"I got a phone call from you guidance counsellor today"
Rosie sighed. She was having dinner with her brother. It was Thursday, and it had been four days since that disastrous day and she had been hoping against hope that Mr. Matthews a. k. a Kenny hadn't called Rhett.
"Really?" Rosie asked with an innocent expression. "I can't imagine why"
Rhett smirked at his little sister's attempt at looking innocent.
"Yes Really. So what's this I hear about you failing chemistry?"
"I am not failing" Rosie argued hotly. "I just got one lousy 'D'. It isn't the end of the world. I don't see why everyone's making such a big deal out of it"
"I'm not so worried about your grade. You're a smart girl, I know you'll do the needful. In any case I have already hired you a private tutor who will help you with Chemistry and any other subjects you're having problems with"
"A tutor? What? Why? I don't need one" Rosie started to grumble.
"You will study with your tutor and you know there's no point arguing with me. Why even bother?" Rhett said easily. "Like I said, I'm not worried about chemistry. What bothers me is that I had to listen to some strange man who I have never met, tell me that I am not involved enough in your life which is why you have become sullen and withdrawn" Rhett finished with a quirk of his eyebrow. In his opinion his sister was neither, she just didn't like the people around her and it showed.
"Yeh well that bothers me too. Do you wanna know the worst bit? I thought since we practically own the school I'd get a few perks, but nooo, Kenny has to be a stickler and make me sign up for stupid after-school activities" Rosie complained.
"We don't own the school Rosie, the Butler-Lafayette Trust does. We just run the trust" Rhett said smiling at his sister.
"Same difference. You will not believe what I have to do. I have half a mind to call the whole board"
"And say what? If you don't let me get out of an activity I'll stomp my feet and cry to my big brother?" Rhett asked amused.
"Oh shut up! You'd feel the same if you had to be a cheer-" Rosie broke off annoyed that she had almost let the cat out of the bag.
Rhett burst out laughing, "Are you telling me, my sister, the girl who wears black all the time and forever has her nose stuck in a book, is now a cheerleader?"
Rosie scowled which made her brother laugh even harder.
"It's not that funny. I am a ballerina you know"
"Yes and that's art. Now you're going to be wearing a mini skirt and waving pompoms while yelling for a bunch of meatheads to 'Be Aggressive'!"
"It's not like that" Rosie yelled suddenly.
"Ok ok. Calm down. I'm sure it's a lot more fun chanting, Give me a 'W'!" Rhett said smiling mischievously.
"Shut up Rhett"
Rhett laughed again but quietly this time. "Well this makes things all that much easier. After a talk with Matthews, I decided that maybe it was time to re-instate an old tradition. And maybe at the same time, I could meet some of the people on your life"
Rosie looked surprised, "You wanna meet the people on my life?" she parroted. And then she narrowed her eyes, "What tradition?"
"Nothing major. Back in the day, while Lafayette had separate academies for boys and girls, they used to have a ball for the juniors. When the girls were 16 basically. A sort of coming out ball, where all the junior girls were the debutantes. They stopped having this ball shortly after I was sent to military school. I was thinking maybe you could head the committee that will plan the Deb Ball"
Rosie stared at her brother wide eyed, "You want me to what? Are you kidding me? I have no idea how to plan a party at home, let alone a Ball for hundreds of people. Get someone else to do it."
"There will be no ball unless you plan it. It's as simple as that. Matthews wants you to be more involved in school stuff and what better way than to plan the biggest dance before prom?" Rhett asked half sarcastically.
A panicky feeling was rising in Rosie, "But I don't know where to start" she wailed.
"Well, you might start with forming an actual committee. You can't do this alone. Recruit students who have done this kind of stuff before. You better hurry because the date we picked is 3 week from now and that's not a long time."
"That's impossible. 3 weeks. Maybe if I had more time" Rosie said seeing a way out of the situation.
"That's the only weekend I have free in the next two months and after that the school said it would be too close to prom to have the Ball. It has to be done then and as a Butler I expect you to deliver on time"
"Fine." Rosie answered. 'How the hell am I going to pull this off? I need someone who has done this before, who can take charge, who can plan, I need Scarlett' Rosie felt relieved when she thought of her old best friend and now tentative friend. 'Scarlett wouldn't pass up a chance to plan one of the biggest parties of the year'
Rosemary smiled at Rhett, "Fine I'll do it, but if this Ball is a success then I'm going to ask you for something and you can't refuse. Deal?"
Rhett studied Rosie indifferently, he wondered for a moment what she might ask of him then dismissed the thoughts, probably a new car or some such nonsense, "Deal"
"Scarlett!"
Scarlett was sitting at her usual table at lunch. The cheerleaders table. She looked up to see who was calling her and was surprised to see Rosie Butler standing next to her. Even though Rosie was now a cheerleader, she hadn't yet started hanging out with the whole group or anything.
"Rosie" Scarlett smiled, "Grab a seat" she said motioning to the empty seat next to her.
"Thanks" Rosie said while sitting down looking increasingly uncomfortable. She smiled at the other girls who all smiled back before resuming their conversations.
Feeling a little out of place, Rosie turned to Scarlett and said in a low voice, "I need your help"
Unable to stop the shock from flooding her face, Scarlett needed a few seconds to compose her expression.
"Umm.. Sure. What do you need me to help you with?"
Rosie took a deep breath and started to tell Scarlett all about the Deb Ball and how she, Rosie, had to plan it for it to happen. Rosie also explained her need for help which brought her to her request.
"So, anyways, my brother said the Ball will only happen if I head the committee and I really don't know what to do. Please help me Scarlett. We only have three weeks!"
By now Rosie had gotten the attention of the entire table.
"Ohmigod! The Deb Ball, My mum told me about hers. I'd love to help Rosie. And if we only have three weeks then I guess we should start straight away"
Rosie smiled as excited whispers broke out at the table.
Scarlett's sharp mind went over the possibilities. A Ball in three weeks would be hard, but not impossible. Not if they started straight away. It was Friday today anyway, if they could just put together a committee in the next few hours then the whole weekend could be spent planning.
"-people who might want to help" Rosie's voice broke into her thoughts.
"What? Oh, a committee? Yeh I was thinking the same. I helped plan the Winter Ball last year. Sure we had three months to plan but I think my old committee worked well together. What do you think?"
"Oh, that's fine. I knew you would help me. I don't really know why my brother is insisting I run the show but I figured, may as well."
Scarlett smiled. Normally she would have hated the fact that someone else was getting the glory but for once it didn't bother her. Maybe it was because Rosie would never be a threat to her position. Or maybe she just liked the girl.
Then Scarlett's eyes narrowed as she studied Rosie remembering all her plans for the newest cheerleader.
"Well, we better get a move on things if we wanna get anything done thins weekend. We already have so much to do besides planning" Scarlett said.
"We do?" Rosie questioned.
"Oh did I forget to tell you? Tomorrow is our spa day. Well Spa morning now that we have stuff to do. You, Cathy and I, 9am tomorrow morning. It's going to be so much fun!" Scarlett said clapping her hands.
"Sure. Fun. That's what it's gonna be" Rosie agreed sourly.
…………………………………
By the end of lunchtime Scarlett had alerted everyone she wanted on the committee and told them to stay back after school for their first meeting. The rest of the day had dragged by and now finally, she was sitting next to Rosie in a n empty Classroom facing the others.
There were six other students there. Each picked for very specific reasons. There was Maybelle Meriwether, whose dad owned a fabulous chain of restaurants. She would arrange refreshments. There was Phillip Meade who knew everyone, good or bad, rich or poordespite coming from one of the most rigid families around. He knewthe scariest people.He would take care of security. Honey Wilkes, Ashley's sister who was very artistic would be in charge of decorations. Stuart and Brent Tarleton, the gorgeous identical twins who were the funniest guys in school and also among the most popular. They would publicise the event and sell tickets. And last there was Cade Calvert, Cathy's twin brother and Scarlett's ex boyfriend. They had dated for nearly a year and had had a messy break up. But Scarlett and Cade had eventually put the past behind them, mostly because Cathy couldn't stand her best friend and brother hating each other. Cade was going to help Scarlett make sure the 'debut' of the young girls went off smoothly. He was helping her plan that portion of the event knowing that on the night, Scarlett would be one of the girls making her debut and hence would be unable to help any. Basically, Cade was going to run the show on the night.
All six had previously done similar jobs for various school functions and were quite confident in their abilities. The only person missing was Sally Brewton. The whole Brewton family were on an extended trip to Europe. Sally had been dating a guy that her parents deemed 'unfit' so to get her away from him they had all left to Europe a month ago. Sally's dad worked for a big recording company and she normally arranged the entertainment. A small frown appeared of Scarlett's forehead as she tried to figure out who could replace her while the others filled Rosie in on their responsibilities.
"Scarlett!" Rosie shouted for the third time.
"Uh- What?" Scarlett said snapping out of her reverie.
"We seem to have everything except music" Rosie said smiling at the others sitting there. They all seemed so nice. Rosie wondered why they had started to annoy her so much that she stopped spending time with them.
"Yea. That's what I was trying to figure out. You guys know who could be our new 'Sally'?" Scarlett asked them. Sally had always been able to pull of the impossible and the entertainment was always good when she had been the one to arrange it.
Everyone shook their heads and muttered negative responses. They were themselves feeling a little overwhelmed by the task set to them. Ten days to plan, ten days to execute.
"I'll do it" Rosie said.
Seven pairs of questioning eyes landed on her.
"Let's just say being my brother's sister has some perks" Rosie grinned at them. "I'll check with him tonight and I'll have something definite to report on Monday"
They spent a few more minutes discussing each person's plan. Money wasn't really an issue, never was in this school, but this time in particular they could go all out, because the Butlers were footing the tab. Not the school.
Rosie made sure everyone had her mobile number and her email address and that she had theirs. Every single one of the eight teenagers there had the brand new blackberries that had come out the previous week. And more than one phone number. So it was a little tricky getting all the necessary information down right.
They decided to meet again Sunday night at Rosemary's house. Most of them had been there as kids and even if they hadn't everyone knew the Butler Mansion. It was the biggest, most beautiful building in town.
After saying their goodbye's everyone left leaving Scarlett and Rosie behind.
"So I'll see you tomorrow at 8.30am. My house. Don't be late" Scarlett said.
"Sure, I'll be there"
Hey, thanks for the reviews. Please keep them coming. This is one story I'm not very sure of so I need heaps of encouragement.. : D