Rules of a Rebel

Chapter 36: Don't Celebrate

I throw it in the trash of Archer's house so that mom doesn't find the evidence in our home. 

Then, I say Merry Christmas to Archer and Julia's horses by giving them extra carrots and kissing their foreheads, before going back home. 

We eat breakfast - which is just pancakes, syrup and eggnog - and sit around the Christmas tree with kids on the floor and parents on the couch. 

Melody goes first. 

"A new plant!" She gasps, referring to the cactus that James and I got fer her. "I'm going to name it Carl the Third!" 

"Do you think calling it Carl is what kills the plant?" James leans in to whisper. 

"Why would it kill a plant?" I hiss. 

"Carl is a stupid name."

"Isn't your best friend at college named Carl?" 

"That's how I know it's stupid." 

Melody attempts to kiss the cactus, but I pull the back of her sweater before her lips can get too close to the little prickly things. Mom leans forward to catch Melody's eye. 

"Melody, you've already killed two plants before, I don't want to take care of a third one." 

"I'll nurture it with all the love I have," Melody promises. 

"It's going to die in two days," I say under my breath. 

Mom and Melody give me the exact same look of annoyance. 

"Enough with all this drama," Grandmother snarls, already in a bad from waking up so early in the morning, even though it's about to turn twelve o'clock. "Just move on. You've got a few more presents, Melody." 

Melody opens more gifts - clothes from mom and dad, a thirty dollar gift card Aunt Sue and her husband, a locket from her best friend, Raquel, and a bunch of cards from her friends and admirers from school - and then, it's Bettie turn. 

She opens the present from her parents first, wrapped in shimmering silver and green colors. 

 It's a makeup set that I've seen in designer stores - almost six hundred dollars in total - and so beautiful that even I, a girl whose makeup only consists in shades of black, gasp in delight. 

Melody's eyes nearly pop out of her head. 

"Wow, mom, dad, this is really nice," Bettie smiles tightly. "But I've told you so many times that I don't like makeup." 

"Oh, don't be silly, Bettie," Aunt Sue titters. "Every girl your age needs a little bit of makeup. Have Melody give you a makeover one day."  

"I can do that," Melody says, nearly drooling. 

"And maybe once you're all done you can show Archer what you look like," Aunt Sue continues, glancing at my mom, who glares back ferociously. 

"You can show it to Derek too," I whisper.

"Shut up," Bettie throws her ball of wrapping paper at me, but continues to open the rest of her presents with a slight blush on her face. 

Archer got her a diary with an owl on the cover. My parents give her a new watch. I hand her a series of romance novels I found by searching up the words "love triangle", "bad boy" and "nerd" into the Barnes and Noble website and clicking the first link. 

Bettie has a surprised expression on her face. "Wow, Peyton, how'd you know I wanted this?" 

"I'm more observant that I look," I say, even though this is a complete lie.