Wake-ups, Shake-ups, and…

Rooms 318-320

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Eyes blinked or shot open across Room 318. Some immediately closed. One pair of brown eyes remained open as Delilah rocketed to a sitting position as the dancer dropped a “What the fuck?”

“Lilah, this is not a Sugarbee sleepover,” the perky admonishment reminded.

“Yumi. I should’ve known. Sorry,” the dance co-captain apologized weakly about her language before flopping backward.

“I better be dreaming,” Kaitlin muttered, her head still on the pillow with her eyes closed. “Cause if somebody brought an actual rooster into this room…I’m dropping both the chicken and the fool back on the farm in a deep ditch.”

“Yums, turn off the TV and go back to sleep,” Aurora directed while yawing from her spot on the added floor mattress.

“You silly girls. It’s an app. See!” Yumi stated before another loud rooster crow filled the hotel room from her phone’s speakers.

“Yumi!” Caterina bellowed, most of it muffled by her pillow.

“Wakey-wakey, sleepy Cat,” Yumi ordered down at her friend after she’d bounced over to the side of the bed.

"I forgot that this is how cheerleader sleepovers turn out," Delilah muttered, recalling her days as a Babybee. Sugarbees only got woken up bright and early over drama, not perkiness.

“Go back to bed,” Cat counterordered. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Would Mister Crow give his wake-up call if it were nighttime?” Yumi inquired. “Wrong!”

A sixth sense caused Cat to roll over and snatch Yumi’s phone before she could play a third cock-a-doodle-doo. Then, she issued a warning.

“I never want to hear this thing again. Got that?”

“Why? It’s fun! And I heard from a little birdy that you like farms,” Yumi replied joyfully.

“What? I never…who told you that?” Cat sputtered, now too wide awake for her taste.

“The same person who showed me the app!”

“How can anyone be this perky this early?” Roxanne groaned, throwing her pillow over her head.

“Please let us sleep,” Rory begged. “It’s too late.”

"You're correct that it's late! It's already 8:17! We need to get moving to start the new year properly. We can't begin by sleeping in bed all day," Yumi proclaimed.

“Eight?! I’ve barely gotten four hours of sleep,” Delilah groaned.

“Four? I’m lucky if I got three. The brats wouldn’t stop laughing at the movie,” Kaitlin complained.

“Yumi, who told you that I like farms?” Cat re-asked.

“I promised I wouldn’t tell,” the cheeriest cheerleader stated before leaning over to shake her co-captain. “But it’s so sweet that you want to marry a farmer and help till his crops someday. Are you going to milk the cows too?”

“Damn, Cat. You fantasize about going all country on us?” Delilah chuckled.

“Maybe your brother can fix the tractors free of charge,” Roxie added.

“Argh!”

“Hey, keep it down in there!” YoYo’s shout from the other room came through the open connecting door.

Suddenly, Katie’s sleepy brain put two and two together.

"It was Kizzy who told you all that. Wasn't it? KIZZY!"

“Was that who said I have a farmer fetish? Is it?” Cat questioned while Yumi backed away and mimed zipping her lips shut. “You’re so dead, brat!”

“Whatever, cornfucker!” came the reply.

Laughter filled Room 320 as Room 318 stewed.

Confused about how to respond to Kizzy's gross misuse of vegetables, Yumi ignored her insult. Instead, she started shaking the room's two beds while hopping on the extra mattress on the floor.

“Rise and shine, girls! We need to grab a proper breakfast. Hopefully, Lacey will be down there, or else we need to find her. We’re not complete without her.”

"I'm pretty sure Lacey's still sleeping," Rory replied.

“Then, we need to schedule a conference call with Whitney and request a progress report on her health.”

“Whitney’s definitely still sleeping,” Kaitlin stated.

CLAP CLAP CLAP

"Let's move it, sleepyheads," Yumi commanded in her chipper voice. She also yanked the curtain aside, flooding the room with light.

"Yumi!" cried multiple cheerleaders and one dancer. Blankets flew up, and pillows flipped over to shield their eyes. Only Dreama said nothing as she wisely wore a sleep mask and headphones. So she lightly snored away directly in front of the window.

“Wow! It’s so bright outside,” their alarm clock reported. “And look at all that ice.”

“None of us care,” Kaitlin grumbled as her friend went silent. She quickly realized why in a few seconds.

“Argh!”

“Eek!”

The cries from Room 320 brought slight satisfaction to the varsity cheerleaders. Of course, their amusement swiftly vanished as the younger girls decided to have fun with the moment.

“Ahhh, I’m melting!” YoYo shrieked.

“Get the coffins, Harls!” Kizzy ordered.

“Wrap your blankets around you before we turn to dust!” Zoey directed, deciding to join in on the act. Robin and Winnie giggled as they followed suit.

“Gawd, can’t you act like your age for once?” Cadence screamed. “Hey, let me go!”

“Get her! Sacrifice the bitch to the sun monster!”

Expressions of disbelief met Yumi as she bounced back into Room 318.

“Rory, Rory! I think we discovered a star. Cadence’s acting while kicking and slapping is amazing. You have to see it!”

---

4th Floor

Tired and cranky, Ramsey shut the door to Room 417 loudly. Somehow, someway, she planned to make Reed and Sammy pay for a long, nearly sleepless night. Perhaps she could get their game taken away for a few days. Delilah might help once she heard how her little brother talked about Ramsey’s butt.

Note: Mom needs to pay, as well. This was all her idea. I don’t mind helping Uncle Hearst and Aunt Nancy have a night out, but not as rigged punishment.

After walking the short distance to the next-door hotel room, Ramsey hesitated before using her keycard. Although she now knew that her mom's strange behavior last night was about Mr. Stratton's impending scandal bombshell, Rammy still wouldn't put it past her mom wanting her to babysit so that she could bring a date back to their room. With that in mind, the teenager slowly crept into Room 415.

Immediately, Ramsey cringed as she heard Hillary’s voice through the closed bathroom door. Oh, noooo…Mom better not have a man in there with her. Yuck! That thought also brought the realization that she couldn’t stay. So Ramsey took a few more steps into the room to place her bag down by the desk.

Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The naked ass of a man caught her attention. Fortunately, he slept on the bed with the sheet only partially covering his upper body. Ramsey couldn’t make out his face, but he didn’t appear anywhere near her mother’s age.

Step by step, Ramsey slowly walked backward until she reached the door. Around this time, she realized her mom wasn't talking to a man in the bathroom; she was on the phone. Upon exiting into the hallway, the nosy teenager swung around as she heard screaming and several loud bangs from a room opposite hers.

Curiosity got the best of the junior journalist, so the strawberry blonde placed an ear against Room 416’s door. Wrong door. Several additional steps confirmed Room 414 as the commotion’s source. However, Ramsey jumped across to the other side of the hallway as she heard a door open.

A sigh of relief exited Ramsey’s mouth as she recognized Winkie leaning warily out of Room 412. He gave a small wave as he spotted his classmate.

“Do you know who’s in there?” Ramsey questioned.

He answered with a wordless shrug as another bang sounded from the room.

Worried that it might be a domestic **** incident, the teen mulled over asking Winkie to call for help. Opening her mouth with that intention, Ramsey’s jaw dropped and remained in that position as a pair of brunettes in shiny metallic dresses slid past Winkie.

Almost at once, Winkie’s worried expression shifted to horror as he saw Ramsey’s shocked face. Immediately, he started waving his hands in a clear message of no, and with such **** that he never fell over.

“It–It’s not what it l-looks like, Ra-Ramsey!”

Loren looked over at her sister with an eye-roll that Rowan met with a head shake.

“Way to blow your chance at a reputation, Willy,” the more athletic female of the triplets stated.

“You’re supposed to sell the lie, Wilbur,” the brainy third of the triplets pointed out.

“They just wanted to make sure I felt okay. You know, with my hand and all,” Winkie said, holding up his bandaged hand.

“Yeah, letting people think you banged a pair of sisters from out-of-town can work wonders for your rep,” Loren specified.

“B-B-But Ramsey is in charge of the newspaper,” Winkie responded, causing Rowan to palm her face.

“It’s okay, Will. I wouldn’t have spread that gossip anyways,” Ramsey declared, staring at the Rogers sisters. She didn’t add that she knew the true reason he didn’t want that salacious fabrication floating around the school. It might hurt his chances with Yumi.

CRASH

All four heads turned on a dime to face the door of Room 414.

“Oh, wow,” Loren said.

“Should we call the front desk?” Rowan queried.

“I think we should call hotel security directly. Will, go call from—” Ramsey’s order ended abruptly as the door to Room 414 flung open.

A disheveled yet gorgeous young woman with dark hair appeared in the doorway. First, they noticed her two-piece tangerine dress, which seemed slightly askew. Next was the scowl on Teresa Zuccaro's face. And finally, the dirt, flowers, and broken pieces on the floor of the doorway.

“And stay out!” came a shout from inside the hotel room.

“Try that again, and nobody will ever see you again,” Teresa warned, turning slightly to face the other person.

“I’m so scared.”

“Fine. You’ll be seen again, but only on the back of a milk carton,” Teresa threatened.

“Please, they don’t even do that anymore,” the unseen voice responded. Eyebrows raised as the others noticed the voice belonged to a woman.

“I’ll have them make a special edition.”

“Get out and stay out. Or I’m calling security!”

Teresa raised her hand with a single finger extended as she stepped out into the hallway enough for the door to close. At once, she saw the foursome standing nearby as they gawked at her.

"Wonderful," the coed muttered. Then, Teresa spun around to face Ramsey, bringing up a finger to jab in the air. "This better not end up on Nosy Nectar, got that?”

Before Ramsey could respond, Teresa turned to face the other three teens.

“You didn’t see anything, capiche?”

“I-I see nothing…nothing!” Winkie exclaimed.

“We saw,” Loren said with a nod toward her sister. “And we can fill in the blanks.”

“I’m very creative,” Rowan proclaimed.

“Quite an imagination on her,” Loren said, jumping back in. “Your lover’s quarrel will be epic when she’d done.”

“That’s not what happened!” Teresa snapped.

“I don’t tip off Nosy Nectar!” Ramsey screamed.

“Who am I kidding?” Teresa remarked, throwing her hands up in defeat. “It’s probably already on there. Oh, Lana owes me majorly!”

With that declaration, the dark-haired beauty stormed down the hallway toward the elevators.

---

Executive Suite 803

BEEP BEEP BEEP

A hand reached over to feel for the phone on the nightstand. Once the correct spot had been located, the young man picked up the room's cordless phone and hit the on button.

“Hello?...What?...Okay, hold on.”

Lex turned his head to face the busty brunette who currently spooned his body. With a sigh, he broke off contact with those very large beasts that felt so nice as they pushed into his back. Still, the rollover brought those wondrous treats into sight again.

“Hey, it’s your mom,” Lex informed, handing the phone to his lover from last night. Now free, his hand moved down to cup the supple breast.

Groggily, the brunette took the phone, bringing it up to her ear.

“Yeah, Mom? What? No, this is Cheyenne. Oh! Hold on!” the teen exclaimed, sitting straight up. While doing so, she slapped Lex’s hand away as she turned to face the third person in bed with them. “Quill, it’s your mom!”

“Huh?” Quilla sounded, still half-asleep. Only after a hard shove from her co-BFF did the ginger wake up. “The hell?”

“Your mom is on the phone, and she sounds pissed,” Cheyenne warned, holding her hand over the mouthpiece.

"Fuck," the afterparty hostess groaned, taking the phone. "Morning, Mom. What's up?"

“Don’t give me that. I’ve been calling your phone for the past twenty minutes. Then, it took me forever to get through to the hotel’s front desk for your room’s phone number,” Flavia rattled off.

How doesn’t Mom know the phone number of this room? It’s our usual suite. Dad must have refused to give it over.

“And why is there a man answering the phone? Did you throw a party? Did you?” Flavia challenged before yelling over at her husband in another room. “Your daughter threw a party!”

“Did you think she wouldn’t?” Quillan shot back.

That caused his daughter to smile before her mom returned to complain. Figuring she'd let Cheyenne and Lex get back to sleep after their exhausting night, Quilla got out of bed. Finding her robe, she threw it on as her mother listed all the guests at last night's Bumble party who seemed disappointed by her no-show.

“I’m sure they understood, Mom. Mrs. Singer was my favorite teacher, and plenty of others skipped the annual winter Bumble party to be here,” Quilla pointed out, well aware that her mom didn’t want her to go to the charity ball.

As expected, Flavia unleashed another round of minor arguments about why the Bumble party was vital to her future. Quilla planned to counter those points as she walked into the suite’s sitting room. However, what she saw caused something else to leave her mouth.

“Eww! What the fuck?!” the redhead shrieked.

Two sofas had been pushed together to create a makeshift bed. In the center, a naked young man slept with two equally naked teenage girls on each side. Several marks on the sofa screamed body fluids.

“Kessler!” Quilla screamed at the top of her lungs. She ignored her mother's repeated questions about what was happening. “How dare—Get these Guzzle whores out of my suite…NOW!!!”

“Whores? Guzzle? As in Guzzle Crossing? Quilla, you are in so much trouble,” Flavia stated as her daughter stormed back to the master suite, ending up in its bathroom. “How dare you throw a party when you skipped out on our family’s?”

“It was an afterparty, Mother,” the teenager said, turning on the faucet.

“Who was the man who answered the phone? Was he in the same bedroom with you? You don’t need an accident, young lady!”

“Geez, Mom, I’m on the pill,” Quilla replied, sending her mother off on another rant. “It was Lex. Lexington. He’s visiting town for the ball.”

“You slept with someone from out of town?!” Flavia gasped. Then, she started yelling for her husband. “Quillan, do you know a boy named Lexington? He’s not from Honey Hollow.”

"Lexington?" Quillan repeated, entering the room. "Sure, that's Lauren Caputo's son. Why did something happen with him?"

“That cheerleader?” Flavia double-checked, the distaste clear in her tone.

“Yeah, you know her. She’s the one that went to Doxton College in Regal Crest after she graduated.”

“The one who married Redmund Rogers? Well, that changes matters,” Flavia remarked before addressing her daughter through the phone again. “Are you interested in dating this Rogers boy?”

“Dating? We just hooked up, and he lives halfway across the country. I am not tying myself down in a long-distance relationship for the rest of my senior year,” Quilla scoffed.

“Now, let’s not be hasty, honey. You might be attending Doxton next year together. The Rogers are a well-respected family.”

“She’s not going to Doxton,” Quillan commented, pouring himself a coffee.

“I’m not going to Doxton!” Quilla declared before splashing water on her face.

“Sweetie, you need to consider your future…Wait, why was Cheyenne in the same room with the two of you?”

“Oh, boy,” Quillan moaned. Then, he held out his hand for the phone. “I’ll deal with this. You go calm down, dear.”

“You better!” his wife demanded before leaving the kitchen in a huff.

“Are you trying to kill your mom, Firefly?”

“Dad!” Quilla whined at his childhood nickname for her.

“I’m kidding. She’s upset as the old biddies were in rare form last. I swear they aren’t happy unless they’re complaining, and they had plenty to grumble about last night,” Quillan revealed.

“About me?”

“You, Cheyenne, Lux, and the rest of the Bumbles who opted for Cassie’s ball rather than their stuffy party. And I say party very loosely. Most of the complaints were about the poor attendance, but they also harped about Olena winning the leadership this year,” Quillan recounted.

“Not that again. Mom’s never going to let me live down her winning. So that’s why she’s so mad.”

“Oh, no. It’s Quade vanishing halfway through the party that set her off. “

"Momma's golden boy disappointed her? The world is ending," Quilla cracked. While she loved her brother dearly, it also drove her nuts that Quade seemed never to do anything wrong in their mother's eyes. "Maybe I should wait awhile before coming home."

“Ah, you need to take a look outside. Honey Hollow is currently shut down due to the ice storm. Even your mother wouldn’t demand you come home to get punished on those streets.”

“It’s that bad?” his daughter asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry about coming home too soon. I reserved the suite for two nights, so you can stay there again if needed. Also, that gives your mother time to cool off. She’s been getting too riled up with this Bumble crap for the last couple of years. I’ll be glad when you're off at college and not involved for a while.”

“Thanks, Daddy! I owe you.”

“And I’m collecting,” Quillan warned before dropping the stern act. “I expect to hear all the gossip you have about my old friends and classmates. From what I heard last night, it sounded as wild as my old parties.”

“I’ll bring Lux and Cheyenne so we don’t miss anything,” Quilla promised.

"So you and Lauren's kid. I didn't know her well as she was two grades ahead of me. But your aunt butted heads with her older squadmates back in the day. This should be amusing."

“Daaaad!”

---

Room (Redacted)

An eyelid struggled to open before a hand brushed the gunk away. Slowly, the other opened to reveal both blue eyes. Those eyes narrowed as they struggled through the blurriness to take in their owner's surroundings.

With her head rolling around as she struggled to wake up from her exhaustion, Brandy realized what woke her up. Well, two things woke her. A parched mouth and a need to pee. Last night didn't seem clear in the blonde's brain as she wondered about her whereabouts.

Barely able to lift her head, Brandy felt woozy as she realized she still felt drunk. Fuck! I feel like a train hit me. Am I in a hotel room? What the…Oh, last night was Cassie’s thing. Shit, how much did I drink?

With a slight shift, Brandy froze as she realized a hand was around her waist. Her blue eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings. That quick survey confirmed she wasn’t in the hotel room she reserved with Fawn. Okay, it’s definitely a man’s arm.

Gingerly lifting the arm, Brandy slid out from underneath it. Once freed, she gently lowered the arm to the mattress. Only with that finished did she finally turn to see whose bed she ended up in.

The pillow partially hid the man’s face. So her gaze narrowed as she peered in an effort to figure out his identity. Then, her eyes shot open while her mouth opened in shock. An “Oh, fuck.” was mouthed. A second and third followed.

Placing her hands out as if to stop whatever sin she committed retroactively, Brandy's face clenched as she slowly slid off the bed and onto the floor.

Holy shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck! You really screwed the pooch on this one.

On her hands and knees, Brandy began to frantically search the floor for her stuff. Drinking water and peeing could wait as she needed to get the fuck out of this room and get out now.

Her little black dress was the easiest to find. Crawling down to the floor as low as she could, Brandy picked it up. However, she didn't put it on yet. Instead, she spotted her matching panties on top of the chair's backrest. Scrambling like a spry cat, Brandy reached up to snatch them as quickly as possible before dipping out of sight again.

Next, she located one of her high heels. However, she gave up the search for the other one when she spotted her small clutch purse on the room’s desk. Scooping that down to her location, Brandy crawled to the room’s foyer. With one last quick look back, she sighed in relief as the man continued to snore softly in his sleep.

The panties slid on first, then the dress. Placing the purse and one shoe on the floor next to the door, she braced one hand on the doorframe while turning the handle incrementally in an effort to avoid any noisemaking. Once opened just enough, she nudged the two items into the hallway with her bare foot before slipping out the door.

An elderly couple shook their heads as they walked past. Brandy didn't recognize them, so she ignored the jerks while gently closing the door. The soft click sounded like a gunshot in her mind.

Grabbing her stuff, Brandy scampered down the hallway on her bare feet. Instead of heading to the elevators, she went to the far stairway.

“I’m so fucking dead.”