Complicated

chapter thirteen

The babble of festive conversation echoed through the restaurant, backed by the familiar Christmas tunes. In the corner, a huge Christmas tree twinkles with silver baubles and tinsel. Waiters danced around tables in costumes; some were angels and some were elves. The manager walked from table to table, dressed as jolly old Santa Claus. When he laughed his fake beard shook.

      We had the biggest table in the entire restaurant, and my whole family was crowded around it, including Mum, Connor, Auntie Kelly, Auntie Carrie, Timmy and June. Connor was sat opposite me, staring at June.

      A waiter with pointed ears, a bright red hat and a scowl came to take our orders. He reached Connor. “What would you like to order, Sir?”

      Connor didn’t reply. Under the table, I kicked him with the heel of my boots Mum made me wear, and he blinked into existence. “What?”

      I felt like slamming my head down on the table. The waiter took a patient breath. “What would you like to order?”

      “Oh, um . . .” Connor looked down at his menu for the first time, and apparently picked the first thing he saw. “The prawns, please.”

      The waiter moved on, and I leaned forward to whisper to Connor. “You don’t like prawns.”

      “Um . . . I know. But I didn’t . . .  I didn’t think.” I sighed, and suddenly felt bad for him. It wasn’t his fault he was falling for my cousin, so bad he couldn’t even choose what he really wanted to eat off the menu.

      “What would you actually like?” I asked.

      Connor glanced at the menu again, this time for a longer length of time. “The turkey. I like turkey.”

      “Well, I’ll order the turkey and then you can have it, and I’ll eat your prawns.” I didn’t like prawns much either, but I was in relentlessly good mood and refused to let this dampen my day. Plus, I knew how Connor felt. Falling for boys seemed to be my forte.

      “Really?” blinked Connor.

      “Yeah, but only if you stop staring at June so much.

      Connor smirked. “It’s a deal.”

Yuck. Prawns are disgusting. I glared at Connor, who was shovelling turkey into his mouth and staring at June both at the same time (whoever said boys couldn’t multi-task was clearly wrong). I should’ve known he wouldn’t keep his promise, he never did.

      In the pocket of my dress (yes, I found a dress with pockets!), my phone vibrated. I took it out. I had three texts. The first was from Aaron. My heart jumped.

Hiya Jenni just wanted to say sorry for the other day.

Merry Christmas :)

The second was from James. It was a chain mail text.

I love you and you are my world <3

If you don’t want a bad thing to happen at midday on Christmas day, send this to the one you love and maybe you’ll receive it back!

Yeah, James wished. I glanced at my phone; it was already a minute past midday, so I decided the message was null and void. I considered sending it to Aaron, but decided it was just a waste of credit. Plus, I didn’t need him to know that he was my world. I was much happier keeping that to myself.

      I opened the third text.

Merry Christmas Jen x See u again at school.

Taffy x