CHAPTER 22
Christmas snuck up on us and said, “Knock, knock, motherfuckers. I’m here.”
I finished up my semester amazed it had flown by so fast. I needed one more class to graduate. Well, technically, I didn’t need it but I had wheedled my scholarship to pay for it. It was only offered one semester a year. If it hadn't been for the subject, I would have skipped it altogether, but it was a class I had wanted to take since hearing about it as a freshman. I refused to be that girlfriend that gave up her dream just for her boyfriend's.
Amy had decided she was going to go on tour with the boys and finished her last couple of classes online.
I sent my dad and Martha’s Christmas gifts to them so they could take them along on the cruise. I had to hide the boys’ presents at Ryan’s house after I caught Jet sneaking into my room trying to find his.
Three weeks before Christmas, I made the boys venture out with me to find the perfect tree for the house. We stayed up all night decorating it. Jet brought down a box of ornaments he’d saved from Grandma B's house. My favorite was a picture of Jet, Van, and Kill smiling in front of a tiny woman wearing a flower dress-D hadn't joined the crew yet.
"Is this Grandma B?" I asked before hanging the ornament on the tree.
"That's Grandma B," Jet answered, smiling as the boys gathered around me to look at the picture.
"I remember that night. She made us her famous caramel cake," Van said from behind me.
"I miss her," Kill said. I looked around to see the boys smiling sadly and nodding in agreement.
"I think that's it," I said as we stood back to admire our work.
"Wait. I have one more," Kill said, pulling out an ornament withFirst Christmaswritten across the top of it. It had a picture of all of us inside—Amy and Jessie included. I took it from Kill and hung it proudly at the center of the tree.
With the tour lurking at the back of our minds, we all seemed to want to spend as much time together as we could, documenting the fun we were having by taking a slew of pictures.
Kill kept mentioning that he wanted me to go on tour with them after I finished school. I tried to explain to him I needed to find a job after college, but he insisting there was no need, since I now had an extremely rich boyfriend who could take care of me.
I finally agreed I would hold off on getting a job and go on tour with him, just so he would stop badgering me-and, honestly, breaking my heart. I didn't want to think negatively. Kill and I loved each other, and I wasn't going to hurt our chance at happiness. At first, I had planned to let him go when he left. I refused to be someone's obligation, especially when he was on the brink of finding fame, but I wouldn't push him away until it became absolutely necessary. He’d asked for a chance, and I was going to try my best to give it to him.
I had to sneak away from him to go get his Christmas present. I left while he was in the shower after one of our runs. He called when he noticed I was gone, and I told him I needed to go talk to Santa. It took me forever to think of what I should get him, and I hoped he would like it.
On Christmas Eve we had pizza, and I was going to let the boys open one gift each. I think we all went a little crazy, wanting to spoil each other rotten, since we’d become our own little version of a family. I’d even put up stockings for everyone, and had bought a bunch of useless knickknacks for all of them. Additionally, each person had a gag gift under the tree, because I had the feeling Jet would never relent until I let him open at least one present.
Jet didn't disappoint. As soon as the pizza was polished off, he started begging me, "Please, let me open one present, Faith."
I pretended to contemplate it. Jet got down in front of me, his puppy-dog eyes set to high. "Alright. I guess you could open just one."
He got up and kissed me on the cheek before running to the tree to hand out presents.
Van’s present was a stuffed Muppet, Animal, drumming. When you pushed the button on his hand he smashed his drumsticks against the drums. He also received the game Life. It was the first smile I’d seen him produce since Jessie had left to go see her parents for Christmas. She promised to be back before they went on tour, and I just hoped she’d keep it.
D laughed out loud when he opened his portable business center he could use while he was in the bathroomfor the manager on the go. His board game gift was Pictionary.
I got Amy a huge Tootsie Pop that was almost as big as her head, and a Candy Land board game.
Jet received a book on learning to control verbal diarrhea, complete with labeled candies he could eat once a day, to rid himself of the affliction. His game: Apples to Apples.
I bought Kill a sparkly pink journal with a pink pen so he could write down new songs while on the road, and the Dirty Minds game. Kill surprised me by handing me a present after we finished laughing at all the others.
"No, Kill. These were just gag gifts. I can open my present tomorrow," I told him, handing the brightly wrapped gift back.
"Shut up, Slick. Just open it," he replied, putting it back into my hands.
I burst out laughing when I opened a pair of running shoes with black skulls sporting pink bows on their heads. Stuffed inside both shoes were tubes of my favorite Dr. Pepper lip gloss.
When Jet and Amy were heading to bed, I stopped them. "Wait. I have one more present for you. It was a tradition in my house that every Christmas Eve my dad would get me new jammies." I handed each of them their new Pj's.
"But, Faith, I sleep in the nude," Jet complained. I saw Kill shudder out of the corner of my eye, most likely remembering the day he’d accidentally found that fact out.
