Chapter 32

             “And we’re done!” Zoey says with heavy breathing but a smile on her face.

            It took all afternoon, but Zoey has helped her cousins arrange their rooms.

            Seth being the older brother, his room is bigger. In this house, the biggest bedroom that isn’t the master is on the corner, which means two windows. One window faces the street while the other faces the driveway, and the old home.

            Placing the bed was easy enough, as the closet faces the street-side window. Therefore, the bed faces the driveway-side window. The light from the street will be avoided, so Seth can sleep peacefully. Then his chest of drawers were put the street window, with plenty of room for Seth to walk between them and the bed.

            Jeff’s room being the smaller and on the side of the house, he has the one window. The closet is to the right, so there was lengthy discussion on if Jeff’s headboard should be against the opposite wall or the adjacent wall.

            The decision was made that the bed would be on the adjacent wall, but then they realized that would leave very little room for the closet door to open against the foot of the bed. So they adjusted, and Jeff’s bed has its headboard in the corner, so that his bed is just under the window. The closet door still won’t open all the way, but getting 70 degrees as opposed to 90 or 180 degrees is good enough.

            “And it’s only a little after 1,” she says as she checks the clock. “Time for lunch.”

            “Hey, Mom, Dad,” she says as she goes to the banister. “What’s everyone want for lunch?”

            “We already put in the call,” her dad says. “Pizza’s on the way.”

            “Woo!” Jeff and Seth say.

            “Wait what toppings?” Jeff asks. “Actually, more importantly, what chain?”

            “Pepperoni, obviously,” Zoey’s dad says. “It’s from Mountain Mike’s.”

            “Nice,” both brothers say with a quick high-five.

            “Haven’t had Mountain Mike’s in like a year,” Jeff says.

            “But, isn’t there one in Santa Cruz?” Zoey asks.

            “Yes, but it’s in Santa Cruz,” Seth says. “Keeps getting robbed and stuff.”

            “Seriously?” Zoey says.

            “Yep,” Seth says.

            “At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk~,” he sings in the tune of the jingle, “be careful, you might get mugged.”

            “Boardwalk!” Jeff adds.

            “That’s rough,” Zoey says.

            “You’re telling us,” Seth says. “We didn’t stop anything like a pizza joint stick-up, but there was that 7-Eleven, there was an attempt at grand theft auto, and any number of street corner muggings.”

            “Holy crap,” Zoey says with wide eyes and smile.

            “Zoey,” her mom scolds.

            “Sorry…” she sighs while rolling her eyes.

            “It’s just ‘crap’,” she whispers to her cousins as they go down the stairs.

            “This is a nice kitchen,” Mrs. Takagaki says. “The dimensions of the house are close enough to our old home next door. That’ll definitely work for holidays, such as literally this weekend.”

            “We can still have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at our house,” Mrs. Mizaki says.

            “But we might have to try here for New Year’s,” Mr. Mizaki says.

            “Well, we can visit at your new house,” Mrs. Takagaki says. “We’ll have housewarming parties both here and there.”

            “Yeah, it’ll be fun,” Zoey says with a smile. “Oh, speaking of parties, I was hoping to go to one tonight, if that’s okay?”

            “Whose party?” her mom asks.

            “Rachel’s,” she says. “Borawski.”

            “You’re still friends with her?” her mom asks. “I thought there was some kind of fight at the end of last school year.”

            “That was more my fight with Thia Henck, and Rachel was on her side,” Zoey explains. “And maybe Thia will be there, but whatever, I’ll stick with Chloe, Marina, Karina and Alicia.”

            “Oh so they’ll be there, too?” Jeff asks at the same time Zoey’s mom asks.

            “Yes,” Zoey chuckles as everyone looks at Jeff. “And actually, you guys could come along. You’ll be back at Encinal, you’ll be able to reconnect with some of our old friends.”

            “Sure,” Seth says. “We can actually take you in our car.”

            “Oh, I was wondering, why do you only have the one car now? Didn’t Seth have a car?”

            “Yeah, that car got fried…”

            Seth looks over at Jeff.

            “And I’ve done my best to pay you back,” Jeff says, sounding somewhere between apologetic and defensive.

            Zoey doesn’t say anything, but now she understands why she doesn’t see as many Christmas presents from them this year.

            “Well, that’s okay,” she says. “Seth can drive me back home with Uncle’s car, I’ll get ready for the party, Mom and Dad can stay here a bit longer to help the last bits of settling in and come home whenever because they have their car. Good idea, right?”

            “I suppose so,” her mother says, only a little suspicious.

            “Great!” Zoey says with a big smile.

            The family sits together in the new living room as they wait for the pizza. They get caught up on things not shared on social media.

            “You guys should go see Grandpa’s dojo before the New Year,” Zoey says to her cousins. “He’d really appreciate two of his best students returning.”

            “That’d be nice,” Mrs. Mizaki says, being formerly Ms. Takagaki. “Our dad would definitely like that.”

            “Definitely,” Mr. Takagaki says.

            The pizza arrives, and the two sets of parents split the check and tip. Both Mrs. Takagaki and Mrs. Mizaki dig out the dishes, and everyone puts their slices on big platters. That turns out to be just fine, as the Mountain Mike’s “Mountain Size” slices are really long.

            “Are you sure you don’t want us driving you to this party?” Mrs. Mizaki asks Zoey.

            “Yes, Mom, I’m sure,” Zoey says with a slight smirk. “Going with Seth and Jeff will work better than having you guys drop us all off. That way, whenever the three of us decide to leave, we don’t have to wait for you guys to come back, we can just go. It’ll be fine.”

            “Okay, hold on,” Jeff says. “We gotta dress a bit better than this if we’re going to a Christmas party.”

            “You guys look fi— actually, you’re right, at least change shirts.”

            Jeff and Seth give Zoey dead eyes and weirdly pursed lips. The three of them finish eating before the boys back upstairs and to their rooms. They return having changed from their graphic tees to simpler tees with button ups over them, but only partially buttoned.

            “Much better,” Zoey says. “Okay, see you later, Auntie, Uncle, Mom, and Dad.”

            Mr. Takagaki tosses Seth the keys, and they go to the Takagaki SUV. Jeff takes shotgun while Zoey sits in the middle of the backseat, and Seth drives carefully through town to the Mizaki house.

 

            “Why is it taking you this long to get ready?” Jeff asks. “Oh that’s right, because you’re a girl.”

            “Shut up!” Zoey shouts from her room.

            “You’re probably having a hard time deciding on what to wear, huh?”

            “No!” Zoey says as she storms out into the living room. “I’ve got that down.”

            “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jeff says. “You’re going to wear the outfit from Vegas?”

            “What?” Zoey says, her ego starting to show. “I look good.”

            “Now I get it,” Seth says. “It’s not that you wanted us to take you to the party for convenience. You just don’t want your mom seeing you in that.”

            “You think you’re so smart just because you’re in the top fifty of your class,” Zoey grumbles.

            “Oh wait, I didn’t even think about that,” Seth says. “Am I still going to be top 50? That’ll totally change how colleges look at me.”

            “What I’m struggling with is my hair,” Zoey says. “Like, my usual pigtails would somehow make me seem really skanky in this outfit, but I don’t feel like letting it all down does anything, either.”

            “You’re asking someone who hasn’t cut his hair since last Christmas,” Jeff says as he points at Seth’s long tail.

            “And someone who clearly wants to be in Dragonball Z,” Seth says as he points at Jeff’s spiked hair.

            “Yeah, because it’s awesome,” Jeff says.

            “Whatever, I’ll figure it out myself,” Zoey sighs as she goes back to her room.

           

            Zoey goes to her mirror and looks her hair over. Twin pigtails are out, completely down is out, so what is she supposed to do? She’s not really for curling her hair and she doesn’t have the time for it, anyway.

            She tries a side ponytail on her right, but it just leaves her looking lopsided. It’s the same for a side ponytail on the left. Her mind is just too used to seeing two tails on her head. Then she remembers how her hair was in Vegas. She puts it all back into one big and poofy ponytail, but then her bangs are an issue. Zoey wants to do the same look as in Vegas, but seeing herself in the mirror brings up mixed emotions relating to how that Vegas experience itself was a mixed bag. Of course, she kept the dress and the sequin mask so what’s the big deal?

            After deliberating with herself, Zoey decides to go with a completely pulled back look. It takes some wetting of her hair to keep it back, but she likes how it turns out. She then finishes by putting on the heels and some cherry red lipstick, and heads back to the living room.

            “Okay, cousins,” she says to them. “Let’s get going.”

 

            Zoey directs Seth as they drive to Rachel Borawski’s house, but it isn’t very easy.

            “Okay where are we?” she asks her cousins squints at her screen glowing bright in the dark of the car.

            “We passed by William G. Paden Elementary,” Seth says.

            “Right, because Rachel lives past Encinal to the West,” Zoey says as she reads the directions. “Okay hold on, I gotta scroll down.”

            She grumbles as she presses the down button on her phone.

            “This is why I keep asking my dad for a smartphone. Karina has it so much easier being able to do all that swiping and sliding.”

            “Yeah but they’re richer, aren’t they?” Jeff asks in reference to the Osou Family.

            “Yes…” Zoey grumbles.

            She goes back to looking at her phone’s little screen.

            “Okay, stay on Central until it becomes Main Street,” she says. “That means we’re going past Atlantic. And then we’ll turn right onto Willie- Dang it, the screen turned dark again. Hold on.”

            She presses a button and the screen lights up again.

            “Okay, Willie Stargell. Then turn… Wait, we didn’t put left or right for turning onto Mosley Avenue…”

            “Seriously?” Jeff says. “Who wrote the directions to Rachel’s house?”

            “I did,” Zoey says sternly but also a little embarrassed. “Um… Okay, I’m trying to remember the map I based this on. The road we’re meant to turn on is the bendy one. I think that’s North Mosley.”

            The car continues on as Central makes a big curve and begins Main Street after passing Atlantic Avenue.

            “Oh that’s right, Rachel’s a fancy suburban girl,” Jeff says as he looks at all the nice multi-story homes.

            They continue all the way down Main Street Linear Park, and arrive at the next intersection. They turn right onto Willie Stargell, and see Mosley Avenue coming up. Seth waits for a car to pass by before turning left. As Zoey remembered, North Mosley bends left then back right.

            “Where’s Rachel’s house?” Seth asks as he slows to look around.

            “Pyro Drive,” Zoey says with a bit of a chuckle.

            “Where is that in here?” Jeff asks as he spots a Nimitz Drive and two signs for Mulvany Circuit. “Oh, a circuit? Is that part of it?”

            Zoey checks her phone.

            “Yes!” she says.

            Seth turns into the circuit street, and passes Mars Drive to find Pyro Drive. And clearly from all the cars parked on the streets, this is the right street. Zoey’s phone rings as Seth looks for where he could park.

            “Hey Chlo, I know I’m late,” Zoey says. “We just arrived, though, so-”

            “Oh good,” Chloe says, sounding relieved. “You should probably hurry inside.”

            “What? Why?”

            “Well, like you said, you’re running late,” Chloe says. “And Rachel decided we should start playing some Christmas game she and Thia came up with called ‘The Naughty List.’”

            “The hell is that?” Zoey says with a confused yet suspicious look on her face.

            “I don’t know, but they asked some of the guys to join in, and they made sure Shaun was one of them.”

            “Since when do you say ‘Hell’?” Jeff asks.

            “Find a spot already, Seth!” Zoey shouts.

            “I’m trying!” he defends. “There’s not a lot of space!”

            “Then just let me out,” she says as she starts to unbuckle.

            Seth stops and she hurries out the door. Zoey heads for Rachel’s house in the middle.

            “I’m gonna follow her,” Jeff says as he unbuckles and gets out.

            “Get ready to open the door for me,” Zoey says to Chloe before hanging up.

            Zoey puts her phone away in her shoulder bag purse as she storms up the walkway. The door opens just before she reaches the porch, and Chloe stands there. Zoey walks in and her eyes lock on Rachel, Thia and Shaun in the living room on the love seat. Rachel and Thia are dressed up like Santa’s skanky elves and they’ve put a Santa hats on Shaun and all the boys.

            “Ow,” Jeff says as the door hits him.

            “Oh sorry,” Chloe says. “Oh, wait. Jeff?”

            “Hey,” he says.

            “Jeffu!” Karina says as she hurries over. “It’s so great to see you again!”

            “Th-Thanks,” Jeff says, a little nervous as Karina stands there in her sparkling blue dress and sleek black stockings. “Y-You look great.”

            “Thanks,” she smiles and blushes.

            “Is Seth going to be here, too?” Alicia asks as she walks up. “I mean, obviously, right? He had to have driven you here.”

            “Yeah, he’ll be here,” Jeff says. “Just has to park the car.”

            “The hell is this?” Zoey says as she storms into the living room.

            “Oh hey, Zoey,” Thia sneers. “What took you so long?”

            “And where did you get that?” Shaun says as he looks at Zoey’s dress.

            “I know,” Rachel says with a surprised smile. “It’s so different than how you normally dress. I’m actually impressed.”

            Zoey rolls her eyes.

            “So, what’s this ‘game’ you’re playing?” Zoey asks them.

            “Oh, the Naughty List?” Rachel says. “It’s pretty easy. Thia and I are helping Santa figure out who is naughty and who is nice.”

            “If we guess right, that person is out,” Thia says. “But if we guess wrong, they win a candy. If there are still people left after the first round, we shuffle them and go again. And then we’ll go until there’s one person left, and they get to be Santa.”

            “Wait, the winner gets to be Santa?” Zoey asks. “Aren’t you two supposed to be helping Santa?”

            “Well, whatever, it doesn’t have to make sense,” Rachel says. “It’s just a game for fun.”

            “Alright, then what’s the point of winning and being Santa?”

            “He’s going to go around with us to give out presents, duh,” Thia says.

            “Wow, what an honor,” Zoey says sarcastically. “And you seriously decided to join in?”

            “It’s just a game, Zoey,” Shaun shrugs.

            Zoey stares suspiciously at Thia and Rachel, but Zoey feels all the other eyes on her.

            “Fine,” she says. “But make it quick.”

            Rachel and Thia smile as they shuffle pieces of paper in a top hat. Thia holds it out and the boys each take a piece.

            “Don’t let us see,” Thia says as she puts her hand over her eyes, but then jokingly opens her fingers so she can see.

            Thia and Rachel, and even the guys and onlookers, laugh at the joke, but Zoey frowns as she stands off to the side with Jeff and her friends.

            “Okay, everyone has a piece of paper,” Rachel says. “Let’s see… Is Shaun ‘Nice’?”

            “Nope, I’m Naughty,” he says as he reveals the word on his piece of paper.

            The crowd cheers as Rachel tosses Shaun a peppermint.

            “Is Tommy ‘Nice’?” Thia says.

            “Nope, I’m Naughty!” Tommy Rosier grins as he shows his paper.

            “Yay~!” the crowd cheers as Thia tosses Tommy a peppermint.

            “Well, someone has to be Nice,” Rachel says. “Is Amanda Nice?”

            “Yes,” Amanda says as she shows off her paper.

            “Yay~, we got one!” Rachel says while she high-fives Thia.

            Amanda moves aside, leaving only boys now.

            “Is Xavier Nice?” Rachel asks.

            “Sorry, ladies,” Xavier says, “I’m Naughty!”

            Xavier gives a “hang loose” thumb and pinkie as he gets a candy.

            “How about Donnie?” Thia asks like an excited game show host. “Are you Nice?”

            “Nope,” Donnie says as he shows his “Naughty” paper.

            “Yay~!” the crowd cheers again while Rachel tosses Donnie a peppermint.

            Zoey rolls her eyes.

            “Is there any punch or soda or something?” she asks her friends.

            “Yeah, I’ll go get you something,” Karina says. “I need more myself.”

            “I come, er go, I’ll go with,” Jeff says. “I could use something, too.”

            Karina leads the way around to Rachel’s kitchen. The punch bowl is front and center on the big kitchen island, between a bunch of chips and dip, and what must’ve been a platter of cookies but is now just crumbs.

            “So, uh,” Jeff says nervously as Karina scoops punch with a ladle. “When did you and Alicia arrive?”

            “Oh we were here pretty close to the beginning,” she says as she fills one cup. “Don’t feel bad about missing out on the cookies, they were generic sugar cookies anyway.”

            “Oh, okay,” he chuckles as she scoops again.

            His mind tries desperately to come up with something to say while she fills a second cup.

            “H-How’ve you been?” he asks, voice almost cracking.

            “Good, I’ve been good,” she says with a smile. “Though, it’s gonna really suck with Zoey moving away.”

            “Yeah, that’s the only thing keeping this all from being perfect,” Jeff says as he finally gets a cup. “But there’s a chance she’ll move back.”

            “Really? How?”

            Jeff realizes Karina may not know the whole story.

            “Um…” he says as he thinks of how to bring it up. “Do you…?”

            “Of course I know, Jeff,” she chuckles. “So you don’t have to be worried.”

            He sighs in relief as he scoops punch.

            “In that case, the idea is that there will be a proper replacement for, uh, The Spektrum. And then Catgirl can come back.”

            “And then we’ll all be together again,” Karina says, remembering back to elementary and middle school.

            “Yeah, we’ll be together. Uh, all of us. All seven, not just you and me.”

            Karina gives Jeff a knowing smile.

            “You know you don’t have to keep that a secret from me,” Karina says as she brings a cup up to her mouth. “I’ve been waiting for this day just as long as you.”

            “Really?” he says, feeling his heart skip a beat.

            “Uck,” she says, making a disgusted face.

            “What?” he asks, confused.

            “Something’s wrong with the punch,” she says. “It didn’t taste like this earlier.”

            Jeff brings his cup up and sniffs.

            “Somebody spiked it,” he says.

            “Oh God,” Karina says. “And I sipped some!”

            “Relax,” Jeff says. “I doubt anyone’s so weak as to get drunk from one sip. But go ahead and dump those.”

            Karina dumps her cups into the sink and Jeff empties his back into the punch bowl. Then he looks around the kitchen. It’s just him and Karina right now, so he quickly yet carefully picks the bowl up.

            “Jeff!” Karina says; she then realizes she got a bit loud from surprise, and looks around quickly.

            “What’re you doing?” she asks quieter as he brings the bowl to the sink.

            “What does it look like?” he says. “I’m dumping all of this. Just keep watch.”

            Karina is nervous, but she does as he asked. Jeff tips the bowl slowly, and lets it all pour down the drain.

            As for the “Naughty List” game, Shaun has survived a couple more rounds, to Zoey’s annoyance. It’s just him, Tommy, Donnie and George now. George already has a peppermint in his mouth and is all smiles to be in the final four. But Zoey is noticing a trend. Not to be mean to George, but being that he’s shorter and rounder than the other guys, with big front teeth and a retainer, he’s kind of the odd one out. Shaun, Tommy and Donnie are good heights, lean weight, and mostly clear skin. Zoey isn’t into Donnie’s facial hair but her point is: three of the final four are the popular studs at school.

            The papers in the hat are shuffled again and the players take a piece. They each check their papers, but Zoey’s figuring it’ll be 50-50. Two of them should be Nice, and two of them should be Naughty.

            “Is Shaun… Nice?” Thia asks.

            “Nope, still Naughty,” he says.

            The crowd cheers as Shaun gets another candy.

            “Then is Tommy Nice?” Rachel asks.

            “Nope, I’m also Naughty,” Tommy grins.

            Tommy gets another candy.

            “Then is Donnie Nice?” Thia asks.

            “Got me,” he shrugs.

            “Oh,” Rachel says as Thia brings out a candy. “Wait, Thia, he’s… Nice.”

            “Oh,” Thia says. “Oh, so we got it right. A-Alright.”

            Donnie sits down and Thia puts the candy away.

            “So, then, George…” Thia says hesitantly. “Must be Naughty!”

            “Uh, yeah, actually,” George says.

            “Well alright,” Thia says. “We have our final two!”

            Everyone else applauds, but Zoey is very suspicious. To be fair, she only assumed there’d be two of each. But Rachel and Thia themselves were also surprised. Shouldn’t they know what to expect when they’re the ones putting the game together?

            Thia and Rachel put in two pieces of paper back in the hat, and Shaun and Tommy make their choices.

            “Okay, here goes,” Rachel says. “Is Shaun. Nice?”

            “Nope,” Shaun says, “Naughty.”

            “Which must mean Tommy’s Naughty!” Thia says right away.

            “Got me!” Tommy says.

            “Shaun’s the winner!” Rachel declares.

            The others cheer, but Zoey finally sees it. In fact, she might be the only one who sees it.

            “Here comes Santa Shaun, here comes Santa Shaun, right down Santa Shaun Lane!” Rachel sings. She has a lovely voice, but it just pisses Zoey off right now.

            Thia gives Shaun a big red bag to carry as Rachel adds a fake beard to the look. Santa Shaun then parades around with Rachel and Thia, having to the other guests as they laugh and wave back. Zoey simply watches with a slight scowl as she stands with Marina and Chloe. Seth finally walks in, and Alicia walks over.

            “Alicia, hi,” he says. “It’s been so long.”

            “I know!” she says as she gives him a greeting hug. “And speaking of long, you really have let your hair grow.”

            “Oh, yeah, the fox tail,” he says.

            “Fox tail? I like that!” she says with a laugh.

            “You’ve let your hair grow, too, you know,” he says. “Used to be shoulder length, maybe a little more.”

            “Yeah, I know,” Alicia says, blushing slightly. “Does it look nice?”

            “Yeah, of course it looks nice,” he says. “And I like your outfit, too.”

            Alicia, tall as she is, shows a lot of leg in her short yet simple cocktail dress in dark purple. And even some shoulder and back.

            “Well, I mean,” she says with a nervous yet flattered smile. “Thank you.”

            “You better not pout, you better not cry,” Rachel sings, “you better not shout, I’m tellin’ you why! Santa Shaun is coming~ to town!”

            She leads the way as Thia brings Shaun and his sack of gifts along. Shaun laughs through the beard as he pulls out little presents and gives them to guests.

            “Oh hey, Seth,” Shaun says as he walks past. “Um, here, have one. I have no idea what they are, though.”

            Shaun hands Seth one of the little gift boxes and Seth takes it. Seth opens it as Shaun moves on.

            “A tiny plastic Christmas tree,” he says. “A part of me expected something else.”

            Rachel and Thia lead Shaun around to the stairs, and Zoey follows, with Marina and Chloe following her. But as Shaun and those girls go up, Zoey sees their goal at the top.

            “Oh, mistletoe!” Rachel points out as they approach. “Well, everyone knows what that means!”

            Rachel and Thia stand on either side of Shaun at the top of the stairs. Obviously they get ready to kiss him, as Rachel turns Shaun to look at her.

            “E-NYAA-F!” Zoey shouts as she storms up the steps.

            The onlookers let out surprised reactions like “Ooo…!” or “Whoa…!” as Zoey reaches the top.

            “Zoey,” Shaun says cautiously. “Calm down-”

            “Urusei!!” she shouts at him.

            “She’s using Japanese,” Alicia mutters. “She’s legit pissed.”

            “Pretty sure her use of cat tongue was part of it, too,” Seth says.

            “Do you think this is funny?” Zoey asks as she glares at Shaun, Thia and Rachel in turn. “Zoey’s moving away so let’s just flaunt her boyfriend around while we’re dressed like Santa’s Ho Ho Hoes!”

            Thia and Rachel make faces of being offended while guests let out another round of “Oh…!” and “Whoa~…!”

            “You’re seriously going to insult me and my friend at my own party?” Rachel says as she gets in Zoey’s face.

            “You’re the one insulting me acting like you can just make a game out of being a skank,” Zoey says loudly.

            Another “Whoa~!” goes out through the house.

            “Oh, actually I should correct myself,” Zoey says. “You’re the one insulting all of us, if you think you can rig a game.”

            “What? Rig a game?” guests chatter and repeat.

            “That game wasn’t rigged!” Thia defends.

            “Really?” Zoey says. “Let’s think back over all those guesses. Every round, Shaun was Naughty. Every round! And, okay, mathematically that can happen, but what about the very last round? Both Shaun and Tommy were Naughty! That’s not fair play, it should’ve been one Nice and one Naughty!”

            “Yeah!” George says while others do nod in agreement. “You made sure you got the Santa you wanted!”

            “Or we made an honest mistake,” Rachel says defensively but her eyes darting around nervously.

            “But you went and said ‘Naughty’ twice!” Zoey says. “If you were playing fair and square, you would’ve alternated! You rigged it so that you’d get Shaun!”

            “You rigged it!” George and others say. “You rigged it!”

            “Oh whatever!” Rachel shouts over everyone. “Gah, Zoey, you’re such a pain in the ass! No wonder Shaun wanted to break up with you!”

            The room goes silent, and Zoey looks at Shaun with a look of betrayal.

            “Shaun?” she says meekly. “Is that true?”

            Zoey feels even worse when Shaun hesitates.

            “How the Hell does she know?” Zoey asks, her jaw starting to clench.

            “You said ‘Hell’?” Shaun says in surprise.

            Zoey glares even harder but Rachel speaks up.

            “He told X, and X told the rest of the guys, and then Thia heard it from Cami. Packet, not Harraway.”

            “Because Cami Packet was dating Derek Liu,” Zoey finishes connecting the dots. “At least, she was, up until a couple weeks ago. Which means you didn’t just say this because I was moving, Shaun, you only knew that this past week. When did you say you wanted to break up with me?!”

            “About a month ago,” he blurts out, the anger in Zoey’s eyes getting to him. “I told X that a month ago, but I wouldn’t have told him if I knew he’d blab.”

            “Don’t put blame on X for talking,” Zoey says, tears forming. “You should’ve told ME that’s how you felt before anyone else!”

            Then something clicks in her mind.

            “A month ago,” she repeats. “You wanted to break up with me, all because I wouldn’t let you get to Second Base?!”

            “You haven’t let him get to Second Base?” Thia says. “And yet you show up dressed like that?”

            “Shut your whore mouth, you stupid bitch!!” Zoey shouts as she lunges at Thia.

            “Whoa~!!” everyone lets out.

            The only reason Zoey isn’t mauling Thia is because Seth holds her back with an arm.

            “I think that was the first time Zoey’s ever cursed,” Tommy laughs with some of the other guests.

            “Oh shut up, Tommy!” Rachel shouts from over the banister.

            “Zoey, your eyes,” Shaun says as he looks on with shock.

            Seth looks and sees Zoey’s eyes have become the golden cat’s eyes of her Catgirl transformation. Not only that, but as she grits her teeth at Thia, Seth notices her canines have become more fang like.

            “Zoey, calm down,” Seth tells her as she seethes with angry breathing through those grit teeth.

            “Is that all our relationship was?!” Zoey shouts at Shaun. “Physicality?! Is that all that matters to you?!”

            Seth brings Zoey down the stairs a step at the time, but it takes all he has to do it.

            “Is that all that matters to any of you!?” she shouts at pretty much everyone outside of her circle of friends. “All you want is physical satisfaction?! And y’know what, yeah, I’m a complete IDIOT for wearing this dress. I am! A part of me thought that Shaun was going to break up with me over moving away so I put this on to keep him hooked, but the joke’s on me, he’s no longer content to just look anymore! I shouldn’t have worn this stupid dress, but not because of Shaun. I shouldn’t have worn this dress because now I’ve tarnished its memory! I’ve dishonored HIS memory, and for what?!”

            “Who is she talking about?” Rachel says.

            “Is she drunk or something?” Thia chuckles, relieved she isn’t scratched and bleeding.

            “Not possible,” Jeff says as he and Karina return. “I just dumped your spiked punch.”

            “Dude, what?!” Xavier says. “The whole thing?!”

            “Yeah, the whole thing,” Jeff says as he helps Karina pass by to regroup with everyone else. “Now you buncha heathens will have to go sober.”

            “Get out!” Rachel shrieks. “Get out of my party!”

            “We were already leaving anyway!” Zoey shrieks back. “And one of you can have Shaun for all I care! Consider it my last Christmas gift to you, Shaun! We’re broken up so you can grope whatever skank you want!!”

            The guests all let out another “OH~!” and “WHOA~!” as Seth gets Zoey out of the building.

            Seth keeps Zoey moving down the walkway while her friends follow out. Jeff brings up the rear and closes the door shut. Then he looks up at Rachel’s Christmas lights. He works up a spark as he walks off the porch, then quickly turns around to shoot the spark. He hits a little red bulb dead on, and it causes all of the lights to go out.

            “Merry Christmas,” he says with a big grin before turning around to follow after the others.

            “I can’t, I can’t believe him,” Zoey says, her seething slowly turning to sobbing.

            “It’s alright,” Seth says. “It’s alright.”

            “Seth, where did you park?” Alicia asks.

            “Practically the other block,” he says.

            “We’re closer, we can get Zoey home,” Alicia says.

            “Thanks,” he says.

            Zoey goes with Alicia, Karina, Marina and Chloe to Alicia’s car, the purple Honda Civic. She sits between Chloe and Marina in the back while Karina is shotgun. Jeff walks with Seth down to the end of the street and hops back inside the family SUV.

            “I can’t believe you cussed,” Marina says with a chuckle.

            “I know,” Zoey says, between sniffling. “I shouldn’t have. But, I was just so… angry!”

            “It’ll be fine, Zoey,” Chloe says as she comforts her with a side hug.

            “Will it?” Zoey says as she rests her head on Chloe’s shoulder. “You heard me in there. I dumped him. The boy I loved for practically my entire life, and I dumped him.”

            “Well, he was going to break up with you because you wouldn’t let him touch boob,” Karina says. “You did the right thing.”

            Alicia starts up the car and carefully pulls out of the very tight parking situation. As they get going, Karina turns on the radio.

            “Last Christmas, I gave you my heart~.

            “The very next day, you gave it away~. (You gave it away~)

            “This~ year~, to save me from tears,

            “I’ll give to someone special~ (special~).”

            As Wham! plays through the speakers, Zoey starts to frown and tear up again, it’s too close to her situation right now.

            “Change the channel, Kari, quickly!” Chloe says just as quickly.

            “Okay, okay,” Karina says as she presses a button.

            “Last Christmas, I gave you my heart~.

            “But the very next day, you gave it away~.

            “This~ year~, to save me from tears,

            “I’ll give it to someone special~ (special~).”

            “Is that the same song?!” Marina says.

            “That doesn’t make any sense,” Karina says, “I pressed the third button!”

            “We were on the third button, that’s where I left it,” Alicia says. “Press a different button.”

            Karina presses the fourth button, and they end up with an instrumental version of Carol of the Bells.

            They arrive at Zoey’s house soon enough, and everyone goes in together.

            “Home already?” Zoey’s dad asks as they all walk in. “Oh, hello, girls.”

            “Zoey, what’re you wearing?” her mom asks. “Where did you get that?”

            “Is this why you wanted to have your cousins drive you?” her dad asks. “Wait, where are they?”

            “They’re probably on their way back to their house,” Alicia says while Chloe gets Zoey a tissue from the coffee table’s box of Kleenex.

            “Well you’re definitely returning that dress,” Zoey’s mom says.

            “I can’t return it mom,” she says. “I don’t have the receipt because-”

            “Why did you get rid of the receipt?”

            “Because I never had the receipt, which I would’ve told you if you’d let me finish!” Zoey says, getting angry again.

            “You never had a receipt? Did you steal it?!”

            “No, Mom, ugh… I got it, as a gift, ok? It was a gift from a guy.”

            “So Shaun gave you that?” her mom says. “I’ll have to talk with his mother about this.”

            “It wasn’t from Shaun, damn it!” Zoey says, extra angry now.

            “Don’t you use that tone or that kind of language with me, young lady,” her mom says, getting a bit angry herself now.

            “Well I’m sorry, Mom, but I’m pissed! And I know you don’t like me using language like ‘pissed’ and ‘damn’, but damn it I am PISSED! Shaun… I’m just done with him, okay? Just…”

            Zoey’s jaw clenches tight with her anger, keeping her from saying more.

            “Zoey,” her mom says, her own anger softening. “What happened?”

            “Zoey dumped Shaun,” Chloe says as she comforts her with an arm around her shoulders.

            “What?!” both parents blurt out.

            “That can’t be right,” her dad says.

            “But you just said you asked him to keep things going even after we moved,” her mom says.

            “It’s a long story,” Chloe says. “Um, can we stay over?”

            “Sure, sure,” Zoey’s mom says.

            “Well hold on,” Alicia says. “We should get some things so we can stay over. Chloe, Marina, I’ll get you guys to your houses. Karina, you stay here with Zoey, I’ll make sure to get you what you like.”

            “Thanks,” Karina says as she trades places with Chloe. “See you in a little while.”

            Marina and Chloe follow Alicia out and to her car. Zoey’s dad closes the door while Zoey and Karina finally take off their shoes.

            “Go on, Zoey,” Karina says. “You get changed, I’ll get some snacks.”

            Zoey nods and sniffles as she walks down the hall. Karina goes to the kitchen while Zoey’s mom watches her daughter with worry in her eyes.

            Zoey enters her room and drops her shoes in her closet. She unzips the dress and changes out of it with a lot of huffing and puffing and frowning and grumbling. She tosses it on her bed while she gets dressed in pajamas. Then she sits at the foot of her bed, holding the dress in her hands.

            The dress from Vegas. The dress Zoey chose herself from the ridiculous selection Tiger picked out. The dress she spent a great seafood dinner in, the dress Tiger tried to rape her in… But also the dress she wore when The Spektrum saved her. And now, it’s the dress she wore when she found out her boyfriend only liked her for her body, and wanted to break up with her over it, and made her so angry.

            Zoey grits her teeth as she pulls at the dress. She wants to tear it apart, to destroy it, as a substitute for getting back at Shaun and at Tiger. But she can’t bring herself to do it, because of The Spektrum. The dress and the mask are reminders of him, and she just can’t bring herself to throw them away. Instead, she puts the dress back up on its hanger, sobbing with every other step, and then goes back to her bed, where she just flops forward into the comforter.

            Her tears wet the soft cotton, and her sobs are muffled by the stuffing. Then she lets out a fierce scream, which is also muffled by the comforter. She only stops because she runs out of breath, and returns to sobbing.

            Lord, help me, she prays, eyes closed while her body trembles with her breathing.

            Neeko hops up onto the bed. She walks over to Zoey and nuzzles her head into Zoey’s. Zoey looks up with another sniffle, and smiles sweetly at her cat.

            “Thanks, Neeko,” she says as she props herself up.

            Zoey pets Neeko’s head, and strokes down to her tail. Neeko purrs as she nuzzles Zoey’s face.

            “Y’know, Neeko,” Zoey says. “Things are changing. We’re going to be in a new home in a new city. You’ll have to learn where everything is again. And you’ll have to worry about strangers and what to do with yourself during the day when you’re not at school and away from friends.”

            “I know you’re talking about yourself,” Karina says from the door, “but seeing you say that to your cat is still weird.”

            Zoey chuckles just a little as she sits up.

            “Here,” Karina says as she gives Zoey a paper plate. “Your mom had made chocolate chip cookies, so these should be fresh. I also put some hot water on so we can have hot cocoa and marshmallows.”

            “Thanks,” Zoey says with a sad smile as she takes the plate.

            Zoey takes a bite, and Karina is right, the chocolate chips are still melty. She munches on the cookie while Neeko nuzzles under her arm. Zoey and Karina eat quietly, but Neeko’s purring keeps the room from being completely silent.

            “Karina,” Zoey says between chewing and swallowing.

            “Hm?” Karina replies while chewing.

            “I think you were right. I think I started falling for The Spektrum, and… And maybe that made me drift away from Shaun or something. But I’m still left with these feelings for The Spektrum because now he’s dead.”

            “Oh, Zoey…!” Karina says as Zoey starts tearing up again.

            The kettle whistles and the girls hear it from the bedroom, but Karina hesitates. She has to go get the kettle but her friend is crying.

            “Girls, the kettle,” Zoey’s dad says from the living room.

            “I’ll be right there, Mr. Mizaki,” Karina says as she still hesitates.

            “Karina, it’s okay,” Zoey says. “Go get the kettle. I’ll still be crying when you get back.”

            Karina feels really bad but she leaves the room to go to the kitchen. She pours the water into mugs with hot cocoa mix and then throws in the tiny marshmallows from a bag. She brings those back to Zoey, but then they both hear a car pull up. Moments later, Alicia, Chloe and Marina enter with all their things, and the sleepover finally begins.

            With all her friends present, Zoey does her best to explain about the dress and why she didn’t destroy it, and what her feelings for The Spektrum have to do with it.

            “All these feelings, and I’ll never get to tell him,” Zoey says. “What am I supposed to do about that?”

            None of her friends know what to say, so they all just give her a big group hug.