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Oh no. Jess actually values my opinion, when I don’t really have one.
“I’m sure you’ll look beautiful with or without the added decoration,” I say quickly. “Or maybe just some spangly earrings are enough. Have you thought about that? I think you’d look really good with three-inch drop diamante earrings,” I say.
“Hmm,” says Jessica, pondering the idea. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll go to the mall and see if they have anything good after class today,” she says in a cheery tone.
I smile, biting into my sandwich. I love my friend and hope she has a good time at prom. At one time, it would have bothered me that I wasn’t going. I’d have been depressed about my lack of a date, not to mention what my curvy body would look like in a prom dress. I would have compared my huge tits, wide ass, and soft rolls to the slim girls in my class.
But not anymore. Somehow, prom seems so insignificant now that I’ve taken up with two hot alpha males who touch me everywhere. They make me cry out with such joy, that school activities seem far below me now. Prom is for kids.
Suddenly, lunch is interrupted by a newsflash on a nearby TV mounted in the cafeteria. I jerk upright at the sight of two very familiar faces: it’s Bruce and Burke. What …? My blood runs cold as the news runs a segment on them.
“What is it?” asks Jessica, realizing I’m not listening to her story but staring in a trance at the TV, mid-bite through my bagel. I don’t answer, and she follows my gaze to the TV. “Annie?”
“Hold on a sec,” I whisper, letting go of my bagel without realizing I’m putting it back down.
“Burke and Bruce Magellan,” the reporter is saying, “are leaders of a notorious crime ring famous for trading in stolen art. They’ve been incognito for years, but were spotted recently in Manhattan.” The screen flashes to a grainy black and white still, obviously taken from a closed circuit camera. The twins’ faces aren’t visible, although their looming bulk is instantly familiar to me.
“Having kept a low profile for the past two years, the notorious career criminals are back in business and have been striking all over the city,” the reporter drones on. “Millions of dollars have already been plundered, and owners everywhere are taking steps to protect their prized possessions.”
“Um, hello?” asks Jessica, waving a hand in front of my face. “Why do you care about this?”
“Shh!” I hiss at her, my eyes still glued to the screen. “Be quiet!”
The TV drones on.
“We’re here to speak to Mr. Gephardt, who had a Monet stolen from his apartment last night,” continues the news reporter as she’s joined by an elderly, doddering man. My breath catches – I recognize him as the neighbor in the apartment below us. Holy shit!
“Mr. Gephardt, can you tell us what happened?”
“Well, Nora,” says Mr. Gephardt. “I was asleep last night when suddenly, I heard a sound. I woke up to see two dark figures in my room, but by the time I’d turned on the lights, they were gone. And so was my Monet.”
“Any idea of how they could have managed this, Mr. Gephardt?” asks the news reporter, looking serious.
“No idea whatsoever. One minute they were there, the next they were gone! Classic Magellan Brothers. It’s like magic,” whines Mr. Gephardt. I try to keep from hyperventilating. Meanwhile, Jessica has gone to scrolling through her phone, totally uninterested in this news piece.
“Thank you, Mr. Gephardt,” says the news reporter, turning back to the general audience. “We urge all art collectors to be on high alert. Clearly, the Magellan Brothers are at large, and no one is safe. These are serious criminals, armed and dangerous, and determined to get what they want. Until we know more, all art collectors should be on alert,” concludes the news reporter. “Tiffany, over to you with the weather report,” she continues. The program moves on, but I’m still fixated on the news.
“Your father will be fine, right?” asks Jessica, looking up disinterestedly from her phone. Huh? It takes me a second to piece together that Jess obviously thinks I’m worried about the news report because my father is a billionaire art collector.
“Yeah,” I mumble, going with it. “Roger’s got crazy security set up.”
“Speaking of your father, have you asked him about the college fund yet?” asks Jess. I shake my head.
“No,” I mumble. “And I don’t plan to, either.”
“What?” exclaims Jessica, scrunching her nose. “Why not? How can you give up so easily? What are you going to do after graduation if you don’t go to college?”
“Jesus, Jess,” I say, rolling my eyes. “There’s more to life than college, okay? I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ll find something. And Roger isn’t exactly easy to deal with.”
