An invitation.

“W-What do you mean?” Noelle asked.

“Wait, weren’t you gonna spend this Christmas with you mom this year?” Sarah asked her.

“I was, yes,” Grace said. “But now some of her friends invited her on a sudden trip to Dubai. She just texted me to say she would be leaving tomorrow.”

My jaw dropped and quivered. I felt my muscles tensing.

“A… work trip?” Noelle asked, almost hopeful.

“Nope,” Grace said with a very fake, very bitter smile. “A pleasure trip with her friends. You see, they went through the trouble of inviting her, so she couldn’t say no to them.”

My fingers twitched from how tense they were.

“And your dad?” Alice asked.

“Out of town, working. He’ll spend Christmas with his co-workers.”

So… Grace was going to spend Christmas Eve alone? Her father was not home and her own mother canceled on her?

What. The. Fuck?

Grace’s own frustration hit me a second later. Anger, frustration, but not a drop of surprise. Grace was expecting something like this to happen, but it didn’t mean it bothered her any less.

Alice’s grip on my shoulders tightened. It made me look back at her, and I met her firm gaze on me. She nodded silently, either knowing what I wanted to do and encouraging me to go through with it or simply spurring me to do something about it. Either way, it was all I needed.

I grabbed my phone and made the call. The girls all looked at me with curiosity and a bit of apprehension. I think I was making a scary face. Mom picked up quickly.

“Oliver?” she asked, sounding surprised. “You never call me at work. Did something happen?”

“Nothing urgent,” I answered. “Sorry, are you busy?”

“No, I’m on my lunch break,” she said. I knew that, but still had to make sure. “What is it?”

“Would it be much trouble if Grace spent Christmas Eve with us?” I asked without beating around the bush. “She was going to spend it with her mother, but she canceled on her and now she has no plans.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Her MOTHER canceled on her?”

“Yes.”

“And her father?”

“Out of town.”

“So Grace is going to spend Christmas Eve alone!?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell her to come over!” I smiled. My mother spoke with the same level of indignation I felt. One of the many reasons why she’s the best. “We’ll talk it over tonight, but tell her she can spend the night, too. And the other girls?”

“They all have plans to spend it with their families, too.”

“Okay. If anything happens, text me, alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks, mom. You’re the best.”

“Don’t worry. Was that all?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Then we’ll talk more tonight. Take care, dear.”

“You too, mom.”

I hung up, very satisfied with how that went. Though I never doubted for a second that mom would say yes.

“So she agreed?” Sarah asked with a smile of her own.

“Yeah. So? How about it, Grace?” I asked the brunette now. “I needed permission before making the invitation. Want to spend Christmas Eve with us? You can stay the night.”

Grace was blushing madly and bashfully looking down at her knees. “I… It’s not… necessary, you know?”

My smile faded. “So that’s a no?”

“N-No! I mean, I… I want to, I really do!” Grace quickly answered. She then glanced around, looking at the other girls. “But…”

Mila crossed her arms. “If this is about that punishment I gave you, I was only joking, you know? Go spend the night with Oliver.”

“Yes!” Noelle agreed, standing up from her chair. “Spending Christmas Eve alone is just…”

Grace chuckled humorlessly. “It wouldn’t be the first time, you know?”

“That only makes it worse!” Noelle insisted, catching the brunette by surprise.

Alice chuckled. “Come on, Grace. Are you really going to say no to spending one of the most romantic nights of the year alone with your boyfriend?”

“Don’t worry about us,” Sarah told her. “We’ll have plenty of opportunities for our own alone time with him. Hell, I got to spend the whole night with him at my house. I think this is fair.”

“...” Grace groaned and shook her head. “Alright, fine! Just remember this wasn’t my idea!”

Mila laughed. “God, you look cute when you blush. We don’t get to see that too often.”

“I kinda feel like kissing her now,” Alice teased.

“Yeah, me too!” Mila said.

We laughed together. Lunch hour was coming to an end, so we began to make our way back to our classrooms. However, once Alice, Noelle and Grace exited the club room, Mila and Sarah stayed back and stopped me from leaving yet.

“Hey, Oliver.” Sarah stepped close to me and kissed my cheek. “Thanks for that.”

Mila held my hand and kissed my other cheek. “Yeah. That you were so quick to do it was awesome, too.”

“I… Are you sure it was okay? I kind of acted on instinct.”

“It was perfect,” Sarah said. She then scowled. “Grace has spent like six christmases alone.”

“We’ve invited her to spend some with us, and she has, but… she doesn’t like it,” Mila said. “We’re friends, and we’re close, but I suppose it’s not the same as spending time with your own family.”

“I don’t think she believes we’re rubbing our ‘happy families’ in her face,” Sarah added, “but watching us probably still stings. She also has her pride, so she doesn’t like being pitied.”

I flinched and winced. “Then how is what I did any different?”

Mila giggled. “You’re her boyfriend. Spending Christmas Eve with a friend’s family is totally different than spending it with your boyfriend’s!”

“You can look at it like a big step forward in the relationship,” Sarah said. “Which is probably why Grace hesitated. She didn’t want to ‘get ahead’ or something like that. It’s dumb, I know.”

I chuckled. For all her tricks, Grace kept looking after her friends. “So you girls really don’t mind?”

Sarah shrugged. “Like I said, it’s fair.”

“Well, I’m jealous, for sure!” Mila said, laughing and hugging my arm. “I’d like to spend Christmas Eve alone with you, too. But we’re gonna have more chances, won’t we?”

That would mean we had to still be together next year. The year when we’d go to university.

I smiled.

“Definitely.”

Patreon.