27. Friendsgiving

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"Are you almost done Mari?" I heard my sister ask from the hallway.

I looked at my outfit in the mirror once more. I couldn't decide what to wear for dinner. I had changed three different times and none of the outfits seemed to speak 'Friendsgiving dinner.'

"Almost," I called out. I straightened my brown plaid skirt and decided that although it looked weird, Lillian would probably get pissed if I didn't head downstairs.

The whole house smelled amazing since Lillian was baking all day. She made the classic pumpkin and apple pie along with other desserts like pecan cheesecake and some Bundt cake.

Our Friendsgiving tradition started when we were all freshmen. It was a rule that it would be held at a different house every year. This year, unfortunately, Lilly and I were in charge of hosting. Fortunately, Axel's mom takes care of cooking the turkey which is a big help since I don't think anyone really has an idea of how to season and properly cook it.

Lilly was always on baking duty while the rest of my friends brought other dishes. This was the only time that Lilly hung out with us. That and she usually joined us for our skiing trips.

I closed my room and walked downstairs to the dining room. Lillian and I made sure to decorate and set the dining table yesterday, so we didn't have to worry about it today.

The fireplace was lit in the living room and the whole place smelled like cinnamon and apple from the many candles I lit earlier.

Lillian came rushing into the dining room holding her two pies. She left her hair free and put on minimal makeup. She wasn't wearing anything extravagant, but she still looked good. It made me think of what Julian's reaction would be later when he saw her.

"Glad you finally joined me," Lillian said as she set the pies down.

"Couldn't decide on what to wear," I said sheepishly.

She didn't respond. She took a step back and took it all in. Everything was neatly set and it looked as if it were straight out of a Pinterest photo.

She didn't show any emotion, she didn't smile or frown. It was hard to tell what she was thinking about.

"Mom and dad not coming later?" I asked the much-avoided question.

Our dad was the chief executive officer of a hospital that was about an hour away. With the drive being one hour away, it never made sense why they chose Cromerth. There were other towns near the hospital.

That position always kept him busy, and it made him nark on us to follow his steps. Our mom was a medical director which also took most of her time. With them having really good positions, they had high expectations of all of us. The only reason they let Thiago become a lawyer was that he got a full ride to one of the best ivy league schools.

My parents practically disowned my sister Valeria when they found out she wanted to run a coffee shop. Eventually, they came around, but they never fully supported it and didn't help her financially.

In some ways, I was glad that my parents were never home so they wouldn't push me to also be on the pre-med track. Science isn't and will never be my strongest suit. If I had the choice, I would continue to dance but that was out of the picture. 

Lillian straightened the flowers. "You know them."

I nodded understandingly. "Did you see his text?" I joined her in straightening the decor.

"Mmhmm."

"Are you going?" I asked.

Earlier in the week, our dad sent us a text reminding us of the Christmas fundraiser event he was hosting for the hospital. Every year it was something different and every year since I could remember Lillian and I were forced to show up. The event was by invitation only and by invitation that meant that only the rich could attend.

I wasn't sure what this year's funding would go to, but I knew that it was successful every time.

"Obviously Mariposa. You think dad will let me stay at home?" She took a step back and admired her work.

"Can't we skip one year?" I asked with a frown. Spending a night with uptight wealthy people and trying to please them all was the last thing I wanted to do.

"He needs us so we can look like the perfect family," she muttered as she straightened the chairs. "Everything is ready. Dulce and Axel already brought the turkey and some other sides earlier. They're in the kitchen."

I pulled out a chair and sat down with a huff.

Lillian glanced at me but then returned to doing whatever she was doing. "The night hasn't started and you already look tired."

I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms. "Charity is coming."

She brushed off her hands on her jeans. "Charity is..?"

"I wouldn't say a friend. Axel invited her and didn't tell me. I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to her," I said honestly.

She nodded and looked at me with a straight face. "We could always kick her out if she's annoying."

I shook my head and smiled. "Nah, Axel and Bella would probably get mad at me."

Lillian stayed quiet for a few seconds. "So, Axel and Charity have a thing going on?"

"No," I responded quickly. "Axel rejected her or something, but I guess he feels bad now."

She bit her lip and looked to be in thought. "That's interesting I guess."

Before I could respond, the bell rang signaling the night was about to begin.

I gave Lillian a look and we both walked to the entrance. Lillian opened the door and gave a small smile. I tried to repress my frown when I saw the sight in front of me. Axel and Charity alongside Bella.  

Bella smiled widely. "We're here."

"Come in, it must be freezing," Lillian held the door widely.

I gave Bella a quick hug and took the casserole from her.

"I brought the mashed potatoes," she grinned.

"Sweet," I said. "Where's Vince?"

"Bella and I went to pick up Charity from her dorm earlier so Bella has been hanging out with us since then."

I nodded and gave Charity the fakest smile. "Nice to see you again Charity. This is my sister Lillian, Lillian that is Charity."

Lillian held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I didn't know you existed; Mariposa has never mentioned you. Nonetheless, a pleasure to meet you."

Charity shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too!" She chuckled. "I've heard about you from Axel and Bella, I heard you're really good at playing the piano."

Lillian tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.  "Thank you, maybe I could play something for you all tonight."

I nudged Bella and Axel. "Let's go to the kitchen guys. The other three will probably get here later."

"I bet Lillian did all the baking," Axel teased me.

I elbowed him. "Did you want me to give you all food poisoning?"

"Oh yeah that's right, you almost killed me with that orange chicken."

I laughed and gave him a light shove.

"Mari and Axel, can you take these to the dining room," Lillian said. "You two should help me with something."

Axel grabbed one pitcher while I took the other. I carefully walked behind Axel so I wouldn't drop any.

"How's your shoulder?" I asked.

Axel was cleared to swim again a while ago but only if he didn't overwork it.

"Feels brand new," he said in front of me. "Wow, Lillian knows how to decorate."

I faked hurt. "Ouch, didn't even include me."

Axel set the pitcher down on the table. "We both know you're good at a couple of things. Decorating a home is not one of them." He took mine and set it next to the one he brought.

"I'm offended." I straightened the pitchers. "But you're right."

Axel smiled and took a deep breath. "You look beautiful Mariposa."

I blushed and looked down at my outfit. "Really? I changed so many times."

He laughed lightly. "Seems about right." He took a step closer. "Look I-"

"Niko and Julian are here," Charity interrupted us.

I turned to give her a smile and narrowed my eyes a bit. "Thank you, I'll go greet them." I gave Axel one last look before walking towards the entrance.

I could hear chatter, Niko's loud voice could be heard.

"There she is," Niko said when he saw me.

"Hi Niko," I said with a smile. I gave him a hug and subtly inhaled his expensive-smelling cologne. Something about men smelling nice was attractive to me.

"These are for you two," Julian said behind Niko.

He awkwardly coughed and handed me a huge bouquet of lilies and roses. I glanced at Lilly who hadn't said a word.

"Thank you, Julian," I said slowly.

He ran a hand through his curly hair and avoided eye contact. "No problem."

"Are these for us or for only my sister?" I quietly whispered at Niko when Lillian thanked Julian.

He winked and shrugged.

"You can take the food to the kitchen," I told them.

Lillian shook her head. "I'll take it."

Julian took a step back before she could take it. "No, it's fine. I'll just follow you."

She gave him a small smile and motioned for him to follow her. I watched as the two started making small talk and tsked.

"I don't think it's fair that Lillian can make him talk more than I can," I told Niko.

Niko shoved his hands in his pockets, he was staring where they once were seconds ago.

"You're not that exciting Mar."

I scoffed and crossed my arms.

He laughed. "I'm joking."

I jokingly glared at him. "Ready for a fun night with Charity?"

He scowled. "I forgot she would be here too."

I pulled his arm. "Let's go before they start to assume we're doing sketchy things out here."

"Wouldn't be the first time they thought that," he muttered.

I ignored him and dragged him to the dining room.

"When did you get here?" I asked when I caught sight of Vince sitting next to Bella.

"Literally a couple of minutes after Bells did," Vince said.

"Did you ring the doorbell?"

"Nah I just walked in," Vince said with a grin. He stood up and greeted Niko. "Since you're here, I'm going to go get a plate of food. I've been starving myself all day for this."

Bella got up to follow him. "He's not lying."

I looked at Niko. "Let's go."

-

After everyone was done eating. We all relocated to the living room. We were all stuffed and wanted to wait a bit before we dug into dessert.

Charity made minimal chat with me but otherwise, most of her talking was towards Axel and Bella. The night was going better than I thought it was going to go. Everyone was enjoying their night and was having a good time.

After playing a few board games, they started playing a game of heads up. It was starting to get loud, especially Vince who was getting a little too into it.

"You guys suck ass at acting," Vince said to his group. To be fair he was grouped with my sister and I along with Julian. Not the strongest team. "Mariposa, you're literally the lead in the school musical."

I flipped him off and laughed. There were only 5 seconds left, he only managed to get two right. When the timer ran out, he looked at the iPad and glared at us.

"Seriously, it was swimming. All you had to do was pretend to swim," Vince said glaring at us all.

Lillian laughed and took a seat next to Julian.

"Vince, Julian literally sat down for most of that round," I said.

Vince rolled his eyes and took a seat. "And guess what, he was literally the most helpful."

I handed Bella the iPad. "Good luck."

I stood and watched as they all actually worked together. Most of it being Charity acting everything out perfectly.

"I'll be back," I let my sister know.

She nodded and continued talking to Julian.

I walked towards the back door and stepped outside into the backyard. I needed to some fresh air. Seeing Charity flirt with Axel made me uneasy. Maybe he was oblivious she was flirting or maybe he was ignoring it. One thing for sure was that he wasn't stopping her.

I took a few more steps and looked up at the cloudy sky. It was freezing, maybe I should've brought a jacket but that was the last thing on my mind. I hugged myself and watched as my breath could be seen in the chilly air.

I heard the door shut softly behind me. I didn't look back, I wanted to guess which one of my friends followed me out here. My first guess being Niko and second being Axel.

The leaves crunched with every step they took.

"Aren't you cold?"

I turned to look at Axel and smiled. Of course, it was Axel. He was smarter than me and brought his coat with him.

"A bit," I said.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Finally, just you and me."

I didn't look at him, my heart was racing. There were a million thoughts in my head. What did he want to talk about?

I nodded. "Been a while since we've been alone."

He took a deep breath. "It's nice being here with you."

My heart skipped a beat but I didn't dare look at him.

We both stayed in comfortable silence. I felt his gaze on me, but I was too scared to look at him. Scared that my feelings could be seen through my expressions. 

Slowly snow started falling, I reached out my hand to catch the snow; the first snowfall, and here I was with him.

He watched me intently and took one step closer to me. I tried to not make note of it and kept my eyes on the sky. Every snowflake I caught instantly melted on my warm hands.

He broke the silence first.

"You know what they say?" he asked as he also reached to catch the snowflakes.

I turned to look at him. "What do they say?"

He slowly took off his coat. "They say that if you witness the first snowfall with the person you like," he paused and inched a bit closer wrapping his coat around me. "True love will blossom between the both of them."

I stood there frozen. "See you inside. Don't stay out too long." He retreated into the house. I couldn't move. Was this him confessing or was this him just giving me a fun fact?

I bit my lip trying to bite back the smile that was making its way to my face.

I took deep breaths to calm my racing heart.

"Mari!"

I looked back at the door startled.

"Oh, it's snowing." Niko stepped outside, his hands in his pockets as he took in the snow that was now falling harder. "Lillian sent me to go look for you."

I looked up at the snow and smiled. Niko stood next to me and didn't say anything. 

"Let's go," I said after a few seconds of taking it all in. "They're waiting for us."

Niko motioned for me to go first and followed behind me. Nothing could ruin my night, not even Charity.

QOTC: DC or Marvel?


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