Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

and he'd stayed away for over a month ...she finally did it."

"Your mother committed suicide?" Thomas blurted. Then he blushed, realizing his faux pas.

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"No! No. Well, she tried," Ariana explained.

And just like that, she saw it again. Her mother's seemingly lifeless body, curled up in the fetal position on

the bathroom rug. The stark orange pills against the white tile floor. Her blond hair spilling out in a perfect

halo around her head. Ariana saw it all, and suddenly she felt numb.

"It was the last day of school before Christmas break," she said flatly. Her voice had gone monotone.

Detached. It was the only way she could get through the memory. "I'm the one who found her. Called nine-

one-one. The doctor said if I'd gotten there even five minutes later..."

She heard herself screaming for her mother over and over again. Saw herself hysterically crying into the

phone.

"How'd she do it?" Thomas asked. He'd stopped eating.

The question brought her back. "Vicodin. Washed it down with a bottle of vintage wine my dad bought her on

their honeymoon," she said, and forced a smirk. "You have to give her points for dramatic flair."

"No shit," Thomas said with a short laugh. "Wow. You must really hate Christmas."

"With a passion," Ariana said.

Her insides felt shaky, but she was glad she'd told Thomas. Her family, her past ... it wasn't a secret anymore.

Something to feel ashamed of. She had told someone and the world hadn't come to an end.

"Still, I wanted to go home and see my mom, but she really wanted me to be with Daniel, so-" She stopped

herself.

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Thomas looked down at his plate for a second. When he looked up again, his eyes seemed to be a deeper blue

than they had been seconds before.

"What about you?" Thomas asked. "What about me?"

"You said your mom wants you to be with Daniel. But what about you? What do you want?"

Ariana blinked. No one had ever asked her that before. How was it possible that he was the first?

"I..." Her voice faltered. "It's ...complicated."

"Complicated? You either like the guy or you don't. That's the opposite of complicated."

The challenge in his voice set Ariana on edge. "It's not that simple," she replied. "My mother ...she lives