Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (50 page)

“Shut
up, Luke,” Skylar spat, stepping away quickly as if she’d been caught doing
something terrible.

Luke
rolled his eyes. “Well, before you two get all weepy eyed or try to hug it out
with me or something, Dad wanted me to remind you both to set your alarms for
tomorrow.”

If
anyone knew how to really celebrate Christmas, it was the Sawyer clan. For one
thing, they had a working furnace, so there were no hell-like conditions to
contend with inside the crowded house. For another thing, Grandma Sawyer didn’t
knit. Of course, I knew even if she did, she’d never give out hideous sweaters
she expected us to wear.

It
also didn’t hurt that the Sawyers, unlike the Grangers, gave personalized gifts
they put some effort into instead of generic gift cards. Another thing that set
them apart was the cheerful atmosphere that seemed to radiate throughout the
entire house. When someone said they were happy to see someone else, they
usually meant it. It didn’t even seem to matter we’d just been gathered
together a month earlier for Thanksgiving either.

When
we congregated at my grandparents’ house on Tuesday, everyone came bearing
food. We always had a pitch-in dinner for Christmas. It was supposed to be so
Grandma Sawyer wouldn’t have to cook as much, but she still insisted on cooking
like crazy.

We
still had a ton of cookies from Mom’s and my baking frenzy to contribute. Even
with Luke sneaking cookies every chance possible, we hadn’t even begun to put a
dent in them. Everyone else seemed to bring huge amounts of whatever dish they
brought as well. Minya always brought deviled eggs, claiming they were her
specialty.

“More
like they’re the only thing she knows how to make,” Mom always muttered when
Minya showed up and went on and on about them. “They’re not even that hard to
make.”

I
thought it was hilarious since Hamburger Helper was usually Mom’s best meal,
but I wasn’t about to say anything to her.

Because
there would likely be a riot if she didn’t, Bryley brought her signature cheese
ball. I couldn’t say what it was about a glob of cheese that we all liked so
much, but I did know it was easily my favorite item on the menu. Kingston’s
wife, Sharon, made some sort of sweet potato casserole that had brown sugar and
pecans on top. While sweet potatoes weren’t my favorite, it was actually pretty
good. I couldn’t say the same for the green bean casserole Hagen’s wife,
Nanette, made. I’d never given much thought to any of Hagen’s previous wives,
but I definitely preferred the second one’s cooking. The meal was rounded out
with ham, turkey, cheese potatoes, and the homemade yeast rolls Grandma Sawyer
made.

Dinner
was loud and relaxed. It reminded me of the previous evening with Jackson’s
family, and I wondered how Jackson’s day was going. He’d mentioned he had to
work, and I wondered if the theater was very busy. I was sure the mall itself
would be packed with people eager to return unwanted gifts. Jackson probably
had to park his precious car in the farthest corner possible in hopes of
keeping it safe.

Because
there were so many of us, we did a gift exchange instead of buying gifts for
everyone. It was chaos, of course, as gifts were passed out and the wrapping
paper flew. We’d drawn names at Thanksgiving, and I’d picked Aunt Nanette,
which I wasn’t particularly thrilled about. It wasn’t because I didn’t like
her. I just didn’t know her that well. Given Hagen’s relationship history, I
wasn’t sure it was worth it to try. At Mom’s suggestion, I gave Nanette a gift
basket from Bath and Body Works, which she absolutely loved.

“How’d
you know Sheer Freesia was my favorite scent?” she exclaimed.

I
just smiled in answer. Talk about a lucky guess.

Bryley
picked my name, and even though she said it was refurbished, I knew the iPod
Nano she gifted me was well above the fifty dollar spending limit. Still, I
wasn’t crazy enough to refuse the gift. I was anxious to get home, charge it up
and start adding music.

Luke
was also exceptionally happy with his gift. Hagen picked his name, and he gave
Luke an electric guitar. Dad looked like he wanted to dispute the price, but
Hagen quickly explained, “I bought it off an old buddy. He was getting ready to
move, and he had several guitars he was looking to get rid of. He gave me a
great deal.”

Luke
was nearly beside himself with glee. When he was younger, he had an acoustic
guitar he found at a garage sale that he begged Mom to buy. He’d even taken
lessons for a while, but he was mostly self-taught. The guitar was broken when
a couple of his friends were over and they were, as Mom would call it,
roughhousing.

“Alex
pushed Toby,” Luke had explained on the brink of tears, “and Toby landed on it.
It was death by ass.”

Luke
didn’t hang out with Alex much after that since he was the cause of Toby’s
fall, but once Luke got over the initial upset, it became a running joke that
Toby must secretly work out to his mom’s exercise videos because he had buns of
steel.

  After
the gifts were all exchanged, most everyone spread out throughout the house
because the living room was much too small for so many people. Still, most
everyone sat back and tried to relax and let their stomach settle after
stuffing it to full capacity.

I’d
taken the seat beside Bryley on the couch, and Macon was on my lap. I was
trying to get him to say my name, but he wasn’t cooperating.

I
was only half listening as Bryley asked Skylar, who was seated at her other
side, “Do you still have a boyfriend, Sky?”

“No,”
Skylar sighed, shaking her head as our three-year-old cousin, Shaylee, came
over to investigate the bracelets Skylar was wearing. “But Silly has a
boyfriend.”

Bryley’s
eyes shifted to me and her eyes widened with curiosity. She opened her mouth,
I’m sure, to inquire about my boyfriend, but Dad, who was seated in a nearby
recliner, sat up abruptly and demanded, “Silly has a what?” 

Since
I’d thought Dad was dozing, I was somewhat surprised by his sudden involvement
in the conversation. I didn’t know how to answer, so Skylar answered for me. “A
boyfriend.”

I
leaned forward to look around Bryley and shot Skylar a glare as several eyes
seemed to fall on me. It suddenly felt like I was back in my Grandma and
Grandpa Granger’s house because my face was on fire. “We’re not officially—” I
began, but Skylar waved her hand dismissively. 

“Don’t
try to downplay it,” she insisted. From the grin on her face, I could tell she
was enjoying my embarrassment far too much.

“Humph,”
Dad scoffed. “We’re going to have a talk about this later.”

“What?”
I cried. “Why?” I looked around, hoping to spot Mom, but she was nowhere to be
seen. “He’s not officially my boyfriend,” I tried, looking back at Dad, but he was
unmoved.

“Later.”
The stern tone of his voice made it clear that it wouldn’t be a fun
conversation by any stretch of the imagination.

“Thanks
a lot,” I muttered, making another face at Skylar, before I sat back in a huff.

I
couldn’t believe Skylar had blurted that out. I wasn’t even sure if Jackson was
actually my boyfriend. We hadn’t discussed it, and I didn’t want to just assume
that a few kisses made us official. And I mostly certainly hadn’t wanted Dad to
find out in front of the whole family.

Rules
about dating had never really been explained in our house, but both Skylar and
Luke were dating at my age, so unless they’d been subjected to a talk I didn’t
know about, I couldn’t see why there would be a problem if I started seeing
someone. I figured if it were a problem Mom would have said something, but
she’d only encouraged me to tell Jackson how I felt.

Instead
of fretting about it all afternoon, I decided I’d just have to wait and see
what Dad said. I’d just have to be mature about it, so he wouldn’t have any
reason to think I wasn’t old enough to start dating or have a boyfriend.

After
an enjoyable, yet exhausting, day at the grandparents Sawyer’s house, we headed
for home. We didn’t stay as late as we usually did because Dad had to work the
next day. He’d taken the day off to go today, which was somewhat shocking
because Dad rarely ever missed a day of work.

When
we got home, I was ready to head up to my room, plug in my new iPod and call
Tegan, who I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to, but Dad stopped me, telling
me to come into the living room. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the
“discussion” I’d tried to forget about all afternoon was about to take place.

Mom
followed Dad and I into the living room, and she smiled encouragingly as she
sat with Dad on the loveseat, and I fell back onto the couch. I hoped the smile
meant she was on my side.

“Tell
me about this boyfriend,” Dad said without preamble. He was always much more
straight to the point than I could ever be.

I
wanted to explain that Jackson really wasn’t officially my boyfriend—yet
anyway—but I doubted Dad would care about technicalities. If I was kissing the
boy, that was probably close enough to official for Dad.

“His
name is Jackson Hart. He turned seventeen a few days before my birthday. He’s a
junior at Jefferson,” I explained. “He knows both Skylar and Luke.”

I
purposefully didn’t say he was friends with Skylar for fear that would only
make Dad dislike him since, Stevie aside, he rarely approved of her friends. I
wasn’t sure what else to say. I didn’t think Dad would care about his movie,
book or musical preferences, but I felt like I should say more.

Finally,
I added, “He works at the theater in the mall, and he drives a blue Camaro.”

Dad
narrowed his eyes, and I was sure he was about to drill me with more in depth
questions, but to my dismay, he asked, “A Camaro you say? What year?”

“Um,”
I glanced at Mom, wondering if she had a clue why Dad would choose to latch
onto that detail, but she was looking at Dad as well with her forehead wrinkled
and eyes narrowed in bewilderment. “It’s a nineteen sixty-nine, I think. Maybe
sixty-eight.”

Dad’s
bushy eyebrows lifted, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile.
“Yeah?”

I
nodded. I wasn’t exactly sure, but I thought maybe Dad was experiencing car
envy. I decided to go with it. “He and his brothers restored it. His oldest
brother, Eric, lives in Chicago and runs a garage. He drives a yellow Nova that
Jackson finished helping him restore over the summer.”

After
a few more questions about cars—where I fumbled through answers, trying to
recall any specifics Jackson had mentioned, Mom finally interrupted.

“We
just wanted to know a bit more about Jackson,” she said. “We’d like to meet him
soon.”

That
should have been a relief, but I was suddenly worried Dad would want to
monopolize Jackson’s attention with car talk. I supposed that would probably be
better than the death glare most of Skylar’s boyfriends received. I made a
mental note that I could add cars to the list of things that interested Dad.
I’d never have guessed.

When
I was finally dismissed, I hurried upstairs for fear Dad might start asking
more car related questions. The whole thing made me uneasy. Everyone just
assumed Skylar knew what she was talking about when she called Jackson my
boyfriend, but I still wasn’t sure. We hadn’t really talked about it, and I’d
always thought there had to be some kind of a spoken agreement to make it
official.

Since
Skylar thought she was such an expert on relationships, I made a detour to her
room. The door was partly open, so I nudged it with a single finger, causing it
to creak the rest of the way open.

Skylar
looked up from where she was seated on the bed with the sketchpad and pencils I
gave her. Her fine features pinched in vague annoyance as I stepped into the
room without knocking first or asking for permission, but she did it to me all
the time.

“Yes?”

“Don’t
laugh,” I said sternly. The corner of her mouth lifted, reminding me of Dad,
and I figured she would probably laugh just to spite me, but I pressed on. “You
told everyone Jackson is my boyfriend, but he and I never actually talked about
it, so how do I know if you’re right?”

Skylar
sighed, tossing the sketchpad aside before motioning me to sit on the bed.
“What did you do over at his house all day yesterday?”

“Mostly
hung out with his family,” I shrugged.

“Mostly?”
I blushed, and Skylar smirked. “You made out with him, didn’t you?”

“It
was just a kiss.” An amazing kiss, I thought, but I didn’t want to share the
details with Skylar.

“Still,”
she grinned, “it was a kiss. What did he give you for Christmas?”

I
tried to be vague as I explained the gifts, but as soon as Skylar heard the
words “mix CD,” she demanded I go and fetch it. I didn’t want to show her since
it felt so personal, but since I wanted to understand her assumption about my
relationship with Jackson, I went and got it.

She
looked it over for several minutes. “Wow, he’s an even better artist than I
thought,” she murmured.

I
was surprised and somewhat disappointed. “You’ve seen his drawings before?”

“Yeah,
we’re in the same art class,” Skylar answered, flipping through the pages of
the handmade booklet. Once she got to the last page, she looked up and grinned
proudly. “Did you read these lyrics?” I nodded. “Then how can you even doubt
he’s into you? He’s your boyfriend. Stop worrying.”

I
would have thanked her to be polite, but she was already smug enough, so I
collected my mix CD and went back to my room, only slightly relieved. I still
wasn’t sure, and Skylar had led me astray before, so I wasn’t sure if I could
trust her analysis.

When
I talked to Tegan the next day and filled her in on everything she missed, she
agreed with Skylar.