Well hello there Moirariordan! And just how might you be doing on this fine December day? How goes the school and the writing and other such things? Ehh, I understand, same here. At least finals are finally finished (mine anyway) and the holidays can begin, quite a relief, I must say. But anyway, it was nice to hear from you again, talk to you next chapter!
Degrassi's not mine. This story takes place in the previous season. Enjoy.
Of all the happening she could have predicted coming to pass at the, "holiday event of the season," Ellie certainly never thought she'd be getting so hot, and so sweaty, and so worked up with Craig...
and Marco...
and Marco's neighbor.
I mean hell, who knew that the guy could play the piano so well?
Well, she had foreseen an interesting evening. Eh, might as well just slap a turban on the little lady and call her psychic, because this prophecy certainly appeared to be coming true. Just maybe not exactly in the same strain of the term "interesting" that she had first supposed, but who wants to deal with specifics? After all, "interesting" could entail a plethora of meanings, varying from any shade of marvelous to dreadful. And it was still a bit too early on in the evening to decide which end of the spectrum this night was leaning.
I mean, most of a mediocre little band she liked to call Downtown Sasquatch leading mostly drunk high school students in a rousing set of Christmas carols? And Ellie Nash using the terms "rousing" and "Christmas carols" in the same sentence? She couldn't tell if she should be disgusted with herself for being so mundane, or enthused that she could feign normality so well. But that required simply too much brainpower, and she preferred to just pour herself another glass of eggnog and stop trying to classify everything. She would save that for the morning after. She most certainly would be kicking herself for this in a few hours.
But right now the twinkle of something shiny caught her eye and a genuine smile crept upon her lips. She really should have come over early to help Marco set up, Lord only knows how long it took him to drench his home in decorations. What with all the tinself, garland, and caroling, she might as well have been in flipping Whoville!
Hehehe. Whoville. The Who's. The Grinch...that reminds her of something...
"Stop being such a Grinch Elle!" Craig exclaimed while the two sat on the (still abandoned) couch waiting for Paige to return with the drinks.
"A Grinch? In what way am I being a Grinch Mr. Manning?" she replied, pulling the red throw she had taken from the back of the couch even closer around her. It was chilly after all, what with it being December in Canada and everything.
"You know precisely why. This innocent act isn't going to fly with me Miss Nash." His lower lip protruded just the slightest bit from underneath his upper one.
Good Lord, why did he have to look so cute when he pretended to pout?
"Innocent? Grinch? Me? Whatever could you be taking about?"
"You're hogging the blanket Elle!" he cried, attempting to tug the cloth in his direction.
"Oh, and so that makes me a Grinch? Pardon my confusion Craig, but for some reason I was not aware that the Grinch was such a notorious blanket hog." She said with a smirk, leaning back against the arm of the couch so as to be further from his reach.
"Details, details! But fine, if you are going to be that way, I will just have to take matters into my own hands!" and then he lunged at her...well, maybe not quite lunged, but he did move rather quickly over towards her direction, squishing Ellie between the far end of the couch and himself. He leaned over her, the weight of his body pressing down onto her own and causing a million dirty little thoughts that one most certainly should not have about their best friend to fly through her mind as she struggled to make her mouth form a coherent objection. He yanked the blanket out of her grasp before demurely spreading it over the both of them, patting her knee and smiling pleasantly at her when the two were tucked together nicely.
"Now see, isn't that better?" his asked, his voice dripping of saccharine, snuggling a little closer to his drummer for good measure.
"What was that for!" finally came her lame reply, trying hard and failing miserably to disguise her own voice with fury, struggling hard against the smile fighting at the corners of her mouth.
"Well, this way we can both get the blanket, we're sharing! And besides Elle, it's much warmer like this, don't you think?"
He was right of course, or at least, there certainly was substantial evidence to support his claim. Ellie had to have been extremely warm, judging from the fevered shade of crimson her face and neck were acquiring. It had to be the extra body heat...or maybe just the body that was supplying it. Jesus, that is two times in the past week that Craig Manning has made her blush, and the first time he wasn't even present!
Trying mentally to compose herself, she swallowed hard and pulled the blanket up to her chin, shooting the boy next to her (who, by the way, had never been so close before) a significantly dirty look before making a comment about whether or not he had showered that day. He rolled his eyes and told her smoothly that he had already had his bath for the month, thank you very much, but that just for the record she wasn't exactly smelling baby fresh herself. The flirty banter continued until a slightly stumbling Paige returned with the frothy glasses, raising an eyebrow at the pair's seating arrangement, but not saying a word.
Now, we all know Michaelchuck of course, and so therefore it should go without saying that Paige keeping her mouth shut was no easy feat by any means. Nothing happened at her school without her two cents being put in of course, so why should what happened at a party attended by her classmates be any different? But she was feeling rather tipsy and easy-going at the moment, and besides that, it was no secret that she wasn't too fond of Manny Santos to begin with. Craig was an okay guy though, and if he was going to be with anyone, Ellie wasn't a bad choice. Although her choice in clothing was absolutely atrocious, at least the redhead had never made fun of the size of Paige's ass. Catfights and spiteful insults weren't exactly the best way to secure an ally in a battle of hearts.
So Paige weaved her way over to the couch, deposited Ellie's glass (Craig already had one), and situated herself comfortably back in the armchair she had left. She took an indulgent sip, then raised her cup in a toast,
"To our lovely friend Marco, and the spectacular celebration that he has put together. Cheers!"
Everyone lifted their cups and praised Marco good-naturedly right along with her, but then, much to Ellie's dismay, their beloved host decided to make his spectacular appearance. Because, of course, nothing Marco could do would ever be anything less than spectacular. Once again, meticulously shaped eyebrows were raised, but luckily jabbering mouths were kept shut about the proximity of Manning and Nash. However, the smile playing on Marco's lips clearly let his opinion on the situation known.
"Elle! I'm so glad you came, I knew you would!" he chirped with boyish delight, leaning in close to peck her cheek and taking the opportunity to whisper in her ear, "By the way, our friend Paige over there is cut off. Her glass is just straight eggnog now, so don't let her have any of yours, okay? And my oh my, don't you two look quite cozy?"
She attempted to land a vengeful elbow on the cocky bastard, but he moved too quickly away for her, clasping his hands together and offering up the brilliant idea, "Hey guys, lets sing a few Christmas carols, huh?!". This spurred Craig to roll his eyes yet again, but in the end he agreed (just as Marco had known he would) and stood up to go retrieve his guitar from out of his trunk.
Once he was gone both Marco and Paige turned to Ellie with expressions that obviously said, 'I told you so' which frustrated her even more than the absence of her seatmate. This frustration, in turn, only served to frustrate her even more, because he was only her friend, and she shouldn't care where he sat! She had to stop feeling this way about him! However, she obviously couldn't tell those two that, and she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of an explanation (which they didn't deserve, and besides, there wasn't anything to explain!). And so, she only threw her hands up in exasperation before leaving as well to refill her glass without a response to her matchmaking classmates. They still hadn't said anything, but she knew what they were thinking.
Was it her imagination, or did the crowd at the buffet table seem to part when she came over to fill her glass? Ahh, who really cares anyway? Old school Ellie certainly hadn't, and she was missing that girl, the girl who didn't have a secret crush on her straight best friend's ex. Those had been simpler times...though when you think about it...not really. Marco must have given up on trying to extract information out of her, because he began to round up the partygoers around his mom's piano in preparation for the caroling. Evidentially, the whiskey had taken the edge off of everyone's stage-fright, and they seemed abnormally enthusiastic to begin. Then, of course Craig walked in, instrument in hand, she found herself gravitating over to the crowd.
But not before chugging her glass and filling it to the brim once more.
Reviews would be lovely.