By the Books

Chapter 4

We waited for the gates to open to the house, sorry mansion, and I looked around. Every time I came to this place, I was amazed by the size.

The cobble loop in front of the house, was already full of rich cars, and there was a flow of gowns and suits on everyone arriving.

"So, this is what the gala looks like." I said, looking at everything going on. Rubin looked at me in question. "Danny always talked about having headaches from the glamour and business talk everywhere." Rubin smiled and laughed.

"Yeah that sounds like Danny. Cause, you know, he doesn't want to take over business. He wants to travel, you know." She said, waiting for the next car in front of us to stop and let out a pair of people and the chauffeur drove away. I nodded and thought about all the times Danny had pointed at the places of the posters in the classrooms and stating he wanted to go there. Rubin pulled into the loop and we got out. She gave her keys to an older man.

"Park it in the garage please. Thank you, Kirk." She said politely. He nodded and walked off to the car. I waited for Rubin to come around to the stairs, and she looped her arm through mine.

"Good luck." She whispered to me, and she put on a smiled. I smiled lightly and let her guide me through the house to the event hall. There were clusters of people everywhere. In long, classy gowns were women. Men in suits and gelled hair. All holding flutes of golden champagne. A waiter passing by stopped and let Rubin take two. She handed one to me and tilted her glass.

"To this hell of a night and being able to drink underage." She said. We laughed and clinked glasses. Before either of us could drink it it, Danny took my glass, and another woman, older then us, took Rubin's glass. Rubin pouted at the glass.

"Mom! Why not!" She complained. The woman standing next to Rubin drank everything in the glass and then set it down on a moving platter. 

"Because your under age. And we all know that you have a low tolerance for alcohol. And who is this?" Her mother said. Rubin pouted again and then looked at me.

"This is Leo. He's a friend." She said, pouting still as another server passed by. And the word 'friend' made my chest squeeze, but I took it as nothing. I put out my hand.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Fields?" I said, politely. She nodded and shook my hand.

"Yes, but you can call me Jennifer. It's fantastic to meet you, Leo. For once Rubin isn't clinging onto Theo." Jennifer said making Rubin blushed and glared at her mom.

"Wow mom. Thanks. That is exactly how you treat your daughter. We are going to go talk to come people. Let's go Leo." She said. Jennifer laughed and waved to me. I waved back and followed Rubin through the room. From time to time, she would stop and speak to someone.

"Hello, Mr. Jackson. Looking tan. Did you recently go to the Bahamas? I heard that the weather was exquisite."

"Hi! Michelle, how was your trip in Europe?"

"Bonjour. Comment allez-vous aimer l'événement?"

And so the evening wore on. People ate, and talked, and gossiped, and talked, talked, and finally they all left. Rubin finally sat on the ground, and I sat next to her. 

"Well, that was..." I searched for the right words.

"Boring, tiresome, horrible?" Rubin offered.

"Well... I was going to go with elegant and such But, yeah. That kind of sums it up." I said, smiling tiredly. She laughed and finally got up on her feet.

"How about you just stay over? Danny left to go over to his girlfriend's house and I don't feel like driving." She offered. I thought about it for a second and agreed.

"Alright, sleep over it is." I said. She smiled and dragged me up until I was standing and we raced up the stairs.

"Meet in my room when you're done." She hollered and slammed the door across from Danny's room. I entered his room and changed into a t-shirt that I left her sometime ago and a pair of sweapants that belonged to Danny. I left for Rubin's room, and knocked. I heard her muffled voice say a 'come in!' and I went in. She was out of her dress and was now in old tee-shirt and flannel pants.

"So what do you want to do?" She asked and I shrugged. It felt odd, me being over at her house, alone. 

"I don't know. You invited me over, you decide." I said. She nodded and then, like a light bulb passing over her head, her face lit up.

"Let's go on patrol." She said. I gave her a questioning look. This girl was confusing. First, she says she is tired, now she wanted to go 'partol'. I didn't even know what she meant by going to patrol.

What are you talking about?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Never mind that now. I'll explain when we get in the car. Let's just get into spy gear." She said, pushed me out and into Danny's room again. I tried to resist, but she finally got me in and pulled open Danny's closet. She pulled out a black hoody, black skinny jeans, and picked up a pair of black converse that was pushed to the side.

"What an ungrateful kid, he never wore them." She said, glaring at them and handed them to me.

"Keep these. Danny doesn't earn it. The bastard never even wore them once." She said, pouting. She finally handed me everything and went out the door. Before she could leave, she looked back.

"Be quick. We have a lot to be doing tonight." She said, smiling devilishly and closed the door.

5 minutes later, I'm dressed in all black and come into the hallway. I'm surprised to find only moments later, Rubin comes out her room. She wore a black sweatshirt, black skinny jeans like me and black converse as well. But, other then her attire, she brought a bag, for a camera, with a pair of sunglasses hanging on the strap. She smiled brightly and we started to walk down the stairs. There was a bounce to her step.

"We are going to have soooo much fun tonight. Imagine all the things well find out there." She said, smiling. She had a skip to her step now and she hummed a little bit. She was seeming to get wierder and wierder.

"We aren't stalking someone, right?" I asked, worriedly. She nodded slightly but she frowned.

"No, well. It's not necessarily." She said carefully. I gave her wide eyes and she just shrugged. Now I was getting worried.

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Hey there! I posted a chapter! Your welcome!

-flowerweb