Chapter 139 – Ample Distraction – Holly Hayfield

The Christmas party Lilith invited us turned out to be higher profile than she let on. Part of her aunt's job involved mingling with people of the upper class. Those social skills transferred greatly to her ability to entertain visitors from all reaches of the social strata.

It was easy to overlook Margaret Wilson's intelligence due to her jolly spirit, but it would be a mistake to do so. She was astonishingly competent and shrewd when it came to managing people. That's why it shouldn't have been a surprise for me when it turned out that my mother was already invited to the party.

Apparently my mom already received a letter for it a few days ago. She forgot to mention it to me since I was so preoccupied lately. That being the case, we’d be going together. We got dressed up nicely for the event and set off for the freaking mansion that this event was being held at.

I always thought that the Wilson family house was something out of the ordinary, but the ancestral Meredith family estate was far more impressive. It looked like a great house of old, having a prominent main building with distinctive secondary wings. All the Christmas decorations adorning the building couldn't have been cheap or easy to install.

The sight of all the Christmas lights on the place filled me with mixed feelings due to the things that Lilith told me over the phone.

This house was actually the same house that Judith Meredith lived in so long ago. The Meredith family was wealthy and prominent back then, hence how Judith was able to help fund two private school initiatives. Over time their wealth and investments dried out. Lilith's parent's weren't money rich, but inherited a lot of property.

Many of the properties had to be sold just to keep this main house intact. In the time of Judith Meredith she lived here with her family and over a dozen servants. By the time Lilith's parents inherited the place they didn't have enough money on hand to keep it permanently staffed. It was so much trouble, in fact, that the family eventually moved into something smaller and more manageable for them.

Since then, the house was rented out to wealthy visitors, and for community events such as this. All of the Meredith family holdings fell under Margaret's management as Lilith's guardian. Lilith would come into possession of all her inheritance only after she turned 18 and graduated from school. The condition included college since Lilith was planning on attending one.

That's why this Christmas event made Lilith so sour. Lilith largely saw events like this as gaudy and unnecessary. She was being made to attend by her aunt as the sole living member of the Meredith family. The fact that the event was taking place on her family's historical residence was insult to injury. Worse, it was being paid for out of the estate's management fund, money she would otherwise inherit.

Lilith was more than a little salty when she explained all this to me. It was one of the greatest things that she and her guardians didn't see eye-to-eye on. In her aunt's view, she was trying to maintain the legacy of the Meredith family by maintaining its image. The family was always prominent in this community, which is why she placed such great emphasis on events like this.

Lilith didn't believe that or simply didn't care. She just felt it was a waste of time and resources that could be devoted to better things. This was a place that Lilith lived in, for a time, and she didn't want it filled with strangers. The nature of the upkeep costs allowed her to renege on enforcing such a strict view for renting it out, but she didn't like it.

That was the heart of the reason that she wanted her friends to help her endure this night.

My mother and I didn’t stay together long upon arriving. She went to hang out with Margaret who was currently busy talking to a few other adults. I decided to go look for Lilith after politely saying hi to her aunt and uncle. According to her aunt, Lilith left to go change clothes.

Lilith still had a fully stocked bedroom in this house, despite it mostly being used as a rental building. There were a few rooms that were always off limits to guests and Lilith's former bedroom was one of them. I felt, as one of Lilith's friends, such rules wouldn't apply to me. Yet Lilith refused to open the bedroom door once I arrived.

I knocked on the door for a second time.

"Lilith, what's wrong? Why won't you let me in?"

"Go away..." She said weakly.

That was unusual. Could she really be so depressed that she didn't want to talk to me? It's not like I was some random visitor.

"Whatever is wrong, you should talk to me about it." I said. "It'll be better if you have someone to hear you out."

"It... It isn't like that..." She said. "I just..."

There was an audible sigh from the other side of the door. I heard the sounds of her stomping over to come and unlock it. She opened the door and I immediately saw why she didn't want to let me in. She was wearing a green Christmas elf costume with red secondary features. The costume was made even more adorable with red-and-white stockings and shiny red shoes.

"You’re so cute!" I squealed girlishly.

As expected, Lilith shut the door in my face. I laughed at her reaction.

"Oh come on, Lilith, there's no need to be shy! You're adorable!"

"Go away!" She shouted more assertively this time. "I'll come out when I'm ready!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" I sang playfully, "Not until you let me in!"

"Then you can wait out there all night!" She said. "I’ve decided that I don't want to come out after all!"

"Your aunt would never allow that and you know it." I said, trying to suppress a laugh. "Besides, I've got a surprise to show you!"

"A surprise...?" She asked cautiously.

"Yep, it's actually something that I just received downstairs!"

Lilith cracked the door open enough to peek her head out.

"What is it?" She asked.

I reached into my bag to pull out the green-red-and-white reindeer dress that Lilith's aunt gave me.

"Your aunt gave me this when I came in! We're going to be matching!"

Lilith closed the door in my face again.

I changed clothes inside one of the bathrooms and looked over my costume somewhat excitedly. It fit me perfectly. When Mrs. Wilson asked me for my sizes over the phone I thought it would be for a Christmas present. This was a better outcome than I hoped for.

Lilith found it easier to come out of her room when she saw that I was wearing something similar. With me wearing something 'embarrassing' alongside her things would be easier for her, or so she said. The moment that Sam arrived and started laughing hard at both of us, Lilith fled back to the solitude of her bedroom.

Sam was here with not only her older sister, but her actual parents! Her parents were excited to meet me. Supposedly Mrs. Wilson had told them all about me. It blew my mind that Mrs. Wilson knew them. Supposedly she reached out to them back when she learned who Sam was. Lilith’s aunt was more proactive than I thought.

The party was progressing smoothly. I even managed to coax Lilith out of her bedroom using the promise of avoiding the large crowds downstairs. She was nervous about the people that wanted to see her. She came out under the condition that I would help her manage them.

She didn't appreciate being the center of everyone's attention just because she was the last living member of the Meredith family. It was depressing in her mind and made her extremely self-conscious. It was understandable. I supposed that the main reason that Mrs. Wilson wanted to show her off was so that people could see that she was doing well.

Sticking to my promise, Sam and I helped Lilith handle the people coming to speak to her. There was a bit of an unexpected turn as more visitors arrived. They didn't want to see Lilith. They wanted to see me. A few of the families that I regularly did babysitting for ended up coming to the Christmas party.

Naturally they felt inclined to drop their children off on me, which Lilith made a fuss over. Ironically, Lilith's outrage over becoming an assistant babysitter turned out to be a fluke. The kids loved her and treated her like another big sister. She was better at talking to these kids than the adults at the party.

Lilith began a campaign of showing the kids around the house and teaching them about the relevant history throughout the building. It was amusing to learn that Lilith was surprisingly good with children. Going by the smiley expression on her face as she spoke she had probably lost track of herself altogether.

The party was mostly aimed at adults and so the kids had little in the way of entertainment other than themselves and us. They soon grew bored of Lilith's history tour and wanted to do something else. Sam tried to get the kids to arrange a raid on the presents surrounding the Christmas tree in the party room.

Unfortunately for Sam, one of the kids blabbed about the plan to their parents and talked to Sam's parents about it. Sam was taken away for a scolding and the kids were left with only me and Lilith. I decided to arrange a small Christmas sing-a-long in a corner of the main room.

Mrs. Wilson caught wind of what I was doing for the kids and decided to turn it into a larger spectacle. I recently got over my fear of talking in front of crowds during this school year, but singing was a different challenge. Mrs. Wilson handed me a microphone, turned on some music, and expected me to lead the crowd in Christmas carols.

I was embarrassed as hell, and my mom seemed to be the only one that really realized it. Lilith and Sam weren’t willing to help with this. I sort of expected that, but it was still painful. Luckily the crowd happily sang along, which relieved some of my concerns.

My biggest fan was cheering for me louder than anyone else in the crowd. So much so that she drew funny looks by the time everyone else's cheering had stopped. Alyssa finally reigned herself in when she realized that everyone around her had turned to stare at her.

I laughed and walked over to Alyssa to give her a hug. The moment I left, someone else took my place to sing on the mic.

"You decided to wear matching clothes with Lilith?" She asked.

Of course that was the first thing she just had to know.

"This was a last minute thing set up by her aunt."

"We should've worn matching outfits!" Alyssa protested. "You've never worn matching outfits with me. Is it because you like her more?"

I pinched her cheeks playfully, but pinched harder than expected in my irritation.

"Alyssa..." I said tiredly. "Why are you this insecure about something so inconsequential?"

"Will you wear matching clothes with me sometime?" She asked innocently.

"Sure, I guess..." I said with a shrug. "If it makes you happy then I’m willing to do it."

Someone put a hand on my shoulder as I was letting go of Alyssa.

"You made it!" I said when I realized who it was.

"I made it!" Val said with a bit of mirth, "I told my brother about the Christmas party and he told me to get lost for the evening. It looks like I arrived right in time. Your singing was impressive."

"Ugh! You heard that too?" I said, putting my hands over my ears. "Hearing my voice over that microphone makes me want to bury my head in something. I'm glad it's over with."

Jay walked up beside Val.

"I don't know what you're so embarrassed about. You had the crowd captivated." Jay said.

"Oh, hey Jay!" I said. "You came here with Val?"

"No, my parents were invited to this thing also. They've been talking about coming to some big Christmas party for weeks but I had no clue they were talking about something hosted by Lilith's aunt. I was shocked to see her by the door."

"Yeah, Lilith’s aunt is pretty amazing for having set all this up." I said. "This was a much larger turn out than I anticipated."

"Speaking of Lilith, where is she?" Val asked.

I pointed out Lilith sitting down at a table in the corner of the room.

"She looks upset." Alyssa said.

I smiled.

"I don't think she is. I think she just wants to deter other people from approaching her by looking grim." I said.

"That's our Lilith..." Val said.

“Come on, let’s go sit with her.” I said.

For some reason, Val thought that the moment we sat down with Lilith would be the best chance to ask about our matching outfits. I had to grab hold of Lilith's wrist just so that she wouldn't flee to her bedroom again. Val instantly recognized this as something Mrs. Wilson came up with and began laughing.

"You'd never catch me dead in one of those things." Sam said flatly.

"Yeah, yeah... Rub it in..." Lilith said. "Didn't you get pulled aside by your parents just a while ago? Do you have room to be making fun of anyone?"

"Oh shut up!" Sam said with a laugh.

"My parents bought a costume like that for me." Jay admitted. "They want me to wear it on Christmas day when our relatives come to visit. I'll just wait until then to conveniently tell them that the dress they ordered is the wrong size."

Val smirked.

"Shame, I'd like to see that." Val said. "My family doesn't really celebrate Christmas that much. This is a novel experience for me."

"Maybe next year," Jay said.

I put my elbows on the table and rested my head in my hands.

"Next year, huh... 'Next year' is only a few days from now. It feels like the school year is going by so fast." I said nostalgically.

"I know what you mean." Val said. "Things feel slow on the days I'm doing student council work. It's on days like this that I wish time would slow down."

"I can't believe how much things changed for me." Alyssa said quietly.

"You could say that again a little louder." Sam said. "You're not the only one. My life has changed radically since last school year. Back then I never would've imagined that I'd go through as much as I have so far this year."

"Not to mention all the conspiracy stuff about Malorie Noelle and the Killing Cat." Lilith said.

"Yeah, that too..." Sam said.

There was a moment of silence at our table as we all considered things. Then Lilith finally broke the silence by pushing her chair back and standing up.

"I think I'm ready to go home for the night. Do you all want to come to my place?" She asked. "I'm pretty sure my aunt and uncle intend to stay here over night. I’d like an excuse to ditch the party and a sleepover sounds like something my aunt would let me leave for."

We all looked between each other.

"Let’s do it!" I said.