SILENT GUARDIAN ◦ STILINSKI; REWRITE [1]

nine; party guessed

PARTY GUESSED
(HAS NOT BEEN REWRITTEN)

Their strawberry-blonde friend made her way into the center of Allison's bedroom, an extra pep in her step, three large Macy's bags dangling from her hands. "Clear your schedules. This could take a while." Lydia chirped, a smile on her face.

With a soft chuckle, Allison grinned as Lydia set the three bags onto her bed.
Carter and Allison stood beside Lydia, the birthday girl sifting through a seemingly never ending amount of dresses. "How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?" Carter asked in between her and Allison's soft chuckling.

"It's my birthday party," Lydia stated. "I'm thinking host dress," Pulling out a strapless, striped dress, holding it up to her figure. "Evening dress, then hmm after-hours casual."

Allison glanced at Carter in uneasiness, the taller brunette immediately being able to tell that there was something on her friend's mind.

Clamping her hands together, Allison cautiously pointed out: "I noticed that you didn't send out any invites."

Lydia rolled her eyes at the idea, pulling out yet another striped dress, "Biggest party of the year, Allison. Everyone knows."

Allison nodded and continued: "I was wondering if maybe this year things, you know, might be different."

"Why would anything be different?" Lydia asked, completely oblivious to what Allison was hinting at.

"Just 'cause things have been off lately," Carter laughed nervously, Allison nodded her head in agreement. "Things and people. Like Jackson."

Lydia instantly froze, her body going tense as her gaze moves away from the dresses and over to Carter. "What do you care about Jackson?"

Carter was silent for a moment before innocently asking: "Do you know if he's coming tonight?"

"Everyone's coming," Lydia announced, grabbing a tan dress. "This one's American Rag. Mmm, I love it. For me, not you two. This one's Material Girl. That's for you." Lydia held out a floral patterned dress in front of Allison. "And Carter, this one's for you."

Carter reached out and took the white dress from Lydia's hand, a small smile growing on her face as her eyes scanned the dress. It was simple, dressy at the same time. The dress would go about mid-thigh on Carter's tall form. The top half was a decorative white-lace pattern, while the bottom half was solid white - a thin brown leather belt separated the two.

A soft knock caused all the three girls to stop looking at their dresses and glance at the door, seeing Victoria Argent standing in the doorway, watching them with a smile. Carter narrowed her eyes slightly and looked away from her, she mindlessly began to finger the material of her dress.

"Mrs. Argent," Lydia greeted, holding a short blue dress up to herself. "What do you think of this one?"

"It's lovely," Victoria answered, nodding absently, her gaze soon falling upon Allison. "Allison, uh, can I grab you for a moment to talk? Just the two of us."

"Um, can we do it later?" Allison asked, seeming distracted and only wanting to hang out with Carter and Lydia. The strawberry-blonde and brunette continued to dig around the dresses, ignoring the mother-daughter conversation completely.