Together by This Christmas Tree

cally mcgregor

“I don’t understand.” I looked at Pat, leaning my legs over his lap and squinting, trying to comprehend what was going on. Pat and I were spending a lot of time together, but the thing was, he had admitted, open heartedly, and most honestly, that he’d never fall for me.

That made me feel better somehow, made me feel really good. I could have someone where feelings wouldn’t complicate anything else. He smiled brightly, grabbing my feet with his hands and hugging them tightly.

“It’s easy, Cally. We pretend to be together.” I raised my brows, but Pat kept going. “Look, I get it. You and John are meant to be together, and we all agree with that insane statement. There aren’t a lot of girls who all of us like and agree with the people John brings to us.” I furrowed my brows, playing with my hands in my lap. With Pat, he demanded the absolute truth all the time, something I easily complied with. After coming home with John, I was sick.

I was sick and tired of the lies that plagued my life and the ones that I kept close to my heart, the ones that I used to beat myself down, trying to find an excuse to live, an excuse to breathe. And I was running out of them, these lies that plagued everything and suffocated innocent relationships. Pat and Kennedy and Jared and goddammit, John, gave air to those suffocations, the asphyxiation that was destroying me. I looked so strong, but everything that had crumbled and come back together, just to crumble again.

I frowned. “I don’t understand, Pat. Sumner, in all honesty, seemed like a nice girl. And the type of girl that John should be. She is just... Sumner is-” I was searching for words I couldn’t find, ones that didn’t make sense strung together the way I had them strung in my head.

Pat looked at me like I was lying, but I truly wasn’t. Sumner was who I imagined John with- she was pretty, she was stick thin and she was like one of those girls who ridiculed me in high school because they were so much better than me. High heels, short shorts, tight shirts. They could pull it off and they were all over attractive guys like John. John deserved Sumner, and Sumner deserved John.

“You don’t understand, Cally. Sumner isn’t who she seems to be.” Pat shook his head, his long brown hair getting in his face. “John promised to hang out with you soon, didn’t he?” I nodded, and Pat laughed sarcastically, looking sinister, which scared me. Pat was always in such a good mood. “He won’t be able to tell Sumner he’s with you. He’ll lie, say he’s with one of us. And maybe, just to make it legitimate, it will be me, you, and John. Honestly, it’ll be like you hardly know John anymore. She’s a complete bitch, and I absolutely despise her, Cally, you don’t even understand.”

I bit my lip. I didn’t know I felt about John, but I knew that something in the back of my mind was tugging, begging that I did something, because even if me and John weren’t meant to be together, he and Sumner weren’t.

I was attempting at self-righteous, like I was helping him instead of hurting him. In all honesty, I wanted him to just be happy, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, he could be happy with me.

Pat smirked. “So, Garrett’s having an early Christmas party tomorrow night, like he usually does. And first of all, you’ll get to finally meet Garrett. And secondly, everyone knows about the plan and no one will tell John. We will make our debut, Cally.” Pat winked, and gently kissed my cheek, curling up beside me and giggling.

I gently tugged down on my dress, feeling extremely self-conscious. It was a black tie event, and Pat was dressed in slacks and a black shirt, with a neon blue tie. He looked so handsome, despite his insanely long hair. He gently reached down, grabbing my hand and whispering in my ear. “You look beautiful.”

I almost felt it, for once. Isabelle had helped me, helping me trust her. She had curled my hair and tied it an elaborate messy bun. My dress was blue with a black top, showing off what Damien had jokingly called my “ample cleavage”, when in reality, they weren’t particularly large. I looked taller in my super expensive heels, with bejeweled heels. Pat had told me, as had Damien, that I was much prettier than Sumner could ever be.

And I could almost feel it.

I could feel all the eyes on me, my hand clamped on Pat’s as he lead me towards the kitchen, where Kennedy was standing with a girl on his hand and a boy wearing fake glasses and a suit that looked uncomfortable. John and Sumner stood across from him, Sumner playing with John’s collar. She made me feel so ugly, and that hurt. Pat squeezed us in between Sumner and the mystery boy. “Hey guys,” Pat said brightly, and I instinctively snuggled into Pat. “Garrett,” Mystery boy perked up. “This is Cally. Cally, this is Garrett.”

“Hi there, Garrett.” My voice was quiet, wrapping my arms around Pat’s waist. It was part of our plan. We were going to make it so obvious, like we were so in love. I paused, looking into Pat’s eyes with such love. “Hi Kennedy.” I coughed. “Hello John, Sumner.” I said, keeping my eyes kind but my lips pressed shut.

Pat smirked as Jess and Halvo brought us even closer into our circle, talking and laughing until Pat gently kissed my cheek, bringing everyone to go completely silent, until Kennedy, who was totally in on it like every else, smirked.

“Are you two finally dating?” Kennedy asked, sounding exasperated. Pat smirked, and John looked like he was going to kill me, and Pat.