#AllIWantForChristmas

by Yesenia Vargas

  Melissa’s brow furrowed. “Well, is there a phone number or email we can reach her at?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “No, but she was really happy to be able to help.”

  With that, we said our goodbyes and left Melissa and her family to continue their Christmas.

  When we climbed back into Tori’s car, she spun around to look at me. “Harp? That was about the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

  Lena nodded and gave me a sideways hug. “Thanks for putting up with me and my Scrooge-like tendencies.”

  I giggled. “No problem.”

  She looked down for a second and then around at all of us. “Definitely not the worst Christmas ever. In fact, it’s pretty awesome.”

  Rey hugged me too, and Ella smiled at me from the front passenger seat. “That was seriously better than any physical gift I could have gotten this year.”

  I grinned. “You guys are the best. I’m just glad we could make a difference for someone this holiday season.”

  Rey raised her hand. “I propose we make this a new #BFF tradition.”

  I gasped. “Yes!”

  “But first,” Tori said with a wink. “We have a party to get to.”

  Yes, I thought. And I had a boyfriend to dance with.

  Fifteen

  Tori

  Before the party really got started, I pulled Noah aside.

  He held on to my hand and said, “What is it?”

  I etched his easy-going smile into my mind, not believing I had once found it so annoying. “I want to give you your Christmas present,” I said.

  He looked around the kitchen. “It’s not something ridiculous like a golf cart or something, is it?” he teased.

  I laughed. “I’m saving that for your birthday,” I replied. After a second, I took his hands. “Close your eyes.”

  Curiosity swept across his face, but he did as I said.

  When I was sure he wasn’t looking, I walked over to our takeout menu drawer and dug out what I was looking for. “Still got them closed?” I asked, his present behind my back.

  “Yes,” he said, jutting his chin out and keeping his eyelids pressed together.

  “Good.” I walked right up to him. I took his right hand and placed his gift in it. His fingers closed around it. “Open your eyes,” I whispered.

  He did, immediately looking down at what he held in his hands. Glancing at me, a smile grew on his face as he shuffled through the brochures. “Are you serious?” he asked with an incredulous laugh.

  “Very,” I said. “I’ve got it all arranged. Think road trip, with snacks and amazing music and—” But I couldn’t finish my sentence because Noah wrapped his arms around me.

  He pulled me in close, and I did the same. “This is the best gift ever,” he said in my ear. His lips pressed against mine, and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, he said, “It’s perfect.”

  I smiled up at him like I had just gotten the best gift ever. Because that’s what it felt like. “I hoped you would like it.”

  He exhaled and looked back down at the different colleges and universities featured in the brochures. “We’re really going to visit all of these?”

  I nodded. “Every single one. Together.”

  His grin practically reached his ears, and that’s how I knew I had nailed his present. “I can’t wait for this.”

  “Just the two of us,” I added. I thought about us touring campuses, sitting in on classes, trying out the cafeteria food of all these different schools. “I have no idea where we’ll be next year, but maybe we can find out together.”

  I hoped we ended up at the same school, but if we didn’t, I had a feeling we would be okay. For now, I just wanted us to enjoy every single moment of our senior year, including figuring out where we’d go to school in the fall.

  Noah set the brochures on the counter, his eyes dancing with a secret of his own. “I got you something too.”

  I clasped my hands with excitement, definitely not expecting those words. “Really?”

  “Really,” he said softly. His hand went to his back pocket, but then he stopped. “Close your eyes.”

  Holding back a squeal, I bit my lip and shut my eyes.

  One second passed, then two and three, and I wondered how much longer I would have to wait.

  Just as I opened my mouth to ask Noah what was taking him so long, his lips gently touched mine. “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded, still speechless from the contact.

  He took my hands and placed a small box in them. I could feel the smooth wrapping paper under my fingers.

  “Open it,” he said.

  I opened my eyes and took in the bright red wrapping paper and small green bow. Just the right shade of green. Slowly peeling away the paper, I wondered what it could be.

  It was about as big as my phone, but square instead of rectangular.

  Then I saw the box and looked up at Noah. Was this what I thought it was? “I’ve always wanted one of these,” I confessed.

  Inside the box was one of those cute, colorful cameras which instantly printed out pictures. This one was teal. Just my style. “Thank you,” I said, putting the camera down on the counter and taking his face in my hands so I could kiss him on the lips.

  “So you like it?” he asked, still seeming a little unsure.

  I smiled, picking up the camera again. “Are you kidding? This is going to be great for when we visit those colleges. I love it.”

  A minute later, we had figured out how to set it up. I held it a few inches from our faces, selfie-style, for our first picture. Noah smiled wide at the lens, and my chest filled with joy for this moment. “Here we go,” I said, looking back toward the camera.

  But right before I clicked the button, I turned back to Noah and kissed him on the cheek.

  The picture printed out, our moment from just a minute ago now made tangible.

  We studied it, and I could have floated away like a balloon from how happy this photo made me. “You’re perfect,” I told Noah.

  “You are,” he managed, pressing his forehead against mine.

  It turned out I didn’t need much for Christmas to be perfect. Just moments like these with the people I loved most.

  Sixteen

  Ella

  Great music, great food, and the perfect outfit. Tori’s party should have been a blast, and it was, but I still ached for Jesse.

  He should have been there with me, his arms around me as we danced and laughed and spent Christmas Eve together.

  But he was hundreds of miles away, stuck in a different state. And tomorrow, I’d be the one gone, far away until school started again.

  I wondered what he was doing. Maybe sleeping and hoping to wake up in the morning to an airport that was up and running again.

  Making my way through the crowd in Tori’s cleared-out living room, I found somewhere to sit that wasn’t full.

  The stairs.

  Tori’s mom peeked down at the party and gave me a wave. I smiled and waved back, and then she disappeared again. According to Tori, her parents were making mandatory checks every twenty minutes to make sure nothing crazy was happening down here, but it was safe to say they had nothing to worry about.

  Most of the people in our grade were here tonight, but the only thing making them loud and wild was the over-consumption of sugar and soda.

  I checked the time on my phone. My flight left tomorrow at noon, and I didn’t want to get home too late. Other than wanting to hang out with my friends, I wasn’t really in the mood for a party.

  When Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” reached my ears, my heart ached even more.

  At the moment, Tori had her arms wrapped tight around Noah. They made me smile. Those two were the cutest pair ever.

  Except for maybe Harper and her boyfriend, Emerson. They’d been going strong since the summer, and even though he was kind of rough around the edges—a classic bad boy—he seemed to have a heart of gold.


  Lena’s boyfriend was missing too, but the way she was currently video recording herself lip-syncing to Mariah Carey made me think she was making the best of her boyfriend’s absence.

  Rey laughed at Lena from the snack table and took a bite of her Christmas tree cookie.

  The sound of someone knocking made me turn toward the front door. Tori was too far away to possibly hear, so I stepped off the stairs.

  I opened the door, and a couple of guys stood there.

  “Hey,” one of them said. “I’m Hugo. My sister, Rey, invited us to swing by.”

  This was Rey’s brother? I’d seen him around school last year, and then I remembered her saying he had graduated in May.

  “Hi,” I said. “Come on in.”

  His friend gave me a smile, and they both walked in. I eyed him, wondering if this was Rey’s infamous crush. He was definitely cute.

  “Rey’s over there somewhere,” I said, pointing to the snack table.

  They nodded and left. I closed the door and made my way back to my spot, where I could observe the party and maybe keep on wishing Jesse was here.

  A few minutes later, Rey came over. “Hey,” she said, sitting down beside me.

  “Hey,” I said, smiling. “Did you see your brother and his friend?” I asked with a wink.

  She nodded. “Yeah, I’m surprised they came, actually. Seeing as how they’re in college now and all.”

  She fidgeted with the napkin in her hand.

  “Your brother’s friend is cute,” I said, trying not to sound too amused.

  Rey did something between a scoff and a cough. After a minute, she recovered. “What about you? Why are you all lonely over here?”

  I gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Not lonely, really. Just…”

  “Wishing Jesse was here?” she finished for me.

  I nodded.

  She leaned her head on my shoulder. “Sorry he couldn’t make it.”

  We sat there like that for a few minutes, and then Rey sat up. “Uh oh. Where’s my journal?”

  I looked around. “Did you have it with you when you got here?”

  She stopped to think. “I can’t remember. I better go look for it.”

  With that, she was gone, leaping off the steps like a pixie.

  I wondered what was in her journal that had her so anxious. Then the doorbell rang again. Perhaps I needed to find a spot where I wouldn’t have to serve as the butler.

  Sighing, I walked over and flung open the door.

  A familiar face smiled back at me, his hands in his pockets as he shivered from the cold.

  I gasped and immediately closed the distance between us, my arms going around his neck. “Jesse,” I breathed. “What are you doing here?”

  I pulled away, and he stared down at me.

  “I thought you were stuck in New York,” I said, wondering how this was even possible.

  He took my hands in his, and then I remembered that he was still out there in the cold. I dragged him in and closed the door behind him. “Where’s your jacket?” I asked.

  “I forgot it,” he said sheepishly.

  Then I led him to the kitchen, where I could actually ask him all my questions without having to yell.

  I turned to him. “How are you here right now?” I asked with a laugh.

  He leaned back on the counter. “Somehow, the weather got better not long after I texted you. Better enough that they resumed flights. I was going to tell you, but I thought this would be more fun,” he confessed.

  I hugged him, and he did the same, pressing his head into my shoulder. “I missed you,” I whispered.

  “Me too,” he said quietly. “I really thought I wouldn’t get see you. You don’t know how bummed I was about that.”

  Same, I wanted to say. But at that moment, I didn’t want to say anything. I just wanted to feel him against me and breathe in his scent, touch his hair.

  And get enough of that in to make up for the next two weeks.

  “I have to go home in a couple hours,” I said, sad all of a sudden. How was I sad even though this had been the best gift ever?

  Jesse leaned down toward me, his lips slowly pressing against mine. “Let’s make the most of it then,” he uttered.

  I kissed him, deepening our kiss and letting him know that I completely agreed with his idea.

  After a few minutes, we pulled away, and he took my hand. The sound of the music in the living room carried all the way in here. “Can I have this dance?” he asked.

  I smiled. “You can.”

  Then he led me back to the party.

  Seventeen

  Rey

  My journal. Where was it?

  I’d never lost a journal before, and I didn’t know what I would do if I did.

  Taking a deep breath, I remembered that I wasn’t in a public place like the park or the mall. It had to be around here somewhere.

  But what if someone took it? Opened it?

  Read it?

  It didn’t have my name in it, but it wouldn’t be hard for someone to know that it was mine since I carried a journal with me everywhere.

  My heart beat faster at the thought of someone reading all my innermost and private thoughts. Going through my doodles, laughing at my poems, my ramblings, and diary entries.

  There were some really private things in there, and even the rest of the #BFFs had never gotten a look at more than a page or two, usually a drawing or doodle.

  I never shared my journals with anyone. Not my mom or friends and least of all my siblings.

  I’d never live it down if someone found out what I wrote in there.

  So with that thought in mind, I searched everywhere. The table with drinks and snacks. The couches and seats. The floor, but my journal was nowhere to be found.

  Just as I was getting ready to notify my friends of the current emergency and beg them for their help, I spotted it.

  In the hands of none other than Wes.

  What???

  NO.

  He stood in front of a large window near the fireplace, and then I remembered that I’d placed it on the mantle. Duh.

  But where had Wes come from? I hadn’t even seen him come in. Surely my brother was also around.

  So they’d taken me up on my invitation earlier.

  But this was not what I had been expecting.

  I crossed the room in about five steps, quick as a deer, and promptly snatched the journal out of his hand just as he flipped open the front cover. “Wes! Hey,” I said with a huge smile. “You found my journal. Thanks!” I hugged the journal to my chest and laughed nervously, knowing just how much I sounded like a complete dork.

  He grinned back at me, his eyes still on my journal. “Hey, Rey,” he said. “I was wondering whose that was. I accidentally knocked it off.”

  I chuckled, unable to stop. “Yeah, it’s mine.” I searched my mind for something else—anything else—to talk about. I didn’t like it when people asked me what I wrote in my journals.

  All kinds of stuff. Stuff not suitable for public viewing or even discussion. It was all way too private.

  Thankfully, Wes seemed to sense my awkward discomfort. He glanced around. “So,” he said. “This is a pretty great party, huh?”

  I nodded. “Tori sure knows how to throw a party,” I replied. If I’d been the one in charge, we’d be playing Harry Potter bingo right about now, but thankfully for everyone else, I hadn’t been the one to plan this party.

  Peeking out the window, I said, “It sure got cold, huh?”

  He looked like he was ready to make any excuse and find my brother, but then he relaxed and looked out the window with me. “Yeah, I have a bet going with Hugo. I think it’ll snow. He thinks there’s no chance.”

  Inside, I was glad we’d gone from awkward moment to interesting conversation. Wes and I didn’t get to talk much. He was my brother’s best friend after all, but whenever I could get him to myself for a few minutes, I found myself wishing that time would freeze for a lit
tle while.

  “What do you think?” he asked. “Do you think it’ll snow?”

  I thought about that. “According to the forecast, it’s a no, but I have a feeling the sky has plans of its own.”

  He smiled. “Something about the air, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said, mesmerized by his silky voice and just barely dimpled chin. “”Definitely something in the air.”

  When he didn’t say anything, I came back down to earth and wondered what he was looking at.

  He gazed intently at something hanging just above the window.

  “What’s that?” I asked. It was hard to tell in the dark living room, but was that…

  “Mistletoe,” he said quietly.

  Someone could have knocked me over with a feather right then.

  I almost dropped my journal. Wes met my eyes, and I was sure I looked just as horrified as I felt.

  He chuckled. “I think we’re supposed to kiss now,” he said. “I’m honestly just glad it’s you and not your brother.”

  Glad he was amused and not embarrassed like me, I finally smiled, but I still didn’t know what to say.

  I was not built for making up witty comments on the fly! There was a reason I journaled instead.

  Wes blinked back at me, and I wondered what was going through his mind. Maybe he’d just laugh it off and insist we didn’t have to do what tradition called for.

  But then why was another part of me desperately hoping he did?

  And why couldn’t I say anything?

  “So what do you say?” he asked. “I promise I won’t bite.”

  Slowly, my brain figured out how to nod and regained control of my mouth. “O—okay,” I said.

  He gave me one more smile and then leaned down toward my short frame. I closed my eyes and stood still, hoping I didn’t go into a random spasm and accidentally hit him.

  Then his mouth pressed against my lips for about half a second. It was over before I even realized it had started.