Clique Bait - Ann Valett Page 0,84
ground.
But it kept recording, capturing nothing for a few moments before someone picked it up. Desmond sighed, and I could hear him brush the microphone off.
“I can’t believe he saw you!” Monica said in a loud whisper. “You were supposed to stay hidden. That was our agreement.”
“I know,” Desmond replied. “But it’s okay, I think it’s fine, there’s probably still footage—”
The clip ended.
I let go of the breath I’d been holding. Was Monica trying to record her and Francis to attack Lola?
The next clip featured Lola. She was beaming devilishly to the camera, huge earrings clipped to her ears and a plunging halter-neck dress showing off all her curves. She beckoned Desmond to follow her, leading him upstairs.
The five other members of Level One were gathered in Monica’s bedroom. I recognized the butterfly fairy lights and the embroidered cushions. Maddy was on Zach’s lap and Lola went to sit on Francis’s, but his attention was on Desmond behind the lens as he glared with narrowed eyes. Sophie and William sat side by side, Will’s ankle propped to his knee as he leaned back with a drink in hand, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Okay, go,” Maddy said, as if they’d been waiting for Desmond.
“What are you guys doing?” he asked, the camera moving across each of their faces. Francis scowled at him. Desmond did have quite some nerve to keep doing his job after being caught.
“Playing a game,” Monica replied, bringing her drink to her lips. “Truth or dare?”
Lola laughed.
“Here I was thinking you’d forgotten our game,” she mused. Beside her, the eyes of Level One twinkled with entertainment.
“It’s your turn, Monica,” Sophie reminded her, leaning on her elbows so she could gaze at the redhead leisurely. “And I think your answer is dare.”
“Dare, then.”
Level One gathered in a group, deliberating her fate. Monica raised her chin and painted amusement onto her face, glancing toward Desmond as if checking he was still recording.
Finally, they’d reached a decision.
“We dare you to take a dip,” Lola said carefully, testing her. She cocked her head to the side. “A skinny-dip.”
“Fine,” Monica said with a clipped tone. “Deal.”
“Didn’t your mom say the pool was off-limits?” Maddy said with a snort.
“Rules were meant to be broken, Mads.”
She downed the remainder of the tequila.
“We’ll be watching,” Lola said, gesturing to the view from Monica’s bedroom.
Monica blew a kiss as she stepped onto the balcony, looking over the crowd of people—Level One’s kingdom—and out to the eerie calm of the pool.
After one more calming breath she spun around, her mask a vision of confidence and her smile one that belonged on a billboard.
“Don’t miss me too much,” she said, before taking off her necklace and throwing it to the bed, the first layer to be removed as she undertook her journey to the pool. She gestured for Desmond to follow her, the camera watching her every move.
People watched with curiosity as she strutted down the stairs and across the house, some gathering behind her in some kind of pageant. She kicked off her heels one by one, basking in the attention.
Only a few dared to follow her all the way to the pool, most stopping to settle in for the show. She gave a glance to the balcony, as if checking that Level One was still watching, before pulling her dress over her head, revealing expensive lingerie.
She smirked at the camera and gave a spin, almost losing her balance as she staggered to the edge.
By now, the crowd was cheering her on, fueling her high as she danced around the perimeter of the pool. One foot in front of the other. She’d always been a perfect diver, and an even better swimmer. I knew that. I’d practiced diving with her at the swimming hole, had spent so many summers racing her along the shoreline at the beach. This challenge should have been a breeze.
Only, it wasn’t.
With one more devilish smirk to the crowd, Monica turned on her heel and stretched, her arms raising above her.
She leaned onto the front of her feet, bending her knees and propelling herself into the air, arching perfectly. Her guests roared, all running forward to watch closer.
But none of them seemed to realize she’d jumped at the shallow end, her skull colliding with the surface below.
The students of Arlington Preparatory waited and waited for Monica Pennington to emerge from the glittering water, holding their breaths in anticipation for the finale of her show.
But when she did, many moments