Most families don't set up their Christmas tree a week before Christmas, but I was honestly just happy to set it up at all. I didn't think we'd do anything for Christmas this year. Last year was sad enough. I sat in my bedroom basically all day, and my mom watched sappy romance movies in the living room. We exchanged gifts, but that was basically the extent of the festivities.
This year, for some strange reason, I had a feeling things would be different. They would be better.
Why did I think this?
Because my mom was humming. It seemed like such a little thing, for my mom to hum Deck the Halls while sorting through a box of long-forgotten tree ornaments. But it was huge. It was monumental.
My mom hadn't hummed ever since Troy went off the deep end. And now that she was humming, so soft and sweet, it seemed too much like her old self. I missed it. So, so much.
Maya was with us, looking quizzically at our Christmas decorations as she tried to figure out what to do with anything less than a couple hundred bucks. She wasn't used to working with items less than a couple hundred bucks.
"Alyssa, what's this?" she asked, holding up a string tied around an uncooked pasta noodle. I laughed.
"My artwork from first grade," I said. "I wasn't exactly crafty back then." Maya rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically. "You're the most artistic person I know. Whatever even happened to all your art?" I sighed. It felt wrong to keep that from Maya, but I didn't have much choice.
"I'm just not that interested anymore." Maya nodded, but I could tell she didn't believe me. Still, she dropped the subject and kept going through one of the boxes.
My phone suddenly buzzed with an incoming text message. I yanked it out.
Jax: Hey, so you left your earrings here.
Me: I was wearing earrings?
Jax: Yes, two of them, actually.
Me: Ha. Ha. Does that mean you took them off for me then?
Jax: Uh, yeah?
Me: You dirty dog.
Jax: Ok, do you want them or not?
Me: Yes please. Bring them to school tomorrow. Or give them to Maya.
Jax: Nah it's fine. I'll bring them over.
Shoot. He was coming here? I looked down at my sweatpants and my not-matching pair of socks. No, he most definitely was not coming here.
Me: Nooooo. It's ok I don't need them right now.
Jax: Lis, it's not that hard. I'll just forget them if I don't do it now.
Me: Then you can keep them. I don't care, just don't come over.
Jax: What am I supposed to do with them?
Me: Give them to your girlfriend.
Jax: She's not tacky enough for those.
Me: HEYYYY
Jax: See you in ten minutes ;)
Ugh! I tossed my phone on the couch. Ten minutes? No. No way.
YOU ARE READING
Saved By A Bad Boy
Novela JuvenilOur moms were best friends. There wasn't much more to it than that. Every holiday, vacation and weekend, I was forced to spend time with Jax and his family. When I was four years old and he drenched my favorite blouse in ketchup, Jax and I became ar...
