Roselle had been ogling her eyes at Armani on her doorstep for quite a while now.
"Can you let me in, please?" he eventually asked. "It's pretty cold out here. We've got the tree, by the way."
"Geez. Roselle, hurry up and let them in so we can close the door already," her father demanded. "Do you have any idea how much money we're losing on heat?"
"And, he's back to normal," said Roselle, letting in the 'special guests'.
The secret servicemen brought in the tree and set it down in the living room.
"Isn't it a good tree?" asked Mr. Reyes. "I haggled down the price too."
Mrs. Reyes twinkled her eyes and clasped her hands. "It's so pretty. I love the smell of pine too."
Roselle raised her hand. "Uh, everyone? I've got a question."
"So do I," said Armani. He turned to her. "Ro, what are you doing here?"
Her cheeks burned bright red. "WHAT? You're asking me what I'm doing in my own house now?!"
He laughed. "I'm only teasing, Ro. I know you weren't expecting me, but I hope you don't mind me being here. Your parents invited me."
Roselle turned to her mom and dad. "Huh? You guys asked him here?"
"Armani sent us a letter asking us how we were, so we sent one back and eventually became penpals," Mrs. Reyes explained. "Then, I invited him over for Christmas and he agreed."
Armani raised a brow. "I thought you were the first ones to write me a letter."
"Nope, it was definitely you."
He still seemed unconvinced, but he shrugged it off without prying.
Roselle had a feeling that she knew what happened, but she just had to make sure. "Can you guys excuse me for a minute?"
The room nodded in agreement, and with that, she scurried off into another section of the house to freak out. She texted Grandma Scott.
Roselle: So, a thing just happened.
Grandma Scott: You'll have to be a little more specific.
Roselle: Riiight. Well, apparently, my parents invited Armani Parker to our house for Christmas. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?
Grandma Scott: Come on, dear. I thought you were a bright girl. Of course I was the one responsible for it.
Roselle: AHA!
Grandma Scott: It wasn't a secret. You can consider this as my Christmas present to you.
Roselle: How did you even pull it off?
Grandma Scott: I won't go into too much detail, but it involved sending false mail and subconscious, insinuating manipulation. And the best part, no Lily. She's too busy running her holiday parties to come, so you've got Christmas and New Years all to yourselves. You're welcome. I've done my part, so now you do yours. Use this as an opportunity to get closer to Armani.
She held her phone at her chest for a minute while she found her breathing pattern again. On the one hand, Grandma Scott was crazy and manipulative. On the other hand, Lily Strobe was . . . also crazy and manipulative. Among the two, Roselle supposed Grandma Scott was probably her best bet since she was, at bare minimum, on Roselle's side.
Screw it. She made her decision.
Roselle: Fine. I'll see what I can do.
Grandma Scott: A package disguised as a Christmas gift is coming for you. It should arrive today. It's slutty, but not so slutty that they may accuse you of being too in tune with promiscuity. Wear it tomorrow on Christmas eve.
Roselle: WHAT?! No. Too far. Not gonna wear it.
Grandma Scott: Yes you will. I also got you some calming tea, because honey, you need it.
"Everything okay?" asked Michelle, coming in.
Roselle hid her phone behind her back, but then she realized that was stupid because holding a phone wasn't suspicious, so she was just coming off as more suspicious. She slowly returned her phone in view, but Michelle was already giving her odd looks. "Yeah, why wouldn't they be?"
"I was scared you were having a panic attack. Does it bother you that Armani is here?"
"Oh, no. Actually, I'm glad. Yeah, super. No pressure."
"Well, uh, you got a package. Also, it's time for dinner."
* * *
Everyone sat down at the dining table. All together, including the secret service guys, there were nine of them. Well, there was a tenth one, but that extra secret service guy was patrolling the outside of the house since they rotated in shifts. The people who were at the table said grace, and they began to eat their meal.
The meal was grilled fish, rice, and brussel sprouts. As everyone was gathering their food, Roselle only got the brussel sprouts and rice. Armani left out the fish too.
"I almost forgot how much of a picky eater you are," her father said. She was expecting him to yell at her, or at least lecture her about veggies, but he didn't. Actually, her father was acting way too nice. It kind of freaked her out.
"You don't like fish?" Mrs. Reyes asked, passing Armani the plate.
He smiled gently. "I'm really sorry, but I'm allergic to seafood."
Her face turned crimson. "Oh no, that's right. I'm so sorry! I forgot. If you'd like, we've got some extra steak."
"That's alright. I don't mind."
"Are you sure?"
"I'd like some steak," said Roselle.
Her father shook his head no at that request.
"Well, two days until Christmas," said Mrs. Reyes. "I'm so happy we could all get together."
"So, Dan, what do you do for a living?" asked Mr. Reyes.
Dan chewed and swallowed his food before he spoke. "I'm a bodyguard for the governor of New York."
"Impressive. By the way, what I said earlier wasn't rhetorical. I really am wondering when you and Michelle will get hitched."
He choked on his water.
"Dad!" Michelle moaned. "Is this a new scare tactic so boys stay away from me?"
"What?" asked Mr. Reyes as he threw his palms in the air. "I can't be enthusiastic about your relationship?"
"It's weird."
"I wish you were enthusiastic about my relationship as a teenager," Roselle mumbled, just loud enough to hear.
Her father sighed. Then, he coughed a little. "Well, I let you be friends with Armani, right? That's something. He's like the son I never had."
Armani blushed and tried to hide his smile, but it seeped through. "Do you really feel that way? I'm touched."
"Yeah. Who else is eager to clean my yard and do an oil change for my car?"
Armani's hidden smile was replaced with an awkward one.
"What are those things in your ear?" Mrs. Reyes questioned Dan. "Are you listening to music?"
Michelle facepalmed.
"Uh, I'm hard of hearing," Dan said. "These are my hearing aids."
"Are the kids going to be hard-of-hearing too?" asked Mr. Reyes.
"It's not genetic . . ." He played with the food on his plate with a fork.
"Dad, will you stop talking about babies?" Michelle whined.
Dan changed the subject. "What about you, sir? What do you do for a living?"
"I was a firefighter."
"Hold on a minute." Roselle dropped her fork on the plate. "What do you mean WAS?"
"I left a month ago."
"And you never told us?"
He shrugged.
"Dad, I don't get it. What's gotten into you?"
"What?"
"You're acting so different. Did something happen?"
Michelle stood up, clutching her hand over her stomach. "I don't feel so good." She ran down the hall to the bathroom.
"I feel it too!" Mrs. Reyes jumped out of her seat and ran upstairs, presumably to another bathroom.
One by one, those who dined had stomach troubles and rushed to bathrooms until it was just Roselle and Armani at the table.
"What on earth?" Roselle asked. Her stomach hurt, but not in a sick way. It was in a panicking anticipation for the worst kind of way. "Armani, any minute now, we're going to be sick too."
"I think we're fine," he said. "Think about it, it's been a long while and you and I still haven't gotten sick. What was the one thing they all ate that we didn't?"
She clasped her hands on her cheeks. "Oh no. The fish!"
"Bingo. The fish food-poisoned them."
* * *
Everyone that ate the fish was bedridden and asleep. That meant the only people who weren't sick were Roselle, Armani, and that secret service guy outside. The two sat in the living room on their phones.
Roselle: Did you poison the fish so that Armani and I would be alone together? You're driving me crazy!
Grandma Scott: Roselle, I have no idea what you're talking about, truly. Frankly, you're a little paranoid.
Roselle: Oh . . .
Grandma Scott: This is why I sent you the tea.
"Hey," Armani said.
Roselle looked up from her phone. "What is it?"
"Your parents were planning on having us all decorate the tree and house together after dinner, but since they aren't feeling well, maybe you and I can do it."