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FLASHING lights, pulsating music, scandals at every glance; it was a scene she had gotten used to all too well. She crossed her legs while quietly sitting on her throne, overlooking the haut monde from her private balcony. The elite nightclub was brimming with the nobility of the hierarchy pyramid; the jet-setters, trend-setters and their queen. Madeline Lockhart.

"Here you go, Miss."

Without removing her focus from the scene, she took a crystal flute from the tray and sipped the cognac quietly. The elite were gathered in her court aka BUZZ for her annual end of summer party. Everyone who was anyone was there.

Lips suddenly landed on her neck just as the the waiter left.

"Hey gorgeous," A deep voice murmured.

  Grabbing his tie, she pulled Hugh, her beau of the week, closer to her.

"Where is everyone?"

With no other chair on the balcony, he was forced to kneel on the ground beside her, planting a kiss on her bejewelled hand. "Well, Oliver is on one of his binges again."

She tensed at his name. Ever since that night in St Tropez  they had been avoiding each other. No, that wasn't true. It was Madeline who was avoiding him. In fact, any efforts of reconciliation were from him. It wasn't that Madeline was angry over what happened in St. Tropez. She had a lot of fun! But she felt confused and awkward after their drunken... meeting. However, she had to admit she was beginning to miss his snarky comments, controversial innuendos and constant upturned collar. How he made the 2005 popped collar trend look good? She'd never know. He never wore t-shirts unlike Spencer, who almost always resembled a struggling author.

  Spencer was the classic high-achiever, destined for an Ivy League school. He excelled at everything naturally and had a creative flair that would undoubtedly make him famous one day. He had his eyes set on studying drama but his mother wanted him to study law. Madeline often wondered what he would end up choosing.
 
  Unlike Oliver, Spencer stayed away from hard drugs and binge-drinking (although, he occasionally smoked cannabis for "creative purposes"). Spencer's mind was a factory of ideas and innovation.

Madeline pitied Oliver. His reckless behaviour was beginning to tarnish his reputation. He now needed someone to take care of him (usually Spencer) or else he would ultimately end up in an ER with alcohol poisoning (which had happened twice already). He was too irresponsible and his recklessness worried Madeline.

  "What about Spencer? And Nora?"

  "Spencer is on baby-sitting duty with Oliver, as usual. And the last time I saw Nora she was coming out of the cloak room with someone."

  "Okay, that's all." She released his tie and returned her gaze to the floor. She was done with him.

  "That's all? What do you mean?"

  "You can go home now."

  "What!?" Hugh laughed incredulously. "I came all the way here and you expect me to just go?"

  She faced him and forced a smile to her face. "Okay, well you can get me another drink if you want to stay so bad," She handed him her glass, which he begrudgingly took from her. "Oh and Hugh?"

  "Yeah?"

  "At least do it with a smile on your face."

  He rolled his eyes and walked away. Her lips curled up in satisfaction.

  "That was a bit harsh now wasn't it?"

  She laughed after recognising the source of the voice. "Nora!" She stood up and embraced her best-friend in a warm hug. "You're back from London?"

  "I left early. I had to quit the Gucci show because they wouldn't put me in as the closing model. It's complete bullshit, I mean, I am Nora Lawrence," She scoffed, pronouncing her name as if it were holy. "But I did steal the final model's dress," She giggled, twirling in a dress that was meant to be on a runway halfway across the world.

  "Nora!

  "Revenge is so sweet."

  "You're going to get blacklisted, you know. Who would book a thief?"

  "Maddie, dah-ling, Do I have to repeat my name for you? Everyone wants me in their show. I'm simply the best."

  "Sure..."

  "Hey!" She playfully nudged Madeline, before adjusting her slinky silver dress and puffing up her hair. "I need to post a 'Boomerang' for the fans. Can you take it for me?"

Social media played a major role in Nora's career. It bothered Madeline that every time they were out she had to take a video or put a photo online. Why couldn't she just savour the moment?

  "Yeah, sure."

  She watched as Nora ran her hands up her dress seductively and winked at the camera.

  "That looks really good."

Nora frowned. "Can you do it at a different angle?"

"Excuse me?"

She chuckled. "Kidding-" Madeline really didn't believe she was kidding, "-I'm just going to upload this and... oh my God, Spencer is here."

Madeline twisted around to scan the room for him. There he was with Oliver. She had to admit, Oliver didn't look as drunk as Hugh had described. "Why are you so surprised?"

  "I'm not surprised. I'm slightly nervous however. Our last conversation ended with me throwing my shoe at him. Do you think he's still pissed about me sleeping with his brother in St Tropez?"

  Madeline sipped her glass before returning to her seat. "Everyone made mistakes in St Tropez..." She sighed, her voice dripping with double-entendre. "Anyway, if you're so worried why don't you go and ask him. I'll be right up here watching."

  Hugh barged in, causing Madeline to give him a deathly glare. She could see him wince under her piercing look. He slowly placed her glass in front of her, his hands trembling slightly. Nora gently caressed his arm, her dainty fingers running up and down his bicep.

"Would you mind getting me a glass too?" She purred, batting her eyelashes.

  Madeline never understand her charm. Nora was hypnotic and she managed to put every boy she met under some spell. And even though she was a heartbreaker, no one held grudges against her. She was too darn loveable.

  Hugh nodded his head, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Of course."

  Nora rolled her eyes. "Okay, go." She nodded her head towards the door and watched him leave. "Anyway, Madeline! You have to come dance."

"Dance? I don't mix with commoners."

  "Maddie!"

"I'm joking!" She laughed. She loved dancing. "I'll come down later. I promise." She gave her an encouraging nod towards Spencer. "You have to fix things with him first."

  However, Madeline knew that it was unlikely she would leave her reserved balcony that night. She had to keep her eye on everyone. She had to know everything going on. She had to get all the back-to-school gossip, all the news over what happened during the summer.

  Nora, however, spent most of her time as the belle of the ball, capturing everyone's attention with her dancing. Typical. If she hadn't been her best friend, Madeline would have gotten rid of her a long time ago. The truth, and this was a truth that often kept Madeline up at night, was that Nora was a threat to her social standing. The fact was that people loved her more than they loved Madeline. Madeline's source of power was fear and respect. However, Madeline had a tenet which was that as long as they remained friends, Nora wouldn't be able to usurp her position.

Nora snatched Madeline's flute from her hands. "I need this more than you do," She explained as she downed it, keeping an eye on Spencer.

   "Wish me luck, Maddie. It's about to go down."

After a quick hug, she left. Madeline grabbed her phone immediately and texted Oliver. That had been her ulterior motive all along. She needed Spencer to leave Oliver so that they could talk. They had to sort out whatever was going on between them before the start of their senior year.

  She leaned against the rail waiting for his response. She wasn't nervous. She was never nervous. But yet, she could still feel her stomach churn.

'We need to talk'

She watched as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and looked at the message. He looked up at her and briefly made eye contact. There was a flash of mischief in his eyes before he excused himself and began to walk towards the stairs. Spencer tried to hold him back but Nora quickly played her role in Madeline's scheme and distracted him.

  Less than a minute later, Madeline's ears perked up to the sound of footsteps approaching her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in to prepare herself for whatever was about to happen. It was inevitable; they had to discuss what went down in St Tropez.

"Maddie. It's been a while." She felt hands of ice slowly snake around her waist.

"Off. Now." She peeled his hands off of her and looked at him with disgust. "Don't get too comfortable. You won't be here for long."

"What's wrong?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

  Madeline could feel her anger rise. He wasn't taking her seriously.

"I called you here to talk because things have been weird between us after what happened in that yacht in St Tropez. It can never be brought up again. Understood?"

  "What happened between us?"

  "Excellent."

  "No, seriously though, what happened? I was too high to remember." He cackled at his lame attempt at a joke.

  Madeline rolled her eyes to the sky and slapped his arm. "I'm serious, Oliver! No one can know we slept together!"

  His malevolent grin made Madeline shudder. She turned back around to overlook her kingdom, trying to hide the disappointment on her face.

"If you aren't going to cooperate, you may as well leave."

  She didn't see his hand shoot out and grip hers gently.

"Mads, stop. You know I'm joking. Look, I promise I'll never bring it up," He chuckled, placing his hand on his chest.

She turned around and looked into his eyes for any signs of deception. Nothing. No emotion at all. She sighed and slipped her hand out of his. "Thank you."

He smiled at her, although his smile didn't reach his eyes. "You're welcome."

She carefully studied his face. What was his deal? He never apologised for anything. She peered curiously at him looking for emotion. More than ten years of friendship meant that she knew him inside out. Oliver Scott never apologised. Oliver Scott never held hands. Oliver Scott could never be summoned yet here he was, standing in front of her.

"You're doing that thing again where you study my face in excruciating detail. It makes me super nervous." He joked. After no reply from her, he backed away in defeat.

"Goodbye Madeline," He sighed. He reached the door frame before turning around and meeting her eyes once more. "I'm not as emotionless as you think. I remember that night. Crystal clear. It meant something to me. But I know it didn't to you. And I respect that."

This time it was him that studied Madeline's facial expression. Similarly, he saw no emotion. She did feel something though that he couldn't see on her face; sympathy. That night meant nothing to her. She didn't like him in that way and she seriously doubted that would change. But saying that would break his heart. Another thing Oliver Scott never did was confess his feelings. And she wasn't about to crush him the first time he did.

  Her mind flashed back to St Tropez. His hands gripping her hips, his lips kissing away all her insecurities. His eyes boring into hers and his smile, his beautiful smile, calming her.

  "Thank you. But I-"

  "I know. It's okay, Maddie."

  After one last smile, he left her to deal with whatever she was feeling. Admiration? Pity?  She didn't know but she didn't care either. It was definitely not love. She had gotten over that years ago.

♛ ♛ ♛

Author's Note:

Q- FTR or RR?

Okay so this isn't my first book but I've never had the confidence to keep a book up for more than a month so I'm really trying to give this book all I got!

Here's the definition for opulent because my friends told me no one knows the word *eye roll*.

OPULENT ; ostentatiously costly and luxurious/ wealthy

I always love hearing the opinions of my readers so please feel free to comment or PM me!

Love,
-hexed