You Had Me at "I Hate You"

ONE WEEK LATER

"WAKE UP!" Jesse shouted, bursting in to our room at eight in the morning. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"Mmmmm!" Linc groaned.
"Go away Jesse!" I mumbled.

"Come on..." he coaxed. "Don't you want presents?"

In a flash, Linc was up.

"Presents?! Vi, wake up! Wake up this instant!"

He ripped the comforter off my body, and pulled me up by the arm.

"Fine! Fine! I'm up!" I shouted. I slapped my hair in a tiny pony tail, and tugged on a big sweater. Next, I went over to my underwear drawer, and pulled the two presents from under a pile of bras.

"Oh! The one place we didn't look!" Linc groaned.
"We'll be sure to check there next year, though," Jesse added, wiggling an eyebrow.

"I had to hide them good!" I said cheerily. "I knew that you two would be snooping."

We brought our various presents and sat down under the tiny tree that Jesse and Linc had managed to squeeze through our door.

"Woah! New paints! Thanks Vi!" Jesse shouted, as he unwrapped my gift.
"There's more," I said, handing him another, which he tore open hungrily.

"YES! Mounted canvases!" he punched the air before giving me a hug.

"Okay, Linc, your turn," I finally told him before he imploded.
"Finally!" he cried, and snatched his present from me.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed, holding up a pair of white, high-topped, converse sneakers. "White was the only color I didn't have! Thanks, Dollface!"

I grinned, and he slapped me a high-five.

From Jesse, I'd gotten a new polaroid camera, because my old one was in a sorry state. I'd squealed, given him a hug, and pecked him on the cheek to show my gratitiude. And from Linc...

"Oh my goodness..." I breathed, unwrapping a small box to reveal a delicate necklace. It was a red stone, cut into a tear-drop shape, with a gold chain.

He took it from me and began explaining it. "I got it at this really cool vintage store... The stone is garnet, but it's polished really nice, and the cut is really fancy, so it looks like a ruby. You can tell people it's a ruby, they won't notice," he gushed, before handing it back to me.

"I got it because," he blushed slightly. "The red reminded me of your hair."
I laughed and fastened the chain around my neck.

"Thanks, Linc." I gave him a quick hug and, like I'd given Jesse, a peck on the cheek. "I'll wear it to the Christmas party later tonight. It'll go with my dress."

-_-_-_-_-

Later that night...

I emerged into the living room, wearing my Christmas dress. It was a deep, velvety green color, and it had a plunging neckline. The necklace that Linc had given me matched it flawlessly, and... not to brag but... I looked hot!

Jesse instantly stood up and began clapping when I walked into the room. Linc stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. They were doing everything short of throwing dollar bills at me.

"Dollface!" Lincoln called approvingly.

"Shut up, you guys!" I exclaimed, blushing.

They laughed and we set out for the party.

-_-_-_-_-

We were at Jesse's brother, Gavin's, Christmas party.

"Hey guys!" Gavin called over the music as we entered his crowded apartment.

He had his arm around a girl with mousy brown hair, and alarmingly pale skin. Her lips were painted blood red, and I could see a lip print on Gavin's neck of the matching color.

I caught his eye and winked.
"Her name is Julia," he mouthed, and flashed me a thumbs-up.

I laughed and turned to see Lincoln talking to his girlfriend. He had refused to pick her up on the way here, because he said that he couldn't stand to be in an enclosed space with her for extended periods of time. He'd insisted that he'd just meet up with her at the party.

Her name was Naomi, and she looked extremely bored.

She was a very pretty Asian girl, with long, wavy brown hair, and almond eyes. Her dress was a bit too skimpy for Winter, but she didn't seem too cold.

I walked over to her to introduce myself, and she shook my hand.

"I'm Naomi," she said. Her voice was buttery and light.
"Oh, Linc's girlfriend?" I asked politely.
She scrunched up her nose. "Yeah... I guess."

A couple glasses of eggnog and a few hours later, the party was winding down.

I'd already danced with a wide range of boys, numerous times, and I was surprised to learn that a few of them were decent dancers.

Jesse was another story. He couldn't dance a single step. Maybe it was because he was incredibly drunk... He was too skinny, and couldn't hold his liquor at all.

I hadn't danced with Linc yet, so I set off to find him.

I must be crazy, right? Why else would I want to dance with Lincoln Fletcher?

I found him, arguing quietly with Naomi.

"Um, excuse me?" I interjected.
They stopped hissing insults at each other for a moment.
"Naomi? Would you mind if I borrowed your boyfriend for a second?"
"Not at all!" she shouted, and turned on a heel to exit the party.

Linc scowled at her back as she left.

"What did you do to her?" I asked, putting a hand on my hip
"Nothing!" he cried. "She's just a brat!"

I shook my head. He is so stupid.

I then curtsied. "Would you care to dance, kind sir?"
He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Why yes, M'lady!"

As we walked towards the stereo, where couples were gathered around, dancing, the fast, catchy song that had been playing ended. In it's place, a slow rendition of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" began.

We both stopped. We'd been prepared to dance apart from each other... You know... As in, not touching.

"Erm..." Linc rubbed the back of his neck.
I avoided his gaze.
"Do you... Uh... Do you sill want to dance?" he asked, glowing a faint shade of red.
"Um... Sure... I guess so..." I replied.

Awkwardly, he placed his hands on my hips, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We weren't dancing as close as the other couples, and we weren't looking each other in the eye.

It was... Uncomfortable... To say the least.

Well, that is, until Linc started to sing quietly to himself. I was surprised to learn that he had a wonderful voice.

"Wow!" I whispered to him, as to not disturb the other couples. "You have a really nice singing voice!"

He flipped the dangling stripe of his grown-out mohawk out of his eyes and grinned.
"Thanks!"

After that, we were more comfortable with each other. I moved closer to him, and he lifted a hand, putting pressure on the back of my head so that I was able to rest it on his shoulder. He continued singing, and, because he was quite drunk, on some notes, his voice cracked.

When this happened, I would giggle, and he would laugh while trying to follow along with the music.

When the song ended, we pulled away, and Linc winked at me.

"You're a good dancer, Dollface," he told me as the last note faded away.
"Right back at you, Lincoln," I said.

I then went over to grab some champagne, when one of the boys I'd danced with earlier, Trenton Harper, stopped me.

"Did I just see you dancing with your roommate?" he asked, trying to seem casual, but a hint of jealousy seeped into his voice.
"Yeah..." I answered. I remembered the Trenton was the one who kept stepping on my feet.

"Oh..." he said, this time, the jealousy was more pronounced. And, in a lower voice, he added, "But I really think you should be more careful..."

I almost choked on my champagne. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well... I saw how he kind of... Well... He looked at you!"
"We were dancing. He kind of has to look at me."

Trenton was starting to get on my nerves.

"You know what I mean! He... looked at you! You know... like a... like a flirtatious look!"

"That's silly!" I scolded. "He didn't even want to dance with me at first."
"Yeah... But then you said something to him... You complimented him or something... And his face just lit up. He got really happy all of a sudden, and you rested your head on his shoulder... and that's when he looked at you!"

I sighed. I'd just met this boy tonight, and he didn't understand that Linc and I just barely tolerated each other.

"Well, there's nothing going on, so you don't have to worry," I snapped at him.

He scowled, and I made a mental note to stay away from him.

Looked at me?

Yeah, right.