Class is Now in Session

Thanksgiving was pretty quiet. Lucy came over with dinner from Boston Market since neither of us felt like cooking that day. It seemed kind of pointless and wasteful to cook a whole turkey for only two people. But it was enjoyable nonetheless. Lucy asked if I'd heard from the guys yet and I told her I had. Billie had called me right after he got home.

"He said he wanted to reassure me that their plane wasn't taken over by terrorists or bombed or anything like that," I said while moving some mashed potatoes around my plate.
"At least they're safe, then," Lucy said, a small smile making its way across her face. We ate in silence for a bit. I still missed the guys. It was weird not having them around. Without them, the house was so...quiet. And calm.
"How did Tre' handle leaving?" Lucy asked suddenly.
"He was pretty good about it, I guess," I told her. "Even though he did try and hold onto me so he wouldn't have to leave. He told me he'd be back "sooner than I expect," whenever that is." I paused. "Oh yeah, and he says that, when he does come back, he expects a new pair of shoes waiting for him from you."
"Even when he's not here, he manages to piss me off!" she exclaimed, dropping her fork. "Well, whenever he gets back, tell him that he can buy his own damn shoes."
"Jesus, calm down Lucy," I said, laughing hysterically at my friend's outburst. "Don't worry, I'll tell him."
"Good," and she said nothing more on the subject.

We spent the rest of the evening talking about when we were gonna start work on a new record. It'd been about two or three years since our last one was released and it was faring pretty well. People were buying it, at least. We didn't get much from the sales, but it was something.

"We should probably call Michelle and Fiona soon and let them know we want to start getting some material together," I told Lucy.
"Yeah, I think so, too," she replied. "Maybe we should wait until the holidays are over, though."
"We probably should," I said. "It'll be too hectic to really get any serious work done."
"Maybe we should get Tre' to drum for a couple songs," Lucy suggested, a smirk on her face and her eyebrows raised.
"You just love the fact that we're an unofficial couple, don't you?" I asked laughingly.
"Ha! So you admit it! You two are a couple!" she exclaimed, pointing at me.
"An unofficial one," I corrected her. "As far as the "public" is concerned, I'm still dating Tim."
"Who's the public?"
"Whoever knows he exists, I guess," I laughed.
"Well, I think it's about time you proved them wrong."
"I want to, but I don't think I can," I said. "Not yet, anyway. I still need to figure out how I'm gonna do it."
"You should do what I do when I dump a guy," Lucy told me.
"And what do you do?"
"When he drops me off after a date, or after I drop him off if we're using my car, I tell him 'So and so, I had a great time tonight, but I don't think we should see each other anymore. I'm really sorry.' Then I drive off as fast as I can or run into my house as fast as I can so he can't beat me or anything." I stared at her in mild shock for a second, then said, "God damn, Lucy. How the hell did you come up with that one?"
"Well, after being in a few too many abusive relationships, I learned not to take my chances and just bolt after the break-up," she said like it was no big deal.
"And you do that for every break-up?" I asked. She thought for a moment. "No, just the guys I've had enough of or look like they could knock me out."
"I still think you should see a counselor or something," I said. We both laughed at that.

The next day was Black Friday, the most brutal shopping day of the year. I was not looking forward to going out and joining in the holiday rush, but I knew I had to if I wanted to get anything decent before it was all picked over.

I got to the mall at about 9:30. It was just like I'd expected, every person in the county seemed to be out shopping. I just pushed on and decided if I saw anybody I didn't like, I was going to a) ignore them, or b) hide behind the nearest "big" person I saw.

I decided I was only going to buy presents for Lucy, my parents, the rest of my band(two other people,) Tim(ugh,) and the guys. I wasn't going all out like I had before since, you know, I like to eat, too.

Since Hot Topic is basically my all-purpose store, I headed there first so I could get most, if not all, of my shopping done.

I walked out of Hot Topic an hour later, my arms laden with bags. I'd bought a new hoodie for Lucy, a new pair of boots for Michelle, a $50 gift card for Fiona(she actually tells me to get her gift cards instead of actual stuff,) a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory coffee mug for my mom(she has a thing for Johnny Depp,) a new pair of creepers for Billie, a blazer for Mike with a ton of band patches on it already, and a book documenting The Beatles entire career for Tre'. I just decided to give Tim a copy of my band's two albums since he had hinted at wanting them. Plus, I had already run up a bill in the mall as it is and I didn't feel like shelling out anymore money.

My dad was always hard to buy for, so I decided to stop in the bookstore and get him a book on martial arts since it's one of his interests.

I got home that day so tired I felt like I was going to pass out. It wasn't that I did a lot of walking, it was that I was carrying so much stuff. I put all the gifts away in my closet since I wasn't wrapping them yet and pulled out a calculator and started figuring out how far I'd run into debt this year.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were going by fast. Before I knew it, it was December and there was talk of a big snow storm headed our way. Tre' still hadn't shown up yet and I was missing him more and more everyday. I missed all of his jokes and his wild personality. I missed the way it felt when he held me. I missed the way his eyes sparkled when I walked into the room. I missed the way his lips felt against mine.

It was a week before Christmas. I was sitting around, watching tv and sipping a steaming mug of hot chocolate. There was a light snow coming down outside. I was glad I'd paid my heating bill. Then there was a knock at the door. I set down my mug on the table and got up to get the door. Mugsy was already there, barking like crazy. I nudged him out of the way and shushed him. I braced myself for the burst of cold air that was going to hit me when I opened the door. I opened the door and saw Tre' standing before me, hair and shoulders covered in white snowflakes.