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There was a sixty percent chance that all of this was just some very strange, very elaborate dream. What other possible explanation could there be? Things like this didn't happen to her, not to Piper. Sure, the silver spoon came standard with the crib and all, but even so this was on an entirely different level - to the point where the only logical way any of it fit together was it being, well, a dream. It would explain so much and so easily to boot. It would explain why she was in Colorado of all places rather than sighing and rolling her eyes through yet another Chapin family dinner. It would explain why this residence seemed far more palatial than her own home, which was still larger than most homes the common man settles into. But most importantly of all it would explain how she was there with the arm of Elaine Carrington. 

When their paths crossed at Strathmore, Piper didn't leave their first meeting thinking that they'd become anything, least of all involved. Even amongst the Strathmore Elite the name Carrington turned heads while the name Chapin flew so far under the radar it was a wonder when anyone took notice at all. Maybe that's why they hit it off. Piper didn't have or care about some familial reputation and didn't feel the need to buddy up with Elaine because of who and what her family meant. Piper was just glad at the prospect of someone being able to hold their own in a pick up game for a change. Granted, the chances of a pick up game happening here in Colorado seemed slim, not just from the snowy conditions but because it just seemed like many of the family Carrington would scoff at the notion of getting sweaty in athletics. 

To the shock of Piper, it took more convincing on the behalf of the Father Carrington for her to come than it did her own family. The holiday break was typically a time Piper came up with some excuse to not take the flight home; her family was more than she could ask for - Connor aside, of course - but now that she was older, slightly wiser, and in that little period after angst and before responsibility the last thing she wanted to do was spend the break in an empty home. An empty dorm room was somehow more preferable. All it took was a phone call. Once Vera heard the news, that Piper was dating Elaine Carrington, Vera could not have agreed to the arrangement more eagerly. It was almost worrying. 

Surely meeting the rest of he Carrington clan had to be preferable to twiddling her thumbs in a dorm room, watching whatever happened to be on an ESPN feed. And if not...well, there was always chess and beverages with Elaine - Piper had been studying techniques and was bound to get that illusive victory one of these days. 

The raven haired girl stood outside the lodge doorway with nerves and questions swirling about in her head. What if they hate me? What if they ignore me? A series of what if scenarios playing out negatively in her mind. She couldn't show it, for Elaine's sake. It wouldn't do well for Piper to look intimidated; these rich types could smell it in a person, at least that's what her father always said. In a sea of sharks, that being those with a considerable amount of spending cash, it was swim or die. Piper was here to swim. 

The smile given to her by Elaine before opening to lodge doors certainly gave Piper cause to dive into the waters headfirst. 

Now she knew she had to be dreaming. It just seemed so surreal; but that would have to stay inside her own mind - the reality was clear. Piper was here. Piper was here as a guest of Elaine. Piper was here BECAUSE of Elaine, and Piper was here FOR Elaine. That's what friends did. Girlfriends especially. Even now, as she was following along into the lodge proper, Piper wasn't quite sure when it had happened, her and Elaine becoming a 'thing'. A simple meeting over a would-be friendly game of chess (which Piper lost rather swiftly) turned into more meetings for various purposes. A different sort of game. A request for tutoring. An invitation to watch basketball. Spend enough time around someone and people get to talking. It was Piper who brought the topic up. Over a game of chess, as she recalls. Just before Piper lost yet again, before checkmate was called, the question just sort of fell out of her. [color=chartreuse]"Hey, are we, like, dating?"[/color] 

If the response wasn't answer enough, the smile and Piper's presence here in Colorado certainly were. 

Piper kept quiet as Elaine dealt with the hired help - that sounded better than butler or servant or whatever the term was, but took in the sights in the hall, namely the decor and architecture. It was certainly impressive. Was this where Elaine grew up? It seemed like a place where everything echoed because everyone spent time alone. Snow might be on the ground but inside the lodge it all felt...colder, somehow. Maybe she was thinking too much into it. She did that when she had enough time to be alone with her thoughts. 

[color=chartreuse]"We're not sharing a room?"[/color] Piper asked Elaine, catching the tail end of Elaine's conversation with the help. Of course it made sense, given their age and the presence of guest rooms, but it still came as a surprise. [color=chartreuse]"I hope your siblings aren't bringing spouses or something; nothing kills the mood like separate bedrooms."[/color] Piper attempted to keep a stiff upper lip about the whole situation in the only way she knew how. Taking little jabs and jokes when she could get away with them. Someone had to have a loose tie.

[color=chartreuse]"Don't you wanna say hello to, like, your parents or something first? Actually what am I saying, who wants to do that first? Sure, let's scope out the rooms and then I dunno, maybe you can give me the tour? Like...'this is the room where my mother fired a butler for putting the salad fork on the wrong side of the plate' or something."[/color] A positive attitude went a long way with Piper, it was how she could keep challenging Elaine to chess. 

[color=chartreuse]"But seriously, Elaine, thanks for bringing me. If nothing else, at least this thing won't entirely suck with me around, right?"[/color] Piper glanced towards Elaine, wanting to return the earlier smile given with a shrug of her shoulders and a hopeful expression in her eyes. As of now Piper Chapin was just a visitor and it was all she could do to keep from getting thrown out into the cold.[/center]