A/N: Here! An extra-long chap to make up for not updating. I had another chap 11, but it sucked. Thus, I re-invented it and made it obscenely long! Enjoy!
The New Marvil Estate
Danville, CA
11:02 AM, December 17th
Massie led her girls to the front door, past bushes shaped like pretty little animals. First a dog, then a squirrel, then a cat, then a mouse…There were so many of them, one of each animal on each side. They were taller than Massie, which struck her as funny.
Apparently, Claire found it funny too. "Look Mass," she said, giggling. "There's a mouse bigger than you!"
"Look, Kuh-laire, there's a mouse bigger than your freakin' brain!"
Alicia and Kristen giggled. "Well, yeah. If my brain was as big as that mouse, I wouldn't be standing here," Claire said, staring at the bush and thinking of her friends back in Florida.
When they were at the door, Massie reached forward, shoving Claire aside, and rung the tiny gold doorbell. She smoothed her gray Nolita spaghetti-strap mini dress and made sure her dark denim jeans weren't wrinkled from the plane ride. She'd stuffed her gray scarf into the zipper pouch on the front of Bean's carrier. Her perfectly crafted outfit would not be marred by a scarf and jacket, no matter how cold it was. Massie twirled the gold key dangling from her Coach necklace, waiting somewhat impatiently for Dylan to open the door.
Alicia examined her dark gray (but not black!) tank top, which she'd layered under a cropped brown Nanette Lepore cable knit blazer. She pushed her cream Harajuku Lovers canvas Geisha-print tote bag up her shoulder as she waited. Glancing down, she realized her True Religion jeans had come out of her Uggs again. She quickly bent down to fix them, making her purse fall down again. "Ugh!" Alicia mumbled as she pusher her purse back on her arm. The second she looked away, it fell to her elbow again. "Double ugh!" Alicia finger-combed her glossy black hair then shoved her purse up to her shoulder again. "Stay…"
Claire laughed with the rest of them, secretly checking that her hair hadn't been split into that annoying upside down V-shape that she hated. She'd grown out her bangs into cute side bangs and layers at Massie's insistence. It did look good, Claire had to admit, but the bangs would fall into her eyes sometimes, courtesy of her new deep side part. Her navy velour Juicy jacket read "Juicy Angel" in silver glitter-covered script on the back, alongside several curling flourishes. Her jeans weren't GAP, because she'd finally sworn off GAP over the summer. The dark denim was actually from the comp boxes, so they were Citizens of Humanity.
Kristen wore a brown Juicy hoodie with a little pink dog embroidered in the upper left hand corner of the front. There was no script on the back. She also had on gray Victoria's Secret PINK cropped knee-length sweats, paired with brown flip flops, which she regretted when she saw how cold it was here. She leaned forward and rang the bell again, wondering what was taking so long for Dylan to open the door. She might freeze before she got let in.
The window on the uppermost level flew open. Dylan's head stuck out. The sound of P!nk's song, 'Who Knew?', came pouring out of Dylan's windows.
"Ohhhh, that's what happened," Massie said with a smirk. "Obnoxiously loud music."
The others giggled.
"OMG! Guys, what are you doing here?" Dylan cried out, totally oblivious to Massie's comment.
"We're here to help you get your new house all fixed up!" Massie called up. Behind her, Kristen pretended to spray Massie with a bottle of "Springtime Sensations" Febreeze.
Dylan giggled. "Door is open! Come on in!"
The girls pushed open the door and gasped. Dylan's house was amazing. It was warm and lush, just like the outside. Oriental rugs warmed the wood floors, but the tile entry was exposed. Surprisingly, the tiles were heated. There were tropical plants everywhere, as well as soft-looking pillows. The pillows were piled everywhere: on the floor, on the couch, under the flat-screen TV, on the side tables…there was a dark blue one pressed between the aquarium and the wall, probably to protect the paint.
A large aquarium across the room had brightly colored Angelfish and Clownfish swimming in it. There were also tiny Blowfish and a bunch of unrecognizable blue fish. Purple and blue anemone swayed in it, a treasure chest at each end of the tank blew out bubbles, and tiny hermit crabs scuttled in and out of crevices at random. The sand was the same white as the sand in Dylan's backyard, which was right on the beach. And there were larger shells to provide hiding for the fish. Or so Claire thought, until a tiny red crab was scuttling on one and an eel popped out and snapped it up. Claire jumped.
"Hey, guys!" Dylan came down the stairs, beaming with excitement. "I missed you SO much!"
"Me tooooooo!" Alicia squealed.
"Absolutely," everyone else agreed.
They all hugged for a moment before Dylan pulled away, saying, "What's with the CVS bags? Claire rubbing off on you guys?"
"Ha ha," Claire said dryly.
"Claire has been a very good girl. She swore off GAP, and her jeans are actually Citizens of Humanity!" Massie beamed as she threw her arm around Claire. "Isn't that right?"
"Wait. Claire swore off GAP? For real?!" Dylan squealed.
"Yup! We had a bonfire on our last TPC Friday Nite Sleepover." Massie laughed. "You wouldn't believe how much GAP this girl has! But all that is cashmere and cotton now, huh?"
"I got all that stuff from the comp boxes," Claire said, wriggling out from under
Massie's crushing grip. "I might as well wear it, right?"
"Anyway," Massie said, bluntly ignoring Claire, "we stopped by CVS for a blast from Kuh-laire's past."
"We got Febreeze," Kristen said, holding up her bag.
"And candles," Claire said, holding up hers.
"And flowers," Alicia said, holding up one bag. Then she picked up the other. "With vases!"
"And I brought you lots of crap to load your fridge with," Massie said. "Totally fat-free, carb-free crap, that is. Completely diet friendly."
"You guys are the best!" Dylan shouted, beaming. "I wish I could hug you guys again, but then you'd drop everything."
"Kay, let's start now," Massie said. She began marching up the stairs to Dylan's room, passing brightly colored doors and pretty sitting rooms that were on each floor. All of them were Mediterranean styled. Massie beamed. Kristen was spraying a trail of Febreeze as they ran. When the hit the top floor, the stairs just stopped. They ran straight into the ceiling.
"Dylan? What's with the nowhere stairs?" Massie climbed back down, frowning.
"Move," Dylan said as she shoved everyone aside. She tapped the ceiling where the stairs left off, and then shoved up. A square moved up, making a passage for the stairs to continue. "Cool, huh? There are three more of those, so you'd better let me lead."
"Fine." Massie followed Dylan up another set of stairs to another door. Dylan did the same thing, then led them up the stair to two more identical ones.
"Welcome," Dylan said at the last one, "to my room."
She shoved open the door, and at first Massie thought she was in the clouds. Then she realized that the walls were of shiny gold, with dark blue sponge painted over that, with purple and pink sponge painted over that, and a final layer of light blue sponge-painted over everything. The ceiling was plain, but it had six-arm chandeliers covered in faux flowers and dripping beads so they looked beautiful. The large skylights in each corner lit the room with natural light.
A designer's dummy had an ah-dorable outfit pinned to it, and a mini version was draped with necklaces and stuck with glittery brooches. There was a white armoire with a matching night table. A three-section mirror was pinned against a wall with two white nightstands, making a makeshift vanity. Photos cut from Teen Vogue were taped to the mirror's corners.
Dylan's bed hung from gold chains from the ceiling, which Dylan said was actually kind of annoying. It was covered in warm-looking blankets in shades of blue, and loaded with purple and blue satin pillows. White mosquito netting hung from the ceiling, draping around her bed airily and tied to the chains in the middle with light blue satin ribbons.
There were six glass bubble chairs in one corner, arranged so they hung in a semi-circle. Glass tables were placed in between each chair, and they held glossy copies of Teen Vogue, Seventeen, ElleGirl, and CosmoGirl. There was a small quilted pad in each one that made the seat level, so sitting in them didn't hurt.
A white night stand hung from slightly skinnier chains than the bed, because it was just a white-painted piece of wood. (Dylan said it used to be a swing, but had decided to use it for a night table once she'd gotten the bubble chairs.) On the nightstand, Dylan had a black egg alarm clock with a bright blue screen, a purple gooseneck lamp, a framed picture of the Pretty Committee, and her iPhone.
In a corner between the far wall and a large box-shaped room, there was a tiny piece of Juicy Couture luggage that looked like a doll's steamer trunk. Massie quickly realized it was for a dog, once she saw the tiny puppy-sized mannequin on top. The mannequin wore a tiny blue rain jacket from Juicy, as well as black puppy Uggs. Next to that, there was a pair of gold dog bowls. One held ice water, and the other had a small pile of kibble. There was a circular dog bed in one corner, set on a white frame that looked like a mini-gazebo. A tiny Yorkie was asleep in the bed, resting atop the pink-and-brown Juicy Crittoure pillow.
"Ah-dorable!" Massie squealed. She set Bean's carrier down and let out her puppy. Bean ran over to sniff the sleeping dog. "What's her name?"
"This one is Choco," Dylan explained. "Short for Chocolate."
"Cuteness!" Alicia gasped.
"And this one"-Dylan walked over to her bed and sat next to another sleeping Yorkie-"is named Chip! Get it? Choco Chip?"
"Ah-dorable!" Massie nodded.
"Ehmagawd, with Massie's horse it's…" Claire started.
"Chocolate Chip Brownie!" They all shouted.
"Exactly!" Dylan cried out, beaming as she scooped up Chip. "Look. She's like Playdoh. She'll mould any which way. See?" Dylan put her puppy in her lap, and her tiny back paws were soon sticking up on either side of her head. She was curled into a tiny ball. "She's like a little bunny!"
"Kay," Massie said suddenly. "Back to home-making."
"Right!" Kristen picked up her Febreeze bottle and started spraying Dylan's cream-colored sheepskin rug.
Claire put the candles in groups of three, each in a tiny vase floating in water. She lit them one by one, and soon the room smelled like vanilla, cinnamon, and warm apple cider. When she was done, she beamed.
Alicia put a vase of white Lilies of the Valley and pink cherry blossoms on one side of Dylan's makeshift vanity. Then she put a vase of pink-and-orange roses and pink daisies on Dylan's night stand. She also different orchids on top of the bookcases, in a few windows, and on a table near the bubble chairs.
Massie hung some blue and pink Chinese lanterns from the ceiling. When she was done, she also stocked Dylan's purple mini-fridge with Lean Cuisine dinners and tiny cartons of milk (chocolate, strawberry, and normal) from Sixbucks. She stacked containers of Ramen noodle cups on top, as well as bottles of Glaceau vitamin water. She put a cashmere blanket at the end of Dylan's bed, as well as some silk throw pillows in the bubble chairs.
"There," Massie said firmly. "NOW it's a home."
They stepped back and inspected it. The room was now rich with different shades of blue, pink, purple, and gold. It had a warm glow and a sweet scent.
"Dare we to enter the closet?" Massie asked, eyeing the door to the left of her.
"Actually, that's the bathroom," Alicia piped up. "And I already put a black light bulb in the night light so that the room will glow at night. I also put three candles and those fluffy purple towels."
"Yeah," Dylan said. "The closets are over there." She pointed to the only other windowless wall.
"Oh…okay." Massie walked over. "Wait a sec. Which of the four doors is it?"
"Uh, they're all closets. One for each season." Dylan blushed. "That's why it says the season over the door?"
Massie looked up, her highlighted bangs falling away from her face. "Oh," she mumbled. Then she went in the first one, which was labeled "SUMMER". The girls followed.
Kristen immediately sprayed Febreeze over everything. Claire lit a stick of incense in each closet. Vanilla for spring, chocolate for fall, Apple Cider for winter, and lychee for summer. Alicia crinkled her nose. There was no light for the flowers to thrive in, and besides, she was out of vases. But Massie could still put up some Chinese lanterns in them. So she put a light blue one in winter, a pale green one in fall, a pink one in spring, and a gold one in summer.
"Perfection," Massie announced.
Kristen surveyed the room, with its happy colors and bright, interesting appearance. She admired the swinging bed, chairs, and night table. She made sure nothing could go wrong in here. With a final spray of her Febreeze, Kristen smiled softly and said but one word.
"Paradise."