Living on Perfectly Remembered Memories

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening. In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight. Walking in a winter wonderland," I sang, finding my presents I bought for everyone in my special hiding spot, the coat closet.

You can laugh all you want; it's a genius idea! Amy's been trying to find her present for weeks, thinking I put it in my room or my parents' room. She's tried and she failed at her task.

"Gone away is the blue bird, here to stay is a new bird. He sings a love song, as we go along, walking in a winter wonderland."

I took the last gift wrapped present from the closet, reading the tag. This one is for Franchesa. I can't wait to see her open it! She'll love it, I already know.

"Matt where are you?"

The box slipped out of my hands but I caught it before it hit the ground. Whew, that was close. I can't have this present broken before I even give it to her. I was panicking though. She isn't supposed to know where I hide my presents! There's also the fact I don't have time to play it cool!

I coughed. "Uh, yeah, here!" I called.

She appeared in the doorway, smiling at me. "So this is where you hide the presents every year!"

"Duh, I don't hide it here. I was putting my shoes away," I fibbed.

"Then what are you wearing right now?" She asked with a sly smile on her face.

I wiggled my toes, noticing I hadn't taken my shoes off. Great. She found my hiding spot and I'm a horrible liar. My last result was threatening her.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about my spot!" I warned jabbing my finger softly at her shoulder. "If you do, I won't give you your present!"

"Oh no not my poor present!" she gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "Seriously, don't tell anyone. This has been my spot for years and I want to keep it hidden."

"Cross my heart," she replied, holding some of my presents to everyone.

We casually sauntered into the living room where the Christmas tree was. Hastily, we stuffed the presents underneath the tree, moving all the other bags and boxes around so my presents would be in the very back. Don't ask why I have to leave my gifts to everyone in the back; it's how I always do this.

I stood up, dusting my knees in case anything from the floor attached to my pants. Franchesa let out a small breath, putting the rest of the boxes back into place. She wiped at her eyebrow, sighing. I put my hand out to help her stand up.

She gladly accepted my offer, standing in front of me. Our hands dropped to our sides, but we didn't let go. We gazed at one another, a comfortable silence between us.

You would think it was awkward that were looking at each other for so long without breaking contact. I'm not too sure why we were, all I know is that it felt nice. Maybe she was trying to find some hidden meaning in my eyes. She told me that once.

"Oh my god you two are under the mistletoe!" a far too familiar voice screeched.

I shut my eyes, biting at my lip ring.

For anyone who doesn't know, when any two people are directly under the mistletoe, they have to kiss each other, no questions asked. What people don't know is that the mistletoe plant is actually a parasite plant. Its roots grow on trees and suck the tree's nutrients.

I don't know where the tradition came from that people have to kiss each other when they're under the mistletoe. It did make me think that the only reason people did kiss each other was to try to suck each other's nutrients from each other.

I was 11 at the time, shut up!

Amy shoved us closer together, no room to breathe. "Kiss!" she demanded, stomping her foot.

"Eh..." I dragged out.

The both of us moved in, awkwardly. I wasn't exactly touching any part of her and she wasn't touching me. I felt my heart pound against my chest in fast beats the closer we were to kissing. A tiny smile showed on Franchesa's face when she was millimeters away from my face.

"Time to eat kids!" the adults called. Franchesa backed away from me and ran out to the dining room, grabbing Amy's hand along the way. I groaned, tapping my lips with my index finger. I'm scared. I wanted to kiss her.