16, chapter 14
"What the hell am I supposed to get him?" I asked Alex. I swear I had asked her that same question a million times that day.
"I don't fucking know!" Alex replied for the millionth time, stopping outside a jeweler's store.
Mike had given me his credit card and told me to spend as much money as was necessary to get everyone's Christmas presents. I know he was letting me have that much money because he's still trying to make up for everything but I still couldn't believe it. I also knew that when the holidays were over I definitely wanted to get a job so I could at least have my own money to spend. I was also toying with the idea of possibly finding somewhere else to live. As much as I loved living with Sam, Estelle and Mike, it was still a little awkward and I had the feeling that that awkwardness was never going to completely go away, especially because of the circumstances with which we were all thrown together.
But for now I wasn't focusing on things like that. Christmas was just two days away and we had been shopping all morning to try and get everyone's presents before we ended up having to attempt to buy things on Christmas Eve or something as ridiculous as that. I had so far bought something for everyone but Joey and Mike. We were going to get Joey's gift on the way out of the mall as I knew exactly what I wanted to get him. Mike on the other hand, was an entirely different story. I seriously had no idea what to buy for him.
"Let's look in here." Alex said, gesturing inside the shop.
"The jewellery shop?" I asked her disbelievingly.
"Yeah! Get him... a watch or something."
After what felt like three hours but was in fact only about 15 minutes, we stepped outside the jewellery shop. I was now carrying yet another bag which contained a nicely wrapped watch Mike. I found it rather amusing that I had just bought his gift with his money. I hoped he wouldn't think of that and besides, it's the thought that counts.
"Okay, so we're done?" Alex asked and I could tell she was extremely exhausted and extremely bored.
"Almost." I said. "Just got to pick up Joey's DVDs." I had decided to buy Joey a special edition box set of our favourite movies. The previous week we had discovered that we both loved Ace Ventura although didn't own the two classics. (Seriously, it's a fact; Pet Detective and When Nature Calls are the best movies, of all time.) So I thought that would be a cool present because maybe we could watch them together, the thought of which made me smile.
We headed towards the other end of the mall, where the DVD shop was right next to the door heading out into the parking lot. After purchasing the DVDs (and a new CD by a band I like called "Flame Trees") we were finally climbing into the car to head back home. As we drove towards the house I felt a smile permanently etched into my face. After all the shit that had happened over the few months previous to this little shopping expedition, I couldn't believe that I was actually looking forward to Christmas.
***
"Dani!" Mike yelled in my ear. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and it made me want to hurl and laugh at the same time.
"Yeah?" I yelled back over the music.
It was night time on Christmas day and Mike's annual party was in full swing. So far the day had gone really well, in the morning we had all exchanged gifts then proceeded to spend the rest of the day preparing for the party. I was thoroughly enjoying my first party with these strange and musical people. Let's just say I was having the time of my life.
"This watch," Mike continued. "Is really cool. Look, it tells the time and everything!"
I tried not to laugh too hard in his face. "That's great Mike, why don't you go and show Tre?"
"Tre?" He asked. "But I think Tre's asleep on a couch somewhere or something... he mentioned something about... something."
"Well then you should go and show Billie, I'm sure he'd love to see it." He stumbled off to join Billie by the stereo, bumping into his wife on the way, who gracefully took the beer in his hand from him. Sam exclaimed loud enough for us to hear that he had drunk enough for one night.
"Dan." I heard my name being whispered and knew it was Joey, he was the only person knew that called me Dan. I turned around and couldn't see him anywhere. He whispered my name again, a little louder this time and I realized that his voice was coming from the dining room, which was right behind me and was one of the only rooms in the down stairs of the house, not currently full of partying drunk musicians/friends or relatives of musicians.
I quickly slipped through the door and had to quickly grab onto said door to keep my self standing I was laughing that hard. Although the party was not exactly a fancy dress theme, Joey and I had been talking the other day and because we had decided not to drink any alcohol (we basically knew that we would only make fools out of ourselves and mostly get in trouble with parentals), we had come up with the idea to dress up. We thought it would be fun and give us something to do other than sit around drinking soda and discussing music or the weather. There is a closet in one of the many spare rooms in this house, full of stupid clothes that Mike had worn in the past. Joey had told me that Billie had a similar closet at their house. So we had decided to each pick something for the other to wear from our respective fathers closets. That had turned out... well interesting.
I was wearing a rather odd looking yellow suit that I know Mike had worn at an interview sometime. I was so amazed when Joey had pulled it out and told me I had to wear it; I remember watching a clip of him in it on the internet a few years ago, it made me laugh every time. Joey was wearing, if you can picture it, a Japanese school girl uniform. Oddly enough, there had been a very similar uniform in Mike's closet as well but seeing as I am actually a girl it wouldn't have been anywhere near as funny on me as it was on Joey.
I finally managed to stop laughing long enough to look at Joey again but quickly lost control when I spotted him standing with one hand on his hip giving me death stares... all whilst wearing a skirt.
"Oh this is brilliant," I said between laughter, still being supported by the door and wall beside me.
"Yes we all know I look great in a skirt," he muttered sarcastically. "Can I take it off now?"
"Oh hell no," I said, grabbing his arm and leading him to the door despite his resistance. "I'm still wearing this hideous yellow thing."
"I think it's a little different Dani."
"Look, no one will even notice and besides, they're all too drunk so even if they do notice, they won't remember it in the morning."
We spent the next half hour or so mingling amongst people and eventually grabbed a massive slab of chocolate from the fridge and headed to my room. We would have done so earlier but I was enjoying parading Joey around in a skirt to everyone too much.
When we entered my bedroom we saw James and Alex lying in the middle of the floor, both on their backs and gazing at the ceiling as if it were a starry night sky; unlike Joey and I, they had decided that as none of them had parents present on that particular evening they would drink as much as they wanted. They looked up at us when we walked in, not even noticing our odd choice of clothing.
"We brought chocolate," I said, waving the slab around for them to see. As we sat down on the floor they sat up so we were all in a little circle, sitting cross legged. Joey of course achieved this with great difficulty in his skirt.
For the next 15 minutes we sat just like that, eating chocolate, being entertained by James and Alex in their drunken state and talking.
"I'm going to the toilet," I said. "I'll be back."
When I returned from the bathroom, the first thing I noticed that James and Alex had started making out and sitting by himself was Joey, dressed in his little school girl uniform, chocolate in his hands. I couldn't help but laugh at the look of disgust on his face as he munched away on the chocolate.
"Hey," I said walking over to him as he stood up. "You're eating all the chocolate."
"No I'm not." He denied it.
"Give me some."
"Nope." I tried to grab it but he just pulled it out of my reach before yelling "It's mine!" and running from the room.
I chased after him, ready to do whatever it took to get the chocolate from him. Joey ran down the hall, skidding a little as he turned to run down the stairs as fast as he could with me at his heels. He suddenly stopped three quarters of the way down and we collided, forcing us to fall down the last three steps until we landed in a heap on the floor.
Laughing I tried to push him off of me but he grabbed my hands and held them above my head, pinning me to the floor.
"Joey," I said, still laughing. "Get off me."
I felt the smile slowly slide from my face as I nervously realized that Joey was no longer smiling.
I watched his eyes dart from my own down to my lips. The room seemed to double in temperature. I could hear the sounds of the party coming from the lounge room and I found myself thanking whoever it was that decided to not let people drink in the section of the house.
Joey gave me a small smile, lowering himself, if possible, closer to me so that I could feel his warm breath on my skin. I closed my eyes as he lowered his lips to mine, brushing them with a soft kiss that left my skin tingling.
"I don't fucking know!" Alex replied for the millionth time, stopping outside a jeweler's store.
Mike had given me his credit card and told me to spend as much money as was necessary to get everyone's Christmas presents. I know he was letting me have that much money because he's still trying to make up for everything but I still couldn't believe it. I also knew that when the holidays were over I definitely wanted to get a job so I could at least have my own money to spend. I was also toying with the idea of possibly finding somewhere else to live. As much as I loved living with Sam, Estelle and Mike, it was still a little awkward and I had the feeling that that awkwardness was never going to completely go away, especially because of the circumstances with which we were all thrown together.
But for now I wasn't focusing on things like that. Christmas was just two days away and we had been shopping all morning to try and get everyone's presents before we ended up having to attempt to buy things on Christmas Eve or something as ridiculous as that. I had so far bought something for everyone but Joey and Mike. We were going to get Joey's gift on the way out of the mall as I knew exactly what I wanted to get him. Mike on the other hand, was an entirely different story. I seriously had no idea what to buy for him.
"Let's look in here." Alex said, gesturing inside the shop.
"The jewellery shop?" I asked her disbelievingly.
"Yeah! Get him... a watch or something."
After what felt like three hours but was in fact only about 15 minutes, we stepped outside the jewellery shop. I was now carrying yet another bag which contained a nicely wrapped watch Mike. I found it rather amusing that I had just bought his gift with his money. I hoped he wouldn't think of that and besides, it's the thought that counts.
"Okay, so we're done?" Alex asked and I could tell she was extremely exhausted and extremely bored.
"Almost." I said. "Just got to pick up Joey's DVDs." I had decided to buy Joey a special edition box set of our favourite movies. The previous week we had discovered that we both loved Ace Ventura although didn't own the two classics. (Seriously, it's a fact; Pet Detective and When Nature Calls are the best movies, of all time.) So I thought that would be a cool present because maybe we could watch them together, the thought of which made me smile.
We headed towards the other end of the mall, where the DVD shop was right next to the door heading out into the parking lot. After purchasing the DVDs (and a new CD by a band I like called "Flame Trees") we were finally climbing into the car to head back home. As we drove towards the house I felt a smile permanently etched into my face. After all the shit that had happened over the few months previous to this little shopping expedition, I couldn't believe that I was actually looking forward to Christmas.
***
"Dani!" Mike yelled in my ear. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and it made me want to hurl and laugh at the same time.
"Yeah?" I yelled back over the music.
It was night time on Christmas day and Mike's annual party was in full swing. So far the day had gone really well, in the morning we had all exchanged gifts then proceeded to spend the rest of the day preparing for the party. I was thoroughly enjoying my first party with these strange and musical people. Let's just say I was having the time of my life.
"This watch," Mike continued. "Is really cool. Look, it tells the time and everything!"
I tried not to laugh too hard in his face. "That's great Mike, why don't you go and show Tre?"
"Tre?" He asked. "But I think Tre's asleep on a couch somewhere or something... he mentioned something about... something."
"Well then you should go and show Billie, I'm sure he'd love to see it." He stumbled off to join Billie by the stereo, bumping into his wife on the way, who gracefully took the beer in his hand from him. Sam exclaimed loud enough for us to hear that he had drunk enough for one night.
"Dan." I heard my name being whispered and knew it was Joey, he was the only person knew that called me Dan. I turned around and couldn't see him anywhere. He whispered my name again, a little louder this time and I realized that his voice was coming from the dining room, which was right behind me and was one of the only rooms in the down stairs of the house, not currently full of partying drunk musicians/friends or relatives of musicians.
I quickly slipped through the door and had to quickly grab onto said door to keep my self standing I was laughing that hard. Although the party was not exactly a fancy dress theme, Joey and I had been talking the other day and because we had decided not to drink any alcohol (we basically knew that we would only make fools out of ourselves and mostly get in trouble with parentals), we had come up with the idea to dress up. We thought it would be fun and give us something to do other than sit around drinking soda and discussing music or the weather. There is a closet in one of the many spare rooms in this house, full of stupid clothes that Mike had worn in the past. Joey had told me that Billie had a similar closet at their house. So we had decided to each pick something for the other to wear from our respective fathers closets. That had turned out... well interesting.
I was wearing a rather odd looking yellow suit that I know Mike had worn at an interview sometime. I was so amazed when Joey had pulled it out and told me I had to wear it; I remember watching a clip of him in it on the internet a few years ago, it made me laugh every time. Joey was wearing, if you can picture it, a Japanese school girl uniform. Oddly enough, there had been a very similar uniform in Mike's closet as well but seeing as I am actually a girl it wouldn't have been anywhere near as funny on me as it was on Joey.
I finally managed to stop laughing long enough to look at Joey again but quickly lost control when I spotted him standing with one hand on his hip giving me death stares... all whilst wearing a skirt.
"Oh this is brilliant," I said between laughter, still being supported by the door and wall beside me.
"Yes we all know I look great in a skirt," he muttered sarcastically. "Can I take it off now?"
"Oh hell no," I said, grabbing his arm and leading him to the door despite his resistance. "I'm still wearing this hideous yellow thing."
"I think it's a little different Dani."
"Look, no one will even notice and besides, they're all too drunk so even if they do notice, they won't remember it in the morning."
We spent the next half hour or so mingling amongst people and eventually grabbed a massive slab of chocolate from the fridge and headed to my room. We would have done so earlier but I was enjoying parading Joey around in a skirt to everyone too much.
When we entered my bedroom we saw James and Alex lying in the middle of the floor, both on their backs and gazing at the ceiling as if it were a starry night sky; unlike Joey and I, they had decided that as none of them had parents present on that particular evening they would drink as much as they wanted. They looked up at us when we walked in, not even noticing our odd choice of clothing.
"We brought chocolate," I said, waving the slab around for them to see. As we sat down on the floor they sat up so we were all in a little circle, sitting cross legged. Joey of course achieved this with great difficulty in his skirt.
For the next 15 minutes we sat just like that, eating chocolate, being entertained by James and Alex in their drunken state and talking.
"I'm going to the toilet," I said. "I'll be back."
When I returned from the bathroom, the first thing I noticed that James and Alex had started making out and sitting by himself was Joey, dressed in his little school girl uniform, chocolate in his hands. I couldn't help but laugh at the look of disgust on his face as he munched away on the chocolate.
"Hey," I said walking over to him as he stood up. "You're eating all the chocolate."
"No I'm not." He denied it.
"Give me some."
"Nope." I tried to grab it but he just pulled it out of my reach before yelling "It's mine!" and running from the room.
I chased after him, ready to do whatever it took to get the chocolate from him. Joey ran down the hall, skidding a little as he turned to run down the stairs as fast as he could with me at his heels. He suddenly stopped three quarters of the way down and we collided, forcing us to fall down the last three steps until we landed in a heap on the floor.
Laughing I tried to push him off of me but he grabbed my hands and held them above my head, pinning me to the floor.
"Joey," I said, still laughing. "Get off me."
I felt the smile slowly slide from my face as I nervously realized that Joey was no longer smiling.
I watched his eyes dart from my own down to my lips. The room seemed to double in temperature. I could hear the sounds of the party coming from the lounge room and I found myself thanking whoever it was that decided to not let people drink in the section of the house.
Joey gave me a small smile, lowering himself, if possible, closer to me so that I could feel his warm breath on my skin. I closed my eyes as he lowered his lips to mine, brushing them with a soft kiss that left my skin tingling.
