Chapter 14

It turned out however, that their answer was yes.

All it took was one quick call to Saige the following afternoon, inviting her to Christmas dinner, and suddenly we were need of three extra place settings. With this suggestion now a reality, I wasn’t sure whether to be nervous or excited that I didn’t have to sit through an entire night of family time alone.

The days suddenly started to fly by, leaving me wondering where the time had gone as Christmas quickly approached. The weather outside continued to spiral as cold winds and snowflakes started to make an appearance leading up to the holidays. School let out on the 21st of December, presenting kids with the promise of two and a half weeks full of freedom, along with dreams of the lazy days and nights to come.

It all happened so quickly that before I knew it, I was waking up on the 25th of December with a content smile on my face.

Through the windows I could see the light snow falling gracefully from the sky, piling to give the illusion of a magically white Christmas, and although the weather was cold, it turned out to be a pretty relaxing morning. My dad and I spent time making breakfast together, and just enjoying the day before exchanging presents just before noon.

By the time the clock on the wall hit two, the bottom of the Christmas tree was full of opened presents shoved towards the back and even more wrapped gifts for our family that would be arriving soon. Due to the fact that I was still in my pajamas, I snuck upstairs to shower, get ready and slip into my Christmas dress. It wasn’t anything fancy, but as I slipped on the short black and red dress and looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help but smile at the girl staring back at me.

When the doorbell started ringing just after three thirty, I had curled my hair slightly and applied a bit of makeup, looking presentable as I opened the door. The first people to arrive just happened to be my cousin Fiona, who was twenty-seven years old, along with her husband Ryan and their two years old son.

“Hey Jillian,” she greeted with a smile, balancing the tray of desserts she had in her hands on one arm as she stepped forward to give me a quick hug. “Don’t you look cute.”

I laughed lightly as she pulled back and stepped inside. “Thanks Fi, and you don’t look too bad yourself.” I replied honestly. Fiona, despite still being relatively young, had already built quite a life for herself. On top of being a loving mother and wife, she had recently been promoted to vice-president of the marketing corporation she worked for a couple hours away, and as far as I knew, she was the youngest VP the company had had in decades.

“So, this is the new house?” she asked, slipping off her shoes before turning around to help Matthew out of his.

“Yea,” I replied, bending down to grab Matthew once Fiona was done with his shoes, “It’s a little different than our old one, but I’m adjusting.”

As Ryan, whom I’d learnt over the years was more of a strong and silent type when it came to family events, took the dessert platter from his wife and headed in the direction of the kitchen, I switched my attention to the toddler in my arms.

“HI Matt,” I said, ruffling the hair on his head, “Are you tired from the car ride?”

“Na uh,” he replied overenthusiastically as he squirmed in my arms, “I slept the ‘ole way and miss the rock and tees, but I ‘wake.”

“Rock and tees?” I questioned, looking towards Fiona for help.

“He likes to look at the rock cuts and trees in the car as we drive.” she explained. “This little guy is a nature boy at heart.”

“This little guy also seems to have to go to the bathroom,” I replied, as his squirming started to get restless and I let him down. “Is he potty-trained yet?”

When she nodded her head proudly, I pointed in the direction of our first floor bathroom, and pushed Matthew in that direction, letting him waddle off cutely before facing Fiona once again.

“He’s so cute,” I gushed, “And he’s gotten so big since the last time I saw him.”

“He’s definitely grown in the last couple of months.” she agreed. “I can’t tell you how many times I realized that his clothes had gotten too small or his feet had grown, he’s pretty much gained a whole new wardrobe. Plus, he always seems to be hungry and I’m positive my grocery bill must’ve doubled with all the extra snacks and meals I’ve had to buy.”

To anybody else it would’ve sounded like she was complaining about the chores of being a mom, but I knew that by the look of adoration on her face that she would put up with as much stress as she could if it would make Matthew happy and healthy.

“But enough about me and Matthew, what about you?” she continued, changing the topic, “Anything interesting I have yet to know about?”

And then I was off, filling her in on how my life had taken a turn since I’d stepped foot into Byrendale. I told her about track, about how I had been recruited for the team here and how I made the regional meet in March. I mentioned how Saige and I had instantly become friends, and I even mentioned Parker’s name once or twice.

“So, anything else going on between you and this Parker guy?” she asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

“Umm… we’re friends.” I attempted weakly, but even I wasn’t convinced that was the truth anymore, and by the look she was giving me, she didn’t believe it either.

“Mhm, sure you are.” she replied with a mischievous smile, but before she could say anything more, Ryan walked out of the kitchen and shook his head at his wife.

“Why don’t you leave the poor girl alone until you actually get into the house and settle down.”

“Thanks Ryan,” I smiled as he nodded his head without a response.

“You ruin all my fun.” Fiona responded, pouting playfully at her husband. “Shouldn’t you still be in the kitchen helping Uncle Keith with dinner?”

“As a matter of fact, your uncle is fine cooking dinner by himself tonight,” my dad stated suddenly, walking out of the kitchen with a towel thrown across his left shoulder and a smile on his face. “But it’s nice to know my favourite niece still doesn’t trust my cooking skills.”

“I’m your only niece.” Fiona replied with an eye roll, stepping forward as she gave my dad a hug.

Strangely enough, what she was saying was true. Out of the five cousins I had on my dad’s side of the family, she was the only girl.

“Exactly,” my dad said pulling back from the hug with an amused smile on his face, “Hence why you’re my favourite.”

As we all laughed at my dad’s logical sense of humor, I felt my nerves start to shrink away into the corner of my mind, and I just hoped they were able to stay there for the rest of the night.

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By the time the clock hit six all of the guests had arrived and the party was in full swing.

Shortly after Fiona and her family settled into the living room, it seemed as though everybody decided to show up at once. Both of my dad’s brothers had arrived with their wives and my grandma in tow shortly after three, and the rest of my cousins soon followed.

Everyone, that is, except Lane.

It wasn’t unusual for Lane to be late, in fact, it was actually expected. So, when the twenty two year old strolled through the door at ten to six, nobody was surprised.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up.” Jason, Lane’s older brother, said teasingly as Lane simply rolled his eyes as he sat down in one of the free seats next to me.

“Unlike you bro, I actually had to drop by my girlfriends house before coming over here.”

“Yea, that’s because I brought my girl with me.” Jason replied, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder, who was seated quietly beside him.

“Whatever,” Lane said, as it seemed he lacked an actual response. “Anyways, is this everyone?”

“Yes, as usual, you’re the last person in the family to get here.” Jason replied.

However, as I was about to speak up, my dad stepped out of the kitchen and spoke. “Actually, I asked Jill to invite two of her friends over for dinner this year. They’re on their way here along with their guardian.” he explained.

“Take that Jason,” I heard Lane mumble under his breath, and I chuckled quietly as I saw Jason pull a quick face at his brother, who sat oblivious to what was going on around him. “Anyways, Jill, who are these fascinating new friends that you’ve made? Are they on the track team with you?” Lane asked, turning his questions to me.

Although as I replied, it seemed as though there was a lull in everybody else’s conversations, as they all sat listening to me.

“Well, umm, no.” I answered. “I met Saige the first day in school and we just kind of became friends, and then Parker tutored me for a little so I could catch up in history, and then we’ve hung out a couple of times since then.”

“Parker aye?” Fiona asked slyly, obviously having remembered the name from our short conversation a few hours before. “He’s coming tonight?”

Stuck for an answer, I was left with a reeling mind before I saw Lane’s face turn into one of understanding, a smirk appearing on his face.

“Ooooh, has little Jillian finally gotten herself a boyfriend?” he asked, successfully embarrassing me as the rest of my family subtly looked to me, waiting for me to reply.

And honestly, I was kind of glad when the doorbell sounded, saving me from answering the question as I got up to answer the door.

Smoothing down the skirt of my dress, I took a deep breath and opened the door, preparing myself for whatever the night had in store.

“Hey guys, Merry Christmas.” I greeted the three of them, stepping aside as they stepped into the house and out of the cold.

“Merry Christmas Jillian,” Mrs. Morgan greeted as I took her coat and hung it on one of the spare hooks off to the side. “Thank you for inviting us tonight.”

“It was actually my dad’s idea to invite you guys,” I confessed, “But I’m glad you guys could make it.”

“I’ll be sure to thank him later on tonight.” she nodded, smiling as she slipped into the living room to join the rest of the adults.

“Well I assume you’re not wearing that dress for me,” Saige stated smugly, skipping a simple hello as she nodded her head slightly towards Parker, who stood awkwardly behind her.

Up until that moment I hadn’t actually looked at Parker, as he had previously stood behind both Saige and her mom, but now, as my cheeks flushed pink from Saige’s words, my eyes widened slightly as I took him in. Usually Parker would wear baggy sweaters and jeans when we hung out, but as I saw him standing there in his fitted dress shirt, his arm muscles clearly defined, I was more than positive I felt my heart skip a couple of beats.

“Um, hey.” I said, smiling shyly at him as I fiddled with the skirt of my dress nervously. “Thanks for coming.”

“Not a problem.” he replied, smiling back at me.

As my stomach filled with butterflies and an uncomfortable silence started to settle around us, Saige looked between us and gagged teasingly. “Okay, I know you two have some mad sexual tension issues to work through, but that doesn’t mean I want to stand here and watch.”

Without a word from either of us, she turned quickly and headed into the living room, following the way her mother had gone just minutes before.

“So… did you want to go sit down in the living room, or...?” I asked timidly.

I tried not to think about the way my heart jumped as the side of his mouth lifted up into a lopsided smile. “I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Not really.” I admitted lightly, turning as Parker followed me into the living room.

As I walked into the room, I immediately saw a majority of the eyes latch onto Parker and I, and although I didn’t exactly want to be the center of the attention, I couldn’t help but quickly gage the reactions of some of my family members.

I could see Fiona’s eyebrows rise slightly in surprise as her eyes caught a glimpse of Parker behind me, and while the rest of my family mostly just smiled politely at the two of us, I was caught off guard by my father’s expression. I knew that I hadn’t introduced him to Parker before today, but the look of pure surprise and anger that flashed across his face for a single second was enough for me to get a weary feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Guys, this is Parker,” I said, introducing him to the rest of my family before pointing to where Saige and her mom had sat down, “And that’s Saige and her mom.”

“Saige,” one of my cousins said, looking towards her as he spoke, “That’s a pretty unique name.”

“I’d thank you, but I’m not the one that was responsible for picking it,” Saige replied cheekily.

And just like that conversations among my family began to flow again, leaving both Parker and I to float out of the center of attention and drift towards the outer walls of invisibility. Sitting down where I had been before they arrived, I offered Parker the seat beside me on the couch, leaving me squished in between him and Lane.

As Parker picked up a quick conversation with one of my uncles, I tried to hide my blush as I felt his knee touch mine, but I couldn’t do it quick enough as Lane quickly spotted it.

“Since when did my little Jillian start bringing home boys?” he whispered teasingly in my ear. “When did you get so scandalous?”

His words didn’t help however, they just made my blush grow even more prominent on the apple of my cheeks.

“Shut up idiot.” I muttered embarrassedly, punching him in the arm quickly.

As Lane laughed off my pitiful attempt at throwing a punch and Saige’s gleaming eye caught mine from across the room, motioning wordlessly to how Parker’s whole leg was now touching mine, I couldn’t help but wish that, even for a second, the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

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My uneasiness dimmed as the time went on and the teasing started to become minimal. It seemed as though the adults had started to catch up on how they’ve all been doing, and while I could probably keep up with the conversations, it wasn’t something that I was all that interested in. Looking at Saige and Parker, I could tell by their slightly bored facial expressions that they weren’t exactly having the times of their lives either.

"Hey,” I said, quietly enough so that Parker could here me as I waved to get Saige’s attention across the room, “Follow me.”

Both of them, seeming quite relieved that they didn’t have to sit there any longer, got up and followed me out of the living room and upstairs towards my bedroom.

“You guys looked a little bored down there,” I stated teasingly as I opened the door to my room, “So I thought we could hang out in here for a bit until my dad calls us down for dinner.”

“Thank god,” Saige said, falling backwards onto my bed, “It’s not that your family doesn’t seem nice, but after a little while, it gets really boring listening to people older than you talking about their everyday lives and shit.”

Parker and I, who were still standing near the doorway looking at Saige, glanced at each other before we both broke down in a fit of laughter.

“What, I’m just being honest.” Saige continued, huffing as we continued to laugh.

“Sorry,” I replied as I attempted to calm down my laughter, “It’s just that, you’ve got to admit, you did sound a little bit like a whining bitch there.”

“I did not!”

I knew that she hadn’t taken offense to this, as her voice was full of fake surprise, but I couldn’t help the light laughter that continued spill from my lips.

“You kind of did,” Parker agreed sheepishly as he continued to laugh along with me.

“Two against one if hardly fair,” Saige huffed as she rolled her eyes. “But anyways, what exactly is there to do up here?”

“I was thinking that I could give you guys your presents now,” I replied, walking over to my closet and pulling two neatly wrapped boxes out from underneath a pile of clothes. “They aren’t much,” I continued, “But I thought you guys would like them.”

Handing Saige hers first, she paid no attention to the wrapping as she quickly tore open the present and lifted the lid off of the box before I could blink. I hadn’t known what exactly to get her, but when I came across a couple of new albums in the mall, I picked them up on impulse. I had also bought her a flowing black maxi skirt, which I had seen her looking at the last time we went shopping.

“These are awesome,” she said, smiling as she sifted through the three albums in her hands, “Thanks Jill.”

“No problem,” I replied before turning to Parker and handing him his present, “And for you.”

Succeeding in keeping the redness off my cheeks as he smiled down at me, I waited as he took his time unwrapping his present. It wasn’t hard deciding what to get Parker, but as I waited for him to open it, I was wondering if I had spent too much.

“Jillian,” he said softly, looking up as me as he saw what I had bought him, “Where did you get these?”

“I umm, saw an art store in town one day, and I know that you like sketching, but I thought that maybe you’d like a paint set to try something different.” I admitted nervously. “Umm, if you don’t like them I can just exchange them or something, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Jill,” he said, stopping my rambling as I second guessed my gift, “This gift is perfect, thank you.”

“Oh,” I squeaked, flushing in embarrassment, “Then you’re welcome I guess.”

“Anyways,” Saige said, breaking the awkward silence that had started to surround us, “This isn’t anything special, but I thought it could come in handy eventually.” she explained, pulling an envelope out of her purse before tossing it towards me.

Curious as to what it was, I opened it to see a festive Christmas card. As I flipped open the card however, a gift card to the mall fell into my hands. After reading the cute message that she had written over the majority of the card, I knew a smile graced my face as I looked up. “Thanks Saige.”

“It’s nothing.” she shrugged.

As the next few minutes passed, the three of us just fell into a comfortable conversation until I heard my dad yell up to us, telling us that dinner was ready.

“You better hope this food is good Thomas, because I’m in the mood to stuff my face tonight.” Saige warned jokingly.

“Let’s just hope you don’t spill anything then.” I replied back.

In all honestly though, Saige didn’t have to worry about the food. With the number of family members that came to Christmas every year, my dad decided to start making non-traditional food as well, setting everything up buffet style so we all could choose what we wanted to eat. And as an added bonus, my dad wasn’t the worst chef either.

“Oh god,” I heard Saige mumble behind me as we stepped into the kitchen and saw more than half my family already piling food high onto their plates.

Lane, whose plate seemed to be as full as it possibly could, smiled at the three of us and raised an eyebrow. “You know that you should probably grab what you want before it’s all gone.” he advised before going back into the living room to sit down.

“You heard him guys,” I said, passing each of them a plate from the small pile on the counter, “Eat up.”

It only took a few minutes for everybody to transfer all the food my dad had spent hours cooking off of the table and onto their plates, as a mere ten minutes after the three of us arrived downstairs, we were seated in the living room with the rest of my family as everybody talked, laughed, and ate with joy.

“It’s really nothing,” I said, carrying out the conversation I was having with my uncle about track.

“Are you kidding me?” Saige asked incredulously, butting into our conversation, “You niece here is amazing at track, and she definitely deserves those races she has in the regional meet.”

“Shut up Saige.” I muttered quietly, only to receive a tongue-out expression back from her.

“See Jillian,” my uncle commented, “Even your friends think it’s a big deal that you made the regional meet, you should be proud.”

“I am,” I explained, “I just know that a lot of the competition I faced at last years provincial and national meets are from this region, so it’s not going to be as easy as before to make it past that meet.”

“You’ll do great.” he reassured me.

“Thanks.” I mumbled, not exactly knowing how to take the compliment. The next thing I knew however, I didn’t know if I was jittery because of the conversation or because of everyday nerves, but I suddenly had a blob of mashed potatoes and gravy falling down the front of my dress, burning me slightly through the fabric.

Wincing at the small amount of pain, I put my plate on the center table as I excused myself to get cleaned up.

As I entered the bathroom upstairs and grabbed the nearest towel, I cursed myself mentally. How stupid could I be that I dropped a hunk of mashed potatoes on my dress? Pretty stupid if I do say so myself.

After rubbing the stain for a minute or so, successfully getting most of the food out, I was left with a barely visible stain on the front of my dress, which made me thankful that I had chosen to wear black today.

“You know, it doesn’t look that bad.” Parker said, scaring me as he suddenly appeared in the doorway since I hadn’t heard any footsteps. “Actually, in this lighting you can’t even tell there’s a stain.”

“Thanks,” I laughed, “But I’d still know it’s there.”

“So,” he shrugged in response, “You still look beautiful.”

And with that, there was no way to calm down the blush that spread quickly across my face and down my neck. “Oh, umm… thank you.” I said shyly. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Thanks,” he replied, the side of his mouth lifting up into a half smile.

Just as the silence stood borderline awkward, Parker stepped into the bathroom rubbing his neck. “Okay, so I know you probably spent a lot of money on those paints you got me, and even though I could’ve bought you something expensive, well, I thought that maybe you’d appreciate something a little less flashy.” he confessed.

Although it shouldn’t have made me feel better, it did help calm my nerves as I saw a small amount of pink crawl up his neck.

“I thought you’d appreciate that paint set because I know you love art, that’s why I got it for you, not because I thought I’d look cool buying you something worth a lot.” I explained softly. “And just because I bought you something, that doesn’t mean I expected something in return.”

“Nevertheless, I had Saige put these in her purse before we left this morning.” he admitted, shaking two pieces of paper in front of him. “I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to give them to you, but I decided, well, you could be the judge of them.” he finished, handing the papers over to me.

Maybe I should’ve expected it from him, but as he passed over the pages, I honestly didn’t think he’d be passing me two of his drawings. The drawing on the top was amazing. It was a black and white sketch of the sunrise, with only a few strokes of colour mixed into the sketch, but somehow, he had managed to incorporate everything that I would associate with the sun. The glowing rays, the shadows that appeared on the ground as the sun rose in the sky, the mixed emotions the sky held as it changed from night to day… they were all there.

Despite the beauty of the first drawing, I was left utterly speechless as I caught a glimpse of the second drawing he had handed me.

I had seen this drawing before; it was one I had accidentally seen when I was snooping through his sketchbook in his bedroom. It was a drawing of me crossing the finish line at the track meet he came to, but it was also completely different. The sketch I had seen was simple, and although beautiful, it was simply drawn with a black pencil.

This sketch however, was full of colour. It was as if he had redrawn the entire thing to give it a whole new life. The strokes that his pencils must have made were perfect and blended so well that you never would’ve guessed it was a drawing, instead, a picture captured by a professional photographer.

“Oh my god Parker.” I said in shock, not knowing what else I could say in that moment as I stood stock still, mesmerized by his drawing of me.

“Do you like them?” he asked nervously, his shoulders tense as he stood awaiting my response.

“Parker, these are the best gifts anyone could’ve ever given me, thank you.” I said, and without a second thought, I walked forward and threw my arms around him.

When his arms came around me in return, I melted into him, my heart skipping every second beat. Pulling back slightly, I smiled up at him. “They’re so beautiful Parker.”

“And like I said before,” he said softly, his hand trailing up my arm and shoulder, stopping as it reached the base of my neck, “So are you.”

My heart went into overdrive as I realized what was happening, and although we’d been in this positions a few times before, this time was different.

This time, there was nobody to interrupt us.

I had kissed a few boys back in my old town that I had dated briefly, none of them evolving into anything serious, but when Parker’s lips touched mine, it was as if a warmth I had never felt before spread throughout my entire body.

His lips were soft as they moved slowly on top of mine, as though he was just as nervous as I was. However, as the seconds passed it seemed as though our nerves were mutually dissolving. Our lips were caressing each other with a slow but powerful passion, and I was positive that Parker could feel how hard my heart was beating.

It didn’t take long though, for our oxygen supply to disintegrate and his lips to slowly pull back from mine, but my eyes remained closed as I caught my breath and processed what had just happened.

Parker and I had just kissed, and it seemed as though my whole body had just been lit up with passion.

Opening my eyes slowly, I was met with the pair of eyes that had caught my attention all those months ago near the pond, the eyes, that right now, were swirling with as many emotions that I had reeling in my mind.

I didn’t know what I could say in that moment, but as I smiled up at him, I couldn’t help a giddy laugh from escaping my lips. It seemed as though this was the exact reaction that Parker was looking for, as he pulled me back into his arms, letting me collapse into his arms with laughter.

And as I stood there laughing uncontrollably in his arms, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach fly as he rested his head in the crook of my neck and smiled.

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As dinner finished and the desserts that were set out quickly disappeared, the night started to dwindle down. Presents were exchanged and unwrapped, and while I remembered receiving a few generous gifts from my family, all I could do was smile and thank them, as my mind was still focused mainly on the kiss.

I didn’t know what my family thought when both Parker and I returned from upstairs during supper, but I knew that from the look Saige had silently sent me, she knew that something had happened. In fact, as she packed up her things and got ready to leave, she hugged me goodbye and whispered in my ear, “You’re so calling me in a few minutes to tell me what happened between you and Parker.”

A blush was left on my face as she headed out the door behind her mom, and as I said goodnight to Parker, I couldn’t stop smiling.

As the last guests bustled out the door around ten ’o’clock, I locked the door and slipped into the kitchen to help my dad with the clean up, however, as I entered the kitchen expecting him to washing some of the dishes, I saw him leaning up against the counter, not looking his happiest.

“Dad?” I questioned curiously, “What’s wrong?”

“Jillian,” he started, but the bitterness and anger that seeped into his voice was enough to send a chill down my spine, “When were you going to tell me that the boy you’ve been hanging around was Parker Collins?”

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DUN DUN DUN! Cliffhanger :S

Sorry about that, but I just thought that would be a prefect place to end the chapter, and you guys can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that second last scene ;)

On another note, it is finally summer, so I’ll definitely have more time to write, but also remember that I am not superwoman, and I am hoping to update at least once a week, maybe every two weeks depending on how my work schedule changes from week to week. As of right now, I’m hoping to upload by next weekend, but we’ll see how things play out! xx