Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (29)

“I want you to spend Christmas night with me.”

Those were the words that almost caused me to drop the phone on the ground, right in front of my entire family (and Eli…) on Christmas Eve morning. This was definitely not the first thing I expected to hear when I called Jack after a week of not talking to him…

“Um…” I started, glancing as everyone sat at the kitchen table for breakfast. No one was even paying attention to me, but I knew that they could easily listen in if they wanted to. Only glances back at them, I slyly slipped out of the kitchen before any of them could say anything to me. “Did I hear you correctly? You want to spend Christmas night with me?”

“Yup.”

“Um… well…”

I heard Jack chuckle on the other line, and it made my knees buckle. Not a sexier sound has ever been made… “It’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to, love. I just haven’t seen you since break started and I have a present for you.”

I now bit my lip so hard I wouldn’t have been surprised if I tasted blood. He had a present for me, but I didn’t have anything for him! What kind of idiot was I? I was such a horrible girlfriend!

Noticing my silence, Jack chuckled again. “And I’m not expecting you to have anything for me,” he said, as if reading my mind. “I know what kind of financial problem you’re in right now, and I don’t really need any gifts considering my parents give me whatever I want anyways.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can stay over or not…” I informed me, crossing my arms over my chest and glancing back into the kitchen. Okay, no one had even left the kitchen table… “I don’t think my dad would like it if he knew I was staying over at a guy’s house for the night. Claudia probably wouldn’t even care, but she wouldn’t let me go just to make me angry…”

“Can’t you make something up?” he now suggested, and I bit down on my lip once again. “I really want to see you.”

“I guess I could…” I nodded, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “Okay, I’ll spend the night with you. I’ll just tell my dad that I’m going over to Terra’s or something.”

I knew Jack smiled. “Alright. I can’t wait to see you.”

I couldn’t help but smile now. “I can’t wait to see you, too.”

“I love you, Ivy.”

“I love you too, Jack.”

I hung up then, and I immediately had a mixture of feelings come washing through me. How was I supposed to feel about spending the night with Jack? What would he want to do? A few things came to my mind…

Shaking my head, I headed back into the kitchen and sat back down with my family (and Eli) for breakfast. Hopefully they wouldn’t ask about Jack at all…

“So, what did you and Jack talk about?” my father asked, almost causing me to choke on my fork.

“Oh, what we’re doing for Christmas,” I excused quickly, afraid that he’d know something was up by how I had almost completely spazzed out. “Speaking of Christmas… Is it okay if I spend the night at Terra’s house tomorrow?”

Eli’s eyebrows raised at me, but I chose to ignore him and not move my eyes away from my father. If I looked innocent, he would definitely let me go…

“On Christmas night?” Claudia squeaked before my father could say anything. It took all my willpower not to turn and glare at her. “You should be with your family on Christmas night, Olivia.”

“I’m going to be with my family tonight,” I almost snapped, still not looking away from my father. I was not going to let Claudia ruin this for me! “Please, Dad? I haven’t seen Terra in forever…”