The Beehive Book One

by Milena Clarke

  “What to wear, what to wear…” Lara mutters to herself while completely ignoring Aya’s heartfelt reply.

  As if they were dogs on cue, Evan and Elena start digging around the closet’s endless shelves in search for something special. They were always ready to follow one of Lara’s unspoken orders at the drop of a hat.

  Aya looks around in awe at the closet’s festive design. This couldn’t just be a closet, entire parties could be celebrated here. It was like a girl’s dream come true.

  “What about this?” Elena asks while holding up a purple sleeve wrap crop top.

  “Nah, too slutty.” Lara says with a dismissive look on her face.

  “This one’s perfect.” Evan states while pointing at a blue sequin dress.

  “For a middle-aged housewife in a polygamist cult perhaps.” Lara replies. “Remind me to throw it away.”

  The girls keep looking around as the search for the perfect getup starts to exhaust them.

  “Found anything, Aya?” Lara asks with hesitance.

  She thought Aya lacked a sense of style yet it was important to keep the newbie on her toes. It was a rare occasion for someone outside of the group to get an invite to her closet.

  Aya perks up and immediately grabs a dazzling silver top.

  “What about this?” She had secretly been preparing for Lara’s question as soon as she asked it.

  “It’s not bad, actually.” Lara remarks with a look of surprise on her face. “Now we just need to find some pants that match with it. Let me see..”

  Knock, knock!

  A sound by the door causes everyone to halt the hunt.

  “Hi, girls! It’s me, Rosa!” The housekeeper announces with trepidation.

  Lara opens the door and lets her in. She looks tired and sports dark brown circles under her swollen eyes. It’s clear that Rosa hasn’t been getting any sleep lately.

  “Sorry to interrupt.” She discreetly says while looking down at the floor. “Miss Nikki is here to join you.”

  “Excuse me?” Lara says with a look of total disbelief. “You were supposed to ask for my permission before inviting that tramp into my house!”

  Before Lara’s reprimand can continue, Nikki walks in carrying a couple of gigantic shopping bags with her. She looks elated and is wearing a black beanie to conceal the surgery scars.

  “Hi, beautiful!”

  Lara greets her with a radiant smile. “I see you brought some goodies over!”

  Lara points at the shopping bags and shoos Rosa away. Her demeanor seems to have suddenly changed.

  “That means you can leave now!” Lara exclaims while looking at Rosa. “God…”

  She could get so frustrated by the language barrier between them. She had wanted to fire Rosa several times but her mom wouldn’t have any of it.

  Rosa, who had been planted on the floor, springs into action and hurriedly exits the confetti room before Lara can throw another menacing look her way. She was determined to find a way to stay on the job. Though Lara’s rude manners had almost made her quit on more than one occasion.

  “Hi loves!” Nikki says while contemplating Lara’s closet. She had wanted to get a similar installed in her room but there was no space available in her apartment.

  She spins around with joy when she suddenly spots a bob of red hair in between garments.

  “Oh my god, no way! You guys literally did try to get rid of me!”

  Aya looks up and sees the silhouette of Nikki’s body. She momentarily thinks it belongs to one of an Amazonian woman.

  “Hi, I’m Nikki. It’s so nice to meet you.” Nikki says with a warm tone.

  “It’s nice to meet you too.” Aya replies with a shaky voice. She was taken aback by what sounded like genuine kindness.

  “Why aren’t you mad at us?!” Lara interjects.

  “Because I’m irreplaceable, duh!” Nikki says without a care in the world. “Besides, she doesn’t look like me. Like at all.”

  “That might be because she’s of a difference race!” Evan adds.

  It could be difficult to differentiate Evan from Lara at times. They both sounded alike, dressed alike, sported the same hairstyle, and even wore the same facial expressions most of the time.

  In fact, some of Vista High’s students didn’t even know her by her actual name. She was more commonly known as Lara’s shadow. Without realizing it, Evan had mutilated her own identity.

  “Well…we do happen to have pretty similar noses.” Nikki says while taking a closer look at Aya. She’s examining her facial features with focus.

  “Which doctor do you go to?”

  Earlier in the day, Aya would’ve rebuked such an intrusive question. However, she can’t help but feel instantly drawn to Nikki’s larger-than-life personality. She seemed different from the others; more free, less judgmental. Something told her she didn’t mean any harm.

  “Oh, none.” She utters with a timid smile.

  “It’s all natural?” Nikki asks. Her mouth is open and her eyes look like they’re about to shoot off into the sky.

  “Yep.”

  Nikki remains perplexed; her face filled with astonishment.

  “She doesn’t need to go to a doctor, Nikki.” Evan butts in.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Her dad’s a plastic surgeon.”

  In a moment of unadulterated joy, Nikki drops the shopping bags to the floor and jumps up and down in bouts of glee.

  “Be careful!” Lara shouts. “We don’t want the house to crumble down!”

  “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.” Nikki places her hand over her chest in a futile attempt to calm herself down. She seems to be hyperventilating.

  “Hand me the Pellegrino please.” Nikki says to Aya in between breaths. She pauses and swallows a big gulp of air. “It’s in my handbag.”

  Aya rummages through Nikki’s enormous handbag at lighting speeds. She digs through its depths and finds a pack of gum, bottles full of pills, and a pink notebook. However, there’s no sign of Pellegrino.

  “I can’t find it.” Aya says with consternation. She didn’t know if Nikki was just exaggerating or about to have a seizure.

  “It’s in the zip compartment!” Nikki cries. Her happy dance had suddenly turned into a meltdown of epic proportions.

  Aya opens the zipper and finds the sparkling water lying inside. She quickly takes it and hands it over to her.

  Nikki proceeds to drink the Pellegrino in huge gulps and recomposes herself. She seems relieved.

  “Phew. Thank you.” Nikki announces while shaking the weight of her body. She looked like an overgrown baby. “The bubbles relax me.”

  Aya can’t seem to remove a look of fascination from her face. She had officially never met anyone like Nikki Wilson in her life before.

  “When can I meet him? Where’s his office?” Nikki asks. The Pellegrino seems to have jolted a bolt of electricity through her body. She’s ecstatic.

  “Never mind. I have so many questions. Do you think I need a lipo? I mean, I know my legs are sturdy but I want them to be perfect. What about my forehead? Look.”

  Nikki points her index finger towards her forehead and arches her eyebrows. She moves them up and down several times causing her to look ridiculous. Aya, in the meantime, is trying to keep herself from laughing out loud.

  “I think you look fine.” Aya says. She wanted to encourage Nikki to embrace her own looks. Having a plastic surgeon for a dad had taught her all about loving oneself from a young age.

  “Yes, yes, I look fine, but fine is not pretty, is not gorgeous, is not stunning, is not even radiant. I want to look like a young Charlize Theron!” Nikki screams. She sounded like a botched victim suffering from delusions of grandeur.

  “Your obsession with Charlize is getting out of control!” Evan exclaims while trying on a beige blazer on the other end of the walk-in closet.

  “I also want to be an actress and become an advocate for peace in third world countries.” Nikki says wi
th pride while entirely ignoring Evan’s snarky reply altogether. “It’s very important for the children to go to school there.”

  Her face has turned dead serious and Aya looks down to the confetti-filled floor in order to avoid letting out a chuckle or two. She didn’t want to embarrass Nikki. She was already doing a fine job at that herself.

  In the meantime, Lara has been perusing various shirts to compliment her nighttime outfit. She’s been ignoring the conversation that was taking place in her absence since it didn’t revolve around her.

  “I think I’ve found the one!” Lara announces to the girls while holding up a white silk blouse.

  When none of the girls answer, Lara realizes she’s got a keeper in her hands.

  “If looks could kill, you’d all be dead.” She says triumphantly.

  “It’s beyond beautiful.” Nikki replies in awe. She had spent one too many nights dreaming of having a lean physique like Lara’s.

  Lara, contended by her friend’s genuine reply, gravitates towards Nikki in order to ask her a private question.

  “So, did you bring the Moss?”

  “Mmmmhmm.” Nikki whispers as she lifts something up from between her boobs. She passes it to Lara under the disguise of a swift handshake.

  “Ladies..”

  Lara grabs control of the room in order to make an extra special announcement.

  “It’s time to partayyyy!”

  She holds the bag of Moss up in the air as Evan, Nikki, and Elena cheer in unison. On the other hand, an expression of concern flashes across Aya’s face.

  All of the sudden, another random knock shatters the girls impromptu celebration. Lara heads over to open the door with a hateful expression.

  “I bring the drinks now.” Rosa says. Her voice sounds strained and coarse. She’s holding a tray full of colorful fruity cocktails. “I forgot before, so sorry…”

  Lara cuts her off and violently steals the tray away from her.

  “What did I tell you!” She shouts with a pitch so loud it could break even the most disaster-proof of windows.

  “When I’m with my friends you cease to exist!”

  Lara shuts the door on Rosa when a scream reverberates through the confetti room.

  “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”””

  It’s a scream of pain, of agony, of sorrow.

  “Tu eres una malvada y una chiflada!” Rosa says in her mother tongue. Her finger had gotten smashed in the door.

  “Ugh, that’s all it takes?” Lara says without remorse. “A couple of broken fingers and you go all Charo on me? The medicine cabinet’s downstairs. Au revoir!”

  “No tienes ningún sentimiento, no feelings! I feel sorry for you!” Rosa manages to blurt out in between tears. She wipes some of them with her hand and heads downstairs looking severely distressed.

  Lara turns around to face the girls. They all seem to be in shock. Aya’s mouth is hanging wide open while Elena’s face has turn a bright shade of red.

  “Is she OK?” Evan says without noticing she just asked the same question the rest of the girls are wondering about.

  “Possibly.” Lara says with a nonchalant tone. “That woman has more lives than a Persian cat.”

  “Isn’t she Mexican?” Nikki innocently asks.

  “I’m not even gonna try to answer that.” Lara rebuffs.

  She goes over to a corner of the closet and turns the music on through a digital machine that’s placed on the wall.

  “Let’s dance!”

  Lara proceeds to pick up the drink trey and pours a bit of Nikki’s secretive gift on each of the girl’s glasses. A look of complete satisfaction crosses her face.

  “Drink up, ladies! We’re kicking off the fall season in style!”

  All of the girls grab a drink and share a bubbly toast. The air is tense yet the girls are anxiously looking for some relief in their alcoholic confections.

  “Who sings this?” Aya asks in an attempt to break the sting Rosa’s scream had left in the air.

  Aya’s answer gets interrupted by a strident ringing tone. It’s coming straight from Elena’s phone. She picks it up and exits the confetti room without saying a word.

  Chapter 23

  Elena Fleming

  Elena runs to the nearest bathroom and quietly answers the phone. She locks the door and makes sure no one is around before replying.

  “Why are you calling me?! You know this isn't the best time.” Elena whispers while looking at her reflection in the bathroom’s regal mirror.

  She listens to the mysterious caller on the other end of the line with focus while twisting her wavy long hair with one of her fingers.

  “Yeah, we’re at her place now.”

  She picks up a soap bar in an attempt to keep herself busy. Elena never knew where to place her hands. It was an annoying trait that everyone was aware of except for her. As it often tends to happen.

  “Well, what do you want me to do about it?” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “The bitch is insane, she just tried to kill her maid!”

  Elena’s eyes deviate towards the door with fear after noticing she had raised her voice. A deafening silence overtakes the spacious bathroom while the caller replies.

  “No, I’m not making it up.”

  Another pause. This one is longer.

  “Yes, I did see it happen. Just now!”

  Elena waits for a reply but nothing but dead noise seems to come from the other end of the line.

  “Look, I’m not sure if I can keep up with this whole act anymore.”

  Elena hangs up and puts the blue soap bar back in it’s holder. She puts her head down and stares at the sink before looking at her reflection for one last time. There’s a tinge of revenge in her eyes.

  She then shakes herself off and leaves the bathroom behind in order to head back to Lara’s glamorous closet. She strolls past Lara’s bedroom on her way down the hall. She gazes with a bittersweet feeling in her chest what used to be her and her best friend’s hang out spot. Some of Elena’s most treasured childhood memories had taken place there.

  She finally reaches the confetti room but is surprised to discover that no one seems to be there.

  “Hello?!”

  She asks with a frightful expression on her face. Was she about to become the next victim in one of Lara’s devious pranks?

  Elena looks around the closet several times in depth before coming to the conclusion that the girls must have headed downstairs somewhere. After all, she had smelled a sweet aroma emanating from the kitchen while walking through the hall.

  She runs down the staircase only to be hit by a wave of darkness. The lights on the first floor are turned off and not a living soul seems to be inside the house.

  Out of nowhere, a red flash coming from one of the foyer’s windows splashes the entrance with a blast of the vivid color. Elena stares outside the window to get a hold of what’s going on and sees Evan, Nikki and Aya jumping into Lara’s car. A look of confusion takes control of her before it gives way to one of pure horror and unabashed anger.

  “HOW DARE SHE?!”

  Elena turns around and walks away from the window with a raging expression of fury on her face. She had been dumped.

  Chapter 24

  The Nightclub

  The girls reach one of the city’s hottest nightclubs in grand fashion. They roll up to the club in Lara’s car as she hands the keys over to the valet.

  There’s a long line of people waiting by the entrance door. However, the girls charge ahead as the crowd stares at them with envy.

  “This isn’t prom night!” A random club goer shouts at them.

  “Shut your mouth and keep looking at us, peasant!” Lara replies while throwing an air kiss his way.

  Lara, Evan, Nikki, and Aya bypass the line and get into the club with the help of the bouncer. He’s a buff guy who’s wearing a suit and pair of sunglasses despite it being dark outside. All of them seem to be sporting a radiant smile. It feels good to be privileged.<
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  The music inside the club is loud and the ambiance decidedly retro. The patrons seem to be mostly in their 20s and 30s. There are people dancing everywhere and a sense of excitement can be felt in the air.

  “This is even better than CZARS!” Evan shouts while referring to another club she and the rest of the girls used to frequent in junior year.