Lilly Huff began pulling her clothes out of her suitcase and putting them in the small dresser that sat by the door in the cramped room. Lilly had decided at the last minute to come along with her parents to the ski lodge up in northern Vermont. She was 21 years old and hadn't been on vacation with her parents in several years.
The college student's winter vacation plans had been screwed up when she broke up with her boyfriend, Sam, two nights before vacation. When Lilly had accepted her parents invitation she had not realized her mother's brother and wife would be there with their daughter, Angela. Angela was a year older than Lilly and they had been close when they were little. Things between them had changed dramatically as they approached their teens. They had barely been able to be in the same room together for the past ten years. Lilly planned to keep as far away from the nasty little preppy bitch as she could.
"This was a bad idea," Lilly muttered to herself. The only good thing that she could think of was that it was a big resort and her cousin Angela and her parents had a separate cabin.
After Lilly finished her unpacking she threw on the baggy, brightly colored sweater that she had set aside. When Lilly walked back in the living room her mother was waiting there for her. Lilly and her mother, Beth, looked quite similar. They both had long auburn tresses and cleanly beautiful faces that needed no makeup. Lilly stood several inches over her mother at 5' 8" and had a modest chest compared to her mother's generous breasts.
"Honey, when your cousin gets here later I would really like you to make an effort to get along with her. I know she's a little different from you. My brother and I have quite a few differences but we manage to get along," Lilly's mother pleaded with her.
Lilly's green eyes glinted at the mention of Angela. "I tried to be civil last time. She called me a 'dirty hippy' last time we had a family gathering."
"I know it will be hard, just try. It's a big resort so you shouldn't have to see her too much. It's your winter vacation you should be relaxing not arguing," Lilly's mother finished up with a pleading smile.
Lilly took a deep breath and responded with a mumbled "I'll try."
"You could always knock her down from behind on the slopes," joked Lilly's father, Nick, as he exited her parents room. The comment drew a reproachful look from Lilly's mother.
"I'm trying to get them to play nice here, Nicholas," Beth said testily.
"OK, OK. I'm gonna go hit the slopes. I'll see you guys at dinner time." Lilly grabbed her snowboard and headed out the door into the blinding sun.
*****
Lilly's cheeks were red and stinging and her muscles were very sore but she had a great day on the mountain. The stress of the school year seemed a distant memory now and she had even met a cute guy who she was going to meet for drinks later. Walking into the house Lilly could barely see anything coming from the bright sunlight into the dark cabin. She did make out her mother siting on the floral patterned couch over to her right.
"Hey mom," Lilly called as she headed towards her room to grab some dry clothes.
"Hi honey," a mocking voice replied. As soon as she heard the voice Lilly swore under her breath and stopped dead in her tracks. Turning around slowly Lilly eyes had adjusted enough to recognize that it was her cousin Angela sitting on the couch. Lilly was surprised to see her but even more surprised at what her cousin looked like. Angela had always dressed preppy and had long brown hair. She now had on tight jeans that were so low slung that Lilly was sure she had to do some strategic shaving to wear them, her shirt was bright red and tight, while it was long sleeved it left a good portion of her stomach bare. Angela's hair was now bleach blonde and shoulder length.
"Hey Lilly. What brings you over to our cabin?" Lilly asked, trying to keep her voice pleasant for her mother's sake. As she asked the question a vicious ruby smile spread over Angela's face. "Oh, didn't you hear the great news? We get to share this cabin for the week. The resort screwed up the booking." Lilly's mood got darker with each word. She was sure Angela was not happy about the arrangement either but she seemed to enjoy breaking the news to Lilly.
A few seconds later a terrible thought crept into Lilly's mind. She looked around at the small cabin that had two bedrooms and the small living room that had a pull out sofa.
Angela seemed to realize what Lilly was thinking and chimed in with "Yup, we get to be roomies. My parents are going to take the pull out in here." Lilly tried to force a smile onto her face but it came off rather tremulously. This was an absolute nightmare for Lilly. This vacation that had started off so well was going down hill rather rapidly.
Excusing herself Lilly went into her, or now their, room to change. Her temper did not improve when she noticed that some of the clothes she had put in the dresser had been removed to make room for Angela's stuff.
The rest of the day went down from there. The whole family went out for dinner and Angela did nothing but make snide comments disparaging Lilly's appearance and taste's.
Lilly went out for drinks with Kyle which turned out to be a mistake. Kyle was pompous and obnoxious, the only reason Lilly didn't leave after the first drink was that she didn't want to go back to the crowded cabin.
*****