Seraphine stirred as she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Miss Cavanaugh, would you like breakfast?" She opened her eyes, squinting in the sunlight that shone in through the windows to find a fresh faced stewardess leaning over her. The meal cart next by her seat drew her attention, prompting her to recollect the question.

"Sure, thank you." A tray of steaming scrambled eggs, orange juice and a fruit salad was set on the table in front of her. Lisa Parker, emerging socialite, beauty queen and Seraphine's best friend sat across from her, already mostly through with her meal.

The memory of how they'd met hit Seraphine then, as she watched the woman take another bite of fruit. It'd been six years ago, and they'd both been dragged to some stuffy charity dinner of some sort, bonding over the absurdity of hosting such an ostentatious night for charity. The peak of our teen angst phase, she thought with a smile. Since then, they'd been inseparable.

Lisa's dark eyes moved up to meet her ice blue gaze. The blonde woman's whole body was covered in a large blanket as she ate, her shoulder-length hair perfectly framing her face. She grinned at her friend brightly, the embodiment of Seraphine's polar opposite. Where Lisa rose with the sun to a productive morning of yoga and kale smoothies, her best friend awoke before noon if she was lucky, to a lot of grumbling and whatever leftovers were in the fridge.

"Mornin' Sera." She flashed a smile before turning her attention back to the fashion magazine in her hand, no doubt screening the pictures and articles for pieces she somehow did not yet have in her immense collection of clothing, both luxury and not.

Lisa shook her head as her companion just grunted in response. Sera straightened up, her reflection in the window catching her attention. Her dark hair sat oddly on one side of her head where she'd slept on it, the ends grazing the middle of her back.

She'd opted for no makeup that particular day, knowing it would just smear on the flight anyway. Absentmindedly running a stick of lip balm over her lips, she met her own gaze, jostling a distant memory. She glimpsed flashing lights for an instant before focusing back into the present, refusing to let her unease gather.

Without looking up Lisa sighed dramatically. "You don't have to check, you're gorgeous."

Seraphine flashed her a dry smile as she tore into her croissant. "Yeap, miss eye bags and dry skin, I'm your girl."

A snort sounded from across the aisle. A shapely redhead sat there finishing up her own breakfast, dolled up in winter finery and a full face of expertly applied makeup, complete with a subtle hateful look aimed at Seraphine. "Nothing a little effort couldn't fix, babe." She said around a smile that more closely resembled a sneer.

"Gee, thanks Claire. Always a pleasure." She responded sweetly, returning Claire's grin with her own, much more convincing, fake. The other woman huffed, putting her headphones back on as her attention turned back to the movie on her phone.

Lisa gave her friend a hard look, brandishing her fruit fork like a weapon. "Hello? More miss cheekbones and thick lips, don't make me go over there."

She couldn't help but laugh, conceding this time since she hadn't woken up feeling completely shit. "How long have you been awake?" Lisa put the magazine down and relaxed into her seat, shrugging out of the blanket to reveal the light pink sweater clinging to her willowy body.

"A while, I couldn't sleep because of the ruckus in the lavatory," she cringed as if she had just remembered something awful. Sera laughed.

At the severity of the expression, her laughter died on a wince. "Tell me Michael didn't wreck the plane..."

She held her hands up. "I make no promises. If I hadn't known I would have thought there was a bear in there. You're lucky you can lie down and just pass out."

Sera cringed, voice dropping to a pointed whisper. "Maybe you shouldn't have invited one of Michael's friends with benefits?"

Lisa lowered her voice as well, looking exasperated. "Hey, it's not my fault he goes after most of the women in the vicinity!" She put her magazine down. "She was my friend first anyway." Eyes pleading, she said, "and you know me, I couldn't not invite her when she asked me what I was doing over break."

"I dunno what redeeming qualities you see in that girl. She's had it out for me since day one, obviously." She took a bite of bread. "I've never said one bad thing to her, and it's been like, a year!"

Lisa shrugged. "You know how she is, territorial as hell and you're chummy with her man." She cringed at the notion of someone finding her brother attractive.

Sera threw her hands up. "Not by my choice." She joked, the jab hanging in the air for a moment before they fell into a fit of giggles. "For real though, who's going to tell her that he's less hers and more communal?"

Lisa winced. "Yeah, I don't have the heart. Plus, it's none of my business anyway, I warned her going in."

Sera shook her head, an exasperated look inevitably making its way to her face. "Anyway, it's a good thing she has her own place, or we'd have to deal with the two of them the entire trip."

Lisa groaned. "This is so Mike with his thirsty ass hounding every functioning vagina within a 500 mile radius."

"Just don't let my parents hear you say that, they love him for some reason, and I don't have the heart to break it to them. Took everything in me to convince them to let me go on this trip, in the first place. Thank you to your dad by the way, for letting me tag along."

Lisa shrugged. "Hey, it's not like the cabin doesn't have the space, and we were taking the jet anyway." She donned a serious expression. "Plus you've never been skiing and I wasn't about to let that fly."

"You're just lucky your best friend is an academic genius with exemplary negotiating skills or my parents would have never even consider letting me anywhere near this trip."

She heard the door to the lavatory open before Michael came by, his cream sweater highlighting just how golden his naturally tanned skin was, which he was well aware of. "Hey Mike, is the toilet still intact?" She asked, grabbing the fabric at his back. Her grip raised the hem enough to reveal four thin scratches along one side of his lower back, disappearing beneath his jeans. He stopped and peered at her, flashing a charming smile.

If she hadn't known him for as long as she had, she may have swooned. Michael was model material, with his wavy, dirty-blonde hair and strong jawline. His outfit perfectly accented his overall muscular frame.

"All I noticed was that the walls were still standing." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You want to test them out?"

Lisa snorted softly. "Give those poor walls a break would you?" She said, rolling her eyes.

He stole some of her juice which earned a playful slap in the chest from Lisa, and returned to his seat across the aisle. Michael began tucking into his own tray of food, having to do so one handed as evidently it was imperative Claire have a tight grip of at least one of his hands at all times.

Clair flashed a smug look at the side of the brunette's head as she leaned forward so her generous breasts half-spilled from the bodice of her cowl neck sweater. "How's breakfast tasting?" Michel smirked up at her, untangling his fingers from hers to tug at her collar. "Bet I'd enjoy dessert a lot better."

Sera directed a faux gag at Lisa as she stood up, who snorted around her juice. She walked into the lavatory, before the pair decided it was time for the next course, and sighed in relief to find it intact. Making quick work of business, she walked back out to found the two of them still going at it. If that's a peek of areola I'm seeing, Lisa will never hear the end of it.

She sat down to Lisa's pleading look. "Please stop that love fest over there? I just puked in my mouth."

Sera caught a smidge of the conversation, if you could even call it that, and immediately agreed it had to stop. "Hey Claire? Is yours the LV Horizon? I could have sworn I saw it spilled open back there." She winced. "Some pretty expensive looking creams rolling around too."

That had her attention as she bolted to her feet. "What?!" She stomped over to the baggage hold, muttering to herself with a murderous look on her face.

Lisa laughed and pushed the tray in front of her away. A blueberry hit the side of Sera's head. She turned to see Mike's irritated look. "Not cool Sarah."

She winked, laughing along with his sister. "May not be the help you wanted, but it's the type you needed, Mikey." He rolled his eyes as he returned to his meal, though she knew he wasn't all that choked up about it. Mike never really showed interest for longer than a few days at a time anyway.

Claire strutted over not too long after, hip clipping Sera's elbow, jostling the water in her hand enough to send it spilling to her lap. Lisa directed an irritated look at her brother, before turning to her. "What the hell, Claire?!"

Michael shot to his feet, grasping her elbow. "Are you serious, C?"

Her apologetic look was devoid of any sincerity, as she looked amongst the three of them, finally settling on Sera. "Oops, I'm so sorry babe!" So we're reverting back to kindergarten tactics now? Okay.

She shook her head, dabbing at her lap. "No worries, it was an honest mistake. I know you aren't used to those new heels yet." Lisa was obviously trying to figure out what her friend was upto as she stood, approaching the other woman with a sweet look on her face. Sera looked around the petite redhead at Michael. "You mind helping me get my bag out, Mikey?" Her look turned pleading. "I think they loaded my bag in first, and everything just looks so heavy."

His amusement surfaced for just a moment before he made his face neutral. "Of course, Sarah." She usually wouldn't play Claire's game, but the witch has been pulling her shit consistently without any repurcussions from me for too long now, she thought. The woman in question was clearly fuming at not being able to do anything but return to her seat and watch her walk way with 'her' man. Try your shit again, girl.

"Sorry she always give you so much crap. Gotta give you props though, you got her back pretty good." Michael whispered as she grasped the crook of his arm. "Want to seal it with a kiss?"

She laughed, shoving at him. "Not on your life."

He shrugged, smiling. "Well, you can't ever say I don't shoot every shot."

She rolled her eyes. "That, you do."

They made quick work of getting her bag out, walking back over to the lavatory near their seats, looking as friendly as they'd ever been. This man can really lay it on thick, huh? He leaned in, tugging at her top. "You best get out of this right now, not much space in there." He said, gesturing to the small cubicle.

She didn't know what angle he was playing at but didn't argue, curious as to how this would play out. He gripped the hem of the tank top she had on underneath to keep it from coming up as she pulled the jumper over her head. "Thanks." She took the fresh crewneck from his hand before going into the lavatory.

Claire's shrill half of the ensuing argument rang clearly throughout the cabin as they began to get into it, getting louder for a moment as they passed by the door on the way to the back of the plane. Sera didn't pay it much mind, pulling off the soaked tank top and throwing on the new sweater.

Returning to her seat, she refused to even turn to the mess behind her. Lisa piped up then. "So that was a lot." She threw the wet clothes onto the seat beside her, flashing Lisa a look that read 'you think?' She scratched at her neck, looking apologetic. "My bad."

They kept the conversation light after that, doing their best to ignore the commotion at the back. After a while, it became eerily quiet, followed by the sound of the lavatory door opening behind Sera. She looked up to see Michael slipping in behind Claire. "Need to go?" He smirked.

"Why? You looking to join us?"

"Not even in your wildest dreams."

"It's a good thing my dreams are extremely wild then." He said over his shoulder as he swiftly shut the door.

"How do you take that all the time?" Lisa asked, tone exasperated.

She shrugged. "Like you don't." Lisa had been hunted by almost half of the boys of their male student body and had already dated a majority of that crowd, deeming them all unworthy. Oh wait, that was my job, warding her away from trash men.

"Please, I don't know if I could handle the amount of testosterone you do." Sera giggled at her overly dramatic face.

She couldn't deny that she attracted her fair share of attention. Not that I ever did anything with it anyway, she thought. That's what happens when they ogle first, and say 'hi' later. She shrugged. "I don't know if I'd call it 'handling' more denial at this point." Lisa stood up and stretched.

"I can't wait to get to the cabin. I'm so sleep deprived right now." The lavatory door began to shake. Lisa groaned. She cupped her delicate hands around her mouth. "That better be nothing more than vigorous hand washing being done in there." We got a grunt in response. Lisa slumped back onto her seat and rubbed her face. "So gross."

"Very." The banging got more consistent as the grunting began. Sera turned as far as she could. "Seriously guys, I don't want to hear that!"

***

The plane landed on the runway behind the Parkers' large log cabin. With seven bedrooms, a large kitchen, living room, dining room and five bathrooms, the two storey structure was a beast of a house. Behind it was the parking bay for the cars.

They walked out of the aircraft, three butlers coming to pull the luggage from the cargo area. A portly woman stepped out after them. Lisa hugged her. "Hi Mrs. Lindsey. This is my friend Sarah." Lisa said, nudging her forward. The woman immediately pulled her into a big bear hug like they'd known each other forever.

She held Sera at an arms' length away. "So this is the famous Seraphine!" She said, giving her a once over.

She smiled politely. "Nice to meet you." As she stared into her warm eyes and flushed cheeks, she decided she'd like this lady very much. Mrs. Lindsey slapped her head.

"Oh, you kids must be tired. Here I am taking my own sweet time while we freeze out here." She walked to the cabin with everyone in tow. "Come on inside, I've made all of you hot chocolate." Entering through the back door, they stepped into an empty kitchen. As they were led through a wooden arched door by the far side of the room, the group moved into the dining room.

The long table in the centre of the room could have easily fit fifteen people, though only eight chairs had been set up. Laden with large, porcelain plates filled with cookies, chocolate filled croissants and a myriad of other pastries. Mrs. Lindsey ushered them to dig in, placing a large cup of hot chocolate before each person. She excused herself to go see to the rooms and disappeared through a pair of dark wood, sliding doors.

Sera silently enjoyed the spread before them, simply listening in as the other three animatedly spoke about what they were looking forward to this trip. Mrs. Lindsey came back in to inform them that the rooms were ready.

Moving through the foyer, lit by the sunlight streaming in from the skylight above, Mrs. Lindsey led them to an ivory and dusty pink-themed room. "Lisa and Seraphine, this will be yours." She gestured to the other two. "For Michael, you'll be across the hall."

The room was large and homed two queen-sized beds. Sitting down on the closest one, she sighed, laying back on the bed as Lisa began to change into more comfortable clothes, walking into the bathroom to wash the make-up off of her face. Sera threw on a worn shirt over her underwear, brushing her teeth before climbing under the covers, passing out the moment her head hit the pillow.

Hi everyone, so I actually started this story a while ago and just decided to publish it to see if it was worth persuing....please leave a vote or a comment if you like it! Thanks! :)

P.S. I would just like to say thanks to Luna Delancy for helping me choose my title!

2021 Update:

Hello my lovelies, I know it's been a hot minute since I've been active on Wattpad and I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have continued to support my work over the years. It's crazy to think back to my start on this platform. Every one of you have been such a huge part of this journey of mine and I am happy to report that starting this month I will be trying to get back to regularly posting, focusing on this book to start, in between editing MDM. I do hope you'll have me again, and join me on this next part of my story on Wattpad.

For those of you who have followed Beautifully Tainted from the start, I'm sure you can tell that there has been a major rewrite done to Chapter 1. I've unpublished the other chapters as well to accomodate the new direction I have in mind for this book. I do hope y'all will enjoy this new version of the story, but as always, do let me know your thoughts in the comments. I always LOVE to read through as many of those as I can, even when I'm just creeping lolol. So much love <3

-Roxy