An Aces Christmas

by Nicole Jacquelyn

  “Remember when Heather handed you your ass when she and Tommy got together?” she asked in amusement. “God, that was good. You were bent out of shape for weeks.”

  “Mmhmm.” Did I remember? Like it was yesterday. That little bitty girl bitching me out was one of my fondest memories, even though I’d never let her know it. Jesus, Tommy’s woman had bigger balls than he did.

  “Maybe I should be the one to talk to Kara,” Callie said. Seconds later, her breathing evened out.

  I waited another ten minutes just to be sure that she was fully asleep before I slid away from her and got out of bed. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, I quietly made my way downstairs. Reaching into the light fixture above the kitchen table, I pulled out the keys I’d hidden there and palmed them. I was going to have to find a new spot to hide Callie’s presents, or I’d catch her in the garage with a crowbar trying to get into my damn toolbox.

  Chapter 6

  Kara

  Past

  I woke up under really bright lights, my head pounding with every beat of my heart, and a throat so sore I had a hard time swallowing my own spit.

  “Hey,” my dad said softly, leaning over me as he brushed my hair away from my face. “How you feeling?”

  “Terrible,” I rasped, barely making any sound. “Water?”

  “Yeah, just a sec.”

  I rolled my head on the pillow to watch him move toward the little table against the wall. My eyes widened as I suddenly realized where we were. Rose was asleep sitting up in a chair in the corner and Charlie was asleep at her feet, her head tilted back and her mouth hanging open.

  I let my dad put another pillow behind my head before taking a sip of the water he was holding.

  “What happened?” I asked, trying to remember. I knew we’d gone to the dance and I could vaguely recall feeling like I couldn’t get enough air while we were in the bathroom, but everything after that was a blur.

  “You had an allergic reaction,” my dad said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

  “I don’t have any allergies,” I replied automatically.

  “You do now,” he said matter-of-factly. “They’re not sure what it was yet—we aren’t sure what was in your dinner, and Charlie said you guys tried pretty much all of the food at the dance.”

  “Oh god,” I replied, the thought of food making me slightly nauseous.

  “Makes it kind of hard to narrow down,” Dad continued. “But they’ll figure it out.”

  “An allergic reaction?” I said, surprised. “It felt like I couldn’t breathe.”

  Dad dug his fingers into his eye sockets and nodded. “Anaphylaxis. Thank God your PE teacher knew what the hell he was doin’ and the paramedics got there within a few minutes.”

  “Jesus,” I groaned, imagining the complete spectacle I’d made of myself. God, please don’t let me have peed myself or something else equally embarrassing.

  “So glad you’re okay, kiddo,” my dad said reaching for my hand. “I was waitin’ up in case you needed a ride home. I ’bout shit myself when Charlie called hysterical, sayin’ they were takin’ you to the hospital.”

  “She must have been freaking out,” I said quietly, glancing at my sleeping best friend.

  “By the time I met you here, she was actually pretty calm,” Dad said with a small smile. “She’s a good one to have in an emergency. The boys were the ones losin’ their minds.”

  “Are they here?” I asked, looking toward the open door.

  “Sent ’em home about an hour ago,” my dad replied. “Everyone showed up at first, but once we knew you were gonna be okay, we told ’em to leave.”

  “You should have sent Rose home,” I said with a grimace. My stepmom’s belly was the size of a small planet. It couldn’t be good for her to be stuck in an uncomfortable chair all night.

  “No way in hell could I make her leave,” he replied with a chuckle. “I could have her removed from the building and she’d stand outside the window with a boombox.”

  “True,” I said, leaning my head back.

  “She probably won’t let you out of her sight until you’re eighteen,” he mused, his eyes soft. “Be prepared to have company while you poop.”

  I laughed lightly and groaned. My entire body was sore.

  “You shoulda heard her tonight,” he said. “Railin’ at me about how we’re normal parents and we’re scared of pregnancy and drugs, not the chance that our teenager would have some brand-new allergy that puts her in the hospital. Yellin’ at me like it was my fault.”

  “Sorry I scared you,” I said drowsily. “It wasn’t super fun for me, either.”

  “I bet it wasn’t,” he said with a sigh. “Get some sleep, sweetheart. We’ll figure this shit out in the mornin’.”

  “You should take Rose home,” I said, squeezing his hand.

  “Not a chance in hell,” he replied as he kissed my forehead.

  * * *

  A few days later, I was arguing with Rose as I got ready for school.

  “I’m not bringing a jelly sandwich to school,” I ground out between my teeth. “The doctors said I was allergic to shellfish. You think my piece of shit school serves shellfish in the cafeteria?”

  “We’re not taking any chances,” she replied mutinously, trying to shove the sandwich into my hand. “Take it.”

  “No,” I said, lifting my hands above my head to avoid the sandwich. “You didn’t even put peanut butter on it!”

  “Peanut allergies are the worst,” she snapped.

  “I don’t have a peanut allergy!”

  “Well, you didn’t have a fucking shellfish allergy a week ago, either!”

  “Oh my God,” I replied, looking up toward the ceiling in frustration. “This is fucking ridiculous.”

  “You’re ridiculous,” Rose spat. She snapped her mouth closed while we stared at each other.

  We both began to laugh at the same time, but as my laughter tapered off, hers turned into tears.

  “Fine,” I said, reaching out. “I’ll take the stupid sandwich.”

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she sobbed, lifting a hand to wave me off as I tried to hug her. “I’m fine. It’s just the hormones.”

  “You know they did all the tests,” I said soothingly. “They figured it out. They’re sure it’s shellfish.”

  “Why would you eat shitty crab puffs at the dance anyway?” she cried. “That’s just asking for food poisoning. Have I taught you nothing?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, trying not to laugh at her out of control emotions. “I won’t ever do it again.”

  “Well, fuck, I hope not,” she replied. “Unless you want to die.”

  “I have an EpiPen in my purse,” I reminded her. “And Charlie knows how to use it if I can’t.”

  “This is the worst,” Rose said, wiping at her face. “Are you sure you don’t want to be homeschooled? You could stay with me. Forever.”

  I stared at her in horror. “No, thank you,” I replied as politely as I could. “I’ll be fine. I’ll text you and check in, okay?”

  Whatever argument she was going to make was cut off by the sound of a car horn in front of the house.

  “My ride’s here,” I said. “Gimme the sandwich.”

  “Tonight, we’ll test the peanut butter,” she said glumly as she handed it over. “And then tomorrow, we can add it.”

  “Sounds good,” I said, throwing the sandwich in the top of my backpack. “I’ll see you later.”

  I hurried out of the house before she could try and stop me. When my dad said there was a good chance Rose wouldn’t want to leave my side for a while, I hadn’t realized how literally he’d meant it. She’d been hovering all weekend and had already kept me home from school Monday, just to make sure I was feeling okay. I was going to have to talk to him tonight so he would get her to back off. Beyond the sore spot where they’d given me a shot of epinephrine and the bruise on the inside of my elbow from my IV, I felt completely
fine.

  “We’re gonna be late,” Draco called, doing a drumroll on the top of Roxanne. “Hurry up.”

  “Good to see you, too,” I shot back, hurrying toward him. “I feel fine, thanks.”

  “Don’t be a whiner,” Draco joked. “Geez, you spend one night in the hospital and suddenly you’re a fragile flower.”

  “She almost died, asshole,” Charlie said, scowling as I sat down beside her.

  “I’m fine, Charles,” I assured her, pulling my backpack onto my lap. “Let’s go.”

  “You sure you’re okay?” Curtis asked, turning to look at me. “You scared the shit out of us.”

  “Yeah,” I said, giving him a small smile. “Sorry I ruined the prom.”

  “Are you kidding?” Draco asked. “I’m swimming in sympathetic tail.”

  “You are so fucking disgusting,” Charlie replied, over-pronouncing every word.

  Draco and Charlie bickered for the rest of the ride to school, but I barely noticed them. The only thing I could focus on was the way Curtis glanced at me in the rearview mirror every few minutes, as if checking to make sure I was okay.

  I wasn’t super excited that he was worried I would keel over at any second… but I couldn’t help but feel a little thrill at how concerned about me he was.

  Everything was fine at school—almost shockingly normal after the weekend we’d had—until the period after lunch. I don’t know if it was the tone of the murmurs during class or the way people seemed to be watching me, but my stomach twisted with anxiety. Something felt off.

  By the time class ended, my skin was crawling. As I stepped into the hallway, the sensation got worse and instead of looking for Charlie like I usually did, I kept my head down and raced to the bathroom. A girl laughed as I pushed past her, but I didn’t make eye contact as I hurried toward the mirror.

  My hair was fine. There wasn’t anything on my face. I turned and checked to make sure I hadn’t sat in anything—but my jeans were fine, too. Everything was as it should be, there wasn’t anything to point and laugh about. Why the hell were people staring at me like I was an animal at the zoo?

  The warning bell for my last class rang and I seriously considered skipping and waiting out the rest of the day in a bathroom stall. The thought of leaving the safety of the small room made me begin to sweat.

  Just as I started shuffling toward the door, it flew open and Charlie stood there like an avenging angel.

  “We’ve been looking for you everywhere,” she said, glancing behind her to nod at someone.

  She stepped inside the room and I jolted in surprise as Curtis and Draco followed her inside. The latter shut the door behind him and leaned against it.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, looking at each of their faces.

  Charlie’s nose was flaring in a familiar way, her anger palpable as she paced, Draco’s expression was completely devoid of any emotion, and Curtis was grim, the veins in his neck bulging as he stared at the floor.

  “What?” I asked again, worry making my voice sharper than I’d intended.

  “Travis Sholes,” Charlie hissed. “The motherfucker. I know it was him.”

  “What?” I asked, looking at the boys. “What did he do?”

  I barely knew Travis. I honestly couldn’t think of a single way anything he did would affect me, but this little group huddle had to be about the way people were staring at me.

  “He took photos,” Draco said, his voice flat. “Few seconds of video.”

  “Of what?” I replied, still not understanding what the hell was going on.

  “Prom,” Charlie said, her shoulders drooping as she came to a stop. “When you got sick.”

  “Ew,” I said instantly. “Why would someone do that? What a rubbernecker.”

  “It’s worse than that,” Charlie said softly.

  “How can it be worse?” I asked, glancing at Curtis. His eyes were on me, but he still hadn’t said a word.

  “Kara,” Charlie said softly. “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?” I asked, starting to panic. “What? Someone tell me what the fuck is going on.”

  “When—” Charlie paused, her voice wobbly. The sound scared me more than anything, because Charlie wasn’t a crier. When she was scared, it came out as anger. When she was sad, it came out snarky. When she was mad, it was like an atomic bomb.

  She cleared her throat. “When you were choking, I helped you unbutton the top of your dress. Do you remember that?”

  “Barely,” I replied, frozen in place.

  “Right, um, right after that, you went down. Like, you fell straight down and I caught you so you didn’t just drop, but we both kind of tumbled into the wall and then the floor.”

  I stood silently, waiting for her to get to the point, but I was beginning to imagine exactly what she was going to say.

  “Your dress fell to your waist,” she said painfully. “And once we were down, I made sure you were covered up. Of course I fucking did. But, Travis, he must have been taking pictures the whole time.”

  Charlie’s hands went to her hair and she pulled at it. “Fuck,” she yelled.

  “I was dying,” I said in disbelief. “I literally would have died if they hadn’t gotten to me in time.”

  “Looks like you were drunk,” Draco said, his voice barely audible. “And hooking up with Charlie in the hallway.”

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered, looking back at Charlie.

  “I’m so sorry,” Charlie whispered. “I’m so sorry, Kara.”

  “Fuck that,” I snapped, making her jerk like I’d slapped her. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “I didn’t realize he was taking pictures,” she ground out. “I thought he was calling 911.”

  “You were trying to take care of me,” I replied in disgust. “You didn’t do anything wrong. What an absolute asshole.”

  The room went silent as I tried to wrap my head around the fact that he’d been taking photos while I was suffocating.

  “Have you guys seen the photos?” I asked quietly.

  “You don’t wanna see them,” Draco replied instantly.

  “You have them?” I asked, taking a step forward. “Show me.”

  “Not a good idea,” he argued.

  “Show me,” I repeated.

  The late bell for our last class rang, but I didn’t move. I held out my hand waiting for Draco to give me his phone.

  With a sigh, he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. After a few seconds, he handed it to me.

  Every cell in my body froze in place as I took in the first photo. Standing with my back to the camera, I look like I’m trying to help Charlie undress me. My hands are at the neck of my dress and hers are unbuttoning the back. Swallowing hard, I scrolled through the photos.

  The neck of my dress has fallen to my collarbone, and I’m reaching for my best friend.

  My dress falls enough that one of my boobs is on display and Charlie’s in motion, wrapping her arms around my waist.

  We’re falling.

  Charlie and I are chest to chest and my back is against the wall.

  We’re on the floor.

  The five second video has no sound. I look completely out of it and Charlie turns to the camera. She looks like she’s screaming at them for filming us.

  “I was yelling for help,” Charlie says, sounding completely defeated.

  My ears were ringing as I stared at the video playing over and over on a loop.

  “Everyone has seen this?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. My gaze shot to Curtis then Draco. “You’ve both seen this?”

  Draco’s eyes were soft on mine as he barely nodded.

  “Oh, my God,” I breathed.

  Nausea rose so fast that I barely got to the toilet before I threw up the jelly sandwich Rose had packed for me that morning.

  Everyone in school had seen me. They’d passed around the photos like it was some kind of joke. Like I’d deserved to have topless photos of me on dis
play.

  I heaved again.

  Curtis had seen me like that. He’d seen the dazed look on my face as I’d passed out half naked in a hotel hallway. Every boy in our school and who knew how many creepy older siblings and parents had seen it.

  I had no idea how I could ever leave the safety of that bathroom.

  Tears and snot dripped down my face as I stood up and flushed the toilet.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Curtis said, speaking for the first time since he’d entered the bathroom.

  “You can’t,” I replied, staring into the toilet, frozen in place. “Everyone’s already seen it. There’s nothing you can do.”

  “Yes, there is,” he said, his voice coming from close behind me.

  I barely breathed as his hand rested on my back, his thumb rubbing gently from side to side. I waited for him to move away, but he didn’t. Instead, his hand traveled up to the back of my neck, and gently, so gently, slid around to the front. With his thumb on my jaw and his fingers underneath my chin, he tilted my head upward.

  “I’ll take care of it,” he whispered, dropping his hand as he kissed the back of my head. “And then we need to talk.”

  He was out of the stall before I could reply.

  “Get them out of here,” Curtis ordered Draco. “Take the car.”

  “You think I’m leavin’ you here to deal with this shit on your own?” Draco asked in disbelief.

  “I think you need to get Charlie and Kara out of here,” Curtis replied firmly. “Come find me after.”

  As I stared at the wall in front of me, I could hear the door to the bathroom open and close again.

  “Come on, K,” Charlie said. “Let’s leave while everyone is in class.”

  It was the best idea I’d heard in my life. I lifted my t-shirt to wipe the gunk off my face—who even cared about tissues anymore—and left the stall.

  We didn’t bother hiding our escape because it wouldn’t have mattered if a teacher tried to stop us. Draco led the way through the halls with singular purpose, and I watched the bottom half of his legs just to make sure I wasn’t going to trip over him. If I could’ve closed my eyes completely, I would’ve. I didn’t want to see anyone. I didn’t want to know if anyone could see me.