Rory's Christmas

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A few hours later, Rory found herself lying in Matthew Vellocutt’s bed feeling lonely and cold and utterly wide awake.

She rolled over for the forty-second time in the past twenty minutes and let out a muffled groan of frustration against the sheets.

She hadn’t been able to sleep after Spongebob reruns ended downstairs and Matthew had insisted she retire to his bedroom for a nap before his mother came home. But there was just too much on her mind: Drew’s actions and then his reactions to seeing her with Matthew, the young Vellocutt’s own words rotating around in her head and reminding her of her parents’ relationship and even Janet’s, and then the calendar near the window by Matthew’s desk that was marked with due dates and test dates and a huge happy face on December 17th accompanied by the words WINTER BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!...but most importantly, had reminded her that today—for the beeping clock by the bed was flashing 12:11—was December 23rd. Which meant there were two days left until Christmas.

And she didn’t know if she could make it home in time.

This was going to be the first Christmas Eve since their mother’s death, and Rory was absolutely determined to be there for Janet. She had made up her mind; Drew could complain about it all he liked, but even if he wanted to stay and figure out more about all those things they had forgot, she wasn’t going to let him.

It also gave her the perfect opportunity to break off their stupid bet. She was surprised he hadn’t mentioned anything about it yet: the Vellocutt residence was full of clutter, yes, but it wasn’t hard to realize that much of the junk lying around was related to the Christmas holiday. They even had a wreath over that dusty fireplace in the living room, albeit it seemed to be as old as the house itself.

She checked the clock once more. 12:26. Matthew had promised that he would call them as soon as his mother got home. She felt bad that he had to sleep on the couch, especially as the room had too many posters of barely-clothed girls for her to be comfortable enough to fall asleep, but he had insisted.

12:28.

That’s it.

Rory jumped out of bed, shivering in the cold night air and haphazardly tugged on a pair of pajama bottoms that Matthew had said used to belong to his older sister before she moved out. She tiptoed out of the room and down the hall, almost involuntarily pausing by the room she knew Drew was in. There wasn’t a single sound coming from it. She moved on.

The house was quiet—eerily so, in a way—and when Rory didn’t see Matthew on the couch, she frowned, wondering where he was sleeping. Then she remembered the other door in the hall. There must’ve been a third bedroom for his mother/sister.

She headed to the kitchen with the intent of grabbing a drink of water, or maybe scavenging for some warm milk to try out Janet’s tried-and-true method of falling asleep when she didn’t want to take pills, only to realize that the lights were on there. She froze by the doorway.

The woman at the counter froze, too.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

She had to be Matthew Vellocutt’s mother, Rory thought. They looked almost identical: the same eagle-hook nose, the same eyebrows and the same butt chin.

Even the same greeting.

“Um—are you Ms. Vellocutt?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Depends on who’s asking. Get in the light where I can see you.”

Rory took a few tentative steps into the kitchen. The woman’s eyes widened.

“Wait, are you—” the woman came around the counter and gasped softly. “Rory! It is you! It’s so good to see you again!”