The Classix

(OLD) Chapter 23

Note: Morning! I just spent the whole week planning and plotting for this book, so I hope the plot picks up speed soon. Thank you for being so patient while this droned on week by week. I love you.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE CLASSIX: The Famoux just got to their new castle of a house called The Hideaway, and Cartney just told Emeray that they should totally play along with DEFED's game. Little did I know before posting that "Cartney's life isn't a big enough threat" to some readers. Do you propose I maybe threaten Chapter instead? Don't put these ideas in my mind like this, friends. *evil laughter.*

emeray

    If it wasn't for the complete sincerity in his eyes, I would've thought Cartney was simply thinking rashly. Angad has shown up at the door to cut our conversation short, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he was no longer considering his words to their fullest.

    But I can tell in the way he looks at me so deeply that they're completely considered. There's a glint in his eyes, a blaring signal that he means it when he suggests we become perfect players in a game set to end us.

    He repeats his statement. "I want us to play along."

    Play along.

    I give Cartney a cautious look. "And how do you propose we do that?"

    "They want us to be ruined. We should ruin ourselves."

    Angad knocks tersely on the door. His muffled shouts to me that Norax is on the phone fill the silence that follows.

    Cartney strains. "Ray, I know that sounds crazy––"

    "I get it, DEFED's threatening to kill you if you don't play the game. But the game's they're playing is going to hurt us any way we slice it."

    "No, no, Ray. This isn't about preserving my life. This is about freeing it. If we play along, they can't play against us."

    "Huh?"

    "DEFED is looking for an annoyingly over-affectionate couple," he says, "so we've got to deliver in excess. So much excess, in fact, that there's nothing they could do that could bring us down any further."

    "Bringing ourselves down?" My nose crinkles. "Ruining our own lives? I think that's a really big gamble for us to take, Cartney. And regardless, Norax and Buchan would never let us purposely make people hate us."

    "Buchan's all about getting my name in the news as much as possible before my album drops. As long as they're talking about me, it doesn't matter what they're talking about. And Norax––Norax didn't even remember to be in town for your birthday. She's so wrapped up in those new Famoux members of yours, she barely notices anything else. Now is the best time we'll ever have to actually do this."

    "What if that ends up not working like you thought it would?"

    Cartney rises to his feet, shooting a look at Angad through the glass door. "No, it'll work, I swear. If we make people hate you and I enough, DEFED won't be able to blackmail us anymore." He reaches down to help me up. "An engagement ring won't be a threat to us if we put them on first."

    "So what––we succeed and the whole world hates us. DEFED just leaves us alone?" I shake my head. "It won't work that way."

    "DEFED wants to bring us down, but doesn't realize they've giving us the best way possible to rise up. Ray, the 'perfect couple' thing can take us only so far before people want everything to completely fall apart. How much is everyone gonna love watching us break up when Buchan and Norax decide there's nothing more they can do?"