Undercover: Book 1 — Chapter Eighteen

"Hey, guys, I know we are really hungry and all, but we just sat in a jail cell for hours after a night of fun and I'm saying this in the nicest way as possible; we all look like crap," I said, looking at everyone.

"What are we supposed to do about that? If we go back to the penthouse and change, Mary will most likely kill us before we make it to our closet,” Andrew said.

Our closet? More like my closet.

"You could borrow some of our clothes. Andrew, you can borrow my brother's clothes and Clover, you can borrow my clothes," Jasmin said.

"Who's your brother?" I asked.

"The douchebag driving," Andrew said

"Chris? I didn't know you two were brother and sister. But now that you mention it, you do look alike." I said.

"Yup. This dork is my brother," Jasmin said, flicking his arm.

"Excuse me, I am not a dork. I am the captain of the football team and also the quarterback so I prefer not to be put in that category," Chris said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, my gosh, like no way!" Andrew said in a high fake girly voice, causing me to slap his arm.

"Jasmin, I would honestly love to borrow your clothes, but If I’m going to be out and about, I have to be prepared if Paparazzi stop me, so how about we stop at a mall and change really quick?

"You must be loaded," Jasmin said, grinning slightly.

My brows furrowed, unsure why she was grinning. "I mean, yeah, I’m not exactly broke."

"Okay, we're here," Chris said, parking.

"You can't go out like that," Andrew said, looking at me.

"Like what?" I questioned.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" he asked.

"Yeah, while I was in jail for six hours, the cops gave me a mirror so I could look amazing at all times," I said sarcastically, causing Jasmin to laugh, but she quickly covered it with a cough when Andrew stared angrily at her. When I looked in the car mirror, I saw my hair looked like a disaster but my dress looked okay.

I poured everything out of my purse on the car seat.

"Yeah, this is like a hair and makeup emergency!" I exclaimed, grabbing my mini brush that folds up with a mirror. I quickly brushed my hair and put my hair up then I grabbed another ponytail holder and put my hair in a stylish messy bun; then I applied some eyeliner to make my eyes pop and added a tiny bit of blush. I finished up with reapplying some light pink lip gloss and a medium pink lip gloss liner. I put on my three hundred dollar sunglasses and looked as good as new again in under five minutes,

"Wow. You're good," Jasmin said, nodding her approval.

“We should go shopping together sometime.”

"Sounds great!" she squealed, clapping her hands. Something about her reaction seemed fake but I simply brushed off the thought.

"I'm hungry, so if you two are done talking about girly stuff, can we go?" Andrew asked, looking bored.

"You know, more people would talk to you if you weren't a grumpy ass all the time," I told Andrew as we walked into the mall. Next to the door was a newspaper stand, causing me to let out a small screech. A few people looked over at me, and I just ignored them and focused on the paper.

"Geez, my ears," Andrew said, covering them still.

"Clover, what's wrong?" Chris asked, immediately.

"Is everything okay?" Jasmin asked at the same time as Chris.

"Andrew, give me twenty-five cents now!" I said, holding out my hand.

"What? No? You have tons of money in your purse," Andrew said, frowning.

I turned around and gave him my fiercest glare. "Twenty-five cents now," I said darkly.

Andrew grumbled but handed me a quarter from his pocket. I put the quarter into the machine then grabbed the newspaper and read the corner of the front page.

Lucky, Victoria’s Secret Angel in Jail Before Big Show?

Sources say that Lucky was seen sneaking out of a restaurant with an unknown man. The model was later seen being led out of a club in handcuffs along with her escort around one in the morning. Could this be the end of Lucky's career? Read more on page six.

I started hyperventilating. On the front page, there was a picture of me being pushed against the wall with handcuffs on me.

"That's it. My career is over. We should just leave now. I mean, could this day get any worse? I get to the point in life where I’m completely set. I’m happy and then Damien comes back and everything after that just rolled into this mess," I said, trying to stop myself from crying.

"It's fine, we will sort this all out," Andrew said, putting his hands on my shoulder. “Plus, that was a pretty crappy newspaper. The way they described it made it sound like a bunch of BS."

"Listen, Andrew. It's not your fault. Forget everything I said in jail. I was just upset and mad and didn't realize what I was saying. I just needed someone to blame and took it out on you. I'm really sorry,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. After a few seconds, I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me closer.

"Have you checked your phone?" Chris asked me.

I shook my head, moving back from Andrew.

"I'm a little scared to," I said honestly, still frowning.

"Wait, if this was in the newspaper then how come no one came and got you guys out?" Jasmin questioned.” I mean, that was quick. This all just happened, and it’s already out and about?

"Most likely Mary, my manager, didn't want to be seen walking out of a police station or she just didn't see it. I've never seen that woman reading a newspaper," I said with a sigh as we all started walking again. I grabbed my phone out of my black clutch and turned it on. As soon as it was turned on, it said fifty missed calls. Five from my mother, twenty from Mary, then twenty-five from Tori. I clicked Tori's number and called her back.

"You went to jail?" Tori screeched into the phone as soon as she answered.

"Well, hello to you, too," I said sarcastically while looking at a few dresses.

"No, you don't get a freaking hello! You secretly left the restaurant and you didn't even bring me. Nope, you just left me sitting there with our managers then you went to a freaking fair!” she said, and I could only imagine her shaking her head at me. "And you know I have always wanted to go to a fair! But no, worst of all is you went to jail… without me!" Tori sounded annoyed and really mad. Typical Tori, only she would be mad because I went to jail without her.

"Tori, trust me, you don't ever want to go to jail. It's boring, gross, and horrible," I said, cringing at the memory.

"Where are you now?" Tori asked.

"I'm at the mall getting a new outfit. You know, because if and when I come home, I'm most likely going to be told I am out of the fashion show tonight," I said, holding up a pink dress but immediately put it back.

"Who are you talking to?" Andrew asked.

"Tori," I whispered.

"I’m coming right now,” she said before whispering to someone who I’m guessing was our driver.

"Okay, we are in that dress store across from the food court," I said.

"Okay, I’ll be there in a few. Wait, which mall are you at?" Tori asked.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the one that’s closest to our hotel.” I said and she mumbled an okay before we said our goodbyes and hung up.

"Who is Tori?" Chris asked curiously.

"Oh, she is my best friend. We came to New York together," I explained, and Chris nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to try this on," I said, holding up the dress and everyone nodded. I put on the long white dress that went down to my knees and had a small split in the back as an opening. I paired it with a pair of matching heels. I made sure to change my hair into my trademark golden tresses and style them into soft waves that bounced as I walked.

"I got here just in time to see you looking all flawless and stuff,” Tori said with a smile as she took in my new appearance.

"Yeah, I am definitely going to buy this," I said as I went up to the counter and paid for it. I took the tag off the dress and put the dress I was wearing before in the bag.

"Tori, I missed you. Jail was torture," I exclaimed, pulling her into a hug, suddenly realizing she was actually here.

"Babe, don't ever go to jail without me again!" Tori said, giving me a stern look, causing us both to laugh.

"Trust me, it’s not a blast like you may think. Speaking of, meet these two, who we met while in there. Jasmin, Chris, this is Tori. Tori, that's Jasmin and Chris," I said and she waved.

"Hello.” She smiled. “You never told me how you guys got out of jail?" Tori said in a questioning tone.

I made eye contact with the others sheepishly, “Yeah, it’s not the best experience,” I said, shaking my head and she frowned.

“Well, if you stayed at the restaurant, this never would’ve happened. Andrew, get your ass over here!” Tori yelled.

“Yes, princess?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You seriously let her be put in jail?" Tori exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. “She’s supposed to be walking the runway in less than twelve hours. Boy, you literally had one job,” she said, throwing her hands up.

"Okay, it's not all his fault, Tori," I said with a small frown. “I chose to go with him.”

She shook her head. “That’s not how the newspaper is going to see it.”

"Whatever," Andrew said and left to get his own clothes.

***

“Now can we go eat?" Andrew said after an hour of everyone changing clothes and spending way too much time in Sephora.

"Yeah, but hold on one second while I take this call. I will meet you guys at the food court," I said, feeling my phone vibrating and they nodded.

"Hello," I said not even looking at the caller ID.

"Clover Ann Thompson!" my mother yelled, and I froze.

"Mother?" I asked.

"Clover, I am very disappointed in you. You know this will leave an awful name on our family. People will go around talking about this at business meetings. What will your father say about this?" my mother said angrily.

"I know, Mother, I'm sorry. I promise I will clear this up. I promise," I said with a frown as I slowly made my way back to the group.

"Have you talked to Mary yet? What does she think of this? I swear, if you lost your modeling job, Clover Ann, you will be a disappointment to this family! Your father and I didn't work this hard for you to fail in the end."

"No, but I will call her right now. Mary works for me, not the other way around, and if she doesn’t want to work with me anymore then I have plenty of other people who will. Like that girl, Sarah, you suggested a long time ago. All will be okay, I promise, but I have to go. Bye, Mom.”

"Clov—" I hung up before she could finish what she was saying. I hated the rare conversations with my mother because I know she could care less about me; she only cared about our family name. The Thompsons were known for a lot, believe it or not. My father was probably the best cardiothoracic surgeon in the country, which is why he traveled all the time and my mother had so many clothing stores around the world I couldn't even count them all. Taking my thoughts off my family, I quickly dialed Mary’s number.

"So nice of you to finally call me, Clover," Mary said in a slow tone that showed she was clearly angry.

"I'm sorry," I said, biting my lip nervously.

"Sorry? Really, you're sorry? That's all you can say? I haven’t heard from you since you left the restaurant secretly, which was very poorly planned. It’s almost eleven in the morning right now and I’m over here reading a newspaper article about you being drunk and arrested!" Mary asked, her voice getting slowly louder.

"You were the one who got me a fake boyfriend. Look, I made a mistake, a big mistake, maybe, but nonetheless, it's still a mistake, which is something even you have made before. I love modeling so much, and I don't want to lose you as a manager, but if you are going to quit then get it done and over with because I'm not gonna sit on the phone for three hours listening to you yell at me for no reason." I sat down on a bench.

The other end of the phone was very quiet and that made me nervous. I was never one to stand up to Mary but, hey, there's a first for everything.

"I know you made a mistake. I understand and if I were you, I wouldn't want to lose my job either, but that's why I'm here to help you. I have an Idea. You should know I won’t quit, and I don't ever think I ever will if this all works out,” she said calmly. "As we've said many times before, you're Victoria’s Secret’s number one Angel. You are the world’s top model and we need you tonight to show off those angel wings. So, you better be at all of your photo shoots today and the first one especially, because we're going to have a small change to cover up the whole going to jail thing.

"Starting now, you will say everything that happened last night was for a photoshoot. Your first photo shoot today will be at a different club and they are gonna get as many hot and sexy pictures of you as they can. You'll even be in some jumpsuit or something. Just trust me, Clover, everything will work out fine," Mary said, and I could only picture her with a smile on her face as she described what was going to happen.

"Thank you so much!” I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes. “You seriously deserve an award for the best manager in the world! Everything will work out. Just text me the address."

She told me a few more instructions before we said our goodbyes. I looked up at the glass ceiling of the mall. I couldn’t be happier right now. I walked over to the group and plopped myself down in one of the empty seats between Tori and Andrew.

"I’m still in the show. It’s all going to work out perfectly," I told them, stealing a fry off Tori's plate.

"See you were worried for nothing!" Jasmin said with a smile.

"Am I fired?" Andrew asked curiously.

"She didn't say a word about you. But don't worry, I'll do it for her. Andrew Carter, you are fired," I said.

“Firing still gets me that paycheck, so whatever works,” he said, shrugging as he leaned back in his chair.

"Here, I got you some Chinese food," Tori said, handing me a little box and I thanked her.

Chinese for brunch was definitely my type of appetite.

"So, why are all of you wearing dresses?" Chris asked, taking a bite of his taco.

"I mean, any model is going to be in the spotlight today so we might as well look good while in it,” I said, shrugging.

"What about you, sis?" Chris asked Jasmin, who was in a flowered dress, curiously.

"Oh, I just love dresses, too," Jasmin said, plastering a smile on her face and giving Chris another look I didn't understand.

Chris nodded to her before looking at us. "What have you two done to my sister?" he asked jokingly.

"Oh, please! She looks gorgeous." Tori said, smiling.

“Yeah, I’m sure James will love it,” Chris said and Jasmin actually blushed from the comment.

My jaw dropped slightly. “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Is this James guy a boyfriend possibly?”

"Possibly,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Speaking of, you guys said you’re from California. It’s kinda interesting, because we are, too."

"Yeah?" I answered, taking a bite from my egg roll.

“We go to that high school in Long Beach, Falcon High,” Jasmin said.

Tori and I made immediate eye contact.  “You’re kidding?” I asked, waiting for her to start laughing.

“No, why?” she asked, looking confused.

“We live up there, too. I can’t believe I’ve never seen you around school,” I said, looking at her curiously.

"I mean, I’ve never seen you either, but I’m guessing that’s because of your secret life," Jasmin said.

"Yeah, it makes sense now," Chris said. They shared another one of those looks from before that I didn't understand and smirked, their eyes twinkling. I ignored the look and started to explain how important it was to keep everything a secret. Something in the back of my head told me I'd have to be careful about them, but they already knew my secret so I was a little too late on that factor.

Jasmin's Point of View (Chapter 19)

As soon as Andrew and Tori sat down at the table with their food, Chris and I decided to excuse ourselves for a minute, making up some excuse about grabbing some drink or something.

"Jesse would love this girl," Chris said, and I smirked as I thought about the man who we all looked up to. He was the one in charge of us, after all. "We have to keep a close eye on her. I mean, she's fucking rich. Imagine everything we can get from this," he added, glancing at the blonde as she talked on the phone.

"We could move to their school and keep close with them," I suggested and Chris thought about it for a minute before agreeing.

"I think that's our only option at this point. We just need to find out what school they go to and we’ll be set. We both know Jesse won't send Taylor or anyone else to do this. Heck, Jackson won't want to wait at all. He'll want to move in right away and take her for ransom or something," Chris said, pacing back and forth.

"That's why we'll have to keep this between us and Jesse. No one else can know," I told him confidently. We weren't amateurs; we could definitely do something as easy as this. "Plus, they have bigger things to worry about at the moment. James thinks they're being watched or something. He found someone hacking into their systems."

"What? Who would it be?" Chris asked and I bit my lip.

"No idea, but they changed everything so whoever it was can't get in again," I told him, looking at the pink ends of my hair. This whole look was disgusting, I absolutely hated dresses and I hated having my hair messed up. The only time I would dress myself all up is if I was going out on a job for the gang we’re in.

Jesse, being our gang leader often sent us out on missions to help improve our gang environment back in California, that’s part of the reason we’re here in New York at moment. We’re receiving a load of money from an alley who owes us. The load was supposed to be received at the club last night, but things went downhill when someone caught site of the deal and the cops were called.

"Yeah, but on a different note, this group isn't the brightest. I mean, we could pull off changing to their school."

"What do you expect? They're a bunch of bimbo models and the guy is too blinded by his feelings for the girl that he doesn't care about his surroundings," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, but we have to be careful about him. Your game needs to be up 105 percent if this is going to work. I've seen him from somewhere before," Chris said, watching Andrew closely.

"From where?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I think it was that time I got sent to that delinquent center to sneak one of Jackson's friends out," he told me and my eyebrows furrowed as I thought about that moment.

"That was all the way back in our freshman year though?" I wondered out loud and he nodded.

"Yeah, it was," he mumbled more to himself than me.

"We should go back and sit down. We can finish this conversation later," I said after a minute of silence.

He shook his head. "We should call Jesse. He needs to know what's going on, especially because I texted him about going to get you out of jail," Chris said, and I resisted the temptation to slam my fist into a wall.

"You have to be fucking kidding me. Are you trying to get me killed?" I hissed quietly and he focused his attention on me now.

"Don't be dramatic, of course not, but I had to tell him and you know he's not that harsh to where he would kill you," he said, before sending a quick text to Jesse, saying everything was fixed.

"He may not kill me, but Jackson sure will if he finds out about this." He said referring to Jesse’s brother. The both worked together to lead the gang and make it successful. It was part of the reason it’s number of members and loads of money they’re making is increasing.

Chris rolled his eyes at me. "Let's make sure he doesn't then."

I shook my head in disgust. He acted like my life was some type of game.

"Jesse wants to meet us," Chris said.

I bit the inside of my cheek as the nerves set in. "When?"

"At noon," he told me and I nodded.

We were only with Clover, Andrew, and Tori till eleven something before we went our separate ways. Chris drove us to the opposite side of New York where Jesse was located. Looking out the window, I couldn't help but notice the buildings weren't as nice and lots of them were rundown.

Stopping at some old deli place located in the back of a plaza that looked to be almost abandoned, we both exited the car and I looked all around to make sure there was no one around before I picked the lock and we snuck into the old place. Inside, Jesse sat on a chair with his feet on a disgusting table.

"Welcome," Jesse said after blowing smoke out of his mouth. “So, what or who is it you have for me?"

"Clover Thompson, also known as the model Lucky. She's completely rich and is only eighteen."I explained.

"How rich?"

"She could probably buy whatever the hell she wanted in this world," Chris tried to summarize and I almost snorted. That really shows how rich she is.

"We could buy thousands of loads of anything, we could increase our profit and we could increase our doses in the drugs that are being made back in California," I told him and he smirked, looking at me.

"Now that's what I like to hear." Jesse slid his feet off the table and stood up, walking toward us. "I want her."

"You see, the only problem is that she's pretty famous," I said and he narrowed his eyes.

"Then you'll keep an eye on her till her fame dies down," he said simply, and I shared a look with Chris.

"But that could take years," Chris said and Jesse sneered at him.

"Make it take less."

"Are we supposed to have like no contact with you then?" I questioned.

He shrugged. "Figure it out. I currently have bigger things to worry about. "

"Like what?" Chris asked curiously.

Jesse didn't respond right away, putting the cigarette to his lips. "Jackson killed a teenage girl. That's the real reason why we're staying here for a week."

I couldn't help but gasp. Believe it or not, we don't kill. It doesn't matter that we're a gang. It's something we just didn't do. We come close, but we don't ever finish. We would do some drug deals and all that but never anything that could keep us in prison for years.

"You have to be kidding, man. She’s almost dead, right? She’s not completely dead? We don’t kill, so she can’t be dead." Chris asked him and there was no response

"She's dead?" Chris hissed.

Jesse shrugged. "There was nothing I could do to save her at that point."

"That's it, I'm out," Chris said and my head snapped to the side to look at my brother. Was he trying to get himself killed next? People don't just leave the gang. Jesse once told us a story about someone who tried a few years back and they're still tracking him to this day.

"Levine, what makes you think you can just leave? Is this some type of game to you?" Jesse asked him, walking so he was directly in front of Chris.

"No, but I didn't sign up to be killing people. I signed up to be able to get high whenever I wanted to," Chris told him.

Jesse let out a dark chuckle that had goosebumps appearing on my arm. "You could have done that without joining, but no you wanted something that felt like a family. Now you're going to do what you're supposed to and keep a close eye on this girl you told me about. You're going to attend her school, become her best friend or whatever. And I don't want to see you again unless she's ready to be taken into our custody."

"But what about—"

"Don't worry, you'll still get whatever you want. All you have to do is text James and he'll get it for you. And for the time being, Jasmin, your job will be taken over by Lily," Jesse said before returning to his original position he was in.

"Okay, anything else?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Yeah, get the hell out of my sight," Jesse hissed and we nodded, not hesitating to leave. As soon as we were out the doors and near the car, I let my knees hit the ground.

"Chris, I don't want to do this anymore. What if this ends badly? Clover may be a stuck-up bitch at times but she doesn't deserve to die," I said, tears filling my eyes. I let my hands cover my face and shook my head.

"Get up. You need a cold front from this point on because guess what, sis, we're stuck in this for life," Chris yelled at me and I shrunk back in fear.

My brother wouldn't admit it now after being told off by Jesse but he was afraid, too. Neither one of us wanted this life anymore and now not only did we get stuck in it, but we got someone else's life put in danger as well.

"We're no longer the Chris and Jasmin Levine from the gang. We're now going to play someone we've never been before and I'll be damned if we don't pull it off," he said, getting in the car.

I sat there for a minute before nodding and standing up. We were going to pull this off, we had to.