Chapter 11: The Turkey Day

NOVEMBER 22, 1979

NEWPORT BEACH, CA

Kirsten inhaled deeply and then exhaled, trying to calm herself down a little bit. Then she started walking toward the door of 5 Elmgrove, mustering all the courage she could. It was Thanksgiving and Jimmy had invited her to spend the holiday with his family since her own family was going to be spending it with her grandparents in Boston. Normally Kirsten would have gone with them, but the Harbor football team had a CIF playoff game the next day and it was mandatory for all the cheerleaders to attend.

This would mark her first time meeting Jimmy's parents and as she reached to press the doorbell, she was still a bit nervous. What if they hate me, she thought. They'll probably just think I'm some brat from Newport…just some stupid rich girl…

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door opened. Luckily Jimmy was the person who had opened the door and he greeted her with a kiss.

"Hey," Jimmy said.

"Hey yourself," Kirsten said. Then she held out a dish to him that she was holding and continued, "I brought something for the dinner. It's sweet potato soufflé."

Jimmy eyed her skeptically. A week ago, Kirsten had attempted to cook dinner for the two of them at her house, but had failed miserably, burning the chicken, adding too much salt to the soup, and baking the rolls until they were hard as rocks.

"Don't worry, my mom made it," Kirsten replied to Jimmy's glance.

"Just thought I'd check…I mean this is Thanksgiving so you do want the food to be edible," Jimmy told her

"Haha, very funny…"

"Come on…time to meet the family," Jimmy said, but before he turned to walk away, he spotted the nervous look. "Don't worry. They'll love you. I mean honestly, who couldn't!"

Jimmy led her into the kitchen and as they reached it, Kirsten saw Jimmy's entire family standing around the island talking minus the women who Kirsten assumed was his mom, who was tending to the cooking nearby at the stove. No one seemed to notice as the pair entered the room.

"Everyone," Jimmy started, but no one seemed to hear him. "EVERYONE!" Jimmy practically yelled. Suddenly all eyes were on the two of them. "Sorry, you were all ignoring me…anyway, I want you all to meet my girlfriend, Kirsten Nichol."

"Oh, Kirsten! It's so nice to finally meet you. I'm Aimee, Jimmy's mom," the blond woman near the stove said excitedly.

Before Kirsten had a chance to reply, a tall man with brown hair held out his hand and introduced himself, "I'm John Cooper, Jimmy's dad."

"Nice to meet you both," Kirsten said as she shook his hand.

"Kirsten," Jimmy started as she finished shaking hands with Mr. Cooper. "This is my sister Ashley and her fiancée Michael."

Kirsten looked at Jimmy's sister. Tall and blond and definitely wearing clothes from an expensive designer. Not that Kirsten should be one to talk about the expensive clothes, but this girl definitely looked over the top. Jimmy said she was the epitome of girly-girl, she thought. I guess I'll find out.

"Hi Kirsten! It's so great to finally meet you!" Ashley said as she attacked a surprised Kirsten with a hug. When Ashley pulled away, she continued, talking a mile a minute, "You are so pretty, you know that. Is that dress Calvin Klein. I love Calvin Klein, but I haven't been able to find anything I liked lately. But that is a gorgeous dress. I'm thinking that I am going to wear Vera Wang at my wedding, what do you think? I mean it's definitely classic, but then I was thinking, maybe I should do something more exotic. Oh and you have to be one of my bridesmaids for the wedding! Is March going to work…"

Kirsten just stared wide-eyed at Ashley as she rambled on about designer names and her wedding. Jeez, Kirsten thought. I've never seen a girl this excited about fashion, and

that's saying something since all my friends go crazy about designer brands. Jimmy was right, this girl is the epitome of a girly-girl. And I only met her a second ago and she wants me to be in her wedding! What is even going on!

"Ashley, sweetheart," Mrs. Cooper finally interrupted her. "Why don't we save this conversation for later."

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to overwhelm you…I just go a little crazy about all my wedding stuff," Ashley told Kirsten.

"Okay, Kirsten, this is my brother, Jack, and my sister, Allie," Jimmy continued pointing out the last two people in the room.

Kirsten shook Jack's hand first and said, "Nice to meet you." He looked like Jimmy, except that he was slightly taller and had lighter colored hair.

She then turned towards Jimmy's little sister. She was wearing a black tube dress with fishnet stockings and clunky black shoes. Her brown hair was cut short and was flipped out to the sides, and she had the tannest skin out of all the Coopers. The dark black eyeliner around her blue eyes made them look incredibly bright and the black lipstick topped off the entire ensemble. So this is what Jimmy meant by her being a punk, Kirsten thought.

"Nice to meet you, Allie," Kirsten said.

For a second, Allie didn't say anything. She stood there, without any trace of smile on her face, looking pissed off at the world. Then finally, her black lips parted and she said, "It's Al. Not Allie." She paused for a moment, but then continued, "It figures Jimmy would be dating someone like you." As soon as she was finished, Allie walked out of the room, leaving Kirsten speechless.

"Al!" Jimmy yelled after her, but Allie acted like she didn't hear him and continued walking away. Jimmy turned back to Kirsten, "I'm sorry, Kirsten…about Allie. She's just, going through this phase…she doesn't seem to like anyone right now…it's nothing personal, but I can try to talk to her."

Kirsten got over her initial astonishment and said, "It's okay, Jimmy. Don't worry about it. I know all about little sisters, remember."

"Okay, dinner is almost ready," Mrs. Cooper informed. "Jimmy, Jack, can you two rearrange the chairs in the dining room. I forgot to do that earlier. Make sure we have all eight chairs."

When Jimmy and Jack reached the dining room and were out of earshot of the kitchen, Jack started in on Jimmy, "Man, you did good. Kirsten is hot!"

"Yeah, I know. It's not just that, though. She's an awesome person. Really smart and nice and all," Jimmy said.

"So, are you two…you know…doing the deed," Jack asked suspiciously, which totally caught Jimmy off guard. Jack responded to his brother's surprised look and said, "So I take that as a no…but come on, you can't be that surprised…you've at least thought about it right?"

"Well, yeah, of course, Jack…but we haven't been dating that long, and she's not like that," Jimmy told him.

"Can't blame me for asking…you better hang onto her…cuz she is fine," Jack said.

"I don't plan on losing her any time soon," Jimmy confirmed.

As soon as Jimmy and Jack finished with the chairs, Mrs. Cooper, Ashley, and Kirsten all entered carrying various trays of food and set them all out on the table. Finally, everyone, including Allie who had suddenly reappeared, sat down at the table for the Thanksgiving feast.

"So Kirsten," Mrs. Cooper began. "Jimmy tells me that you are Vice President of Harbor and you're a cheerleader too?"

Kirsten spotted Allie at the end of the table and saw her roll her eyes when Mrs. Cooper asked her about cheerleading. However, she ignored Jimmy's sister and said, "Yes. I enjoy them both a lot. I really like being involved with school. Actually, cheerleading is the reason why I couldn't spend Thanksgiving with my own family. They went to Boston to spend it with my grandparents. I was suppose to go with them, but since the football team is doing so well and playing a CIF game tomorrow, I have to be at the game."

"We met your parents at a party a few weeks ago. They seem like very nice people. You have a younger sister too, is that correct," Mrs. Cooper said.

Kirsten snickered to herself. Caleb Nichol, nice? That's a joke, she thought. But what else would they say? It's not like it would be an option to insult the richest man in Newport in front of his daughter. "Um, yeah, my sister, Hailey just turned seven. She's in first grade," Kirsten replied to Mrs. Cooper's last question.

"So Kirsten, do you know where you want to go to college, yet? What you want to study?" Mr. Cooper inquired.

Kirsten inwardly groaned at the question. It seemed like lately everyone she knew was asking her that question. Her father was pushing for her to go into business, so that she could come work for him at the Newport Group after college. But what Kirsten really wanted was to go into art history; however, her father didn't want to hear such nonsense. She finally began to answer Mr. Cooper's question, "Well, I'm not sure exactly where I want to go yet, but I am thinking maybe University of Pennsylvania or if I don't get in there, USC. My father wants me to go into business and both schools have great programs."

Just as she finished answering, Kirsten suddenly started feeling overwhelmed with all the questions that Jimmy's parents were bombarding her with ever since she walked through the door. She knew they were only trying to be nice, but she wished that the conversation would shift off of her.

A second later, Ashley started in on her, seeming to pick up exactly where she left off earlier in the kitchen. "So Kirsten, what do you think about being a bridesmaid? I would really love for you to be in the wedding."

Kirsten hesitated for a moment and then answered, "Um, I'd love to be, but do you really want me in the wedding? I mean you just met me and-"

"Of course I want you in the wedding," Ashley interrupted. "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want you to be. You're Jimmy's girlfriend. You have to be in the wedding. So anyway, now that that's settled, on to the wedding. So I was thinking, for bridesmaid dresses, I have it narrowed down to Gucci, Valentino, or Chanel. And for the color of the dress, it most definitely has to be a bright color for the spring. I was thinking maybe magenta, or a bright purple? What do you think?"

"Well, I would have to see the dresses. The color would have to depend on the style of the dress," she answered. Kirsten was amazed at how someone could go on and on about fashion. Although she enjoyed shopping and purchasing the latest and greatest clothes, it bored her to talk about it extensively.

"Of course! I'll have to show you all the dresses I am trying to choose from. Oh, and we definitely need to go shopping sometime soon. Fashion Island and South Coast have the best stores. A lot more stuff to choose from than there was down in San Diego. But anyway, back to the wedding…" Ashley rambled on.

As Kirsten listened to Ashley go on and on, without anyone else being able to get a word in edgewise, she knew she had to get out of the room and fast. She couldn't sit there and listen to this nonsense talk any longer. When Kirsten finally heard Ashley stop for an instant to catch her breath, she saw her opening, "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"It's just down the hall and on the right," Mrs. Cooper informed her.

"Thanks. I'll be right back," Kirsten said. She started off towards the bathroom, but took a turn towards the kitchen, filled a glass of water, and made her way outside into the backyard. Kirsten sat herself down in a chair, and as she drank her water, she looked around the beautiful backyard and was reminded of their first date that had ended in that very pool. She smiled slightly as she remembered their first kiss in the jacuzzi underneath the waterfall.

Suddenly a voice interrupted her thoughts, "I thought you went to the bathroom." Kirsten turned around to see Allie standing behind her.

"Are you spying on me now or something? What's your problem anyway? What's your excuse for being out here?" Kirsten accused.

Allie was a little surprised. She had pegged this Kirsten girl as some little Newport princess that would let everyone walk all over her. But apparently the girl had a little attitude in her.

"Do you honestly think that someone like me could sit through my sister rambling on about stuff like matching designer shoes for all the bridesmaids," Allie paused for a second and continued, "So what are you doing out here?"

Kirsten smiled slightly and said, "Same reason you are. Don't get me wrong, your family seems really nice, including your sister. But she was driving me crazy! I've never heard anyone go on about fashion and weddings the way she does."

For the first time since she had arrived, Kirsten saw Allie's lips turn upward into a slight smile, which was accompanied by a look of surprise on her face. "You surprised me, Kirsten Nichol. I definitely thought you would be one of those materialistic Newport girls who didn't care about anything but fashion and partying. I was a little disappointed in Jimmy…thought he was only dating you because you were pretty. But I can see there is something more to you…I'm glad that he was right. And sorry about my insults earlier. It was wrong."

Kirsten laughed and said, "It's okay. I'd probably be skeptical of me too. It was actually kind of refreshing to be insulted, since most people try to kiss up to me…because of who my dad is. They're all so fake…it was nice for some honesty for a change."

Allie laughed. She was really starting to like Kirsten amazingly enough, especially since she absolutely despised her only a few minutes ago.

"We should probably head in," Kirsten said, to which Allie rolled her eyes. "Come on, Al. I think we can handle it between the two of us. That is unless you're chicken."

"I'm not chicken!" Allie stated firmly. "I guess you're right. I mean we're both smart. Between the two of us, we can divert the conversation to some more interesting topic."

"Well I definitely agree with that assessment. Come on and let's find out," Kirsten said as she stood up and headed towards the door with Allie right behind her.

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Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, Gucci, Valentino, and Chanel are all designers that I do not own. I also do not own Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, located in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, respectively.