Page 4 of Wrapped Up in Holly

“Don’t instigate, Ev,” Mrs. Hart said. “Get out of here before you start any more trouble.”

He smiled over his shoulder at me while slipping me another stolen cookie. There was a sliding door in the hall, where Mr. Hart waved to us from his spot outside, a tangle of lights in his other hand. Aiden, the third youngest at five-years-old, sat at his feet, toying with the strand, though it appeared like he was knotting it up more than helping.

The living room was at the back of the house, where Claire was laid out on the floor, flipping through a book that seemed a bit advanced for a first grader.

Evan stepped over her to the couch. “Move it, Pikachu. We’re going to watch a movie.”

The red-headed girl barely acknowledged us. Merely tucked her book under her arm and called the golden retriever to follow her out. “Let’s go, Winnie.”

Once we were alone, Evan pulled me down next to him on the couch. “I got that movie you said you liked from Blockbuster.”

I lit up. “Love Actually?”

He showed me the DVD case. “My dad had to rent it ’cause it’s rated R. He gave me so much shit over it.”

I laughed. Mr. and Mrs. Hart were so cool. They let their kids curse and watch rated R movies. Not that Evan and his brothers and sisters didn’t get in trouble, but they treated the kids as equals. Like my mom used to do with me. She asked for my opinion on things and considered what I wanted to do, instead of telling me what to do. Not like my aunt and uncle. They always had something to say about me, like if I looked sad or “in a mood.” My uncle and my cousins were fond of asking if I was on my period if I “copped an attitude.” One time, I cursed in front of my aunt and uncle, and they didn’t let me watch TV or go on the computer for the rest of the weekend because I was “disrespecting” them.

But they never did anything about what my cousins said to me, always picking on me. Laughing at me with their friends at school. They were assholes, and I’d love to say it to their faces.

It was one of the reasons I tried to come to the Hart Farm as often as I could.

“I’m here!” Rosie sang out, carrying a bag of stuff over her shoulder as she made her way into the living room. She worked her upper arms free of her crutches and dropped them haphazardly down to the floor as she plopped on the couch, right between Evan and me.

“Oh, my god, did you see?” she asked, tearing through her bag. “Joe Jonas cut his hair off.”

Evan huffed. “Ro! Come on!”

“What?” She paid him no mind, handing me magazines and nail polishes. “Here. Here it is.” She flipped through theTeen Peopleand pointed to the page with Joe’s new haircut displayed.

“I like it,” I said, ignoring how Evan looked like he wanted to ring his sister’s neck.

“I hate it,” she groused. “Now he looks so…”

“Cute?” I guessed, and Evan cut his gaze to me. His eyebrows pulled down, and I shrugged. “What? He is cute.”

Rosie leaned back against the cushion, getting more comfortable as she gabbed away, but I couldn’t take my attention off her brother. He folded his arms, pouting.

“Sorry,” I mouthed.

“No, you’re not,” he mouthed back.

I bit swallowed a laugh as I focused on Rosie showing me different things in the magazine before finding a page about doing nails. “Do you want to try it? It might get messy.”

I tipped my head to the side, considering it. We were supposed to add multiple colors of polish to a shallow bowl and dip the tips of our fingers into it to give it a tie-dye effect, and it didn’t sound like it would work. Although Rosie really wanted to do it.

“I…”

“Rosie,” Mrs. Hart said, saving me from having to answer, as she stood in the hall, “if you don’t get in here, your brothers and sister are going to eat all the cookies.”

“Awe!” she whined, and Mrs. Hart shook her head.

“You know Ryan’s a vacuum. He eats everything.”

Rosie huffed then turned to me. “You coming?”

“No. That’s okay.”

As Rosie fiddled with her crutches, Mrs. Hart slanted her eyes to me and winked. As soon as Rosie and her mom disappeared down the hall, Evan blew out a breath.

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