by Kate Brian
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The doorbell rang again4'
"Babe! They're here!" Max shouted at the top of his lungs. Then she heard the telltale whooping, hollering, and hand slapping that came with every greeting of the boys as they arrived for photos.
Teagan sighed. Telling Max would just have to wait.
When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she could already hear the boys in the living room, cracking open a bottle of champagne and laughing. She was about to join them when the bell rang again and she headed for the foyer instead. Mrs. Natsui was just opening the door for Maya and Ashley, both clad in slick black raincoats, struggling under the weight of two huge suitcases with large red bows attached.
"Happy birthday!" they trilled on seeing Teagan.
Ashley's blond hair was pulled back in a bun and the loose front pieces were stuck to her forehead from the rain. She dropped the suitcase she was carrying and rushed forward for a gleeful hug, but Teagan took a step back.
"You're soaked!" she cried.
"Oh. Right. Sorry," Ashley said, stopping in her tracks. "But check out your presents!"
Maya ditched her umbrella in the stand by the door and held up one piece of luggage, shaking back her short black hair. "It's the Louis Vuitton you wanted!" she announced.
"And . . .was Ashley bent and opened the bag she had brought in.
Teagan's jaw dropped. The bag was jam-packed with every one of her favorite products--Aesop hair balm, JddF Lazartigue shampoo, Kiehl's lip balm and moisturizer, Bliss spa foot treatments, Chanel compacts, Bobbi Brown lip glosses, MAC eye shadow, and tons of other stuff.
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"We spent weeks gathering up all this," Maya said. "Not that shopping is much of a chore for us," she added with a grin.
"Yeah, really," Ashley added.
"Wow, you guys," Teagan said, stepping forward. "This is so -- his
Maya slipped off her coat and handed it to Mrs. Natsui. Ashley looked up and let out a gasp.
"What?" Teagan asked. "What's the matter?"
Ashley stood up and removed her own coat. "This is what's the matter!"
Teagan looked from one of her friends to the other and the color drained from her face. They were wearing the exact same green dress.
"You guys! Lindsee said you were going shopping!" Teagan wailed.
"I did!" they both said at the exact same time.
At that moment Lindsee strolled in without ringing the bell, lowering her umbrella. She took one look at the scene before her and cracked up laughing. Instantly Maya and Ashley launched into an argument. Teagan let out a groan, turned around, and stalked out of the room. Perfect. Now all anyone was going to talk about all night was Maya and Ashley's fashion faux pas and the two of them were going to be grumpy party poopers from here on out. Couldn't anything go right today?
"Why don't we get one of just the girls together?" Donnie the photographer suggested. He used his beefy hand to wave Max
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and his lacrosse buddies Marco Rosetti and Christian Alexi away from the fireplace.
More than happy to be released from standing straight in their penguin suits, the three guys grabbed one of several chilled bottles of champagne and slumped onto the couches around the parlor. Teagan stood arm to arm with Lindsee as Maya and Ashley gathered around them --Maya and Ashley, who were, as of now, definitely not talking to each other.
The green chiffon minidress in question had fluttery split sleeves and a gold, jewel-encrusted belt at the empire waist. It would have been pretty on, say, Rachel Bilson, but it made Ashley look pregnant and it made Maya look short. What either of them had been thinking, Teagan had no idea.
"I don't understand," Lindsee said through her smile as Donnie snapped away, creating hundreds of floating purple dots with his flash. "I thought you were both going shopping today."
"I did," Maya said, shooting Ashley an irritated look. It was then that Teagan noticed that Maya had worn a pair of green contacts over her normally brown eyes. Not only did they match the dress, they looked stunning against her coco brown skin. Girl knew how to accessorize. Maya's dad was African American and her mother was Latina. Thanks to her multicultural genes, Maya was pretty in an exotic, pixieish sort of way. Teagan often thought that if Maya had just gotten her father's height instead of her mom's petite frame, she would be in the running against Lindsee for best looking.
"So did I," Ashley added. She looked more put-together after having fixed her hair, but her brown lipstick and bronze blush were too dark for her porcelain skin. The girl had a round baby face and was constantly making the mistake of trying to look older by wearing too much makeup.
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"Smile, everyone!" Donnie directed.
Ashley ran her tongue over her teeth and grinned. She had just gotten her braces off the week before and had developed the unsavory habit of testing the smoothness of her teeth every five seconds. It drove Teagan up the wall.
"Wait a minute. So are you trying to tell me that you both went shopping and you both bought another identical dress?" Teagan asked, turning to her friends.
"I like it," Marco said, letting out a burp. "It's like having twins."
"Hang on. Need to change the film," Donnie said, staring down into his camera as he turned away.
Teagan noticed Donnie's tuxedo shirt was pulling out from the hem of his pants, unable to make the stretch over his Santa-like belly. God. Couldn't Formal Photography have sent her someone she wouldn't have been embarrassed to have hovering all night? This had been the only little creak in her otherwise humming sweet sixteen machine. Trent Michaels, the world-famous fashion photographer whom she had booked for the party, had canceled on her at the last minute because Vogue had given him an assignment in the Maldives. Where the hell were the Maldives, anyway? Why did a place she had never heard of take precedence over the most important party of her life? Now she was stuck with Roly-Poly Man, who, once they got to the party, was probably going to eat half the food himself. Teagan grimaced as he bent over, exposing a hairy white back, and decided to focus on the fashion faux pas she could fix.
"Well, one of you has to go home and change," she said, turning to her friends.
"Yeah. You can't spend this whole night with your bitch
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faces on," added Lindsee, who looked perfectly Grace Kelly in a silver beaded body-hugging sheath. "This is Teagan's night. Everyone has to have fun."
Maya and Ashley looked at each other and sighed. "Fine. But who has to change?" Maya asked.
How about both of you? Teagan thought. "Well, maybe
Ashley should was After all, it was far better to look short than preggers.
"Omigod! You think I look fat, don't you?" Ashley blurted, her brown eyes welling with tears.
"No! Of course not," Teagan said, not wanting to make the situation any worse. The last thing she needed was to deal with a breakdown. "To be honest, it's really not that flattering on either of you."
The boys all cracked up laughing. Maya let out an offended wail.
"Fine! If that's the way you feel about it," Maya said, grabbing her purse. "Maybe we should both go."
"Maybe," Lindsee said with a shrug.
Now it was Ashley's turn to gasp. "I'm outta here."
"Me too," Maya said.
Together they both stalked out of the room, grabbing their umbrellas and jackets. It took a full minute for them to decide who was going to get to storm out first. In the end they opened both the double doors and walked out together into the darkness, their twin umbrellas opening in unison.
"Think they'll come to the party?" Teagan asked.
"Who cares?" Lindsee said, letting her shoulders slump, like she was just so exhausted by their antics. "At least we'll be there."
"True," Teagan said.
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"Okay, why don't you two ladies get together?" Donnie suggested, happily oblivious to all the drama.
Teagan stepped up next to her best friend and they embraced, hug
ging tightly as they often did for pictures. They hammed it up for the camera, doing some model poses and throwing out some sexy pouts. All the while Teagan watched Max watching them and she could tell he was getting turned on. Just thinking about him getting turned on turned her on.
God, he was hot. Sometimes she still couldn't believe he was her boyfriend.
"I'm definitely going to do it tonight," Teagan whispered to Lindsee. "Tonight is the night Max and I have sex."
Lindsee stood up straight and they both stared across the room at Max as Donnie snapped away.
Poor guy had no idea what was going to hit him.
"Okay! That's it!" Donnie said finally. "We're done."
Max checked his watch. "We should get going, princess," he said, taking a swig right out of the champagne bottle. "Your chariot awaits."
As everyone grabbed their things in the foyer, their voices echoed off the high ceiling, giving Teagan the sensation that the party had already started. She slid her arms into the sleeves of her shimmery gunmetal Donna Karan evening coat and smiled. She could not wait to get to the country club and make her entrance. Everyone would be scrambling for photos, clamoring to talk to the birthday girl, asking her for dances. Her night in the spotlight was finally here.
As Max opened the door, the phone started to ring. Teagan let out a groan.
"That might be one of the vendors. They're always forgetting to call my cell," Teagan said, hustling for the kitchen
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phone as fast as her stiletto-heeled Jimmy Choos would carry her. By the time she got there, the answering machine had already picked up.
"Teagan? It's your father."
Little late in the day for my birthday call, isn't it, Dad? Teagan thought, tensing up at the sound of his voice. "Are you there? I've been trying your cell all day."
Teagan turned on her heel and strode back out of the room, closing her ears to whatever he had to say. Trying her cell all day? Yeah, right. Then why didn't she have any messages or missed calls? One of these days her father was going to have to realize that modern technology was making it a lot more difficult to be a liar.
"Gentlemen, I am officially hammered," Christian said, slumping back on the wide leather seat in the white Hummer stretch Teagan had commissioned. He leaned sideways into Lindsee, who did not look pleased. Christian's normally curly red hair had been slicked back from his face, which brought out his freckles and made him look even more like a gradeschooler than he already did.
"You can't get hammered off champagne, bro," Max told him, grabbing the bottle out of his hands. "What kind of lightweight are you?"
Christian leaned forward. "Lightweight this," he said. Then he let out the loudest, longest belch Teagan had ever heard.
Predictably, the guys all cracked up laughing. Marco leaned
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forward to slap hands with Christian and slid off the seat, hitting the floor with a bump. Teagan rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Could these people be any more immature?
Raindrops slid down the tinted window and raced sideways toward the back of the stretch, pushed by the forward motion. Teagan picked at her nails and focused on one specific drop, watching it wend its way from the top corner of the window all the way to the opposite corner on the bottom. She couldn't believe that her father had waited until almost eight o'clock to call her on her birthday. Well, actually, she could. Part of her was surprised that he had bothered at all. He probably thought that leaving her that gift this morning was enough. Get Kevin to send her something and he wouldn't have to bother to call. Totally typical.
He probably wouldn't even show up to the party tonight. Clearly he couldn't give a crap that it was her birthday. Maybe he'd have Kevin send a clown instead. As clueless as her father was, he'd probably think that was appropriate.
As the boys initiated a belching contest around her, Teagan tried to stop thinking about her father and focused instead on the party. She imagined all the people already gathered at the country club, chatting and milling about, sipping their drinks. At that very moment all her friends and their families were admiring the flowers and crystal and china, marveling at Teagan's exquisite taste, at the expense that had clearly been put in. She knew they were talking about her imminent arrival, wondering what she would be wearing, rapt with anticipation. In less than ten minutes she would be making her grand entrance. The moment she had been waiting for all year was about to happen.
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So why did Teagan feel oddly devoid of any emotion?
"You nervous?" Lindsee asked her, noticing the space-out.
"No. I know everything's going to be perfect," Teagan said.
"Better be or you'll sue their asses, right?" Lindsee said.
The car went over a bump and the guys all bounced dramatically out of their seats, laughing and falling all over each other. Lindsee and Teagan rolled their eyes. Sometimes it was next to impossible to distinguish one of these guys from the other.
"Oh, man!" Christian said, sitting up and wiping champagne off his face. "One of you ladies got a mirror?"
Lindsee dug in her bag and handed over a compact. Christian checked his reflection and smoothed back a wayward curl, then checked his reflection from every angle, raising one eyebrow, then the other.
"Why couldn't I have been born rich instead of good looking?" he said with a sigh. Then he grinned. "Wait a minute! I'm both!"
"Dude, you lifted that joke off my grandfather. Get a life," Max said, grabbing the compact back and handing it to Lindsee, who snorted a laugh.
"You're hanging out with Max's grandparents now?" Teagan asked, baffled.
"Maxwell Modell senior is a wise man, and I was honored to spend the day out on the links with him and Max last weekend," Christian said, adopting an uppity tone. "It is not my fault if his grandson and namesake does not appreciate his unique perspective."
"Unique? Yeah, right. The man still gets his rocks off playing pull my finger," Max said, huffing.
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"Ew!" Teagan and Lindsee cried in unison.
"Alexi wants to be old before his time when the rest of society would kill to be like us," Marco said. "Go figure."
"Whatever, Maxwell," Christian said, ignoring Marco. "You'll be singing another tune when Max the First leaves his entire fortune to me."
Max responded by giving Christian a dead leg with his fist, and suddenly all three boys had launched into a wrestling match on the far side of the limo. Lindsee squealed and got out of the way, plopping down next to Teagan.
"Why do we hang out with these losers?" Lindsee asked lightly.
"'Cuz there's no one else?" Teagan suggested, only half kidding.
"Seriously. S. Nice ice," Lindsee said, glancing at Teagan's new necklace.
"Thanks."
Teagan fingered the little heart Max had given her and smiled as he extricated himself from his friends and popped open their third bottle of champagne. It was a beautiful gift but nothing compared to the gift she was going to be giving him later. Her empty stomach grew queasy at the thought. Was it good queasy or bad queasy? Teagan couldn't tell.
"Cheer up, princess!" Max said, planting a wet kiss half on her mouth, half on her chin. "It's your birthday!"
"You're right," Teagan said.
She grabbed the champagne bottle out of his hand and leaned forward in her seat to avoid dripping any on her dress. She took a long, awkward chug and swallowed. If she was
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going to get wasted enough to be buck-naked with Max later tonight, she was going to have to start now. Like, right now.
"Happy birthday to me!" she said, lifting the bottle.
Her friends all cheered as she took another slug.
Yep. The more wasted, the better.
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Upcoming Sweet Sixteen Party
Transcript 2
Reporter: Melissa Bradshaw, Senior Editor, Rosewood Prep Sentinel
MB: Melissa Bradshaw here, back with Teagan Phillips, hoste
ss of what is sure to be one of the most-talked-about sweet sixteen parties of the year. Teagan, if we choose to cover your party, would you consent to having a staff- photographer- slash- reporter present?
TP: Who would it be?
MB: Well, probably me.
TP: Missy! Are you trying to snag yourself an invite? Because as I already mentioned, the entire senior class will be invited. Last time I checked, that includes you.
MB: I'm not trying to snag an invite. I'm simply trying to secure your permission for onsite coverage of the party so that we don't have to rely on the badly lit digital candids of your entourage, which, while they would undoubtedly be very revealing, would probably not be the best quality.
TP: Well, of course you can come to the party
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and of course you can' take as many pictures as you want.
MB: Gee, thanks.
TP: Are you feeling all right, Missy? You look a little red in the face. It's not very attractive, especially on a redhead like yourself. Girls like you really need to work harder to keep their emotions in check. It's doubly beneficial, actually. It will also help prevent premature age lines. And I saw your mom at the last school fund-raiser. You have some real genetic hurdles to overcome, you know? You should really start thinking about that.
MB: (clears throat) Thanks for your concern. Let's get back to the interview, shall we?
TP: Absolutely!
MB: Good. Now, will there be alcohol at this party?
TP: Of course! I've ordered several cases of Taittinger's because, well, as we all know, a party is not a party without a little bubbly. And there will also be an open bar stocking all the top-of-the-line brands. Only those over twenty-one will be served, obviously.
MB: Obviously, (sound of mutual laughter) And will there be a theme?
TP: Oh yes. This is the best part! It's going
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to be High Fashion. I toyed with the idea of doing an India theme-you know, Buddha, mendhi, and all that. But then I thought, India is just so over, you know?
MB: Yeah, I'm sure the people of India would be pleased to hear that.
TP: Right?
MB: So, High Fashion is your theme. Meaning . . . his
