Chapter 6

I stared at the screen on my phone for at least a minute trying to decide if I should respond to Mathew. The idea of my bed was very tempting after my early morning wake up call and the exhausting mixer. There was another loud voice in my head telling me I didn't come all the way here to lie in bed. So I decided to text Mathew back.

Paris: Hi Mathew you surprised me I forgot all about your party.

Mathew: You forgot about me already. I must not have made much of an impression. :(

I was starting to realize one of the best parts of Mathew was his great sense of humor.

Paris: I not sure how much fun I'm going to be. The mixer totally wore me out. I need something low key.

Mathew: I understand that was over whelming but it will be fun I promise. I'll come and get you if I have to.

Paris: I'm going to give my mom a call and then I will try to stop by what's your room number?

Mathew: 3465 I think that we are on the same floor so don't tell me that you can't find me.

Paris: Yes looks like you are just down the hall from me. Don't leave your party! After I change and call my mom I'll be over.

Mathew: Promise?

Mathew: Don't change you look great!

Paris: Bye Mathew see you in a few.

If I was honest with myself I could use some fun. Mathew seemed like a genuine guy and he could definitely make me laugh.

I was feeling torn by this other more negative part of myself. I had met so many new people already today I wasn't looking forward to more questions. I also promised Mason that I would meet him ready to hit the slopes at 3:30 so I couldn't stay too long. If I was going to be spending time with Mason I needed to be wide awake. The best person to help me and give me advice has always been my mom. I wish so much she could be here. I thought I could handle all of this on my own. My dad was great but it just wasn't the same ,so it was time to give her a call. I felt so relieved when my mom picked up on the second ring.

"Hi mom it is so good to hear your voice!" I squeaked out.

"Hey baby you okay? You sound sad. I thought that you would be in a great mood now that Abe arrived. "

"I was. I mean I am. It's been harder than I thought getting used to this place. All I've had is a couple of hours of broken sleep trying to get on the same sleep schedule as everyone else. After Jill's party tonight I'm so sick of meeting people and my grandmother doesn't even arrive until tomorrow," I sighed.

"That's all, you are just tired and sick of shaking hands with nosey old women?" Mom paused, "Come on Paris spit it out, I can't help you if you aren't honest with yourself."

"I'm feeling a little bit lost. I don't have any friends here and I don't know what I am supposed to be doing."

"Paris everywhere you go you make friends. You can make a friend standing in line at the grocery store. Your just like your father," Mom laughed.

"It's not that I can't make a friend I am just having a hard time knowing who I can trust here. The people that are worth the time to get to know," I sighed.

"Paris you have to go with your gut on that. Not everyone you meet is going to have the best intentions but, you know some people that you can definitely trust. Jill and Eddie are there and you met Rose and Dimitri right? "

"They were the first people I met. I had a lot of fun tonight getting to know Rose. She and Abe are really humorous together. I can see where she gets her spunky personality from."

"Did you get a chance to talk to Mason or Alex," my mom kept her voice even but I knew that there was something that she wasn't saying.

"Mason asked me to go skiing later this afternoon," I added. "I got invited to a party this morning but I probably shouldn't go. If I'm going to meet Mason I should probably take a nap."

"Come on Paris is that why you called?" Mom sounded surprised, "Did you feel like you needed permission to go, because I think a party might be just what you need."

I exhaled loudly, "No not really. I think I just needed to hear that it wasn't a terrible idea."

"You have always been a brave girl Paris, use some of those guts and go have some fun. I'm your mom so I will put the parent disclaimer on and say don't do anything that you'll regret or that you can't take back. I trust you and this is your vacation too. My hope for you is that you make a few friendships that last longer than just this week."

I thanked my mom and told her I would be in touch. She was the best person to talk to because she had this amazing ability to always make me feel like I could handle anything. My mom could bring out qualities in someone that they didn't even know that they had.

I sent my father a text to tell him where I was going to be and told him to get some rest. After changing my shoes into some sparkly flats I was out the door to find Mathew's room. It was literally just down the hall and around the corner. I told myself this was a good thing. Either it would be convenient for us to hang out or it wouldn't be too hard to escape if I wanted to leave.

I found his room easily and knocked softly. I didn't hear any noise in he hallway but when the door opened I was assaulted by the loud noise of a room full of people and music.

Mathew opened the door and gave me a breath taking smile, "I'll admit I was thinking I might have to come and get you."

I didn't enter, I just glanced at the room full of people. Mathew looked apologetic, "Sorry after I texted you the word got out about the party. I promise this will be fun. " He looked endearing and hopefully, I didn't have the heart to leave so I followed him into the room.

"How is it that it's so loud in here but you can't hear anything in the halls?" I asked confused.

"These rooms are mostly sound proof. Some of us have extraordinary hearing. It can lead to some uncomfortable moments," Mathew said tentatively with a little cringe.

That made me laugh. My odd question had managed to break the ice a little. His room was set up a lot like mine with a main bedroom and two separate sitting rooms. One was more casual and set up for eating.

"Do you want a drink?" He asked politely leading me over by the fridge to what appeared to be a fully stocked bar with a large assortment of soda.

I poured myself some sprite in a red solo cup and made the observation that solo cups transcended all social economic groups.

Turning to Mathew I wondered "So does everyone call you Mathew or do you have a nick name just for your friends."

"No, my mother loathes when people call me Matt. She feels its too ordinary for me." He rolled his eyes, "When I was much younger some people called me Matty but not in a long time." He lead me into the second sitting room that was farther into the room.

"I like Matty it's adorable," I smiled sweetly knowing exactly what he would think about that.

"Not sure my image can handle adorable but if you want to call me Matty I give you sole permission," he commented with a smirk sitting down in the sole empty chair at a large round table. Everyone sitting around the table appeared to be playing some sort of card game, but not one I recognized.

"Peter get up, give the lady a seat," Mathew said louder than necessary and taping the guy on the shoulder. Peter looked to be a couple of years younger than the rest of the group and a little annoyed at the interruption in his game.

Peter looked up at me and abruptly bit off whatever snarky comment he was going to make. "Sure thing Mathew." He looked up at me stopping blatantly on my chest, "Hi I'm Peter Jackson what's your name."

"Out of your league that's what her name is Peter," another guy called across the table and everyone laughed. Embarrassed I flushed and looked over at Mathew.

"Thanks for chair Peter," I told him sitting down comfortably. I was glad we left the main room that was packed with people.

"This is Paris," Mathew motioned to me and then to each person sitting at the table, "Paris this is Aaron, Andrew, Cullen, Paisley, and you met Peter. Don't worry no quiz later." I was happy to see another girl in the group and the warm smile Paisley gave me made me hopeful.

"So what are you playing," I asked her looking down at the unfamiliar cards.

"It's called phase ten," Paisley explained showing me her cards and a little card that showed the directions. "It's a very easy game but these guys are pretty competitive."

"Come watch me finish this game and when were done we can deal you in," Mathew said showing me his cards. It looked like a fun game and Paisley was right, the guys were very competitive. They were not shy about bragging and taunting each other. Mathew had a great way of making me feel welcome and joking around without obviously flirting.

In between games the Andrew got up, kissed Paisley, and got both of us more drinks. I was relieved that Paisley was only drinking soda too. She was a really cute girl with strawberry blonde hair and sky blue eyes. She was so skinny I was sure a strong wind could take her down. Each of the guys took turns getting up and refreshed their drinks of choice. Paisley and I chatted casually about the resort. She told me excitedly about how she just hooked up with Andrew.

"Are you dating anyone back home or has anyone here caught your eye," Paisley asked me conspiratorially.

I tried to be convincing,"No one at home. I'm not really here to hook up, it is more of a family trip."

She gave me a knowing smile, "That doesn't mean you can't have some fun while you're here. I think that if you are interested in Mathew you should keep playing hard to get. It is definitely working on him, he is so used to girls throwing themselves at him. You should have seen how worked up he got when you texted that you forgot about the party. Andrew had to talk him out of going down to your room."

I was shocked by her observations. I really wasn't trying to play hard to get but I could see how it might have come off that way. "I don't think it is like with us. Not yet anyway, I just met him a couple of hours ago. He is just easy to be around. It is a refreshing change."

"I can see that. It's a nice change to see him relaxed. He tends to attract girls that bring drama. But the question is, a refreshing change from what?" Paisley dragged out the question. She had me totally pegged, "Who's got you all worked up?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready to admit it yet, even to myself," I rubbed my eyes attempting to erase the vision of Mason's eyes and our fingers woven together out of my head, "we are both trying to pretend there is no chemistry and I'm failing miserably. It's just that quick vacation fling is not my style."

"When you are ready to admit it I want to a full report," Paisley winked at me knowingly.

Each of the boys had returned and even Peter had come back to watch the game from over Cullen's shoulder. Mathew had taken an extra minute to walk around and greet people. As he slid back in his chair he gave me a wicked smile, "Think you're ready to play Paris?

"Bring it on Matty," I answered as the table chuckled appreciatively.

Phase ten is a simple game in principle. There are ten different hands that you need to lay down and get rid of each of the additional cards. Some of the hands resemble rummy and others are simple matching or color combinations. This game is like all other card games in that it is almost completely based on luck. For the first five hands of the game beginners luck was completely on my side. I managed to skip ahead several hands and didn't get any points (points are bad). Each time I laid down my cards I was met by loud boos and whining from the boys. Paisley managed to keep up mostly, but even she was a hand behind. Mathew thought it was hilarious and was totally egging on the other guys. Aaron and Cullen were not good losers but it was entertaining to see them get so defeated over a card game.

As Paisley began to deal the sixth hand another girl entered the room whining to her friend about our card game. She turned making eye contact with me and sat right in Mathew's lap. "Aren't you done with this silly game Mathew? I was hoping to spend sometime with you at this party," the girl remarked trying to be obvious about with kind of attention she wanted.

"Nicole we talked about this. I told you that I wasn't up for entertaining you tonight but you chose to come over anyway. I'm sure you can find something to do until I'm finished," Mathew pointed at the other room full of people, "Don't come in here and distract me. Paris is already kicking my butt." Mathew flashed his smile again. I was starting to think he was used to his smile getting him out of anything.

Nicole glared at me and attempted to smile through the sneer on her face. "Right Paris you're the girl I met hanging around with Mason. Who brought you along? You must be a good hook up to get a seat at the table, even if it is a boring game."

Mathew bucked her off of his lap. "Enough Nicole, you know that I invited Paris. You should probably move on to something else tonight. I'm in the mood to play another game after this. " Mathew looked pissed.

Nicole flew off of Mathew's lap and half landed on poor Aaron. After straightening herself she looked at Paisley and added, " I hope it's not Andrew she's hooking up with."

I gave her a little half wave with my right hand and held my new cards in my left. Looking down at my cards I said, "Goodnight Nicole. Such a pleasure to see you again."

Paisley looked scandalized and glared at Nicole until she was completely out of sight. After that I couldn't really concentrate on what I was doing. My game plan and strategy were a thing of the past and the other seasoned players quickly caught up. I'm ashamed to say that I was relieved when Paisley finished the last hand to win the game.

Mathew leaned over his chair and looked me square in the eyes, "I'm sorry about Nicole. She is a real spoiled brat. I never noticed how nasty she could be until recently."

I just shrugged in response. There was nothing to say he didn't do anything wrong.

Looking at the clock I noticed it was approaching eleven and I still needed a nap.

"Thanks guys for letting me crash your card game it was fun. I'm supposed to go out on the trails in a few hours so I'm going to lay down for a bit." I smiled genuinely at the group.

Paisley and I exchanged numbers and made plans to meet for coffee the next day. When I got up to leave the table Mathew followed me out of his room and began to walk down the hall with me.

"You didn't have to leave your party. My room is only 100 feet away," I said worried what he wanted.

"I know I just wanted to know whether I was right."

I gave him the answer he wanted," I had a great time. Thank you for inviting me. I hope me being there didn't mess anything up for you with Nicole."

Mathew's face flashed surprised and let out a strangled laugh as we stopped at my door, "I'm glad you let me spend the morning with you too Paris. Thanks for taking a chance on me. You are a much needed breath of fresh air."

"Tell me Mathew does that smile get you everything that you want. "

Mathew looked shocked. "Most of the time Paris." He reached down and gave me a huge hug. He felt unexpectedly strong and warm.

"Who are you skiing with? Do you think that I could tag along," he said half into my hair.

Releasing me I gave him a tentative grin. "It's just me and Mason Belikov. I'm supposed to meet him at 3:30 and I'm afraid it will still be mostly sunny out. Do you know Mason?"

The smile washed from Mathew's face, "Yes I know Mason. We go to school together. Promise you'll call me. I'll find us something else fun for us to do," he paused while I considered his invitation, "Say yes or I'll flash you another smile."

"Okay I'll call you," I spit out immediately. "Good bye Mathew."

I turned and shut the door leaving him standing in the hall. One thing was for sure, it was time for a nap.

Thanks so much for reading and for all your awesome comments. Every time I get a comment it motivates me to give you more.

I think I feel in love with Mathew a little today!

If you don't read Richelle Mead's blog I read some interesting information about the first Vampire Academy movie today. You can find the link on her good reads page.