The Variations by Jones M (christmas read aloud txt) 📖

want that," she told him. "It will increase our render times."

"I don't think anyone would mind," he shrugged. Kate eyed him with a raised eyebrow.

"Chris, we have no time for that. We are yet to make the comic-version of the story to guide us with the modeling."

"Don't worry about it. I'll work something out," he countered. "So, are you free this weekend?"

Kate glared at Chris.

"I promise it's not another party," he added.

"Okay. What is it about?"

Chris shifted in his seat, looking nervous. That made Kate worried.

"My sister is getting married this weekend," he announced.

"Hold up. You have a sister?" she chose to focus on his siblings.

"Three, actually," he corrected.

"Wow. I thought you were the only child in your family!"

"I'm the second born," he said, making Kate gasp. "But it feels like I'm an only child 'cause I'm a boy. Anyway, my sister is getting married this weekend."

Kate blinked at him before saying, "Well, congratulations."

"Yeah... And my family wants me to bring a date."

"... Oh," she responded softly.

"Please come with me. You wouldn't have to do much," he pleaded. "You just have to be there to accompany me."

"Chris, I don't understand. Why do you want me to come along with you? Can't you go alone? Or better yet, don't you have anyone else in mind? I think it's too soon for me to meet your family."

He sighed.

"To be honest, my family is kind of worried about me."

"Huh?" 

"Okay, not exactly worried," Chris corrected himself. "They believe I should have a girlfriend by now."

Kate paused for a few seconds before saying: "What?"

"They've been breathing down on me ever since last summer, urging me to be in a relationship with someone. I was against it, but then my parents said they could partner me up with one of my cousins during my sister's wedding."

"Why don't you just accompany one of your cousins?" Marie chuckled.

"Because we wouldn't get along. I mean, you know how it is with distant relatives. Imagine how awkward it will be to take one of your cousins to such an event."

Kate nodded, understanding where Chris was coming from.

"So will you come with me?"

"Chris, I haven't been in the dating game for the past year," she confessed.

"It's okay. You don't have to pretend to be my girlfriend. We'll just tell them that we are friends. They will think that it will grow to be something more, and they will back off."

"Okay," Kate answered, much to Chris' shock.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. But I need to know when exactly the wedding is."

"Um, on Saturday. We can go on Friday."

"Chris--"

"There is a party on Thursday outside the school. No one will come on Friday anyway."

"Chris--"

"I'll figure something out. You don't have to worry about telling the professor about our whereabouts."

"Okay," there was nothing else for her to say.

"Great!" Chris grinned. "Think of it as a way of skiving class with you. We will have so much fun."

Kate doubted her friend's words, but she smiled nonetheless.

**************************** ********************************* ********************

Friday reached much quicker than she had anticipated. Just as Chris had told her, many people had gone to a party the other night. The campus was mostly silent with sleeping students, and they were probably not even bothered about classes.

Marie had already packed her bags. She was dressed and ready to leave. Chris had phoned her on the previous night to discuss their plans for the weekend. He had told her that he would come to her place before they could leave.

Kate's phone rang, and as expected, it was Chris. She answered it with a greeting.

"Are you ready?"

"Yup. I'll be downstairs," she said before ending the call. She grabbed her bags as she headed toward the door.

"Bye, Gwen!" Kate yelled. Her roommate groaned in reply, earning an eye-roll from Marie before closing the door behind her.

"Hey!" she yelled as she made her way down the stairs. Chris had already parked his car in the parking lot, leaning against it. The green, cotton shirt he had worn hugged his form. It was short-sleeved, and it showed off the muscles in his arms and chest. The sunglasses he had worn coupled with the spiky hairstyle he was rocking made him look hot. It caused a flutter in Marie's stomach, but she chose to drag her thoughts away from it.

"Hey," Chris greeted with a smile as he took off his glasses. Kate looked into his eyes, and she found herself momentarily lost in his brown orbs.

"Oh! Um, where should I put these?" she asked, motioning towards the two bags she was carrying. Chris quickly grabbed one before heading towards the trunk of the car. With a key, he opened it before delivering Kate's stuff in it.

"Are these the only things you're going to carry?" he asked her.

"Yup," she replied.

"For a moment, I thought you would carry a lot more than two bags. Maybe even a suitcase."

"Chris, I'm not the kind of person who carries all their belongings just for two days," she said with a humored smile. She suddenly found Chris looking at her with a look in his eyes.

"What? Is there something on my face?" she wondered, touching the area before running her fingers through her long, curly hair.

"Nothing is on your face," Chris replied, much to Kate's relief. He turned toward the doors of the car, helping her settle on the shotgun seat before he took place in the driver's seat.

"So, how long will the drive be?" she asked him.

"Hmm... Not that long. About three to four hours," he replied.

Kate furrowed her eyebrows.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"Back to our hometown, Kate," Chris replied, much to her shock.

'Stonedale?' she thought.

"Oh," she commented. Chris looked surprised by her reaction.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No, no," Marie denied. "It's just that I haven't been there in a long time."

"You have nothing to worry about," Chris gave her a comforting smile as he started the car. "We'll just go to my place. I doubt we'll run into anyone we know from high school."

Kate sighed just as they started pulling from the parking lot. Minutes later, they were off.

*********************************** ************************ **********************

Hours of driving had passed. Kate and Chris had barely found signs of civilization through the silent yet comfortable drive. They spotted the hills and the small groups of trees that passed their view. It was during the afternoon when the two spotted a diner. They decided to stop by to eat before they could continue with their journey.

"I was so hungry," Kate moaned as she took another bite of her hamburger. "I'm going to carry snacks whenever we'll be having a road trip from now on."

"Sorry," Chris replied with a chuckle as he paused to watch her eat. "It's a good thing we stopped by this place."

The diner they had entered was not fully packed. Chris had told Marie that it was famous because motorists who drove by the area would stop to eat there.

"Thanks, Chris," she told him. "In a way, this road trip is turning out to be fun for me."

"You're welcome," he told her with a smile before digging into his French fries. "Hmm. I saw a convenience store nearby. We should stop by to get a couple of things."

Kate nodded in agreement, continuing with her meal.

After they had paid for their meals, they left the diner and took a small walk towards the convenience store. They bought snacks and a couple of cold drinks before they headed back to the car to continue with their journey.

************************** ************************* *********************** *******

Unlike the time before they had stopped by the diner, Kate and Chris talked a lot and sang to a couple of songs that played on the radio for the hours that followed.

At the moment, Kate was laughing at something Chris had told her. He was recalling a college party where Alex had an embarrassing moment. He had struck a conversation with a girl and had enticed her enough to take her to a nearby bedroom that happened to be on the first floor of the house. They had gotten naked, and Alex was shocked when he saw the girl was not actually a girl. In a moment of panic, he left through the window and fell without getting hurt. Then he ran off.

"Oh my..." Kate trailed as guffaws left her lips. Tears were streaming down her face from that and other hilarious moments Chris had told her.

"I know, right? The bastard called me to help his ass," he continued, earning more laughter from Kate. "He had me drive to a deserted park with his clothes."

"You laughed when you saw him, right?"

"Of course. It also didn't help when he told me he was freezing his balls off."

Kate continued to laugh.

"Stop! Stop! I'm going to pee!" she said, and that had Chris laughing. After a while, their laughter died down.

It was at that moment when Kate spotted a welcome-to-a-town sign. Her laughter faded at the sight of the blue board that mentioned her hometown.

Stonedale was a place that Kate never thought would make her nervous. It was a peaceful area. It was just that it reminded her of the events that had happened in her former high school.

In a couple of seconds, she found herself passing by familiar buildings of the town. She spotted the five-floor mall that was located opposite a grocery store where she used to hang around with Darcy.

"This is amazing! I can't believe we are already here," Chris commented, slowing the car's pace as requested by a speed limit sign.

Chris had told Kate that they would arrive at either four or five in the evening. It was three in the afternoon, much to their shock.

"It really has been a long time since I've been here," Kate said, and that had Chris momentarily glancing at her.

"What? Seriously? How long exactly have you been away from the town?" he questioned.

"I believe it has been more than two years. Maybe three?" Marie answered, making Chris' eyes widen in disbelief.

"I didn't know. I thought you were still in the area!"

"If I were, I believe we would have seen each other at some point. The town may be big, but that doesn't reduce the chances of running into someone you know."

"But Kate, if you weren't here, where have you been living?"

Kate sighed before she answered: "With my parents. They retired, and so they decided to spend some time going around the world. I usually go along with them when I'm not in college."

"Oh," Chris commented with a confused look. "Doesn't it get tiring?"

"At times it does. It's a good thing I spend most of my time in college."

"So, next summer, will you be with your parents again or--"

"I don't know. All I know is that we're planning to move back here. They say they are getting tired with the whole touring-the-world thing, but I doubt them. They can change their minds when they want to."

Chris said nothing afterward. Kate did not know whether to consider that silence to be comforting or awkward, but fortunately, she didn't have to focus too much on it. She found the car pulling nearby a large house.

'Wow. That was quick,' Kate thought. She and Chris were approaching a large, modern building.

Indeed, it was Chris' house. She recalled the large building because he had hosted parties when they were in high school. It had gray-bricked walls, and it looked to be about three levels high. It had sliding windows, which was a change from the double hung ones that used to be in their place.

A fence had been placed around the house and a gate that did nothing to hide it was present. It was open, and so Chris drove through it. He soon parked the car in front of the garage door with the engine still on.

"We should get out," he stated before he and Kate exited the car.

Kate sighed, stretching her back after she closed the car door.

"What a drive," she said with a sigh. "Isn't it weird to find yourself tired after a journey, even though we just sat in the car?"

"Tell me about it," Chris said as he headed towards the car's trunk. Kate was quick to follow