Thursday was the last day of school before winter break. Tori and I exchanged gifts at the bus stop. We both got each other the new Skylar Halston book. I had brought a big chocolate Santa in case Ericka had something for me, but she didn’t give me anything on the bus. I always bring a couple of extra cards and some candy canes to school just in case somebody has a gift or a card for me, which I wasn’t expecting, but I always end up bringing them all back home.
Thalia gave me a Christmas card and a stuffed snowman in homeroom, so I gave her the chocolate Santa. Mrs. Lacey let us sit wherever we wanted in math class, and Kyle moved to our table. He gave Arianna and me root beer flavored candy canes. Arianna ate hers, but I wanted to keep mine. I thought Kyle was kind of a jerk, but part of me still liked him so I gave him one of my candy canes just as Ericka walked into the room.
“Um, we can sit wherever we want,” I said.
“Move over by me,” Ericka said.
I wanted to sit with Kyle, but I couldn’t tell her, so I got up.
“Wait, I have something for you,” Arianna said. “I almost forgot.”
She handed me an envelope with my name in big curly red letters and a marshmallow candy cane taped to it. I opened it up, and inside she had written she hoped I had a great vacation. I gave her one of my cards and a candy cane before I moved to Ericka’s table. Arianna hadn’t given the marshmallow candy canes to everyone, so I felt kinda special.
Ashanti and I exchanged gifts at lunch. She gave me a DVD of Jane Eyre, and I gave her a subscription to Soap Opera Hotties magazine since I knew hers was expiring. Maggie and Halle brought their gifts for Ashanti to lunch, and I felt uncomfortable so I said I was going to talk to Devon and Hana. Maggie handed me a card with a cherry candy cane, so I gave her and Halle cards and candy canes before I went to see Devon and Hana. Hana and I had decided to exchange gifts, and she gave me a little stocking filled with different flavors of lip gloss and I had gotten her some cute notepads because she loves paper stuff. Devon unwrapped the purple journal I gave her, and she gave me one with a red and pink suede cover. I asked her if she wanted to go to the basketball game with Ashanti, Peyton, and me, but she and India were planning to go to the mall tonight.
“But we’ll definitely get together when you get back from Chicago,” she said. “Maybe you can spend the night.”
I wrote out a card for India in history. I had already put her gift in the locker she shared with Devon. I realized I hadn’t given Ericka a card yet, and I reached into my bag to get one. I pulled out the box, but it was empty. I’ve never run out of my backup cards before. Last year I only exchanged presents with Tori and Ericka, but this year I had gotten to know more people because of the fight. Ericka came over to my desk with a card for me.
“I kept forgetting to give this to you,” she said. I felt stupid because I didn’t have anything for her. “How come you got so much stuff?” she asked, looking at the gift bags next to me.
I shrugged and noticed she only had one gift bag by her seat. India came in wearing the pink and black star earrings I had given her.
“These are so cute,” she said. “Open yours.”
Ericka watched as I opened up a baby blue picture frame. India had put in a picture of the four of us. It was the one Peyton’s dad had taken the night of the field trip. Ericka raised her eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. She had only given me a card so I didn’t owe her a gift, but I still felt uncomfortable. India asked if I was going to the mall with them, but I told her Peyton and I were going to the game with Ashanti.
“Sounds like fun. We’re supposed to meet up with Doug and Jeremy at the mall. I’m probably not allowed to talk to Doug though,” she said rolling her eyes. “Don’t tell Devon what I said, okay?”
Mrs. Hearst put a movie on for us, but nobody paid attention to it. Normally, she’d bark at us for being “disorderly,” but she didn’t seem to care today. India leaned over and told us how Tad had given presents to all the teachers.
“How pathetic,” she said, rolling her eyes.
I didn’t say anything, but my mom had bought me some holiday towels to give to Mrs. Kharrazi since she had encouraged me with my writing. I left them in my locker when I went to her class earlier, but now I was glad I hadn’t given them to her in front of everybody. I ended up dropping them off in her mailbox in the office after the final bell rang. As I was going out to the bus line, Thalia ran up to thank me again for the chocolate Santa.
“A bunch of us are going to the basketball game tomorrow night,” I said. “Do you want to go with us?”
“Sounds great. I can meet you there,” she said. “I’m dying to see what Vladi looks like.”
Peyton came over after dinner to exchange presents. She gave me an enamel bracelet, which matched the ring we both had.
“I love the colors. It’s perfect,” I said.
I gave her a Skylar Halston biography and the earrings she liked from Connick’s.
“I wanted this book, and you know I love the earrings. I’ll wear them to the game,” she said.
“I am so nervous about going,” I said. “What if Vladi was just asking to be polite and when he sees me he’s like, ‘I didn’t actually care if you came, stupid little girl’,” I said.
“You do the accent quite well,” she said, and I hit her with a pillow. “Landry, he won’t. Did he e-mail you back when you told him you were coming?”
“No, because he doesn’t care. He probably just needed someone to watch his girlfriend’s purse while they go make out,” I said.
“Nah, she could just take her purse with her,” she said.
“Oh, thanks a lot.”
“I’m kidding,” she said.
She asked me what I was going to wear tomorrow, and I shrugged. She went to my closet and pulled out my yellow Franciszka T shirt, but I said there was a stain on it.
“Sick, what is it?” she asked.
“Chocolate… blood? I got it at the movie theater so I’m hoping it’s chocolate,” I said. “I keep hoping it’ll come out because I spent a lot on it.”
“Ew. How about this one?” she asked as she pulled out the light blue sweater my grandma had given me.
“I wondered what happened to it.” I put it in front of me, and she said it would look good on me.
“But does it look like a Hillcrest sweater?” I asked. “I don’t need to remind him I’m a sheltered private school girl.”
“It’s perfect,” she said. “Is Tori coming with us tomorrow?”
“No, but Thalia’s going to meet us there,” I said. “When did going to the game seem like a good idea?”
“It’ll be fun,” she said. “I bet Vladi’s counting down the minutes until he sees you again.”
“Yeah, right. He probably found my e-mail address in his pocket and confused me with some hot girl who had given him her e-mail address,” I said. “He’s expecting some tall, gorgeous blonde to show up, and instead, he’ll find me.”
“You are a tall, gorgeous blonde,” she said.