Beautiful Lives

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Stuck On You (New Politics)

The rest of the semester seemed to fly by, and before anyone knew it, we were in the thick of exams. I'd never been the kind of person to stress about tests, but the closer I got to graduating high school, the more my marks mattered to me, and the more difficult exam time felt. However, as Christmas crept closer, everyone's spirits were so high that even finals couldn't dampen them.

My first three exams were clustered together at the beginning of the week, but I had a substantial break before my last one. Instead of studying at home or in the library, I decided to wander down to a popular little coffee shop (known as "The Cup") that I usually went to with my friends.

I picked out a seat beside the window, and ordered some peppermint tea, before cracking open my books, and starting to review some of my notes. I'd gotten about halfway through the second chapter, when the door to the shop burst open, and Sebastian walked in, eagerly followed by Adam and Toby.

"Hey, just the person we were looking for!" Sebastian cried when he saw me, grabbing a few chairs from other tables so they could sit with me. "When's the exam?"

"Tomorrow," I pushed my books away from me, and Sebastian glanced down at them, wrinkling his nose when he saw the equations scrawled across the pages.

"I hate math," he said, slamming my notebook shut, and leaning forward on his elbows. "Christmas party this weekend at my place, you in?"

"Uh..." I pulled out my phone to check my calendar. "My grandparents are coming Friday night, what time's the party?"

"Saturday, be there for 9:00. And we're doing Secret Santa too, so if you're coming, I'll toss your name into the hat."

"Yeah, I'll be there," I confirmed, ripping a piece of paper from my notebook, and scrawling my name onto it. He pulled a Ziploc bag out of his pocket, and put my name into it, before shaking it up, and holding it out to me. I reached in and grabbed a piece of paper, with Toby's name on it. I tucked it into my pocket, and said goodbye to the guys as they left the store.

The rest of the night flew by, and before I knew it, I was finished my last exam, and the Christmas break had begun. My grandparents arrived from Michigan on Friday, and we spent the entire night talking in the living room, since we hadn't seen them since we'd moved. They told us stories about our old neighborhoods, and my mom's sisters and their families. I'd missed them more than I'd realized.

Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for the party. As usual, before a party, I went over to Maya's house, and we blasted Christmas carols and drank hot chocolate while we got ready. We spent at least two hours going through her closet, even though we'd memorized its contents. In the end, I settled on a small black dress with a red cardigan over top, and Maya wore a pair of green leggings, and a long red dress-shirt that glimmered when the light hit it in the right way. We wrapped our Secret Santa presents (I'd gotten Toby a record for his new record player, since he'd been talking about it nonstop for weeks), did our hair and makeup, and finally piled into the car and drove over to Sebastian's.

The party was different from our usual Friday night events, since only our little gang had been invited. Juliet and Adam were the only two people dancing for the first hour, while the rest of us drank and talked, and Sydney and Nate made out in the corner. Eventually, Sebastian called us to order, and we sat down in a circle to open presents.

"I'll go first!" Maya cried eagerly, her voice starting to get a bit loopy. She held up her present, and rattled it beside her ear, concentrating hard, before she paused, and scanned the circle. "If it's a puppy, I don't have enough money to feed it,"