by Eden O'Neill
My stomach sour, I swallowed hard. “Yes. I’ve been back a few weeks or so.”
“Hmm,” fell from his lips, his hand gripping his Gatorade. He put out his hat toward me. “I see you got some holiday stuff.”
His reference to the eggnog, I lifted it. “Tradition for some people. I’m out getting it for a friend.”
His grunt touched the air again, the hat bending under his hand. He really didn’t want to be here. I really didn’t want to be here. He cleared his throat. “I, uh, can imagine this season will be pretty hard for you. There’s not a day that goes by where we don’t think about your sister and what happened over at the station.”
Get me the fuck out of here.
I blinked, swallowing once more. “Yes, sir, and I appreciate all you guys did. I’m sure that was hard.”
“Not as hard as for you, I’m afraid.” Another throat clear and his hat lowered to the side “I’m sure you have some good friends, though. The Prinze boy.”
I frowned. “I do have good friends, yes,” I said, not feeling the need to correct him. Royal had obviously been there and very vocal about wanting to know what was going on. So much so they’d guided him and the other boys away to discuss it in the sheriff’s office. I found that odd then, that Royal and the others had so much power even there, but there was so much I didn’t understand about this town. I suppose I never would. I’d be leaving soon, right after graduation.
Sheriff Ashford gripped his hat. “I’m sure it’s hard for him too and the other boys. They were good friends with your sister and to all be there that night…”
“All of them, sir?”
He looked up at me, dampening his lips. “Yes. They said they were all there hanging out that night. Well, not the whole night. Royal said they’d all been called away by his dad, who also confirmed that. I suppose they all had some event to prepare for? Something to do with the Court? Anyway, they wished they could have done something, been able to prevent what happened to your sister in some way, which they couldn’t have. Sometimes when people are troubled…”
“All due respect, sir,” I said, my hand gripping my almond milk. “My sister wasn’t troubled. She was a lot of things, but…”
“Of course,” he stated, his look apologetic. “What your sister did after they left couldn’t be helped was what I was trying to get at, and I apologize. Even still, the boys wished they could have. They cared about her.”
I didn’t know why, but I assumed it had just been Royal out there with my sister that night. I guess he never did say he was alone with her. I assumed.
Sheriff Ashford returned the hat to his head. “You take care now, you hear? Our thoughts are all with you.”
I could gratefully breathe after Sheriff Ashford left, and after paying for my almond milk and the eggnog, I headed back into the storm, thinking about what the sheriff said. His version of the events had been different than I believed, but I guess I hadn’t been really present that night. It’d been one of the worst of my life. By the time I returned to Rosanna’s, I once again wanted to push that all back to the furthest crevices of my brain. I handed her the eggnog after getting off my boots and coat, and after putting my almond milk away, I curled up on the couch with Hershey and the TV. Rosanna’s youngest were already in the living room on the floor, watching the Disney channel, and we watched together for a little while before Rosanna came out of the kitchen and pointed toward the Christmas tree.
“Your dad left you a package, December,” she said. “I brought it home from work. It’s a present. Nicely wrapped.”
My sight panned to a new present there, the paper a ruby red and tied with the same ribbon. Rosanna’s gaze on me, she clearly attempted to read me and my thoughts about said gift.
I didn’t give her much, thanking her for bringing it over before going back to the television with Hershey and the kids.
“I know it’s early,” Rosanna said, frowning. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you wanted to open it now?”
She was trying hard, wasn’t she? Being the middleman when it wasn’t her place. I appreciated everything Rosanna did for me, and I mean everything, but…
I forced a smile. “I’ll go take a look at it in my room. I mean your daughter’s room.” Her daughter was out with friends tonight, so I actually would get to sleep in the bed tonight.
I said what I did to make Rosanna smile, and it worked when I picked the present up and headed to the bedroom. I didn’t tell her about what I did once I got the box inside the room, and she wouldn’t see it in the trash either.
I made sure it was buried deep in the can.
Twenty-Eight
December
“Damn, bitch. Who you trying to impress?”
The girls picked me up for Ramses’ Christmas party outside of Rosanna’s, Shakira’s cool blue Hummer packed to the brim with not just basketball girls but boys. I recognized a few from our lunch table, along with some wrestlers.
I shook my head at what Birdie said, who was pretty much hanging out the window staring at me. I wore a nice dress tonight, red because we were on the cusp of Christmas. The annual Mallick bash was on Christmas Eve. I kept the outfit more my style with tall black boots and a leather jacket. Oh, and of course, my nose ring.
I smiled, taking the hand of a boy who offered me one to get in. Another took the trough of cookies Rosanna had given me to present to the mayor and his wife. She’d be staying at home with her kids tonight, off the hook, unlike me. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to go. I was happy to be invited and, of course, wanted to support Ramses. He’d been gracious enough to invite me, so yes, I appreciated that, but I just didn’t have the Christmas spirit much these days. It was obvious the reason why, but I was putting my big girl panties on and dealing with things. I was here, and I’d try to be as happy as I could about that. If anything, because Ramses was my friend and I did want to support him.
“Shut up with that.” I kicked the back of Birdie’s seat with my boot for her insinuation, and she yelped with a laugh.
She turned, on her head a bunch of dark curls. “What?”
“You know what.” She’d been doing that since she found out Ramses had been helping me with school. I explained we were completely platonic to each other repeatedly, but she continued to rag on me.
“Oh, she’s just messing.” Behind the wheel, Shakira wiggled her dark eyebrows, her dress a glittery white. Offsetting the umber color of her skin tone, the dress popped, and everyone was equally as festive in the back of the ride. I saw twinkling lights and even some Christmas sweaters, not gaudy enough to be considered “ugly” by any means. We were going to the mayor’s house, and no one from my Richie Rich school was pulling one of those fashion faux pas apparently.
My chocolate chip cookies returned to me, I sat with them and did have to slap away a jock hand a time or two. They all could wait until we got to Ramses’, the Hummer’s mighty wheels crunching along the salt-covered streets. It hadn’t snowed hard in over a week, so it was pretty clear.
“Fucking shit.” The shock came from me, shifting in my seat as the road was literally filled with people and cars. We were at least half a block from Ramses’ house, but the surrounding roads were already filled with people.
“Yes, girl,” came from up front, Shakira. “Everybody’s here tonight. I mean, everybody.”
She wasn’t lying, people already dancing in the streets as they walked up to the white palace ahead. I’d been there before, but I swear to God, Ramses’ house battled the Windsor House castle in its size. There were no other houses surrounding it. There couldn’t be, not enough space with the football-sized lawn and expansive landscape. The white, column-adorned house in the center only acted as a focal piece, and Shakira pulled right up front.
“We’ll use valet,” Shakira proclaimed. “Ramses said it’s more for the city officials and stuff, but he got us the hookup.”
A man in a white jacket and bow tie sprinted out of a house constantly moving
in and out with people. Shakira parked, and he came right up to our ride, letting us out. He gave hands to the girls and nodded to the boys, the girls and their escorts leaving while he took the car. I didn’t have my own escort, but that was all good and well. I wasn’t the only girl traveling solo tonight. From what I understood, Birdie and Shakira didn’t have anyone either. We headed up to the door and started to knock before it opened right up.
“Welcome to the House of Mallick,” Ramses exclaimed, his expansive arms wide. He wore an actual suit tonight, his tie a garnet red and on theme. It matched the pocket square near his lapel, the boy grinning like a man servant. “Come on in. My parents’ home is your home.”
God, he was such an idiot, and I told him as much as I passed him. I handed him the cookies. “From Rosanna.”
He knew all about her, as did most of our friends as I mentioned where I was staying in the past. After I’d handed him the cookies, he looked up.
His grin widened. “You look very nice, ’Zona,” he said, making me suddenly very aware of how I looked compared to him. He looked very nice too, shiny and like a brand-new penny. He looked like money, and since I never came from that, I almost felt awkward at the compliment. He saved me from having to respond when he analyzed the cookies. “And thanks for these. I’ll give them to Lara.”
I smacked him, my jaw dropped. Lara was definitely his yippie French poodle he had inside there and he grinned again.
“I meant Francisca, our housekeeper,” he corrected, waggling those busy dark eyebrows. He had his curls pretty managed tonight, a moussed halo on the top of his head. He widened the door for me and the group. “Come in. We’ll see if we can find you all some floor space.”
Our group descended onto the foyer, which was clustered the fuck up with people. Ramses hadn’t been bluffing, people packed in the circular room. His family had a large Christmas tree, which greeted guests with its twinkling lights, presents lining around the whole presentation. I thought that might have been his family Christmas tree, but when he guided our group into the main event, aka his family’s ballroom (because yes, he had one of those), that’s where the biggest tree resided. It was seriously huge, suspended from the ceiling like a T-Rex’s bones in a museum. Behind it was a small orchestra, a quartet with a conductor and everything.
And did I mention the snow? Yes, there was actual snow coming down from somewhere in the rafters. Not real snow mind you, just paper, but it softly coated the glistening stars in this very room. These people were stars, everyone in the room shimmering bright like diamonds in their luxury gowns and with their champagne flutes.
“Shit, Mallick,” I stated, but I seemed to be the only one with a dropped jaw here. Everyone else laughed at what I said.
Ramses leaned in. “Can you tell my parents get pretty into this thing?”
Uh, “pretty into” was definitely an understatement. I idly wondered if Santa and his sleigh were going to come cruising in and asking me what I wanted for Christmas.
Ramses chuckled. “I’m going to go give these to Francisca. I’d put them on the food tables myself, but she’s touchy about how she wants things.”
At the mention of food, about half the guys went with him, the food tables on the far side of the room, and I saw them well. There was enough catering in this place to feed half the city, and I guess that was appropriate.
Half the city was literally here, and I immediately got dragged into a slow dance with my girlfriends. We danced in a bumbling circle, pretending we knew how to do the waltz or some shit. We weren’t the only ones goofing and having a good time, though; other people from our school were doing the same. I was really starting to get into it before I saw some familiar faces.
“I guess everyone’s here,” I said, noticing Royal and Mira. He strode into the room with her, his suit fine and his blond hair pushed pristinely back. He still looked good. Still looked hot and was just as aware of it as Mira beside him. She did look good too, her dress a deeper shade of red than mine. Behind them both were other people from the Court, Jax, LJ, and Knight amongst them with their own dates. They all looked like a large pack of royals, extremely fitting.
“Nothing’s going on with you and him, is there?” Birdie asked, pulling me in. “I know you guys had that hookup and everything.”
I shrugged, twirling her. “Believe me, whatever that was is history.” And gratefully so. I was done with the games and giving my heart to someone who clearly didn’t want me. I wouldn’t lie. All that with him still stung, but it wouldn’t get any better if I continued to let myself constantly think about him.
Birdie’s gaze lingered in that direction before facing me. “Probably for the best,” she said, her smile a little stiff. I didn’t know why, but in the next moment Shakira and Kiki came between us. They wanted to know if we’d like to join them for drinks, but since I didn’t want one, I stayed put.
The three left me on the floor, and I did all I could not to watch as Royal and party mingled their way onto the floor too. I didn’t have to stay there, so I ventured off, finding real estate by the big-ass Christmas tree.
Holy fuck. It’s Dad.
My father had a drink cup in his hands, by himself and lingering toward the side of the dance floor. He looked a little lonely, and I forced myself from feeling anything about that as I watched him. He took another sip of whatever he had before a surprising guest came up to him.
Sheriff Ashford approached him, my dad stiffening. The sheriff must have surprised him or something, and looking around, Dad faced the man, the sheriff speaking to him. He let him for the most part, that was until the man placed a hand on his shoulder. Dad rubbed it off, looking put off, and before I knew it, he was falling back into the crowd. I almost felt compelled to follow him, but I didn’t, of course. I didn’t care.
“December, right?”
I turned, a beautiful woman before me, stunning. She had a spool of dark hair wound on top of her head, her dress a glistening gold on her curvy figure. She looked like a trophy wife and sparkled just as ethereal in the place. I also recognized her, quickly aware of what place I’d last seen her.
It’d been during the darkest day of my life.
She’d been at my sister’s funeral. Birdie said she’d been the guidance counselor at their school for a time.
“Hi,” I said, feeling kind of awkward. I didn’t know her, but she looked at me like she knew me. In fact, her gaze bore over me like we were quite well acquainted.
“I never got to introduce myself during your sister’s service,” she started, but stopped. Her fingers tapping a crystal goblet, she seemed to be considering what to say. “I’m your sister’s old guidance counselor, worked with her a bit her freshman year.”
I figured as much, my sister with a whole mess of problems.
The woman moved her pretty jaw a little. “Anyway, I never got to say hi to you. My husband, Principal Hastings, and I left before the reception.”
“Hi,” I said again, and she smiled, oh so pretty. I normally didn’t notice such things about people, but this woman seriously emanated. That said something in this place.
“She was very special, your sister,” she said. “And I always hoped I’d get to say hello to you. She talked a lot about you.”
My heart moved, melting its thick wall of ice I forcibly put up. “She did?”
I figured she hadn’t. She hadn’t spoken about this place to me, nor vice versa from what I understood. Birdie said she hadn’t even heard of me when we originally became friends.
The woman started to nod, but stopped when her gaze took the crowd. I turned, but didn’t see what she had.
“Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and make sure you got what I sent over. It was your sister’s.”
I turned, the woman pushing her pocketbook under her arm. “I’m sorry. You sent something over? To me?”
She frowned. “Yes, and did you not get it? It’s a journal, something your sister worked in for a time. It’s very private, and I
don’t normally give out students’ things, but in this situation, I felt you might want it. I had your dad give it to you, sent it to his office. He promised he wouldn’t open it, and I thanked him for that, valuing your sister’s privacy.”
I swallowed, thinking.
The package…
“I did get it,” I told her, correcting myself. “Sorry, I’m just…” Freaking out.
My sister had a journal.
Knowing the thing currently sat in a trashcan, my heart beat to get away.
“You’re fine,” the woman said, her smile wide. She put out a hand. “And I’m Lena. I’m not practicing at the school anymore, but anytime you want to talk, about your sister or anything, that’s fine.”
I had been advised to seek out the guidance counselor in school, and though she wasn’t there anymore, it wouldn’t be bad to see her. I watched as she took out a card.
“My office,” she said, handing me the card. She put a hand on mine. “I’m so glad we got to meet. It means a lot. I really cared about your sister.”
Appreciating that, I nodded at her, listening as the music suddenly quieted and someone parted the sea of people. The man stood up near the band, his skin a softened golden brown, and the woman beside him a beautiful blond with thick hair that cascaded down the side of a powder-blue dress. She had her hand on his arm, and the man, I’d been told, was the mayor of Maywood Heights. He’d come to my sister’s service.
Ramses’ parents.
I looked at them, easily seeing a mash-up there. His dad was tall, and his mom was tall too, an Amazon like Birdie and the other female basketball players.
Mayor Mallick grinned. “I welcome you all to our annual Christmas party, and please, eat as much food as you can. We got to get our money’s worth out of that bill.”
