Firsts & Lasts

First Surprise.

Novalee

"You've been in love with him since you were sixteen."

"No I haven't."

"Oh please, Avalon, I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you."

"What do you mean? There's nothing g-" I pause to think. I groan, "I forgot my line." Maddy hands me the script and I read it over a couple of times again. She's helping me rehearse for one of the roles I'm auditioning for in only less than a week. We're switching between studying for finals, which we start taking after our six day break for Thanksgiving, and rehearsing my lines.

Maddy's actually enjoying this more than I thought she would. She says she feels like a real actress which is funny. The character she's reading lines for is actually very similar to her, so she's doing a good job at it. "Okay, I got it," I hand her back the script which she's using.

"You've been in love with him since you were children."

"No. I haven't."

"Oh please, Avalon, I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you."

"What do you mean? There's nothing happening between us. He has a girlfriend, Ember."

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so'? I would never get in the way of that. That's not me."

"I know you, Avalon. You're hiding your feelings for Jaxon because of Farrah. She'll get over it. I'm sure she's not the one w-"

A knock at the door interrupts Maddy. I groan in frustration. She walks toward my bed and jumps on it. I walk to the door and open it wide. My eyes widen when I see the two people standing in the hallway.

"Mom, dad?!?" My mom holds her hands open and I jump into her arms, hugging her small frame. "What are you guys doing here?" My voice is muffled into her shoulder. I pull away and hug my dad. "We thought we'd spend some time with you since you won't be able to come down on Thanksgiving or Christmas," Mom says. I pull both of them into my dorm and realize Maddy still sits on my bed.

She has a smile on her face as she sees both of my parents. "Oh my gosh, mom, dad, this is my friend, Maddy!" I tell them. "Yes, we know. She helped us find your dorm room. We talked on Facebook," Mom tells me. I didn't even realize that they knew where I lived even though they've never been here. Maddy hops off the bed and greets my parents and then hugs me. "We'll talk later, I'll actually get to see you on Christmas." She kisses my cheek and then says bye to my parents.

My dad sits on my chair and mom hops onto my bed with me. We have a lot to catch up on.

+

After discussing school, acting, and my mom and dad for two hours, I finally find the courage to tell them about Christian. I think it's time anyway, we've been together for awhile now. Plus, they need to know the real reason I'm not spending Christmas with them for the first time. Not the whole truth, but maybe some of it.

"Okay so, I have something to tell you guys," I start. Mom and dad look at me worriedly. "What is it?" My dad asks questioningly. I open my mouth to speak and a knock at my door interrupts me. I furrow my brows in confusion. Maddy? "Hold on," I say, walking towards the door. I swing the door open again and my eyes widen, again. Christian looks stressed out as he uses the wide open door as an opportunity to walk into my dorm room.

"I've been texting and calling you all day, Novalee," He says, waking further into the dorm. My parents are both sitting on my bed now so they're out of sight. I walk after him and he sees them before I can say anything. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you had company," He says nervously. I don't think I've ever seen him nervous. My hands are clammy so I guess we're on the same boat. I chuckle nervously, my parents don't say anything. "This is Christian, Chris these are my parents, remember?" I ask, looking up at him.