couldn't stop looking at you." he teased, sliding off her top so that Jade's black, lacy La Perla bra could be seen.
"Hmm, wonder why." she murmured in his ear, as she ripped his shirt off and tossed it behind him.
"I really don't know," he said in her ear, unzipping her pants. A small, vibration came from the pocket, and they both jumped.
"What the hell?" Jade's eyes blazed. Duke saw that expression and instantly knew that it meant the mood was all gone. Jade was back to being dominant, alpha-bitch Jade. He sighed, and then grabbed his shirt off the floor, putting it back on, while Jade's eyes zipped across the screen like a buzzing honey bee.
"What?" she screeched, and then dove across the room, hurriedly pulling her strapless shirt back into place and zipping up her fly. Duke watched Jade pull open the curtains just a fraction of a slit.
"What's going on?" Duke asked, coming up beside her, and resting his hands on her shoulders.
"My car's gone." she spat disgustedly, shrugging him off like something uncomfortable.
"Oh." Duke paused when he heard this. "That sucks."
Jade rounded up on him. "Someone stole it, and that someone had better not be Arielle."
Duke didn't point out that Jade's car was Arielle's too, so she was pretty much privy to driving it around if she wanted to.
Jade furiously dialed a number, and pulled open the door, with Duke following right behind. "Winter? Stay with me. I'm coming. Don't move."
Then, with Winter still blustering on the phone, Jade shot out of the room with Duke following right behind, sighing to himself. How come things always happened like this?
He slowly chased Jade, as he saw her familiar brown ponytail whip around corners and fly through doors, until she was racing towards the parking lot.
He dashed past all the classrooms, until he could make out the image of Winter standing on an empty parking lot space, number 63, Jade's special parking space that nobody else was allowed to park in.
Jade skidded to a stop in front of him so fast that Duke nearly sent her reeling to the ground. "Holy shit," Jade breathed, steam practically pouring out of her eyes.
"I swear I have no clue what happened. I was coming down here to check Arielle. She text messaged me in fifth period saying that she had to get her project from the car, and when she never showed up for English, I thought I'd come down here to see if she was okay, and, well, you know what happened." Winter rambled nervously, on and on, purposely laying the blame on Arielle. Jade was not known for being fair, especially when her eyes were brimming like that.
Every woman for herself, right?
Jade took such a deep breath of air that it sounded like she was sucking a plunger from the toilet. "Everybody, leave. Now. There's something I need to piece out." she commanded in a surprisingly normal voice.
Duke and Winter both looked at each other and backed away. "Kay. I'll be in class if you need me." Winter told Jade faintly.
Word from the wise: run while you still can.
Duke saw Winter dart through the halls as fast as she could, but he turned around at an impulse. Jade was staring into the distance, arms folded around herself.
Then, on a last minute inspiration, Duke dashed up the stairs to the little outside patio located almost right above where Jade was standing. He cocked one feet behind the other. As he looked to the horizon like a ship captain searching for land, he saw the red-hot convertible turn in the loop and park in its empty parking lot space.
He watched as Arielle got out of the passenger seat and an unidentified boy slammed the driver's door. Duke squinted closely. So, this was the elusive boy that they'd all been searching for. He was so busy watching Arielle and her new friend laugh to each other, that he forgot to check what Jade was doing. He saw the look of surprise cross her face—she had obviously expected Arielle to be alone—and then turn into a deeper, darker rage.
Duke leaned down a little, so he could hear the argument that was bound to happen soon. He saw Arielle's smile and facial color slowly fade as her gaze traveled from the tips of Jade's shoes, all the way up to the fake welcome-back smile that now easily graced Jade's face.
As Jade's sister, Arielle should know better than anyone else that all that effort into making that effortless smile was only going to fuel the balls of fury in her stomach.
"Jade," Arielle murmured in such a low voice that Duke almost fell over trying to catch what she was saying.
"Arielle," Jade reached to embrace her sister, but Duke saw her dig her nails into the Arielle's arm, where the new boy couldn't see.
"And let me guess..." Jade turned to the boy and placed her fingers delicately on his shoulder, a gesture that would've driven Duke with jealousy if he hadn't known how forced it was. "You must be the new kid in school. I see you've already met my sister." Jade nodded her head in Arielle's direction.
The boy gave a quick, flickering smile that was more of just a quick upturn of his lips, and then continued to watch Jade with a calculating and suspicious expression.
As if sensing that the boy could see past her exterior, Jade quickly turned away again. "Arielle, come with me to get something?" Jade asked, a flat out invitation for alone time with her sister.
"I'll see you around," the boy jutted his chin out, and then pushed past them, and into the school halls once more. Jade watched to make sure he was truly gone, and then wheeled on her sister.
"Really, Arielle?" Jade said, her lips curling derisively. "A van Buren? Was it just a bonding thing, or should I be concerned if it was even legal?"
Arielle shook her head furiously, "I was just trying to find out more information, just like you said we should." Arielle said unconvincingly. She blinked rapidly, something she only did when she was either nervous or lying. Duke remembered watching her wing her presentation once, and the only thing he could focus on was how fast her eyes were going up and down. And he wasn't the only one: everyone knew about Arielle's nervous habit.
Jade's face was stretched with taut rage for a moment, just long enough for Duke and Arielle to both read her expression, and then it was gone. "You know, I did say something like that didn't I?" Jade smiled at Arielle.
Arielle nodded weakly. Watching her, Duke wasn't sure if it was from relief or wariness. "I'm sorry, Ari, for judging you so soon." Jade continued on, hugging her sister. Arielle looked bewildered that she had survived and returned the hug almost numbly.
Duke felt a small sense of satisfaction surge in his system. Ryder and West were wrong. Jade had her sensitive side too. She just had a hard time expressing it sometimes.
Um, more like always?
"And since you want to help as much as possible, you should just stay home tonight, and do more 'investigating.' I was worried about wasting time at Queens when there was such a good opportunity for snooping back at home. But now that you've volunteered yourself," Jade raised her eyebrows, daring Arielle to suggest that she had done no such thing. When she didn't, Jade continued on blithely, "I guess I should be thanking you. If you're willing to compile the background check, I can finally relax a little." Jade winked at Arielle, as if the two of them had already agreed on this.
Meanwhile, Arielle's face had turned an ashen gray. She looked severely nauseated, and her expression was readable even to Duke, who was dangling about a couple feet above their heads.
Duke buried his face in his hands. He had thought Jade was going to be all nice and sisterly, but she'd delivered her punishment, and she'd delivered it well. Missing out on Queens was, according to Winter, was basically asking for 'social suicide.' Not that he ever got the whole "social suicide" thing. But to girls, it was obviously pretty important. Even to Arielle, Jade probably wouldn't hesitate to disown her in a second if she felt like it. He lifted his face out of his palms and re-focused his attention.
"So, I guess I'll see you back here later, Arielle. Now, run along and do some more 'investigating'." Jade winked and said, brushing her hands in the air like she was swatting away particles in the air.
Arielle dejected slumped down, shuffled to the door, and swung herself back into the school as quickly as possible.
Jade stood there for a second, and then started walking towards the building on the right, where the theatre department was situated. When Duke saw her leaving, he quickly sprinted back down the stairs, and jogged up to meet her pace.
"Jade," he sighed when he was beside her, not truly knowing where to begin.
She didn't look remotely surprised to see him. "I thought it was wrong to spy on your girlfriend." she told him, throwing him an amused sideways glance.
"What?" he asked, surprised. He'd thought he'd been pretty concealed. After all, nobody thinks to look up.
"Oh, Duke. Hasn't anyone told you that the red shirt you're wearing is kind of an eye-catcher?" Jade chuckled, comfortably keeping pace with him.
Duke sighed, then stepped in front of her so that she was forced to stop sharply.
"Look, Jade, it didn't have to be like that," he started. And then, before she could interject and make him feel cowed, he rushed on, "I mean, come on, so Arielle snuck off campus. It's not a big deal. I mean, people do it all the time. I don't get what's the big point."
"Duke," Jade gave him a do-we-really-have-to-go-over-this look. "I can't have Arielle getting all friendly with the van Burens. It's like in war. If you were the commander-in-chief, would you want your best general playing a game of poker across enemy borders?"
Or in Arielle's case, playing strip poker across, umm, other figurative borders.
"But if you were so concerned about her associating with 'the enemy', then why are you leaving her at home tonight, where she can associate more with the enemy, behind your back." Duke said, feeling a little proud for having hit upon such a valid point. It was an interesting thought, after all.
"Oh, Duke," Jade smirked slightly with a shake of her head, "Did you really think that I haven't already thought about that? She needs to be punished, or she'll never learn. And just for good measures, I have some...things set up. Trust me when I say that everything will be okay."
"Things?" Duke's face crinkled in confusion.
Jade nodded placidly. "So don't worry." she whispered, squeezing his arm lightly. "Even without them, Arielle's not stupid enough to anger me twice in a day." Then, with that, she walked around him and continued down her way, with Duke still staring after her.
Of course, everyone had skeletons they'd wish could stay in their closets. But everyone should know better that when in Beverly Hills, there were no such things as secrets and playing fair. Because in Beverly Hills, someone's always watching and waiting. It was only a matter of time until they finally pounced.