Hometown Happenings: The Engagement Party (Lana)

"Have you finally started licking pussy, Reggie?"

"I go by Regis these days, my dear Lana. Reggie is a childish name," the blond-haired, blue-eyed twenty-two-year-old responded to the year younger woman.

A gorgeous young woman, she had long, wavy ginger red hair, light green eyes, large breasts, and a curvy ass. With that fantastic figure poured into a scarlet red dress, Regis Laffont's mouth watered in anticipation. He'd long waited to get a taste of the redheaded beauty.

"Well, Reggie, to answer your previous question: No, I'm not interested in sneaking off with you," Lana Stratton stated. "If I'm going to blow a guy, then I expect him to return the favor. And based on how you avoided the answer, I'm going to guess that you're still selfish."

"I can assure you that my other skills will more than satisfy you, Lana."

"Not based on the talk that I've heard."

"Ah, nothing but the words of jealous individuals," Regis scoffed with a dismissive wave of the hand. "They fear what our union might bring. The scions of the two largest law firms in town. We could be the ultimate power couple."

"Hey," Lana called out with a snap of her fingers toward the bartender. Eager to please the ravishing redhead, the male bartender hurried over. "When did The Copper Lantern start stocking absinthe?"

"We don't carry it, miss."

"Geez, Reggie, what's causing your hallucinations? ****?" Lana questioned, still looking at the bartender while jerking her thumb at Regis.

"Very funny. I'm not on any ****."

"****?! Is Reggie Laffont selling ****?" A new voice loudly asked from behind him.

Spinning around, Reggie's nose twitched in disgust at the young woman in a partially transparent white dress. With her dark brown hair, brown eyes, medium-to-large breasts, and curvy ass, the young woman had an aura of seductive trouble radiating off of her. An aura that Regis knew led to a poor reputation.

"No, I am not selling ****, Poppy!" he hissed. "And would you lower your voice?"

"No! I will not take one of those pills, Regis Laffont!" Poppy shrieked with a playful wink. "What kind of a girl do you think I am?"

"Damn you, Dufor!" Reggie growled, dropping his cultured-man act. "If my family hears about this nonsense, I'll make you pay."

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Poppy Dufor mocked, waving both sets of fingers at him.

Scanning the watching crowd, Reggie abruptly turned away from the brunette to face Lana again. Forcing a smile on his face, he remarked, "When you finally grow up and want to associate with a better class of people, Lana, look me up. Maybe I'll still be interested."

"How about you call me the day you grow some manners, humility, and a bigger cock," Lana said, earning a frown from her target.

Walking away, Regis muttered comments about his dick size being perfectly fine.

"Hey, I'm related to the Wynwicks, ya know," Poppy said to Reggie's back as he walked away. "Wait, are they a better class of people?" she asked out loud to those around her.

"No, they're not. And you're not really related to them," Lana responded, causing a horrified gasp from her friend.

"I am so related! Fletcher is my little brother."

"Stepbrother," Lana replied, rolling her eyes.

"He's still my brother."

CLAP CLAP CLAP

The two beauties turned to see a familiar face leaning against the bar about fifteen feet behind Lana.

"I see you still have that sharp tongue, Stratton," the dark-haired man remarked.

"Marco!" Poppy squealed, racing over to hug Marco Franco. A former classmate, he graduated a year before the girls and disappeared. "Where the fuck have you been?"

"College. Getting far away from assholes like Laffont," he replied, breaking the hug from Poppy to wrap his arms around Lana.

"You know, my tongue also has other skills," Lana suggestively said to her former lover. "Care for a reminder?"

"Sorry, Lana, I'm taken," Marco responded, nodding to a cute blonde that stood behind him. She flashed a sparkling ring on her finger. "We got engaged last week."

"Whoa! Let me see that thing!" Poppy exclaimed, rushing past Marco. She immediately proceeded to ooh and ah over the diamond ring.

"Yep, I'm that Lana," the redhead remarked after introductions had been made. She'd seen the flash of recognition on the blonde's face at her name and the quick look over at Marco in curiosity. "And you're welcome," she added with a wink.

"Ah, yeah, I might have mentioned that you taught me a trick or two," the young man blushed. To anyone, it appeared obvious that Marco didn't want to talk further on the subject, but Lana blew right past that.

"If you want, I'd be happy to demonstrate a few new skills as congratulations for your engagement," the sultry ginger suggested, looking the cute blonde up and down.

"Hey, what about me?" Poppy cried.

"Uh, thanks, but we don't do that type of stuff, Lana," Marco responded. His blushing fiancée turned bright red in embarrassment at the threesome offer.

An awkward conversation followed for the next five minutes. Finally, Marco saw another old classmate and made his apologies. Walking away, Lana and Poppy could hear the blonde apologizing to her fiancé for not believing him about a subject matter.

"I told you that people in my hometown get crazy when it comes to sex," Marco responded. "And that was nothing."

---

An upscale pub and restaurant, The Copper Lantern did good business throughout the year. During the week between Christmas and New Year's, it did crazy good business. The pub featured two bars, one in front and the other in a small, rear room that served as a banquet hall. Between them sat a dining room. The engagement party for Brian Weeks and Rebecca "Becky" Horton occupied the banquet room, yet, guests moved back and forth to the jam-packed front room. The two sexually-experienced young women stood in the dining area, checking out potential men in both sections of the pub.

"Kind of a so-so crop tonight," Lana appraised the banquet hall. "We've been with too many of these guys back in high school."

"Made even worse by the increased competition," Poppy added.

"Huh?"

"Duh, we're at an engagement party. Even the most uptight girls see that bling on Becky's finger, and they get horny as hell," Poppy explained. "The notion of getting hitched is worse than liquor for some of these closet sluts."

"Not me," Lana instantly replied. "I'm nowhere near ready to settle down with one man."

"Me neither," Poppy agreed. Spotting a thirtysomething with dark blonde hair and a pair of huge breasts, the brunette stopped the harried woman as she hurried past. "Do you need any help?"

"Wha--Oh, hi, Poppy," Bailey Thirlby, owner of The Copper Lantern, greeted. She struggled to understand what Poppy offered, with her mind preoccupied with all the tasks that needed completing. "No, no, we're fine. I scheduled plenty of help for the night, but thanks, dear."

"Seriously?" Lana questioned after Bailey scurried away. "You want to work here or something?"

"I was being polite. You could learn to be that once in a while," Poppy replied. Under Lana's stare, she eventually caved. "Fine! I thought playing the hot bartender for a few minutes might be a fun way to get closer and check out my guy options."

"See! I knew you weren't being helpful."

"I was too! Bailey is family, and that's what--"

"Bailey is not your family," Lana interrupted.

"She is too!" Poppy insisted. "She's Fletcher's mom's distant cousin."

"Yeah, okay."

As patrons passed by them, the two girls changed the subject and commented on their options.

"What was the deal again with Joey?" Poppy inquired.

"Bad breath."

"Oh, that's right," the brunette nodded.

"What about Garrett?" the redhead queried.

"Small dick," Poppy replied. "Dean?"

"Nice dick, huge ego," Lana informed, scanning their fellow guests. "Whoa! What happened to Palmer's eye?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Poppy's eyes lit up as she loved to gossip. "There was some crazy brawl last night at Metropolis. I heard from Missy, who heard the story from Randi, that Palmer's girlfriend was all over another guy on the dance floor. Turns out the other guy was from Blackbridge and rolled in with a deep crew. Palmer fought off like four guys. "

"Kaitlin? That doesn't sound like her," Lana remarked. "She's way too loyal to Palmer."

"All you cheerleaders are sluts."

"Who you calling a slut, hussy?" Lana shot back with a smile.

"Jesus, that's not what happened!" Eve Naylor interrupted, having overheard Poppy's misinformed tale. "I was working at Metropolis last night."

The black-haired bartender proceeded to give the two girls the lowdown of the scuffle. While Poppy protested that her sources never lied, Lana pulled out her phone and brought up Nosy Nectar.

"Sounds like Eve is right," Lana said, holding up her phone.

"Of course, I'm right. I was there!" Eve exclaimed. "I practically played nurse for Will Winkie. Poor kid sliced his hand while trying to stop the fight."

"Well, Missy is going to hear about this," Poppy said indigently. "I don't appreciate bullshit reports."

"Isn't Missy the one that said Bobby Hooper was good in bed?" Lana asked, recalling a moment from her past.

"Yes, she was! And we know that Bobby has--"

"A hair-trigger."

"Granted, there was the two of us, but a basketball star should last more than two seconds," Poppy complained, remembering the hotel room debacle after the state championship.

"You two are insatiable," Eve chuckled before moving to walk away.

"And you're not!" Lana called after her.

"Shit, now I really want to pick someone good for tonight," Poppy pouted.

"You? My family is already at Wasp Lake. So that means I have an empty house to play around in," Lana remarked.

"As if you haven't been fucked in every room already."

"Well, yeah, but it's been a while since I last defiled my parents' bed," Lana smirked. "A night of playing a schoolgirl home alone might be a blast."

"You are such a pervert," Poppy shot back, recalling several fun moments in the Strattons' bed. "I'm not waiting to get home. I'll pull a guy into a supply closet or Bailey's office if I have to."

"Yeah, I'm sure she wants a shirttail relative fucking in her office," Lana remarked.

"I'm not a shirttail relative!"

"You're the very definition of a shirttail relative."

Spotting a girl their age with long, black hair, brown eyes, medium-sized breasts, and a firm ass, Poppy dashed over, grabbed the girl's hand, and pulled her back over to Lana. The girl protested the whole way, pointing back to the guy she'd been flirting with.

"Forget about him. He's got a small dick," Poppy snapped, positioning the girl in front of Lana. "Tell her that I'm not a shirttail relative."

"What?"

"Tell her, Stephie!"

"What's a shirttail relative?" asked Stephanie Francy. A member of the Wynwick family on her mother's side, she appeared confused by what followed from Poppy and Lana. After a couple of minutes of bickering, Stephie finally realized what they argued over. "Oh, sure, Poppy's family!"

"I told you so!" the brunette gleefully pointed at the redhead.

"Just the other night at Christmas, Uncle Kermit brought up Poppy," Stephanie revealed.

"Oh, really," Lana smirked, figuring this should be an interesting story. "What did your uncle say?"

"Well, he was bitching more about Fiona winning the foundation election again. Mom had a few too many drinks and slipped up. She revealed that she voted for Fiona instead of him," Stephanie recounted, cringing at the memory. "Kermit blew up at her and then at me. Said I sullied the family name by hanging out with the bastard's slutty stepsister. Uh, Fletcher is the bastard, and you're the--"

"Yeah, I already figured that part out," Poppy stated, while Lana laughed.

"So what are you two doing?" Stephanie asked. When she heard about finding a man for the night, her face lit up. "Ooh, can I join? What about Jaxon?"

"Jaxon Quill?" Lana repeated. "Yeah, he's okay. Something is kind of off with him. He's way too smart to be working as a mechanic."

"Blame Tate," Poppy pointed out.

"Didn't you screw Tate Durrant?" Stephanie asked, much to Poppy's horror.

"You didn't?" Lana questioned.

"Thanks, Steph," Poppy muttered before raising her voice up. "Look, I was drunk. Don't give me that look, Stratton. I know a shitload of your embarrassing one-night stands."

"Touché," the redhead nodded. The conversation went silent as the three girls people-watched.

"Becky's a lucky girl. Brian's looking hot tonight," Stephanie noted about the future groom.

"Did you ever fool around with Brian?" Poppy asked Lana.

"Are you seriously asking me that question at his engagement party?" the redhead challenged. "Is that Sinclair Pierce? I didn't know he was coming."

Poppy smiled at the way her friend avoided the Brian question. You totally fooled around with him. The real question is when. Did you make him cheat on his future bride?

"Sinclair's so hot," Stephie said. "Too bad he's taken."

"I know who's at the top of my list for tonight," Lana declared, until the raven-haired girl's words sunk in. "What do you mean that Sinclair's taken? His whole deal is that he never dates a girl."

"Don't you cheerleaders have a code? I thought you couldn't go after each other's men," Stephanie recalled.

"That's only for the when you're on the squad," the redhead said dismissively. "Why? Who's he dating?"

"I don't know if they're dating, but Chastity said that Tuesday is after Sinclair."

"Tuesday? Shit, she's good at getting her man," Lana noted. Tuesday Brass, the current assistant cheerleading coach, also happened to have been one of Lana's mentors back when they were in high school together.

"Chastity Kupp is here?" Poppy inquired. Stephanie nodded.

"You didn't hear her laugh?" Lana commented, barely paying attention to the conversation. "Wait, where's Sage?" she asked about Sinclair's cousin, Sage Pierce, who happened to be one of Becky's closest friends.

"She's on vacation with her parents. I guess they insisted that she skip the party," Stephanie supplied. "Or that's what Chastity said."

"That's doesn't sound like Sage or her parents," Poppy said, getting a nod from Lana.

"Very strange."

"One less girl to compete with," Stephie commented. "What's the deal with Peyton?"

"Peyton? What do you mean?" Lana asked about her best friend.

"She's been surrounded by guys all night," the raven-haired beauty said, pointing toward Lana's BFF.

Far in the back of the banquet room, Peyton Tarver was indeed surrounded by several men. Easily mistaken for a leggy model, Peyton had long, wavy caramel blonde hair, blue eyes, medium-sized breasts, and a toned ass. While appearing similar to a model, she didn't act like one. Instead, the usually laid back girl was a very studious young woman more interested in college than men.

"Surprise, surprise, Josh Radburn is trying again," Lana remarked. "Good luck with that, buddy."

"Dammit! Eoin O'Hara better not end up with Peyton. He's my fallback option for tonight," Poppy revealed, noticing her regular fuck buddy.

"You better get over there and claim him," Stephanie said.

"Really? Again with Eoin?" Lana gave her brown-haired friend a knowing look.

"He's great in bed and a nice guy. So sue me!" Poppy defended. "And, no, I'm not going to run over there and claim him. That would be embarrassing, and I want someone new tonight."

"Crap! Tell me that Zuccaro isn't here," Lana exclaimed upon seeing a golden blond god standing near Peyton's line of suitors.

"No, Reece came with me. Teresa got him last night for a family party," Poppy revealed.

"Don't tell me that your custody agreement thing is still going. It's so lame," Lana remarked with an eye-roll.

"What's the big deal? The agreement works," Poppy replied.

Reece Kittle had the handsome looks of a male model. The go-to fantasy for many women in Honey Hollow, he looked like he'd walked straight off of a magazine cover. Over the years, people often said that he and Lana should date. Two problems existed that stopped that potential couple from happening. First, Reece had a crush on Peyton Tarver. The more important hindrance came from Teresa Zuccaro. The former Sugarbee captain and Lana hated each other. Their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and cousins all had a rivalry dating back generations. As Teresa's best friend, it would be unfathomable for Reece to date Lana. It was only a little less unthinkable that he could date Lana's best friend. Still, Reece seemed to hold out hope. His other good friend, Poppy, hated Teresa and vice versa. Yet, they seemed to have agreed to share Reece rather than risk losing his friendship if they made him decide on one or the other.

"Maybe tonight is the night," Lana quietly speculated.

"Hey, don't get any ideas, Stratton!" Poppy exclaimed. "I don't need you fucking up my friendship with Reece for a one-night stand."

"Can I have a turn with Reece? Can I?" Stephanie nearly pleaded.

"No!" both Lana and Poppy shouted.

"Fine. I'll take Finn," the brunette countered, choosing Lana's close friend and ex-boyfriend.

"No!" both girls denied again. Although, this time, Lana turned to stare at Poppy. No words were exchanged, but the redhead appeared to tell the brunette not to get any ideas about her ex.

"Maybe Peyton and Reece should get together. Imagine the beautiful babies they would make," Stephanie cooed.

"No meddling, Francy," Lana warned with a growl.

"So, is Peyton going to shoot them all down?" Poppy questioned.

"Absolutely. She's been uptight and crabby ever since she broke up with Trevor at the start of the semester," Lana relayed. "I should get a few drinks in her and push a nice guy like Eoin on her. She could use a good fucking to de-stress."

"Wait...she hasn't been laid since the breakup? That's almost four months ago!" Poppy gasped in horror.

"Do things work properly after that long?" Stephanie inquired.

"Thank you!" Lana yelled, slapping Stephie's arm. "Peyton acts like I'm crazy when I point out how insane it is to go so long."

"Fuck me!"

"I know," Lana responded to Poppy's exclamation.

"No! Look!"

Lana turned to see where the brunette's head nodded toward. Her green eyes narrowed at a handsome, stocky man with stylish brown hair and a killer smile. Memories of past desires roared back as she recognized a former crush of hers and many others.

"No fucking way!"

"What? Who's that?" Stephanie asked.

"That's Archer Bowe!" Poppy answered, giving her stepcousin a disbelieving look. "Please, tell me you haven't forgotten him."

"No one forgets Archer," Lana said in a breathless voice.

Three years older than the gossiping girls, Archer Bowe had once been the darling of Honey Hollow. In his high school years, he'd been the most coveted guy in the school. One of the most covered topics by Nosy Nectar during its nearly fifteen years of existence, Archer became a living legend. Considered a junior version of Harvey Diamond, few others could match his sexual feats. When he left for an East Coast college, hearts broke all around the region. Neither girl knew if he was in town for the holidays or back for good. That meant time might be limited.

"I am finally going to fuck Archer Bowe," Lana declared with crackling intensity.

"You can get my sloppy seconds," Poppy proclaimed.

The two women turned and examined the other.

"Bet?"

"Bet!"

"Uh, what if he's engaged or married?" Stephanie questioned.

"Who cares," Lana stated flatly. "He can shoot his arrow inside me anyway, anytime."

"I sure as hell don't care," Poppy muttered. "Terms?"

"Winner has to fuck him. Sucking only counts as a partial win," Lana listed. "Reward?"

"Shit, Archer is reward enough. He'll just add to my win total over you."

"Win total? I'm in the lead when it comes to quality," Lana scoffed at her friend's extra wins.

"A win is a win," Poppy shrugged. "How about the loser gets his cream pie?"

"No, we need a clear reward for the winner."

"Uh, what about Finn?" Stephanie asked.

"I told you to leave Finn out of this. He's..." Lana let her words die out.

"No, I mean, what's going on with Finn. Are he and Estelle a thing?" Stephanie inquired, pointing across the hallway toward the front room.

Lana spun around so swiftly that she knocked drinks out of the hands of two men near her. She'd didn't even notice. Her eyes scanned the front room of The Copper Lantern, searching madly for Finn Singer. In her haste, she missed the signs at first. Only once she noticed Barney Barrie at a table, nervously fiddling with his camera, did she see Lindsey Rusk and Trishelle Withrow standing at the other end of the same table. Lana's green eyes locked in on Estelle Wynwick's friends. Almost as if they felt the intense glare, the two women parted, leaving Lana a view that made her blood boil.

Finn Singer, her second-best friend and ex-boyfriend, sat on a chair. Sitting side-saddle on his lap was a woman that no one could ever confuse with anyone else in town. Only a year older than Lana, Estelle Wynwick had inherited her family's genetic trait of premature graying hair. For Estelle, she still had her jet black hair except for several long streaks of gray. People often remarked--behind her back, of course--that she looked like Lily Munster. Clenching her fists, Lana's eyes move from Estelle's face to that of Finn's. When she saw how uncomfortable her old friend looked, the redhead automatically began to march across the room.

"Hi, Lana!" Barney greeted, seeing the redhead first but also not noticing her angry face.

"Lana, wait--" Trishelle started to say before the growling ginger shoved her and Lindsey away.

Without even a word, Lana's hand flashed out, grabbing a firm grip of Estelle's wrist. Yanking hard, she pulled the scheming woman off Finn's lap and onto the floor.

"Don't even think about it, Rusk," Poppy warned, holding an empty beer bottle out as a potential weapon. "Same with you, Trishelle."

"Barney, take pictures," Stephanie ordered, delighting in Estelle's predicament. As first cousins, she'd dealt with Estelle's bossy behavior since they both started talking.

"Lana, it's not what it looked like," Finn protested.

"I know!" Lana said sharply, answering him more with the hand she held up. Her attention stayed on the Wynwick heiress. She knew better than to ever turn her back to Estelle.

"You bitch," Estelle seethed between gritted teeth. "No one lays a hand on me. No one!"

"I'm not a no one," Lana calmly replied.

Even though she expected it, Estelle's kick still caught Lana by surprise. Staggering back a step, it gave the black and gray-haired woman an opening to pounce off the floor like a cat and tackle Lana. The two pissed-off beauties fell into the table, onto Finn's lap, and finally to the floor.

"Catfight!" a drunken voice screamed.

Patrons rushed to catch a glimpse. Cell phones came out; video started to record. Word spread like wildfire inside and outside of The Copper Lantern. Lana Stratton and Estelle Wynwick were both regular gossip subjects on Nosy Nectar. So the gossip site immediately found itself bombarded with tips, pictures, and videos. Barney got several of the best shots until he tripped over his own feet. Falling backward, he added to his clumsy follies by hitting his head on the floor, putting him out of the action.

"You're a fucking psycho, Stratton!" Estelle remarked, spitting out blood during a momentary break.

"Never touch Finn!"

"Jealous much?"

Lana answered with a lunge and a blood-curdling scream. As she'd telegraphed the move, Estelle had prepared to counter it. Side-stepping the lunge attempt, she stuck out a foot that tripped Lana. That sent the raging redhead into another table.

"Girls! What the hell? Stop that!" Bailey Thirlby ordered, shocked at the scene she'd rushed over to find. Seeing her own flesh and blood involved lowered her initial surprise. "Estelle, don't make me call your father." Seriously, don't make me call Kermit! A mugful of beer tossed into Trishelle Withrow's face turned Bailey's attention away from the fight for a moment.

"Sorry, Bails. I warned her," Poppy shrugged, holding the empty mug. That caused the pub owner to palm her face.

"Don't worry, Bailey. I got this!" Stephanie told her distant cousin. That didn't reassure the blonde owner at all.

"Ready to grovel at my feet, Stratton?" Estelle questioned with a haughty laugh.

"You're a lightweight, Wynwick. I can see that you're winded already. Having servants cater to your every need made you a softie," Lana stated as she prepared to finish off Estelle's humiliation. "You're not a worthy foe. You're no Zuccaro."

"Enough!" a voice commanded, cutting throw the crowd and combatants in a way that Bailey's couldn't. "Dammit, Lana! This is Brian and Becky's party."

"It's not my fault, Pey!" Lana whined at her best friend. "She was sitting on Finn's lap."

Estelle briefly flinched at the burning eyes of Peyton Tarver. Remembering her status in town, the black and gray-haired Wynwick straightened her back and stared back at the imposing blonde.

"You did what?" Peyton asked softly, although the whole room heard her words.

The standoff ended abruptly without another blow, slap, or hair pull. Estelle wore a dark gray spaghetti strapped dress. Or she had worn a dark gray spaghetti-strapped dress as those two thin straps snapped when her cousin Stephanie yanked the dress down hard from behind. Silence filled the room until Estelle shrieked in horror when she noticed her strapless black bra and matching panties were all she now wore.

The usually condescending heiress continued to shriek as she dashed toward The Copper Lantern's offices. Some of the crowd felt sympathy, but just as many felt none for the often cruel, scheming woman. Laughter littered the room, as did sympathy for the couple holding the engagement party in the backroom. The crowd roared a cheer when the pub owner announced the next round was on the house.

"You had to go and do that, didn't you, Stephie?" Bailey scolded the grinning girl. "Do you know how much shit your uncle is going to cause for me?"

"Don't worry about it. Stella's had that coming for more than a decade," Stephanie replied before skipping away gleefully.

Nearby, Poppy stood before two angry women. "Hey, things happen in the heat of the moment. Peanuts and popcorn get dumped on people. Drinks get thrown. It's all water under the bridge."

"You're the only one that dumped food on me," Lindsey pointed out.

"You threw a drink in my face," Trishelle growled, inching closer to the brunette.

"Look, I have an engagement party to get back to. Let's chat about this another time," Poppy said, moving to stand behind Bailey.

"I swear, I can't take you anywhere! Do you know how this reflects on me? It makes me look like a bad friend. And think about Finn! People are going to think that we condone this behavior. We did not raise you to act this way," Peyton scolded a contrite Lana. "Now, you march into that other room and apologize to Brian, Becky, and both sets of parents. Do you hear me, young lady? March!"

With her head down, Lana marched out of the room and past Eve Naylor. The Metropolis bartender turned to look over at Palmer Malloy. "Same shit, different night, huh?"

A dozen feet away, Marco Franco glanced over at his fiancée. "This is why I want to raise our future kids in your hometown."