Chapter
Twenty-nine
Party
Planning
That night, the night of the pre-summer
pool party, Shiloh repeated the story to Paige as their younger sisters ran up
and down the stairs throwing popcorn at each other, supposedly getting ready in
the process.
Shiloh was trying a new look and thread
hundreds of little diamantes into Paige’s dark curls, draping some behind her
ear to one side. The light offset the dark perfectly. Their skirts were hot
pink and baby blue but they suited the girls more than they knew. Paige looked
amazing, so did Shiloh. Neither knew it as they were not wild about their
designated ‘cheerleader’ costumes but the invite said: cheerleaders, jocks and beachpartybongo. It had to be fun,
right?
Rebel
and Sia, who had finished arguing about dessert and flinging their shattered
meringues through the hall, stood in awe of their older sisters as they stood in
the doorway.
“I wish we could come,” Rebel said.
“Well, you can’t, the party is just for
juniors and seniors.”
“I never get invited anywhere
interesting,” Sia complained.
“Well, when you are as old as us, I’m sure
you’ll be invited everywhere,” Paige assured her.
“Oh, please,” Rebel said, “I am so over
being a freshman. Do you know any movie stars who even finished high school?”
Paige and Shiloh looked at each other and
smiled, “Plenty,” they said in unison.
That night, their father offered to drive them
to the Bingley mansion.
“I insist, girls, and… put on your coats.
It’s cold out.” The girls giggled.
Mr Bennet wanted to have a word with his
oldest sisters. Paige sat up front with her father. They’d always had a good
relationship and could talk about everything, especially things her mother and
younger sisters were rarely interested in discussing. Topics such as politics
and current news affairs and the economic crisis were all things that Paige and
Mr Bennet had discussed on their frequent drives to school.
Shiloh turned some music on as Mr Bennet
made sure both his girls had cab fare home, “just in case.”
Paige thanked her father, she knew extra
money was scarce and Mr Bennet had to take a second mortgage on the house. Mrs
Bennet had to work longer hours. Yet both of their parents were always so
generous with what they had.
“You both look so lovely tonight. I am so
proud of my girls.” He turned to Paige, “I’m worried about Rebel though and Sia
just follows everything she does. They are such frivolous girls…”
“What do you mean Dad?”
“Well, your mom, whom I adore, seems to
think it’s okay for the girls to get into this music business and I’m worried
about how shallow Rebel and Sia are already.”
“Oh mom isn’t taking them to the Maximum
Sound casting call at century city, is she?”
There had been casting agents stalking the
school halls looking for freshman to star as dancers for some new music channel.
“Yes, don’t you agree it’s a bad idea?”
Mr Bennet was pulling into Sunrise Drive at
that moment. The entire road was lit up with fairy lights and the Bingley
mansion looked like a palace of light in the dark.
“Yes, but… Wow,” Shiloh said. Paige and her
father just stared.
Paige turned to her Dad, “Um, yes, I do
think it’s a bad idea because both of my youngest sisters are a nightmare. But
I’ll ask Rys to keep an eye on them. He’s my debate partner and his mom is the
casting agent for that music show. I think he’s going to be at the auditions
too.”
“Well, they won’t listen to me and your
mother seems to think I’m holding them back… so, I’d never want to stop them
having fun.”
“Don’t worry dad,” Shiloh said, “Paige will
sort everything out.”
“Do you want me to walk you to the door?”
Shiloh and Paige laughed.
“It’s not the nineteenth century, Dad.”
“You never stop worrying about your
children.”
“Thanks Dad,” Shiloh and Paige smiled in
unison as their dad drove off.
