One hour's drive from the cafe later, I was in the spacious yet homey two-story mini-mansion of Tamarious Browning, whose family (a former rapper-turned-music executive and a former model who now doubles as an agent alongside his sister Kennedy) greeted me with open arms before Tamarious introduced me and my grandparents to the other Outcasts.

Three Valley Girls: Tiffany (her being Tamarious' girlfriend and the leader), Mariah Slater, and Yesenia Maldonado. And one Valley Boy being Tiffany's brother Stuart

Four Goths: Jake Sherman (he was the one to make the muffins which Dad destroyed), Eric Ryland and his sister Rhea, and Mavis.

Two kids who were related to preachers: Helena Frecheville and her fraternal twin sister Adelaide, both of them daughters of a well-tolerated Catholic priest.

And five teens were from the hip-hop world (the rough side of the tracks): Tamarious, Kennedy, Jeneka Thomas, Jasmine Bryant-Tharpe, and Kennedy's boyfriend Omarion Hopewood.

All of them shared one thing in common: they all hated the Beautiful Teens and were willing to do anything and everything to take their social hierarchy down to the ground. And as we all gathered in the large family room where Mrs. Browning was currently setting up snacks and drinks for us, I knew I felt right at home, even after letting them all know of my story and how everything came to be with Marcel and his friends- including that kiss.

"Damn," Omarion said, taking a giant bite of his honeybun. "Sounds like you're caught up in the crossfires by Dermott and Company."

"Tell me about it," I replied, sitting in between my grandparents. "And the worst part is that Dad now believes that Marcel and I are now going steady and expects me to start going on dates with him on top of my now-grueling schedule."

"Oh, barf," Yesenia said, her sharp Mexican lilt etched in her voice with disgust. "Chico, you need to get those trolls off your back."

"As if that'll be easy to do," Grandpa snorted. "My son-in-law originally thought that Kyle wasn't doing enough even after that house party on yesterday and was planning to keep him away from y'all. And as much as I hate to say it, I think that Marcel commenting on that blasted kiss he planted on my grandson might've been the saving grace."

"But who can say that they might still demand more from him, Kyle, that is?" Mavis commented. To me, "Kyle, you may not know of this yet, but there's some strange happenings going on- things that could place you in the crosshairs if you're not careful."

"How so?" Grandma wanted to know.

The raven-haired teen puffed a deep breath. "You may be surprised to know of this, but Rory is actually my cousin," she began. "And my brother Theo was more close to him than I was since I was hardly like Mom and Dad, both of them now retired from the rock-and-roll games. While I stayed in Sydney, Theo made trips to here and soon became fast friends with Marcel and the others. One thing led to another, and now Theo's gone from a baby-faced punk-rocker to a totally-primped preppy. He's now engaged to some twit that I don't even care to know."

"Damn," Kennedy breathed, shaking her head.

"I have to agree, sans the language," Grandpa commented. "So what now?"

"Well, we Outcasts still have to work out a way to not only take down Dermott and Company," Tiffany said. "And we're even teaming up with Christina."

"Wait, you're working with the same girl who threatened me to stay away from Marcel?!" I exclaimed. "I thought that she's still hoping to win him back."

"No, baby, that's a front as a way to get you away," Grandma explained gently. "She even said to me and your grandpa that she knows that it's too late to get that boy back, but knows of something else that can have you by his side."

"What is it?" Stuart wanted to know.

"She didn't say," Grandpa replied. "All she said was that Kyle's livelihood is in danger and we need to get him out of this town for good."

"Which isn't a bad thing, seeing that Kyle's a wild card nowadays," Jeneka said. To me, "Kyle, how much do you know of the social hierarchy at Sandifer Bay High?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "All I know is that Marcel and his friends are at the top of the food chain while everyone else who followed them like sheared sheep were loyal to the core," I commented. "The lower food-chains consist of the Outcasts- mainly Valley Kids, the religious nuts, Goths, gang-bangers, and anyone else who disagreed with them, including Miss Velasquez. Nerds that consists of book-clubbers, Honors Society kids, AV geeks, Mathletes, and even video-gamers are all wild-cards. Me? I guess you can say that I'm the atypical nerd who's book-smart and street-smart. In either case, the Populars and/or their followers mainly like to recruit the nerds to join them."

"That's true, but the nerds also have the chance to say who will remain on top or the bottom," Tiffany chirped. "I've been at Sandifer Bay High for the longest, Kyle, but even I know that there's some sort of power play going on that we don't know about. For all I can say right now, it's always the Populars who take the nerds and have them join their ranks. It's rare for a nerd to come on their team because one's parents always want him/her/them to be popular and make friends outside their comfort zone."

"That's definitely true," Jake nodded. "For some reason, Principal and Vice-Principal Dermott always takes a newcoming nerd and have their son spend more time with them until it was time to work their magic and make him or her a part of their circle or at least a part of the outer social ranks. In either case, if a nerd happens to be one of us, then they're given a chance to renounce it or end up being an outcast and lose favor with everybody."

"And it's happened with all of you?" I asked.

Everyone's hands were raised high, including Tamarious and his sister's.

"Lord, have mercy," Grandma breathed.

"Tell us about it," Tamarious replied. "It's not easy trying to survive the high-school games when you're being shunned for being unique. Most of us are lucky to have loving parents who accept us for who we are and they agree that the system going on right now is unfair. You, Kyle, have it a little rougher since your parents are basically kissing the Dermotts' behinds and wiping it right while demanding you to fall in line with everyone."

"And that's why I need to know what to do from here," I pointed out. "The only thing for me to do right now is to stick it out until it all blows over."

"It might not be enough," Rhea said. "If your dad's this hyped up to get close to Marcel, then you have to really amp up your game. What I mean is that you'll need to give them all what they want...and then trick them."

"Huh?"

Mr. Browning, who came in with his wife and was listening intently, gave me a smile. "She means that you'll be best to play Mata-Hari for everyone," he replied. "I mean, you can get everyone off your back by being close to everyone- being a part of the in-crowd, attending the football games starting next weekend, enjoying the dinner parties, and even going as far as letting Marcel have you. Meanwhile, we'll be the ones to get some intel on what's going on behind the scenes and work on the stages to take them down."

"Wait, you're asking me to be a part of their Borg collective?!" I exclaimed. "You guys, this could spell trouble if they found out if I was in cahoots with you all."

"But are you going to risk standing on the sidelines?" Mavis asked. "Will you be willing to risk being lulled to the dark web of lies until it's too late? Kyle, you could be the one to finally shake up the system and dethrone the Dermott legacy once and for all. We know you can do it, Kyle. Will you help us?"

As crazy as this scheme was, I knew they were right. I had to help make things right and then get out of town. If my father was really planning somethign shady, then it was all the more reason to show everyone who Kyle York really was. "I'm in," I said.

Everyone whooped and cheered briefly. "You're going to be of great use for all the nerds and outsiders, current and future," Marcel said before his face got serious. "But no matter what happens, NEVER let Marcel seduce you in any way unless it's the other way around. If you let him snake his way into your heart...there's not telling what can happen. Once we have all we need to take him down, take Christina's advice to heart: get out of Berkeley and never return. Leave now and save your soul."

I nodded. "I plan to get away from my dad and his regime," I told him. "Can I trust you?"

"You can, but can I trust you?"

I stared him down. "You can and you must," I replied.

"Then let the spy games begin."

And the Showdown at Berkeley Corral is on and poppin', bitches! Kyle and his grandparents are going to be the Mata-Hari trio to help the Outcasts out in any way possible so they can leave Dodge City behind! But beware because things aren't always at they appear!

In the next chapter, Kyle and his grandparents play nice and curry favor with the Dermotts over lunch before a dinner party at Lita's leads to another ally! Stick around!

Dedication: AgirlcalledBob.

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