CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

December had almost arrived and the last few weeks of November were welcome to plentiful drama. Ivy had given up on Dana. They reverted back to their old way of living, whereby they both avoided each other and occasionally had an argument. It was not fun and Ivy did not like it, but she had no way of apologizing to Dana. Her sister just wasn't having any of it. The weekend arrived and Ivy suddenly started to regret her decision to go to the girl's shopping trip.

"I'm so stupid." Ivy mumbled as she glowered at her wardrobe.
As much as she hated to say it, Dana was right. She did hate shopping. Clothes just weren't her thing.

Whitney had offered to drop them off and the car ride was all sorts of awkward. Their mother chattered happily about various topics (mainly along the lines of how proud she was of them and how excited she was for Dana's Winter Ball). Both girls stayed silent as their mother carried on.
They reached the shopping centre and clambered out. Dana marched ahead and Ivy trailed behind.

She had tried to invite Blossom, but apparently she had some family business so Ivy decided not to press it. The other girls weren't her close friends but she could handle them. It would be more fun with the boys around, though, Ivy thought.
"Hi, Dana. Hi, Ivy." Cinder grinned. "Excited?"
Dana clapped her hands together, forgetting her problems with Ivy. "Yes! Let's do some shopping."

"You and Lionel don't seem to be getting on well." Ivy mused as she picked up random pieces of clothes and made a face.
Cinder shrugged. "Eh. Just a small argument. Nothing big."
"Really?" Ivy crossed her arms. "I've heard that before."

The other girl went quiet and held up a violet top. She stared in the mirror and Ivy hovered behind her.
"He's just such a jerk sometimes." Cinder mumbled.
Ivy tipped her head. "Oh. I thought Lionel was less of jerk than some of the other guys."
"Well, yeah." Cinder sighed. "But he does not know how to handle women to save his life."
"Did something happen?" Ivy prompted. "Come on, tell me!"

Cinder groaned. "It's nothing happy. He just... I think he likes Heather."
"Well, they did go to disco together." Ivy pointed out.
"I know." Cinder rolled her eyes. "But I - you know - like him too. I just don't think he likes me back in that way."
Ivy shrugged. "You never know. He might."
Cinder shook her head. "No. He said we were just friends."

Dana, Isla, Hazel and Heather had stayed together and gone to a shop that provided a variety of items. It had been Dana's decision, since she needed to go shopping for decorations that were to be used at the Winter Ball. She glided down aisles, in search of the items she needed, with the others behind her.
"What sort of things do you need?" Isla called.
Dana glanced over her shoulder. "Winter themed items."

Hazel and Heather had wandered to the candle aisles and found themselves sniffing the scented candles.
"Hm, this one is nice." Hazel held out a candle. It was named; Burning Fire.
Heather nodded and gave the candle back. She picked up another and sniffed it. Unlike her friend's reaction, Heather gasped for breath and dropped the candle back onto the shelf, desperately trying to get rid of the smell.
"Which one did you just have?" Hazel asked.
Heather grumbled. "Christmas Pudding. Don't smell it."

Dana and Isla arrived with a bag full of winter-themed items and decorations. Both looked pleased with themselves as they exited the shop and headed to the clothes shop, where they would find Cinder and Ivy.
"So, you and Ivy?" Heather inquired.
Dana narrowed her eyes. "What about us?"
"You don't seem happy with each other..." She trailed off.

The other girl adjusted her grip on the bag. "Well, I have a right not to be happy with her. She was talking behind my back."
"Really?" Heather mused. "What about?"
Dana scoffed. "That I'm naïve and have no idea about which boys like me."
Heather pressed her lips together. "I would have thought that Ivy knew not to talk behind other's backs."
"Yeah, me too." Dana said.

The boys had been turned away from spending time with the girls, so they opted to do their own thing. Ben had wanted to play a video game tournament, Finn had wanted a paintball tournament (no wonder no one wanted to play it) and Tyler wanted to play sports. It was not tricky to figure out what they chose.
The fields were not occupied and so the boys messed about playing a variety of sports. Jace accompanied them and sat on a bench, laughing every time he heard a squawk from Ben when a ball came in his direction.

They firstly played rounders - it ended with Ben being hit in the face by a bat, lots of skidding on the grass and an incredibly annoyed Lionel. After that, they played basketball (whereby Tyler showed off and Ben complained about being short). Then it was soccer, in which Ben ended up kicking the ball into Tyler's face. Finally, it was rugby. It ended with everyone in a mess on the floor but they didn't realize that Finn had successfully sprinted away with the ball.

The boys decided to have a break and threw themselves down near Jace, who had spent the entire time laughing at them and wishing he could see it as well.
"That was fun." Tyler grinned after he took a gulp of water. "Ben, you should get a drink. You're a bright red!"
Ben opened his mouth and then waved a hand. "I'm fine."
Lionel scratched his neck. "I'm glad we did that. Girls can be so stressful sometimes."

The rest nodded in agreement - except Finn. The redhead was still hyper, almost jogging on the spot.
"Eh, girls are fine." He waved a hand rapidly. "Can we do something else? How about a sprint race?"
The other boys widened their eyes at him. Ben shook his head. "No, we are NOT doing that, Finn."

Ben and Finn launched into an argument about the possibility of them doing a sprint race. Meanwhile, the remaining boys conversed whilst they hydrated themselves.
"Girl problems, brother?" Jace poked Lionel. "Tell me all about it."
Lionel groaned. "Heather and Cinder. They're just so confusing and I have no idea how to feel, you know?"
"Nah, I don't really know." Jace sighed. "Being blind is a bit of a turn-off."

Lionel patted his brother on the back. "You'll find yourself a girl."
"I just hope it isn't a car crash like your relationship with women." Jace joked.
"Shut up." Lionel rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to sort it out. I like both of them... I thought it was just as friends. But now I'm not sure."

"You'll figure it out." Jace smiled weakly. "Just follow that big heart of yours."
Lionel scratched his head. "Better said than done. Look at Finn!"
"What about Finn?" Jace deadpanned. "I can't look at him, remember?"

"No, I meant that Finn has it easy." Lionel explained. "He doesn't seem to care too much about girls and dating and all. He has a great friendship with Ivy and he's always happy. He's already got a job as the school's personal clown. Finn has it all planned out - who would have guessed?"
Jace chuckled. "I don't think he meant for it to go so well."
"Well, it did." Lionel shrugged. "Somehow."

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