Playing His Game

Chapter Twenty-Nine | She's So Cold

Twenty-Nine:

Christmas Eve came sooner than expected.

I'd been wallowing in bed for almost a week and was happy to have done it for much longer, had it not been for my mom.

She came into my room that morning. The way she burst through the closed door without a single knock let me know her patience with me was just about gone.

So I'd sat up, bleary-eyed, and listened to what she had to say. She'd faced me with her hands on her hips and a hardness in her green eyes. "Audrey, I love you, but this is ridiculous. Family is coming over tonight so you're going to get up, shower, and put whatever...this is behind you."

She hadn't even given me time to argue, turning around and slamming the door as fast as she'd opened it. I was left tangled in my sheets, dirty-haired and more than a little hungry, which were the main reasons I forced myself up and into the shower.

Now, here I was, squashed between annoying little boys on my own couch, with an uncomfortable dress and black tights that I was almost certain were splitting down the inside of my thigh.

My dad was in the dining room with my grandparents and various aunts and uncles, visiting with them while my mom focused on preparing a ridiculously large dinner.

I was left with Max and three of his friends, sitting in the living room while they argued over whose turns it was to play on the Xbox.

I couldn't even go on my phone as a distraction; every time I checked it, I was assaulted with texts and messages from my friends that I had no energy to answer. What was even worse than the onslaught of notifications from them, though, was that I hadn't received a single one from the one person who caused all this.

A sharp, little-kid elbow jabbing me in the side tore me from my thoughts, bringing me back to the present. I looked down at the freckle-faced boy with an irritated frown. He hadn't even seemed to notice that he'd elbowed me in the rib twice, too focused on driving his race car...or whatever.

That only annoyed me further. Why were they here, anyway? It was Christmas Eve, shouldn't they be with their own families?

One of the other boys, sitting on the other side of my assailant, noticed my annoyed scoff and looked up. "Max, why's your sister so angry?"

My brother looked back from where he was sitting on the floor in front of us. His blue eyes traveled over his friends and looked me up and down. "She's not angry, she's sad."

The matter-of-fact, yet thoughtful tone of his voice was almost enough to break me again as he turned back to the tv. My eyes stung and I probably would've let it all out in the next second if my mom didn't call us.

"Dinner!" Her excited voice rang throughout the house. I could hear the clinking of dishes in the other room and knew she must've already set the big table.

I wiped the corner of my barely-leaking eye, gratefully rising from the couch and walking towards the dining room, the Christmas music coming through our speakers getting louder as I neared.

"Oh, my dear Audrey, you've gotten so beautiful, and so tall!" My grandma greeted me and squeezed my shoulders as I tried to pass by, seemingly forgetting that she'd already said the exact same thing an hour before.

"Helen, let the poor girl sit down," My grandpa said from where he sat at the head of the table, frowning with a shake of his head.

"Oh, shut up, Harold." she waved away his complaints, pulling me into one last hug. "Don't mind him, honey, I'm just happy to see you."