Let My Heart Rest In Pieces

Let My Heart Rest In Pieces 062

Secret Santa

"This is ridiculous, I'm already spending too much money as it is, and you want me to waste more?" I complained to my large group of friends.

To explain our large congregation in the middle of the mall is quite simple. Some jerk in this group had decided that we should do Secret Santa this year, as if I wasn't already broke from buying them all Christmas presents. It was good to have a lot of friends when you were bored, because there was at least one person who would entertain you, but when it comes around to Christmas, you truly wished you were a misanthrope.

"Stop your complaining, you're not the only one who's broke, but we thought this was a good idea anyway," Bob teased, ruffling my hair like he would a small child. I glared at him and stepped away, fingering my hair back in to place. He just gave me a cheeky smile.

"Alright everyone, gather 'round!" Bert screamed, getting our attention and everyone else in the proximity. We were all used to onlookers staring at us, so we just ignored them and went on.

"I have everyone's name in this hat," the boy said, holding up a safari looking hat that I know Bert would never wear. Some of us snorted at the sight, but he just went on with a glare. "Everyone is going to pick a name and that is the person you're going to shop for. As soon as you get a name, you can just leave and start shopping. There is no money limit, but seeing as we're all kind of broke, it doesn't have to be too expensive. Alright, Taylor, you can go first."

She stepped into the middle of our large circle and dug into the hat, not wasting any time to pick a name. She snorted and smirked before walking off, sticking the lined paper into her pocket. It was going to kill me inside not to know who got who.

"Quinn."

Said boy stepped up and repeated the process. He frowned when he saw his name and mumbled something that sounded like, "I would get him," and walked away.

"Frank."

The boy dug inside the hat dramatically, trying to mix up the names as best as he could, then picked one. He smirked and said, "I get a present for myself!"

He showed us all that he had gotten his name and started to skip off before Ray caught him. "Put it back and get someone else."

"Fine," he mumbled with a pout and did as he was told. He didn't seem very happy with his new result, but went to go shopping for that person anyway.

"Gerard."

The pale man just plucked one off the top nonchalantly. He skimmed the paper, twice, and bit his lip. He just shrugged and broke through the circle, giving Roxy a small kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"Envy."

I scampered up to Bert and reached my hand into the ha, shuffling through the small pieces of paper before finally finding one single piece. I opened it discreetly and read the name. Ray. What could Ray possibly want? This was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

I marched off the way that Taylor had gone, hoping that there was something this way that Ray would like. I ran through the possibilities in my mind, not coming up with very many.

As I passed a little station in the middle of the walkway, I saw a bunch of hair products that were supposed to help maintain your hair and I noticed that they were selling straighteners as well.

"What would Ray's hair look like straight?" I wondered aloud. Even trying to fathom that mop of curly hair straight was enough to make my brain hurt, so I continued on, putting my mind into over drive to try and think.

After fifteen minutes of finding nothing, I was becoming frustrated. "Ray is one of my best friends, how can you not know what to get him?" I scolded myself, stalking out of yet another store with nothing in my hands. This was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Damn Secret Santa. More like Secret Satan.

I ran a hand through my hair, sighing deeply in frustration. I knew I hated Christmas for a reason, and this was that particular reason. Yes, these were my really good friends, but I had only known them for around half a year. I didn't have any childhood stories with them that I could remind with a gift, I only had these past few months.

"But, damn it, we've done a lot in that amount of time," I grumbled, getting my idea as I walked into a small store. I picked the thing that I wanted, which I knew that Ray would like, and watched at the man took his pen and engraved what I had asked him.

When I got my purchase, and gave him the money and cried as he took it, I put it into a small purse and walked happily out of the store. As soon as I realized that I was done with my Christmas shopping, I figured that it hadn't really been that hard. I just liked being dramatic sometimes; or most of the time.

I now was strolling to the food court, the designated meeting place, when I ran into Frankie. He had a black plastic bag around his wrist and was swinging it back and forth, an extremely bored look on his face. I steered myself towards him and he smiled when he saw me coming.

"What did you get me?" he asked sweetly, batting his thick eye lashes at me. Although it was very cute, I scoffed at him.

"I didn't get you anything. You haven't been a good boy this year."

"I beg to differ!" the boy exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air, "I've been extremely good this entire year."

"What a lie," I said, stopping him and pushing his arm, making him laugh. I heard someone else chuckle behind us and turned around to see an elder woman looking at us.

I went to ask her what she found so funny, but she just pointed her slim finger above our heads. With confused glances, Frankie and I looked above and saw mistletoe right above our heads. Damn that woman, I bet she put that there just to watch the reactions of people.

"Looks like you have to kiss me," Frank said with a smirk, puckering his lips.

Usually, I would have taken any opportunity to do that exact thing. If I had spotted it sooner, I might even had pulled him that way just so I could gain that quick kiss. But now, Frankie was in a relationship with one of my friends. I may not like the two together, but I respected Tamara and this wasn't something I could do without feeling guilty.

Instead of leaning in for the kiss, I took Frank's arm and pressed our wrists together, perfectly aligning our lip marks together. I contained the shiver that ran through my body at the feel of his soft skin against mine.

"That's all you're getting from me," I whispered before turning around to continue on to the food court.