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━ DECEMBER , 2019 ━
ISABELLE
✧
I SHOULD HAVE known. After all, me coming over to Rheannon freaking Miller's house without knowing its a recipe for disaster was like a math nerd not knowing where to put the decimal. Yet it hadn't ever occurred to me once what could go wrong ─ even when Zoey put the glittery gel liner on my eyelids and had wrongly prophesied that I was going to get laid.
Approximately thirty minutes back in time, I am standing with my arm linked to Maddie's, trying to get used to the excessive addition of bright lights and the warm aroma of freshly baked cakes.
"Do you think we'd be able to manage a glimpse of the decorations?" Maddie asks, leaning towards me. There were way too many people in front of the Wellesley town church, some wanting to get a good view of the tall conifer adorned with fairy lights, some wanting a front row seat on the prayer benches and some, like Madison, wanting some genuinely good content for social media.
"I don't think so. Um, let's just get a drink? I'm so thirsty" I suggest, subconsciously touching my hair to see if it's still straight ─ which it is, thanks to Zoey's hour-long patience on a person like me, who would have just pulled it into bun if not for her.
"Thirsty for who?" She wiggles her eyebrows and Maddie snorts.
"Zo, come on" I chuckle, once again urging the two girls to come along with me to the makeshift bar of sorts.
There was relatively a lesser crowd on this side of the road and Maddie couldn't help but bless me for dragging them here. Zoey decides to get us some Rosé wine, to start light because we all knew that once the others ─ aka Rhea, Ashley, Kabir and Suzanne ─ arrived, we won't have an option to say no.
Speaking of them, they were half an hour late ─ like they always are ─ and Suzanne insisted on calling it fashionably late because that's the only excuse I would believe. But anyway, I couldn't complain. It was a big deal. It was Christmas Eve and even though I would personally prefer home baked cookies and binging on a good, cheesy romance novel on nights like this ─ my friends wouldn't and hence the situation.
"Extra ice, ma'am?" The bartender asks me, putting an abrupt end to my monologue.
"Uh, yeah" I respond, shifting the weight between my legs. My eyes dart towards Zoey, who was now engaged in a phone call, her fingers playing with the satin bow on her waist. Maddie continues to sip on the rose pink liquid ─ lips never leaving the glass. Ergo, I focus on my own beverage, the extra ice almost giving a brain freeze.
The silence doesn't last long though. Ashley and Kabir walk hand in hand across the street just as soon as Zoey gets off the phone.
