THE ARISTOCRATS #1

00:20

tw: mentions of statutory rape

"Jesus!" A steady stream of swear words flew out of Clementine's mouth as she scrambled in her bed, covering her bare legs with her sheets.

All four boys stood in her doorway, the hallway's light behind them so she could see only their silhouette. It was like a scene out of a horror film, all that was missing was a pitchfork and a couple of flaming torches.

Her hand clutched her shirt, over her racing heart.

"It's only us, no need to get your knickers in a twist!" Levi admonished.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She whisper-yelled. "And keep your voices down, please!"

They fussed around, bumping into each other in the dark as they struggled to navigate through their room.

"Will someone please turn the lights on?" Elijah grumbled, his silhouette rubbing his head as he bumped into her closet.

"Oh, right," Aaron scrambled to flick the switch.

The room was flooded with light and Clementine stared at them slack-jawed. They were all wearing different variations of pajamas, and looked as if they had rolled straight out of bed. Not surprising, considering the fact that it was the witching hour.

Elijah has a singular cowlick type curl standing upright on the top of his head, and the sight made her repress a laugh. Levi's hair was fluffed up above his head, the light strands of hair seemingly defying gravity.

"It's three in the morning," she deadpanned, rubbing her puffy eyes. "You guys better have a good reason for waking me up."

Elijah caught her eye, flashing her a quick smirk. Her heart tugged, as if he had tied a string around it and was pulling it along behind him. She thought back to the feel of his shoulders under her hands.

She looked away, turning bright pink. Now was not the time.

"Well we do, actually," Ronan started, looking slightly miffed. "We think your mum might be meeting up with Kieran tonight."

"Christ, mate," Elijah swore, slapping Ronan on the back of the head.

"Good one, asshole," Levi grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Told you guys I should've said it instead."

"That's what I said," Aaron agreed.

"Sorry," Ronan apologised sheepishly.

Clementine shook her head, waving his apology off. It was easier to suppress her grief and anger than face it head on. Bottle it up and chuck into the ocean.

"Basically, we're going to try and take some pictures of the two," Levi stated. "In a non-creepy way. Not of them having sex. That's weird."

"Stop talking," Aaron gave him a sarcastic smile. "We just need the photos to prove that she's sleeping with a student."

"What's wrong with the photos you already have?" She asked.

"Kieran's face is unclear in the photo." Ronan shook his head, his lip curling over his teeth. "We only know it was him in the photo because we were there to see it."

She spied a small diamond glinting on his canine tooth.

"So the school board wouldn't deem it as substantial evidence," Clementine said slowly.

"Bingo," Elijah said without humour.

"Right." Clementine muttered, pulling her blanket up to her chin. "You have fun with that."

"You're not coming?" Levi asked, a hint of disappointment ringing in his voice.

"No, I don't feel like seeing my mum have sex, thank you very much." She snapped.