Stage Fright

Chapter 56 ~ Bail

Heather

"Heather, open your present!" Taylor calls from the other side of the room. I look at the circle of roughly twenty people gathered in her living room. She was making damn sure we stayed on schedule too. 

I lean forward and take the bag with my name on it and smile pulling back the paper. The room seemed quiet, everyone waiting to see if I liked my gift. 

Inside was a sugar scrub, a hair mask and a bath set. It was quite an extravagant present for this little swap, but I loved it. I knew I'd get use out of all of it.

"Three guesses, who do you think gave it to you?" Taylor asks, hurrying me along and I narrow my eyes looking around the room. 

"You?" I say and she sighs.

"I don't love you that much, go again." She teases and I roll my eyes. 

"Noah." I say with a hint of sarcasm and everyone laughs.

"Definitely not me." He insists, putting his hands up. "I don't know what any of that does."

"It was me!" Julia insists from her spot next to me on the couch. 

"Julia! Not the order we discussed!" Taylor insists and I smile giving her a hug.

"I love it, thank you." I tell her and she smiles. "Lucky girl, I wanted to draw you." I tell her and then we're on to Julia's turn.

"What is this?" Josh asks, picking up the tube containing the hair mask. "What's Olaplex?" He says and I laugh leaning into his side.

"It makes your hair healthier, gives it shine-"

"I wish you'd said something, I would have gotten you a box of dog treats for Christmas." He teases and I roll my eyes.

"You think you're so funny don't you?" I ask and he nods. 

"Well you're laughing, kind of giving me mixed signals Heather." He insists and I kiss his cheek. "This is a good gift for you, you burn through this stuff like wildfire."

"I just take care of my skin." I defend. "I like my showers, they're my happy place."

"I like your showers too." He whispers and I elbow him in the ribs. 

"That's enough out of you." I warn and he laughs. "I want my sensitive boyfriend back."

"I'm still here." He assures me, kissing my cheek. "Question, doesn't exfoliating....you know hurt?" He asks and I laugh, shaking my head.

"No, I like it." I insist. "It feels so nice to get all the dead skin off and it's kind of like scratching an itch." I say and he furrows his eyebrows. "I'll let you borrow some next time you're over."

"That's okay, I don't need to smell like......" He fades out picking up the jar and reading the name. "Island breeze." He says with a laugh and I join him.

"Maybe you'd like it." I insist and he rolls his eyes.

I settle back into his side and watch everyone open their gifts, I tried not to be too all over Josh, just friendly. But it was hard, especially given how we spent our time together before showing up. 

I really felt in the Christmas spirit tonight, more importantly I was so relaxed. School was done until Christmas, the exhausting show we'd both been apart of was finished and now we could just.....be. 

On top of that Zeke had been sentenced on Monday afternoon. I begged dad to let me go with him and watch it happen but he insisted I stay away from the whole situation. His bail was over half a million dollars, he wasn't getting out before his trial, no way, no how. Now I just felt safe, he was behind bars and I could stop looking over my shoulder and worrying about it.