User blog:SodaCat/Bullworth Nights: Chapter 5

aaaaaaaaaaand heres chapter 5 B) three cheers for derby harrington appearance yay!

Piper Harrington let out a sigh as she allowed herself to slump down onto Bif's bed in Harrington House. She had spent the majority of the day showing her new dorm mate, Alexis, around the school, but as soon as they stepped into the Auto Shop, one of the greasers had interfered.

He had swept in and relieved her of Alexis, telling her that he'd "handle it from here". She'd been apprehensive at first, but Alexis recognized the boy with his senseless hairstyle and scruffy coffee-colored leather jacket, and besides, he seemed more hostile than perverted, so Piper had just gone along with it.

More time to spend with Bif, anyway.

Except Bif was nowhere to be seen. So there she lay, alone, missing him as she did whenever he was absent.

She turned onto her side, admiring the gorgeous engravings of flowers and other designs made in the canopy bed, including her favorite homemade one on one of the wooden stands; B.T. & P.H.

Piper stretched her arms around her, exhaling in content at the feel of the maroon Italian rayon comforter beneath her. She permitted her mind to wander to her and Bif's life, once they were finished with Bullworth and Harrington House and the Prep clique, and moved on to their own life as a married couple.

Would they use Italian rayon too? Or silk? She shook her head at the thought, imagining a silk comforter and deciding it would be too tacky. More importantly, would he rather use a Ralph Lauren one, or would he be okay with her personal favorite, Vera Wang?

Married life merely held too many decisions. They'd have to start making choices right away if they wanted any free time as adults, she realized.

"No, Alfred, I already told you, I don't want Glenfarclas, I want Macallan. Macallan. With two 'L's. But not the one from—Oh, am I interrupting something?"

Piper sat up at the unmistakable voice of her cousin, Derby Harrington. He held a black RAZR to his shoulder as he leaned in the doorway of Bif's bedroom, giving Piper a knowing smirk.

"You're not interrupting anything," Piper countered, cross, "but I'd still greatly appreciate your departure."

He chuckled, placing a finger up as he held the cell phone back up to his ear. "You'll handle the rest, I presume? Excellent. Very well, Alfred."

He snapped the phone shut and replaced it into the pocket of his cream colored Aquaberry slacks before striding into the room and inspecting the engraving of the initials on Bif's bed.

"I never understood the point of writing in perfectly good furniture. Had I ever done that, Father would have beaten me."

"And that's because Uncle is a brute," Piper retorted, rolling her eyes and crossing her legs over the edge of Bif's bed.

God, why couldn't Derby just take a hint and leave?

"Such a burning example, aren't you?" Derby asked, shaking his head as he took a seat on the desk by the door, opposite Piper. "I take it Uncle has already found someone to marry you off to?"

Icing him with a cool gaze before turning to concentrate on her flawlessly manicured nails, Piper shrugged. "Not yet, but of course I'm hoping a spot will open to be your wife-to-be, dear cousin."

Derby chuckled, shaking his head. "Father only considers blood relatives, not adopted family. I'm afraid you're out of luck."

"And here I was, getting my hopes up."

"Are you sure that it was me who you were excited for?" Derby responded, staring at her square on before looking around Bif's room imposingly.

Following his gaze, Piper did her best to recompose her face from its concerned aspect to a cooler, more tranquil expression. Derby knew of her fondness of Bif, which wasn't exactly the best variable for Piper. She wanted to keep the whole ordeal a secret from Bif for the time being, until she could be sure to secure the spot of his fiancée, and up until now Derby had been pretty decent about not spilling about it.

But Piper knew that if at any moment Derby needed something from her, he wouldn't hesitate to resort to blackmail.

"Absolutely," she replied, searching his face, "who else would I be hoping for?"

"Well, I know a certain American boy who comes from a rather wealthy family, I believe his father owns a Californian vineyard…?"

Piper reddened, shaking her head, frantic to find something to change the subject to. "What is it exactly you're after, Derby?"

He shrugged, looking uninterested. "I suppose there's no use in wasting a trip. You see, the annual welcome party will take place September 31st, and, well, I expect you to assist me."

"What?"

"It's Harrington House, isn't it?" Derby replied, his voice flat, "And you are a Harrington, even if adopted. It is the Harrington House welcome party, therefore as a Harrington, you will be helping me with planning."

"Why don't you get Pinky to do it?" Piper demanded, irritated. Really, helping with the party wasn't anything she wasn't used to; her mother habitually had Piper help out with planning the summer parties as a sort of training for when she was married and had to do things herself, anyway. But still, she'd argue if only to spite Derby.

Derby instead raised an eyebrow at her, as if assessing the actual extent of her stupidity. "Pinky is a Gauthier, dear," he stood, dusting his already impeccable slacks off as he did so, "anyway, it's really not up for discussion. You will be handling the dessert catering."

Scoffing, Piper rolled her eyes. "Why exactly should I?" she demanded to Derby's retreating back as he was halfway out of the room.

He turned his head, looking at her through the open door. "You know, I heard that Bif's father knows of some fabulous dessert wines. Perhaps you could talk to Bif about the ordeal? Anyway, I've got other more significant matters to tend to. Ta-ta,"

She glared after him, cursing him under her breath before falling back onto the bed with a muffled thud.

Great, now not only was Bif held up with boxing training at the gym, but she'd also have to help Derby with his pointless celebration. How fair was that, anyway? Harrington House was a fraternity house, not a sorority.

She did, however, suppose there would be an upside to all of this. As an official coordinator, she would most likely be stuck with handling the invites as well; after all, her calligraphy was infinitely superior to Derby's. Maybe she could manage to invite Alexis, it wasn't as if there were a barrier between classes.

Of course there was the best part; her escort to the party would undoubtedly be Bif. Really, that was the part that thrilled her the most. He'd be dressed in a sleek and classy Calvin Klein suit, or maybe Aquaberry, or maybe she could convince him to purchase an Armani one.

As for her? She'd most likely wear something Vera Wang, or maybe she'd try one of those vintage Chanel ones. The possibilities were more or less infinite.

Piper extended her arms out over her head, smiling to herself. Yes, this would be a good thing, she decided.

She'd make sure of it.