My family has always celebrated Christmas on the 24th. The 25th is saved for watching Christmas movies or football and reheating food from the previous day. It's a thing us Colombians do.

Mom and I spent the first half of today together. My dad told us to come over at 10 p.m. Mom and I both take separate cars here because her flight leaves at 2 in the morning. She doesn't work tomorrow obviously, but she is spending the holidays with her side of the family. She invited me, but I don't think I'd be up for it after tonight. Despite how much I do miss my moms family.

I get to my dads mansion first, luckily. I put in the pin he texted me and the gates open up. I hate how fucking rich he is sometimes. My Uber parks in large driveway, next to dads black Mercedes. I get out after paying him and shove my hands into my pockets immediately. It's cold here and drizzling. Two of the worst combinations in my opinion. I lower my beanie to cover my ears as I walk up to the huge, black fiberglass doors.

I ring the doorbell, tapping my foot impatiently against the ground. I'm not ready to see him yet, but life's a fucking bitch, right? The door opens wide about thirty seconds later. My father stands on the other side dressed in a white button up and some black slacks. I thought about dressing as decent as he is, but I didn't. Instead, I decided on jeans, a white hoodie, and my beige jean jacket. At least I'm warm, I'm not used to this cold anymore.

"Come in, mijo."

He steps aside and I enter his house. I've only been here twice before and it's looks almost the same as the last time. Still, I look around as he leads me into his house. I notice he still has pictures of us. Me, my mom, and him. He also has many of me in my football uniforms throughout the years. I shake my head. "Give your jacket to, Johnson," He motions to a man. One of his workers I suppose. I give the man a once over as he holds his hands out for my jacket.

I start taking it off, "I'll take care of my own jacket. Thanks, Johnson." I remove it completely and walk over to hang it on my dads coat rack. I know dad rolls his eyes at this. I've never used his maids when I've come over. I don't know why he has them. He's still young enough to do shit by himself. He shouldn't have bought a house so big if he couldn't take care of it on his own.

"Food will be out in a little bit, sit down," He tells me. I sit down on the neatly made table (not by him I'm assuming) as he walks over to get a bottle of wine. "Your mother is still coming right?" He asks me, picking out two wine glasses for now. "I'm fucking counting on it," I whisper under my breath. "What was that?" He says, walking towards the table again.

"I said, yes, she's just running a little late. She just flew in today," I lie. He nods and pours wine into his glass and mine. He knows I've never really liked wine, so I don't know why he's giving me some, but I'll take it. Maybe I'll need a light buzz in order to get through this night. My dad clinks his glass against mine. "To family," He says. I roll my eyes when he looks away and take a drink from the wine. It's not horrible.

The doorbell rings again. Mom.

"I'll get it." Dad gets up from his chair and fast walks to answer the door. My phone buzzes in my pocket, I pull it out.

Xan: all well?

Me: yea yea, so far. just got here.

Xan: ok merry christmas eve babe, wish u were next to me instead

Me: you already told me this earlier douche

Xan: fuck u then

I rub my lips, holding in a laugh. "What are you laughing about?" My mom's voice fills my ears. I turn to look at her and my dad is already headed to grab another wine glass. I pull out the chair next to me so that she can sit next to me. "Xander," I tell her. She smiles at the mention of my best friend. "How's he?" She asks me. She fixes my hair and I pull away from her hand.

"Fine," I say. She frowns. "Here you go, Ava." My dad hands my mom a glass of wine. She accepts it with a smile, "Thank you." He smiles back, sitting across from us. "How was your flight?" He asks her. I sip on my glass of wine. "Oh fine. I took a small nap on the way here," She says. My dad smiles and then begins talking about work. Boring.

My mind drifts off into another place. I'm not going to be disrespectful to my father because for moms sake, I don't want this night to be terrible from start to finish. Maybe if they chat it up, they'll ignore my presence completely. But the thought of them conversing amongst themselves pisses me off. When they finally go quiet, I say, "I passed all my classes with A's." I fake smile. My mom gasps. "That's amazing, honey. You're so smart," She compliments me.

My dad raises his glass towards me. "He got it from you certainly," He tells my mom. Well, yeah. The only reason dad went to college was to play in the NFL. He dropped out right after he got drafted. I'm shocked he kept a good enough GPA in order to play. My mom smiles at the compliment from dad. "So, how are you feeling about the bowl game coming up?" He asks me. I shrug, "I think we got it. USC defense doesn't have anything on our offense," I admit.

"What about defense? Can your defense stop their offense?" He doesn't fail to add an emphasis on the your. It is my defense, even he knows it. "We'll be alright," I say. I'm not 100% on it because USC does have a good offense, but we're gonna give it our all just like we do any other game. "You don't sound so sure about that," He tells me, sipping on his wine. I roll my eyes, "They have a good offense, but I'm not worried." I clarify.

He pours himself some more wine. "Well you better. That National Championship is the last big win for you before the NFL," He says. Here we go. I knew this conversation would come up sooner rather than later.

"I don't know if I'm going yet, I told you."

He scoffs, "Still? I would've thought you were smart enough to have made up your mind by now."

"I'm sitting on it. I don't want to do anything I'll regret."

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, "You'll never regret going to the league, Christian."

"I know that, but my teammates-"

"Fuck those teammates. Do something for yourself for once, son."

I clench my jaw, trying so hard not to start cursing him out. He lights a fire under my ass every time he opens his mouth to speak. He thinks the world revolves around him, but I don't. I'm not like him. Just as I'm about to say something, the doorbell rings again. I furrow my brows at him, "You said you weren't bringing anyone home this time," I say sternly.

I look at mom who already looks defeated. Either from the fight my father and I were about to have or at the fact that dad brought a date when he said he wouldn't. He stands up, "I'm not." He walks out and I follow him with my eyes until he's out of sight. I look back at mom. "He's testing me," I say lowly. She shakes her head. "Change the subject. You two always fight about football." I scoff and roll my eyes. I don't think I can do this.

The door swings open and my eyes meet a man I haven't seen in person in years. His eyebrows furrow at the sight of me. "May I help you?" His voice is hard like stone, I figured it would be. "Uhm, hi. I'm Novalee," I say. I pull my coat tighter around my waist. It's about 50 degrees out and I'm wearing a dress. "I'm Christian's girlfriend. He invited me. Is he not here yet?" I say. I had no idea at what time to come over. I just remembered Chris telling me how his family always celebrates late on the 24th instead of the 25th.

I hope I'm not the first guest to arrive. I also hope I'm not so late that they left already. That would be weird.

"You're my sons girlfriend?" He asks, ignoring my other question. I nod, moving the loose strand of hair that hangs on my face from my low bun. "Yes. He invited me. Sorry, I thought he told you," I say shyly. He shakes his head and I think he's about to slam the door in my face. "He didn't, but come on in. The more the merrier, right?" He chuckles. I return a fake one, "Right." I admire the huge house as I follow him to wherever he's taking me. God, I hope Christian is here already.

I rather not be alone with his father.

"Christian, you never mentioned you had a girlfriend." My head turns at his fathers voice as we walk into a dining room. "A beautiful one at that," He adds. My cheeks flush a bit from embarrassment. Chris' head turns quickly and his eyes widen when he sees me. I haven't seen him in weeks. I ignore him and turn to his mom who's smiling at me. I've met his mom before in high school. Christian never introduced me to his father though so that's why he doesn't recognize me.

"You two are dating?" Chris' mom says, getting up from her chair. I smile and greet her with a hug. I'm an actress for a living, so pretending is easy for me. I chuckle, "Yes. Sorry you're finding out like this. We didn't tell anyone, really." I feel bad for lying to her, but Christian's lucky I'm even here.

"Johnson, take the girls coat," His father says. My gaze turns towards a middle aged man who holds his hands out. "Oh," I start taking off my coat and hand it to him. "Thank you," I say. He bows his head once and takes my coat away. Chris is standing up and I go over to greet him. I don't want to be close to him, but I have to pretend.

I hug him and my body tingles. I haven't touched him in weeks. He whispers, "What are you doing here?" I roll my eyes, "Shut the hell up and go along with it." I pull away before he can say anything else and take a seat next to him. There's an empty seat next to his father, but I rather not. "I hope I didn't ruin any dinner plans," I say sincerely. Chris' dad shakes his head, "Nonsense. You're always welcome, Novalee? Was it?" He asks. I smile and nod. "Great, I'll go check on the food." He stands up and leaves.

Christian is about to speak, but his mom interrupts him. "Christian why didn't you tell me you and Novalee were dating again? I thought you moved to New Orleans, honey?" She's sweet, I don't know why Christian avoids her like he does his father. "I did! I went to Tulane for two years and just recently moved to Oak Hill this year. I ran into Chris again and well here we are," I smile, grabbing his hand and intertwining our fingers. My heart clenches. I don't know how I'm doing this right now.

She smiles. "That's so sweet," she reaches out and places a hand over mine and Christian's intertwined one "well you know, I've always liked you, so I'm so happy you two found your way back to each other." I chuckle, but that hurt. We found our way back to each other only to be torn apart again. Christian moves his hand from ours and gets up. I furrow my brows. "Tell dad I went to the restroom, I have to call Xander." Before his mother can say anything, he disappears from the dining room.

"Is he okay?" I ask her. She gives me a weak smile, "His father mentioned something about the NFL and well, I'm sure you know he hasn't made a decision about it yet. They don't get along very well when speaking about football." She chuckles nervously. She doesn't know that I know about everything that man has put both of them through. I feel for her. I return a light-hearted chuckle and nod. His father returns, "Food will be out shortly. Where's Christian?" His voice is still hard. I think it's his natural state.

"He went to use the bathroom. He'll be back soon," His mom says. He rolls his eyes.

This is gonna be a long night, I think.

+

We eat dinner in an awkward silence as no one says much throughout, enjoying the meal. The conversation is mainly between the Valdez family. I don't include myself much. The only person who attempts to talk to me is Chris' mom anyway. I don't mind talking to her only though. Mr. Valdez sets down his napkin on his plate. "Ava, help me get the dessert?" He asks. I turn to Chris, who's already getting up. "I'll help you," He tells his father. His mom gets up too, placing her hands on his shoulders. "It's fine, Christian." She gives him a look like he won't hurt me. I hope she belives that herself.

I can't see Christian, but he hesiattes. "We'll be gone for less than two minutes Christian, calm down," His father butts in. Christian turns to look at him for a moment and then sits back down. His parents disappear into the kitchen and then he turns to me. "You didn't have to come," He says in almost a whisper. I pick up my glass and drink the wine inside it. "You look beautiful," He says when I don't say anything. "Stop. I came to be here for you, not to get back together with you." I don't look at him, but I can feel his eyes on me.

"I know. Thank you," He utters. I swallow the lump lodged in my throat. It's hard to be around him. We haven't spoken in almost a month and even though I would've liked to keep it that way, I had to come. I'd feel guilty if I didn't after I told him I would. I also have been avoiding the "we broke up" conversation with my parents. They think we're still together and my mom asks about him every single time we talk on the phone. I've been lying to them for weeks.

His parents return with the dessert before I have a chance to say anything. "Novalee, there are more than one desserts for you to try but these right here," Mr. Valdez points to the plate he's holding "they're called buñuelos. We eat them all the time in my home country, Colombia. You have to try them," He finishes. I smile politely, "I'd love one." I grab a clean plate and hold it out. He places one on my plate. It looks like a tortilla covered in sugar.

"They're tasty, I'll admit it," Chris' mom tells me. I pick it up and take a bite. "It's delicious," I say, going in for another bite. Chris laughs a little. This is the first time I've seen him smile all night. I ignore him and enjoy the rest of my buñuelo. He skips dessert and uses his phone under the table. I can't catch a peak of what he's doing since his brightness is lowered.

"Hey, you!" Chris looks up at his dad's voice. "Yes?" He says. "What were you saying earlier, about not wanting to go into the draft this coming year?" He takes a sip of his wine. Chris clenches his jaw. This is exactly what his mom mentioned they were talking about earlier. "I said I don't know if I'm going and that's that. Don't try and convince me, this is my decision to make," He says coldly. "Just don't come crying to me to help you get tryouts whenever you declare after senior year and don't get drafted."

Chris scoffs at this. "Trust me, I won't. I'm actually getting drafted in the first round unlike you who got drafted in the sixth. I'm a better player than you ever were and you know that," Chris retorts. Crap, this is not good. I lace my fingers through Chris' in hopes he'll calm down, but it's hard to get him to whenever his dad is around.

"You will never be a first round pick. You're not that special. I guess I know now why you got fucking destroyed this year," His father starts. He motions his head towards me. "Her." Chris lets go of my hand and stands up from his chair. "Don't you fucking say anything else about, Novalee." He says through a clenched jaw. I stand up after him and put a hand on his shoulder. He doesn't look at me. His dad chuckles, "You always think you're so tough, Christian. Sit down, son. Showing off won't make your little girlfriend think you have a huge cock."

I wince at his words. "Matthew," His mother says sternly. Everyone looks towards her. "What?" Mr. Valdez says. Before she can reply, Christian speaks. "Fuck you. This is the last time you'll see me or mom, you miserable fuck!" Chris' mom stands up and so does his father. Oh no. His mom gets behind her son, but I stay next to him as his father walks over. He tries to push me behind him, but I stay cemented in the ground next to him. "What, old man? What are you gonna do?" Chris steps closer towards his dad. They're only a couple inches from each other.

Both of them stand tall, their jaws clenched as hard as stone. Chris' mom grabs onto my arm and tears have already started slipping down her face. "I'm sorry," She chokes out to me. I don't say anything back, and only keep my focus on Chris and his dad. After a couple more seconds, Mr. Valdez steps back and goes back to sit down. "Johnson!" He shouts. The middle aged man from earlier reappears quickly. "Yes, Mr. Valdez?"

"Show my guests out. The night is over." I swallow the second lump in my throat tonight. Johnson grabs my coat and the other I assume is Chris'. He hands them back to us and leads us out. Chris walks aside his mom, with his arm around her shoulder. She's shaking as I follow after them. The door opens and the cold air delivers goosebumps to my skin. I didn't see any other car here, so I assume they took Ubers.

"I can give you guys a ride to your hotels," I speak up. Chris turns to look at me, his moms face buried in his chest. He nods, "Please." He says. I nod quickly and unlock my car. I head to the drivers seat and they both get into the back. I start the car and turn on the heater quickly. "What hotel?" I ask Chris as I begin to drive out of the large driveway. "Marriott on Evangeline St." He replies. I nod and type it into the GPS.

It's only about twelve minutes away.

When we get there, Chris' mom gets out first, and he stays behind. "My moms flight leaves in a couple of hours. Do you think you can give her a ride to the airport? She'll be a couple of minutes since she's already packed and I'm checking out for her. It's fine if you can't," He says. I shake my head, "Yeah, that's fine. I don't mind." I smile weakly at him.

"Thank you, Nova. For everything," He says and then slams the door to my car.