Page 7 of Merry Mix-Up

"I think Dad can handle it, but I appreciate the offer. Thank you. And thanks for the ride." Her genuine smile returned and made me wish she'd have let me come in, but I had to be patient. She was overwhelmed with studies according to Naomi, and cutting her school time short to be a part of this wedding was stressful enough. I didn't want to burden her with more stress or make her feel guilty.

"See you in the morning," I said and reached for the door.

She wiggled her fingers in a goodbye wave and backed away as I shut the door and Sean took off. Damn that woman for being so magnetic, and damn my impulsivity and need to claim whatever it was that I saw that I wanted. Because I wanted her really bad, not just in a sexual way, though truth be told, I did want her like that. No, I found someone I clicked with instantly and I wanted that type of energy around me all the time.

If it were up to me, by the time Christmas rolled around, she'd be a fixture on my arm permanently. I just had to play my cards right. I smiled the entire ride back to my parents' house, giddy with the thrill of the chase.

5

JADE

December 1st

The apartment felt lonely when I locked myself into it. Not even the smattering of rainbow-colored artworks hanging on my walls made it feel full and vibrant right now. Not after the interaction with Newt and the day spent talking about Christmas and the wedding. And I didn't mind his flirting at all, though it stung a bit to hear what he thought of the real me—or rather, the real me when I was being my true self.

My rainbow hair and "wild child" personality must not have sat the right way with him for him to make a comment like that. But it didn’t deter us from really connecting on other levels, and the fact that he asked for my number so nicely made me feel giddy. He was stupid rich, ridiculously hot, and very available.

I shed my coat by the door and kicked off my boots. It wasn't even fifteen minutes later that Amber called me with a video call. Ever since Mom's car was dinged in that fender bender, they made us use a GPS app for our phones. She had to have been watching me everywhere I went, agonizing over how I was handling things. I grabbed a soda and sat on the couch to answer her, propping my phone on the coffee table among a dozen design binders, all brightly colored.

When the call connected, I said, "Hey, Sis. How's it going?" I made sure the camera got my good angle and had a drink of my soda before reclining and propping my feet up.

"Hey, yourself. How was the day?" Amber had a bag of chips on her lap and what looked to be a dozen textbooks scattered around her in bed. As usual, her phone was set up on a tripod near the foot of the bed where she didn't have to touch it during the call. We did this about once a week anyway, but under the circumstances, I figured we'd be doing more calls than normal this month.

"Well, Naomi tried on a jillion dresses and hated them all. And believe me, they were ugly. But Newt was so sweet. He offered to buy whatever she wanted, but she just hated them. So anyway?—"

"Newt?" Amber asked. "How'd you go with that?" She knew I had a slight crush on him for a while, but she didn't realize how hot he was now. He'd been away for so long, I doubted she'd even seen pictures of him. We were all so busy, and Naomi lived on her own now, not with their parents. Besides, Amber had been at college, so no time to play catch-up with her best friend's family.

"Uh, interesting," I said, but I changed the subject. We had to exchange all the information every time I interacted as her so that if Naomi called her, she'd be clued in on the details. "Anyway, she was flustered and asked if I would do the dress for her."

"I like as in me, or like…?" At times, my sister was a dunce, even though she was set to graduate magna cum laude.

"I, as in Jade. Me. I'm going to design and sew her wedding gown, so thanks for roping me into this." The comment came out with a bit more snark than I planned for it to, but it was Amber's fault. If she had asked me about the dress, I'd have just said no.But now I had to deal with Naomi, the bridezilla, and try to make a dress for her because how could I let her down now?"

"Whoa, that's a lot of work." Amber sounded amazed at me, but in reality, after pushing my entire month's plans off to January, I knew I'd have the time. It was just a mindset to get into.

"Yeah, well Newt offered to pay me too, so I'm gonna do it." I could use the extra cash. There was a super cute pair of boots at the mall on the south side of Chicago I wanted, but they were way out of my price range. It would be a Christmas present for myself. I sighed happily, remembering the way Newt's fingers curled up in my hair while we talked and Naomi tried on dresses, then how he looked at me in the car when he asked for my number. The man was a dreamboat.

"You sound happy. I thought you were pissed about doing this for me." I reached for my soda and noticed Amber looked annoyed with me as she munched on some chips.

"Yeah, well things change." I never told my twin everything like some twins do. I figured some sisters were just not meant to be best friends. We were too far apart in taste and personality, and she was the "older sister" by like two minutes. She never let me forget that, either.

"What changed? You hate 'boring hair' and 'boring makeup'. I figured you'd be a tortured soul by now." Amber got up and did something unusual for her. She took her phone off the tripod and held it in hand as she walked through the house. I noticed her earbuds and knew what I said would be private even if her roommates were there.

"Well, so Newt was flirting with me. He asked for my phone number and he put his fingers in?—"

"He what?" she snapped and stopped in her tracks. The ceiling fan overhead looked like it was going backward, then forward as it spun around.

"He was flirting. What's the big deal?" I set my soda down next to my phone then picked the phone up and lay down on the couch, holding it over my face.

"The big deal is Newt can't flirt with you, Jade. You're not you. You're me. You are Amber Lyons, grad student and business major. If someone sees him flirting with 'Mav' and tells Derek, I'm screwed." Her eyebrows were high and her lips were pursed.

"Oh, chill out. Just tell Derek what's going on. No one will care." I rolled my eyes at her, but the beginning of embarrassment crept in. I was able to pull off the perfect Amber impersonation and Naomi never doubted me for a second. Amber was right. Even if no one told Derek, if Naomi saw me flirting with Newt or if he told her we were flirting, it would blow Amber's cover.

"Chill out? No. Newt Phillips is off limits. Got it? You aren't flirting with him. I don't care if you have a crush. You have to protect my reputation." She started walking again, and I sighed hard.

"Fine," I grunted, but it physically pained me. I understood why she said those things, but I hated it. I would just have to make sure Newt knew I was taken—or that Amber was. If he stuck around after the wedding long enough to meet "wild child Jade" and liked the real me, then so be it.

The next morning, I was bundled up in my pink puffer coat and woolen mittens waiting out in front of my building when Newt pulled up. I expected his fancy limo and never noticed when Mr. Phillips' beat-up old truck stopped right in front ofme. He honked the horn once, startling me, and I looked over in surprise.

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