Jaime, Danny, and my mother had left about an hour before. I had told them that I wasn't ready yet, but in all honesty, I was just putting it off as long as I could.
I moped around the empty house (well, nearly empty; Blizzard was following me around, of course) for a good amount of time, prolonging my doom, until five o'clock rolled around. If I was any later than an hour, my mom would kill me. I put on my shoes and dragged my feet next door to the Hanson's.
Last time I wear canvas high tops in six inches of snow. By the time I had walked from one house to the other, my feet were soaked.
I rang the Hanson's doorbell. As I waited for someone to answer, I stood on their stoop and breathed hot air onto my ungloved hands. Laughter and music could be heard coming from inside. The house itself seemed to emit a warm glow. I ignored it, however. I was notgoing to have a fun night, no matter what.
The door opened suddenly. I whirled around to see Eileen smiling at me. "Hello, Andy!" she greeted, ushering me into the warmth. "Your mother was just about to call and ask where you were. I'm glad you could make it," she joked.
I smiled and stepped into the house. "Well, you know… The traffic this close to Christmas is crazy, so…"
Eileen laughed and gave me a hug before closing the door. I had always liked Eileen; she was one of those really amiable people. I had no idea how someone so nice could produce the spawn of Satin.
"Brady's upstairs in his room, if you'd like to go up."
"Oh, umm…" I began to stutter, but played it off as if I had to clear my throat and kept going. "I think I'm just going to talk to my mom for a bit first."
Eileen nodded, leading me up the stairs to the middle level. "She's right in there," she told me, pointing to the dining room. "Would you like anything to drink? Soda? Water?" I heard her ask as she disappeared into the kitchen.
"No thank you, I'm good," I called back.
I found my mother sitting at the dining room table with Jaime (who looked extremely bored as he texted in his lap), and a bunch of other people I didn't know. Some of them looked slightly familiar from the barbeque the Hanson's had hosted in the beginning of the school year, but I hadn't been formally introduced to any of them.
"Andrea!" my mom said, motioning for me to come sit at the empty chair next to her. "Everyone, this is my daughter, Andrea."
I took a seat and smiled awkwardly at everyone sitting around the table. I received multiple greetings and even more of the ever-so-popular, "Oh, Grace! The two look nothings alike!" I was getting so sick of that sentence.
There were mostly women at the table. There were a few select men, but most of the males were in the connected living room where the Christmas tree was. However, they were not decorating it; oh no. Why decorate a Christmas tree at a Christmas tree decorating party? Actually, the tree didn't have much more than lights, a garland, and a few scattered icicles. Nope; the men continued to ramble on about football or whatever.
I was introduced to everyone in the dining room. There was Eileen's sister and her twenty-something year old daughter, three of the Hanson's old friends from the beach club, Brady's grandmother, then their neighbors (whom I suppose counted as our neighbors, as well), a woman Eileen worked with… The list continued on, and I doubt I was able to keep a mental note of any of their names.
