Blood Thristy. || J.G

✟ 9.

Kaylani's POV:

   I have officially been in this house for ten days. For the past week, I have been getting to know everyone better. Especially Jake. Jake and I talk every day, deep conversations at night. I am getting closer with Tara as well. Tara is a sweetheart. She loves to talk. Sam is also pretty sweet. Corey is really playful. Yesterday, he cut his hair short because Jake kept saying that he didn't have the balls. Colby is still somewhat serious, but when his friends were having a good time, he seemed to be too. Don't get me wrong, they all are serious at times, but at others, I forget that they are basically a gang.

    With Johnnie, he seemed to have been avoiding me. Avoiding everyone at that. Him and Tara haven't talked, at least while I was there. He talks with the others when he has to, but other than that, he stays to himself. He hasn't talked to me since the day I kissed him. He doesn't even want eye contact. And for some reason, it hurt. It made me feel terrible.

   We all sat at the dining room table. Tara called us all down, mentioning how she wanted to do Secret Santa. The table was rectangle. Jake and I sat at one side, right by the door. Johnnie and Corey were on the opposite side, and Tara stood up while Sam and Colby sat at opposite ends. I caught myself glancing at Johnnie a lot before Tara even started. I didn't know why, but all I wanted to do was talk to him. Be by his side again.

   He didn't look at me, though. He would either look at his hands, phone, or table. "Okay. So, today is Christmas, so we gotta start on this." Tara started. "Why did we start on Christmas?" Jake asked with an attitude. I looked to him, and his eyebrows were furrowed, and he slightly poked out his lips. "For fun, Jake." Tara said, leaning as she spoke, adding a matching attitude from Jake.

   "Anyways. We are going to pick names from this hat. Do not share with anyone who you got." Tara spoke, raising her voice with aggression at certain words. We all nodded. "And Kay, I have good news for you." She smiled at me, then looked at Colby. Colby folded his arms and took a breath to talk. "You can go with all of us to stores to get stuff for your Secret Santa." He said. I felt my face light up. Finally, I am being trusted to be a part of stuff, as well as being in public.

   "But if you try anything, I'll kill you, and everyone else who witnesses." He set one elbow on the table, sitting up as he pointed to me. My stomach dropped. I felt many eyes on me. My smile faded, and I nodded, assuring that I wouldn't try anything. "Anyways." Tara interrupted while eyeing Colby. "I'm picking first. Then everyone else can pick, but dont open it yet." Tara took the hat, picking a sliver of paper, then handing it to Colby. Colby did the same, handed it to Jake, and then Jake gave it to me, then I gave it to Sam, then he gave it to Corey, and Johnnie took the last name.

   "Okay. Open!" Collectivly, we all opened our papers, holding them in our hands to hide it from others. Before reading mine, I looked at the others, seeing unfazed faces until I met with Johnnie's reaction. His eyebrows pointed downwards, painting negativity over his face. I decided to look at mine. Corey. "Can we redo this?" Sam asked. Tara looked at him, then her paper. She nodded, and the hat passed around, everyone returning their papers.

   Like before, the hat passed around, and we all took a paper. "Open." Tara said before we all opened our papers. I looked at Johnnie first, seeing a better expression. Not a smile, but as if he was fine with who he got. I looked at mine. Jake. Perfect! Jake and I were pretty close, so this should be simple. "Okay, we are leaving in a moment. Go get ready." Tara said, sliding her paper in her back pocket. Everyone, including me, left the dining room, making our way upstairs and to our rooms.

   I looked through my dresser, finding a cute outfit. I think Tara began to forget the "baggy clothes," I mentioned in the middle of shopping because half of the clothes she got me were baggy, and the other were tight shirts, crop tops, or short shorts. I usually wore baggy clothes because it hid my body. Mostly because in my hometown, sexual assult and harassment weren't taken seriously. So, I depended on baggy clothing to protect myself from sexualization.