Chapter 1

The buzzer echoed through the house for the third time before Betsy got fed up and called through the screen door. When that didn't work, she yanked the door open and, dropping her lugagge on the floor, marched through the house looking for her friend, Jess. This was the same friend she had phoned when she got off her plane half an hour ago. The same one who had promised to be home when she trudged up Jess' stairs with all her bags, exhausted, sore, and looking for a place to stay for awhile. She was also the same person who was nowhere to be found at the moment.

"Hello, Jess! I swear, I'll get you if you're not here!" Betsy yelled as she stood at the foot of the stairs, thinking about how much she didn't want to climb them at the moment.

"Alright, alright, I'm here. No need for threats." Jess appeared at the kitchen doorway next to the staircase then, her blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail and her face looking more red and freckled, not to mention dirtier, then Betsy remembered. "Sorry I didn't hear you drive up; I was serving lunch out back." She smiled, making her sun-touched face glow with joy. It was Betsy's favorite thing about her old high-school friend. "Boy, but it's great to see you, Bets. I can't tell you how boring it's been since you decided to run off and become an African princess." She stepped forward, and they embraced, spinning around so when they let go, they had switched places.

"Well, it wasn't much fun in Africa without you and the others there to talk to," Betsy admitted. "But it was only two years, and it's not like we didn't keep in touch. Besides, from what I hear, you've all done pretty well for yourselves." She allowed her gaze to move around the immense hallway they stood in. "Especially you, Jess."

"Oh, this house is nothing," she replied. "It's a wonderful old thing, but that's only because it took me two years of practically non-stop work to fix it up. So where are your things? You said you were carrying all your worldly possesions in your carry-on bags. I assumed that meant you had them with you."

"Um, yeah, I left them by the door." Betsy walked past Jess to her bags and picked up a few things. "Where do you want them?"

"I picked out one of the third floor guest rooms for you. It's in the front tower you probably noticed driving up," Jess said. "You can see the whole town from up there, and the sunsets look terrific." She turned around and walked towards the stairs again, this time going up them. Betsy followed, and by the time they got to the third floor, she was panting and out of breath. At the sound of her heavy breathing, Jess turned around, looking horrified. "Oh, you must think I'm just the worst host ever! Here, let me take those for you. It's the door at the end of the hall." She took the bags and stepped back to let Betsy go in front of her. Slowly, the two made their way down the hall, towards the last closed door. "You're really going to love this Bets. It's my favorite room in the whole house. You're not going to believe how great it is, really. I can't wait to show it to you......" Jess babbled on and on, until right before Betsy got to the door, she whirled around to face her.

"What's going on here, Jess?" she asked accusingly, a suspicious look crossing her face. Jess was taken aback.

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on here. Would you go in already? These bags are heavy," she replied, trying to look sincere.

"No, there's something. You never talk like that unless there's something big going on. Usually something that other people don't know about," Betsy said. But after a moment of looking at Jess, who was still trying her best to look angelic and failing miserably, she turned around and flung the door open. It hit something, which immediately let out a little cry of pain, and the door swung to close again before Betsy stopped it with her hand. "What was that? Who's in here?" The lights were off and the window shades were pulled down, but she could still make out figures in the room, and she searched the wall for a light switch. Meanwhile, Jess collapsed against the wall in a fit of giggles.

Finally, Betsy found the switch and flipped it on. The people she saw sitting on the bed, one hunched over and holding her forehead, made her want to scream with joy. She did just that, and Susanne, Pam, and Katrie took it as their cue to stand up and welcome their old "Be-oo-tiful Bets" back home. When they were done, they huddled together at the doorway and stood over Jess. She was still lying in the hallway, her face red, and tears welling up in her eyes. "And what do you have to say for yourself, my dear?" Betsy asked.

"Um, the Fab Five is together again at last?" The others joined her on the floor, then, and they shared a giggle all-around.

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