The Guest List

"This party sucks," bitched Heather. The party hostess stood at the kitchen island sipping from her cosmopolitan. Wearing a black, strapless dress, the buxom brunette looked ready for a night on the town.

"What did you expect?" Ashley Woodsen asked sarcastically while nursing her strawberry daiquiri. The slim blonde wore a baby blue sundress.

"I expected more than twenty guests!" Heather groused, taking a large gulp of her drink. "Where's our bartender?"

"Charlie's downstairs, at the bar," Sharon Miller replied. "And at last count, you and Logan have twenty-one guests."

"Wow, Shar, you can count," Heather snidely remarked. "And you're seriously wearing white? I don't think anyone here is buying it."

"God, if you're a bitch now, then I hate to see you after a month of staying at home." Sharon wore a white, strapless cocktail dress, one that pushed up her medium-sized breasts in a way that made them appear larger.

"I wanted some hot college guys to choose from, and I got nothing! The only two around that age are your brother and his creepy friend," Heather stated.

"I felt bad for Carl, okay. He would've been home alone," Sharon explained.

"I don't mind him, but did he need to bring Matt?"

"Don't blame Carl. I'm the one that screwed up," Sharon revealed. "I went into his room for help zipping up my dress. What I didn't know is that they were facetiming. Matt saw my dress and heard me mention the party. He insisted on coming, or he would call the cops on us."

"That probably would've been for the best," Ashley mumbled.

"Enough of that, party pooper!" Heather snapped at the blonde and then turned back to the redhead. "Tell your brother that he better keep his friend in line. I swear he reminds me of a dumber version of my cousin."

"Insulting me again?"

"I meant Kurt," Heather said to Logan as he entered the kitchen. She held up her empty glass and shook it. "Waiter, get me another round."

"Already? You should take it easy tonight," Logan cautioned.

"Why? We're not driving back to town. And besides, it's not like I'm going to get lucky tonight. Not with this sorry crop of people," Heather grumbled.

"I think we made out pretty good if you consider the circumstances," Logan replied.

"You would. There are more girls than guys here. I wanted some hot college guys!" Heather slammed her fist against the island. "This is Hannah's fault. She promised me hot college men!"

"Hey, don't blame my sister," Ashley said sharply. "This was your party to plan. Hannah worked her ass off. She was on our parents' phone talking while texting peopling on both our cell phones. Her fingers are probably shot at this point."

"All that work sure didn't pay off. Half the people here, I wouldn't invite to a regular party."

"A bunch of people told her maybe. Usually, half of those maybes show up, but none did this time."

"Hey, I'm going to get those drinks. Care to join me?" Logan whispered to Sharon.

"Nah, I enjoy watching your cousin have her tantrums," Sharon whispered back.

Logan nodded and left as Ashley began to list all the people Hannah contacted.

"And it's just not people changed their minds. Priscilla's little brother ratted her out."

"The same thing happened to Billy with his older sister," Sharon added.

"Taylor cost you a lot of guests as well. She worked the phones too. RJ and Eillie Ridge were going to come, but she talked them out of it. Same goes with—"

"Oh, fuck her! I'm going to get **** on Taylor Bishop. Who does she think she is telling people to skip my party?" Heather fumed. "What does she know about this pandemic that I don't?"

"Uh, her parents are doctors," Sharon pointed out. "To be honest, if my mom finds out that we're here, she's going to skin us alive."

"Hannah and I are risking **** too. Our parents aren't dumb, you know. I don't know how long they'll buy that we are at Peter's house checking on him," Ashley chimed in.

"And why isn't Peter Zander here?" Heather demanded to know.

"Um, he wouldn't come without Taylor."

"Arrgh!"

"It's not just Taylor. Hazel and Cheyenne were all set to come, but Heidi snitched on them," Sharon revealed.

"Goddamn goody-goody!" Heather snarled. Suddenly, she recalled another fact. "Hey, you screwed up too."

"Me?!" Sharon questioned, wondering what she did.

"You were supposed to bring Amber and Tanya."

"That's Amber's fault. The ditz yelled bye to her parents when we pulled up. She then told them she was off to a party. Her mom literally dragged her back into the house," Sharon narrated, shaking her head at the memory. "Then, her mom called Tanya's mom."

"Yeah, a whole of parents put their foot down," Brandon said, coming behind Ashley to kiss her cheek. "At least ten guys on the football team wanted to come. Max's mom refused to let him go hang out at Trent's house, which was a popular cover story. Xavier's parents hid the keys for all their cars. Kevin said it was the same with the basketball squad. It sounds like Leon Griffin got stuck on the couch with his mom for a rom-com marathon," he added with a chuckle.

"Aww, Mrs. Griffin is the best," Ashley gushed about her math teacher.

"So, instead of bringing us a bunch of football studs, you bring Winkie and the kook," Sharon complained.

"Be nice," Ashley told her fellow cheerleader.

"Hey, I got Kessler to come too. It's not my fault you two had the torrid fling last year, and it ended badly," Brandon argued. "It was your fault."

Ignoring the star quarterback, Sharon leaned over on her stool so that she could peek into the sunroom. "Why can't I call her a kook? Look at her!"

A short girl with black hair cut into an asymmetrical pixie style with green highlights, green eyes, medium breasts, and a firm ass sat on the floor. She looked up at Meagan Volland, who sat in a rocking chair.

"Poet's an artsy girl," Ashley defended Poet Upton, Azure Rocks High's most talented artist.

"Artsy?! She's a nutjob! Look at what she's wearing! Did she travel back from 1955 with Marty McFly?" Sharon nearly shrieked in horror.

"Good one," Brandon laughed, but swiftly stopped after he saw his girlfriend's glare.

"It's a unique look for a special party in an unprecedented time," Ashley offered, not totally buying her own argument.

The object of Sharon's horror, Poet wore a white blouse, long, black scarf, and a pink poodle skirt with an actual black poodle on it.

"Damn right, this is a special party! I wish more people had gone all-out like Poet," Heather declared. "We should've made it a costume party."

"And Brandon didn't actually invite Poet. Will's her cousin, and their families are going to shelter-in-place together," Ashley explained.

"Will? Who the hell calls Wilbur Winkie by Will?" Sharon questioned in disbelief.

"I do! He's a nice guy."

"He's a klutz straight out of Final Destination. Winkie is a danger to himself and others. We're lucky that the virus isn't in a vial. If it were, then Winkie would accidentally shatter it in the middle of the living room," Sharon conjectured.

"That's not nice, Sharon. Winkie's one of the good guys on the team. I trust him completely," Brandon replied, his anger rising.

"Then you can be the one he accidentally kills."

"That's enough, Sharon. I don't mind having Poet as my guest. She's friends with Meagan. That should keep you two from having another catfight at one of these parties," Heather said.

"Those aren't my fault. She...she looks at me funny. Something's not right with that girl. The weirdo probably thinks she's a real witch."

"Maybe she wants to seduce you to the lesbian side."

"Fuck off, Cole! That's not funny!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Heather bellowed. "This party might suck, but I still want to have fun. Let's at least dance."

"Good idea," Brandon agreed, surprising his girlfriend. Leaning over, he whispered, "Do you think you can get Hannah to dance with Trent?"

"Why, so he can paw her body?"

"No, to calm him down. Trent's about to have a panic attack." Ashley cocked an eyebrow. "I'm serious. He keeps checking his phone. He's paranoid that Trishelle will figure out that he and Tiara snuck out. She will absolutely snitch to their parents."

"Fine. I'll try."

The teenage couple left the kitchen several steps behind Heather and Sharon. There they could see the couches and coffee table had been pushed back to make a dance floor in front of the fireplace. Despite it being a warm start to the month of April, Heather had insisted that they start a fire.

Directly in front of the crackling flames, Trent Thornton and Abner Kessler danced with the Harrington twins, Rebecca and Karen. The twins had dressed perfectly for their spot as they had on tiny camisoles tops, and shorts that barely reached their upper thighs.

To their side, in front of the sliding glass doors, Hannah Woodsen and Tiara Thornton attempted to teach Winkie to dance. They were failing miserably. While the football team's kicker and punter's reputation for clumsiness likely had much to do with it, his attention appeared to wander to their outfits every few seconds.

Hannah wore a sky blue strapless dress that barely covered half of her thighs. The dress didn't appear to fit well, either. She constantly had to reach down and pull the top back up. Tiara's outfit was no less sexy. Rocking a floral wrap dress, she and Hannah both teased the teen by acting if they might unwrap the dress.

"Where did Madison go?" Brandon asked, seeing his sister no longer in the room.

"Went downstairs with Delilah!" Trent yelled over the music.

"Bitchison went downstairs to hang out with the Honeybears?" growled Sharon.

---

"I need another round for Heather. Better give me one for Sharon too," Logan said the bartender.

"One cosmopolitan and one Sex on the Beach coming right up, sir," Charlie nodded, flinging the white towel over his shoulder.

Logan had to laugh at his friend's antics. At least he's having a good time. That's good to see as long as he doesn't think he's Tom Cruise in that movie and start flipping bottles into the air.

"I have a cranberry juice for the gentleman," Charlie announced, bowing his head.

Gladly accepting the drink, Logan took a sip and promptly gagged on it. "Charlie!"

"C'mon, Logan, live a little!"

"You know I don't drink ****."

"Fine, here's the kiddie version," Charlie said, handing over the ****-free drink he had prepared already. "But you will at least have one shot later. You owe that to all the people stuck at home."

"We'll see," Logan said, not meaning it.

"You should know better than to trust Charlie, Logan," Delilah O'Dell commented.

The dark-skinned vice-captain of the Honeybears sat on one of the barstools farthest away from the stairs. A short, athletic girl with a dancer's body, she had on a gray camisole top, similar to what the Harrington twins wore, and a pair of painted-on jeans. Tipping his cranberry juice at her, Logan recalled a memorable weekend last summer that featured only Delilah and himself.

Standing next to her was a bored-looking Madison Cole. A striking brunette, Brandon's sister, wore a maroon blouse and a pair of tight jeans. Hopefully, for Madison's sake, Brandon will get distracted, and she can have some fun for once. A member of the cheerleading squad, she was a good friend of Delilah, despite the fierce rivalry between the dance squad and the cheer squad. A rivalry that concerned Logan, for several Honeybears were guests at the party.

Standing not too far from Madison and Delilah, Teresa and Bianca Zuccaro watched the action at his uncle's poker table. The Zuccaro sisters gave Logan mixed feelings. They had a family feud with the Woodsens that he didn't like, but at the same time, he often wondered what the two dancers would be like in bed. Furthering those feelings, the older sister, Teresa, wore a scarlet red cocktail dress that featured a high neck in front with an open back. Bianca had on a cherry red, spaghetti-strap dress that barely contained her large breasts.

Seated at the poker table were Carl Miller, Matt Richardson, and Kevin Jackson. They appeared to be engaged in a heated round of poker and were losing to the fourth person at the table. The sex kitten of the Honeybears, Yelena Mishkov, had stacks of chips in front of her. The villainous seductress wore a skintight, black dress with a deep plunge in the center. A cunning girl, Logan did not doubt that she could outplay people, but he also guessed that the substantial amount of cleavage she showed had helped accumulate those chips.

"I call," Yelena said, licking her black lipsticked lips. The effect sent shivers through the men in the room.

"All set, Mr. Ravers."

"Thank you, Harrington." Logan tossed a George Washington onto the top of the bar for a tip. "Don't spend it all in one place."

Charlie held up the one-dollar bill in the air, admiring it like a gem.

"I'll gladly pay it forward on my next trip to Magenta, Mr. Ravers."

Chuckling as he carried the tray of drinks to the stairs, Logan had no doubt that Charlie would slip that single into a stripper's costume on his next visit to Magenta. Carefully climbing the stairs as not to spill a drop, he sighed in relief as his cousin and Sharon raced over to grab their glasses when he reached the main floor.

Needing a stop in the bathroom, Logan made his way over to the one near the foyer.

BANG BANG BANG

Whipping his head to the side, Logan stared at the oak front door.

DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG

"What the hell?" Logan said, looking over to the dancers who had stopped. "We expecting anyone else?"

"Hopefully, a dozen hot college studs!" Heather called out, earning cheers from Hannah, Tiara, and the Harrington twins.

"I guess I'm the butler as well as the waiter," Logan mumbled.

BANG BANG BANG

"Hold your horses! I'm coming."