Saturday
The night of the party
I appraised my reflection in the full-length mirror in my walk-in closet. My hair was set in a trendy loose chignon by my hairstylist, Jacqui, and I was wearing a new ivory Prada minidress I'd bought for the occasion. My left wrist sported my Ballon Blanc du Cartier watch, and on my right wrist were my Tiffany tennis bracelets and the Juicy Couture charm bracelet that I always wore. My fingernails and toenails were mani'd and pedi'd to perfection and painted with Gucci's Pink Lotus.
But the crowning glory of my outfit was, naturally, my shoes. My nude-colored Sergio Rossi Vague Mermaid platforms—my latest shoe purchase—stood in my shoe display case. I liked to plan out my outfits the week before, so in my closet, I had designated one of the islands for placing the next outfit I would wear. The platforms were the only thing left on the island.
But before I could slip them on, I was interrupted by a phone call.
Payton flashed on my iPhone's screen.
"Hey girl, what's up?" I inquired.
"I'm on my way right now!" Payton squealed. I could hear the grin in her voice, the grin that only came out when she was either going to a party, saw a cute baby animal, or someone bought her a peppermint latte.
My sensitive ears caught the sound of another person in the car.
"Payton, is Mia with you?" I asked. Mia was due to arrive at my place any minute. Maybe she'd hitched a ride with Payton, although she had her own car.
Payton giggled. "No, Mia has her own car! Autumn doesn't, so she needed a ride tonight!"
A chill went down my spine. We always threw parties every weekend, and unless Payton was in charge of the guest list, Autumn was never invited. That didn't stop Autumn, though. She spent most of her Friday nights alone in her bedroom, but if she felt like hitting on our boyfriends, she'd crash our party.
However, I knew how to make her leave… either by getting her thrown out bouncer-style, or setting up a few "mishaps" to happen that would make her run from the party in tears. I snickered as I recalled a prank we'd pulled that involved a nasty-tasting cake and food coloring. Autumn's face and arms were blue for nearly a whole month, and our classmates had called her "Smurfette" for even longer.
Tonight would be different. This time, Autumn's presence was desired… because she was going to get a surprise that would top all the others she'd received this year.
And with Lindsay joining us, she'd be regretting the day she'd laid her eyes on my boyfriend, made Mia lose out on a limited-edition Kate Collins handbag, and got Lindsay suspended.