La Vie En Rose

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - David Archuleta

“You.” I pointed to the girl with the straight, inky-colored hair with my ball-point pen. “I choose you.”

It was the morning of Christmas Eve and I was positively exhausted. The past week has been filled with non-stop Christmas shopping with my mom, Tim and my siblings. Everyday was just completely taken up with trips to Target, Best Buy, Hallmark, you name it. I was about ready to strangle myself with wrapping paper by the time I finished wrapping the last present at three o’clock in the morning last night. I figured if I devoted the past week to everything family and Christmas-related, I’d get a head start on my work right after. And that’s exactly what I did.

I picked up the polaroid that held the girl’s picture and dropped it into the pile of models I was going to fly out to New York City in May. I had seven, so far, out of the eighty pictures. I had all the polaroids spread across my wooden floor in eight neat rows, ten pictures in each row. This was only the beginning of a very long painful process. Once I pick three more models, I would have to call them, schedule them, email their agents the schedule, figure out what design I want them to wear and so forth. This was another reason why I needed to find myself a good fashion publicist as soon as I get back to the city: there was no way I could plan out this whole fashion show by myself.

As I towered over row six, starring intently at two polaroids that held two different blonde-haired girls, there was a soft knock at the door. I turned around to see my mom leaning against the doorframe with a coffee in her hands.

She gave me a soft smile. “You’re up.”

I stood up straight, stretched my arms above my head and nodded. “Yeah. I figured I’d get up early and get a head start on eliminating the models from the auditions I held last week.”

“You work yourself too hard sometimes.” My mother stated before extended her arm out and offering me the cup of coffee. “Here, have some coffee. Tim’s going to make pancakes in a bit if you’re hungry.”

“You’re a saint!” I exclaimed, taking the cup from her. “I’ll be downstairs soon. I just have to pick a couple of more models.”

“Good. Remember, you and Lola are helping me make the apple tart for the O’Callaghans’ tonight.”

How could I forget? I’ve been anticipating tonight’s dinner for the past couple of days now. John’s parents have invited my family, as well as the rest of The Maine members and their families, to their house tonight for a huge Christmas Eve dinner. I was finally going to meet John’s parents and as cheesy as this sounds, I was way beyond trepidation. I wasn’t really sure if John’s parents really knew about John and me (so far, it was only Ross and Lola who knew and we didn’t even tell them. They figured it out not a day later when we got back from California.) but still, I wanted to make a good impression on them. I tried on several outfits last night, completely perplexed by how I wanted to present myself. I have yet to pick an outfit...

“Got it.” I smiled at my mom before she headed towards the stairs. I let out a heavy sigh and turned back to the plethora of polaroids, situated on the floor. I noticed a girl with bright, cherry-colored hair and green eyes in the fifth row of pictures. I eyed her suspicious before picking her up and nodding. “Hmmm...I also chose you.”

Once I tossed her picture into the ‘YES’ pile, I decided to take a break the minute I inhaled the strong scent of maple syrup and pancake batter from the kitchen. I hopped over my mess, pulled on my hoodie and grabbed the (beautifully) wrapped presents for my family members before I exited the room and dropped them under the Christmas tree in the living room. As I starred at all the colorful presents, sitting neatly under the tree, it dawned on me that my holidays were coming to an end. I had another week and a half before I flew back to New York. I frowned at the thought. I wasn’t so sure if I was ready to face the craziness once again.

“Are you warm enough, Cole?” I asked my little brother as I crouched down to his height and buttoned up his navy blue jacket. Our mother had layered him up in so many t-shirts and cardigans, that after the coat was added, his arms stuck out with complete stiffness. I bet if I pushed him over, he wouldn’t be able to get up. I was kinda tempted, just to see. Social experiment, obviously.

Cole nodded, since that was the only part of his upper body that he could move, and mumbled a quick ‘Thank you’. I smiled at him and patted his shoulder before standing up once more.

“Is everyone ready!?” My mom hastily ran down the stairs in her bright red pumps. “We’re late enough as it is. Who has the apple pie!?”

“It’s coming, it’s coming.” Lola announced, appearing from the kitchen and holding the pan that held the pastry we made earlier.

“And the champagne!?” My mother exclaimed, drastically pulling and pushing at her ears as she tried putting on her pearl earrings.

“Right here, Sweetheart.” Tim was standing in the hallway too, waiting patiently next to Cole and myself. He raised the bottle so she could see it.

I rolled my eyes at my mom and shook my head. “Mom, we’re only ten minutes late. Relax!”

“I just don’t want to be rude!” She defended pushing her hair back and walking to the front door. “Everyone ready?”

“Yes!” We all answered in return.

I held Cole’s hand as we all made our way down to the driveway and across the street to the O’Callaghan’s home. My cowboy boots clicked along in rhythm with my mom’s heels the minute they hit the tarmac. I ended up wearing a regular white button down shirt, tucked into my blue skinny jeans and borrowed Lola’s mahogany-colored cowboy boots. I decided against everything else since it was either too formal or too casual and lets face it, the rest of the guys would only be wearing their jeans and plaid anyways.

I could feel the nerves kicking in the minute Tim rang the doorbell. It felt like forever since I’ve seen John, and the thought of being inside his home with the rest of his family, suddenly made me feel very timid. I hope they like me...

An unfamiliar looking man swung the door open and excitedly greeted Tim and my mother. I assumed it was John’s dad since they had the same shaped nose and green colored eyes. I politely smiled and shook his hand when my mother introduced me to him.

“Come in, come in!” He exclaimed after our quick introduction, pulling back the door and standing aside. “You must be thirsty. Let’s get you some drinks!”

We followed him into the kitchen, where the sound of loud chatter and laughter could be heard. The kitchen was completely packed with grown-ups, who were standing around with glasses of wine and bottled beers in their hands. Lola and I shared a look, wondering the same thing. Where were the guys?

John’s father noticed our expressions and leaned over, putting a hand on Lola’s shoulder. “They’re all on the back porch playing cards.”

Lola gave him an appreciated smile. “Thank you, Mr. O’Callaghan, I think my sister and I will head back there.”

He nodded in response before turning to Tim and starting a conversation. We took this as our cue to move and to move quickly. If we had stayed any longer, our mother would of pulled us into a conversation with one of the other mothers, boasting about our accomplishments or grades in school. It wasn’t exactly the most entertaining conversation one could have...at least not on our part.

I let Lola lead me through the house, assuming she knew where she was taking us. She had, after all, been here more times this past week than in our own damn house. She pulled me through a dark hallway and then into an empty living room where a clear sliding glass door was slightly ajar. Outside, the guys were talking animatedly as they sat around a long, oval table outside with a bunch of cards in their hands.

“Hey faggots!” Lola yelled loudly as she pushed the sliding glass door aside. I rolled my eyes at her greeting, following her outside and pushing the door shut behind me.

A collective greeting of ‘AYEEE!’ was yelled back when we approached the table. I instantly blushed when John shot up from the table and gave me a tight hug.

“Hey you.” He whispered into my ear as he engulfed me into his arms. I smiled, noticing Kennedy watching us with a raised eyebrow from behind John’s shoulder. He was totally onto us.

“Hey G-Spotty!” Garrett called from the other side of the table, waving his deck of cards. “Saved you a seat. Come on, we’re playing Bullshit!”

“Bullshit?” Lola asked, plopping herself on Ross’s lap, casually wrapping her hands around his neck. “What’s Bullshit?”

“Only the best game ever!” Halvo responded, spreading out his deck of cards in his hands. “Who wants to go first?”

And so, the night began. Garrett gave me eight cards and started the game. As I glanced over at John, I realized another game had also started. It was called the ‘Pretending John and I weren’t a thing in front of our friends’ game. It had two players, John and myself, and by the looks of things, we were both losing already. He was sitting across the table, leaning back in his chair. With one arm casually leaning across the back of his chair and his hand casually holding his deck of cards, he looked me straight in the eye with a devilish grin. God, if I had it my way, I would jump across the table, straddle him and kiss him until my lips became sore. Why did he always have to look so good?

About an hour into the card game, Cole had wandered outside with a curious look on his face. John was the first to notice him.

“Hey little guy!” John greeted my brother cheerfully as Cole starred at the table with interest. Cole noticed John and gave him a shy wave. I smiled at my brother and motioned for him to come over to me. My brother was always loud and talkative around older girls, knowing full well it made them ‘Oooo’ and ‘Awww’ at his cuteness but when he was around older boys? He was very shy and sheepish. The fact that he was intimidated, was definitely something to ‘Oooo’ and ‘Aww’ about.

I hoisted him up on my lap and balanced him in front of me. “Wanna help me win this game?” I asked him as I handed him my deck of cards. He quickly nodded, holding my cards in his hands in front of us.

“As if you’re winning this game, Gigi!” Halvo called across the table.

“‘As if’?” I repeated, “What are you, twelve?”

Pat laughed at my response and then added. “You watch Clueless way too much, Halvo.”

“Bro, good movie, okay?” Halvo said defensively. Realizing no one was going to vouch for him, he quickly changed the subject. “Enough chit-chat. Let’s finish up this game of Bullsh-”

“-crap” John quickly corrected, pointing at Cole with his eyes. “We’re playing Bullcrap.”

“Come on now, John. The boy is gonna learn curse words anyways!” Jared exclaimed.

“Jared!” Lola and I replied in protest.

“What?” He laughed at the shocked expressions Lola and I had. “It’s true! Sooner than later, yeah?”

“Ignore them, Cole.” I told him, ruffling up his blonde, curly hair. “Silly boys are being silly.”

As the night went on, everyone started to slowly disperse among the yard and inside the house. John, as well as his father, and Tim were now standing by the grill while John’s father laid out meat patties and hotdogs on the scalding surface. Halvo, Garrett, Pat and Jared were helping Mrs. O’Callaghan set the table outside while Kennedy, Ross, Lola and myself sat patiently for dinner to be ready. I’ve offered Mrs. O’Callaghan a countless number of times if I could be of any help, but she wasn’t having it. ‘You’ve already done too much! That Apple tart looks delicious!’ was her only reason why I couldn’t help out. Still, I insisted on giving some assistance. I felt bad just sitting around.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” Kennedy asked me quietly while Ross and Lola began to argue over something I really couldn’t relate to. Kennedy spoke again. “In private?”

I gave Kennedy an anxious look before nodding my head quickly. “Yeah sure!”

Kennedy stood up and made his way over to the empty part of the porch. I speedily followed suit, wondering what on earth he had to tell me - in private, no doubt. Once we were in the clear, he turned around and gave me a stern look. “I know.”

“You know?” I asked, “You know what, exactly?”

Kennedy rolled his eyes and gave me a bored expression. “Come on Gigi, I know.”

“If you could just be a little bit more descriptive, I might be able to understand where you’re coming from...”

“I saw you and John falling all over each other when we stopped at the gas station on the way home from California.” Kennedy explained, crossing his arms across his chest.

Caught.

“Oh..” My voice went an octave higher as I readjusted the position I was standing in. “that.”

Kennedy was now smiling with victory, obviously chuffed that his suspicions were correct. I rolled my eyes and spoke again. “How long have you known!?”

“My suspicions started to grow when you and John wouldn’t stop playing footsie at Applebees.” Kennedy responded.

“We weren’t exac-”

“Please don’t try and justify what happened. I just want to believe that that was all you were doing.” He interrupted me quickly.

Blush immediately crept up my neck and onto my cheeks at the thought. I nervously laughed in response, shifting my weight from my toes to my heels.

“So, how long were you two going to keep this from us, or better yet, me!?” Kennedy asked, feigning a hurt look.

I shrugged. “I don’t know! I don’t even know what we are yet. We haven’t really...put a label on anything yet.”

“Well I know one things for sure.” Kennedy started, “He cares about you. A lot.” He nodded his head towards the BBQ. I followed Kennedy’s eyes and watched John talk vivaciously to Tim and his father about something he clearly felt passionate about. Tim was nodding his head eagerly, intently listening to John’s argument.

“You think so?” I finally asked, turning back to Kennedy.

Kennedy gave me an unbelieving look. “Think so? More like, know so. He’s not exactly good at hiding the admirable looks he gives you when we’re all hanging out. He makes it so painfully obvious that he’s into you.”

The butterflies erupted ferociously in my stomach, while my cheeks reddened even more (if that was possible). Before I had a chance to respond to Kennedy, Mrs. O’Callaghan called out across the backyard that dinner was ready.

“I vote Elf!” Lola raised her hand excitedly as she wedged herself between Ross and Pat on the red couch. “Elf is a classic!”

“I agree with Lilo on that one, guys.” Garrett added, as he dragged a navy beanbag in front of the flat screen television and plopped down.

After the wonderful dinner & dessert the O’Callaghans’ cooked us, we all decided to squeeze into the living room and watch a Christmas movie while the rest of our parents were still having their own party in the dining room.

I was sitting in the single chair, next to the red couch, holding a pillow in my lap. I stayed quiet as everyone argued over what movie to watch. I didn’t really care about what movie we watched - I was more interested in the conversation Kennedy and I had earlier. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. ‘It’s painfully obvious that he’s into you’ kept repeating in my head. It dawned on me that this had happened all so fast that I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. From the beginning, I knew I had a little crush on John, but now it was becoming “painfully obvious” to me that my feelings were getting much, much stronger. I couldn’t shake the sudden feeling of nausea, every time I thought about how I was going back to the east coast soon.

Just as the previews for the ‘Coming Soon To DVD!’ movies rolled on the screen, my mother walked in with Cole by her side. “Sorry to interrupt you guys, but Lola? Gigi? Could one of you go put Cole to bed? He’s a bit tired.”

I looked at Lola, who had just snuggled up to Ross on the couch, and sighed. She was definitely going to put up a fight if I told her to go put him to bed so I nodded my head and grudgingly stood up. My mom gave me an appreciative smile before heading back into the dining room. “Come on Cole, lets go get your jacket.”

“I left it by the door!” Cole informed me as I grabbed onto his little hand and led him towards the front door. I spotted his jacket handing on one of the coat hangers, picked it up and helped him put it on.

“Will you be coming back?”

I turned around and saw John closing the door to the living room behind him before approaching Cole and myself. I smiled up at him and shrugged. “I’m not sure. I have to get this little tyke to bed first. It might take me a while.”

“I have to go to sleep before Santa comes!” Cole exclaimed happily. “I don’t want him to skip our house!”

John smiled and bent down to Cole’s height. “I don’t think it would be possible for Santa to skip you’re house. I bet you’ve been such a good boy this year. You’ll be at the top of Santa’s list!”

Cole smiled sheepishly at John. I couldn’t help but smile either - every time John talked to my little brother, it tugged on my heart-strings like no other. It was beyond adorable.

“You can come with us?” I nervously asked when John stood up straight again. I hesitated before adding, “If you want, that is.”

“Yeah!” Cole immediately added, nodding his head excitedly. “Come with us!”

John grinned at Cole and then grinned at me. “Well I can’t say no to that.”

The three of us headed over to my house, John and I letting Cole talk about how excited he was that Santa was coming down the chimney tonight as we walked across the street. I noticed Cole had happily taken John’s hand in his as he led both of us back to my house. I’ve never seen Cole act so warmly towards another person, who wasn’t family, like he had with John before. They clearly bonded a lot more than I realized, back when John babysat him that one night.

After I ordered Cole to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth, John and I tucked him into bed. The minute Cole’s head hit the pillow, he yawned and closed his eyes sleepily.

“Goodnight sissy.” He mumbled, only opening his eyes slightly to look at me. He then proceeded to look at John before adding, “Goodnight John.”

“Night, cool kid.” John responded, carefully getting up from Cole’s bed and standing next to me. “Sleep tight.”

It seemed as though Cole was already falling asleep before we were even out of the room so we both quietly tip-toed out of Cole’s room and shut the door tightly.

“You’re so great with my brother.” I whispered to John as we stood in the hallway. “He really looks up to you.”

“He’s a great kid.” John whispered back, giving me a knowing smile. “I love hanging out with him.”

I took a step towards John and draped my arms around his neck. “Now that we’re alone...do you want a tour of my house?”

“I’ve seen the house.” John replied, giving me a smirk. “It’s your bedroom I want a tour of.”

I laughed before releasing his neck, taking his hand and leading him towards my bedroom door. A quick make-out session couldn’t hurt, right?