Saved By A Bad Boy

[31]. Christmas Eve: Part One...

I gazed at myself in the mirror for probably a full eight minutes. I couldn't tell if the short red dress looked good on me. My eyes kept flying to my legs. They looked so pale to me. Weren't they pale to anyone else?

"Alyssa you look good. Let's go," Maya said, grabbing my arm. "Have I ever held back criticism when you look bad?" I was about to answer "yes" immediately, except that wouldn't be true. If I looked had, she would refuse to be seen with me.

"Well, that's easy for you to say. You always look good," I reminded her. She was pale, too, but somehow it looked good on her. She sighed dramatically.

"It's not like I'm trying to. I have no one to impress," she said sadly, settling down on her bed. Uh oh, I thought. Here it comes. She proceeded to shoot up from the mattress, her eyes once again dancing with fury as she nearly shouted, "I can't believe my mom didn't let me invite Dave! Why would she do that?"

"Um I don't know. Maybe because he tried to sell her pot out of his car?" I asked, amused. Maya glared at me and folded her arms.

"For the last time, he didn't do that!" she gasped, exasperated. "He may have just mentioned that it was in there." I laughed.

"You know your mom, Maya. She doesn't want him talking about his tattoos with Mrs. Lane from church," I reminded her. Maya, evidently, did not want to hear it.

"Let's just go," she said, thrusting her hand into the air. My stomach twisted. Ah, yes. Go. To the Christmas Eve party. For some reason, I was especially nervous. Probably just because we hadn't done it in a while, and it was put together so quickly, and it was at the mansion...

Yeah. That was it. It had nothing to do with the fact that Jax would be in a suit and tie, perfectly tailored to fit his pristine figure. Or that there would be a hundred other beautiful girls from wealthy families attending. And almost every single one would be flirting with Jax in their beautiful dresses, and he would flirt back, because he was perfectly single and there was no reason he shouldn't.

"Maya?" I began, raising an eyebrow before she ushered me out the door.

"What?"

"Are you sure this dress looks good?" Maya rolled her eyes, but I could see the smile playing about her lips.

"Alyssa, relax," she said. "Jax will love it on you."

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The driveway was huge, but it was also jam-packed with bright, shiny new cars. Maya and I could barely find a spot, which meant there was a fresh, healthy pre-party road rage fit from her. Were we late? I had checked the clock at least four times. We were right on time.

Then I remembered that at Norah's parties, on time is late. Everybody always showed up early to these things. Oops.

I got out of the car, fastening the strap on my trench coat. A light wind bustled by, taking with it clouds of snow. It was beautiful, exactly the right mood for a Christmas Eve party. Lights were strung up along the rooftop and windows, wreaths hung elegantly on all the doors. It was hard to believe that tomorrow was Christmas. And for some reason, I was really, really looking forward to it.

"It's cold as butt out here," Maya remarked. I smiled. Her mother had forbade her from saying "ass." It was kind of...nice, in a weird sort of way. I mean, for the past year, Norah and Richard just...stopped parenting. They stopped being strict and stopped caring what their children did. All they did was work, work, work. And now, they had suddenly got up and decided that - even without Chloe Maxwell - they were going to be a family. That meant Maya wasn't allowed to swear or stay up past curfew anymore, which she openly resented. But I knew that deep down, Maya was even happier than I was. For once, it seemed, she had her mother's attention. And things were the way they were supposed to be.