Disco
"Are you serious, Constance? A fucking car wash? What is this, some prep movie you watched back at home? Perhaps 'Bring It On: Let's Make the Easton Fundraiser Suck'?" I looked over at Constance, and her lower lip was trembling tremendously. I turned to Noelle and saw a satisfied smirk across her face. I rolled my eyes. This was intense.
Noelle sighed. "Any better suggestions?" She looked around for any takers. "Anyone?"
We were currently brainstorming ideas for the fundraiser, and it wasn't going to well. Truthfully, I think everyone was scared of Noelle. When I was doing the fundraiser, everyone was eager and they kept pitching ideas in.
"Okay look, I think we should do something like a speakeasy or a 1920's theme. Make it secret and exclusive, but still a lot of people are invited. Kind of like Legacy?" suggested Tiffany.
Everyone nodded in agreement. It really did sound like a good idea. But then again, was it enough to raise a hundred million dollars?
Then it clicked.
"Maybe we should keep it secretive, and then make all the secretive stuff lead to the big fundraiser. Like the invites. Make them discreet, just like Legacy," I said while looking at Tiffany. "And then the people have to pay a fee to actually get in on the list, and then we can…" My mind was working crazy right now. All these ideas were bubbling inside my head.
Everyone was looking at me with rapt attention. "Oh! For the actual fundraiser, we can make it a weekend thing. The hotel will be open certain hours during the weekend, and they'll be, I don't know, a gambling night on Friday, and something else on Saturday and Sunday. And before that, people will have to pay money to get prizes. Like in order to be a contestant to win a day at the spa, they have to pay to enter. Plus, all the Alumni have stopped giving money to Easton, so it's a win-win situation for me. And, I'm assuming your parents are donating also?" I finished.
It was all quiet in the lobby when all of a sudden everyone started talking.
"Reed! That was awesome!" squealed London. "Maybe for the weekend idea, we could do a lingerie fashion show, and people will have to bid or something. And like, wow, that was a totally cool idea," she gushed out. I frowned at the idea of a lingerie fashion show; only London would think of that.
"Well Reed, I guess I'll have to give you credit on that one. It was great," said Noelle. Well, wasn't that something. Noelle wasn't one for compliments, and this meant a lot. I smiled at her.
"So, the weekend thing sound pretty good, but how are we going to invite everyone?" asked Tiffany. "The whole secret thing sounds cool too, but how?"
"Well, like Reed said, the invite should be non-clear. It should say something like 'Get on the list. 325 Lexington Avenue, New York: May 15th.' People should know the address is to a place, and the fundraiser will be on the fifteenth. And they have to pay a fee to get on the list. It will be passed around to everyone; not everyone has to know the fundraiser is for rebuilding Billings," explained Rose.
Huh. It really did sound like a good idea. Just hearing the words 'get on the list' sounded compelling.
"But, won't there be like a big scandal or something? The people will be like 'Oh, we spent all that money for Easton when we didn't even go to Easton ourselves?'" questioned Amberly. That blonde girl did have a point though.
"Maybe we can say we're giving 20% of the proceeds to cancer research. People dig that stuff," Portia suggested. She was furiously filing her nails away, not even paying attention to anything. We all shrugged; Portia was right also.
"But for the prizes leading to the actual fundraiser, how are we going to do that?" asked Astrid. She was unusually quiet today.
"Look, we can focus on the in between stuff for later. But first, we need a place and a time. Reed?" said Noelle as she was talking.
"Ok. I got the Plaza hotel open for April 11th, on a Saturday. Uh, Four Seasons is open on March 23rd, also on a Saturday. What else…oh, the Ritz is open on May 3rd, but it's on a Sunday. Finally, The Palace is open on April 27th." I looked at Noelle.
"That's it?"
I frowned. "Yeah. I called every hotel in New York, and they were all booked. I didn't know that we were going to do a weekend thing, but I'm sure we can work that out."
"What did you say about Four Seasons? What day was it open?"
I flipped through the massive piles of paper on my lap. "It's open on March 23rd, a Saturday. But I think they said something like Friday might be open also, so I told them to hold on to it."
Noelle nodded, deep in thought. "And what about the Palace?"
"They are open on April 27th, also a Saturday." I set my papers aside, waiting for the verdict. I highly doubted that we would be able to raise a hundred million dollars in three months.
"It's set then. The Palace. Call them; tell them we need it for that weekend no matter what. Every day, the doors open at 3 p.m., and the party starts. Also, if people want to stay in that hotel, some of the payments can go to us. Of course, we'll have to tell the hotel people, but it should be alright. We can go visit the Palace this weekend. Do have all this down, Reed?" Her eyes narrowed, and I furiously wrote everything down.
"The invites then. Make them secretive. We should make them formal. It will be through mail only. We need to get them done in one to two weeks time, and it shouldn't take any longer than that."
Noelle paused to think. "The Alumni are already giving us some money; apparently, they give Easton money about every month. So by the end of January, we should have a lot. Let's see…in order to get on the list, they'll have to pay a fee. Easton students will pay less. Like Reed said, we can have prizes in between, but they'll have to pay."
"Hold on. Maybe we should have mini parties, so we can get money that way too. We should have a masquerade ball here at Easton to kick things off, and then we can have it at different places. And for the invites; they shouldn't say anything at all. They should only say 'B' for Billings and an address to the party. And then at that party, they'll get a new clue to the actual fundraiser, and another address to another party. Of course, the purpose of this is to raise money."
We all gaped at Vienna. That was probably the smartest thing she had ever said.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "What? I'm somewhat capable of thinking…"
"Wow, I can't believe Vienna was able to dig through her shallow brain and find something good," commented Missy. Everyone turned and stared at Missy.
"Shut the hell up, Gateway to China," retorted London.
Missy scoffed. "Gateway to China? What?"
London smiled. "Your nostrils are so huge, I wouldn't be surprised to find Chinese exports coming through them." Missy immediately covered her nose with her hand, and everyone snickered.
Constance sighed. "Guys, come on."
I stifled my giggle that was threatening to come out. "Ok, so the invites only say 'B' on them, but I think we should say something like 'get on the list' somehow if we plan to get money. But, I think we need to get more publicity on this fundraiser in order to get a lot of money. We should say we're giving some of the money to cancer research," I said while I looked at Portia, "and we should get politicians, maybe some models from Kiran?"
Astrid smiled. "Sounds good."
"Wait. I think for the famous people, well the politicians really, we shouldn't make it so secretive with them. When the actual party starts then it can get all dirty, like how they are. But we need to get in their good graces first. So I think some people should handle the famous people differently, and the rest differently. I think we should also have different invites for the politicians too. As for the models, as long there is booze, they'll be fine," explained Constance.
Noelle leaned back in her chair. "Maybe watching Bring It On really did pay off." Constance turned beet red.
I groaned. "This is so confusing! Noelle?" I pleaded. I had no idea what to write, and although the ideas were great, they needed some serious organizing.
She ran her hand through her hair. "You got the time and place down?" I nodded. "Fine. There will be two invitations- one for the politicians and famous people, and the other for all those associated with Easton. The one for Easton will be all discreet, and the famous one won't. We'll need to talk to them- the politicians. For Easton, it'll be a different case overall."
"In order to get on the list-the actual part-everyone will need to pay thirty-five dollars, whereas all the kids at Easton only need to pay twenty.
"For Easton: there will be a kick off brunch for the older folks in two-three and a half weeks time. Later at night, there will be a ball at Easton for the younger kids. They'll need to pay in order to get in. For the brunch, they'll have to enter by buying a plate. The prices will be the same, due to the fact that the food is expensive and it'll be the same dish for everyone. We'll need to talk to one of the restaurants here first." I scribbled everything down, pausing only waiting for Noelle to start talking again.
"And for the prizes, we can do it all online. We can have game tickets, spa gift certificates, purses and clothes, electronics, whatever. All they have to do is give us the money, and we'll give it to them."
Kiki cleared her throat. "How are we going to get that stuff, not to mention the money?"
I frowned. "Yeah, isn't that a black market?" Everyone raised their eyebrows in agreement.
"Nope. Not if you talk to the people so they can give it to us. But all the prizes will run through them; maybe they can help us." I stopped my questioning there. We all knew Noelle was going to get her way somehow. Satisfied, Noelle continued.
"As for the famous people, I can just talk to my father. He knows everyone," she added. No doubt about that.
I looked around. "That's it for now?"
Noelle got up and straightened her clothing. "Yup." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and they all jumped up to leave. I looked at my cell phone and saw that dinner was about to start in twenty minutes.
"Guys, wait," Noelle started. Everyone's faces fell, realizing they would have to stay for another minute. "For the weekend thing…well, never mind. You guys look like you haven't eaten in ten days." All the girls left hurriedly, not wanting to stay for the meeting.
I sighed. This had been a long day. "So Noelle," I said while I gathered all the papers, "what are we going to do for the weekend ideas? Not only that, we have to talk to a shit load of people for the prizes, the brunch and the masquerade ball, not to mention the politicians. This is so crazy," I added.
She smiled warily. "Yes but that doesn't get to us now, does it?" I chuckled at her, and started to go up the stairs to put my things away.
I stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned back around. Noelle gave me a curious look. My heart was beating like crazy, and I thought I was going to dissolve into a pool of tears.
"Reed? Is everything alright?" I only looked at her, pure agony written on my face. Her lips were getting ready to form the question 'Why?' when we heard a loud laugh coming from the stairs.
Ivy and Josh finally came down after they were done making out at the top of the stairs. Josh's arm was wrapped around Ivy's small waist, and he was giving her small, sweet kisses on her neck, her cheek, and her lips as they descended the steps. Ivy was giggling and for a second, I just wanted to smack her.
How could he? Could he at least save that for later? Sure, maybe I had someone else waiting for me, but that didn't mean I was ready to face him that way. I wasn't ready to take in the kisses and the looks he gave her. It was going to take some time; after all, up until a few months ago, I thought those kisses were only reserved for me.
Ivy took notice of Noelle and I and she told Josh to stop. I swallowed. She had a slight guilty look on her face but upon seeing Noelle, she resumed looking cool and indifferent.
Josh looked at me, and his face softened. "Hey, Reed," he said quietly. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? Did he feel guilty for acting like a complete douche two hours ago? His face was a little red, probably due to the fact he was just making out with Ivy, not from shame.
Following Josh's footsteps, Ivy asked "How did the meeting go, Reed?" Josh's hand was securely tied around Ivy, and his eyes were fixed on me. They weren't accusing or judgmental, but I still wasn't sure what to think of it. I burned under his gaze.
Noelle stepped a little forward, keeping her distance from the two. She sneered at Josh and Ivy. "Are you finally done doing one centimeter man on top of the stairs, Ivy? It's sad how far you've fallen." Her eyes flickered at Josh and she smirked. God, why did Noelle have to say that?
Josh scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about, Lange." His eyes flickered and he peered through me. I knew that look. It was the look where Josh would ask me why I was hanging out with Noelle and the Billings girls. I internally groaned; I thought he was done by now?
Ivy smiled at Josh and looked at Noelle straight in the eye. "You and your fat ass can shut up." She faced me. "Reed, did you get anything finished? I'm sure you're having a hard time, keeping up with Miss Bitch right there." Noelle's jaw clenched.
I was about to answer when Noelle cut in. "Oh please, like you give a shit after the fact you were just making out with Josh when Reed is supposedly your friend."
I froze. Noelle just hit the spot right there, and it meant a lot to me; if not me, then the three of us. This comment hit home and I didn't like it. What was I supposed to say?
"Pity. You're telling me to watch what I'm doing when you can't even hold on to your dear Dash, who apparently doesn't love you as much as you'd like to think," Ivy shot back.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Fuck Ivy for bringing that up. Fuck Noelle for starting to argue in the first place. I couldn't get in the middle of this. Whatever happened with Dash was history, and Noelle was getting just cozy with him. Noelle loved him, I knew what Ivy just said hit the spot. I hadn't forgotten everything that happened; because of that one incident, many relationships were broken. I glanced at Josh and he turned a little white. Noelle was a deep shade of red, and I had a feeling a fight was going to break down. For once, she didn't have anything to say.
Ring! Ring!
Perfect; just what I needed. Everyone's attention went to me and I plucked my phone out of my purse. It was Upton.
Thank you, thank you Jesus!
"Upton! Hey, what's up?" I exclaimed with a lot more enthusiasm than I normally would have used. I was glad that Upton called, because I missed him. But this added a little touch of…something right now. I glanced at the people surrounding me. Noelle had a slight smirk on her face, Ivy's angry face was replaced by curiosity, and Josh's was…confused.
"Hello Reed. I can't help but say how happy I am to hear you," said Upton. His sexy British accent made me feel all fuzzy and I blushed. I totally forgot that people were in front of me.
I had to leave. Now.
"Well, you're not the only one," I flirted back. I quickly grabbed my papers and my purse, not bothering to look at anybody. I was heating up from embarrassment. Reed, what is the whole point of working out those legs if you can't get out of here in time?!
Having everything ready, I forced myself to walk forward and not look back. I did manage to get a glimpse of Josh though. He looked bewildered and crestfallen, as if he lost a very big game and it still hadn't caught up with him.
As I stepped out into the cold and listened to Upton's sexy voice, I couldn't help but chuckle darkly. If this was a game, then it hadn't even started. Not without my consent, at least.
hey guys, thanks for the reviews!
well, what do you think? i tried to make the fundraiser as real life as i could. plus, a car wash won't do anything. what do you guys think about the whole secret thing, and the not so secret part of the fundraiser? what about the weekend idea? online prizes? i wanted to thank privateFAN for giving me the suggestion for the ball. i was planning to do it during the weekend thing, but i got a few things up my sleeve :) i know it seems confusing, but they need the money fast. oh, and what about the date i choose? is it too far or too close to raise enough money by then? i was like "oh, i'm not sure about this," but that's why i need your feedback!
sorry for the long questions.
again, you know what to do. remember folks, click the green button that says review...lol you know how much i love them :)
