Puck The Halls | Jack Hughes

THIRTY

MY MOTHER WAS BEING INSUFFERABLE. IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE morning. My birthday, and she had already made a point that we definitely couldn't do anything low key for my twentieth year. She had made it her life's mission to invite all of our family and friends out to celebrate, wanting to throw me a party at the house with Christmas decorations and music no doubt.

I, couldn't think of anything worse, and even though my entire family had already arrived, and of course I was happy to see them—I couldn't help but search for ways to escape.

At around four in the afternoon, another knock on the door sounded, and I know I shouldn't complain but I was already being swarmed with attention and gifts and the ridiculous amount of people asking about my love life was starting to get tiring. And so, I sighed, deep and dramatic and full of exhaustion.

"Who the hell now?" I grumbled to myself, rolling my eyes as I dragged my feet to the door. I took a brief moment to breathe, not wanting to have to sit through another awkward conversation in which my youngest cousin Katie, who was eighteen, tell me how hot the Hughes brothers were. I yanked the door open, surprised to see Ellen and the boys were waiting just outside on the porch. Ellen with gifts in her arms and Jack holding a bunch of flowers.

My eyes widen at the sight of them, not having expected them to come over for the family gathering. I plaster a smile on my lips, admittedly relieved to see faces I knew better and loved.

"Happy Birthday, Mira!" Ellen grinned, handing me a massive box and a birthday gift bag. I fumbled to gather them in my arms, surprised when they were heavy as all hell.

"Thanks, Mrs. Hughes," I grinned, though still felt completely out of place knowing that they'd got me birthday presents even though I hated receiving them. I always felt bad, or like I didn't deserve them.

I turned my gaze to Jack, blinking up at him and sucking in a breath. He seemed to melt at the sight of me, but i immediately recognised his expression as pity.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed, knowing how I felt about birthdays and this time of year and all of it. He could see it all over my face, I was overwhelmed and I needed to break. I gave him the smallest hint of a smile in response.

"Jack, why don't you help Mira take all of these gifts to somewhere she can leave them," Ellen perked up, noticing the exchange of looks between us, and knowing we were silently having a conversation between us that no one else would understand. "Make sure those flowers get in some water."

"Sure," he mumbled, taking a step into the house, removing his shoes. "Lead the way, Zegras."

I raised a single eyebrow at him teasingly, his act of trying to be nonchalant in front of his mother was not working.

"Right through the hall, Hughes," I told him, leading him down the hall to a spare lounge room that was grander and nicer than the main one, the room my mother called her Zen Space. We'd made a pile of gifts in the middle of it for me to open later, and it was secluded from the rest of the house, the main bunch of people accompanying the kitchen and dining room.

The moment we had placed the gifts down, both of us not even daring to make eye contact as we passed people on the house, was the moment we turned to look at one another.

Jack wore a grey hooded sweater, a pair of denim jeans that fit him a little too well around his thighs and a black cap faced backwards. He was effortlessly gorgeous, as usual, and I found myself staring openly at him like a high school girl with a crush.

He smirked at me. "A little cold to be wearing a dress, Miracle?"

And he was right, it was cold, but Mom had told me to wear it when my family came over. She liked to put on a show, to dress well and have a clean home and be a good host. It wasn't anything special, just a basic black A-Frame that sat high on my neck and low on my back. I wore a pair of black stockings underneath, keeping my legs warm, and socks, because my feet were cold. Mom had given me a dry look, noting the all black combination for my birthday, but it was the worst day of the year, and I was having a funeral for my teen years.