Chapter Seven: A Small Threat
I faced the long hanging mirror in the upstairs bathroom and spun around about four times before deciding that my mostly turquoise, sparkly handkerchief dress was perfect. My hair was down and in voluminous curls that I would never have been able to perfect in the real world. Bronze gladiator sandals adorned my feet, and a bronze rose barrette held my hair back above my right ear. I grabbed my tube of MAC LipGlass and re-touched my lips before grabbing my metallic brown DKNY clutch and exiting the bathroom.
“Somebody looks hot tonight!” Scout smiled and moved a strand of wavy blond hair out of her face.
“Why, thank you,” I smiled and spun.
“Not you! I meant me,” She said jokingly and laughed. Scout was dressed in a really pretty charcoal gray empire waist dress with little silver studs here and there. She wore a silver and diamond necklace, bracelet, and silver ballet flats.
“I think we all look good,” said Harlow, coming out of the twins’ room dressed in a sequined blue tank dress with a large white belt at her hips, white kitten heels and a white headband in her super straight hair. She flashed a smile as Kymberlie followed her out of the room dressed exactly the same, except wearing a pink dress and black accessories.
“Me too,” said Kym. “Shall we go?”
“Wait!” a muffled shout came from an unknown place, but Hayden emerged from Scout’s room, his hair slightly messed, but in a cool way, wearing khaki pants, brown converse, and a brown and green plaid shirt. He looked good, and I won’t deny it.
“Hayden! That is an invasion of privacy!” Scout scolded angrily. “What were you doing in my room anyway?”
“Nothing,” Hayden said. “Mistook it for the bathroom…” He smoothed his shirt, and as everyone else started down the stairs, he hung back and pulled me aside. “Steph,” his face was serious. “There is something you should know about Scout.”
I rolled my eyes. “And Hayden, there is something you should know about not going into a girl’s bedroom uninvited. It is wrong. On more levels than one, actually…” I ignored his tip-off and followed the others downstairs.
“But this is important,” Hayden said under his breath, after I was already out of earshot and halfway out the door. The party was fierce. The deck was, well, decked out, just like Sara had said it would be. Cute hanging paper lanterns were the only light source besides the moonlight; tables draped with deep red and orange tablecloths, decorative flower arrangements, and hors d'oeuvres. There was a stage. Where instruments were placed, but a sparkling red DJ booth was blasting Miley Cyrus’s dancey tune, “See You Again.” There was a lit-up dance floor where tons of well-dressed and rich guests were dancing, as well as some celebrities. “Oh my gosh, it’s Orlando Bloom!!” Kymberlie was about to run over to him and make a fool out of herself, but Jeffery saved her from eternal embarrassment. “Actually, that’s my old school friend, James Hancock. He’s famous for his Orlando-like looks. But he’s a nice guy,” Jeffery smiled. Kymberlie’s smile faded a bit. “Oh, I knew,” she said coolly. “I was just seeing if I could trick Harlow. She is a huge fan of Orlando.” “Me? You’re the one that nearly jumped the rope at the Pirates 2 premier,” Harlow said defensively. Kymberlie gave her sister a glare. “Well, I’m going to go dance.” With that, she turned and headed off toward James, the Orlando look-alike. “Ugh, sisters,” Harlow said to Jeffery, with an eye roll. Jeffery chuckled. “Tell me about it…” He glanced up at Sara, greeting people on the stairs to the deck, where most people were entering. “But you and your sis are pretty cool, if you ask me.” “Aw, thanks,” Harlow blushed. “You want to come dance with me and my cool sister?” She smiled sweetly at Jeffery. He laughed and replied, “Sure, why not.” “I think I’m going to go get some punch,” Scout said and walked toward the buffet. “Good, now we’re alone,” Hayden looked in my eyes with that same serious face he had earlier. “Steph-” I interrupted him. “Hayden, whatever it is, it can wait! Just relax and enjoy the party.” Hayden opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again and sighed. “Fine. I will enjoy the party, then. But the only way I can do that is…” He smiled. “If you dance with me.” I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Sure, Hayden. Why not?” His face lit up with excitement as he grabbed my wrist and led me to the dance floor just as Metro Station’s “Shake It” ended. “Alriiiiight,” cooed the DJ over the mic. “Here is a slow one for the lovebirds out there.” “The Heart Never Lies” by Mcfly blared from the speakers. Most people left the dance floor, but lots of coupes stayed behind, embracing their partner. “Uh,” Hayden put his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “If it’s too weird, we can just dance later…” “No, I love this song,” I smiled and put my hands around his neck. He smiled slightly. “Okay then…” He slowly placed his hands on my waist. For the first half of the song, we silently rocked back and forth to the beat, and I hummed along to the song. “To pick up the pieces, if you don’t believe me…” I sang along softly. “Steph, do you promise to listen to what I have to say?” Hayden looked at me hopefully. I reluctantly replied “Fine. I promise to listen. But I don’t promise to agree or anything.” “That’s fine, I just need you to listen to me.” He took a deep breath and continued, “Okay, I’ve been really suspicious about Scout, and so,” “So, you went in her room?” I looked annoyed. “That’s not the point. But when I did, I discovered something. Scout isn’t just a spy for the Presidents. She is a spy for Andy Medulla, too!” “What? That’s crazy, he sent her this hologram-y thingy… He knows she works for the Presidents.” “Yeah, he knows, because she is a double-agent! She reports all her stuff back to Andy! I heard her talking on the phone earlier, so I went and checked her recent calls, and half of them were to Dr. Medulla.” Hayden had a crazed, yet completely dead serious look in his green eyes. “But why would he need Scout to double against us?” I was utterly confused, but I just might believe him. “Andy wants to conquer every dimension, right? Well, I’m pretty sure he realizes that he can just destroy everything with the proper tools, which he can probably build with his mega brain. But Scout has been reporting everything we say and do, and he thinks something about the heart thing the fortune teller said is important, and he is planning on ‘capturing the heart’ and he might try tonight.” I looked at Hayden. At first I believed him, then I thought he was a psycho. But now I’m not too sure. “The heart? What are you talking about, Hayden? And, how did you find all this out?” “I told you I heard her on the phone today. But I don’t know exactly what he means…” Hayden looked around. “So, do you think Andy also remembers the real dimension, since he knows everything, now?” I inquired. “Maybe… and that could be why he wants to avenge us.” “Avenge?” “Yeah,” Hayden looked a bit scared. “He was talking about having us go first. He was like,” Hayden cleared his throat and spoke in a squeaky tone, “‘That Stevie and her posse of heartless jerks will be the first to be sucked from humanity, and then we take all of reality down with them!’” He cleared his throat again. “Something like that…” I raised an eyebrow. “Okay then… well, I doubt he can do much, he is like… what, 4’11 max.” The song ended, and a chilly breeze left Goosebumps on my arms. There was an eerie feeling, and Hayden and I weren’t the only ones that felt it. All the guests were looking around at the crashing waves, the lanterns swaying in the breeze, and the odd little swirl of light coming from the dance floor. Hayden and I backed away as the glowing whirlpool grew, and a figure emerged from it. No taller than 4 feet, most of the height from the exceedingly large head, was a tiny boy; a tiny boy named Andy Matala, but who goes by the title of Dr. Medulla. A chatter spread across the crowd, and Andy shouted “Silence!” His face was contorted with an evil scowl as he spoke. “I have come for one thing, and one thing only. If everyone remains calm, then no one will get hurt.” He sounded like a police officer that just pulled over a speeding teenager. Except Andy wasn’t tall enough to pass as a cop, or a teenager, at that. “Well, what do you want?” asked Jeffery, coming forward. “You are totally harshing the mood of my party!” “Silence, you dim-witted polyspotter!” Andy raised a small hand and sent a surge of green light at Jeffery’s stomach, shooting him back 40 feet. “Jeffery!” The twins rushed over to him. “Did he say polyspotter?” asked Hayden. I shrugged in response, watching Andy carefully. “I came for Stevie Robinson and her posse,” Andy said, stepping forward as he spoke. “My posse?” I asked. He is just as geeky as he was before. “Whatever!” He waved his hand carelessly. “You group of hooligans have something that I want, and the only way to get that something, is by capturing you. Now,” he raised his teeny arm. “Prepare to be shrunk.” He slowly reached for a red button on his arm when suddenly he was knocked off of his feet by a red laser beam. Scout was rushing toward the villain, pulling a slick remote out of her silver clutch. She held the remote to Andy’s face with the skill of a true secret agent. “You know what this device can do, Andy. So I advise that you run back to your secret lair before I have to do something that we both could regret.” Scout stood up, still pointing the remote at Andy. Andy laughed and stood up, brushing off his pristine white lab coat. “Silly teenagers. You may think this is the last you see of me…” He pressed a button on what seemed to be a watch, but most likely wasn’t one, and the swirly vortex on the dance floor reappeared. “But it’s not! I will have my revenge!!!!” With that, Dr. Medulla dramatically jumped into the vortex. “Wow, that, like, totally killed the party,” Sara said, sipping a cup of punch.
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