"Piper, you made it."
Said Prep smiled at the unmistakable, monotonous, and bored sound of her roommate's voice. It had been ages since she'd seen Alexis looking cleaned up and dressed in something that didn't fit under the categories of lumpy, horrendous, or leather. Seeing her in a low cut black dress was like a breath of fresh air, though she did look a bit uncomfortable, and Piper could smell some sort of alcohol on her, even though it was only five in the afternoon. Regardless, the bottle of scotch in her hand confirmed it.
However, Piper could barely recognize the boy beside Alexis, standing tall in a sleek, slighty-too-long-for-him black suit. After a moment, she realized it was the grease monkey, Larry.
To say he'd cleaned up nicely would have been an understatement. His hair appeared to be combed and slicked back, and for once there wasn't an annoying, stubborn lock of hair sitting on his forehead. He was cleanly shaven, and his cold expression added to his mysterious appearance, oddly enough.
He looked almost handsome, Piper thought.
"Alexis, it is lovely to see you," Piper greeted, re-positioning the arm that was looped through Parker's. She nudged him slightly, urging him to introduce himself.
"Oh, right," he mumbled. "Hello, Alexis, nice to meet you. You're Piper's roommate, right?" Parker shot out suddenly, sounding just a touch intimidated-most likely due to Larry's less than friendly glaring.
Alexis turned to face Parker, her expression hardening upon studying Parker for a mere moment. She and Larry exchanged a stiff, displeased look before she held the bottle of scotch up to her mouth and took a large drink from it. "Yeah," she replied coldly.
Piper smiled at the three of them uncomfortably, completely unsure of how on Earth to proceed. She opened her mouth to try and make a no doubt pathetic attempt at small talk when a man stepped in and intervened.
He had broad shoulders and dark brown hair that had been gelled back, along with a short-cut beard and green eyes that matched Alexis'. He was dressed in a gray suit with a red button down shirt underneath and held a glass of red wine in one hand. He leaned down to Alexis after shooting a quick, polite smile at Piper and Parker, not bothering to lower his voice before he spoke.
"Alexis. We discussed this. I let you bring in your... friend, and you at least make an effort to look as if you're having a nice time." He stopped, glancing down at Alexis' hand.
"And you don't drink straight out of the bottle," he added, snatching the scotch from Alexis. "Come on, you're changing into something more formal right now."
"God, whatever, Jim," Alexis groaned, rolling her eyes, before mumbling 'dad' once she saw Jim's irritated look. She shrugged boredly to Piper, before taking Larry's hand and trailing after her father. Piper offered a small wave and turned to Parker.
"I blew it, didn't I?"
She stopped, a little surprised that he didn't complain about what'd happened. "She's just not very friendly with Preps," Piper explained, "or anyone, really..."
Parker shrugged, giving Piper a sheepish smile. "Alright, good, I thought she had some sort of problem with me. I don't know what I'd do if one of your friends just hated me."
Piper nodded slowly, her mind momentarily flashing to Bif, but she cast the thought away before she could mull it over too long. She mustn't think of Bif, at least not now.
She allowed one of the waiters roaming around the party to take her coat and collect Parker's before disappearing into the crowd to store them into whatever room Mr. Monroe had designated.
"Come along," Piper said to Parker after he was gone, gently tugging his arm towards what appeared to be a large dining room illuminated by a gorgeous, sparkling chandelier, "let's get something to eat."
It had been around an hour into the party, and Piper had retreated to a sitting room in the back of the house that was, for the most part, empty. She sat on a maroon Hollywood style sofa, an almost empty glass of red wine in her hand. She'd never been much of a fan of this particular wine, but Mr. Monroe had offered it, and she thought it would have been rude to decline.
Parker stood a couple feet away, conversing with a waiter, oblivious to the odd looks he was receiving from the majority of the partygoers. No one thought it normal for a Prep to converse with the help. Piper thought it was just a little bit sweet, and the little waves he gave her every so often just added to the innocence of it.
Similar to the way one finds themselves face to face with a poisonous snake, Piper found none other than her cousin, Derby, sitting comfortably beside her on the sofa within seconds. Her attention was immediately captivated by the fact that not only was he missing his suit jacket, but he also smelled vaguely of alcohol... cheap alcohol.
"Hm... well, I suppose it's a bit like watching ducks in a pond, no?" Derby sneered, wrinkling his nose as he surveyed Parker and the waiter.
Piper scoffed, unsurprised and a bit disgusted by Derby's typical commentary. "You do realize he is your friend, yes?" she snapped, irritated.
Derby shrugged instead, inspecting his cleanly filed nails boredly. "There's quite a big difference between a friend and a simple fraternity member."
Rolling her eyes, she did her best to block him out; Derby tended to get even more closed minded and bigoted when he drank. Piper instead tried to focus on Parker and the somewhat adorable, enthusiastic ways he was moving his hands all around as he eagerly chatted to the weary-looking waiter.
"I'll keep this short," Derby announced suddenly, effectively interrupting her concentration, "Bif is searching for you and I sought it fit to come and let you know myself, be it as I need your fiance anyway."
Before Piper could begin her protests, Derby had called out Parker's name and beckoned him over, thus ending Parker's conversation and freeing the waiter.
"My chauffeur is out for the day-something about family nonsense-and I have a couple of errands to run. One of which, is stopping by my home, so I expect you to drive me there at once and await further instruction."
The way he stared and spoke to Parker made Piper furious-he acted as if Parker were no more than another one of his servants.
"Oh, really?" Parker asked, sounding awfully disappointed, "Because I wanted to spend some more time with Piper, this is her friend's house and we were having a really nice ti-"
"I've already spoken with my cousin," Derby interrupted, waving his hand dismissively and rubbing the bridge of his nose with the other, "so just do as your told."
Parker let out a sigh before turning to Piper. "I'm sorry Piper, I'll try to be quick," he mumbled, taking her hand in his. "Save me a dance?"
She smiled and gave him a small nod, watching as Derby got up hastily (and somewhat wobbly) before pushing Parker towards the door. Moments before they were out, Piper watched in surprise as Larry, Alexis' questionable friend, strode up to Derby and shoved some sort of black fabric into Derby's hands angrily, Alexis awkwardly leaning against his back. From where she sat, it appeared to be a suit jacket.