"I need a sample of Holden's DNA," he replied matter-of-factly.

After discussing the reasons for the ludicrous request – reasons he didn't give me – as well as the legal side of it, I convinced him to give me a week. That would be enough time for me to ask Holden about what skeletons in the closet Logan could possibly be after.

I never understood why movie and book characters agreed to keep such ridiculous secrets. Sure, my reputation as well as Holden's could go up in smoke, but that was potentially reversible. I wasn't about to turn over Holden's DNA to a potential psychopath.

The next day upon arrival to school, I was greeted by a myriad of banners in the hallway advertising the cruise to celebrate the start of the basketball season. These kids really liked living it large. I hadn't run into Holden at all that morning despite the pressing matters and decided to go to their club room to find him.

On all the TV screens fixed in the various homerooms and around the school, a single news channel was playing. The TV in their club room was no exception.

"Arthur Lennox has been released following discovery of new documents which show chief operating officer Bradley Hawthorne was responsible for the insider trades," the news anchor read.

They cut away to the Lennox family. "We are glad that the truth has come to light, and we will focus on repairing the damage that has been done to both my family and the company," Arthur Lennox said. His wife stood beside him, along with Parker, both keeping somber appearances. Arthur turned to hug his wife and son before informing the press that he would be taking no further questions.

It was clear many of the families at Pemberton had thought the insider trading scandal would bring an end to the Lennox empire, but those families had been wrong.

"Bradley Hawthorne might be going away for a few years, but once he comes out, he's probably got millions stashed in some offshore account," came Parker's voice.

"What do you mean?" I replied, surprised he would imply such a thing about his own family.

"You know what I mean," he said. "Besides, now a few of my so-called friends have revealed their true thoughts."

"True, not a lot of people like you very much," I said, instantly regretting it as the words left my mouth.

"You sure don't sugar coat it, do you?" He laughed. "I don't mind," he shrugged. "I hate two-faced people the most. You're a close second," he grinned.

"Gee thanks," I replied dryly. "Anyway, have you seen Holden anywhere?"

"You lovebirds sure like to put on a show," he remarked. "I heard about yesterday."

I rolled my eyes. "So where is he?"

"Probably buying tickets for the cruise this Friday night. It's a huge tradition that everyone looks forward to in senior year."

"Do you rich people just love boats?"

"Actually, the school owns a private island. That's where the actual party is. We don't just sit around on boats all day."

"Good to know. I'm going to go find him now."

Unsurprisingly, by the time I'd reached the makeshift ticketing booth, Holden had already bought my ticket and his. Had he ever heard of the word 'frugal' in his entire life? "Can you stop throwing your cash around? When did I even say I was going to be free?" I groaned.

"Come on. What other plans could you seriously have?"

"A nice relaxing evening with my couch and Netflix."

"Hmm...tempting, but that can be any other day. This is the island party, the quintessential social event of senior year."

"That you can attend alone."

"You're my girlfriend. You can't seriously expect me to go alone. Everybody knows it's a couple's thing."

I'd gotten so wrapped up in his excitement about the party that I'd completely forgotten to ask him about the DNA thing and Logan. Just as I was hoping to get the question out, the bell rang and Holden jetted off, insisting that he had many important things to do.

"I'll see you Friday night," he grinned, just before disappearing into the mass of bodies rushing to their homerooms.

--

When Holden had said he'd see me Friday, I didn't expect that I wouldn't see him at all during that week. As it turned out, his family had made a surprise trip to Aspen since his parents had decided on a spur of the moment adventure and he's make it back just in time for the party.

"Do you guys usually just take days off to go on these excursions?" I asked Parker.

"No. It's just Holden's family. They like to live in the moment," he replied.

"Also, remind me again why we have to decorate the banners for the basketball game. Why doesn't the school just hire someone to make these?"

"It's about 'community spirit'," Parker responded, making air quotes with his fingers.

It was Friday afternoon and we'd been asked to stay back to decorate a few banners for the upcoming basketball games. Ms Potter, the assistant principal, had come into our physics class to find some volunteers who'd want to stay back to help decorate.

Everyone quickly looked away to avoid eye contact. Especially considering the huge party was that night and most people wanted to get ready. She ended up singling me out because I'd looked away the least. "These hours go towards your community service," she said, sweetening the proposition. I'd agreed because I knew volunteering in school activities would look good in a college application, and after all, it wouldn't take that long anyway.

She managed to rope Parker into it as well, her reason being that it was the least he could do since he'd refused to actually be on the team.

"Watch where you're painting!" Parker exclaimed, frantically brushing at the speck of red paint that had made its way onto his blazer.

"Sorry," I quickly apologised. "I'm sure it'll wash out though," I added.

"Wash this out," he grinned. I had a bad feeling as soon as he'd raised the brush covered in blue paint. With a gentle flick, there was a splotch of blue on my black blazer, just below the school crest.

"Are you serious?" I shrieked.

"I'm sure it'll wash out," he smirked.

"If it's this big it'll need to be dry cleaned!" I exclaimed. He just stood there, laughing. I dipped my paintbrush back in the red paint and flicked it at him, this time creating a bigger splat with some collateral damage, namely a few small red dots across his face. He did not look impressed.

"That was so childish!"

"You started it," I retorted. His eyes darted between the various paint colours. The last thing I needed was a hippie-looking blazer. Just as he dipped his brush into the green tin, I put my brush down and backed away slowly. "Truce, truce, truce," I repeated.

"You got paint on me twice. It's only fair that I do it again to you."

"The first time was an accident you prick!"

"Just for that, I'm definitely getting this green on you," he said. Just as he flicked his wrist, I darted to the left, the green splatter landing on the shelf holding a few other tins.

"I don't think Ms Potter will be impressed."

"It's fine. We'll buy the school a new shelf," he shrugged.

"Are you kidding?" I laughed.

"It'll be worth it. For this," he flicked the brush again and I dropped down, just as the blob of paint soared across my head and hit the shelf again.

"This is super not appropriate!" I yelled breathlessly, crab shuffling as I watched his feet move. I grabbed the nearest canvas and held it in front of me as a shield before edging as close as I could to the table to get another brush. He re-dipped his brush and flicked it at me again, hitting the canvas squarely.

Just as I was about to grab my brush, my phone pinged. I put down the canvas and went to check it. It was a warning to let me know that the boat was departing in five minutes. I turned to let Parker know, but just as I did, the paint hit me squarely on the cheek.

"Are you serious!?" I grabbed a paper towel and wiped it on my face, probably smearing it if anything.

"Now we're even," he grinned.

"You wanna know what else?" I asked.

"What?"

"The boat's leaving in five minutes."

"What?"

It seemed that we'd both forgotten the boat would be departing relatively early at four thirty. The banners were only supposed to take forty minutes so we could get home and get ready.

"Isn't the dock at least half an hour away?" I asked.

"If I drive, we can be there in fifteen."

We looked each other, our eyes scanning up and down. We were certainly not dressed appropriately.

"We're going to miss the boat. Why don't we just call it a night and part ways?"

"And miss the party of the year? I don't' think so," Parker said, shaking his head.

"Who would've known you to be a party animal?"

"Come on!" He exclaimed.

We quickly hung up the poster to dry and did our best to organize things the way we had found it – a poor attempt to say the least, since there was paint everywhere, and half of the paint lids and cans were mismatched. We sprinted towards Parker's car and hopped in.

Luckily, none of the paint was on our backs or butts, otherwise it would've ruined his light tan leather seats.

Just as I was about to put my seatbelt on, I realised it would cover the part of my uniform covered in paint. I gave the paint splotch a few taps and to my surprise, it was dry. I buckled up and Parker sped like a madman towards the dock.

We weren't surprised that the boat had already left. What was surprising was that no one had waited for us.

"Guess it's time to throw in the towel. We tried our best," I said, quite happy to go home and marathon something.

Parker thought for a moment before an excited look crossed his face. "I have a boat docked here," he said. "Let's go!"

"Hold up, can you even drive one of those things?" I asked as our feet plodded against the wooden planks, the sound reverberating as we headed for his boat.

"Easy," he replied. "Here it is."

We stopped at a relatively small boat – I was using Stephanie's yacht as my reference point, so the boat itself probably wasn't small. It was like a speed boat, but slightly bigger with an overhead shade thing and a square on the deck met by some steps that would take you into the area underneath.

Parker fiddled with his keys and finally found the correct one. It roared to life and we sped along the water, leaving the dock behind us. "We'll just get to the island ourselves," Parker said.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" The area around us just looked like open water to me. There were a few land areas at least two hundred metres away every now and then. The other boat was nowhere in sight, and given the speed we were going at, I would've expected to run into them.

The water was jetting up on the sides of the boat as we continued speeding alone, leaving white foam and violent ripples in its wake. Parker steered confidently, looking at the little digital navigation thing near the wheel.

All of a sudden, the boat was slowing down. The engine began spluttering. Then it died.

--------

what what my dudes

This update is long overdue but the excitement has somewhat begun!

Thank you for sticking with the story and don't forget to vote and comment :~) I try my best to reply to all the comments hehe