Sadly Mistaken

Who Knew Holiday Costumes Could Be So Nightmarish?

Chapter 14
[Who Knew Holiday Costumes Could Be So Nightmarish?]

The following days are a combination of moping around my room, and avoiding my mother. My mom attempts to talk to me on multiple occasions but I brush her off. What else can she expect when she hides my fathers expiration date from the family?

When Meg found out what happened, she didn't even yell at my mom, she just started crying. I haven't seen her cry since her sophomore year of college. Meg and I told Hayden the truth the day after my confrontation with our mother. He started crying, and begged to see our dad. I can't blame him. We all feel betrayed. We want things to be the way they used to be.

Laying on my bed listening to music, I hear my phone ping, telling me I have a text message. I check my phone, and see it's Dean. I get more excited than I have been all week just from that one text. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing.

'You're still going to the Christmas fundraiser at the mall tonight, right?' His text reads.

Dammit, I forgot. The fundraiser has been the last thing on my mind recently. I quickly text him back confirming that I'll be there. I slip downstairs and get into my car, and start driving to the mall.

I quickly pull into the parking lot of the Riverton Mall, rushing to get there before the event begins. Dean and I will be working the cash register for a meet and greet of Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause. Not too exciting, but it's much better than a car wash.

"Hey," I hear a voice behind me say as I walk into the entrance of the mall, and I turn around to se Dean greeting me.

"Oh hey Dean." I say.

"You ready to spread some holiday cheer?" He asks me sarcastically, and grabs my shoulder and pulls me close to him. My stomach explodes.

"You bet! I love crazy children going nuts for Santa! I wish we could do this every day!" I laugh. We get the cashier tables together as we wait for the other volunteers to arrive. One by one all the volunteers arrive except for two. The people who are supposed to dress up as Mr. and Mrs. Clause.

Children and their parents start to impatiently wait in line, waiting for something interesting to happen. I hear a cell phone ring, and Dean leaves the crowd of people to answer it. A few minutes later, he comes back and motions for me to come to him.

"The people who are supposed to dress up as the Claus's decided not to show up." Dean sighs.

"We can't just tell all of these children and their parents that Santa won't be coming." I hiss, making sure the parents can't hear. Dean stays quiet in defeat, not knowing what to do. Then, he grabs his phone and makes a call.

"Hey, I have an idea. Bring the costumes down to the mall." He says into the phone quickly. He pauses. "I don't have time to explain. Just do it as soon as possible." Dean finished and hangs up.

"What was that?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing Mrs. Claus." He says, and I know this is not going to go well  for me.

"What did you just call me?"

~~~~

Who knew that holiday costumes could be nightmarish?

Red stockings. Red hat. Red dress. Red jacket. The only thing that strayed from the category is the short curly white wig that is currently residing on the top of my head. Dean is wearing a red and white suit, with a bushy white beard hanging from his face.

I look at myself in the mirror one last time, before I go out and face the eager children that await me. Dean grabs my hand, and leads me to the crowd. Little kids are jumping up and down with excitement once they see us. Dean gives me as small smile as we sit down on our giant chairs. The children and their parents line up, and start to approach us.

The adults give us questioning looks, wondering why people so young are dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Claus. But the kids couldn't care less, they think we are the real deal.

"Why are you so thin Santa? I thought you were fat?" A little boy asks Dean as he sits on his lap. We make a eye contact and I shudder.

"Mrs. Claus made me go on a diet so I don't get diabetes." Dean says uneasily, not really knowing the right answer to that question.

"What is diabetes?" the boy asks me. The mother quickly picks up her son and walks away.

"Let's go honey, I'll go get you some candy," She says, ushering him away from us.

"Yeah, you go leave lady. Go get some diabetes from that candy." Dean says as soon as the lady is out of earshot, and I can't help but laugh. Dean smiles at me as he hears me laugh.

As the line starts to dim down, and we are down to our last visitor, Dean and I start to get a little irritable. Our outfits are itchy, and very hot. Our last customer leaves, and a wave of relief runs through me. This feeling abruptly comes to a halt when a certain voice interrupts our temporary happiness.

"Well look who it is?" Jess sneers, her perfect skin glowing in the lighting. Her posse stands behind her, watching everything unfold. "I was just shopping in the mall, and I had to visit my two favorite people!"

I stand there in shock, not knowing what to say. Jess gets out her phone and gets ready to take a picture.

"Look at this cute couple! Smile for the camera," she says, sickeningly sweetly, and laughs.

"Quit it Jess. This is for a fundraiser. Stop being such a snob." He says angrily.

"Oh no! It is? Well maybe this wouldn't have happened if Kam had taken my warning," Jess shoots back. She smirks, and her and her posse turn around to leave, knowing they had the last word.

"It's Kat," I sign. She ignores me.

"What warning?" Dean asks me.

"It's nothing." I say quickly, getting out of my outfit.

"Kat, tell me, what warning?" He says, this time with more urgency.

"I told you, it's nothing. Why is this such a big deal?" I say.

"Because I know Jess, and what she can do." He says harshly. "What did she warn you?"

I sigh, knowing I can't fight him on this.

"She told me to stop talking to you and to stop seeing you, or she will 'ruin me'," I say.

"When did she say this?" He asks.

"She's been saying it for a while, but has never done anything about it. She thinks she has some sort of freaky claim over you." I say.

"She took that picture. She's made her first move. Her second will be finding a way for the whole school to see it." He says. I am about to ask him how he knows her motives, but I stop myself. They've been dating on and off for years. He knows Jessica Blake, inside and out. And if Dean is right, then things aren't looking so good for me.

I'm so so so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I was having so much trouble with writers block. I'm not particularly proud of this chapter, but I felt like I needed to update after so long!