Freaks Have More Fun

Chapter Seventeen

 

Chapter Seventeen~

 

 

 

The days passed by ad before Paige knew it, it was time for finals and winter break and Christmas. Christmas Day was the one day a year her father wouldn't work, no matter what came up. For as long as she could remember, Paige would wake up her parents at seven on the dot. Her mom would make cinnamon buns and French toast and scrambled eggs and bacon. They'd all eat in the front room, on the floor. Her father would tell stories and her mom would make fun of him.

 

When breakfast was over, they'd form an assembly line in the kitchen to wash the dishes. Sooner or later someone would start a water fight and the three of them would be soaked and covered in soap suds by the end of it. After the dishes were cleaned up, they'd all open presents and put on a Christmas movie.

 

That was her Christmas, the one day she was truly close to her parents. That was what she was looking forward to when she crept down the hall to her parents' room. Throwing open the door, she flipped on the lights and yelled “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

 

The morning passed by as usual, her mother kicking her father out of the room and enlisting Paige to help grab ingredients. Even breakfast itself passed normally until Ian broke away from the general pattern.

 

“Paige... Are you dating Charles?” He asked out of the blue, watching his daughter carefully.

 

“What? No! Of course not! Why would you even....” Paige glared at her father, crossing her arms.

 

“He's always talking about you, always telling me about how he's going to break you and how you belong to him. I don't want you involved with him.”

 

“Oh, wow, like you have any say in this? Do you even know the names of any of my friends?”

 

Ian Ryan paused, frowned, and thought about that question. “Charles..... and Zevi?”

 

Paige laughed bitterly. “Haven comes over a lot. Dean walks home with me. Ivy was here like a week ago. And I was talking to Elegy last night!”

 

“Well I'm sorry I can't remember all of your friends. You know I'm busy a lot.”

 

“That's just it, isn't it? You're always busy. Too busy for your own family.”

 

Paige left the room after that, ignoring her parents. The next week passed awkwardly as the family of three wasn't exactly speaking to each other. Finally New Years Eve came and it was time for the party at Entropy.

 

She got ready on her own, baring music and texting with her friends as she did so. Haven had long since forgiven her and Ivy for what had happened on Paige's date with Charles and in fact, Paige herself hadn't spoken to the boy since that night.

 

A couple hours later, Paige was ready. She had decided on a red dress that, despite being rather short, wasn't all that revealing or tight. Over it she wore a charcoal colored peacoat, it was cold and she wasn't an idiot. Skipping tights, she put on a pair of strappy gold heels. Her jewelry was just a ruby and gold ring and a pair of earrings decorated with black bows and faux pearls. At the last minute, she grabbed a red bag to throw her red lipstick and gold eyeshadow into, in case she needed to fix her makeup. Her phone was added to the bag, along with her wallet and she was ready to go.

 

Playing with the simple side fishtail braid she had put her hair into, Paige climbed into Dean's car. She was the last person he was picking up, Haven was riding shotgun, Ivy was lunging in the back and Elegy was crammed in the middle. Zevi, Ellie and all the others were either driving themselves or getting a ride from someone else.

 

Once they were there, the whole group drifted apart. Paige went to get a drink from the bar. On the way back, she stopped, shocked. Ivy and Ellie were making out, tucked in a corner. Paige froze before moving away slowly. Before she was out of hearing range, she stopped, listening. She thought she heard Zevi. Slowly she went back, listening. Sure enough, it was Zevi.

 

“I can't believe it! You're making out with Ivy? What, am I not good enough for you? Screw you Ellie! We're over.”

 

Ellie just laughed. “Oh come on, like I don't see the way you stare at him. Run back to your precious Dean, he'll comfort you. He'll do a lot more than that with you if you let him, I'm sure.”

 

“Maybe I will!” Zevi snapped. “At least Dean won't cheat on me, at least he'll treat me like I'm special. He warned me about you, said you were poison, no good for me. Maybe he was right.”

 

Zevi left and Paige stayed where she was, listening, confused. After a few moments, Ellie laughed. “Thanks for that Ivy. I owe you one. If he gets mad just say something like 'she said you guys were over' or something like that. I don't want him mad at you.”

 

Paige moved forward, stepping into view. “What the hell is going on?” She asked slowly, confused. Ivy and Ellie just laughed.

 

“Dean really likes Zevi and anyone with half a brain can see that Zevi feels the same way. I didn't wanna dump him, he'd just be sad ad well that wouldn't work. So I asked Ivy to help me out. I figured he'd react like that. Now we're over and he'll go hook up with Dean and everything works out.”

 

“B-but don't you like him? Like, a lot?” Paige asked, shocked.

 

“Of course I do,” Ellie sighed. “But, see, he'd be happier with Dean than with me. And, well, I'm trying this new thing called being a good person. Besides, new year new me. I'd rather set him up with someone he can be happy with that be selfish and keep dating him and risk things not working out later.”

 

“Shaking her head, Paige just sighed. “You know, you make no sense.” Ellie just shrugged at that. Rolling her eyes, Paige returned walked back, shocked to find Zevi and Dean grinding against each other, making out. Evidently, Ellie's plan had worked.

 

“Hello there, Little Red. Do I get a kiss at midnight?” Paige groaned, turning around to face Charles.