Philophobia

The weeks flew by and I hadn’t really noticed until my calendar read December 24th. Hanging out with Christofer Drew really made time fly by and I was too wrapped up in my own life and thoughts that I’d barely recognized anything anymore. My life had gotten more hectic ever since I met Christofer’s friends. They insisted that I would spend more time with them and get to know them, and to be quite honest, I love being around all of them. I hated admitting it, but I’ve started opening up more and more and I was afraid.

I found myself at the stores with my sister, trying to find a gift for Christofer before all the shops closed down for the night. I still didn’t know what I would give him, nor did I have the slightest idea what he wanted. I just figured I would buy him something, I mean; it is the thought that counts.

We walked aimlessly for seemed like hours. It was nearly 8 o’ clock and I still didn’t find anything for Christofer. My sister managed to buy her boyfriend a crapload of CD’s that he probably owned previously. She also bought a shirt and some sneakers for her best friend, Delany.

I started wracking my brain for things that Christofer might have liked. I knew he was definitely loved music, almost any kind really. He had even invited me over his house one time and played a song for me. He was incredibly talented; there was no question about that.

Now that I actually think about it, I have never in my life have met someone like Christofer Drew. He was sweet, charming, and amazingly talented. It was a miracle that such a boy would even take a second glance at me.

He was one of a kind.

My sister often teased my about him, saying that he was head over heels for me and he wanted to “snog” my face in, whatever that meant. Leave it to her to make harassing me about Christofer her profession.

We walked by a couple shops before I noticed there was a dinky music shop. I pulled my sister by the arm and hauled her into the shop. My eyes scanned the dark room, looking briefly at the hanging instruments on the walls and the aisles of CD’s. I saw that my sister had left to look at some of the posters on the wall. I sighed and wandered to the instrument section of the store. There were guitars, drum sets, and even Bass’. I knew Christofer had a guitar, and I knew he wasn’t much of a drummer or bass player. It seemed like I wouldn’t find the perfect present for him until my eyes spotted a little guitar in the far back corner. I walked toward it and picked it up by the neck. I don’t think Christofer actually had one of these.

“You a ukulele player?” I heard someone ask, scaring me for a second. I looked up and saw it was only one of the workers of the store.

“No, but my friend is one hell of a musician. I was thinking about buying him something for Christmas.” I sighed. I let my fingers glide against the wooden instrument.

“Well, you really can’t go wrong with a ukulele. It’s actually the last one in stock.” He pointed out. I looked down at the instrument and softly ran my fingers across the strings. I knew Christofer wanted one of these, but he wanted to buy one himself.

“How much does this cost?” I asked, looking up at the man. He seemed to be calculating the price in his head; Hopefully a reasonable one.

Hm, well usually these cost about 200 a piece, but considering it’s Christmas Eve and that it’s the last one in stock, I’ll sell it to you for about 140.” He replied. I smiled and nodded.

“That’s great, I’ll take it.” I said. He smiled and walked me over to the register. I paid in cash and he placed the ukulele in a case. He handed over the case and placed a red bow on it.

“Have a great day!” he yelled. I smiled and hollered for my sister to leave the store so we could finally go home.

**

I was nearing 12 o’ clock in the morning and I was sitting in my room, staring at the ukulele that was placed in the corner of my room. I wanted to desperately give Christofer his present, but my mom said t was too dark out and my sister had already fallen asleep, so she couldn’t drive me.

I kept thinking over and over again about him; how he acted and the way he spoke; his smile and his concern over people. He was too sweet for his own good, and I loved that about him. Never would I have believed that in Joplin Missouri, I would have found someone so good-natured.

I heard a small pang hit my window. I looked over and saw that someone outside was throwing rocks at my window. I hopped off my bed and opened it and saw Christofer Drew, in all his glory, standing outside at 11:54 at night. He of course has his adorable smile etched onto his lips.

“Can I come up? I’ve got something to give you.” He asked. I nodded my head and motioned for the front door, but he already started to climb the tree that was right next to the house. My eyes popped as he inched himself up the tree. All I could imagine was that he would fall off and hurt himself. When he finally reached to the last branch, he carefully crawled his way over and nearly toppled over into my room.

“Jesus Christofer! Trying to give me a heart attack on Christmas Eve?” I whispered. He chuckled softly and got up from the floor and dusted himself off.

“No, but it seemed like fun.” He gave a sheepish smile while I hit his forearm. He smiled widely and shoved his hand into his pocket. He never stopped smiling when he pulled out a little box from his coat pocket. He opened it and revealed nine beautiful hemp bracelets.

“Oh my god Christofer, they’re beautiful, where’d you get these?” I asked as he handed me the box.

“I handmade them myself actually.” He let his head hang and dropped his eyes to the floor. It was too cute.

“Well, I love them a lot, thank you.” I smiled. Me saying this must have made him blush, because he couldn’t take his eyes off the floor.

“Oh! close your eyes, I got a little something for you too.” I said. He looked up at me with a shocked expression.

“Really? You shouldn’t have gotten me anything.” He said.

“Ah, shut it Ingle and close your eyes.” I giggled. He smiled and covered his eyes like a small child. I walked over and picked up the ukulele case that I had wrapped up in Christmas wrapping paper. I walked over to him and was glad he didn’t peek.

“Okay, open them.” I said. He slowly removed his hands and allowed his eyes to readjust to the light. I saw that his eyes scanned my hands and he saw the case I was holding. His eyes nearly bulged out of his eye sockets.

“Open it silly!” I laughed. He grabbed the case by the handle and sat it on my bed. He quickly tore off the wrapping paper and flipped open the case to see the brand new ukulele.

“Oh my God! This is so amazing Aara!” He exclaimed excitedly, grabbing the instrument gently in his hands.

“I knew you’d like it.” I smiled triumphantly as I watched his strum softly. He looked at me, his eyes shining over with extreme happiness. He set the ukulele down gently and embraced me into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I stood on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his shoulders. He pulled away from me slightly, not unwrapping his arms from my waist, and looked at my digital clock that sat on my nightstand. We both saw that the clock had stuck 12 o’ clock. He looked back down towards me, with a small smile, pushing my bangs out of my face. My heart started pounding against my ribcage and my palms started to sweat. He leaned in his face slowly, as if hesitating on his next move. My heart started to really thump in my chest and legs started to wobble. Just as I was about to pull away from him, his head leaned in all the way, fusing his lips onto my own.

The butterflies that were in my stomach erupted into a frenzy and I became woozy. It was a soft kiss. There was no tongue, no insane amount of passion; it was sweet and simple, like him. He removed his lips from mine and smiled softly.

“Merry Christmas Aara Lee.”