THE MORTON QUADRUPLETS

CHAPTER 2 - AVA

Rachel looks like she wants to laugh at me. At least she is trying to hide it a little.

"Adrien says they have to go home to attend to an urgent matter. He will come back to pick me up as soon as I am packed and ready to go." I look at Rachel. She nods at me and continues to give me a moment to vent.

"I am already packed and ready to go." I look at her with wide eyes.

"I got that same call. I was so glad to get out of here when I got the news that we are now only leaving a few hours later. I decided that it would be great time spent with you guys so now I feel better about it."

"I wonder what is this urgent matter that needs the attention of the four brothers?" I ask Rachel, knowing full well that she does not have a definite answer and anything she offers as an explanation will purely be speculation.

"I suspect it is a Marcella-driven incident." Rachel tells me in a dry tone.

I suspect Rachel is right. Marcella is one of the most overbearing people I know. I have been avoiding her as long as I can remember. I have found in the past that she would sabotage special occasions whenever Adrien and I try to celebrate an anniversary or something of the sort.

"She must have found out about our holiday week with her sons." I tell Rachel, a bit worried now.

Rachel drops her head into her hands. Her elbows are perched on the table. She shakes her head in her hands.

"I cannot believe I didn't think of that. Of course, she is making it impossible for them to leave for a week!" Rachel sounds absolutely defeated. "How on earth did she find out about it anyway?"

"Do you think the brothers told?" I ask her as I settle into my seat.

"I seriously doubt it. I'm not too sure if they have noticed how she can manipulate a situation, she does seem to do it so they do not know about her involvement, but I do know they are aware that she would be unhappy if she knew they were going on a vacation with their girlfriends. I am almost sure they would have not told her their plans for the week." Rachel sounds as if she has thought this through.

I suddenly feel emotionally drained. I was really looking forward to a week-long getaway with Adrien. We planned this entire breakaway at the start of this year. It would be our last breakaway before we put all our energy into the next chapter of our lives. We didn't even book the trip to an exotic location because we didn't want to spend too much time on traveling. The place we booked is a large local cabin next to a large dam. The area is very secluded and we were looking forward to the quiet time without any interference from anyone.

"Have you seen the other two?" I ask Rachel. The sudden tiredness audible in my voice.

"Not since this morning." Rachel replies. She seems to be waiting for me to do or say something.

We wrote our last exam papers today. The placements in the great hall are alphabetically so we are not placed close to each other. The Morton brothers however, sat in a row. Come to think of it, they did seem uneasy before the test began.

"Did you see the shuffle between the brothers this morning? Before the exam started?" I ask Rachel, having just remembered myself.

"No, I didn't. I saw Ryan looking very agitated though" Rachel tells me in a soft voice. She is trying to remember the morning.

I jump when a bag is suddenly dumped on the seat next to me. Bailey looks furious when she takes the seat next to the bag. Her eyes are blazing when she looks at me. For a moment I it feels like she is angry with me when I realise, she must have received the same call. We are all leaving together.

The boys will take us to our different houses to drop our bags off and pick up holiday bags. I'm almost too afraid to ask, but I ask anyway.

"Everything okay there?" I look at Bailey with sympathy. She seems to be working through her emotions.

"No! It's not!" Bailey says a little too loud. She looks close to tears. I have no idea how she will make it in the model industry. She is beautiful and she knows how to style herself and keep up appearances in public but she is very emotional. Her blonde hair is blown out perfectly. Her blue eyes are made up beautifully. She is built perfectly slim and she knows how to dress her body in the latest fashions. She always looks ready to walk down the runway.

I steel a look at Rachel, who is listening intently at this conversation. The brothers have a different way of conveying information. It's like they each have a different piece of the puzzle they deliberately pass to their girlfriends. Unless the four girlfriends are not together and not on speaking terms, they will not have all the information.

Rachel have also noticed that Bailey can be very self-centred. Typical model.

"Brandon was supposed to take me shopping before we leave on our trip!" Bailey wails.

Rachel smiles at Bailey understandingly. I have always envied Rachel's compassion for other people. She seems to understand different kinds of personalities and what they need in life. She would also try to give whatever she could to help everyone around her to find the happiness they crave.

I am not like that. I love art. Art speaks to me. People irritate me. Right now, I feel somewhat irritated with Bailey.

"What did Brandon offer as an excuse Bailey?" I ask with a little of the irritation seeping into my voice. Rachel sends me a worried look.

"He just said their mother called and they have to rush home." Bailey drops her gaze to her hands clasped on the table. "I need a new white bikini" She ads with a small voice.

"It will only be us there, Bailey. Just take whatever bikinis you have. We don't mind small things like colour." Rachel says in a soothing voice. Judging by the look on Baileys face it is not very effective. Rachel always tries to soothe. I have found the tough love approach works best with Bailey.

"Okay, lets go" I get up and sling my backpack over my shoulder. Bailey looks at me puzzled.

"We still need to find Ellie" I offer as an explanation. Rachel gets up and takes her bag in her arms. Bailey looks defeated. "There will be no white bikini today but you have a great boyfriend who will pick you up a bit later and we are here to keep you company until he does. So, let's go find Ellie."

Bailey gets up and flips her hair over her shoulder. She puts one strap of the backpack over one of her shoulders and takes a step towards me.

Rachel makes her way around the table and we leave the cafeteria together.

"Where will we start looking for Ellie?" Rachel asks. I have no idea where to look for Ellie but I couldn't stand another moment of Bailey's miserable wailing over a white bikini for much longer.

"Let's get our stuff from the hostels. Maybe she is there." I state quickly. Hoping they don't think I didn't think anything through.

We walk across the small park to the hostels and up the four steps onto the pathway that leads us there. When we enter our room Ellie is sitting cross legged on her bare bed with her phone in her hands.

"Are you okay hun?" Rachel says as soon as she sees Ellie.

"Hey guys. Yeah, I'm fine. I guess." Ellie states in an uncertain voice.

Rachel goes to sit next to her. She takes the phone from her hands and reads the message on the screen. She hands the phone back to Ellie. Rachel gives me a look of utter shock when she looks away from Ellie.

"Apparently Marcella found out about the breakaway." Rachel states the obvious. This is something I already suspected. I still do not understand why Rachel is so shocked.

"Also, she refuses that Greyson goes on a breakaway with a cheap and easy... I do not want to repeat her exact words." Rachel adds in a softer tone.

Tears are running down Ellie's cheeks. Rachel puts an arm around her to comfort her.

"One day that woman will walk into a spider's web she did not see coming" I say a little to loud. The sheer hatred noticeable in my voice. "I truly hope I am there to witness her demise"

Rachel's eyes widen. Good girl Rachel, never thinks bad of anyone around her. Not even Marcella.