Spectrum 2

Chapter 16: Shane

Christmas Eve

"You okay?" Grayson asks, fixing the tie that he's wearing for the party.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I sigh.

"You don't seem like you're in the Christmas spirit." He points out.

"You have enough Christmas spirit for the both of us." I shrug.

"I love Christmas." He nods. "So what's up?"

"Nothing." I laugh, brushing off his question. "So tell me. Who did you get for Secret Santa?"

"I can't tell." He scoffs. "You know the rules."

"Yeah, yeah." I laugh. "God, you and the rules."

"Mom tried getting me to bring a date." Grayson sighs.

"Oh yeah?" I laugh. "And how did that go?"

"Well, you don't see me with a date now, do you?"

"Touche." I laugh. "You could have let her find one for you. You know Jillian is just dying to hook you up with one of her friend's daughters."

"God, I'd rather die." He grumbles. "Plus, I'm fine being alone. She just doesn't get that. The whole family oriented traits skipped me and went straight to Sofia. She wants the marriage and family. I could go without it."

Sofia.

Even her name hurts to hear. I haven't seen her in months. After everything happened in Wisconsin, she refused to answer my calls, texts, and even refused to answer the door. When I was finally able to get Katie to answer the door, Sofia ended up crawling out of a window to get to her car without being seen.

To say that she doesn't want to see me is an understatement.

I thought those two days without talking to her were bad. But now that it's been months? It's terrible.

"Why do we have to dress up for this? What happened to the ugly sweater thing?"

"Yeah, we didn't have money before." Grayson scoffs with a laugh. "And now we do, so I'm hosting this years party. You know this."

"Yeah but...the suit? Really?" I ask, pulling the jacket over my button up. "I feel like I'm at work."

"Yeah, but you have a Christmas tie." He says, tossing me the tie that closely matches his own.

"What, we're matching now too?" I laugh.

"No. Yours is green. Mine is red." He points out.

"Yes, but...never mind." I say, shaking my head. "So who all will be here tonight?"

"Just the family. A few plus-ones." He shrugs. "Nothing too big."

"Yet you had me get catering for forty people?" I ask.

"Big family." He points out.

"So." I mutter. "Is Sofia going to be here?"

"At the family Christmas party?" He laughs. "Yes, I'm assuming she will be. She came home with a friend from college. They'll just hanging around L.A for the week."

"Oh." I nod. "Nice."

-

The party begins filling up quickly. Normally, Grayson would hate a big crowd like this. Especially with all of it being his own family. I won't lie. Grayson's family can be a little too much at times. They're kind of the only family I really have left, though. My own parents haven't talked to me in a year. Even when they do answer, they always beg me to give up the money and just come back to Utah.