The Popularity Game

{ f o u r } Operation: Party Crashers

"Oh my God, you have no idea how amazing this dress looks on me!" Chloe shouted from the bathroom, her voice getting louder as she came closer.

Which was bad, because I was on her mother's laptop hacking away on party plans while I was on the phone with the biggest douchebag in the world.

"Is that Chloe? Sanders, get out of the computer!" Jason shouted into his phone.

Rest in peace, my ears.

"No, because I want to get caught." I said with annoyance.

Balancing the phone between my shoulder and my ear while closing all the files on the said computer was proving to be difficult. You know all those spy movies with scenes like that? They make it look so easy. I, on the other hand, probably looked like a giraffe pinning a watermelon on my neck as I ferociously clicked the mouse.

"I got to go, bye." I pressed the end call button and put my phone down as I continued closing everything that I had opened.

Suddenly, Chloe came into sight. Her golden dress was adorned with tiny sequins that fell mid-thigh. She was right; it did look amazing on her.

"What are you doing on mom's computer?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. I stared at her wide-eyed and blurted out the first lie that crossed my mind.

"I was on twitter. You know me, I like to tweet a lot." And then for good measure, I added, "Tweet, tweet."

Erin, no. Just no.

"But you have your phone right there." Chloe replied nonchalantly as she pointed to the phone that rested beside the keyboard.

This was going to be difficult situation to weasel out of.

"It's dead." I said quickly.

She raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you were talking to someone on the phone. I could hear your voice from the bathroom." She said. "Who were you talking to?"

I blinked. "Myself." I gave her the biggest smile that I could handle without trying to scream in embarrassment. She shrugged and looked at the mirror behind her. Just then, Chloe's mom entered the room looking quite frazzled. Her hair was slightly out of place, as if she had run her hand through it multiple times.

"Oh, darling," She said as she examined Chloe. "That dress makes your waist look fat. Go try this one instead." She handed Chloe another dress from the golden clump that lay on the sofa. Chloe gave a fake grin and headed back into the bathroom.

-

My heels clattered against the marble floor as I walked into the lobby of the hotel where Mr. and Mrs. Collins' anniversary party was being held.

"You're making too much noise." Jason said from beside me. He was wearing a tux, which was an unlikely sight, since all I ever saw him wearing were graphic T-shirts and leather jackets.

"I can't help it if the architect of this building chose limestone for their floor work." I shot back.

He chuckled. "Good to know about your extensive knowledge on flooring."

He looked around. I told him to meet me at the hotel twenty minutes early so that we could finalize our game plan. "In there." He said, nodding to the door on the far left side.

I followed him inside the elegant room, which was covered with pristine white walls and a chandelier that looked extremely expensive. The Collins have got it good.

"Sanders." Jason said, snapping me out of my trance. "Here." He handed me a pen from the pocket of his coat. "What is this?" I asked him.

"It's a pen with a built-in microphone and tracking device in it." He opened the cap to show me the tiny device that was securely hidden from view unless you were actually looking for it.