The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.
-Helen Keller

"Alicia!" my father said as he opened the door, the chilly hair swirling around my legs. "Come on in."

PJ and I stepped through the threshold of the door and my father led us through the foyer and into the family room where my sisters waited.

"This is my boyfriend, PJ," I told them, our elbows interlocked.

Everyone introduced themselves to PJ, each shaking his hand. We all sat around the family until my parents friends began to come in one by one.

Each family came in, dressed in Gucci and Burberry, jadeite and pearls around the necks, emeralds and black opals dangling from their ears, pink diamonds on their fingers, and genuine fur on their feet. They were just a family with a lot of money to their name.

My mother didn't arrive until shortly before we started eating.

I could tell PJ felt out of place. Everyone kept talking about trust funds and investments, the stock prices, and bonds. They kept asking PJ his opinion on each. He just shrugged and said "I dunno".

After supper and the exchanging of gifts, my parents' friends left. My siblings and I opened the presents from my parents. I said my thanks and took PJ up to see my old room, far away from anyone that could bother us.

"I'm sorry about everyone asking you all those questions. I'm sure it made you uncomfortable," I said as we sat on my old bed.

"It's fine. I'm glad I got to meet your family tonight," he said.

"Your father told me to ask you two if you would like any," Jaqueline, one of the cooks, said, poking her head through the door. She held up a plate of Turkish delight. I never had any before, so I took some.

"I wouldn't go to the White Queen's castle for this," I said as I took a bite of the chewy cube.

After I swallowed the small bite, I was hit with the realization of all the food I had eaten for dinner. My stomach felt bubbly at the thought of the calories.

"I'll be back in a second," I said. I got from my spot and went into my parent's bathroom.

Leaning over the toilet, my face inches away from the rim, I put my fingers in my oesophagus until everything came up. I did this until I could see a bit of blood. After flushing, I rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash like I read on one of those blogs, washed my face in cold water so the redness of my eyes would cease (something else I read), and made my way back to my room.

"Where've you been?" PJ asked.

"I had to tell my sister something," I lied.

"It was nice meeting you, PJ," my dad said as we gave our final goodbyes.

The train ride back to London was exhausting. There were too many crying babies on board so I couldn't fall asleep. The entire six hours from my parents' house in Scotland back to London was agonizing.

Stay with me tonight," I asked once we got back to my flat. "Rowan's at her mom's house so I'll be alone on Christmas night. It's late anyways."

As I suspected, he agreed. We put in The Princess Bride since PJ said he's never seen it until we fell asleep on the couch.