“Attention, everyone,” I say in my fabulous hostess voice, “we’re all here. Some of us unexpectedly. But it’s fine. The more the merrier. Let the party begin!”
I catch a look from my spoiled-rotten son, Zach, whom I love dearly. Oh, of course he’s pouting. He wants me to put the spotlight on him too. He has a few of his mom’s tendencies, I’ll admit, but mostly he’s just like his father. I wink at Zach.
“And cheers to Zach and his beautiful fiancée, Celeste, the reason we’re all gathered here this weekend,” I say.
Zach smiles at me. “Thanks, Mom. This place is amazing, Dad. We’re so excited to get this weekend started. Cheers!” He clinks his glass on Celeste’s and grins. He has his father’s smile, small teeth, poor boy. I glance at my husband. For some reason Ryan isn’t smiling, not at all.
I hurry over to his side. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong,” he says. “Let’s show them all to their rooms. I could use a break. You know I didn’t want them here but agreed to go along with it, for you. And for Sunny, I mean the memories, you know. And now they’re here, and it will be fine. It’s overwhelming. I need a break.”
“Memories are great, but these are our long-lost friends, our college buddies,” I say. “You should be happy to reconnect.Come on. Cheer up. All your hard work on this house, and now you have a captive audience eager to explore every room. You need to stick around, take us on a tour.”
From the look on his face, I can tell he’s not buying what I’m selling. And that, despite his assurances, something is wrong with him. He’s off.
“I have a call to make, so why don’t you show your guests around?” he says before walking out of the kitchen. So rude. I see a few of the guests watching his departure. I paste on a smile. He’s acting like a baby. I mean, we’re all here now. The weekend has started. What could possibly be more important than getting our guests settled in? Fortunately, before they all arrived, we reviewed which room to put each guest in, so I can settle them in myself. Amelia is a surprise, but that’s what the pool house is for. To house people you don’t want under your own roof. Ha. She will not steal my thunder or ruin my event. That’s not going to happen.
I focus my attention back on Zach, my glorious son. His frown matches his father’s. He must have seen Ryan leave. So much for my perfect weekend.
10
Beth
As I expected, my room is elegant, with mid-century modern furniture in white and tan, and, hanging over the fireplace, framed black-and-white photos of a group of people lounging around a pool in the 1930s. The plaque on the wall readsFamous actress Miss Gloria Swanson and friends enjoying an afternoon at her mansion in Palm Springs.I try not to look at the pool for too long. Its shape is all too familiar. Out the window, I see the same pool in real life, glimmering in the sunshine.
I walk over and sit down on the huge California king bed, leaning back into the thick, white duvet. I wonder if they had anything terrible happen here or if it was all a fun hideaway for the Hollywood set. Now, it’s a fun hideaway for Roxy and Ryan, a place where Roxy can strut her stuff, quite literally, and have all of us around to admire her: her home, her things, her life. Just like back in the college days.
My roommate and best friend always had a way of putting Roxy and other girls like her in their place, though. I remember the day we met, during sorority rush our first few days on campus at SCU. I was hurrying out of a rush party in shame and almost ran into my roommate, who was smiling confidently, climbing the steps to the house.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked, tossing her long blond hair over her shoulder. She was stunning, with bright emerald-green eyes that seemed to know everything was going to be all right.
“I don’t belong here, doing this,” I’d said to my new roommate, holding back tears. I bit my lip.
“Come with me,” she said, taking my hand and pulling me out of the incoming sorority recruitment foot traffic and around the side of the Theta Gamma Mu sorority house. “OK, now I don’t like this attitude from you. We went over this last night in our room. Just because you’re here on a scholarship doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be in a sorority. This one, in fact, because it’s the best, and this is where I’ll be.”
I shook my head and wiped the tears from under my eyes. “But you should see, there are some mean girls inside that party. This one, Roxy, she’s a freshman, too, but she acts like she’s already a member. The look she gave me was…well, she made me feel awful. Like she was judging my outfit, my hair, my everything.”
“Oh, I’ve heard about Roxy Callahan,” she said. “She’s a top rushee, for sure. But the thing is, even though Roxy is a legacy, and she will likely be chapter president someday, she’s harmless.All that bluster, those looks she’s giving, you, it’s because she’s insecure. That’s all. Happy people don’t do that; only weak people do.”
“She didn’t strike me as weak,” I said, a smile coming to my face despite myself. “She looked quite powerful, the center of attention. Her blond hair perfectly blown out. And the jewelry? Wow.”
“It’s all an illusion,” Sunny said with confidence. “But we do need to create our own unique selling propositions. OK? I’m the cute girl from San Francisco who has a lot of recs and a certain mystique about who my parents are. Am I oftheSan Francisco Spencers? No, not really. They are cousins. But it gives me a little sparkle, you see?”
I nodded. “Sure. I’m Beth Harrison, scholarship student from Santa Clarita. That’s not sparkly at all,” I said.
“Wrong!” she said with a grin. “You are Mensa-level smart, and you were from a wealthy family, but when your parents divorced, your dad left with all the family money. He could reappear any minute and you’d be rich.”
“My parentsaredivorced,” I said.
“Perfect. Stories with a little truth add good sparkle power,” she said. “Let me handle spreading the Mensa and money rumor. That should quiet the Roxys of the world. Besides, if they want me as a Theta Gamma Mu pledge, they will take you too. We’re a package.”
“But we just met,” I said. “Why are you being so nice?”
“Because I like you, you’re my roommate, and I don’t likeRoxy either,” she said. “Now let’s get inside. I can’t wait to see Roxy’s face when we walk in together, and when I tell her you’re a brain and you’re my best friend.”
And she’d done that. She forced me back inside the party, held my hand as we marched right up to Roxy, and broke the news that we were BFFs.
“Well, that doesn’t make much sense, but fine,” Roxy said, her face a little flushed.
