Chapter 23.
Dad and I usually had small, private Christmases just the two of us. This year, he surprised me by announcing that he was throwing a massive Christmas party with all of our friends. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised at that, since he had done the same thing during Thanksgiving. I wondered if it was because he was lonely now that I was at school, and was determined to fill his house as full of people as possible whenever I was home. Whatever the reason, it was a little uncomfortable.
Kelsey arrived to the party early to help us get ready, and she carried two enormous platters of Christmas cookies with her.
"Ooh, fancy," I teased, taking the platters from her and setting them on the island in the kitchen.
Kelsey smirked at me. "I was super bored, since you've been too busy entertaining Avery to hang out with me. I was watching the Food Network, and the next thing I knew, I was baking Christmas cookies. Seriously, I think that channel has hypnotic powers or something."
I laughed. "Probably. Luke made me hold a mock Cupcake Wars style bake off with him after watching it."
Kelsey's eyes widened. "Oh, do tell," she said. "This sounds interesting."
I shrugged. "He bought a ton of baking stuff, and then we held a cupcake bake off in the dorm room kitchen. We had to make coffee flavored cupcakes. I made mint chocolate mocha, and Luke made caramel macchiato. We had Dylan be the judge or us and do a blind taste test."
Kelsey smirked. "I didn't realize Luke baked."
"Me either," I admitted. "But it was actually pretty fun. Even though Dylan told me my frosting tasted like toothpaste."
"Eww," Kelsey giggled. "Seriously, only you could make frosting taste bad."
I nudged her. "Come on, slacker, I thought you were going to help me get ready for the party?"
Kelsey made a face. "I guess," she said, moaning dramatically. "If I have to."
I grabbed a few bowls out of the cupboard, handing her several bags of chips. "Put the chips in here," I instructed. "I'm putting the dip into serving containers, and then we can fill the cooler with ice to keep the soda cold. Then we need to push back all of the furniture in the living room out of the way so there's room for dancing and mingling. Plus we need to set up speakers--"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Kelsey interrupted. "There's a lot of work to be done."
As she filled each bowl with a different kind of chip, Kelsey looked around. "Where is Avery? Shouldn't she be helping with this?"
I grimaced. Avery had been relatively quiet the past couple of days, spending the majority of her time holed up in the guest room. I wasn't about to complain about her absence, since I couldn't stand the girl. Actually, having her stay with us had been surprisingly anticlimactic so far. Aside from seeing her at meals, we had barely crossed paths.
"Avery has pretty much kept to herself," I told her. "I think maybe she feels uncomfortable since this is my dad's house, and she really has no good reason to be here."
Kelsey shook her head. "I don't trust it," she said. "Avery's being too quiet. Just wait, she's planning something big, and it's going to go down tonight."
I sincerely hoped that Kelsey was wrong, and that she was just being over dramatic, but if an entire semester with Avery had taught me anything, it was that I should never underestimate her.
"I hope she's on her best behavior tonight," I said, frowning. "Dad's really looking forward to this Christmas party, and I would hate it if drama with Avery ruined that for him."
"I'm just saying..."
As much as I hated to admit it, Kelsey's logic made a disturbing amount of sense. All of my friends would be at the party tonight, and if Avery wanted to embarrass me, this party would be the perfect opportunity for her to torment me in front of everyone.
"Knock knock," a familiar voice called from the door. "Can I come in?"
I looked up to see Dylan standing in the doorway, a crooked smile on his face. I glanced over to Kelsey, who shrugged.
"I told him he could come early, as long as he was willing to help with the party setup. I didn't think you'd mind."
"It's fine," I told her. "Dylan, can you move the furniture in the living room for us to make space for a dance floor?"
Dylan smirked. "Sure, make me do all the heavy lifting," he teased.
I winked at him. "How else am I going to admire all of your muscles?"
As Dylan headed into the living room to move the furniture like I'd asked him to, Kelsey smirked at me. "You're totally flirting with my brother," she said.
"No, I was just teasing him," I protested. "We do that all the time."
Kelsey didn't look convinced, but I didn't feel like arguing with her, so I busied myself with pulling the cooler out of the garage and filling it with ice and sodas for the party. Then, Dylan helped us set up the stereo and speakers so we would be able to play music at the party.
I looked around, surveying our work. "I think this is probably good," I said. "That's everything that was on my to-do list anyways."
"Good," Dylan said. "Then I'm going to run out to the car and get your gift, Lilly I wanted to give it to you before everyone else got here. I hope you got me something good, like we discussed," he teased "Otherwise, you're going to feel really bad."
As Dylan ran out to his car to grab my gift, Kelsey smirked at me. "Did you let Dylan talk you into buying him a super nice gift?" she asked.
I blushed. "Okay, maybe I put a little more thought into his present than I normally do, but he talked his gift up so much, I was afraid that if I didn't, I would be embarrassed.
Kelsey laughed. "He just played you. You realize that, right?"
"Whatever," I mumbled, heading upstairs to grab the gifts I had bought for Kelsey and Dylan.
When I returned to the living room with the gifts, Dylan was already back inside. "You first," he said. "I've been dying to give you this for weeks."
I smiled. "What if I don't want to open it yet? It's not Christmas."
"Open it, woman," he growled. "Before you drive me insane."
I stuck my tongue out at him, tearing the wrapping paper off of the gift. It was...a blank CD?
"I don't get it," I told him.
Dylan rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't. This, Lilly, is what is known as a DVD. It's what us old folk used to use to watch movies before streaming was a thing."
I shook my head at him. "I know what a DVD is. But what's so special about a movie?"
Dylan grinned. "Watch it and find out."
Kelsey eyed Dylan apprehensively. "What kind of movie is this? Is it the kind of thing that should only be watched in private?"
"Eww, no Kels, get your mind out of the gutter."
I laughed, popping the DVD into the player and turning on the TV. It was one of those home videos, and when I pressed play, that song from Toy Story, 'You've got a Friend in Me,' blared through the speakers. Dylan had created a slideshow of photos and videos documenting our entire friendship, from the very first selfie we had ever taken together, pictures of us at graduations, getting ready for dances, me at his football games.
I teared up a little at the video of me saying goodby to Dylan before he headed to his freshman year of college, and laughed at his goofy antics at a bonfire the following summer. The homemade video was almost an hour long, and it was crazy that Dylan and I had spent enough time together over the past few years that Dylan had been able to create such a sentimental video. Not to mention, I hadn't realized that Dylan had documented so much of our friendship with photos and video.
When the video was over, Dylan turned to me. "Thanks for being my best friend," he said, grinning.
Kelsey rolled her eyes. "You're a cornball, you know that?"
I was too busy wiping my eyes to comment, and Dylan noticed. "Aww, did I make you cry, Faye?" he asked.
"No," I muttered, even though it was obvious that he had. "This was a really sweet, thoughtful gift," I admitted. "How did you come up with it?"
Dylan shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. "It was after we fought over Avery. You weren't talking to me, so I wanted to remind you how important our friendship is. I figured if you didn't want to talk to me, I would drop the DVD off for you, and if you watched it, it might help you forgive me someday."
I pulled Dylan into a hug. "Thank you," I told him. "That was really thoughtful." I reached over to grab his gift, hich I had set on the floor next to the couch. "Your turn."
Dylan took his gift from me, and I fought back the urge to grin. Dylan's gift to me had been sentimental, but my gift to him was going to blow his mind. I had completely blown my Christmas budget, but it was worth it. I had gotten him his favorite football player's jersey, and had talked his dad into using his NFL connections to help me get it signed.
Dylan pulled the jersey out of its packaging, his eyes saucer wide. "No way," he breathed. "Faye, how did you even pull this off?"
I smiled, glad that he appreciated the extra effort I had put into finding him the perfect Christmas gift. "I have my ways," I replied vaguely.
"Have I ever mentioned you're the best, Faye?" Dylan asked.
"Not often enough." I handed Kelsey her gift, which was a really cute dress that I'd seen at the mall the day I'd gone Black Friday shopping with Dylan. I was certain she was going to like it.
"I'm going to wait to open mine, if that's alright," Kelsey said, tucking the gift onto the couch beside her. "I feel bad that I didn't bring yours with me."
I nodded. "That's fine, although I really don't mind if you open yours anyway."
Kelsey shrugged, insisting that she would feel better if she waited.
Shortly after, guests started arriving, and our Christmas gift exchange was all but forgotten. I mingled with all of my old friends, chatting and catching up with them, keeping a watchful eye on Avery, who floated around the room schmoozing everyone.
About an hour into the party, Avery pulled me aside, her long fingernails digging into my arm as she dragged me to a private corner of the room where we wouldn't be overheard.
"Here's the deal, Lilly," she growled. "I don't like the idea of watching you flirt with every guy in the neighborhood while I'm here. So if I catch you talking to Luke, or Dylan, or any other cute guy your age, I'm going to make your life miserable. Are we clear?"
I rolled my eyes at her. "There's nothing you can do to make me any more miserable than you already have. Face it, Avery, you're powerless here."
"I would not test me, if I were you," she threatened.
Luke noticed that Avery had me cornered, and came to my rescue. "Is everything okay over here, Lilly?" he asked, putting his hand on my shoulder protectively.
Avery glared at him. "Remember what I said," she said, as she turned to walk away. "Take care of that little problem, or I'll make sure you have bigger issues to deal with."
"What's her problem?" Luke asked, watching as Avery retreated to glare at us from the other side of the room.
I rolled my eyes. "If only I knew. If I could figure that out, maybe I could find a way to fix it. But that girl is too crazy for anyone to figure out."
Luke laughed. "Tell me about it. She was trying to hit on me again earlier. It makes no sense, because as far as she's concerned, we are dating."
I shook my head. "I told you, details like that don't matter to her. If anything, her thinking that you're my boyfriend only makes you more appealing. If she manages to steal you away from me, she would consider that quite the coo."
Across the room, Avery had started talking to my father. And was she...crying? I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Avery was such a drama queen, and I hoped my father would see right through whatever sad little lie she was telling him. Still, I couldn't quite shake the nervous way my gut clenched as I watched my father ball his hands into fists, shaking his head in clear anger. Was he upset with me? What lies was Avery spreading now.
With a sinking feeling of dread, I watched my father make his way across the room towards me, scowling. "Lillian Marie Faye, you are in so much trouble," he said. "Excuse us, Luke, but I need to talk to Lilly one on one. In fact, I don't think she's going to be talking to any of her friends for a while. She is grounded, for an indefinite amount of time."
"What? Why?" I asked as Dad dragged me out of the room and up the stairs, where we could talk privately.
"I do not tolerate bullying, Lillian," he growled. "I raised you better than that."
"Bullying?" I sputtered. "Is that what Avery told you? I have not been bullying her."
Dad pulled his phone out, pulling up the video of the prank Madison and I had pulled on Avery. At least, a heavily edited version of that video. This version was edited to make it look like Avery and Dylan had been hooking up when the video was taken, and was edited so that the fire alarm was no longer sounding in the background. Fancy pink text over the top of the video read 'This is what happens to skanks who try to steal my man.' The video had gone viral three days ago.
"Really?" Dad asked. "Because this is cyberbullying, Lillian. And it is not okay."
"Dad, I swear I didn't post that video," I said. "Okay, yes, Madison and I did pull that stupid prank on Avery, but only because she was bullying me first. I did it to stand up to her. Look, I can prove it," I said, pulling up my unedited version of the prank video.
"We just rigged water over the door so Avery would get wet," I explained. "And we pulled the fire alarm so that Avery and Dylan would leave the room. That's all. Yes, it was stupid, but it wasn't mean or embarrassing for either of them. The whole thing happened months ago, back in September. We never posted that video."
Dad crossed his arms. "Then who did? Because I sincerely doubt Avery called herself a skank."
"If it got me in trouble, I wouldn't put it past her," I mumbled.
"Enough," Dad snapped. "I am utterly ashamed of you. I don't care what Avery does to you, I expect you to be the better person."
"Are you seriously going to punish me for something I didn't even do?" I asked incredulously.
Dad paused a moment, deliberating. "No," he said finally. "I believe you wouldn't have posted that video, and I will be speaking to Madison about it, because I don't think Avery would have injured her own reputation by posting it. But you are still grounded, Lillian. I am not okay with the way you have been treating your step-sister. She has been nothing but sweet since she set foot in this house, and I don't want to hear you insulting her."
Nothing but sweet? Clearly, he hadn't overheard Avery threatening me earlier. I hadn't taken her seriously at the time, but she had delivered on her threat to make me miserable. My own father was taking her side over mine.
"Avery is not a sweet girl," I protested. "She's mean and manipulative, and I can't believe you would believe her over your own daughter.
"Lillian Marie Faye, I will not sit here and listen to you trash talk anyone, let alone your own step sister. You're grounded," Dad said. "I don't want you leaving the house or going anywhere unless Avery goes with you."
I groaned. "But Avery won't want to go anywhere if she thinks it would actually make me happy."
Dad shrugged. "That's not my problem.If Avery doesn't leave the house, you don't either."
"What if Avery wants to go out with friends without me? Does that mean I have to stay home?"
Dad shook his head. "Considering Avery doesn't know anyone around here, that doesn't seem likely. But on the off chance that that actually does happen, fine, I suppose you could go out. But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."
I retreated to my room, fighting back the urge to sob. I refused to give Avery the satisfaction of making me cry, even if she had almost certainly ruined the rest of my vacation, and driven a wedge between me and my father.
—
Vote
Comment
Fan
Share