Chapter 1
Laci is hot, and she doesn't see a problem with saying it.
It's the first day of her final year of high school. She reports straight to the locker room to hang her brand new, washed and pressed cheer uniform in one of the lockers closest to the showers - designated for the co-captains. Her pristine white sneakers are laid at the bottom. She closes the door, spins the lock and heads to the full-length mirrors.
She chose a light denim mini skirt, barely passing the length requirement of the dress code, with a laced black top that shows some of her midriff, and the sun-kissed skin there looks great with the color of the shirt. Her long, wavy blond hair falls around her to her waist. She places her foot on one of the benches to tie the laces of her red Converse, and feels two arms wrap around her from behind and pull her into a rib-cracking hug.
She swings around to look at her best friend, Vivienne, also dressed in an outfit that would give their prudish principal a heart attack. White short shorts with a red tank top and gold gladiator sandals. Her black hair is in tight curls today. It never fails that they are always dressed to impress.
"Viv!" she squeals, pulling the girl into a proper hug. It had only been a few days since she saw her last, but knowing this is their last year of school together is making her sentimental. "You look so hot. Do you think Nick would be okay with you walking around in those shorts?"
Nick is Vivienne's boyfriend as of the beginning of the summer when they met while they were staying at their summer beach houses in Miami. She seemed absolutely smitten with him, even going as far as looking into Columbia University so she could be close to him in New York since he's only a junior this year. College isn't an issue for Viv. She can buy her way into any school she wants to.
She rolls her eyes. "Nick is no more. I'm not going into my senior year with any kind of baggage holding me back."
Laci isn't totally shocked by this. Viv having a boyfriend at all was actually the most jaw-dropping for her. Vivienne and Laci, they didn't do relationships. They were love them and leave them kind of girls.
"Besides, we had a deal, didn't we?" she says, her entire face brightening into a huge grin.
Laci returns the devilish glint. They in fact did have an understanding set in place before Viv had gone off for her summer vacation. Just something to spice up their senior year. A little...friendly competition.
Laci rummages through her bag and pulls out a folded paper she was glad to have still had on her. "You mean this deal?"
She unfolds it to reveal their score sheet. Three words at the top: 'The Seduction Game'. It was no secret that Vivienne and Laci were rather promiscuous, even for teenage girls.
The idea had come about one night when Laci and Viv had arrived at Vivienne's house at the same time, both doing a walk of shame from the night before.
Vivienne had looked at her kind of sheepishly. "Damn, do we have any self respect at all?"
This made Laci snort. "Of course we do. Which is why we don't give men the leverage to break our hearts. I have a sweet tooth, and I don't see what's wrong with sampling all the desserts?"
"Desserts you say?" Viv had questioned, her forehead scrunched as she worked out a thought in her head. "Okay. How about this? College can be our time to settle down, figure out what we want. But, next year, our last year of high school, we go nuts at the all-you-can-eat buffet."
Laci's stomach turned from all the booze of the night before. "Alright, no more food comparisons. But I like where this is headed. Let's up the ante a bit though, and make it a contest."
Vivienne nodded slowly, thinking on it. "So, whoever sleeps with the most guys?"
"No," Laci answered, "Better idea. We assign points to different types of guys. Jocks, band geeks, college guys, et cetera... Whoever has the most points by senior prom wins."
"And what do they win?"
Laci had to wrack her brain on this one. Money was out of the question, or any kind of big ticket item. "How about...Prom Queen?"
Viv rolled her eyes. "You can't just...take the title. There's voting and all that."
"Come on, like we can't do a little bit of convincing or conniving? We're Vivienne Saint-Peters and Laci Jarvis, dammit."
It was a title they both wanted obviously, being the co-captains of the cheer squad and the most popular girls at their school. While it was a prize of vanity more than anything else, they weren't above admitting that they wanted that crown. And now the reigns were in their own hands to win it, not from the votes of anyone else.
"Deal," Viv said with a grin, and they shook on it and got to work.
Vivienne and Laci have no classes together this year except one. Viv was a smart girl but didn't try very hard when it came to school, and had to repeat a lot of classes this year. Her father had basically threatened that she take things seriously this time around. Laci has already completed most of her required classes which left her with all elective courses, a study hall, and her year four math at the end of the day - which is the class she shares with Viv. They don't even have the same lunch period.
The warning bell rings out and Laci folds the paper back up and stuffs it back inside her bag. "Well, I guess I will see you last period. We'll finish up the scoring guide then."
Vivienne smiles, her pearly whites shining bright in contrast to her dark skin. "And may the best girl win."
~~
The day zooms by quickly for Laci. Her morning classes consist of all art electives - ceramics, jewelry making, and photography. The teachers seem nice enough, but Laci already has the credits she needs to graduate - just needing to finish her year 4 math to walk down the aisle - so she honestly has no intention of doing anything in those classes except talking to people, listening to music, and sleeping."Sucks you don't have Mr. Dawson," Kelly replies. "Seems like a total pushover. I think it's his first year straight out of college."
Samantha chimes in, "Not to mention, he's very easy on the eyes."
The girls at the table giggle while the boys roll their eyes. Honestly the most Laci is willing to contribute is a hum here and there. She wouldn't say she's an introvert, but she can say that she's easily annoyed by stupid people. And while these are her "friends", she can't help but feel like conversation with them is pretty superficial. And that's coming from a skinny, blonde cheerleader with the goal of sleeping her way to being Prom Queen.
She finds herself in the library during her study hall period. She heads to the non-fiction section and selects a book about America's most prolific serial killers. She flips through lazily, trying to pick up any information that she doesn't already know but most of it she's read before. It may seem like a disturbing choice of reading material for some, but Laci has always been fascinated with the criminal mind. If she does ever go to college, this is exactly what she wants to study.
The school bell brings her back to reality just as she was getting to the part where Ted Bundy gets executed. She returns the book to its place and heads out to room 102 for her last class of the day, where she finally gets to see Vivienne again.
She's already sitting there with a seat saved for Laci when she arrives, and she slides into it quickly. Finally they can finalize their list. She pulls the score sheet out again and they agonize over the points while they wait for class to start.
"I think it's too easy for jocks to be 5 points. We're cheerleaders. We're surrounded by jocks. I think we should do it backwards. At least to a point. I don't want to be fucking the entire marching band for a crown." Laci fake gags at the thought.
Vivienne agrees. "Let's make jocks 5 points, music kids 10 points, art kids 15 points, emos and goths 20... Go more by their style than their actual classes. Oh, how about 30 points for college guys. And 40 points for guys not in high school or college. Like ones we meet at a bar or coffee shop or something."
Laci nods her head to all the additions and hears the teacher finally arrive. She looks up to see his back facing her as he writes on the board.
"Do you think we should add married guys?" Vivienne snickers and Laci shoots her a look.
"No. No homewrecking. You already know that."
Her gaze shifts from the list to the back of the teacher once again as he rummages around in his bag. She looks at the board to see he's written out 'Mr. Dawson'. This must be the guy Samantha said was attractive earlier. Laci shrugs. He has good shoulders, she'll give him that. Blonde hair that's a bit longer for a guy, curling at the end. He's wearing dark denim jeans and a blue blazer with navy blue Converse shoes.
Finally, he turns around and Laci's mouth figuratively drops open. His face is very angular, with cheekbones for days. Big honey-colored eyes and long lashes. He has stubble above his lip and around his jaw line. A thick Adam's apple and defined collarbones. His curls fall into his eye and he casually swipes them away. He's tall and skinny, but has nice arms and hands with protruding veins throughout.
He wasn't Laci's usual type. She tended to go for darker features and more buff guys. But something about him - almost like the innocence of him - pulls her in. He stands up there with a smile, but she can see the uncertainty in his eyes. He's nervous and intimidated. Not at all the dominating type she usually has sex with. And she wants to absolutely destroy him.
He meets her gaze and she turns to Vivienne, still wrapped up in the score sheet. "Hey, Viv."
"Mm," she mumbles.
"How many points to fuck a teacher?" she whispers.
Vivienne's head whips to her, her eyes bulging and confused, like maybe she had totally misheard what her friend had said. "Lace, you're not serious?"
Laci nods her head in their math teacher's direction and Viv looks over, taking him in slowly before looking back, still unsure.
"200 points," Laci states and Viv begrudgingly writes it down on the paper. "I'm going to fuck Mr. Dawson."
