by M L Sparrow
In the bedroom Lorraine had given them, Chloe sat on the luxurious double bed whilst Parker showered in the ensuite, steam curling out from beneath the door. She was already dressed for dinner, had dried her hair and even put on a little makeup, whilst Parker had been busy talking football with Riley’s dad.
Most of what they’d been talking about was gibberish to her – she’d watched half-a-dozen games by now, but she still had no clue what was going on most of the time. Thankfully, Parker found it cute instead of annoying.
When he came out of the shower, a white towel wrapped around his waist, she watched him for a few minutes as he went about getting ready. Once he had pulled on his jeans and a shirt, covering up the most distracting parts of his body, she said, “You need to clue me in about what Thanksgiving is all about.”
Grinning as he rubbed his hair with the towel, he answered, “It’s just about being thankful for the harvest.”
“So, it’s like the harvest festival?”
Shrugging, he dropped the towel over the bedpost and sat on the edge of the mattress to put his socks and shoes on, “Kinda, I guess.”
Satisfied with that answer, she bounced off the bed, announcing, “I’m actually really looking forward to tomorrow night.”
Despite having apparently promised Terri that they would keep the celebrations low-key, her parents had arranged a party tomorrow evening after the official family Thanksgiving dinner. Terri had not been happy to hear the news and Chloe had overheard her arguing with her mum while the rest of them were in the living room. She’d tried not to listen, but it was kind of hard not to… Terri’s voice carried quite a way when she was mad.
“Yeah,” Parker didn’t sound too enthusiastic, “it sounds fun.”
“Don’t be a grump,” she admonished, digging around in his duffel bag for her shoes, “Troy said some of his football friends are coming, this could be a good opportunity for you to make some connections that might help you later on.”
He sighed, “I know, but I don’t know how to talk to these people.”
“They’re just normal people,” she reminded him, rounding the bed to sit beside him, one hand resting on his thigh, “and I’m pretty sure you could talk sports to anyone.”
“Lorraine wants me to wear a suit.”
Looking at him, she couldn’t hold in her burst of laughter. “Are you actually pouting? I thought only girls and small children did that! Where are you going to get a suit from anyway?”
“She said she’d hook me and Jet up. And I don’t know what’s so funny, you gotta wear a dress.”
That sobered her up instantly. “What?”
Smirking, he stood up and offered her a hand to pull her up beside him. “Yep. There’s no getting out of it.”
“Damn,” she muttered as he led her over to the door.
“Now who’s pouting?”
Dinner was delicious, though the atmosphere was a little awkward. Clearly Terri was still annoyed, while her mum seemed totally oblivious and Riley was acting hangover. Or maybe she was ill; she kept sniffing like she had the beginning of a cold and her eyes were red-rimmed. Withdrawal was another option, but surely she hadn’t been taking enough for that…
She was like it the next day too. Chloe wasn’t worried to begin with, but when she found her friend in the hallway clutching her stomach, she rushed over, her heart racing.
“Riley, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” she insisted, brushing her off when she tried to help.
“You’re clearly not fine. Riley, you’re almost doubled over.”
“It’s just cramps; it’s that time of the month.”
“We share a room and a bathroom, I think we both know you’re not on your period.” A pause as Chloe’s mind raced with possibilities. “Oh God, you’re not pregnant, are you?”
Riley’s head snapped up and she glared at her. “Of course not!”
Holding up her hands defensively, she muttered, “Sorry, sorry, just checking.”
“I probably just ate something that didn’t agree with me. Bad chicken, maybe.”
“Okay,” Chloe agreed dubiously. “There’s still a few hours until dinner, why don’t you go lie down for a bit?”
“I thought you needed me to find you a dress?”
“I’ll ask Terri. You go, I’ll wake you up for dinner.”
“Thanks,” she yawned, “I’m actually really tired.”
Watching her hobble away, down the hall to her room at the end, Chloe twisted her hands together anxiously; something definitely wasn’t right with her. Once Riley was gone, she turned and headed towards Terri’s room, which was at the opposite end of the long hall. The two sisters couldn’t possibly be any further away from each other.
Honestly, she didn’t really understand their aversion to each other. Having so many years between them, she and Jack had never really gone through the love-hate stage. Sure, they’d had arguments, but nothing that had ever lasted for more than a few hours.
Knocking on Terri’s door, she heard footsteps and a moment later, the door swung open. Wearing denim shorts and a baggy t-shirt tucked in at the front, Terri stood in the doorway. “Hey, you okay?” she greeted.
“Yeah, I was just wondering if you had a dress I could borrow for tonight?”
“That stupid party,” Terri muttered, rolling her eyes and stepping back, gesturing for Chloe to follow her into the room. “This is why I don’t come home much.”
Going over to the walk in wardrobe, she opened the doors and stepped inside, rummaging through the clothes inside and Chloe took the opportunity to look around. Unlike Riley’s room, where the bright pink walls were plastered with posters of boy-bands, gymnasts and cute baby animals, Terri’s room was painted a light blue, the only decoration being a strong, but elegant tribal pattern down the wall next to the window. Instead of a vanity, she had a desk and, weirdly enough, an umbrella stand was by the door, with several baseball bats sticking out of it.
“Here,” Terri stepped out of the wardrobe with a hanger in each hand, “red or blue?”
“Red, please,” she reached for the floor length, halter neck gown, “it’s Parker’s favourite.”
Smirking, Terri chucked the other one carelessly onto the bed. “Of course it is, red’s the colour of passion and he can’t keep his hands off you.”
Chloe grinned, “Plus it’s the teams’ colour, so that probably helps.”
Laughing, Terri pointed out what she assumed was the bathroom and ordered, “Go make sure it fits.”
In the spacious ensuite, Chloe wriggled into the red gown, sweating with the effort. Just like with borrowing Riley’s clothes, the problem was that the twins were at least a size smaller than her, probably more. She couldn’t fit the damn thing over her hips and, unlike Riley’s party dresses, this fabric had no stretch.
“Damn,” she muttered, bracing her hands on either side of the sink and staring at her reflection.
Hot and red cheeked, she gave the dress another tug, got nowhere and yanked it off. Tossing it onto the floor in a heap of silky red material, which stood out bright and vibrant against the white tiles, she glared down at it as if it were the dresses fault for being too small.
“You all right in there?” Terri called.
“It’s too small,” she yelled back, pulling her own clothes back on, irrationally irritated.
“That’s okay, my mom has connections, she can get you something.”
Scraping her hair into a ponytail, so that it wasn’t sticking to the back of her neck, she huffed at her reflection before leaving the bathroom.
Going downstairs, they found Lorraine fussing around in the dining room, checking that everything was set up to her specification, whilst directing people armed with decorations. It was like Piccadilly Circus in here, Chloe thought as she skirted around a man carrying an arm full of flowers and almost banged into a woman with a box of champagne flutes.
“Sorry,” she apologized, as Ter
ri weaved around people and started talking to her mum, who was dressed to the nines and looking absolutely gorgeous in tight white jean, pink stilettoes and a silky pink top. Chloe had never realized Thanksgiving was such a bug deal.
“Of course!” Lorraine exclaimed, “I’ll ring Frank right away.”
“Who’s Frank?” Chloe asked Terri as they both watched her mum teetering off in her heels.
“He runs a fashion boutique in town, very high class stuff. He worked with Mom when she was still modelling and he still sends her clothes once and a while.”
“He just gives them too her?”
“Yeah. It’s like advertising; people see her wearing his clothes and they want to wear them too, so he makes back his money.”
“Oh,” she nodded in understanding. That made sense, but… “Why would he lend me a dress?” A sudden thought. “I can’t afford to pay for it.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure he owes her a few favours.” Clapping her on the shoulder as she walked past, Terri said, “Come on, there’s a Big Bang marathon on TV.”
It didn’t take long for the dress to come. In fact, the doorbell rang within an hour and a few minutes later Lorraine wafted into the room on a puff of flowery perfume, carry a white dress bag folded over one arm.
“Here it is,” she gushed, handing it over and waving one long fingered, manicured hand towards the stairs, “quick, go try it on.” Chloe took a step towards the door, but a sudden, uplifted hand stopped her. “Oh, and something else…”
Spinning around, Lorraine strode back out of the room, her heels clicking smartly against the laminate floor. Confused, Chloe and Terri shared a glance. A minute later, she appeared with a white shoe box in hand.
“Frank brought these along too, he said they go perfectly with the dress.”
Peeking inside the box, she gasped, slipping her hand inside to feel the rhinestones decorating the toe straps of the pretty silver shoes. And thank God the heels weren’t too high.
“They’re beautiful,” she breathed, “thank you so much.”
“It’s my pleasure and Frank’s coming tonight, so he’ll be able to see how stunning you look in his creation.”
“That’s good, I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t get chance to thank him properly.”
“Better go check it fits,” Terri put in, “Mom guessed your size, but she’d normally right about stuff like that.”
Smiling, she thanked Lorraine again and got pulled into a quick, tight hug, before heading upstairs. Parker was watching football with the twin’s dad, so she had the room to herself. Laying the dress out on the bed, she carefully unzipped its white jacket and stared down at the gorgeous material.
Praying that it fit, she stripped out of her clothes and eased the dress over her head, the material rusting as it fell to the floor, brushing against her legs. It was a different style to Terri’s dress and she had to admit it probably suited her shape better, but it was still that beautiful, passionate red, deep and sexy. With a corseted top, it accentuated the curve of her waist and pushed up her breasts, and the skirt fell down in layers like a waterfall, a long slit up the right side showing flashes of her leg as she moved.
She felt like a Princess, or at least as if she were going to prom.
Thanksgiving dinner was amazing, though it was pretty much the same as Christmas dinner – turkey, potatoes, stuffing, veg – except for the Jell-O Salad. That was weird, she had to admit; it had a strange texture that she wasn’t sure she liked, but the others seemed to love the stuff.
The only person who didn’t gorge themselves on dinner was Riley. Even though she came down to eat, she just picked at her food, pushing it around her plate while staring listlessly at the table, her face deathly white. At the end of dinner, she excused herself. Using the table to push herself up, she left the room, wobbling unsteadily.
“Baby, are you all right?” her mum asked.
“Fine, fine,” Riley muttered weakly as she reached the door, pulling it open and slipping out into the hall.
“I’m going to go with her,” Lorraine said, placing her napkin on the table and standing up, “don’t worry about clearing away, the staff will do it so we can get ready. Chloe, I’ll move your stuff into Terri’s room, so you girls can get ready together. The party starts at eight sharp.” At the door, she paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned to look at her husband, “Oh, honey, if the band comes before I’m ready tell them to set up in the living room, beside the bar.”
“Will do,” he answered, helping himself to another slice of pumpkin pie.
Next to her, Parker was tucking into what had to be his third slice. Bumping her shoulder against his, Chloe warned, “Eat much more and you won’t be able to fit into your suit.”
“Will you still love me if I lose my hot bod?” he smirked.
“Who says you have a hot bod?” she countered, poking him in the side. “You’ve got some love handles going on here.” A total lie, but she liked teasing him.
That made him smile, one side of his mouth curving up higher than the other. “I guess I should get in more hours at the gym.”
“No, you spend enough time in the gym as it is.”
“You can’t have it both ways, sugar,” he drawled, spearing another bite of pie and shovelling it into his mouth.
Leaning over, she kissed his cheek. “I love you, flab and all.”
Once they were finished, everyone went upstairs to their rooms to get ready. Bypassing Terri’s room, Chloe walked up to Riley’s and knocked. When no answer was forthcoming, she cracked open the door and poked her head inside.
Music was blaring from the speakers and all the lights were on, including the fairy lights strung around the four-poster bed, which looked like it had been jumped on. Either that, or she’d been having sex.
“Riley, you in here?” she called, stepping inside and bending down to pick up a cuddly toy that was on the floor, walking over to put it back on the bed with the others.
“Bathroom,” came the yelled response.
Frowning, Chloe walked over to the ensuite and stood in the doorway, her eyebrows shooting up at the sight of Riley wearing lacy black underwear, one foot up on the toilet as she shaved her legs.
“Hiya!” Riley grinned, waving at her with the razor and flicking foam everywhere in the process.
“Err… Hi?” she lifted her hand in a half-wave.
Less than an hour ago, Riley had looked like she was dying and now she was bouncing around to the music, eyes bright and alive, smile big. Looking closer, Chloe realized her pupils were humongous.
“I took some aspirin and now I feel great!” she exclaimed, an excitable lift to her voice. “Tonight is going to be epic. I love getting all dressed up.”
“Yeah, I noticed. I should probably go too,” she said warily, backing away.
It was one thing to dabble with weed, but quite another if she was into the hard-core stuff, like Chloe was beginning to suspect. She never would have pinned Riley as someone who took drugs and the idea didn’t sit right with her; she didn’t know what to say, or what to do. She might be wrong though and she couldn’t just accuse her friend of doing something illegal, not without any evidence.
Retreating from the room, she padded back down the hall, knocked on Terri’s door before entering. Wearing boy-boxers and a vest, Terri was sitting cross legged on the bed playing a video game.
“Aren’t you getting ready?” Chloe asked.
“I will in a bit, it won’t take me long.”
“Oh, okay. Can I ask you something about Riley? Do you think she’s okay?”
Pausing her game, Terri shifted to face her, answering carefully, “I think she’s struggling. I take it you know about the whole gymnastics thing?”
“A little.”
“It must be hard for her, I get that, but Riley’s always been a drama queen and everything always gets blown out of proportion.”
“But aren’t you concerned about the way she’s acting?
I’m not sure, but… I think… I think she might be on drugs.”
“You mean the weed?”
“Maybe, but I’m worried it might be something stronger.”
Biting her lip, Terri stared down at the bed, thinking for a minute before saying, “I’ll try to talk to her tonight but it probably won’t go down well. Christmas break is coming up though, at least that’ll get her away from Joey for a bit. He’s nothing but bad news.”
“I second that,” she murmured, reassured now that she had Terri onside. Cowardly as it sounded, it was a relief to be able to hand off the responsibility to Riley’s sister, someone who had the authority to butt into her life. “I’m going to start getting ready.”
An hour or so later, she’d showered, dried and curled her hair, painted her nails and put on a touch of make-up. Having just pulled on her dress, which had a helpful little zip down the side, though it appeared to lace up the back, Chloe sat on the bed to slip on her shoes and glanced over at Terri, who had only just come out of the shower.
Chloe had always prided herself on the fact that it took her less time than the average girl to get ready, but it seemed Terri had one-upped her in that department.
Standing in front of the mirror attached to the wardrobe door, Terri used the blow-dryer on her short hair, before finger combing it into place, applying some mascara and lip-gloss, and stepping into her dress. A simple, royal blue peice that ended just below her knees, it suited her perfectly.
Coupling it with a pair of ballerina pumps instead of heels, she announced, “Ready.”
“Should we go check on Riley?”
“Probably,” she answered with a heavy, put upon sigh.
Standing, she joined Terri by the door, proud that she didn’t wobble in her new heels and together they headed towards Riley’s room, only to find it empty.
“I guess she’s already downstairs,” Terri shrugged. As they approached the stairway, she commented, “Some people must have come early, I can hear voices.”
