∗ ∗ ∗
David was trying to make himself invisible.
He was sitting at a corner table at Vincinzi’s, an Italian restaurant where Connor worked as a busboy, hiding behind a huge menu. He was pretty sure Connor didn’t know who he was — to a certain degree, guys who were considered nerds were invisible — but he didn’t want to take a chance.
He’d been following Connor around since after school. First he’d followed him to Ryan Grant’s house, and then he’d followed him here. Waiting for him to leave Ryan’s hadn’t been fun. Even wearing a heavy sweater, down-filled parka, gloves, scarf, hat, and snow boots, it was cold outside. And then it had started snowing. David was practically a snowman by the time Connor had left. Luckily Connor had come straight to work, and David had a chance to warm himself up while continuing to spy for Shawna.
David watched as Connor went from table to table, clearing away dishes, refilling water glasses, and bringing out breadbaskets. Practically every table he went to had a girl from their high school. David wondered if they were here because the food was so good or if it was because of Connor.
David couldn’t help but feel jealous as he stared at Connor. The guy was a hottie with muscles that didn’t quit, hair made for a shampoo commercial, and a killer smile. Not to mention the cleft in his chin and his two dimples! David, on the other hand, was a string bean with braces and carrot-red hair that was always a frizzy mess, like he had just stuck his finger in an electric socket. Oh, and no cleft in his chin or dimples, but occasional zits! What would it be like to be as handsome as Connor and always have girls throwing themselves at you? Could you get tired of it? David didn’t think he would.
David ducked back behind his menu and wondered how long he’d be able to sit at his table. He had enough money to order an entrée, but that was it. He’d take his time eating, but he really wasn’t looking forward to positioning himself outside the restaurant for hours.
The only thought that kept him going, though, was Shawna and the date they were going to have.
If he discovered who Connor’s Secret Santa was, Shawna would be in his debt.
Maybe she’d agree to a second date.
Or even give him a kiss!
David’s eyes roamed around the restaurant and stopped when they came to Connor’s workstation. Patty Suskind, a pretty redhead, was opening a drawer where the silverware was kept and leaving behind a small wrapped present.
Yes!
Success!
David pulled out his cell phone and dialed Shawna’s number. When she answered her cell phone, he told her that he’d discovered who Connor’s Secret Santa was.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Vincinzi’s.”
“I’ll be right there,” Shawna said, her voice filled with determination. David knew what that meant. Shawna was ready for a confrontation! He hoped Patty hadn’t ordered anything with tomato sauce. She was wearing a snow-white sweater, and he had a feeling things might get a little messy once Shawna arrived. That sweater might not be snow-white once Shawna got through with Patty!
David’s eyes returned to Connor’s workstation and almost fell out.
Jenna Martindale was leaving a present for Connor.
Five minutes later, Faye Bennett was doing the same thing.
And Olga Nivinson.
And Vicky Stevens!
Uh-oh.
He had the feeling he’d just made a mistake.
A huge one.
Which girl was Connor’s Secret Santa?
They couldn’t all be.
And what was he going to tell Shawna?
Shawna!
David felt the blood rush out of his face. She was going to be here any second, ready for a fight with Patty but there was a good chance that Patty wasn’t Connor’s Secret Santa. That it was one of the other girls.
David jumped out of his seat and struggled back into his parka, hurrying out of the restaurant. He’d just gotten outside when Shawna came storming down the street.
“Where is she?” Shawna demanded. “I’m going to yank every red hair out of her head!”
“We have a little bit of a problem,” David said, grabbing Shawna by the arm and steering her away from the entrance of the restaurant.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Shawna asked, her voice dripping with ice. She stared down at the hand holding her arm and David instantly let go, amazed at the power of Shawna’s glare.
“Sorry,” David said meekly, smoothing out the wrinkled fabric.
“What’s the problem?” Shawna asked, snatching her arm away.
David fidgeted, not sure how to explain things because he had the feeling Shawna was going to get mad at him. After all, he’d called to tell her Patty was Connor’s Secret Santa and now he wasn’t sure!
“Come on!” Shawna demanded, snapping her fingers. “Spit it out! I haven’t got all night!”
“AfterPattyleftagiftforConnorsodidJennaMar tindaleandacoupleofothergirls,” David said in a rush, not pausing to take a breath.
“Then why did you call me?” Shawna screeched.
“The other girls didn’t leave their gifts until after I called you,” David explained, handing over a list of names. “There’s no way of figuring out which one is Connor’s Secret Santa. At least not yet.”
“How do you know all these girls by name?” Shawna asked, looking over the list. “I don’t even know all of them.”
David blushed. “Guys like me always notice pretty girls like you.”
Shawna rolled her eyes. “You’ve got your date. You don’t have to butter me up.”
“But it’s the truth! You’re gorgeous.” David pointed to the list. “What do you want to do about these girls?”
Shawna crumpled the list. “I bet Connor is going to meet one of them for a date after his shift ends.” She pulled David into the alley next to the restaurant. “Well, we’re going to wait until he gets off work and then we’re going to follow him!”
“But that could take hours!” David exclaimed. “And it’s cold!”
“So?”
“It’s cold!” David repeated. “Freezing cold! And it’s still snowing!”
Shawna crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you want that date or not?”
Of course he did!
“Yes,” he answered. “You know I do!”
“Then we’re waiting!” Shawna snapped.
One hour later David and Shawna were as cold as two Popsicles. They were both covered with snow, stomping their feet and moving around in circles as a way of keeping themselves warm, still waiting for Connor to leave work.
David’s teeth were chattering. “M-m-maybe he’s working a d-d-double shift. M-m-maybe we s-s-should throw in the t-t-towel for t-t-tonight and t-t-then —”
“Shh!” Shawna hissed, cutting David off as she peeked around the side of the alley. “Connor’s coming out of the restaurant.” She gasped. “And he’s not alone! He’s heading this way with a girl!”
“If he looks this way, he’ll see us!” David pointed out. “We have to hide!”
“Where?” Shawna asked in a panic. “Where?”
David looked around. The only hiding space in the alley was the restaurant’s garbage dumpster. “In there.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Do you want to get caught?”
“No.”
David lifted the lid of the dumpster. “Then jump inside.”
“Ewww! It smells gross!” Shawna complained as she climbed into the dumpster. David joined her seconds later, lowering the lid so they could peek outside.
“Did you get to see who it was?” David asked, holding his nose. The dumpster smelled bad!
“No,” Shawna gasped, covering her nose with her hand. “I can’t breathe!”
They peeked out of the dumpster as Connor walked by alone.
“What happened to the girl?” Shawna asked.
They could hear a car engine starting.
“It
was probably a customer leaving the restaurant the same time as Connor,” David said.
“You’re probably right,” Shawna agreed.
David and Shawna were both so focused on Connor that they didn’t hear the sound of footsteps coming down the alley. Seconds later the lid of the dumpster was lifted and a pile of garbage was tossed in, drenching them with everything from vegetable skins to tomato sauce, chicken skins, and leftover pasta.
“Groossssssssssss!” Shawna screamed, jumping out of the dumpster and nearly giving the old Italian busboy holding an empty trash can a heart attack.
“Whassa matter with you?” he demanded in a thick accent, clutching his chest. “Why you hiding inna there?”
“Can you help me out, Shawna?” David asked, holding out a hand and taking deep breaths of air. Shawna reached out and started to pull, but David couldn’t get enough traction. Instead, he slid back into the dumpster, pulling Shawna in with him and headfirst into a pile of garbage.
“You idiot!” she shrieked, pulling broken eggshells out of her hair. “Look what you’ve done!”
“What I’ve done?” David snapped, losing all patience. “You’re the one who has me spying on your boyfriend, although if you really trusted him, you wouldn’t be spying on him!”
Shawna threw a cantaloupe rind at David. “I do trust Connor! I don’t trust those she-wolves we go to school with!”
“If you trusted Connor you’d know that he would never cheat on you. I know if you were my girlfriend, I’d never cheat on you.”
“But I’m not your girlfriend. I’m Connor’s,” Shawna said, climbing back out of the dumpster. When she got out, she turned back to David. “I’m going home to get out of these horrible clothes, but you’re going keep following Connor.”
“But I’m a mess!” David wailed.
“Too bad! You’re working for me, remember? Unless you want to give up that date I agreed to.”
There was no way David was giving up that date. Not after everything he had already been through! He held his hand out to the old Italian busboy, who helped pull him out.
“I’ll let you know what I find out,” David said, hurrying out of the alley. He was a freezing, smelly mess, but so was Shawna. They finally had something in common!
The first thing Noelle loved to do when she woke up after a big snowstorm was rush to her bedroom window and look outside. But not this morning. After turning off the buzzer of her alarm and switching it to the radio — “Suddenly I See,” the opening song from her favorite movie, The Devil Wears Prada, was playing — she flopped back against her pillows, snuggling against the toasty warmth of her comforter. She didn’t want to get up. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and go back to sleep. She’d been having such a nice dream. Charlie had been kissing her and telling her she was the only girl for him. He’d only gone out with all those other girls because he wanted to make her jealous, he told her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She was the only girl for him.
Noelle smiled, stretching her arms as she remembered the way Charlie had kissed her. His dream kiss had been nice, but she was sure a real kiss from him would be so much better.
Hopefully she’d be getting that real kiss tomorrow night.
Knowing she needed to get up, she hopped out of bed. The hardwood floor was icy cold and she hurriedly slipped her feet into a pair of fleece-lined slippers. Pushing the tangled mess that was her hair out of her face, she stifled a yawn and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains back as she pressed her face to the glass.
She gasped with delight. It was a winter wonderland in her front yard. Everywhere she looked, there was smooth white snow. It was like everything had been covered with vanilla frosting. She loved snow when it first fell — all light and fluffy and pretty — but hated when it became gray and slushy and frozen a couple of days later. She was stifling a yawn with one hand, wondering if she had time to slip back into bed for another fifteen minutes, when she saw something in the corner of her front yard. Was that a snowman? She pressed her face closer to the cold frosted glass and squealed with glee. It was! But who could have built it?
Noelle grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor and pulled them on over her pajama bottoms. Then she raced downstairs and threw on her overcoat and gloves. She stuffed her hair under a knit hat, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and pulled on her snow boots. Then she raced outside into the freezing morning and the waiting snowman.
When she got closer, she could see the snowman was holding something in the hand she couldn’t see from her bedroom window. It was a bouquet of balloons. A rainbow of bright colors — red, green, yellow, blue, pink, and orange — danced in the morning air. Pinned to the front of the snowman’s chest was a note: Being around you always lifts me up.
Noelle’s heart turned to mush. The gift was so sweet. It had to be from Charlie. It just had to! Hadn’t he said yesterday afternoon that he had to buy some balloons? He was giving her a clue. He wanted her to know that he was her Secret Santa. Why else would he have mentioned the balloons?
At that moment, the front door of the Grant house opened and Charlie came walking out. Noelle’s first instinct was to run across the yard and throw herself in his arms, telling him how much she loved his gift. Then she remembered how she was dressed and her second instinct was to run and hide. Even though she was covered from head to toe, underneath she was a mess. And she hadn’t even brushed her teeth. She still had morning breath!
“Hey, Noelle!” Charlie called. “Couldn’t wait to build a snowman?”
“Someone built him for me,” Noelle said. “And look.” She pointed to the colorful bouquet. “They left balloons too.”
“Those look like they came from Party City.”
“Really?” Noelle’s heart began pounding with excitement. Charlie had gone to Party City yesterday afternoon to buy balloons. He had told them that before leaving. Was he giving her a clue? What should she say next? Did he want her to ask him if he’d bought balloons yesterday afternoon? Or ask him how he knew these balloons were from Party City? Would that spoil the surprise? Should she mention the note?
A car horn honked, jarring Noelle from her thoughts. She looked at the curb and saw a red SUV. She couldn’t see who was behind the steering wheel, but the shadow of the driver looked very thin and girly. Grrrr!
“Gotta go,” Charlie said. “There’s my ride.”
Before she could say anything else, Noelle watched as Charlie hurried down the front walk and jumped into the SUV. He gave her a final wave before the car pulled away.
Noelle watched as the SUV disappeared. Then turned back to the snowman. So what if the driver was female? Charlie had made her this snowman. He’d bought her the balloons. He might be with another girl now, but tomorrow night, after Secret Santas were revealed, he would be hers!
∗ ∗ ∗
An hour later Noelle was getting ready to leave for school when her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw the call was from Lily.
“What’s up?” she asked, pressing the phone against her ear.
“You’ve got to help me!” Lily wailed, panic in her voice.
“With what?”
“I’m at school and I forgot to bring Connor’s latest Secret Santa gift in. I don’t have time to run home and get it. I’ve got an early class. Could you swing by my house and pick it up? My mom knows you’re coming. All you have to do is figure out a way to leave it for Connor without being seen.”
“Sure. Not a prob. See you at lunch.”
Before heading over to Lily’s to pick up Connor’s Secret Santa gift, Noelle had Charlie’s latest gift to deliver. She didn’t have to make sure she wasn’t seen since all the Grants were already gone. Mr. and Mrs. Grant had left the house minutes after Charlie had and Ryan was in the same early class as Lily.
Ryan. Noelle was still mad at him, but she wasn’t as mad as she had been yesterday afternoon. She was cooling off. Still, she wasn’t sure what she was going to d
o or say the next time she saw him. Things might be a little chilly between them. But they’d had fights before and they always managed to patch things up.
Noelle put her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out Charlie’s latest gift. Today it was something simple. A pack of Doublemint, Charlie’s favorite chewing gum. The note she had written said: I love fresh, minty kisses so be sure to chew this tomorrow night!
Noelle was a little unsure of the note. She’d never been so forward with a guy. Usually she let them make the first move. But sometimes you had to be direct to get what you wanted.
And she wanted a kiss from Charlie!
Before she could change her mind, she slipped the wrapped pack of gum into the Grants’ locked mailbox. Then she hurried over to Lily’s house, where Mrs. Norris was waiting for her with a small wrapped box. Noelle knew it contained two passes to GORE-A-RAMA, the horror festival at the revival house next month. Ick!
When she arrived at school, Noelle went to her locker and got her books for her morning classes. Then she decided to leave Connor his Secret Santa gift. Knowing that American History was his first class on Thursday mornings, Noelle slipped into the classroom and left Lily’s gift on top of his desk. Then she slipped out of the empty classroom without anyone seeing her. Mission accomplished!
∗ ∗ ∗
Simon couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Noelle Kramer was Connor’s Secret Santa?
He had been so sure it was Lily!
Simon had been the first person to arrive for his American History class. As he was getting ready to open the door, he saw Noelle through the pane of glass in the door, which confused him. Noelle wasn’t in his American History class. What was she doing inside the classroom? He pressed his face to the pane of glass and gasped.
She was leaving a gift on top of Connor’s desk!
Not wanting to be seen, Simon had ducked away. When Noelle left the classroom seconds later, he had raced inside to Connor’s desk, staring at the wrapped gift. On top of it was a note: To Connor, Merry Xmas! Your Secret Santa
Simon was blown away. He’d been so sure that Lily was Connor’s Secret Santa, but she wasn’t.
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