New York To Los Angeles

Chapter 25 - Christmas And Unwanted Guests

"Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh"

The familiar jingle was heard throughout the store I was currently in, with Christmas just a few days away the stores were doing all they could to advertise their stock as Christmas gifts. The mall was decorated in a blue and silver theme with tinsel and baubles hanging from the ceiling and a Santa station propped up in the centre of the mall for little kids. I was just getting the last of my Christmas shopping done after my parents practically kicked me out of the house mumbling something about 'getting some fresh air'. School had ended a few days ago for winter break and for some reason that had caused both my parents and Chase to get antsy, as if they were hiding some huge secret.

I walk aimlessly through the stores admiring the decorations and observing the frantic shoppers running from store to store trying to get their Christmas gift list sorted. I finished buying gifts for my family and friends (with the exception of Jake) half an hour ago and could relax knowing that I won't be that frantic. I was about to head into another shop when my cell phone rang the caller ID blinked with my mum's name and I quickly answer the call. 

"Hello?" I ask, it's only been an hour since she kicked me out so I wonder why she's calling now.

"Amelia darling, sweetie, can you come back home now I think you've had enough fresh air for today" her extra sugary voice put me on high alert, nothing good ever comes out of that voice.

"What's wrong? Something’s up, what is it?" I ask quickly making my way to the parking lot, shopping in hand as I fish for the keys to my Mum's car.

"Nothing's wrong why do you kids immediately think something's wrong when I act nice?" she says in an annoyed tone before muttering something about 'a chicken in the oven' and hanging up. My footsteps become hurried as I spot my mum's car exactly where I left it; if my mum's cooking it is definitely bad. It's not like she's a bad cook but Dad is the main chef at home and when mum does cook it's a huge feast usually to sweet talk us into something. The last time she did something like this was when dad and her broke the news that we were moving to Los Angeles.

I drive through the busy streets as carefully as I can not wanting to get a speeding ticket no matter how quickly I wanted to get home. Within half an hour I was parking the car into our double garage and making my way into the house calling my mum's name. I stop dead in my tracks however when I notice three extra pairs of shoes in the hallway, three pairs of shoes that didn't belong to anyone I knew here in Los Angeles.

I froze, my eyes locked on the pair of ballet flats I would know anywhere, the red shoes were bedazzled something I remember helping her with. I didn't need to venture further into the house towards the voices in the main living room to know that Julia was here and if she was here than so was Alex seeing as the other two pairs of shoes were combat boots for boys. The third guest remains a mystery that I'm sure would be solved if I could bring myself to move my feet towards the living room but I have no idea how to feel. For so long I was angry, angry at my best friends for their betrayal, angry at them for not telling me, for going behind my back. Now the only emotion I was feeling was confusion apart from that I was numb, I had no idea what to expect, I didn't know why they were here and I definitely didn't want to meet them.