My New Crush Gave to Me

by Shani Petroff

  “I’ll pretend to believe you,” she said, and put a big glop of frosting into a pastry bag and started icing the cupcakes. “I can’t wait for the Secret Santa. I already know the first gift I’m giving my person. I bought a Christmas stocking, and I’m going to make a giant gingerbread man and have him peeking out the top.”

  Morgan’s voice was literally teeming with excitement.

  “I do not get why you are so into this,” I said.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, because you’re…” I let my voice trail off.

  “Jewish? So what? I love Christmas. I can still appreciate the holiday even if I don’t celebrate it myself. It’s about making people happy, being there for them, goodwill to men and all that. Who wouldn’t want to take part in that, no matter what they believe?”

  “I know. That’s not what I meant. It’s just, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I guess it’s Ajay moving on, Noelle’s Christmas Ball, the threat of Zakiyah’s wrath, no response from Teo, my mom. It’s just all adding up. It’s making me feel over the holidays already.” I was basically going to have to watch everyone around me have the perfect Christmas while I was miserable.

  Morgan stopped frosting mid-cupcake. “Okay, you stop that this second. I’m not letting you be all bah humbug. You just need some Christmas magic. Give me my phone. You can thank me later.”

  She texted something and then opened the window in her kitchen.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. “It’s too cold for that.”

  “Just watch,” she said.

  A second later, about ten feet away in the house next door, J.D. Ortiz opened a window and stuck his head out. “What’s up?”

  “Your cousin,” she yelled. “He hasn’t answered Bobby about the Sentinel stuff. We need him. Can you get him to write the article and come to the meeting?”

  “What’s in it for me?” he asked, giving that cocky smile of his. Of course, instead of just doing something kind for someone, he’d expect something in return.

  “I just made doughnuts and cupcakes. You can come take your pick!”

  “Be right over,” he said.

  He shut his window, and I looked at Morgan as if she were out of her mind. “What are you doing? You did not just invite him over here!”

  “Yes, I did. And you’re going to be nice.”

  “You said Christmas magic, not a Christmas curse,” I muttered. “This is crazy.”

  “Hey,” she reprimanded me. “He’s Teo’s cousin. They’re close. Dealing with J.D. is going to get you what you want. Suck it up. You can do it. Think of it as a science experiment where you have to see how long you can go without sneering at him.”

  “Might be the first assignment I flunk.”

  The doorbell rang. “Just remember it’s for the greater good,” Morgan called out to me as she went to open the door. I braced myself for the worst, which was usually what you could expect when J.D. was involved.

  “When I opened my window, I could smell what you were making from my room,” J.D. said as he walked into the kitchen.

  “That was the plan,” she said, opening up the container that held the doughnuts. “Bribe you with my baking—or frying, as the case may be.”

  He took one and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. He was so disgusting.

  Morgan held out the container so he could take another. She laughed as he scarfed it down in less than three seconds. “Okay, you are worse than my brother and Ira.”

  “I just appreciate good food,” he said, popping yet another doughnut in his mouth.

  “In that case,” I said, “you might want to try chewing.”

  “She speaks,” he responded, his mouth full.

  Gross.

  Seriously, how did he and Teo share any DNA? I mean, I guess if I was being objective, the two had a slight resemblance. They were both tall, had a similar eye shape and color, a strong jawline and dark hair, although Teo wore his short and neat, while J.D. had a mess of curls. And if you looked past J.D.’s personality, they were both attractive. But that was where the similarities ended. Teo was muscular with flawless posture, while J.D. was lanky and slouched all the time. Teo always looked put together, while J.D. looked like he had just crawled out of bed. Teo was an overachiever like me, while J.D. didn’t care about anything except for, apparently, taking bribes and eating junk food. There really was no contest.

  “So why do you guys want Teo so bad?” he asked.

  I was not about to explain myself to him. “It doesn’t matter why,” I said. “We held up our end; you got your food. What do you care what our reasons are?”

  “Whoa!” J.D. held up his hands in defense. “I struck a nerve.”

  “No, you didn’t. It’s just none of your business.”

  “The lady protests too much,” he said.

  I made a circling motion with my index finger. “Whoop-de-do. He knows a line from Hamlet,” I said, making sure to keep my voice monotone. “Somebody call the Honor Society pronto.”

  “You have a crush, don’t you?”

  “No,” I objected.

  “Yes, you do. Aww, isn’t that cute.”

  I could feel my face heating up. I had to be cherry red by now. I didn’t know what to say, so I just glared at him.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, moving close to me and whispering in my ear. “I won’t tell. Well, not today anyway.”

  I looked to Morgan for help.

  “Stop, J.D.,” she told him. “Leave her alone. There’s no crush. We just think an article by one of the most popular guys in school will help get more eyeballs on the paper. So can you make it happen?”

  “For her?” He shook his head. “No. But for you … I will do my best.”

  “Thank you, and…,” she said, before showing him out, “invite him to tomorrow’s meeting, so we can brief him ahead of time.”

  Morgan was a genius. Now I would get even more time with Teo. I owed her one.

  “Fine,” J.D. answered. “But I do think that calls for a few more doughnuts.”

  Morgan went and got the rest of the batch and handed the whole thing to him. “Just bring back the container when you’re done.”

  “Absolutely.” He bowed. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

  She closed the door behind him.

  “I cannot stand him,” I growled once he was gone. “I swear every day he gets worse.”

  “Well, you weren’t exactly warm and fuzzy yourself.”

  “Because he’s awful.” I picked up the pastry bag and finished icing the half-frosted cupcake. “If I lived next to him, I’d make my mom move.”

  “He’s not that bad,” she said. “Remember when my dad broke his leg last year? J.D. shoveled our sidewalk. He wouldn’t even take any money. He can be really nice. He taught my brother how to skateboard, he showed me how to use Photoshop, and he gave me his English notes when I was out sick last month.”

  I hadn’t even realized my hands had tightened into fists until I saw the giant blob of frosting that was now half on the cupcake, half on the counter.

  “Nice? Whose side are you on?” I asked, cleaning up my mess.

  “Yours, of course,” she answered. “I just think that maybe you should give him a chance.”

  I had given him chances. Every week since the beginning of the school year. And every week he gave me problems. A fight over assignments, deadlines, picture selection, anything to give me a hard time. Something Morgan seemed to forget. “How about if we see if he comes through with Teo first?”

  “Okay, but he will,” she said. “You’ll see. Have a little faith.”

  Too bad having faith in J.D. was a lot easier said than done.

  Five

  “How long do you think you’ll be?” Ira asked Morgan when we got to the computer lab for our meeting.

  “Not too long,” she answered. “It’s just a quick update with the editors to make sure they’re all set for Friday.”

  “I’ll wa
it for you then,” he said.

  “You sure?” She was looking up at him adoringly. “You don’t have to.”

  He was mirroring her doe-eyed, smitten look. “I want to.”

  Of course he did. It was getting harder and harder to spend time with Morgan without Ira around. It’s not that I didn’t like him, or that they treated me like a third wheel—they didn’t. But it was still hard not to feel like I was intruding. Or maybe I was just more aware of their coupledom now that I was solo. You’d think after all these years, Ira and Morgan would want to spend less time together. But it was the opposite. They couldn’t get enough of each other.

  Ira wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, as Morgan leaned in and gave him a small peck on the lips.

  I swear they were so disgustingly cute. It had always been that way. Even from the beginning. When Morgan’s family moved to town five years ago, it was right around the Jewish New Year. Ira’s family invited them over to celebrate. The two hit it off instantly and began talking and flirting every day. They went to the dance together and have been a couple ever since.

  “You guys are going to make me sick,” I told them.

  “That’s our goal,” Morgan said.

  “Well, I’m going inside.” People were already making their way into the computer lab. “Don’t be late.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, pretending to be all serious. “There’s no way I’d waste one of my valuable passes.”

  “I don’t blame you,” I said, laughing. “People would kill for those.” For part of Morgan’s birthday present two years ago, I had given her some “late passes.” I may have a slight tendency to overreact when people don’t show up on time (especially if they don’t text or it’s not for a good reason). So to keep the peace, I gave Morgan five passes that she can use when she’s late—no explanations or apologies necessary—and I can’t complain or hold a grudge. As of now, she’s only used two.

  I looked up at the clock. Everyone still had five minutes to get there. So far, we were missing about half—including Teo.

  What if J.D. hadn’t come through? He was going to owe Morgan a million doughnuts. I didn’t have to worry long, though, because thirty seconds later, Teo strode into the room.

  He gave a wave in my direction, and I took that as an invitation to go say hello. “I’m happy you were able to come,” I said. I had planned this conversation down to the last detail. Pleasant greeting, check. Now if all went according to plan, he’d give one in return, I’d bring up his past Sentinel work, he’d ask about mine, I’d say how much I love working on the holiday edition—that I love the holidays and all the amazing celebrations this time of year, and then I’d plant the first seed about Noelle’s Christmas Ball.

  “Yeah, I’m glad J.D. told me about it. My schedule had been a little crazy, but with football winding down, I can pick up a story or two.” Return pleasantry—success.

  “You did a bunch of stuff for the Sentinel before, didn’t you?” I asked, everything going like clockwork.

  “Last year I—”

  “Teo,” Bobby said, slapping him on the shoulder. “You made it.”

  I gave him a death glare to leave, but Bobby either didn’t notice it or didn’t care.

  “Yeah, man, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner,” Teo said. “Your message went into my junk mail. I didn’t see it until J.D. told me about it, and I went looking.”

  As if it wasn’t annoying enough that Bobby hijacked my conversation, it went from bad to worse. Katie Boon came in, and she started gushing about Teo being there, too. Pretty soon, Teo was swarmed by just about every editor. They were all trying to chat him up and get his attention. Not that I could really blame them. Who wouldn’t want to spend time with him?

  By the time I called the meeting to order, I was feeling a little defeated. Friday, the full staff was going to be here. If I couldn’t get any Teo time with this small group, trying to have it with everyone around was just going to be worse. The newspaper meetings were supposed to be my time to get to know Teo better. I was going to need a new plan.

  Despite everything falling apart, Morgan and I kept our word. The meeting was super short. Short enough that J.D. missed the whole thing. He strolled in right as everyone was getting up to go. He didn’t even apologize.

  I wanted to say something, but I bit my tongue. I wasn’t going to start up with his cousin right there.

  “We’ll see you all Friday,” Morgan called out. “And don’t forget we’ll have the Secret Santa drawing.”

  She was way too chipper.

  “Cool,” Teo said. “See you guys then.” He looked right at me, bowed his head, and gave me a little salute. It was pretty adorable. I wanted to rush after him and finish our earlier conversation, but J.D. was by his side and ushering him out.

  Why did J.D. have to come at all? If he was going to be that late, he should have just stayed away. “J.D. ruins everything again,” I mumbled when it was just me and Morgan.

  “He did get Teo here,” she reminded me.

  “True.” But it didn’t improve my chances of him going with me to Noelle’s party.

  Ira stuck his head in the door. “Okay to come in?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Did all your dreams come true?” he asked me, hopping on a desk next to Morgan.

  “Hardly,” I said. I had let Morgan fill him in on my situation. “I don’t know how I’m going to move this forward. Teo and I have no classes together, I never see him in the halls, and the hospital run-in was a fluke. These meetings were supposed to be my in.”

  “Just ask him out,” Ira said.

  Like that was so easy. I had no idea if Teo was remotely interested in me that way. There was no way I was going to risk that rejection. I wanted to let him get to know me first. “Not happening.”

  “Maybe you can be extra flirty during the paper’s holiday party,” Morgan said. “I can bring in some mistletoe.”

  That was a hard no. “Not only would that be ridiculously embarrassing, it’d also be too late. The timing of the party is too close to Noelle’s.”

  “Too bad you couldn’t get his name in the Secret Santa,” she said.

  “Right?” I joked. “Then I could give him five perfect gifts to pique his curiosity and show him how compatible we truly are.”

  Morgan clutched her hands over her heart, whipped her dirty-blond hair to one side, and put on her most overdramatic voice. “Then just like in a cheesy movie, when the big reveal happens, you’ll lock eyes and know you’re meant to be a couple—or at the very least go to the Christmas Ball together.”

  “Yeah,” I said, my head spinning with possibilities. “It could totally win over his heart.”

  “Wait,” Morgan said, her voice returning to normal. “You know I’m kidding, right?”

  I did. I mean, I had been, too—until I realized it could actually work. “Guys, I think this is it. This is how I’m going to win him over.”

  They both looked more than a little skeptical, but what did they know? I was the one who loved science. The one who liked to analyze data and draw hypotheses, and I was sure that I could prove this one right.

  “You don’t get to choose your Secret Santa,” Ira reminded me.

  That’s what he thought.

  I was already formulating a plan.

  Six

  I met up with Morgan right before homeroom. I was not the type of person who skipped down halls, but if I were—this would have been my moment to do it. Operation Secret Santa (as I was now calling it) was just hours from taking off. And I felt like pirouetting, cartwheeling, and leaping as I walked. Everything was set to go.

  “Today’s the day!” I clapped my hands together. “My plan to win over Teo Ortiz officially goes into motion.”

  Morgan fiddled with the hem of her sweater. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

  “Of course I’m sure. It’s practically all I’ve been able to think about.” I st
udied her face. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?” Morgan asked, averting her eyes to the ground.

  “Like I’m going to mess this up!”

  “I never said that.”

  “You didn’t have to!” That was the thing with a best friend—you knew what was going on in their head, even when you wished you didn’t. “This is going to work, I know it.”

  She gave me that look again.

  “What?” I cried.

  “It’s just that you don’t know how to break a rule. Any rule. Are you sure you can do this?”

  “I’m not trying to hack into the computer system and change my grades—which, FYI, I’m sure I could do if I really wanted—I’m RIGGING A SECRET SANTA drawing.” I slapped my hand over my mouth and glanced around the hall to make sure no one else heard me. I was in the clear. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Says the girl who broke down after taking an extra piece of candy from Mrs. Chevian’s doorstep on Halloween.”

  “I was eight!” I regretted ever telling her that story. When I was trick-or-treating in third grade, the Chevians left a bowl of candy on their stoop with a sign that said TAKE ONE. I took two, but I felt so guilty that by the end of the night I was in tears and went back the next day to apologize.

  “Okay, then what about last year, the last day of school?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “What about it?”

  “Charlie!”

  “Fine, yes, everyone who had final-period study hall was skipping it to go get pizza. Except for me. I couldn’t do it. But this is different. The candy, the cutting class, that was doing something wrong. This isn’t. This is for love. And besides,” I said, giving her what I hoped was an endearing smile, “you weren’t there for either of those things. If you had lived in town when I was in third grade or were in my study hall last year, I would have been fine. But you’re here now. Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m sure of it.”

  She shook her head. “Okay, I’m in.” She sighed. “You know that. Let’s get you the boy of your dreams.”