by Nancy Krulik
“We’ll start our Secret Santa gift exchanges next Tuesday. That’s one week from today,” Mr. G. told the class.
Phew.
“When you come to school, drop your gift in the big red bag outside the classroom door,” Mr. G. continued. “You should wrap your presents in plain brown paper. And make sure you write the name of the person you are giving the gift to on your package. The first two days, I’ll hand the gifts out for you. That way you Santas can stay secret until Thursday, when you reveal your identity to the person whose name is on your slip of paper.”
“This is going to be so cool!” George exclaimed.
“I can’t wait to go shopping,” Mandy Banks said. “I know exactly what to buy for my person.”
“Me, too,” Emma Stavros agreed. “This is easy.”
Katie wished she had it easy. Kadeem. That was a tough one. It was hard knowing what to buy for a boy. And it was even harder because this was the first year she and Kadeem had been in the same class. She didn’t know him nearly as well as some of the other kids.
“Okay, gang, let’s get this day rockin’ and rollin’,” Mr. G. said. Katie knew she would have to think about her Secret Santa gifts later. Now she had to concentrate on her school work. “We’ll start with social studies,” he told the class. “Who can tell me about some of the animals that actually live at the Arctic Circle?”
George Brennan raised his hand high. “Ooh. Ooh. Ooh!” he shouted. “Mr. G., I know this one,” he said excitedly.
Katie looked over at George and smiled. He was practically bouncing out of his beanbag chair. George really liked geography a lot. He was so excited, he knocked his backpack over. All his books and papers spilled out onto the floor.
“Check it out. George is Santa Klutz!” Kadeem joked.
Everyone laughed. Everyone except George, that is.
“What does Santa like to put into his cookies?” George asked the class.
“What?” Kevin Camilleri wondered.
“His teeth!” George exclaimed. Then he laughed. “Ho ho ho!”
Almost everyone else in the class laughed, too. But not Kadeem.
“What do Santa’s elves learn in first grade?” Kadeem asked.
“What?” Andrew Epstein called out.
“The elf-abet!” Kadeem shouted.
“Hey, good one, dude!” Andrew said.
“Did you hear the one about Santa and—” George began.
“Whoa, hold on to that joke, dude,” Mr. G. interrupted. “We can have a holiday joke-off this afternoon. But right now, we’ve got to stick to social studies.”
Katie grinned. A joke-off! Now that was something to look forward to.
It also gave her a great idea. She knew exactly what Secret Santa presents she was going to get for Kadeem!
Chapter 2
“Mom, I’m going over to Cinnamon’s Candy Shop,” Katie called up to her mom.
It was the Monday before the Secret Santa gift exchange was going to start. Katie finally had all the money she needed for Kadeem’s gifts. She was buying the first two smaller gifts today.
Mrs. Carew was standing on a ladder, putting books on a high shelf in the fiction section of the Book Nook bookstore. She was the manager of the store. It was her job to make sure all the books were on the right shelves.
“Okay,” Mrs. Carew called down to Katie. “Just be back by five-thirty. I’ve got to get home and finish trimming the Christmas tree. Grandma is coming tomorrow, and I want everything to be just perfect.”
Katie smiled. She couldn’t wait to see her grandma. She was the most wonderful grandmother in the whole world.
Katie’s grandma was the only adult Katie knew who rode roller coasters. She even had her own website with pictures of roller coasters from all over the world that she had ridden.
Katie’s grandmother did other cool things, too, like swimming with dolphins in Mexico and skiing in the Swiss Alps!
Of course, she also did normal grandmother things, like baking cookies and knitting sweaters for people in her family.
Katie definitely couldn’t wait to see her!
The Cherrydale Mall was one of Katie’s favorite places. Since her mother worked in the mall, Katie spent a lot of time wandering in and out of the stores. Almost all of the shopkeepers knew her. And even though they were grown-ups, they were all friends of Katie’s.
The mall hardly ever changed. Sure, once in a while a new store or restaurant opened. But for the most part, everything stayed the same.
Except at Christmastime. Then the whole center of the mall was turned into a giant Winter Wonderland. It was complete with snow, reindeer, elves, and a little North Pole Express train that kids could actually ride!
And in the center of it all sat Santa Claus. Of course, this wasn’t a real Winter Wonderland. It was actually a photography studio in the center of the mall. Kids went there to sit on Santa’s lap and have their pictures taken.
Katie watched one little boy being dragged onto Santa’s lap by an elf. The kid definitely was not happy about it.
“I don’t wanna go!” he screamed loudly.
“Come on, Jeffrey,” his mother coaxed. “Just one picture.”
“No!” Jeffrey shouted. “No Santa.”
Katie was so busy watching Jeffrey’s temper tantrum, she didn’t even notice her best friend Suzanne Lock coming up behind her.
“What a brat!” Suzanne exclaimed, looking at Jeffrey.
Katie turned around. “I think he’s just scared,” she replied. “What are you doing here?”
“My mom’s taking Heather to have her picture taken with Santa,” Suzanne told Katie. She pointed toward the line of children and parents waiting to see Santa.
Katie spotted Mrs. Lock in the middle of the line. She was carrying Suzanne’s one-and-a-half-year-old sister, Heather.
Heather was wearing a red velvet dress.
She had a big green bow in her curly brown hair. “She looks so cute!” Katie told Suzanne.
“My mother bought her that dress just to have her picture taken with Santa Claus,” Suzanne explained. “She said I could have a new dress, too, if I would have my picture taken.”
Katie studied Suzanne’s outfit. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, brown suede boots, and a yellow sweater with glitter around the neck and sleeves.
“I guess you said no,” Katie said with a laugh.
“Of course,” Suzanne told her. “I’m not going to the Winter Wonderland. That’s totally for babies.”
“I don’t know, Suzanne,” Katie told her. “It could be kind of cool to sit on Santa’s lap. For old time’s sake, I mean.”
“It would not be cool,” Suzanne told her. “I mean, look at that guy. He doesn’t even look like the real Santa. His belly isn’t nearly fat enough.”
Katie shook her head. There was no point arguing with Suzanne when she got like this. “Well, I’ve got to get going,” Katie said finally. “I’m shopping for some of my Secret Santa presents.”
“Oh, yeah, I heard you guys in class 4A were doing that,” Suzanne replied. “Whose name did you pick?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Katie told her. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”
“Come on. I’m not even in your class,” Suzanne urged. “And I’m your best friend.”
“True,” Katie agreed. “But you can’t keep a secret. So I’m not telling.”
Suzanne frowned. “Fine,” she said. “But if I find out who got your name, I’m not telling you.”
“That’s okay,” Katie answered. “I want to be surprised.”
Chapter 3
On Tuesday morning, Katie was the first one in the school building. She wanted to drop off her present before anyone could see her. By the time the other kids began placing their gifts in the big red bag, Katie was already seated on her beanbag chair.
“Okay, gang, let’s get rolling,” Mr. Guthrie said as he walked over to the board. “It’s time to start learning.”
“Oh,” the kids all seemed to groan at once. It was obvious they wanted to get their Secret Santa gifts right away!
“Here’s your WFT,” Mr. G. said as he wrote on the board. WFT meant “Word for Today.” Each day, Mr. G. wrote a new, really hard vocabulary word on the board for the kids to learn.
“Today’s word is impetuous,” Mr. G. continued. “Can anyone tell me what that means?”
He looked around the room. Nobody raised a hand.
“George, why don’t you look up the WFT in the dictionary for us?” Mr. G. suggested.
George walked over to the big red dictionary and opened to the I words. “Impetuous,” he read out loud. “Acting on the spur of the moment.”
“Now, someone use it in a sentence,” Mr. G. said.
Andrew raised his hand. “I wish Mr. G. would be impetuous and let us do Secret Santa now.”
Mr. G. chuckled. “That’s right.”
“No, I mean it,” Andrew continued. “I really want you to!”
“Me too,” Mandy added. “I’m dying to know what I got.”
“Please, Mr. G.,” Kevin pleaded.
Mr. G. rolled his eyes. But Katie could tell he wasn’t really annoyed. He still had a big smile on his face.
“Okay, I surrender,” he said finally. “We’ll do Secret Santa now. But don’t think you’re off the hook. After you open your presents, it’s back to work.”
One by one, Mr. G. began handing out the gifts. “Don’t be impetuous,” he told them. “Please wait until everyone has a present before you open yours.”
The kids waited until all the gifts were handed out. “Go for it!” Mr. G. shouted.
“Oh, cool!” Mandy squealed as she held up a small pin with two bells hanging from it. She pinned it to her shirt right away.
“I love this!” Emma W. said as she unwrapped a package of Bayside Boys trading cards. She smiled at Katie. “Only a good friend would know the perfect present to buy for me.”
Katie shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Obviously someone else knew Emma W. pretty well, too.
“What did you get?” Emma W. asked Katie.
Katie opened her present and found a round piece of red rubber. “What is this?” she asked.
“Whoa, check it out!” George cried out from across the room. “Katie Kazoo got a whoopee cushion!”
Everyone laughed.
Katie looked at the whoopee cushion and sighed. She wasn’t the kind of kid to put that on someone’s seat. The noise that came out of that thing would only embarrass the person who sat on it. Katie didn’t like embarrassing people.
Obviously her Secret Santa wasn’t someone who knew her very well. It was probably one of the boys—maybe George or Kevin or Kadeem. They liked practical jokes.
“Sweet!” Kevin exclaimed, holding up a packet of tomato seeds. “I can grow my own tomatoes! Awesome!”
“Check out my gift,” Kadeem called to everyone. “It comes with a joke.” He looked at the riddle on top of his gift. “What kind of beans don’t grow in a garden?” he asked everyone.
“What kind?” Andrew asked.
“Jelly beans!” he shouted out as he held up his present for everyone to see. He opened the bag and popped a bright blue one into his mouth. “Yum, blue raspberry!”
Katie smiled. Kadeem had really liked his gift. Boys weren’t so hard to buy presents for after all.
Chapter 4
“So what did your Secret Santa get for you?” Suzanne asked as she, Katie, and Emma W. walked home from school together later than afternoon. They were going to play at Katie’s house.
Katie frowned. “A whoopee cushion. How dumb is that?”
“I think it’s kind of neat,” Emma W. said. “You could really do some funny things with that.”
“Oh, yeah,” Suzanne agreed. “You know what you should do? You should invite Mrs. Derkman over to your house, and then make sure she sits on it.”
The girls all laughed at that. Mrs. Derkman was the strictest teacher in the entire school. Katie and Suzanne had suffered through an entire year with her when she was their third-grade teacher last year. Mrs. Derkman was also Katie’s next-door neighbor. Katie just couldn’t get rid of her.
“That would be funny,” Katie agreed. “Imagine Mrs. Derkman letting out a noise like that!”
The girls giggled again.
“Hey, check out those motorcycles,” Suzanne said. She pointed toward Katie’s house.
“Yeah!” Katie exclaimed. “My Grandma is here!”
“Your grandmother rides a motorcycle?” Emma W. asked, amazed.
“Uh-huh.” Katie nodded proudly. “That red one is hers. Isn’t it beautiful?” Her grandmother had e-mailed her a picture of the motorcycle. But it was even cooler-looking in real-life!
“Do you think she’d take you for a ride on it?” Emma asked.
Katie shook her head. “My mother says I have to wait until I’m older. A lot older. She doesn’t really like motorcycles.”
“Katie’s mom isn’t nearly as cool as her grandmother is,” Suzanne told Emma. “I’ve known Katie’s family a long time.”
Katie sighed. Suzanne loved to remind Emma that she had been Katie’s friend much longer than Emma had.
“Who does the other motorcycle belong to?” Emma wondered.
“I don’t know,” Katie admitted. “Grandma must have brought a friend. Come on, let’s go inside.”
The girls all raced up to the front porch.
“Grandma!” Katie shouted as she entered the house.
A small woman with bright red hair and freckles just like Katie’s came running to greet her. Katie leaped into her grandmother’s arms.
“It is so great to see you, Kit Kat,” Katie’s grandmother said.
“Wow, you guys really look alike,” Emma blurted out. “Your hair’s the same color and everything.”
“Except my color comes out of a hair-dye bottle,” Katie’s grandma admitted. She smiled at Katie’s friends. “Suzanne, it’s so good to see you again. You’ve gotten so tall. Just like a model.”
Suzanne struck a pose. She tilted her head and smiled brightly as though there were a camera in the room. “I have been doing some modeling,” she said.
“You’ve been taking modeling classes,” Katie corrected her.
“Same thing,” Suzanne insisted.
It really wasn’t the same thing. But Katie didn’t feel like wasting her time talking about that now. She wanted to spend time talking to her grandmother.
“This is Emma Weber,” Katie said. “We’re in the same class at school.”
“Nice to meet you, Emma,” Katie’s grandmother said. “Come on in. I have a friend here, too. I want to introduce you.”
The girls followed Katie’s grandma into the living room. Katie saw her mom sitting on the couch near the Christmas tree. And next to her was a white-haired man with a chubby belly and a long white beard. He was wearing small round glasses, a thick black motorcycle jacket, jeans, and big black boots.
“Girls, this is my friend Nick,” Katie’s grandmother said.
Nick stood up and walked over to Katie. “You have to be Katie. You look just like your grandmother!”
“You’re right,” Katie told him. “And these are my friends Suzanne and Emma.”
“Hi, girls,” Nick said.
Suzanne and Emma didn’t answer. They just stood there, staring at Nick.
Katie looked at them strangely. She couldn’t believe they were being so rude.
“Um, are there any Christmas cookies?” Katie asked, trying to break the silence in the room.
“Of course,” Katie’s mom said. “Grandma brought them.”
“Great!” Katie said. “Did you make any of the Rudolph-shaped ones? You know, the ones with the little red candies on their noses?”
“Of course, Kit Kat,” Katie’s grandmother assured her. “I know how you love your reindeer cookies.”
“Your grandmother and I met some reindeer,” Nick
told Katie. “Last summer, when we were on vacation in Finland.”
“Real reindeer?” Katie asked, amazed.
“Yep,” Nick told her. “They actually have reindeer farms there.”
“The reindeer are so adorable,” Katie’s grandmother added. “And gentle. They walked right up to Nick and ate out of his hand.”
Nick threw back his head and laughed loudly. “Reindeer love sugar cubes,” he told them.
“The reindeer probably recognized him,” Suzanne blurted out.
Katie looked at her curiously. “Huh?” she asked.
“Um, nothing,” Suzanne mumbled. “Can we go get those cookies?”
“They’re in the kitchen,” Mrs. Carew told Suzanne.
Suzanne grabbed Katie’s and Emma’s hands and pulled them out of the room as fast as she could.
Chapter 5
“What’s the matter with you guys?” Katie asked as soon as the girls were in the kitchen.
“What’s the matter with us?” Suzanne replied. “How about you? You acted like you didn’t even notice.”
“Notice what?” Katie asked.
“You know,” Emma said. “Nick.”
“What about Nick?” Katie asked.
“Didn’t you think there was something kind of . . . well . . . weird about Nick?” Emma suggested.
“Come on, guys. What’s going on?” Katie was starting to lose her patience.
“He doesn’t remind you of anyone?”
Emma continued.
Katie thought for a moment. “No,” she said finally.
“Think about it, Katie,” Suzanne said. “He’s got that big belly and the white beard . . .”
“And how about those glasses?” Emma continued.
“And his laugh,” Suzanne said. She threw back her head, stuck out her stomach, and laughed the way Nick did. “Ho ho ho!”
Katie stared at her friends. Now she got it. “You mean you guys think Nick looks like Santa Claus?”
“Don’t you?” Suzanne asked. “Come on. You have to admit it was a little weird that the reindeer would just walk up to him and make friends.”