What If ... Your Past Came Back to Haunt You (21 page)

UP FOR GRABS

There's more than one way to lose your shirt.

“C
ome on in and get warm,” Matt said, leading Haley inside his house and down the stairs to the basement. Haley found herself in the laundry room, leaning against a washer and dryer.

“Take off your jacket,” Matt said. Haley obeyed, and Matt touched the waffle shirt she wore underneath her fleece. “You're soaking wet.”

“And freezing,” Haley added.

“I'll get you fixed up,” Matt said. “Take off your wet layers and I'll throw them into the dryer. They'll be ready in ten minutes, and in the meantime I'll go upstairs and get you a towel. I'd hate to see you get sick.”

Makes sense,
Haley thought. She was shivering, and she didn't want to go home early just because her clothes were wet. It seemed so wimpy.

Matt leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. Before she knew what was happening he pulled off her wet shirts and tossed them into the dryer. Then he kissed her again. Haley shivered in just her bra and snow pants. “Please,” she said. “It's cold in here.”

“I'll be right back with that towel,” Matt said. “Don't move.” He turned on the dryer and ran upstairs.

Haley wrapped her arms around her body and looked for a blanket or something to cover herself with. She heard footsteps and thought it was Matt returning with the towel.

“Matt?” she said, peering up the stairs.

“Matt?” Spencer mocked, laughing. He came halfway down the stairs with Todd, Max and Jake. They all gaped at her in her bra. Haley hugged herself tighter.

“Going snow boob tubing this winter, Miller? I have to say, you really have developed nicely since that video.”

Spencer and his friends cracked up. Haley wanted to crawl into the dryer and die.
How did I get myself into this situation?
she wondered.
Why did I let Matt take off my shirt? Why do I keep trusting him?

When am I going to learn?

Good question. Hang your head and go back to
GOODNESS GRACIOUS.

HOME ALONE

You can't trust a girl who isn't honest with herself.

C
oco De Clerq pulled her hair into an updo and secured it with a jeweled barrette while Haley sat on the canopied bed and watched. “Have you been to Simone's before?” Coco asked. “No? You're going to
love
it! The food's fantastic, kind of French-Moroccan, and they have these tables with little lamps on them like in an old movie, and tonight they're having a band and dancing after dinner. I can't wait until Matt and Spencer get here.” She checked her diamond-encrusted watch. “What's taking them so long?”

Haley smoothed her pale gold dress in the mirror, hoping she was glammed up enough for the fabulous night Coco had promised. A Christmas Eve double date with Coco, Spencer and Matt Graham. Coco had practically begged Haley to come, but Haley hadn't needed that much coaxing to have a fancy night out with a very cute guy.

Coco perched in front of her vanity mirror, applying coral lipstick. “I think I've been too hard on Spencer lately,” she said. “You know, sometimes I have to remind myself that we're only in high school, and he's only seventeen. I feel so much more mature than that, but he's a guy, and you know how guys are—they mature way slower than we do.”

Haley nodded, intrigued. This was a side of Coco she rarely saw: intimate, confessional, thoughtful. She liked it, for as long as it lasted.

“My New Year's resolution is to be more spontaneous,” Coco said. “Less controlling. Just let the relationship happen, go with the flow, let it take me where it takes me.”

Haley had to stifle a laugh. She appreciated Coco's confidence, but she couldn't imagine La De Clerq going with the flow unless she was possessed by the ghost of a flower child.

Coco checked her watch again. “They're almost an hour late! What's up with them?” She picked up her cell and speed-dialed Spencer for the third time since Haley had arrived. “I got his voice mail again,” Coco fumed. “Spencer, where are you? Haley's here and we're waiting. We both look stunning so hurry up and get here before some other boys sweep us off our feet. Ha ha.”

She clicked off with a grimace. “It's Christmas Eve. If Spencer ruins this night I—I want to say I'll kill him, but that wouldn't be going with the flow, would it? Unless the flow is leading me toward a career as a murderess. And I'd like to avoid prison if possible.”

“Well, you did say that being more spontaneous was your New Year's resolution,” Haley reminded her. “And it's not the New Year yet.”

“True.” Coco sat stiffly in a chair, careful not to ruin her hair or makeup. She didn't look very comfortable. Haley lounged on the bed, bored. After another hour and several more calls to Spencer's voice mail, Coco had finally had enough.

“I'm calling him one last time,” she said, dialing. “And if he doesn't pick up . . . Spencer, Haley and I have been waiting for two hours now. Where
are
you? If you don't call me back within the next five minutes I'm breaking up with you—I mean it!”

She clicked off and said to Haley, “He'll call back now. Sometimes all it takes is a threat or two.”

Haley couldn't take much more of this. She ransacked her brain for excuses to leave:
My parents are going out and I have to watch my little brother . . . I think I'm getting sick—
achoo! . . .
My mother just called and said Santa won't come until I'm home in bed and fast asleep. . . .

Coco's cell rang. “That's him.” She snapped it open. “Spencer, finally! What? I can't hear you over all that noise . . . What? Sasha's party? Spencer, how could you? I don't care if it's raging, you promised me. . . . Get over here right now! No, not ‘much later,' I said now! Spencer, it's Christmas Eve. . . . How can you leave me alone like this? Yes, Haley's here, that's not what I meant. . . . Spencer!”

Coco looked grim, but she plastered a smile on her face as she hung up. “They stopped by Sasha's mom's party on their way over. They said it's a huge bore and they'll be here any minute.”

“ ‘A huge bore'?” Haley said. “That's not how it sounded while you were talking. It sounded like he said they'd be here ‘much later.' ”

“He said that at first but I talked him into leaving right now,” Coco said with false brightness in her voice.

“I don't think I can wait,” Haley said. “I've got to get home—”

“Oh no you don't.” Coco gripped Haley's arm, desperation in her eyes. “My parents are out, my sister's away, even Consuela is off tonight. You're not going anywhere until Spencer gets here. I can't be alone on Christmas Eve.”

“But Coco—my parents—”

Coco refused to hear any excuse. “Besides, we'll have fun! Let's put on some music. We can dance, just the two of us. . . .”

Haley sighed while Coco frantically rushed around the room, looking for some way to entertain them. She'd made a mistake, trusting Coco. She should have gone to Sasha's party and skipped the date. Apparently everyone else had. Now she was stuck here with Coco, waiting for two boys who weren't going to show up for hours, if at all. Not exactly Haley's vision of the ideal Christmas Eve.

Next time,
Haley vowed,
I won't let Coco pressure me into doing what she wants. Next time I'll do what I want to do and hang out with my friends.

But for now she was stuck in an empty McMansion keeping a lonely girl company.

THE END

UNDER THE MISTLETOE

Warm, happy Christmas parties make kisses taste all the better.

“
B
onsoir! Joyeux Noël!”
Sasha's mother kissed Haley on both cheeks as soon as she walked into the pretty little bungalow, all lit up for Christmas Eve. The house smelled wonderful, like pine and cinnamon and cloves, and the party was already in full swing. The fireplace was roaring, a jazz trio played softly in the corner of the living room, candelabras glowed with light and a long table groaned under platters of European delicacies.

“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Lewis.” Haley gave her a bottle of sparkling cider as Sasha, Cecily and Whitney filed in behind her. The girls had stopped at Whitney's house on the way to the party because Whitney had promised them special presents—WK party dresses handmade by Whitney herself. Each girl received a beautiful sequined cocktail dress in a different color: gold for Sasha, silver for Cecily, green for Haley. Whitney had made a red one for herself. They were so fabulous, the girls all decided to wear their new dresses to the party that night.

“Please, call me Pascale,” Mrs. Lewis said, taking their coats. “Well, don't you all look gorgeous! Whitney, you're a genius!”

Whitney smiled. “Thanks, Pascale.”

“Please, come in, come in, have something to eat!”

Reese, Johnny and Drew were already there, munching on cheese and pate and bûche de Noël. “Wow,” Reese said. “You girls look awesome.” He caught Haley's eye, and she knew he thought she looked best of all.

“Yeah, you girls sure clean up good,” Johnny Lane said, kissing Sasha. “And you smell good too. Almost good enough to eat.”

“Would you like some punch?” Reese ladled punch from a crystal bowl into delicate glasses for the girls.

“Thanks,” Haley said. More guests were arriving—chic-looking adult friends of Pascale's, classmates and friends of Sasha's. Even Spencer Eton and Matt Graham showed up, and on the early side, too, for them. Clearly, Sasha's party was the place to be on Christmas Eve. Haley was so glad she'd come. She and Reese had fun tasting all the French delicacies, and with Sasha, Cecily and Whitney all in their special dresses she felt as though she was part of the coolest group of girls at school. And Coco was nowhere in sight.

Haley spotted Spencer pouring something from his flask into the punch bowl, and switched to eggnog. He was already slurring his words slightly.

“Haley, your dress is pretty, pretty.” He touched the sequined fabric and Haley knew for sure he was drunk. “Sparkly. I like it.”

“Thanks.”

His cell phone rang, but instead of answering it he scowled at it. “That's just Coco again. She's driving me crazy. She won't leave me alone for a second! She's so controlling, you know?”

Haley wasn't sure what to say. She really wasn't in the mood to play relationship counselor to Spencer that night.

“She acts like my mother,” he said. “I couldn't even tell her I was coming to this party tonight, 'cause she would have told me I couldn't. She would have forbidden me to come. Can you believe that? Who is she to tell me what to do? And now she's calling me every five minutes asking where I am and when I'm coming over to her boring house to go out to some boring-ass dinner. . . .”

“That's a shame.” Haley tried to care, she really did, but what could she say? She didn't think it was right to talk about Coco behind her back, even if she sometimes deserved it, and besides, Spencer clearly wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, anyway.

Haley helped herself to another cup of eggnog. By midnight she started feeling a little fuzzy. She sniffed her cup and realized the eggnog had been spiked too—by Spencer, no doubt. She spotted Reese in the kitchen eating Nutella crepes with Cecily and Sasha.
Mmmm,
Nutella crepes . . . That was just what she needed. She started to make her way through the throng of partygoers to the kitchen, then stopped in the doorway and glanced up.
Hey,
she thought,
what's that green leafy thing hanging over my head?

Just then Matt Graham grabbed her and planted a long Christmas kiss right on her lips. He tasted like rum and chocolate.

Stunned, Haley blinked at him. “What was that for?”

“Mistletoe.” Matt nodded at the green leafy thing over their heads. “I saw my chance and I grabbed it.”

Haley smiled. She felt swoony from that kiss. She'd never admit it, but Matt was a much better kisser than she'd expected. And it was a lovely way to end a perfect Christmas Eve. Except that Reese was now staring at her, looking jealous. Haley didn't take Matt's kiss too seriously—she wanted to keep things light that night. She was having too much fun hanging out with her friends and being free to worry about some silly boy.

THE END

HIGH HOLIDAY

Holidays are best spent close to home.

“Y
our tree is so beautiful,” Haley said. “And the presents are so perfectly wrapped. You should see the train wrecks under our tree. Mitchell likes to wrap his presents himself.”

“My mother's kind of a perfectionist when it comes to wrapping.” Reese handed Haley a mug of hot cocoa. He'd invited her over to spend Christmas Eve at his house. His parents were out at a work party and going to midnight Mass afterward, so Reese and Haley had the house to themselves until at least one a.m. It was only nine o'clock now.

They sat on the couch in front of a roaring fire. The mantel was trimmed with evergreen boughs and the Highland family stockings. Reese propped his broken foot on a pillow. “I'm supposed to keep it elevated,” he explained.

“That's cool,” Haley said. She didn't mind his cast at all. It had forced Reese to slow down and pay more attention to her, and she was enjoying every minute of it.

“I hope you like a quiet Christmas Eve,” Reese said, scooting closer to Haley. “I just couldn't deal with the parties this year.”

“I think this is the perfect Christmas.” Haley leaned closer to him until their shoulders touched. The fire made her face warm. “The snow outside, the tree, the fire, everything . . .”

She turned to face him and his lips were right there, ready for her. He kissed her. She tasted cocoa on his tongue. He pulled her close and kissed her deeper. They started making out, but then her leg knocked against his cast.

“Oh! Are you okay? Did that hurt?” she asked, sitting up suddenly.

“No. No, it's fine,” Reese said, but Haley thought she caught a flash of pain in his eyes.

He lay back against the pillows on the couch and pulled her close. “Listen,” he said. “My cast makes doing much of anything kind of awkward. . . .”

Haley knew immediately what he meant. If they tried to make out, his cast would keep getting in the way, and that wasn't very romantic.

“So do you mind if we just lie here together in front of the fire?” he finished.

“Not at all.” She snuggled against him and he held her tight. They talked for hours, enjoying the quiet, snowy night, until his parents came home and found them both asleep in front of the fire. It was the most romantic night before Christmas Haley could imagine. Except there wasn't all that much romance in the end. But she felt closer to Reese than ever before, and that was what was important, right?

THE END