“So…” Jenny says awkwardly after a few moments.

“What happened earlier Jen? Iona seemed really upset, and I heard lots of shouting.”

Jenny cast her glance out the window, biting her lip nervously. “I went on a walk, to the lake. James was there. We got in a fight, and he threw my jacket, and necklace which was in the pocket, in the water. Then he swam in to get them, and left them in that hollow tree nearby. I ran back, and he followed. He must have climbed the vines to his room, on the third floor.”

Deirdre puts her hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “I understand. But why were you mad at the others?”

“I wasn’t. I was just upset, and didn’t know what to do. I should apologize, shouldn’t I?”

Deirdre nods. “Yes. I know they have good intentions, but somehow they felt upset by your behavior. If you let them know what are your real feelings, they’ll surely forgive you.” She smiles softly, making Jenny’s confidence raise a little bit.

“Thank you so much. This piece of advice is truly what I need,” is Jenny’s answer. She takes her friend’s hand, assuring her about doing what she’s just been advised right now.

After an exchange of glances and smiles, Jenny lets go of Deirdre’s hands, before reaching for the stairs to go back to the hall on the first floor, where Iona and the others are still waiting for her. She wants to make things clear among the group; yet, she fears that she’ll receive a cold treatment for how she scowled at them and didn’t even bother apologizing straight away.

She tries to let go of every negative thought trapped in her mind as she walks through each step of the wooden stairs. As soon as she reaches the last step, she’s greeted by a smiling Iona. “Hi, Jenny.”

Jenny smiles back. “Hey. I’m sorry about before, slipping off and coming back mad.” she begins, and goes into the story she told Deirdre.

At the end, the others are gaping. “That jerk! He’s the worst!” Janey shouts.

Iona, Alex, Charlotte, and Lacey agree. “Don’t worry Jen. We all forgive you.” Charlotte says, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

Jenny beams back. “Thanks. Now who-” she’s cut off by a loud knock on the door, and the sound of many voices.

“Open that door!” The knock becomes more and more insistent, as well as louder. Everyone but Jenny makes a step back. She, on the other hand, makes a step forward, leaning towards the doll.

She opens the door, only to find two more girls and two guys. They’re all wet, soaked to the bone and probably feeling cold.

“Come in. I’m gonna take you upstairs so that you have a shower and change into something… uhm… dry,” says Jenny, showing a welcoming smile. The others, barring Lacey, are very diffident, shaking their heads.

“I can’t believe you’re letting them in, Jen!” exclaims Charlotte, earning Janey and Alex’s approval. Iona, on the other hand, is far more dubious at her friend’s statement, even going as far as thinking that she’s being downright rude.

So, she glances at the brunette, hoping to soften her glacial look; however, it doesn’t work as she expected, with Charlotte even looking away in embarrassment.

The group at the door don’t seem to mind the awkward scene in front of them. Although, one of the girls, clears her throat in annoyance. Jenny’s attention snaps back to them, and her friends scatter awkwardly, heading to their rooms. “Follow me.” the strawberry-blonde says, and begins toward the staircase.

She shows them each to a bathroom, getting gracious thanks. Once she has finished doing that, she returns to the 1st floor, and as loud as possible, shouts, “Now, who wants food?”

Her friends’ doors bang open, and they join her. Lacey, who had seemed completely out of it before, now looks excited and bubbly. Alex and Iona seem to have calmed down, while Janey and Charlotte still look irked.

Once again, Jenny apologizes, and offers to cook them dinner.

As Jenny heads to the kitchen to make dinner, Alex follows her, whereas Iona goes back to the second floor to look for Deirdre and extend her friend’s invitation to her, too.

Meanwhile, Lacey is sitting on a couch in the hall, staring at the chandelier hung on the ceiling and wondering whether the shiny glasses on its top look like frozen raindrops or rather resemble more of crystals.

She’s not even bothered at Charlotte and Janey’s negative comments on the new guests Jenny has just brought in, even when the two of them start shouting, earning some negative attention from the rest of the group, excluding Jenny herself.

***

Meanwhile, ignoring the shouting from downstairs, one of the new guests, a tall girl with platinum blonde hair and ice blue eyes has wandered up to the 5th floor. Jenny had mentioned there was a room with clothes that should fit her up there. She checks every room, careful not to disturb things to much.

Inside the last room at the end of the hall, is a large wardrobe. The girl gracefully opens the doors, revealing dresses that must be worth hundreds of dollars. She takes one down, and holds it against herself to see if it would fit. It seems to be the right size, so she closes the door and changes into it.

The pale cyan garment cuts off just below her knees. She smiles, and leaves the room, her soaked shoes still inside. She reaches the staircase, where her best friend, Elizabeth, is standing. “Kaylee! There you are!” she says excitedly.

She has also changed out of her soaked outfit, into a skirt and sweater. Her golden locks fall in curls around her pale face, lighting up her green eyes.

“Oh, Lizzie, you look gorgeous, too!” exclaims Kaylee in excitement, giggling and smiling. “Let’s go downstairs. I guess dinner is ready.”

Elizabeth nods in agreement; then, she and Kaylee make their way back to the first floor to reach the dining room. There, they take seats: Kaylee finds one between Iona and Janey, whereas Elizabeth sits next to an excited Lacey, who greets, “Hi, I’m Lacey. Who are you?”

As Elizabeth introduces herself and her friend not only to Lacey, but also to the entire group, Alex and Jenny come into the dining room, bringing in pots and pans full of delicious meals. Lacey smells the delicious aromas coming from the kitchen, quickly followed by the rest of the group.

“Hmm… I can smell chicken and peas,” comments Deirdre, who has taken the other available seat next to Iona. “Did you make all that stuff by yourself, Jenny?”

Jenny shrugs and shakes her head, blushing a little. “Let’s say Alex gave me some advice,” she replies. Even though he did little, she thinks he still deserves a little credit.

Food is passed around, and soon everyone is enjoying the delicious meal. “So, Kaylee, Lizzie. What brought you here?” Alex asks after a while.

“Well…” Kaylee begins, “We were driving around the countryside, enjoying the nice weather, when the brakes on our car went out. We ended up in a lake a couple miles from here. We had no other choice but to abandon it, and hike to the nearest building, which happened to be this place.”

“I’m glad that we found this hotel and Jenny opened that door, or else we’d still be freezing outside,” continues Elizabeth, glancing sadly at her plate and then at Lacey, who glances back at her.

“Oh, gosh. This seems really bad,” comments Janey, who starts realizing that seeing some new faces may actually beneficial for her and for the rest of the group.

“I’m sorry for being so rude earlier. We’re not… very used to seeing new people around here.” Charlotte says, twirling her fork around.

“Yeah. Same.” Janey adds.

Lizzie smiles. “Thank you. It’s alright. I do wonder, where Harvey and Elliott have gotten too.”

“Good point. Also, where James is.” Iona mutters, causing Jenny to roll her eyes.

“Talking about me?” a voice says from the stairs.

Everyone turns to see three guys standing at the foot of the stairs. One has brown hair and bright green eyes, probably about 5’ 10" and probably from a Brazilian background. Another is dirty blonde, his eyes the color of sapphires. The final one stands about 5’ 8", with ginger hair and black eyes.

Lacey can’t help slobbering a little bit. She knows they’re out of her league mostly because of their age, but also because of their looks. So, she picks a handkerchief and dries her mouth straight away in fear of being caught.

The three guys take seats and serve themselves each a ration of that delicious meal. The blonde-haired boy winks at Lacey, believing that she only slobbered out of hunger, and serves an extra ration for her too. She smiles courteously, muttering a “thank you”.

Jenny is subtly scowling at the Brazilian boy, James. He pays no attention to her, instead making futile attempts to hit on Iona. Charlotte notices the awkward tension, as does Kaylee. “So. Harvey, Elliott introduce yourselves,” she urges.

“Oh, right!” The ginger laughs. “I’m Elliott. He’s Harvey.” He points to the blonde.

Deirdre smiles at Elliott. “Well, I’m Deirdre.” She proceeds to tell him and Harvey who of her friends is who.