Claire 
Claire strutted through the school’s hallway on her way for the weekend; books shackled between her arms and chest. She returned a sheepish grin to a pale lanky kid with an apparent fertile skin for pimples after he waved at her like he greeted his long-lost twin brother at the train station.
Curving around a corner, Claire almost bounced against Alden, one of Westview High’s most popular seniors.
 
“Sorry about that, cutiekin.” he said. It took Claire three whole seconds before she was able to respond properly. For a moment, she swam rudderless in the ocean of Alden’s appealing blue eyes.
 
“Its, its okay.” Claire stammered. She blushed when he kept his eyes focused on her for a fleeting moment, before jogging off when one of his buds called for him.
Claire continued her journey and walked over to the locker area to meet her friends, Christel and Linda. She saw them huddled with two other girls, chatting all frantic like cackling hens about which male teacher would qualify on the field of hotness to be a seducer in a program like Temptation Island.
The two other girls waved Christel and Linda good-bye and ambled off when they saw Claire approaching.
 
“Sup, Claire?” Christel said, greeting her friend with a beaming face.
 
“Sup, hey listen, you girls have any plans for the night?” Claire asked. She frowned when both Christel and Linda looked at each other in a conspiratorial way.
 
Linda took the word as she addressed Claire, “We actually, kind of agreed to go to Ava’s place this evening.” she said with a forced cheesy smile.

“Yeah, she’s throwing this big party and her dad just installed a freaking jacuzzi in the backyard! Can you believe it?” Christel added, smiling broadly like she had just won a major prize in Mega Millions lottery.
 
Linda took the word again, “I know Ava and you had a falling out just recently. I’m sorry, Claire.” she said in an apologetically manner. "Tomorrow my place?” She added, as to make things up.
 
Claire already heard enough. She walked off, did not bother with a proper good-bye, and made way for her own locker to stash her books in. She cracked her brain with options on how she could spend her friday-evening. Her mother had some business to do and Madison was gone for a family visit. They would not return before tomorrow noon at the earliest, so she had free rein over the house.
She had the idea of asking Linda and Christel to crash at her place. However, due to recent events a plan like that was only good enough to be thrown out of the window. Claire did not feel like hanging around on her own. A desperate notion was forming in the back of her mind to ask four-eyed Peggy to come over. A clever girl, with an annoying and despairing urge to become part of the cool-regions in Westview High, but never succeeded in it.
Claire just knew for sure that Peggy would be dying to hang out with a girl like herself considering Peggy's crummy social status, especially if it meant crashing at her place. However, Claire did not like the prospect of being forced to listen all night to a wise-ass like Peggy, so she skipped the sleepover part in her head and came up with the idea of going to the movies with her instead. 
That way, Claire would not be alone this evening, and it would guarantee a mute on Peggy’s non-stop babbling voice, hopefully.
Claire grabbed her phone out of her back pocket and was about to text Peggy when she heard some clamor in the hallway further ahead. She saw Haisley Cavanish plunged into a heated discussion with some of her friends.
Haisley was a senior and broadly considered as one of the hottest and most popular girls of Westview High. Her long loose chestnut hair was Haisley’s pride, with every strand all the way to its endings beaming with a healthy gloss, elegantly draped over her bare shoulders like they wanted to veil the immaculate surface of her sun bronzed skin.
 
“You know what?” Claire heard Haisley speaking. “Fuck you, and fuck you, and fuck you twice.” she said, presenting the finger to her baffled friends who just stood there, numb. Haisley stormed off, pushing and shouting her way through a group of freshman boys who had the raw nerve to stand in the way of her path.
Claire quickly averted her eyes as Haisley's fuming gaze met hers when she passes by. Haisley was not someone you wanted to mess with. Giving her the slightest notion that you would even dare to defy her intimidating glare was also like skating on thin ice.
Claire safely chose to observe some lingering wad of paper on the floor when Haisley strutted by, with her heavy footfalls revealing her inner emotional state.
Adrenaline flooded Claire’s system, making her ready to fight or flight, but most likely flight, or freeze even, when she heard Haisley’s footsteps approaching her.
 
What the hell? I didn’t do anything, did I? Claire pondered desperately.

“Say, you’re Claire, right?” Haisley’s strident voice compelled Claire to look her in the eyes. She was even taller from up close, and more frightening too. Claire gulped as she saw Haisley arching one eyebrow as to make clear she didn’t like to wait for an answer for too long.
For some reason, Claire had the feeling she might end up with a fat lip if she would confirm her assumption about she being Claire. A part of her mind hesitated to answer, but another part, a more dominant part responsible for controlling her conditioned responses had already given order to her mouth to speak the words.

“Uh, yeah. Yes I am.” Claire heard herself saying. God, how ridiculously insecure that sounds! She reprimanded herself. Come on, Claire. This is not you.

“You got any plans for the night?” Haisley asked.

Why this is an unexpected turn. Claire thought. Where is she going with this?

“Actually, no.” Claire said.
 
“Great! Where do you live?”

“I uhm… Palm Lane 241.”

“Thanks, I’ll be there at 8.” Haisley said and poked a finger at Claire’s chest as she added, “You and I are going to have a wonderful girl’s night. See you later.”

The doorbell rang and Claire ambled her way towards the front door. She took a peek through the spyhole and saw Haisley waiting on the porch. She was dressed in casual garments with a fluttering red skirt ending at mid-thigh and a matching thin leather jacket, with the zipper halfway open as to showcase her partly veiled healthy bosom, bulging out from under the tight fabric.
Claire could not believe that this was actually happening to her. Haisley fuckin Cavanish, the most widely discussed girl in this side of town, able to turn literally every male into a drooling lapdog just by her presence alone is ringing Claire’s doorbell for a girl’s night! Linda and Christel are so going to be vomit-sick with jealousy!
As Claire was about to open the door, a fleeting thought crossed her mind. What if this was all a prank? Why would someone like Haisley, with friends for the picking, hang out with a sophomore like herself?
A genuine smile, bright enough to cast off an ominous pack of shelf clouds beamed into Claire’s face when she opened the door and saw Haisley greeting her.
 
“Nice place you live here, Claire.” Haisley said.
 
“Thanks.” Claire responded.
 
She saw Haisley looking intensely at the name tag hanging adjacent to the front door.
 
“Wait, don’t tell me… is your last name Wilkins? Are you perchance the daughter of Sophie Wilkins?”
 
Claire scratched the back of her head, arching one brow as she answered, “Yeah, that’s my mom. What about her?”

“Like, oh my god! That woman is a freakin legend! My mom told me all about her. She and her went to that same fancy school in Bayside District. You know which one I mean, right? Anyway, your market-value in the social ranking system has just been boosted with a few extra notches. Good job, Claire!”
 
“Uuh, thanks… I guess.” Claire said. Not knowing if she should be happy about the fact that her mother’s legacy ensured her ascension on the social ladder.
 
“You should thank your mother.” Haisley replied.
 
Claire gave a simpering smile as she said, “I’ll make sure that I will.”

 
Sophie 
Sophie turned the propeller off as she bobbed up and down in her hired motor boat on the water along the coast. A warm salty breeze caressed her face as Sophie keeled deep over the railing, giving every spectator (if there was any) a marvelous view of her shapely ass which was nicely clasped within a tight-fitting orange swimsuit bottom.
Dipping one hand in the sea, Sophie nibbled at her lower lip in eager anticipation as she brought her hand up to marvel at the latest addition to her collection. Two luxurious yachts, barely bigger than blocks of lego were trying to make rapid knots in a futile attempt to escape out of Sophie’s palm. As the final residues of water slithered through Sophie’s hand, she saw the yachts slowly landing on the skin of her palm, flipping to the side, unable to create any movement with their pitiful engines now that the water was gone.
 
“I’m just so fond of boats.” Sophie said. “at least one thing we have in common.”
Squinting at the far horizon, Sophie could discern the characteristic contours of a massive naval base standing out in the background.