Chapter 1
"A severe blizzard is in effect until further notice, citizens currently in the Northern Connecticut area are being advised to stay inside."
Missy groaned and shut of the television in the lounge.
"I love snow!" Constance said cheerfully. "And classes being called off all day isn't so bad either." She took another sip of her hot chocolate and smiled. I looked outy the window, with the wind pushing the snow back into the sky, it looked like an everlasting snowfall.
"Glasslicker!" Noelle suddenly came into view waving her hand in my face while holding a large glass of red wine in the other. "Oh, so she is in there. We need to talk, now." She grasped my hand lightly and I followed her up the stairs and into her room. I sat on her bed and watched Noelle pace back and forth with the occasional sip of Pinot Noir.
"So, you can probably take it that I'm pretty upset about your little fling with my boyfriend. But I'm also upset at the fact that I let one guy screw up our relationship. We have been through tons of crap together, that with Ariana, Thomas, and now this and I am not about to let Dash McCafferty eff that up. You are my sister, and nothing will change that. Best friends?" Noelle asked. I was so blown away at what I had just heard. I thought for sure I was being brought up here to be yelled at or chastised yet again. But clearly our friendship meant a lot to her. "You'd better hurry up and answer before I change my mind."
I smiled. "We definitely are." I replied as we clinked glasses.
"But, you should know that Dash and I are together so you don't have a license to go with him any time soon." She smirked. I nodded in return.
That night, after watching The Devil Wears Prada (that most of us fell asleep during), Noelle and Kiki woke us all up and somehow dragged us to bed.
The next morning I woke up wearing an ivory slip. I stepped into my slippers and put on a thin robe borrowed from Noelle. I could hear footsteps back and forth downstairs. I entered the lounge to find everyone standing around the TV.
"What?! Three days?!" London yelled. Vienna's mouth hung open and she shook her head.
"What is it?" I asked, hurriying over to the group.
"This weather!" Lorna cried.
"Miss Lewis just called. We're stuck in here for another three days at least." Sabine said, handing me a mug of hot coffee.
"Three days?" I muttered to myself. Did we even have enough food for three days? I sat on the suede chair closest to the window. Snow was coming down in heaps and the wind was blowing it back and forth. About three feet of snow was already on the ground. The blizzard was only getting worse. I could hear the wind whooshing loudly.
B-bbrinngg!
B-bbrinngg!
B-bbrinngg!
The sound made me jump and Tiffany came running downstairs, my phone in hand.
B-bbrinngg!
"Thanks. Hello?" I asked into my iPhone.
"Merry Christmas Eve!"
"Merry Christmas Eve, Scott! Can you believe this weather?"
"I know, but I have bad news. Your flight's been canceled. Nothing is flying out. Looks like you won't be home for Christmas." Scott replied.
"No! This is awful. I was actually looking forward to coming home, if you can believe it. But, it looks like you'll have to rough it without me."
"Well, we'll miss you, kid! But I've got to go, I'll call you tomorrow, bye!"
"Okay, bye!" I said.
"Who was that?" Noelle asked, sitting down next to me.
"Scott. Looks like it'll be a Billings Christmas, nothing is flying out."
"What do you mean, nothing is flying out!?" she barked, then quickly pulled out her cell and dialed a few quick numbers. Then stood up and hurriedly paced in the foyer.
"Oh my God!" Noelle yelled from the foyer, then came strutting back in loudly. "No one is leaving. Nothing is flying out!" she announced. Everyone jumped.
"What?!" Missy screeched.
Every girl, minus me, within a mile radius pulled out her cell phone and began groaning and screeching in horror. Our new house mother, Mrs. Moor, came running down the stairs. She was in her mid-50's and petite with a dark shoulder-length perm. Mrs. Moor was smart but also clueless at the same time. She was a rare breed of house mother.
"What's going on, girls?" She asked.
"Everyone's flights have been canceled because of this fucking weather!" Vienna yelled.
"Language." Mrs. Moor replied firmly. "That's terrible!" She sighed. "Well, looks like we'll all be together this Christmas."
Missy scoffed. "Yay!" She said with fake enthusiasm.
"Come on, you guys! It's like Christmas Eve." Sabine said.
"That's the spirit, Sabine!" Mrs. Moor said while perching a Santa Claus hat atop her head. Let's light a fire and play some Christmas music. Yes?" Mrs. Moor asked no one in particular. Then, she whipped out a CD and placed it in the Sony stereo system. 'Let It Snow' blared out of every speaker in the lounge. Gradually, everyone departed but a few girls stayed behind to join in the festivities. I lingered up to my room with my coffee. My bed was made with new Victoria's Secret PINK sheets and duvets and a little note left on it.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Sabine
I smiled and placed the note on my desk. That Sabine was always doing the sweetest things. Just like Josh…my smile faltered and I blew out a sigh. I pulled out my wrapped gifts from my closet. Since I got 5,000.00 from Neiman Marcus each month, I saved up for another month and got 10,000.00. I also had my 5,000.00 from when I became Billings president. So, I actually had enough to buy my Billings sisters their idea of decent presents. For Noelle, the big, brown leather Chloe bag she'd been drooling over for weeks and a pearl encrusted headband. For Constance, a Coach scarf and a small clutch. For Sabine, frames for her pictures and a Missoni skirt since she couldn't bring herself to splurge on anything. For Tiff, peppermint chocolates (her favorite) from Switzerland and a Nikon underwater digital camera. For everyone else, I bought their degree of 'average' presents. I took out a red script marker and wrote Noelle's name on her small card.
Noelle,
You're the best friend I could ever ask for . I owe you my life. Thank you for the countless things you have done for me. I love you so much!
Xoxo, Reed
I quickly read the card over and yawned then decided to take a quick nap. After pulling back my sheets, and resting y head on the pillow, I slowly drifted off.
Bang!Bang!Bang!
I gasped and sat up. I looked over at the clock instinctively. 8:37pm. "Reed! We're opening presents, come on!" London shouted, then banged on my door one last time before running downstairs. I stepped out of bed and followed her downstairs. Everyone was scattered around the lounge. I spotted Noelle taking a long sip from her glass of wine, legs spread across her chair. London and Vienna both had their hair down in natural waves and pulled back with red headbands and wearing colorful tights and black heels. Noelle wore a white, mostly unbuttoned oxford, tucked into a red skirt and wore dark red lip gloss and Prada boots. Constance and Sabine both wore pajamas and fuzzy socks or barefeet. My gold packages were under the huge overly decorated Christmas tree. Someone must have brought them down while I slept.
"There she is!" Noelle smiled. I took a seat in the chair between her and the fire. Noelle forcibly handed me champagne. The fire next to me crackled and Jingle Bell Rock played in the background. This could be a nice Christmas Eve after all. I relaxed and sipped my champagne. By 10:30, Noelle, Missy, Lorna, Tiffany, Kiki, Constance, and London had given out their gifts. We laughed at some of the crazy things people had gotten. I got an iPod Touch (Kiki), chocolates and a Rolex watch (Missy), a necklace and a journal (Constance) a laptop (Lorna), a purse and gold and feather headband (Tiffany), and a Zac Posen gown (London). Noelle had given me a long, tiered purple Dior gown with a long train, a Tiffany sapphire ring, Fredrick Fekkia hair products, dresses, blouses, bags, and a Vera Wang crown, ("For my Cinderella, and my favorite princess!" she had said.)
"Reed! You haven't given out your presents, have you?" Mrs. Moor asked me.
I stood up with my second glass of champagne in hand and picked up one of my gifts. I quickly glanced at the name. It was Noelle's.
"El! This is yours," I said, bringing the present to Noelle. I picked up her other gift and put it on her chair.
"Aww! You didn't have to!" she said while unwrapping her gifts. She opened the headband first. "This is so cute!" she said, then reached for the next one. After unwrapping the paper, she saw CHLOE written on the glossy marron box inside. "Oh my God! No you didn't!" she said ripping off the cover. She gasped and stood to hug me. Tiffany and Missy admired the bag while Noelle smiled with pride. I reached for the other gifts.
"Sabine! Tiff! Missy!" I threw their presents. "Constance! Lorna! Kiki! London and Vienna! Mrs. Moor!" Everyone gasped and laughed at their new douceurs. I looked on and watched Mrs. Moor open her gift. I had given her lacy La Perla lingerie. She held up the skimpy underwear to her petite frame. "Does it come with a man to wear it for?" she asked. Everyone covered their faces and laughed.
B-bbrinngg!
B-bbrinngg!
Constance ran over to the dorm telephone. "Billings House. Hello? Hello, Hello?" I watched Constance freeze and she turned around. "You guys, I think you should hear this. She hung up and pressed the speaker button. A girl was screaming. Muffled voices were whispering loudly. A creepy man's voice spoke. "Merry Christmas! This is my house! You are mine! Merry-" Sabine reached out and hit the speaker button. Constance was breathing loudly.
"Call the police." Tiffany stated firmly.
"The police aren't going to do shit about one wackjob phone call." Noelle shot back defensively. "Besides, you wouldn't know about anything other than your photographer daddy." Tiffany's face dropped. That one had hit home.
"I'm going home!" Tiffany blurted, sprinting to her room.
"That's it, run to Daddy!" Noelle yelled, taking a gulp of her champagne.
How could she be so ignorant? It was really getting on my nerves, her thinking she could run the show and be rude to anyone just because she was a power hungry bitch.
"OMFG! But seriously, what was that?" Porta said.
"I don't know, but let's just…wait. There's no need to call the police. They haven't threatened us. It's probably just Ketlar!" I said, finally speaking.
"Exactly." London said.
"Right." Vienna followed. Everyone seemed to calm down and sit back down. I went to talk to Tiffany.
"Tiff?" I said, entering her room. Her light was on in the bathroom. The shower was running but no one was in it. Odd, I walked over to shut it off. I checked back in her room but she still wasn't there. I called downstairs. "Has anyone seen Tiffany?" A few shrugged and others mumbled 'no' or shook their heads. I got my iPhone from my room and used it to dial Tiffany's cell phone. I could hear it ringing and followed the sound back into her room. I sighed. Her Louis Vuitton trunk was on her bed, half stuffed with clothes and her Blackjack lay next to it. I turned around and before I could scream, a hand was put over my mouth. I looked up struggling to break free. No. Way.