Blandview High Musical

43. The Devil Wears Velour and Pearl Earrings

In the morning, I jumped in the shower to get myself cleaned up before going through my bags to put everything back where it should've been. Once my shower was finished, I put on some clean clothes and went downstairs. I rounded the corner to hear lots of talking and laughing. My shoes skidded against the tile flooring. My aunt and uncle were sitting in the kitchen talking to my mother. Their children were outside playing. "There she is. We were wondering when you'd be waking up." My Aunt Darla said. I swallowed thickly. None of them had bothered to show up for Thanksgiving dinner...so it was a little shocking to see them now.

My Uncle John motioned for me to come over. "Come on over here." He said. I hesitated for a moment before my feet unstuck from the floor. I stepped into the dining area. "Come say hello, Gill. Don't be rude." My mother said. I moved a little closer before my Aunt Darla grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. "Don't act like we're strangers!" She said, laughing. "Martin and Emma will be so happy to see you." Joy. I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes at the comment.

I gave my Uncle John a hug before heading over to the coffee pot. "Gill just got home last night from a vacation with friends." My mother said. "Oh really? Were there boys there?" Aunt Darla asked. "They were friends from school." I said, coming back over and sitting down at the table with my mug. "You didn't answer my question." Aunt Darla said, narrowing her eyes. "Oh, leave her alone, Darla. If she wants to have boys that are friends, who cares?" Uncle John said, raising the mug to his lips. He tossed me a wink over the comment. "Well, it certainly is nice to have you two with us for the holidays." My mother said. "We just had to come and visit you here in LA. Besides, we wanted to be here when Mom gets here." I raised my head from staring down the coffee mug to give my mother a what the fuck? look. She just chuckled uncomfortably. "Mom is coming?" She said, nearly choking on the words. "Oh yeah, she should be landing at LAX right now." Darla said looking over at John and nodding her head. "Can you excuse me for a moment? Gill...I need to talk to you." My mother said, getting up from the chair. I followed her out of the kitchen and upstairs to her bedroom.

"What the fuck is going on? Grandma isn't coming here. She will absolutely make a fucking mockery of this...of us!" I hissed. "You don't think I know that? Plus, there's an announcement that I need to make and I just wasn't thinking I'd make it in front of her." I wrinkled my brow. "What announcement?" I asked. "That doesn't matter." My mother said. "Bullshit, you can't just leave me in the dark." "You'll find out sooner or later!" My mother snapped. "If we're playing that game, then you should let me go to Shayne's house tonight. I was invited to their Christmas dinner." I said. My mother let out a sigh. "Absolutely not. You're not going to leave me alone in the house with these people." My mother quipped. I let out a deep groan. "Are you kidding me? I didn't invite them here! Why am I being punished for it?" "Because I said so!" I sighed.

After we left my mother's bedroom, I went to my own to grab my phone and send Shayne a text message.

M: I can't make it to dinner tonight

Shayne was in his room, sulking. He was thinking about different things. His mind was all jumbled up between Jade and Gill. More importantly, it shouldn't be. There shouldn't be this interference after such an AMAZING fucking time with Gill. It was all he wanted. It was the cherry on top of a wonderful cake that they had spent time making. He shouldn't be thinking of anything else at this point. His phone vibrated on the bed as he reached over and grabbed it. There was a text message from Gill, telling him she wasn't going to be there at dinner tonight.

S: What's going on? Is everything okay?

He sent the text message and waited for her to respond.

M: My mother's sister and her husband are here...and my grandmother is coming. We're basically fucked.

I groaned, not even wanting to go back downstairs and have to entertain them. I took my phone with me in the hopes that I could just stay on it the entire time and forget that they were even there. Shayne didn't respond. He was probably mad at me. I wouldn't blame him. I should've asked my mother ahead of time and I just got caught up in wanting to be with Shayne. Come to think of it, that's all I really wanna do...I wanna be with him day in and day out. It's intoxicating. I made it back down to the kitchen to see that my mother and Aunt Darla had disappeared. My Uncle John was sitting on the couch trying to get the TV to work. "Want some help?" I asked, walking up and sitting beside him.