by Elicia Hyder
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad you like it.”
She tapped her nails, which were painted a festive green, on the box he was still holding. “Now your turn.”
David ripped the wrapping paper off the box and pulled off the lid. Inside was a black picture frame holding the photo her mother had taken of them together at his graduation. He smiled as he studied their faces smushed together. “I love it.”
She wrinkled up her nose. “You do? You’re not just saying that?”
He shook his head. “No, I really love it.”
She clapped her hands together. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Journ.” His eyes softened as he stared at her.
She gasped and pointed at him. “You’re not going to cry and shit are you?”
He grabbed her finger, and she screamed as he used a high school wrestling move to pin her underneath him. The bottles of rainbow colored hair dye toppled to the floor and rolled across the carpet. David pinched her sides and tickled her until she couldn’t breathe. They were both laughing. Finally, he pinned her hands against the couch cushion over her head. “Take it back, Journey!”
“No!”
He leaned down closer to her. “Take it back!”
She was panting and trying to catch her breath. She tossed her head from side to side. “Never.”
Without a reasonable thought in his mind, he kissed her. She instantly froze under the weight of his lips, and David realized what a mistake he had made. But when he released her hands, to his surprise, they tangled in his hair. She was pulling him closer.
“A merry Christmas indeed!” he heard Marcus yell behind them.
David jerked upright and spun around. Marcus was laughing. Kara’s mouth was covered by her hands. Justin was facing the wall. Journey tugged her shirt back into place as she sat up. David could feel the heat of embarrassment in his cheeks. “We didn’t hear anybody come in.”
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. “Obviously.”
Kara pointed up the steps. “Should we go?”
Yes.
“No!” As soon as Journey untangled her legs from his, she jumped up off the couch. David noticed that her cheeks were as red as his felt. “We were just exchanging presents.”
Marcus rubbed his hands together and smiled. “I can’t wait to see what you got me!”
David hung his head and groaned. He should have locked the front door.
· · ·
Concentrating on A Christmas Story was impossible for Journey. And by the way Dave kept catching her eye and blushing during the movie, it must have been impossible for him as well. They needed to talk about what had happened, but wow, what was there to say? They’d crossed a line in their friendship, but she was unsure what it meant. Was he caught up in the moment? Was he interested in her? Was it all a mistake?
She realized her fingernail was bloody from nibbling on it. She pushed herself up off the couch and walked to the bathroom to wash her hands. Kara followed her. “What are you doing?” Journey asked as Kara closed the door behind them.
Kara jerked her thumb toward the door. “What was that about earlier? You and Dave are making out now? How long has that been going on?”
Journey laughed and shook her head. “Nothing’s going on!”
“That wasn’t ‘nothing’, Journey. How did it happen?”
Journey rubbed her fists against her eyes. “I’m not really sure, to be honest. We exchanged presents, then he started tickling me, and then he just kissed me out of nowhere.”
“Did you kiss him back?”
Journey laughed. “Yeah. I did. It was pretty great.”
Kara’s mouth fell open. “So, what does it mean?”
“I don’t know!”
“Are you guys like together now?”
Journey tossed her hands into the air. “Kara, we kissed for thirty seconds, and now I’m talking to you about it, so I guess it means we’re back in middle school.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “You don’t just casually make out with your friends, Journ. That’s a good way to screw things up.”
Journey sucked in a deep breath. “Do you think that’s what will happen?”
“I think you’d better be sure before you let it go any further. Dave has had a thing for you for a long time—”
“No, he hasn’t,” Journey interrupted.
Kara huffed. “You’re so blind it’s almost funny. Just please promise me, you’ll think this through. Dave could get really hurt if you’re not careful.”
Journey rolled her eyes and shook her head. She wasn’t David’s type.
She followed Kara out of the bathroom, and Dave smiled over at her as she settled back in her place next to him. She rested her head against his shoulder, then thought about Kara’s warning. Kara was right about one thing: Journey needed to be careful. Nothing was worth ruining her relationship with Dave. She sat up straight just as he moved to put his arm around her.
When the movie ended, Journey walked upstairs with her friends as they prepared to leave. She didn’t miss David’s look of disappointment. He stepped over beside her while she shrugged into her coat. “Can’t you stay for a little while?”
She hesitated before letting the coat settle over her shoulders. “It’s Christmas Eve, Dave. I’ve got to get home so Santa will come.”
He lowered his voice. “We need to talk.”
His parents walked in from the driveway, his tiny mother clapping her hands with glee. “I was hoping we would get to see you all tonight!” She stopped and hugged Journey first. “Merry Christmas, Journey!”
Journey patted her back. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Britton.” Over her shoulder, she saw David’s pained expression. He looked…hurt? Mad? She wasn’t sure.
She said her goodbyes to Marcus, Kara, and Justin before they left, then she pulled David out the front door, out of earshot of his parents inside.
“Please don’t leave,” he whispered.
She put her hands on his arms. “I’ve got to go to my grandparents’ tomorrow, but I’ll be back in time for New Year’s Eve. Are you still going to that party with me?”
He cast his gaze to her feet. “Yeah.”
She nudged him. “Hey, don’t get all weird on me. I just don’t want to rush into anything and do something we will end up regretting.”
He opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but he closed it again and nodded. “All right.”
She put her arms around his neck. “Merry Christmas, David.”
He squeezed her tight and nuzzled his face into the scarf around her neck. “Merry Christmas, Journey.”
· · ·
Steven sat in his Chevelle in the parking lot of Waffle House on Christmas morning and watched tiny snowflakes melt on his windshield. Brian, who had been out till almost four that morning, was asleep in the passenger’s seat. The Drake family didn’t have traditions except for breakfast at Waffle House on Christmas morning. As the minutes ticked by without any sign of his mother, he wondered if the tradition still existed.
He couldn’t find a radio station that wasn’t playing Christmas music, and while he examined his dash wondering how he could install a new stereo, ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ came over the speakers. He cursed under his breath and shut off the radio. But it was too late. Journey Durant’s memory launched a hostile takeover of his thoughts.
It had been six months. Why couldn’t he shake her from his mind? He’d never had a problem getting over chicks before. What made her so different? Steven almost wished he had never met her. She had been the first person ever to make him feel like he mattered, and since he had ended things with her, he felt more alone than ever.
Just when he thought Christmas couldn’t suck any worse, his mother pulled into the Waffle House parking lot with Ricky Drake sitting in the passenger’s seat.
“Brian, wake up.”
Brian didn’t move.
Steven reached across the car and smacked h
is brother in the shoulder with the back of his hand. “Brian!”
Brian jolted upright and searched his surroundings with startled, bloodshot eyes. “Yeah. I’m up! What?”
Steven nodded across the parking lot where their parents were getting out of the car in the snow.
Brian laughed, but it wasn’t funny. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” He looked at his younger brother, who was seething in the driver’s seat. “Well, what do you want to do? It’s your call.”
Steven shook his head. “Dude, greasy hash browns aren’t worth going back to jail.”
Brian slapped his chest. “Let’s get out of here then.” He smiled as Steven put the car in gear. “I’ve got a different kind of hash to make our Christmas merry and bright.”
Steven sighed and pulled out of the lot. “Fantastic.”
15
Auld Lang Syne
Journey didn’t see David again all week, except every time she closed her eyes. She couldn’t get him out of her head. She wondered if he was as busy thinking of her too. Her older sister, Elena, had come home from Tennessee for the holidays, but even she wasn’t much help. She had said the same thing Kara had—that Journey had better be absolutely certain of her feelings for David before she did anything that might alter their friendship.
Making up her mind was harder than she had anticipated, and by New Year’s Eve, she was no clearer on the subject than she had been a week before. She couldn’t stop thinking about how right it felt to kiss him. She wasn’t sure she could ever just be his friend again. But if things were to go south between them, she couldn’t imagine her world without David in it. And she wasn’t sure if that was a risk she was willing to take.
He had told her after prom that the reason he liked her was because she was so different from all the other girls. The last thing she wanted was to be lumped in with the masses and become a number in the David Britton fan club. She had once been honest with another guy about how much she had liked him, and that had blown up in her face.
Her mother snapped her out of her daze as she sat on her bed and stared out of her window. “Are you coming home tonight?”
Journey turned and looked at her. “I doubt it. I’ll probably crash at David’s.”
Carol Durant groaned and shook her head. “Do you just not care that we worry about you?”
Journey didn’t, but she knew it wasn’t a smart idea to admit to it. “Mom, David’s house is probably the safest place in the world for me.”
“You know we like David, but he’s still a teenage boy.”
Journey rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that.” Though, she was no longer sure that was true.
Journey could tell her mother was torn between being exhausted by the same old fights and wanting to put her foot down. Finally, Carol’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“I’ll be fine, Mom.”
Her mother didn’t respond. She just stepped out of the doorway and walked down the hall. Journey felt almost guilty. Almost.
The doorbell rang. Journey picked up her keys and her purse and took a deep breath before going to the front door. David was wearing a black polo shirt and jeans. She blushed for the first time ever looking at him. She walked outside and closed the door behind her. “Hey.”
He was smiling from ear to ear. “Hey.” His hands fidgeted at his sides. Finally, he pointed toward his truck. “You ready to go?”
She held up her keys. “I thought I would drive tonight.”
He laughed with surprise. “It’s New Year’s, and you don’t want to drink?”
If she were honest, she would admit that she didn’t trust herself to drink around him that night. She smiled. “I have to work tomorrow, so I thought I would babysit you for a change.”
David’s mouth dropped open. “I feel like we should write this moment down or take a commemorative picture or something,” he teased.
She elbowed him in the stomach.
As they walked to her car, he began fidgeting again. “So, are you going to crash at my house tonight?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. “That’s the plan.”
He pointed to his truck. “Is it cool for me to leave my truck here?”
She nodded. “Yeah. It’s fine. It may help keep my mother calm if she has a reminder that we are together.”
He laughed. “Good point.”
They got in her car and drove, mostly in silence, to the party on the outskirts of town. He didn’t bring up the kiss, and neither did she.
The three-story log cabin where the party was being held belonged to the parents of a bartender she worked with at Barry’s. Apparently, the owners were in Aspen for New Year’s. The party was in full swing by the time she parked and they walked up the long driveway. The deck on the main floor had a keg on ice beside a packed hot tub.
David grinned down at her. “Did you bring a bathing suit?”
She shook her head and hooked her thumbs in her belt loops. “Nope. I didn’t get the memo.”
He winked. “Too bad.”
She rolled her eyes as they walked inside. In the large living room, just off the open kitchen, was a big screen TV playing the live broadcast from Times Square. Beside the kitchen were stairs leading down that buzzed with the rhythms of dance music. On the other side of the living area, another staircase led upstairs. Judging from the coziness of the couples who were ascending, Journey assumed bedrooms were on the floor above them.
Journey tugged on David’s hand in the direction of the stairs going down. “This party is either going to be epic, or we’re all gonna wind up in jail,” she said.
His eyes doubled in size and he stopped walking. “Do you think we might get busted?”
She smacked him on the chest and giggled. “Oh, lighten up.”
In the basement was a bar filled with more liquor than they had at the restaurant. Journey poured a shot of vodka for David and popped the top of a Diet Coke for herself. She briefly considered downing the vodka just to calm her nerves.
David eyed his shot glass skeptically. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me.”
She rolled her eyes. “We both know I wouldn’t have to get you drunk if I wanted to take advantage of you.”
He lowered his face toward hers and lowered his voice. “Do you want to?”
“You wish.”
“Maybe, I do.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “What?”
He grinned and leaned close to her ear. “You never know what might happen this year, Journey Durant.” He clinked his shot glass against her can and dumped the liquid down his throat. “You just never know.”
· · ·
David had never been drunk in his life, so it didn’t take long for the alcohol to start making him feel dizzy, tingly, and…awesome! “This is the greatest party ever!” he yelled, leaning on his best friend for support.
She took the beer out of his hand. “Maybe you should pace yourself, Dave. It’s still pretty early.”
He hooked his arm around her neck and pulled her close as they walked out onto the deck. “You smell like coconuts.”
She laughed and put her hand on his chest. “Do you want some water?”
“No! I want my beer back. Why did you steal my beer?” He tried to pout but kept smiling instead.
She handed it back to him. “I don’t envy you in the morning.”
He tapped his chest. “I envy me in the morning!”
Journey scrunched up her brow as she leaned against the deck railing and lit a cigarette. “That makes no sense.”
He pointed the beer bottle at her. “Yes, it does. I’m going to wake up with you in the morning, and that makes me very jealous of me.” He motioned around to all the other people on the deck. “You should all be jealous!”
She groaned and looked up at the sky. “Oh god.”
Her cigarette looked amazing. “Gimme that.” He reached out and grabbed the fiery red end, screame
d like a girl, and dropped it.
“Geez, Dave.” She bent over to pick it up.
He pointed at the cigarette. “That shit’s hot.”
She laughed. “Yes. I know.” She turned it around and handed it to him, this time by the filter. “Don’t burn yourself.”
He tried to examine his stinging fingers, but his vision was blurry. “Too late.”
She lit another cigarette and held it up to her lips.
“God, I love your lips.” He took a step toward her but stumbled over his feet. She laughed and shook her head.
Someone opened the door behind them, and a guy he had never seen stuck his head outside. “Larry is here with the moonshine!” he announced.
David’s eyes widened. “Moonshine!” He pushed his beer and his cigarette toward Journey. She didn’t catch the beer before he let go of it, and it landed on the deck in a bubbly mess. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I’ll bring you another one! I’m gonna go get some moonshine and some more beers!”
“David, I don’t think that’s a good idea—”
He held up his hands. “No, shush. It’s OK. It’s OK. I love moonshine!”
She shook her head. “You’ve never drank—”
He put his finger over her mouth to silence her. “Shhh.”
She smiled under the weight of his finger.
“I’ll be back.” He held his hands up as he slowly backed away. “You stay right here.”
She laughed. “OK. I’ll stay right here. Please be careful.”
He waved his hand toward her. “Baby, I’m always care—” He stumbled backwards into the wall.
Journey doubled over laughing.
He grabbed the wall for support. “It’s OK. I’ve got this.” He carefully gripped the door handle and held up five fingers. “Five minutes. Stay right here.”
Inside, a large group had formed around the island in the kitchen. He pushed his way to the center where a guy wearing overalls was pouring clear liquid into a spoon. He flicked a lighter and lit the liquid on fire. “Whoa, that’s awesome!” David said and shoved the guy next to him who he didn’t know. His eyes went glassy as he watched the contents of the spoon burn.