the legacy | dodge mason

chapter four

As Victoire awoke the next morning she felt a heavy weight across her stomach. She hadn't gone home with a guy last night, right? The girl turned over on her side, her face immediately being engulfed by familiar curly hair and the stench of cigarettes. Her mother.

She grabbed the arm laying across her and put it back on her mom's side. It wasn't a rare occurrence for her to find her mother in her bed. Even if their relationship wasn't the best, they always somehow found their ways back to each other.

Planting her feet on the cold wooden floor beneath her, Victoire grabbed her phone scrolling through the notifications. What shocked her was Natalie messaging her once again.

Natalie
Come over this morning.
I wanna show you something.

Victoire knew she shouldn't, but she found herself messaging the brunette girl back. It's not like she had other plans. The black haired girl drug her feet across the floorboards forcing herself into Coletta's bedroom. She was still asleep, but Victoire flopped herself down onto the bed.

"Go away, Vic."

"No. Mom's in my bed and I can't stop thinking about Heather."

Coletta's head popped up from underneath her pillow, "Heather? You got a crush on her something? I thought you had a little boyfriend?"

Victoire grabbed her sister's pillow smacking her with it. "Shut up. You know what I'm talking about." Coletta sat up resting her hand on Victoire's thigh, "You have nothing to worry about. It was just one challenge, there's many more. Speaking of which, we have to prepare you and go through all your competition."

"I would love to, but I told Natalie I'd go over today. She wants to show me something. I think she's pretty mad at Heather." Victoire rambled on, "Imagine your best friend always telling you how dumb Panic is then showing up last minute to do the hardest part of the challenge."

She looked over her shoulder expecting Coletta to respond, but only finding her with her arms over her head dead asleep again.

Victoire found herself in front of Natalie's door. She was nervous, but for what? As she raised her hand to knock on the wood it opened revealing a grinning Natalie.

"Omg, Vic, I didn't think you'd actually come." She grabbed her hand pulling her inside the house and up the steps. "Listen, I know your sister already has this all planned out, but now with Heather in the game I'd figure we come up with a plan"

Victoire stood in shock looking at the corkboard in front of her. It had every single graduate who is involved in Panic. She found herself staring at Dodge's polaroid. It seemed as though Natalie caught on.

"Saw you guys flirting the other night. Don't blame you, he's hot."

"It was nothing. We're probably never going to talk again. I didn't even get his number."

She read off the sticky notes by his picture. STRENGTHS: unknown motivation, shady backstory, mysterious vibe. WEAKNESSES: sure hope so! Her eyes trailed over to her own polaroid reading the notes by it. STRENGTHS: naturally good at everything, alumni, has connections to everyone. WEAKNESSES: pride gets in her way.

Natalie cleared her throat gaining Victoire's attention. "I was wondering a few things. Um, how do you feel about Heather joining?"

"I think the real question is how do you feel about Heather joining?"

The girl chuckled, "ya, you're right. The truth is, I don't know how to feel. She told me how she didn't like Panic but then now she's tied for the lead. It's not that I'm angry, it's just that I have to go against her now. I don't want to have to compete with my best friend."