Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 28

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 35
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

Even with the TV blasting, we could still hear our parents fighting. Angel and Aaron and I were in his living room, watching "Scrooged." I liked "Scrooged." Bill Murray was really funny. But none of us were laughing.

BJ was out with her boyfriend, and I wasn't sure where Leslie was. I hadn't seen her since lunch. Knowing her, she was sitting in her room, listening to Mom and Dad scream at one another.

It was better if you didn't listen. I'd learned that a long time ago. When I was a kid, I'd hide in my room and listen to music on the crappy headphones on my crappy little cassette player. No wonder I still liked my music really loud.

I'd taught that trick to BJ, and Aaron and Angel later. But Leslie had never listened to me. She'd listen to them fight and cry in her room. It was like she wanted to torture herself. It didn't matter what they fought about. It always ended up fine, eventually.

Maybe we needed to do more Christmas shopping. I might be able to talk Leslie into that. I knew Angel and Aaron would go. I was just about to say something when my phone rang. I pulled it out, considering the number. It was an LA area code. Work, maybe?

"Hello?"

"Nick?" Paris asked. "What is all that noise?"

For a minute, I thought she could hear my parents, then I realized she meant the TV. I looked for the remote to turn it down, but then Angel and Aaron would be able to hear the fight, so I got up.

"Who is it?" Aaron asked.

"Paris. I'm gonna use your room to talk to her. Then why don't we go Christmas shopping?"

"I'll get Leslie," Angel offered, getting up.

"Cool. I'll just be a couple of minutes."

"You only have a couple of minutes for me, Nicky?" Paris purred, as I shut the door to Aaron's room behind me. Had no one ever taught the kid to make a bed?

Probably not.

"You can have all the time in the world, Paris. It'll take forever to get Leslie out the door," I said, yanking up the covers so that I didn't have to look at his messy bed. I shoved all the dirty clothes off his big chair in the corner and sat down.

"I wouldn't want to keep you from Christmas shopping. It's only a couple of days away, and you're not done yet?"

"I'm mostly done." I was completely done, actually. I had something for everyone on my list. But maybe if I got Mom something nice, she'd stop yelling at Dad.

My family put the funk in dysfunction.

"Anything good for me? I have lots of nice things here for you."

"You do?"

Shit. Paris freaking Hilton was buying me presents? What the fuck did you get for the woman who literally had everything?

"Sure. Lots of nice things. When are you coming to LA?"

It smelled in here. Like teenage boy. I opened a window, and immediately heard my parents.

"You fucked her, didn't you?" Mom accused.

"I think I might leave right after Christmas," I said, trying another window. Just the water from this one. I leaned my elbows on the windowsill, looking out at the ocean. I hadn't even gotten the boat out of dock since I'd been here. We'd been Christmas shopping and avoiding Mom and Dad.

That would be a good way to avoid Mom and Dad. I could take the kids out on the boat. Tomorrow. It was starting to get dark. We'd go to the mall tonight and have pizza for dinner and buy more stuff that no one needed.

"Good," Paris said. "I can't wait to see you again. Call me when you get here. If it's the twenty-sixth, I'm off the hook for family stuff."

"Do you do a lot of family stuff?"

"Tons. You should see my parent's place. My mom is like the LA Martha Stewart. She's crazy. There's Christmas Eve stuff, and Christmas morning, and a huge dinner and she doesn't let Niki and me do anything else, even go over to Nicole's. It's all about family, Mom says."

Niki was her sister. I wasn't sure who Nicole was. I thought she had a friend named Nicole, but all her friends sorta blended together to me.

I could hear Mom's voice, shrill and screaming, but I couldn't make out any words. "That sounds nice," I said, shutting my eyes.

"What, not being able to see my best friend on Christmas?" Nicole was the best friend. I needed to remember that. Niki and Nicole and now she might be dating a Nick. She had a thing for Nicks, didn't she?

She probably couldn't be bothered to remember another name.

That was mean, but I still snickered to myself. This girl liked me. I should not be making fun of her. I blamed Anna. She made fun of Paris every chance she got.

I wanted Anna to be here with us. When we lived in Tampa, I'd always go over and visit Anna and Tony on Christmas afternoon and we'd play with our new toys. Anna was always good at distracting me from my parent's fights.

They fought every Christmas, didn't they?

Paris got family who didn't want her to leave on Christmas. Rachel had the whole town at her family's Christmas eve party.

I got Mom and Dad screaming at each other. Some fucking tradition.

"No, just the whole family thing."

"Aren't you with your family?"

"Yeah," I said. "It's cool. We're just not used to this much togetherness."

"Then come and see me on the twenty-sixth. There's like a million parties that week. And I have to be in Vegas to shoot some New Year's Eve thing. You'll come, right?"

"Yes" I said. I didn't care why, or when, or how much it would cost me. Right now, Vegas with Paris Hilton was a million miles away from here, and that sounded great.

"That'll be hot," she said. "You and me in Vegas."

"I can't wait, baby."

"Me neither. Hey, I called you about something."

"Not to invite me to Vegas?"

"No," she said with a giggle. "But I'm glad I did. No, I wanted to tell you about your ex."

I felt my chest tighten. I'd been doing okay. I didn't want to talk about Rachel.

But I couldn't tell Paris that. I was supposed to be all cool and unattached for her. I was fun. She told me that all the time.

"What about my ex? Which one?"

"Which one?" she snickered. "The famous one. Evidently Rachel was making out with Justin Timberlake at some club in New York."

I punched the wall. I hoped Paris hadn't heard that. Damnit. Anna had told me that JC said that Justin really liked Rachel.

And now I was hearing from my new maybe girlfriend that Justin and Rachel were together. This was so fucking high school. I guess this is what I got for not actually going to high school.

"Guess that lawyer guy wasn't interesting enough for her. I don't see how she could date some lawyer after being with you, Nick. And Justin? You are so much hotter than him."

I was pretty sure if Justin fucking Timberlake walked up to Paris and said "Hey, baby," she'd drop me in a second, but I still liked hearing that I was hotter than him.

"Hey, I left her. I guess she's taking what she can get."

Paris giggled. "At least she knows what she's missing. Just thought you'd be interested."

"Not really. I'd rather talk about you, baby. Not my stupid ex."

Because talking about my ex made my stomach hurt.

The door burst open, and Aaron came inside. "Hey, Angel just showed up with Leslie," he said, shutting the door again. "And you know how she is. Let's go before she starts crying again."

"Who's Leslie?" Paris asked. "And why is she crying?"

"My sister," I said, glaring at Aaron to shut up. "She always cries at Christmas movies. The mall will cheer her up. I should go."

"I need to get back to baking cookies, anyway."

I blinked at the phone for a second, while Aaron picked through the dirty clothes I'd tossed on the floor for a shirt.

"You bake? Get a clean freaking shirt, Aaron. There has to be one somewhere."

Paris laughed. "I'll save you some cookies. Sounds like you have to deal with your family. You're the oldest, right?"

"Right. Of five."

"I'm the oldest of four, and my little brothers are crazy. See you soon, Nick."

"You too, Paris."

I clicked off my phone and shoved it back in my pocket, taking the shirt Aaron was trying to put on from his hands and dropping it back in the dirty clothes. "Dude, I'm not hanging out with you at the mall if you wear that dirty shirt."

"It's not that dirty!"

"Here," I said, opening his dresser and handing him a t-shirt. "At least it's clean."

"But I like that one."

"I will buy you a new freaking shirt at the mall. Can we go? Anyone know where BJ is?"

"Angel called her. She and the boy are meeting us at the mall."

As long as she wasn't heading home, fine. I just wanted all of us out of here. And I had to buy Paris presents now.

I wouldn't find anything for Paris freaking Hilton at the mall, would I?

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