The Holiday Season

“Honey, wake up! It’s eleven a.m.!” my mom said rubbing my back. I was snuggled in my blankets and I groaned. 



“You have a snow day today! No school on this lovely Friday!” she said, in my mind I cheered, but I still didn’t want to move from my nice warm cocoon.



“Ok, well I just wanted to let you know Justin already tried to contact you,” she said standing up and walking towards the door.



“Ok, I’ll text him,” I mumbled. That child was the weirdest. 



What does u want?

U interrupted my slumber…



Slumber? I’ve been awake since 6! I had a red bull and a bunch o cookies! XD



Geez child…u have issues

I

know I do but u still love me!



-sigh- I guess… well what did u want?



Did u look outside yet?



no I wanted to sleep! I guess I’ll do that now then…



DOO ITT!



Ok ok geez! … holy crap its whiitttee!!!



Haha racist…I knooo! Its amazing! U gotta come outside and come ovr today kay??? Sleepover time???



Lolz ok sure let me get ma crap on and ask ma mom kay?



Kay tlk witcha l8r baybay! :D



Kay ttyls homeskillet :)

After that text conversation I had with Justin I slowly climbed out of bed and shivered when I did. I hurried to take a hot shower and simply changed back into my pajamas after I did. It wasn’t like I needed fresh clothes, I was just gonna wear my snow gear over them. So I went downstairs and talked to my mom about spending the night at Justin’s and she said everything was fine with her. She helped me get on all my stuff and I felt like a marshmallow person afterwards. So I headed out the door and next door to Justin’s house.



As I walked across my yard I was hit with a snowball from out of nowhere. I looked around to see who had thrown it but I saw no one. Then out of the corner of my eye the bushes in Justin’s flower bed lost some of their snow. I knew he was behind them. So I ran (as best I could) and hid behind the electrical box. 



“This is war, Bieber!” I yelled.



“You asked for it, Daniels!” I heard in reply. I smirked. This was going to be interesting.



I unzipped my pocket and attempted to text my other best friend, Layna, to join my team. The mittens on my hands made it really difficult to text. She told me she was headed over and Justin must have contacted Ryan because soon he showed up too.



She came from the direction I was facing behind the electric box so she crouched down before they saw her.



“So what are we doing?” she asked. 



“This is war! Battle of the sexes! The fight for our freedom!” I said putting a mitten covered fist in the air. 



“Oooooh, well no need to be so dramatic!” she said, and we laughed. 



“Ok, I’ll make snowballs and you throw them. We all know you have better aim than I do,” she said sitting back and grabbing nearby snow to crush it into multiple spheres.



She handed them to me and I immediately chucked one over towards the bushes, and after about two seconds I heard Ryan go, “OW!”



Layna and I cracked up.



Then all of a sudden I got hit in the back of the head with a snowball. 



Now it was time to get aggressive! I immediately chucked every one of the snowballs Layna had given me, over at them. After about 15 snowballs I heard Justin go, “Alright, that’s it!”



I looked over the electric box and he and Ryan were charging over at us both through the snow.



I screamed, stood up and ran; and Layna did the same. Justin came after me and Ryan chased after Layna. I made it to the backyard when Justin finally grabbed me around the waist where I went spinning and falling, bringing him down with me. I started to laugh hysterically while I was lying on the ground, Justin doing the same right next to me. There was snow on our faces and we were laughing to hard to notice it stinging our skin and turning our cheeks and nose bright red.



I looked over at him, his cheeks and nose the same red as mine, and we just kept giggling. 



“You know you put up a good fight,” he said looking back at me.



“I do don’t I?” I said proudly. Then Layna and Ryan plopped down by my side.



“Hey Ryan!” I said cheerfully.



“Hey May!” he said to me. 

We lay there in silence for a couple of minutes.



“You guys wanna go inside and get some hot chocolate?” Justin said, breaking the silence. 



“Sure!” “You bet!” “Yum, hot chocolate,” I agreed.
 


We managed to help each other up and headed through the back door to take off all of our snow gear in the laundry room. I was still in my pajamas. 



“Pajamas?” Layna asked looking at me in my Spongebob pajama pants and oversize tee shirt that was actually Justin’s. 



“Duh! What was the point in getting fully dressed? It’s not like I’m going out in public or anything!” I explained. 



“You do realize that that is my tee shirt you are wearing,” Justin pointed out. 



“Your point is?” I asked, walking out into the living room. 



“Well, I’m glad you like it,” he said sarcastically.



Ryan whispered something to Layna and she giggled. I was gonna ask her about that later. 

I flopped down on the couch and watched as Justin did the same right next to me.



His house was like my second home, and mine was the same for him.



I mean I had two awesome moms in my life that would always be here to take care of me. And I had a lovely father, a little brother, and an amazing best friend to go along with the package. What could be better?



Ryan and Layna sat down on the couch also and then Pattie came downstairs and we all looked at her.



“Oh, hello kids! I was just about to call you inside to ask if you wanted some hot chocolate!” she said cheerfully.



“Yes please!” we all said in unison. 



“Ok, well why don’t you go downstairs and find something to do while I make them,” she said sweetly.



“Ok mom, we will,” Justin said so we hopped up and went downstairs to play the Wii.



We played Mario Cart and tons of other games and drank at least three mugs of hot chocolate each before 8:30 that night.



“Who wants to watch a movie?” Justin asked after I won yet another round of Mario Cart.



“I do!” Layna said, raising her hand.



“Sure,” Ryan answered. 



“You guys are just sore losers!” I exclaimed.



“Nu uh!” Ryan whined. 



“Yes huh!” I retorted.



“Ok, maybe just a lil’,” he admitted.

We all laughed. 



“You can choose whatever movie, I’ll watch anything,” I said laying back on the couch.

Layna agreed with me. So the boys went to look for a DVD upstairs and Layna and I were left alone.



“Hey, I saw Ryan whispered something in your ear earlier and you giggled. What’s up with that?” I asked.



“Oh, well promise not to freak?” she asked. 



“Um, yeah I guess I’ll try my best,” I said looking at her.



“He made a joke about you wearing Justin’s shirt. We all know you and Justin should be dating by now,” she said simply.



I had never even thought about that before. Justin is my best friend! There’s no way he likes me like that! Wait, do I wish he would like me like that? No of course not… that’s crazy! There’s no way I could like him like that! Oh, god. Maybe I do?



“May? Hello? Earth to May!” she said waving her hands in front of my face.



“What? Sorry,” I said coming back from my thoughts.



“You were thinking about liking him weren’t you?” she smirked.



“Psh no!” I said, averting my gaze.



She looked at me sternly; there was no way I could keep a secret from her.



“Ok, yes, I was,” I gave up.



“Aw,” she pulled me into a hug, “If it makes you feel any better I’m crushing on Ryan.”



“Really? I knew it! He totally likes you back! I don’t doubt it!” I said pulling away and looking at her. 



“Don’t doubt what?” Justin said coming down the stairs, with Ryan behind him.



“None of your beeswax, Bieber,” I said smirking at him.



“Well, fine then! I see how it is!” he said, tossing the DVD he had in his hand at us. 


* * *


Ryan and I went up stairs to find a movie to watch for us and the girls. 



“Ok, I seriously have to ask this,” Ryan started as I was scanning the case shelves of all our DVDs, “When are you and May going to be together?” he asked.



That had caught me off guard, “What are you talking about?” I said, completely confused. I had never thought of May in that way. 



“Dude, you two act like you have something between you. And every time something magical happens, it gets turned into a best friend thing again,” he said leaning against the shelves, “Like earlier for an example! When you chased after her in the backyard? You looked like a couple, man. Especially when you grabbed her around the waist.”



I thought about that for a second… I guess he was right. And come to think of it May was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. I sat down on the couch next to the shelves.



“Ryan,” I said, “You’re right.”



“I am? Well of course I am!” he said proudly, “What made you change your mind?”



“May is one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever met. She’s so much fun to hang around with, and when those ‘couple moments’ happen, I do feel something,” I explained and it was all true.



“I feel the same way about Layna,” Ryan said sitting next to me.



“Layna? I totally knew it!” I said looking at him, “You two would be great together, man.”



“Thanks, I’m thinking about asking her to be my girlfriend sometime soon. Especially with Christmas coming up and all,” he said.



“Awesome!” I said punching his shoulder. 

“Now! Let’s watch Avatar. I’ve had my eye on this ever since it came out. And I still haven’t seen it yet,” he said sliding it off the shelf.



“Ok, let’s go!” I said and we headed back downstairs. 



As we walked down the staircase, I overheard the last part of May’s sentence, “…I don’t doubt it!” we heard.



“Don’t doubt what?” I asked slyly, catching them both off guard. 



“None of your beeswax, Bieber,” she said smirking and crossing her arms.



“Well, fine then! I see how it is!” I said tossing the DVD at them both. It landed on the couch.



* * *



I picked up the DVD that had landed next to me and looked at what it was. Avatar! 



“You read my mind don’t you?” I said looking at the them both.



“I guess we do!” Ryan said as I tossed the DVD at him to put it in the player.



I stood up to get a blanket and picked up my favorite one. It was just a solid blue colored blanket that was amazingly soft. Then I sat back down on the couch. 



Layna and I were sitting in the middle, Justin sat next to me, and Ryan sat next to Layna. 



Because Layna brought up the whole crush situation to me, I looked at Justin but I didn’t see the normal best friend Justin I knew. I saw a handsome, sexy Justin that I was dying to kiss all of a sudden.

He looked down at me and I looked away really quickly. 

I wrapped myself in my blanket trying to hide the goose bumps that were on my arms. 



We were half way into the 3 hour movie and eventually Justin’s arm found its way across my shoulders like any guy would do on a date to the movies. I decided to go with the flow and I leaned into him and made it seem like it was no big deal; even though I was spazzing out like crazy inside. 



By the end of the movie, I was dosing off.

My eyelids were heavy and I could not stay awake. It was 12:42 after all! And eventually I fell fast asleep with sound of a beating heart in my ear.