[ C h a p t e r - T h i r t e e n ]

Chapter 13

It was dark and awkward. I was just standing there, tempted to make a run for it towards the door. The worst part is that it wasn’t silent; you actually heard people kissing.

I heard someone mutter something before I felt them lightly grab my shoulder. They turned me toward them and I placed my hands in front of me to see who it was. Instead of them tossing me to the floor like I’d expected, they pressed their lips to mine gently. I stood there frozen for a minute.

Although I don’t know who kissed me; I know that it was all I could ever want in a kiss. Their mouth tasted like Skittles and it sent shivers down my spine, but my entire body felt like it was on fire. It was like a movie kiss but better. I slowly reached up and put my hands on his broad shoulders and stood on the tips of my toes.

His hands were on my waist. I felt warm like I had when Jonah touched me. I suddenly wondered who this guy that I’m kissing is. I have an idea! I’ll touch their hair and try and compare it to whoever is around me. I attempted to reach my hands up but he grabbed my hands gently and returned them to his shoulders, shaking his head slightly.

The timer was ticking for when the lights were going to come back on. Percy was counting along to it and it was at 38 seconds. I pulled away from the mystery guy at 27 seconds and tried to fix my hair. Suddenly, I was pulled back by the same guy at 13 seconds and he kissed me one last time before letting me go, leaving a trace of cologne around as he moved towards me. “Merry Christmas," his voice was breathless and I couldn’t find a trace of familiarity in it no matter how hard I racked my brain. Maybe it was because of all of my nerves, or maybe it was because the only sound I could hear was the pounding of my heart. I doubt a random stranger would kiss me, of all people.

I was breathing rapidly and I’m sure my face was on fire. When the lights came back on, everybody was apart from their partner aside from the odd few. I also noticed another peculiar thing when the lights came back on; Francis was a few feet away from me. I felt my stomach clench. He couldn’t have been the one that kissed me right? Jonah was also beside me. Of course he wasn’t the one that kissed me! I’m insane to even think that.

I looked around me to see people coupled up. I turned to see Sierra bright faced and Sabrina smirking. Sierra looked at me and her eyes widened. “Who kissed you?” she whispered.

I shrugged. “I don’t know," I replied a bit panicky.

“I have to go,” I announced a bit louder. I didn’t turn to look at Jonah or anybody else and instead, I quickly made it out of that building. I let the cold air hit my cheeks. I dialed my mother’s number and let her know that I was coming home.

When I got into my car, I wanted to cry out in frustration. Who was that? I buried my face in my hands before driving home.

~~~

“Get up! Get up!” Jer shouted at the top of his lungs. I sat up quickly, my mind traveling to all the possibilities. Is there a fire? Did someone die?

“What? What happened?” I asked once I sat up, panting heavily.

“It’s Christmas!” my brother shouted, tossing himself on my bed. I placed my hand on my heart as I glared at my brother.

“You idiot! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” I exclaimed. My brothers eyes widened and he took on an innocent look. He reminded me of a 6 year old.

“But… it’s Christmas,” he told me, eyebrows furrowed like he was going to cry. I sighed, getting up.

“Merry Christmas,” I told him. He pushed me back onto my bed.

“Race you down the stairs!” he shouted and I glared at him. I walked to the bathroom and washed my face. I brushed my teeth and my hair and then put on some deodorant. Changing into some warm clothes, I walked downstairs.

I noticed that my mom already set up for the Christmas party although it was only 10 in the morning and the party wasn’t until 7 at night. My mom and dad were sitting on the couch. I ran over and hugged my dad. “You’re home!”

“Of course I am, darling. I promised that I’d be, didn’t I?” He asked, smiling down at me. I nodded before sitting on the couch between them. I felt like a kid again. My brother was already digging under the Christmas tree, splitting the gifts into four piles based on names. My mother has three gifts like my father while Jer and I had a few more.

“Open mine first!” Jeremiah told me as I dug through my gifts. I looked at the box where Jeremiah wrapped it in bright pink wrapping paper. How manly. I looked at him nervously. He looked at me with a serious expression on his face. “Open it or it’ll die.”

I quickly started unwrapping the gift in fear of it being an animal and knowing Jer, he’d forget to poke holes in the box and feed it. I smiled at the gift before I became confused. “Ice packs?”

“For when you blush around Jonah!” my brother grinned at me as if his gift was a great idea. I stared at him, horrified. Not only did he waste money on ice packs; he said that in front of my father!

“Who’s Jonah?” my father asked.

“He’s Jeremiah’s friend, you see,” I smiled nervously at my father and kicked Jeremiah in the process.

My father rolled his eyes but let it go. “Open my gift, Jeremiah,” I told him.

Recently Jeremiah has found out that he has an obsession with bow ties. He has a collection of them, including twelve already. He opened the small box and saw the bow tie I’d given him. He smiled at me. “I love it!” he exclaimed, throwing the empty box behind him. It hit a vase and my mother looked at Jer with a glare.

Merry Christmas from the Harp family.

~~~

Opening gifts is tiring, I can tell you that. To me, it’s better when we're finished and enjoying Christmas breakfast. “What’s the theme of this year’s Christmas party?”

My mother stared at me for a moment before glaring at Jeremiah. He looked at the table. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Well, I forgot,” Jeremiah replied sheepishly as he glanced up.

“You were supposed to buy a gift for someone. We’re doing secret santa this year. He was supposed to give you an index card with someone’s name on it and you were supposed to buy them a gift," my mother explained.

I frowned and stared at Jeremiah. “Did you even get a gift for your secret santa?” my mother asked him.

“I barely know the girl!” he exclaimed.

“Who is she?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Since we both invited someone a bit later than we should have, mom thought I should get your friend a gift and you get mine one,” he told me as he soaked his pancakes in syrup.

“Who’d you invite?” I asked him cautiously. He smiled at me nervously.

“Who’d you invite?” he copied me.

“I think you know who I invited!” I slammed my hands down on the table. “Seriously? I told you not to, Jer; it’s going to be awkward.” I still don’t know who kissed me and my brother is, inviting Jonah over willy-nilly.

“I think it’s a sweet gesture. Even though I already know the answer to this question, I’m still going to ask it; did you get a gift for Jonah?” my mom asked me, furrowing her eyebrows. I groaned and nodded. “How? You didn’t know.”

“Ms. Antoinette helped me out; she gave me two of the same games and told me that he was looking at it. I can only hope that he didn’t get it yet,” I shrugged.

“Do you know a last minute gift that I can get for Meredith?” he asked, giving me an innocent look.

I glared at him, a smirk making its way onto my face. “Sure.”

~~~

“Is she pretty?” he asked me as he lay on the floor of my room. I was texting Meredith right now.

“Yes, she’s pretty. Trust me, she’ll like the gift,” I told him and he sighed, flipping onto his stomach.

“Do I know her? Did she graduate with me?” he asked and I shook my head.

“The year before you,” I told him casually.

He wriggled his eyebrows. “An older woman; don’t I feel like Harry Styles right about now?”

I rolled my eyes but smiled. “She’s going to love this gift.”

“How do you know?” he asked me as he lifted his legs into the air.

I gave him a flat look. “She thinks you’re adorable.”

He stared at me for a moment. “How does she know what I look like?”

“She found your Facebook one time while she was on mine. She saw you listed as my brother,” I informed him. He was listening intently. “So I went onto your account and blocked her.”

“What?” my brother asked, sitting up. I glanced at him. “Why?” he questioned.

“I had to be sure that she was being my friend for me, not for you,” I told him and he narrowed his eyes at me.

“When did that ever happen?” he asked, glaring at me.

“Well, it happened with Melanie Turner, Timothy Trinket, and Louise Harnett,” I told him, listing them on my fingers.

“Little Timmy was gay?” his eyebrows rose as I nodded my head. “I always knew he batted for the other team.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want that to happen with Mere so I hid her from you for a year or two,” I shrugged.

“So this girl’s liked me for two years?” he asked and I nodded. “She didn’t lose interest?” I shook my head. “That’s so cool; and creepy, but mostly cool!”

“Well, she hasn’t learned your personality yet. I give her two weeks," I shrugged and my brother hit me with a pillow.

~~~

“Why are you so against Jonah coming to the Christmas party tonight?” Jer asked me as I sat on the couch playing video games.

I stared at him for a minute. “I think he kissed me.”

“What?” my brother looked at me as if I’d just said that bread was the new fashion trend. “How do you think he kissed you?”

I told him about the event that took place last night and my brother gagged. “Too much information, I don’t care about how you shivered and such. Ew, gross.”

I smacked his arm, laughing at his reaction. “I’m not sure if it was him.”

“Who else was there?” he asked me as he sprawled out on the couch, putting his legs on my lap. I casually lifted the controller above his legs and continued hitting my opponent.

I thought for a moment. “Francis, well, at least he’s the only one I knew.”

“Don’t you hate that guy? And doesn’t he hate you?” Jer asked me.

“Pretty much,” I told him.

My brother made a ‘duh’ noise. “Then isn’t it obvious who it is?”

“Jesus?” I asked him with a smirk on my lips. My brother and I laughed together before I groaned. “But seriously, Jonah doesn’t like me. He’d probably kiss Francis before he’d kiss me.”

My brother let out a howling laugh before he fell off of the couch, distracting me from my game. He caused me to lose and I tossed the controller at his head. It bounced off like a bouncy ball and he didn’t even acknowledge it. “I can imagine that right now.”

“You don’t know what Francis looks like though,” I replied.

“I imagine him as Tom Felton," he told me and I scoffed.

“That’s not right at all," I replied and he rolled his eyes while getting up.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready? It takes a long time to transform from an ape to a princess right? Well, too bad, we don’t have that much time," my brother snorted.

“You’re mean,” I snapped.

“Don’t worry; I’ll make it up to you. I’ll help you solve your kissing mystery.” The thought of him meddling in my love life scared me so I just walked upstairs, taking his advice. It would take a while to get ready.

~~~

As I’m telling you this, I realize how cliché I sound. I don’t dance well. I hate dresses. And I’ve had one boyfriend before in my life and it ended terribly. But they’re all totally true. The second one is the one that I’m focusing on right now. Let me tell you the story of why I hate dresses okay.

I was in the 6th grade and it was picture day; everything tragic happens on picture day. My mom dressed me in a bright yellow dress and I actually liked it. I had black ballet shoes on, too. I had my hair in pig tails and I was ready to take on the camera.

There was one problem, though. We had recess before picture time and I, being the hyperactive child that I was, decided that girls can play sports too, even if they’re wearing dresses without shorts on under it. I was playing football, when I fell and ripped the dress down the back. Long story short, I flashed my underwear to all of the six and seventh grade that day.

Anyway, I looked at the dress my mother picked out for me for the first time today and I hate it. It’s red and sparkly and I hate it. It splits into two and wraps around the neck and I hate it. It comes down to about two inches above the knee and I hate it.

It’s a horrible dress and I still wonder why my mother would even look at the thing, never mind purchase it. I wonder why my father didn’t make her return the stupid thing, either.

“Are you ready yet, Van?” my father asked from outside of my door. I’d styled my hair already and even went as far as to put on mascara and eyeliner, not for my sake; but for the sake of procrastination. I didn’t want to see this dress and I now regret even looking at the thing.

“Yeah, I’m putting on the dress,” I lied. My mother forgot to buy stockings, too, so now I’m going to have to wear the dress without them. I groaned. What’s the point of even wearing a dress for a Christmas party? Isn’t Christmas in the winter? And isn’t it cold in the winter? Can my mother and father apply logic before inviting guests to spend the day at our humble abode wearing things that they’ll freeze in?

When I finally got into the dress, I looked into the mirror and rolled my eyes. My hair was straightened and is parted to the side and my makeup is kept to a minimum. My mother realized that I can’t walk in heels so she bought me black flats, thankfully. I was even more nervous about the fact that Jonah is going to be here in approximately four minutes. I’m already late. My parents expected me downstairs about ten minutes ago so I could collect gifts and place them under the tree but I told them I couldn’t because I was wearing a dress and I didn’t want to bend over.

I had Jonah’s gift in a little gift bag, wrapped in blue wrapping paper and neatly perfected. I even looked up a DIY to wrap the darned thing. I am nervous, to put it simply. I even called Sierra and Sabrina, who were both sick. They forgot to bring jackets last night about had to wait twenty minutes in the blistering cold while Jonah searched for his keys in his jacket.

Mere already told me that she was on her way. I reminded her that when she gets here to come upstairs to my room. I looked out my window nervously and I noticed my brother making a snow man. “What are you doing?” I shouted out of my window. He looked up at me.

“All our relatives want to do is hug and kiss me! I don’t want that!” he shouted back before going back to work on his snowman. I rolled my eyes before shutting my window. I heard someone knock on my door and I rushed over.

“Hello? Is this Savannah’s room?” I heard Mere on the opposite side. I opened the door to see the hyper blonde wearing a green dress. It wasn’t sparkly but it was just as lively. Her dress had the white fluff at the hem so it’ll look like a santa hat. She also had a large white bow protruding from her bouncy ponytail. I quickly yanked her inside of my room.

“Hi," I told her as I closed my door.

“You look pretty, girl," she complimented me.

“You do too, but the reason you’re in here is because I have a problem.”

“What is it?” she asked me and I told her about the club. The whole time, she sat there with her jaw slack.

When I finished the story, she started squealing loudly. “He kissed you!”

“Stop jumping to conclusions; I don’t even know if it was him. Keep your voice down, he’s here,” I snapped.

“Oh shut up,” she rolled her eyes. She was grinning widely. We fell into a comfortable silence aside from her creepy grinning.

“What?” I asked.

“Your brother’s here!” she grinned girlishly. I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t see him when I came inside though.”

“That’s because he’s outside building a snowman,” I told her.

“How old is he?” she asked and I rolled my eyes.

“18 and a half,” I told her and she smirked and wriggled her eyebrows.

~~~

After panicking upstairs and watching Mere redo her makeup, my mother’s voice was opposite to my door. “Meredith? Savannah? Open the door.”

I walked to the door and opened it with a smile on my face; it was obviously fake. My mom squealed. “You girls look gorgeous, now come downstairs!”

“We’ll be downstairs in a minute,” I told her, walking around to find my shoes. She confirmed and walked downstairs. “You go first, Mere.”

“Whatever," she rolled her eyes as she walked down the steps. I sighed, pressing my hands to my face. Man up. That’s hard to do when you’re a woman.

Taking a deep breath, I walked towards my closed door but a knocking sound cut me off. I held my breath. Oh no.