The old truck weaved through the curvy mountain roads. Cat realized, as her stomach lurched, that she had forgotten to take any Dramamine. Her mother always had some on hand when they came for visits. She was about to ask Mimi to pull over when the truck slowed and pulled onto the gravel drive. She leaned her head slightly out the window and let the breeze hit her squarely in the face. She drank in the coolness, letting it settle the rising waves of nausea.
She could see the white farmhouse in the distance. White clapboard siding, two stories, stone chimneys protruding from either side, and a big wraparound porch with a porch swing. It could be a farmhouse in a picture book. She sighed a sigh of relief. It was in the moment that she let her guard down that the nausea she had been keeping at bay overcame her.
“Sto-,” she began, as she vomited all over the dashboard and herself.
“Good gracious, Catie,” her grandmother pulled the truck to a halt, about 100 feet or so from the house. “You should have told me you were feeling sick,” reaching across Cat, she pulled napkins from the glove compartment and began wiping at her mess.
Mortified, Cat took the napkins from her and began wiping. “Mimi, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think I was going to be sick. I — I’m so sorry. Let me clean it up. Really.”
She kept shrugging off Mimi’s attempts to assist her. Throwing up everywhere was bad enough; but having someone else clean it up would only make it worse.
“Let’s get your stuff inside. You can wash up, and then you can clean the truck out,” Mimi decided, getting out of the truck and grabbing Cat’s bag from the back.
Annoyed with herself, Cat opened the door and hopped out. She was just brushing a few remaining chunks of vomit from her jeans when she looked up and saw him. The sun was behind him creating a perfect silhouette so she couldn’t see his face. But she knew those curls, and the confident stride. Landon. And that was her last thought before she passed out cold on the grass, still wet with morning dew.
Chapter Four
Cat stood in the front of her full-length mirror; this was maybe the seventh outfit she’d tried on so far. Examining herself carefully, she finally nodded. Yes, this one was perfect for the party. It was cut just right to be sexy while remaining classy at the same time. It was a navy halter dress she had gotten recently at BCBG Max Azria. The high ruffles around the collar offset the lower-than-she-would-usually-wear neckline. Its pleated skirt was crisp, polished, and cut well above the knee. It was perfect for her debut as one of the most popular rising seniors at Spence next year. And this party would be just the place to make her new title known. She was one of the Spence Seven. Before graduating each year, the Spence Seven, or the seven most popular girls in the senior class, carefully choose seven juniors to bestow the much-coveted title upon. Junior girls grew anxious in the spring, all wondering if they would become part of the Spence Seven. Cat hadn’t even thought about it. Her thoughts had been consumed with Landon when she heard the news that she had been one of “the chosen ones”. She had always thought it would be fabulous to be one of the queen bees and control the social calendar at her school, but who wouldn’t? However, she had never made it a priority. Maybe that’s why she’d received the honor. She had remained cool and collected, while other girls had fallen over themselves, running errands and doing deeds for the current elite. Cat turned once more in the mirror before grabbing her Louis and heading out the door. Her iPhone beeped.
It was a text from Landon. “RU ready? B there N 5.”
She smiled, “CU soon,” and sent her text as she hopped joyfully down the stairs.
Lili was at the bottom, pleading with her mother to attend the party as well.
“Mom,” Lili’s voice whined, “This is THE party! It’s Samuel’s last one of the school year and everyone who’s anyone is going.”
“Lili, you know Samuel Alden would NEVER let a freshman into his party. He doesn’t even invite sophomores,” Cat’s voice reasoned with her.
“See Lili, listen to Cat,” her mother said, patting a furious Lili on the head, as she ducked away, “You have finals to study for anyway.”
“So does Cat!” Lili shrieked.
“But Cat was invited and her father and I are allowing her to go,” the finality in her mother’s tone sent a sulking Lili up the stairs, but not before shooting an icy glare at her sister.
“Have fun,” Lili barked, stomping up the stairs.
Cat’s mother sighed.
“You look lovely, Cathleen,” she smiled, “Just don’t let your father see you in that dress. He’ll say it’s too grown up for you.”
“But you bought it for me,” Cat reminded her.
“I know,” her mom laughed, “It would get me in trouble, too!”
Cat saw Landon’s black car pull up outside, and turned to give her mother a quick hug goodbye.
“I’ll be home by midnight,” she said turning towards the door.
“Oh, you can stay out later tonight, I guess,” her mother said with a sly smile.
“Seriously?!” Cat spun on the spot and stared at her mother in disbelief. They hardly ever let her stay out past curfew.
“You’ve worked hard this year, sweetie. You deserve a night to let loose a little bit — a LITTLE bit,” her mother held the door open for her, “Have fun!”
“Love you!” Cat gave her a kiss on the cheek and practically danced to the car where Landon was waiting.
She was all smiles when she slid into the back seat beside him.
“Let me guess,” Landon studied her face curiously, “You aced your Chem. final?”
“Yes, but that’s not why I’m smiling.”
“What then?”
“No curfew tonight!” Cat squealed with excitement.
“Geez, Cat. Only dogs can hear you at that pitch,” he held the ear that was closest to her.
“Haha,” she responded.
“Guess what?” Landon urged her.
Her eyebrows drew together in thought, “What?”
“No curfew for me, either!” he imitated her high pitch squeal.
Cat ignored the fact that he was making fun of her and threw her arms around him.
“Ahhh! Rock on! I thought you were still grounded,” Cat exclaimed.
“Well, I was. Mom is making an exception for tonight. End of the year party and all that. Before I left, she told me that I’d served my time and I could stay out as late as I wanted.”
“No way!”
“Yeah well, I told her you would be with me the whole night. I think she trusts that you’ll keep me out of trouble,” he said with a wink.
“Well, she’s right. You know what I would do to you if you ever touched that stuff again,” Cat informed.
“What?”
Cat began a wild karate chop and scream that sent them both doubling over in laughter and elicited some curious looks from Landon’s driver. Landon karate chopped back with tickling fingers at Cat’s mid-section.
“Stop, stop, stop,” Cat laughed with tears streaming down her face, “You’re going to make me pee!”
Landon carried on an exaggerated imitation of Cat’s karate moves, until the town car finally came to a halt in front of one of the most massive and ornate townhouses on the Upper East Side.
The home of Samuel Alden could make any aspiring socialite green with envy. His father was Vice President of Goldman Sachs and his mother the president of Junior League, which meant Samuel was often left unattended, while his parents worked and served on their various committees. The pampered lifestyle of one of Manhattan’s young elite served Samuel well; and, he always threw the most lavish of parties to show it off. He attended Dalton but knew Landon from summer camps together in Maine as tweens. This party would be the who’s who among prep school princes and Park Avenue princesses.
Landon helped Cat remove the mascara that had run down her
cheeks.
“I think you’ve got it all, Cat,” Landon commented as she scrutinized her appearance in her compact mirror.
“Cat, seriously. You look really good. Great even,” he hurried her along, opening the door and extending his hand to help her out.
“Are you sure?” she tilted her head to the side. He knew she was fishing for compliments, but he told her again anyway.
“You look great. If I liked you that way, I’d even say you were hot,” he winked.
“Aww, thanks,” she grinned, “But don’t say I’m hot. That would just be weird.”
He laughed and led her up the stone steps to the door. He turned the doorknob as he said, “Here’s to your first party in the Spence Seven.”
“How did you-?” she began.
“Word travels fast,” he swung the door open to reveal an immense foyer with a winding staircase leading to the floors above.
Wall to wall, the mansion was packed with glittering young heirs and heiresses. Tonight was the night to let down their guard and enjoy a little reckless pleasure. To reward themselves for all the hard work they put into classes, ensuring their future place in the Ivy League.
Champagne danced through the room on silver platters, music blared from the deejay booth in the solarium, there was an open bar in the billiards room, and keg stands were going on in the kitchen, for the less distinguished.
“I think your new status calls for a drink,” Landon called over the heavy pounding of the bass. He snatched two champagne flutes off a passing tray and handed one to Cat.
“To the Spence Seven, may your senior year with them be everything you could wish for.” They drank deeply.
“I have one,” Cat shouted, “To you. Wait, no. To us — may our senior year be as entirely fabulous as we are!”
“Here, here!”
They clinked their glasses and finished the champagne in one gulp.
“I think someone’s going to get drunk,” Landon gave Cat a knowing look.
“Landon Jennings, I hardly ever drink. I can count the number of times I’ve been drunk on one hand,” she held up three fingers.
“I know,” Landon smiled, “Every time you were with me. I’m just saying, tonight calls for celebration.”
“Well, my mom did say I could let loose,” Cat raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
“In that case, I’m going to get you an amaretto sour,” Landon walked towards the billiards room.
“Two,” Cat shouted after him.
She had never felt the desire to let loose quite in that sense before, so she was taking full advantage of it. Many of her friends drank and partied; most of them thought it was part of the package that came with being young and wealthy. Cat didn’t agree. Alcohol held no mystery for her. She never saw the appeal of getting wasted and doing stupid things that would inevitably be caught on someone’s camera phone and end up on Facebook the next day. No thank you. She would rather watch the scene unfold and be able to tell people what they had done the night before. That was how she spent her time at these parties. Watching, not joining. That, and trying to keep Landon out of trouble.
The only times when she had gotten slightly inebriated herself were when Landon had insisted that she deserved to get a little crazy every once in a while.
Meghan Taylor appeared suddenly at Cat’s side. She was one of Cat’s best girlfriends and a new member of the Spence Seven.
“Congrats, my friend,” she said, giving Cat a warm embrace.
“And to you as well,” Cat returned, “You look fabulous. Marchesa?”
“Of course, BCBG?” Meghan appraised Cat’s ensemble.
“Well spotted.”
“Love it!” Meghan exclaimed.
Guessing whom each other was wearing was an old game among their clique. It never grew old. Cat was very good at it, since she often attended the Bryant Park fashion shows with Landon’s mother. She was an upper level exec at Ralph Lauren. Since she didn’t have a daughter and Landon showed no interest in attending, she always took Cat as her date.
Meghan grabbed her hand suddenly, “Come with me! You will never guess who’s been staring at you since you walked in the door.”
“Who?” Cat was very curious. She had never dated anyone, and the fact that someone had been staring at her made her more curious than flattered.
“Matt Darlington,” Meghan squealed.
Matt was a player to say the least, but to say he was gorgeous would not do him justice. Cat couldn’t help but admit her heart skipped a beat when she heard his name.
“Oh,” she tried to remain coolly unaffected, “I wonder why?”
“Because you look totally hot!” Meghan informed her, annoyed at Cat’s refusal to accept how attractive she was.
Cat blushed.
“No, I really don’t,” Cat shook her head, “I mean this dress looks good. But I — I don’t know.”
“Ugh!” Meghan rolled her eyes, exasperated as Landon approached with drinks. “Landon! Landon, tell Cat how hot she looks.”
“I don’t think I’m allowed to say that,” he replied, handing Cat her drink, “It would be weird, right?”
Cat gave him a playful poke to his ribs.
“You should go talk to him.” Meghan urged.
“Who?” Landon inquired.
“Matt Darlington,” Meghan shot back, as Cat opened her mouth to speak.
“Sick! You can’t be serious!” Landon looked appalled.
Meghan looked at Cat, confused by Landon’s strong response.
“To say Landon dislikes Matt would be a gross understatement,” Cat informed.
“Why? Because he gets all the girls,” Meghan asked.
“Ha! No, I am not jealous of Matt and his myriad of sexually transmitted diseases, thank you very much,” Landon snarled.
“They were friends when they were little and Matt stole a Thomas the Tank Engine toy from FAO Schwartz, then blamed it on Landon and he got in trouble for it,” Cat answered, “They were six.”
Meghan looked back and forth between the two of them, “You two know way too much about each other.”
A hand clasped onto Landon’s shoulder; it was Samuel Alden — their generous host.
“So good of you to come, my man,” Samuel stretched his hand out to greet Landon.
“Good to be here,” Landon responded with a firm handshake.
“Cat, you look stunning as always,” Samuel said smoothly kissing her hand. “Meghan, good to see you with clothes on.”
“Screw you, Samuel,” Meghan snapped, clearly affronted.
“I believe you already did that,” he calmly replied, “Remind me to pay you later.”
“What’s with the bow tie, Sam?” Cat inquired trying to break the tension. “Are you trying to channel Chuck Bass with that look?” She knew comparing him to the Gossip Girl character always got under his skin. Funny enough, Samuel did favor him — both in looks and in style. One might think he watched the show for fashion advice.
“That fag has nothing on me,” Samuel replied, touching his hand slightly to his bow tie; and turning to Landon, he changed the subject, “You smoke Cubans, right?”
“Who doesn’t?” Landon’s response had a note of sarcasm that only Cat could detect.
“Let me show you my new humidor. We’ll have a smoke.” Samuel turned to lead Landon up the stairs, away from the party, “Ladies.”
“Samuel,” Cat nodded.
Meghan turned her head away, refusing to acknowledge him.
“Wait, Landon,” Cat called quickly, stepping after him. “Give me my other drink. I’ll need it to loosen me up if I’m going to talk to Matt.”
“Well, just don’t catch the clap,” said Landon, handing over the other glass.
“Oh, yes. That’s just what I had in mind for our conversation,
‘Hi. My name’s Cat. Want to have sex in the bathroom?’” she rolled her eyes at him and took her drink.
“Touché,” Landon smiled. “See you in a bit then.”
“Sure,” Cat smiled. “Landon,” she called. He turned to her once more. “You’re not going to do anything else up there, are you?” her voice was lowered so only he could hear.
“No, Cat,” he squeezed her hand. “I promised you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, alright,” Cat squeezed back. “Have fun.”
If Cat had known that was the last time she would see her best friend alive, she would have never let go. Landon was dead. She had found him herself, only a couple of hours later. She had watched them lower his body into the ground. He was gone; of that she was certain. But if Landon was dead, who had she seen as she stepped out of Mimi’s truck? The sensation of movement brought her back, strong arms were holding her. Who was carrying her now? Her eyes flickered open as he laid her gently on the bed. She stared into the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.
Chapter Five
Despite her messy, vomit-covered appearance, she was beautiful — of that there could be no denying. But he couldn’t help but think how breakable she looked, as he laid her down on the bed and stepped back to observe the scene unfold. Mimi was already rushing into the room with a cold washcloth and checking Cat’s pulse. Her eyes were open but she hadn’t spoken yet. Landon. That’s what she had called him, right before passing out. He had been finishing up some work in the barn when Mimi had arrived home with her. He had come out to offer to help with the bags when she had turned to him and then instantly crumpled to the ground. She made him uncomfortable and he had no idea why. That was annoying. Mimi was helping Cat sit up in the bed; her eyes were burning holes into him. Why was she looking at him that way?
“Catie, this is Luke,” she followed Cat’s gaze to the stranger in the room. “Luke is your new neighbor, and my right-hand man on the farm. He’s going to be a senior at Watauga, like you.”
What Cat Lost (The Last Life of Cat Book 1) Page 4