Chapter 12: The Magic in the Air

DECEMBER 22, 1979

NEWPORT BEACH, CA

Kirsten sat on her window seat, looking out the window at all the people arriving at her house for the annual Nichol Christmas party. She sighed and took a sip of vodka out of her silver flask. She didn't really care much for the parties. Well, it wasn't really the parties that she didn't like…it was having to play the hostess, play the part of the perfect daughter of the perfect family, the family that Kirsten knew was far from perfect. She always felt like she was acting so…so fake, just putting on a show. But most people didn't care who the real Kirsten Nichol was…they just expected perfection from her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to her bedroom was pushed opened, revealing Kelly.

"What are you doing up here? This is your party after all," Kelly asked as she hugged her best friend.

"Hiding out…hoping my parents won't notice that I'm not down there…so I maybe I won't actually go to the party," Kirsten admitted. She took another sip from her flask. As Kelly saw this, she cringed slightly. Kelly knew Kirsten liked a drink or two…hell, she did too, but it always worried her when Kirsten drank alone.

"Oh, come on, Kirst. It won't be that bad…I mean it is Christmas after all," Kelly said, trying to cheer her up. "And besides, Jimmy's probably looking for you. I think I saw him walk in when I was coming up here."

Kirsten smiled slightly. Maybe Kelly is right, Kirsten thought. Maybe it won't be so bad. But in the back of Kirsten's mind, she had a feeling that only the presence of Kelly and Jimmy at the party was going to keep her sane. She was still holding a flask and said, "Okay. Hey do you want a little before we head down?" holding up the flask towards Kelly.

Kelly looked at the flask for a second and then took it from Kirsten and drank a long sip. At least this way, it will be a little less for her to drink, Kelly thought. She coughed when she was done, noting how strong it was. "Straight vodka, Kirst?"

"The only way to go," Kirsten said, and took the flask back from Kelly and put it back in her desk drawer. "Alright, I guess it's time to face all the Newpsies. Ready?"

"Whenever you are," Kelly replied and the two friends headed out of Kirsten's room and down the stairs to join the party.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Caleb spotted Kirsten and pulled her away from Kelly. "Kiki! You remember the Arnolds, right?" Caleb asked as he gestured toward a couple that was standing next to them.

"Yes, of course. How lovely to see you both again," Kirsten said in her most elegant voice.

"Now dear, we hear that you are dating Jimmy Cooper…" Mrs. Arnold said and started rambling on.

Man, this is going to be a long night, Kirsten thought as she put on her best smile, fake as it was, for all the Newpsies, hoping that she might win some sort of praise from her father.

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After what seemed like an eternity milling around with her parents and talking to all of the 'pillars' of the community, Kirsten spotted Jimmy and managed to make her way over to him.

"Hey," Jimmy said and greeted her with a kiss. "I was wondering when you were going to turn up…this is your party after all."

"You mean it's my parents's party," Kirsten corrected.

"Well, technicalities."

"Yeah, sorry, though…I had to play hostess with my parents, unfortunately…definitely my least favorite part of these things," Kirsten sighed.

"You're done though, right?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah," Kirsten stated. She moved closer to him, her cheek touching his and whispered into his ear, "So, do you want to go to the pool house?"

Jimmy smiled and said, "You read my mind."

Kirsten maneuvered Jimmy and herself through all the people scattered about in the backyard, hoping that no one would stop them and try to start a conversation. Luckily, they managed to reach the pool house without encountering a thing. As Kirsten reached for the door, she looked back in the crowd, making sure she didn't see her parents or Jimmy's in the vicinity. When she was satisfied with her search, she opened the door quietly and she slipped inside, with Jimmy following close behind.

As soon as Jimmy shut the door behind him, Kirsten attacked him with her lips. As the kissing grew increasingly passionate, Jimmy found himself running his hands through her blond locks and trying to pull her closer, if it was even possible.

Kirsten finally broke away for a second, but her face stayed incredibly close to Jimmy's, and she then proceeded to push him playfully down on the bed of the pool house. Kirsten giggled as she did this and then climbed on top of Jimmy, placing her lips firmly on his. Jimmy starting kissing her neck and moved his hands up and down her back. He slowly unzipped the back of her dress halfway, so he could feel her smooth skin…

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Kelly looked up and saw Kirsten's father approaching her. She had known Caleb for almost ten years, but the guy still scared her.

"Hello, Kelly. Lovely to see you here tonight," Caleb said.

"You too, Mr. Nichol," Kelly replied.

"I was wondering, have you seen Kirsten? There are a few more guests I wanted to introduce her to, but I can't seem to find her," Caleb asked.

"I haven't seen her since she was with you and Mrs. Nichol earlier," Kelly replied.

"Okay, thanks. If you see her, can you tell her that I'm looking for her?"

"Sure. No problem."

"Bye Kelly," and with that, Caleb walked away. He had already checked for Kirsten upstairs, thinking that she might have been hiding out to avoid the party, but she wasn't there. He looked up and saw his pool house. Aw-ha! I bet she's hiding out in there, Caleb thought. It's the perfect hiding place.

Caleb approached the pool house and swiftly opened the door. "Oh my God!" he said, utterly shocked.

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The bottom of Kirsten's dress had slid up high on her leg as Jimmy and her continued making out. Suddenly she looked up as the door to the pool house opening. But it was too late to get off Jimmy and she just stared at her father standing in the doorway. She had been caught with Jimmy, with her dress unzipped and slid up her legs, by her father.

Caleb stood there with an expression that Kirsten perceived to be as one of a mix of extreme anger and shock and said, "Oh my God!"

Kirsten quickly rolled off of Jimmy and tried to put words together, but was fairly unsuccessful, "Ah, Dad…um…"

"Both of you, out of here, now! We'll have a long talk about this later," Caleb told them.

Jimmy, who still hadn't said a word, was out of there as soon as Caleb finished his sentence, practically running out the door, leaving Kirsten alone with her father.

"Kirsten Elizabeth Nichol, I can't believe you! During our Christmas party! With all these guests here? I am extremely disappointed. How do you think it would have looked if someone else had caught you two?" Caleb stated, almost yelling with a bright red face of anger. "Now, make yourself presentable and get back out there. I don't want anyone getting suspicious," he told her and walked out the door.

As her father left the pool house, Kirsten couldn't utter a word. She was still wearing an expression of disbelief and her face was flushed with embarrassment. She breathed in slowly and then exhaled as she finally forced herself to stand up to fix her dress and smooth her hair. Once she was satisfied that she looked 'presentable,' she walked out of the pool house and closed the door behind her.

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Kelly saw Kirsten from a distance and waved to her. The two friends walked towards each other and met in the middle. "Hey," Kelly said.

"Hey," Kirsten replied, still somewhat shaken up by what had just happened.

"So, you're dad was looking for you earlier, did he find you?" Kelly asked.

"Oh, he found me all right! On top of Jimmy Cooper in the pool house," Kirsten told her. She reached up and grabbed a glass of Chardonnay from a tray as the waiter walked by, and drank the entire glass in one sip.

"Oh my God!" Kelly exclaimed, but completely at a loss of words.

"Yeah, I know, I'm dead!" Kirsten stated. She placed the empty glass on a tray passing by, grabbed another Chardonnay, and proceeded to chug that glass too.

Kelly observed Kirsten's actions and said, "Don't you think you want to slow down a little? I mean, you haven't eaten or anything."

"Slow down! Don't you tell me to slow down! I have a family that is pretending to be perfect for all the Newpsies, I have a father that caught me making out during our Christmas party, and I am basically going be grounded for…forever and probably never see Jimmy again!"

"Don't you think your exaggerating?" Kelly asked. Kirsten gave her a look as she drank from her third glass of Chardonnay. "Well, a little anyway," Kelly restated.

"Maybe a little, but have you met my father!" Kirsten replied.

"I see your point," Kelly said.

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Jimmy emerged from the bathroom, still trying to calm himself from what just happened. I am such a dead man, he thought. What was I even thinking? A voice calling his name broke his train of thought.

"Hey Coop, how's it going?" Matt said as he approached Jimmy.

"Honestly, not good," Jimmy replied.

Matt waited for a second for Jimmy to elaborate, but when he didn't, Matt continued, "What happened, man?"

"Well, Kirsten and I…we were…we were making out…in the pool house…and then her dad caught us," Jimmy managed to get out.

"Holy shit!" Matt exclaimed. "Caleb Nichol caught you? You are so a dead man."

"Tell me something I don't know," Jimmy sighed.

"I'm surprised he hasn't killed you yet," Matt said.

"Too many witnesses around," Jimmy said, half jokingly.

"Man, I'm so sorry," Matt told him. "Well, I kind of have to take off now…my family is leaving…good luck with the dad."

"Thanks, I'll need it," Jimmy stated as Matt walked away.

Jimmy stood there for a moment, running his hands through his bushy brown hair. Then he spotted Kirsten's sister, standing by herself looking incredibly bored. Poor kid, Jimmy thought. Only in first grade and having to sit through one of these parties.

Hailey looked up and saw her sister's boyfriend, Jimmy, approaching her. Kirsten's soooo lucky! she thought. Jimmy's so great…he's cute and nice!

"Hey, Kiddo!" Jimmy said as he reached her.

"Hi!" Hailey exclaimed in a high voice.

"You were looking a little bored," Jimmy told her.

"Yeah…these things always are…just a bunch of old people," Hailey said.

Jimmy had to chuckle at Hailey. "So, Kiddo, how about we do a little dancing?"

"Yeah!" Hailey exclaimed.

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Kirsten was talking with Kelly, when she stopped mid-sentence. Kelly looked over and followed Kirsten's gaze to the dance floor where Jimmy was dancing with Hailey.

"Aw, isn't that so cute!" Kirsten said. Jimmy was holding Hailey's hands and the two of them were jumping around to the music. It looked pretty goofy, a teenage boy who was over 6 feet tall dancing with a seven-year old girl who wasn't quite 4 feet tall. But the sight touched Kirsten's heart and she thought it looked adorable.

She walked towards them and as she reached them, she said, "Hey you two!"

"Hi Kiks!" Hailey exclaimed. "Jimmy was just dancing with me!"

"I can see. That was very nice of him," Kirsten said.

Just then, a slow song came on, and Jimmy said, "Hey, Hailey, is it okay if I dance with your sister for this one?"

"Sure. But you're mine for the next one," Hailed told him.

"Okay," Jimmy said. He put his arms around Kirsten and started dancing with her.

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"Look at the two of them," Caleb stated, as he noticed Kirsten and Jimmy dancing. "And after what I caught them doing."

"Oh, loosen up, Caleb. They are dating, you know. What did you think, they were just holding hands," Katherine Nichol told her husband.

"But in the pool house…during an elegant party?" Caleb said.

"I agree, but-"

Caleb didn't wait for his wife to finish and interrupted, "I need to go have a word with those two."

"Wait, Cal," Katherine called after him, but it was too late.

As Caleb approached the pair, Kirsten and Jimmy were lost in the moment and totally taken by surprise when Caleb said, "So, I see you two still can't keep your hands off each other."

Kirsten was beyond furious. Damn it, we're just dancing, she thought. "Dad, come on, we were just-"

"Cal," the single word that Katherine stated, interrupted Kirsten, but stopping any argument from developing. "Come on…I think you owe me a dance."

"But, I-" Caleb started to say.

"But nothing," Katherine said, interrupting again. "Let's go have that dance now. Let them be…it is Christmas after all."

Caleb looked as though he was about to say something else, but Katherine silence him with a look before he could get it out, and she led him away from Kirsten and Jimmy. She looked back and smiled at Kirsten, and Kirsten in reply mouthed, 'thank you.'

Kirsten turned back toward Jimmy and put her arms around him to continue their dance. Maybe there is Christmas magic after all, she thought, and just after that thought, Jimmy leaned in and gave her a soft kiss that seemed to make all her troubles melt away for the holiday season.

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Hope you are all still enjoying it…if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

The following lines from my story:

Kelly: Don't you think you want to slow down a little? I mean, you haven't eaten or anything.

Kirsten: Slow down! Don't you tell me to slow down! I have a family that is pretending to be perfect for all the Newpsies, I have a father that caught me making out during our Christmas party, and I am basically going be grounded for…forever and probably never see Jimmy again!

were based on the following lines from "The Homecoming":

Sandy: Ya know you might wanna slow down with that…you're drinkin on an empty stomach.

Kirsten: Don't you tell me to slow down, tell him to hit the bricks!

Sandy: Hit the bricks! Who talks like that?

Kirsten: Don't you judge me! I have a family that won't let me cook for Thanksgiving dinner, I have a father who is using me for my candied yams, and we are out of merlot!

I just love that scene!