chapter four

She still looked unsure but pulled the laptop closer. Her eyes went big before she began reading.

“The heir to the biggest fashion empire, Camilla Duard is the person every girl wants to be. The daughter of retired top runway model turned number one fashion designer Eleonore Duard neé Couture, is taking the fashion world by storm. Not just with her beauty but with her new Amon fashion line said to be available next Fall- ”

“I have to wait for a year?”

Danika and Iris screamed in unison and swung around to face the new voice.

Standing there was Zoya Babito, their gorgeously tall, dark, and fashionable friend. Her hair was as big as her personality, curling in various directions. She had thick muscular thighs and coiled arms from playing hockey. She looked like an exhausted African princess.

Zoya and Victoria were opposites when it came to their beauty. Where Victoria was doll-like and delicate -almost fragile-looking, only catching eyes when they looked twice, Zoya was bold and brash, confidence pouring form her skin in streams. She was the kind of beautiful that drew attention immediately and held you there. You could not look away, no matter how much you wanted to.

Zoya and Iris knew each other from their diaper days, their moms having been best friends since college. Zoya was the one who came up with the idea of putting gum in the girls’ hair back in elementary school.

Still did not give her a reason to scare them.

“Where did you come from?" Danika screeched, hand on her chest as if to calm her racing heart.

“My mother's womb," Zoya said calmly, leaning down between Iris and Danika as they shared an incredulous look. They were so used to Zoya's humor that they didn't even comment on it anymore.

“Wait!” said Danika. “You know who she is?”

Zoya looked at Danika as if she was stupid. “You don't? Last time I checked, you don't live under a rock.”

Danika threw her hands up in the air.

“It's pointless. Trust me when I say that I have tried. Praying just does not help," Iris chipped in, frustrating Danika further. Danika glared at her.

“She is the youngest most successful fashion designer out there. I absolutely adore, and I mean adore, her clothes. They never shrink, the colour does not fade and stains are easily removed. It is just pure, beautiful magic. Magic, I tell you." Zoya sighs dreamily over the clothes, before saying, "Besides, I am pretty sure I shared my fantasies about her with you guys.”

Iris groaned in disgust. “Do not remind me. You have no idea how awkward it is to look at her with your pictures floating in my mind.”

“Wait, hold on," said Danika. She pointed to the screen. "Is that Cami the Callgirl? The one you dream about at night?”

Zoya glared at Danika, who shrugged sheepishly at indirectly calling the girl of Zoya's dreams a prostitute.

Before World War Three could start, Iris tried to calm them down by saying, "Can we get back to the point please?”

They nodded and Danika explained to Zoya why they were currently googling Iris’s classmates as she typed in the next victim of their sleuthing.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Dani," Zoya said, putting her hand on Danika's shoulder. "But I agree with Iris on this one. While I am all for standing up against bullies, those kids she goes to school with are of a different breed. They don't fight with fists or even words. They fight with the power of wealth and fame. They can actually ruin her life.”

“Yeah," Iris chipped in. "They breathe the saying 'once it is on the internet, it will always on the internet'."

Danika was silent as they turned to the newly opened webpage.

Iris knew her friend’s mind was reeling with Zoya just said, trying to understand what she just heard. Iris just hoped that her eyes will be opened.

“Marcas Sullivan," she read, "the heir to an international pharmaceutical and medical advances company run by his father Anthony Sullivan, has just been caught, yet again, in the arms of a married woman. Nobody knows if this is actually true, but sources claim that the woman's marriage is in shambles and that the CEO of Oxygen Corp has bribed the woman with at least a million US dollars to keep this scandal quiet.”

“Yet again!" Zoya quoted, and laughed, mockingly. She shook her head and said, "Definitely not the first time he has been been caught. Homewrecker!”

Danik's face froze in bewilderment. “A million US dollars?" she whispered. "Just to cover it up?”

“Not that the bribe did much, mind you," Iris pointed out. "Seeing as we are reading about it. He probably wanted people to know.”

“Well, at least we know that he knows what he is doing," Zoya teased.

“Trust me. It probably does not take a lot to please older women in unhappy relationships. Their husbands tend to be mistaken for their fathers." Iris typed in the next suspect of their investigation. Danika cringed as Zoya laughed at what Iris just insinuated.

“Jackson Dubois," Iris announced, as if she did not just call a bunch of women golddiggers, “the son of Alistair Dubois and Candace Court, has seemed to inherit more than just his parents’ gift of visual arts, he also seems to inherit his father's talent of luring others into his bed with words alone. The heir of Court Cosmetics and Architectural Artistry was found sharing a romantic holiday with actor Zachary Cole, strolling hand in hand down the streets of Venice.”

“How disgusting!" Danika yelled out, the earlier stunned looked transforming into an expression of anger. "I mean, I get that their rich and famous and, judging by the photos, very handsome, but don’t they deserve their privacy? Who cares if they were sleeping with boys or older women? Their still just high school students! Do they not have bigger things to write about? Like, ways to better the current educational system? Geez!”

“Of course they do," Iris said. "But they prefer to write about these people, which is, as you said, disgusting.”

“Yeah," agreed Zoya. "Adultery and homosexuality is not new or big news. A new celebrity is forcibly outed every other week”

“Bisexuality, actually," Iris corrected her as she cleared the search bar and typed the next name.

“Both ways, huh?" Zoya remarked. "How do you know?”

“Well, he did shout it for everyone to hear a couple of weeks ago. Something along the lines of 'Yes , I am bi, no, not gay, I like kissing guys and girls'. He mentioned doing other things as well.”

A dirty grin curled on Zoya's lips. "Sounds like my kind of guy. You don't happen to have his number, do you?”

Iris looked at Zoya with a frown. "Yes, Zoya, because in my free time I hack the school systems to gain access to their personal file and use that information to stalk them relentlessly.”

“This is why you are going to end up with seventy cats when you are fifty.”

“Excuse you," Iris yelped.

“Okay, okay," Danika intervened. "Let us just get on with this. We need to get home soon.”

Iris took a deep breath and began, "The musical prodigy, son of Edward Graham, Benjamin Graham has recently returned home to fulfill his familial duties by taking over the family business. While Graham Gallant Arts is being run by the managing directors while he finishes his schooling until he is ready to take over the company.”

“Musical prodigy? I thought they only existed on YouTube!”

Zoya leaned towards Iris and whispered, "Should we tell her?”

Iris shook her head. "No.” She quickly scanned the article again and said out loud, "I wonder, what happened to his parents if the media is already discussing him being in charge of such a huge company?”

Danika and Zoya looked at Iris, and Zoya said, "Maybe he is just next in line to inherit the company, I don't know What I do know is, is that it is getting pretty late. So we have to wrap it up.”

Iris agreed and began searching the last name of the so-called R5 as Danika shoved her shoulder against Zoya and teased, “You are the one that usually convinces us to stay out longer and now you're sending us home earlier than expected. What gives?”

“Yes," replied Zoya. "But my dad's making his lasagna tonight.”

“Is he on the road again tomorrow?" Iris asked and opened the article.

Zoya nodded sadly before turning to the computer screen. Iris and Danika shared a look.

Zoya's father was a truck driver and spent more days on the road than he did at home. It was taxing on the Babito family household, but they always managed to get through it. Zoy's dad always went out of his way to bring something for from wherever he had to drive to.

Iris shook the thoughts away and started reading. "Orion Crawford, son of Elaine Crawford, has stolen the hearts of the masses when he attended the yearly Iverno Ball. The heir to the Crawford Corp throne arrived fashionably late, impeccably dressed and questionably alone. We just do not know what we want more; him alone and available or with a beautiful woman on his arm?”

It was silent after that. The three girls just stared at the picture of said boy, not knowing what to say. He was standing on a grand staircase, wearing a suit that seemed as if it was made just for him. He was looking straight at the camera, giving the girls an excellent view of his face.

Zoya pursed her lips and hummed thoughtfully. “What is in rich people's water?”

Danika continued in the same fashion, "And where to we get some? Seriously? What do they eat that makes them look so freaking beautiful?”

“Oh, please!" Iris snapped, slamming the laptop shut. "No matter how pretty they are, they are nothing but bullies. Absolute trash!”

The redhead turned to her friends, explaining what had happened at school. "This is the kind of people that attend Crawford, and these five people are at the top of the hierarchy. These people are nothing but jerks blessed with good looks and born to parents with money. They strut down the hallways as if they own the place - yes I know one of them does, Zoya - stepping over people, dragging them down just to feel better about themselves. At the end of the day, the only difference between them and your regular schoolyard bullies is their clothing.”

Iris ranted, her cheeks flushing red as the anger and disgust from earlier resurfaced inside her.

“But what makes them worse than schoolyard bullies is the fact that they get away with it. Orion's grandfather owns the school. He would let his grandson get away with murder by paying to cover it up!" Her chest heaved, panting heavily as she gasped for breath. Her anger had gotten the better of her. She just could not help it though. These people made her blood sing with fury and clouded her sight red.

She continued, "And the rest of them are not any better. While the self-proclaimed Royal Five prance around, stomping all over people, the rest of the school looks on. They never speak up, never try to stop it. No, they would rather stand there, cheering them on as they record the damage their causing!”

Her voice got louder as she raved, nearing a shout. Her chest heaved as she released her anger and frustration before disgust replaced it. "And, honestly? I'm not any better than them," she admitted, in a small, shaking voice.

Her two best friends watched her before sharing a look. It was rare for Iris to get angry. Even more so to see her furious enough to shout. Yes, she got irritated and a lot of things frustrated her, but never to the point of shouting. The three girls have known each other for a long time and as the years went on they discovered one another's temperament.

Zoya was the quickest to anger, too stubborn to give in, and never afraid to voice her opinions as loudly as she could. Her personality was as bold as her fashion. Danika was a completely opposite person; she was sensitive, preferring to be quiet, and avoided confrontation at all cost, but never one to turn away when injustice was happening. Iris was somewhere in the middle; sharp-tongued and always ready with a comeback and an opinion. She was mischievous and the smartest in the trio. She turned snarky when frustrated and quiet when she felt hurt or helpless.

But she never got loud.

Her two friends can count on one hand how many times they have seen her shout, and still have some fingers left.

Zoya quickly stood up and grabbed her shorter friend's hands trying to console her. “That is not true, and you know it," she said strongly.

“Yeah," Danika agreed. "You, at least, feel guilty about not standing up to them.”

Iris breathed a short laugh, squeezed her friend's hands, and looked at Danika. "By that logic murderers who feels guilty about killing people are better than murderess that don't.”

“I-”

“Yeah," Danika nodded. "As you said, these people have the power to not only ruin you but your entire family as well. I don't thing you will survive that.”

“Thanks, Danika, for summoning that up," Iris said with a droll expression. She took a deep breath and exhaled all the tension from her body her body. Or, at least tried to. "Look, let us just go home. Today has been a long day and I have a lot of homework to get done.”

Together, the three girls tidied up the restaurant, before finally closing it. With all her belongings, Danika quickly hugged Iris and Zoya tightly before running home: her parents were much stricter than theirs when it came to curfew.

Before the two parted ways, Zoya turned to her friend and said, "Look, babe, I will ot nor can I tell you what to do. I will never force you to do something you obviously do not want to. But I know you; you got a thing for helping people. But you are also stubborn and when you put your mind to something, you go through with it even if it means avoiding people. Whatever choice you make, we will understand.”