State of Grace (Complete)

Clothes

CH 19

 I wish I could say that after our conversation things got better, but they didn't. It was like a one off, like a glimpse that Ian, my best friend Ian, still exists, but then he's gone again. The next day at the bus stop I tried smiling at him, but his scowl was firmly back in place. He is just so angry all the time, except that by lunch his tongue is down someone else's throat. It's like he wants everyone to know he isn't the gay brother, so he is leaning over Jillian who is against her locker in the hallway right outside of the cafeteria, only six lockers down from mine. His one arm is against the locker, almost trapping Jillian in place and his other is around the back of her neck, firmly keeping their lips together.

"Reed, Jansen, office now. You know we have a zero tolerance suck face policy," one of the teachers walking by reprimands them. They pull apart, not embarrassed at all, following the teacher. Ian's look of triumph falters slightly when he sees me watching, but quickly turns back into his everyday sneer.

"Jealous much?" Jillian Jansen snarks at me as they walk by, being lead to the office. I turn away from the spectacle, disgusted, get my lunch from my locker and go to meet Chris in the cafeteria.

"Are you coming for Christmas?" Chris asks me a few days before. We are at the tiny collection of stores that counts as a mall in our town. It's pretty busy, but since classes at my Dad's school are out for the term, most of the university students have gone home, so the mall is less busy than it was a few weeks earlier. Now it's just the locals who shop.

"I don't know, I don't want to intrude..." I would love to go to their place. I know my parents aren't planning anything. Since we got back, similar patterns have re-emerged. Daddy's at school all the time, and Mommy barely makes it out of bed for her twice weekly shifts at the library. Daddy's actually set up a sofa bed in his office so that he doesn't 'disrupt' my mom's sleep.

"Oh for heaven's sake, of course you're coming, it's a tradition. My mom asked me to tell you to be there by one."

"I really don't want to make anyone uncomfortable."

"The only reason why anyone would be uncomfortable is if they eat too much. Give me a break. Besides, Maggie's bringing Marc, they're engaged now and you haven't seen her since before you went away."

"Oh, I'd better get him something, too! What's he like?"

"Hmm, he's tall and kind of goofy looking, but really kind and friendly. Maggie totally loves him."

"He's a chemical engineer, right?"

"Yep. Maggie says she's lucky because she can work anywhere he needs to go for his job." Maggie finished with her history teaching credentials, but so far she's just doing the odd day of substitute teaching, which is apparently really good for her first year.

"Yeah, I suppose. But I wish they lived closer." I lament.

"Now you sound like Mom."

"Well, I'm getting him socks. It wouldn't be Christmas without socks."

"You're getting everyone socks." Chris states flatly.

"Of course I am." I grin.

I did get everyone socks. It's not like I can buy much with no budget; I only had about eighty dollars, and most of that was scrounged from pockets from doing the laundry. I do my parents as well as my own, and sometimes I am rewarded with cash. I really need to get a job, but in a university town, where there's always someone older and more qualified applying for every part-time position, it's not an easy task.