I glanced back at Carson’s group as they stepped toward the front door. They were so annoying—a group of five privileged kids walking out to their brand-new cars and trucks and arrogant as all hell. Yeah, life surely wasn’t fair.
I was from the other side of town, the side that the wealthy kids ignored and looked down on just because I wasn’t rich, and honestly, I hated them for that, but I tried to act like I didn’t care.
I focused back on the tree, in full annoyance. I unwrapped the garland from around my neck and looped it over and under the branches. I started from the bottom and circled the tree, easing it upward until I reached to peak, until it looked halfway decent.
I hung paper cut out mittens in perfect spots on the tree where each one could be seen by everyone. I was so proud of the mittens. I had single-handedly cut out each mitten. On the back of each mitten was a toy requested specifically by a child from a list I was given from the shelter.
I stepped back and threw my hands on my hips to admire my work. After a few minor adjustments, I was satisfied. My eyes cast over the tree to where I caught Carson glancing at me through the lobby window as he stepped by the front of the school to his car. He whipped his eyes away and then disappeared behind the brick wall.
Ugh. I would catch him staring at me every so often, at lunch, in the morning, even at my locker. I didn’t know what was going on with him, but it was a little annoying. Don’t get me wrong, girls fought to get Carson’s attention around here, but knowing that I was not on his list of lustful hotties only left me with one other reason why he stared at me. He must think I’m weird, because Carson was not shy around girls, that’s for sure. He’d gotten a reputation for being hands-on and he was not afraid to show it, anywhere in school, and it was pretty gross.
CARSON - The Aftermath
My heart was pounding, getting caught staring through the window at Chelsea. I trailed behind my group toward the parking lot. I didn’t feel like listening to my friends talk trash about their Chelsea encounter, especially since they didn't see the situation as I did. Teammates walked by me patting my shoulder and saying goodnight on their way to their cars.
She had worked meticulously on that Christmas tree, not caring what anybody else thought. She thought she could save the world. That’s what was so cool about her. She was so dedicated. I loved to watch the way she slightly parted her plump lips when she focused so hard on something. It sent my blood flowing to parts of my body no other girl could do. I was infatuated with a girl who hated me, and it sucked.
I lifted my head, keeping an eye on my group, who were ahead of me. Hayley and Katelyn wore skinny jeans, with puffy ski jackets. Dressed like snow bunnies, they trudged through old snow and slush with 4-inch heels on. They were hot for sure. But Chelsea was hot too. In her own way; she wore black sneakers, jeans and an oversized green sweater, and she still looked cute. I loved that she didn’t try to impress anyone and especially liked that she was not impressed by me.
I’ve known Chelsea since elementary school. It wasn’t until middle school that I had the courage to ask her out. Neither of our families had much money at that time. We lived in a small cape cod. She lived with her mom and little brother in a two-bedroom apartment.
Then, just before high school everything changed. My dad became a partner at his job. He started pulling in great money, so we moved to the upper side of town. I started to get noticed for football; the players and cheerleaders swarmed me. That’s when I got cocky and threw Chelsea away. And there wasn’t one second that I didn’t regret letting her go.
Up ahead I could hear Katelyn and Hayley laughing and joking about the situation with Chelsea. My only salvation was knowing that they would soon flip to a different topic. I’d heard enough of their conversations to know their minds never floated far from hair, nails and shopping.
The group stood at our cars waiting for me. Cars whizzed by and honked as they drove out of the lot. I slid my fingers into my pocket and pulled out my key.
“Guys, why do you have to mess with Chelsea? You know it makes her mad.” I said soured. I honestly didn’t know if they did half the crap they did just to annoy her because I went out with her, or if it was truly accidental. Either way, I was always caught in the middle, and I hated it.
“Because she gets so pissed.” Braxton laughed. He palm slapped Trevor in agreement.
“That’s the reason not to bother her, and she gets pissed at me, not you,” I pointed out.
I rolled my eyes. Pointing the key at my Black Explorer, I pressed my thumb on the open button and the door unclicked . My fingers pulled up the handle and opened the drivers door.
“That’s the best part, bro!” The two laughed and high-fived each other as if they had the best scenario going, and they actually did. I swear these guys could be serious jerks.
I tossed in my duffle bag and slid into the front seat.
I shook my head in frustration. They had gone back and forth with Chelsea for four years, I wondered when they would tire of it, but it didn’t look like it would be any time soon. I had to admit I liked that she didn’t lay down for these guys. She fought back, not afraid to defend herself. I’d seen them almost make guys cry, but not Chelsea. Man, she was strong.
Trevor lifted the handle and dropped down in the passenger seat.
I clicked my seatbelt on and pulled out of the lot onto the main road. I was so irritated by their arrogant attitude about Chelsea, I couldn't talk.
Trevor broke the silence. “Why don’t you just ask her out?”
“Who?” I crunched my face. Was he talking about Hayley? She was always pestering Trevor to convince me to go steady with her. She was hot and a great first-time girl for any guy, but I’d never keep her on my arm.
“Chelsea,” he blurted.
“What are you talking about?” My heart sped up. Crap, was it that obvious? I couldn’t let them know how much I liked her, how she made my insides tighten up when I saw her coming toward me. That I could barely speak when she was scolding them. It wasn’t worth listening to them hassle me about liking her, especially if she wasn’t interested in me.
“Come on, Carson. I’m your best friend. I know you.” He elbowed my forearm.
“What do you mean?”
“Dude, it’s so obvious. Pfft, It’s cool.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Take a shot at her. I don’t care.”
“You’re nuts.” At least that's how I played it off. Truth was the reason I didn’t want to be tied down to any one girl was because the girl I wanted was in my sights every day. Why couldn’t I ask her out? Probably because she was always yelling at me and my friends. “Dude she hates me and despises you guys.”
Trevor chuckled. “Yeah, can’t blame her for that one.” He grinned as if he was proud of his taunting Chelsea mixed with the enjoyment of making my life hell.
Trevor rambled on about plans for this weekend. Today was Friday, and in usual fashion we’d meet up at a teammate’s house. I was supposed to be going on a date with Lila Brady tonight. Her dad owned a Burger franchise. She had big money and a badass convertible to prove it.
We finalized our plans for the evening. I was going to pick Lila up and meet up with the group at Dwayne, a teammates house. I pulled up in front of Trevor’s house. A grand colonial with two double garages and front porch and intricate glass double doors.
As I pulled away for my drive home, my mind shifted back to Chelsea.
I remember the feel of her soft skin, the way it felt when she wrapped her fingers gently around my forearm to get my attention, making my arm tingle. Then gently drag me to the bulletin board with a sign-up sheet to donate time to all different things like nursing homes or pet centers. She was drawn to charities like a mosquito to a flame. She loved them and didn’t care who knew or didn’t approve. She was so selfless, it made me feel guilty for not doing anything to help.
Chelsea just had a way that made life seem perfect. I loved how she always felt that things would work out fine
in the end. I needed that happiness and positivity in my life right now more than anything.
My mom had been in and out of the hospital for radiation treatment for breast cancer. These guys knew, but I didn’t really dump it on them. I told Trevor, but the girls were pretty absorbed in their own lives, so I didn’t even bother. And I played it off like nothing unusual was going on in my life, but I was scared I might lose her.
Chapter 3
CHELSEA - WORK
I rushed to work. I slammed the locker door to the employee locker room and slid my arms through the holes of the blue vest. I was almost late. It took so much time to fix what Trevor and Braxton had broken, idiots. I was almost late for work. Not that Emily, my boss, cared too much. She was cool. It was more of a personal pet peeve when people were late. It just felt like it meant you were not important in their life, and I wanted everyone to feel they are important.
“Hi Linda.” I greeted him.
“Hey Chelsea, can you finish putting out this cart?” The cart was filled with various Christmas decorations: Christmas stockings, boxes of candy canes, tinsel, glass ornaments and Christmas candies.
“Ok. By the way, I’m taking April’s shift Saturday night.”
“Again?” She turned facing towards me and threw a hand on her hip with a set of keys in her hand. She firmly pointed at me. “Chelsea, you're 17, you need to be going out on Saturday night, have dates, get a boyfriend, not filling in for 40-year-old partiers.”
It was true, this was where I sacrificed so many of my high school weekend evenings. But I never found anything better to do. When I was off, I spent the weekends with Amanda or a few of the other girls in our group. But we were pretty boring. We either went to the movies, hung out at someone’s house watching a horror flick on Netflix or went bowling. Sometimes a rare double date would occur when one of my friends set me up, although none of my choices seemed enticing enough to make me throw away a shift for them. Especially now, during the holidays.
I grabbed the handle on the overflowing cart and pushed it through the double doors. The wheels squeaked as I pushed it down the main aisle.
“I’m fine, the boys are all immature anyway. Two of them just ruined my school’s Charity Tree.”
“Oh no. The one for the shelter?”
“Yes! The one I worked for hours on, putting it together, coordinating it with the manager of the shelter, all for the children.”
“How?” Linda gasped. It felt good to have someone finally understand how I felt.
“They completely toppled it over and then ignored the damage, leaving it in the lobby dismantled and destroyed. If I wasn’t there, it would be there until tomorrow when I fixed it. They didn’t even care.”
Christmas music filtered through the store.
Her eyes filled with concern. All the long hours of searching the internet for just the right place, the dozens of communications of emails, the countless hours spent on cutting out mitten shapes from construction paper, carefully writing each toy clearly and centered on each mitten. Toting the tree out of storage and putting the garland on just right to make the tree look special.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Linda apologized.
I traversed the aisles and displays, dodging some cheery customers, and parked the cart in front of an empty set of shelves.
“It’s not your fault. Stupid, immature, rich, bratty boys. They are so irritating.” My teeth gritted as I spoke.
“Oh, come on. They can’t all be bad. There has to be at least one boy in your school that you like.”
“Nope.” I said curtly and with confidence.
“That can’t be true, just one. Come on.” She nudged my arm as I pulled an armful of red velvet Christmas stockings out of the box and faced the empty hooks. I placed them on the hooks a few handfuls at a time.
“No, there’s not, I'm serious.” At least I felt serious.
“Ok, then who is the hottest boy at your school?” I knew she wouldn't give up until I answered something about a cute boy. So I threw out a name off the top of my head.
“Carson.” Even saying his name brought a smile to my face.
“What’s he look like?”
“He’s big, and tall, and has red hair like evening sun and has a beaming smile.”
“Sounds cute.”
“I guess.” I shrugged. I felt my face actually light up. I didn’t even know why. It was just automatic when his face came into my mind.
There was something magical about him. He didn’t even need to say a word. Just a confident glance, his famous cocked smile. His melting chocolate eyes. His muscular body. I snapped myself out of my daze.
“You should ask him out,” Linda advised.
“No, I do not ask boys out.” I gave her a death glare. That's something she might do, but she was braver than me. I chuckled recounting our relationship in middle school.
The Christmas music played in a loop filtering through the store. I loved it. It made me feel bubbly inside. Talking about Carson just made even happier. This evening was quickly turning around.
“What?”
I had to admit, I was a bit prideful to have gone out with the hottest guy in school for two years.
“I actually went out with him in 7th and 8th grade, before high school and before he became Mr. Big Shot.” It was before that skinny little kid with a mouth full of metal had become this six foot, mound of muscle. Some things though, hadn't changed, like his shy smile. The others can’t see it, but I could.
That nod that we do when our friends are out of line and we are in agreement. Even that biting of his nails. I still caught glimpses of what he does when he’s hunched over his history book in class, not understanding what was going on. I knew him so well, but the years had passed, and with the exception of a hello in passing or me scolding his friends and him stepping in once in a while, we didn’t really speak.
A ding rang from the bell beside the register. Someone wanted to check out, I was on register duty. I straightened up and brushed down the front of my vest. Peering around the corner of the aisle, my eyes popped. A squeak came out of my lips. I hopped backward, into the aisle before he could see me. What was I doing? I slapped my hand on my chest to stop my heart from pounding.
“What is it?”
I bit my lip. What was I doing? I wasn’t afraid of him.
Linda cocked her head and scrunched her nose at me. I knew I was taking way too long.
It’s him, I mouthed to her and pointed in his direction. The bell dinged again.
The back of my head smacked against a section of candy canes on the shelf.
It was Carson. What was he doing here? I never had known him to come in here for anything. Most kids don’t. Ugh and me in a dorky Santa hat with my name sprinkled in glitter across it adorned my head. I sighed.
Linda’s fingers made a sweeping motion toward the registers for me to go. I caught my breath and took a step out to the main aisle. I took in a deep breath and with a tug of my vest, I jogged over to the register with a forced cheery smile.
Carson - WORK
“Hey, Carson.”
My eyes widened as Chelsea appeared behind the counter. What the heck was she doing here? My heart raced. It was great to see her, especially without the guys and girls around. I could be me. Talk to Chels like we used to. I missed our conversations. We used to talk about anything, but the guys and girls only ever talked about sports, fashion and gossip and that got boring.
“Do you work here?” I hadn’t seen her here before, although I had to admit, I rarely came here. But I might have to rethink that.
“Yes.” Her fingers tilted the badge in my direction and raised her eyebrows as if it was a dumb question. Geez, she must really not like me.
“How long have you been working here?” I really thought I knew everything about her, but I guess we had lost track of each other.
“About six months.”
“Oh. I guess I don’t really come here often.”
; “What’s that?”
Shit. She saw the pharmacy bag—the bag of medicine I just purchased in the back of the store at the pharmacy counter. I hadn’t told many people at school, except for my group. And I tried not to talk about it much. It’d been hard for me and my dad and sister. Honestly, it had taken a toll on me, that I didn’t like to admit. Between homework, basketball, taking my mom to doctor appointments and picking up medication, I was worn out.
“My mom’s sick.”
“Is she ok?”
“Yeah. Are you still pissed about the guys?” Perfect deflection of my mom. I really wasn’t in the mood to open up on the spot, not to mention I’d just bring the mood down. I had no problem doing it to myself when I was alone with my thoughts. I didn’t want to bring Chelsea down too.
“What do you think?” Her lips pressed together firmly. I could tell she was irritated. “Carson, I worked really hard on that tree. It’s to help people. Not everyone has it as good as you guys do.”
“I know. Seriously, I’m sorry, they’re idiots.”
“Yes, they are,” she said in an approving grin.
She swiped a bunch of candy bars and bags of munchies over the scanner. I keep a stash of candy in my bookbag and break them out between class or before practice. My friends and I love hitting the candy every chance we get.
“I think what you are doing is cool,” I admitted. I truly did admire that about her and her save-the-world mentality.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but smile. Her emerald eyes sparkled, at the compliment. Just like I remember. She looked pretty cute in her vest and Santa hat. Most girls wouldn’t be caught dead with that hat on, but Chelsea, she could pull almost any look off. Man I missed her. My insides bubbled.
'Tis the Season for Love: A Charity Box Set Page 51