C'est La Vie

Three days passed quickly. It was December 20th. Christmas was only five days away and the 26th was when I would be returning home to Boston. I only had a few days left and I had conveniently put off Christmas shopping until now, so I decided to take the day to shop by myself.

I smiled as I grabbed my mom's keys off a hook and trudged out the door. A light layer of snow covered everything. The city looked so beautiful covered in white. I buried my hands in the pockets of my blazer as I made my way carefully to the sidewalk. Evan had been away on a business trip and wasn't able to salt the driveway. In result there was a thin sheen of black ice on many areas of the driveway.

As I slid into the driver's side seat, which was on the right of the car and totally weird, I wondered if I would actually be able to drive. I turned on the car and popped in a CD. Chelsea had burned me a CD before I left, filled with various songs that only had abbreviations instead of full song titles.

I grinned as Sum 41 blasted through the speakers. I turned it up, laughing and singing along to "In Too Deep." I backed slowly out of the driveway and followed the directions the GPS gave me to Trafalgar Square.

The square was packed with people dressed to the nine's, which surprised me. Furry hats and boots were on almost every teenage girl, making me chuckle as I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a pair of patterned tights with a dress and blazer. The cold didn't seem to be bothering me today, but I did rub my hands together as I hurried across the cobblestones to a tiny store.

The store was packed with moms and grandmas shopping for last minute gifts just like I was. Chris had mentioned that my mother shopped here often, so I hoped to find her something she would truly love.

I pushed through the crowds and managed to find a small aisle packed with cooking supplies and various trinkets of the sort. I walked down, smiling at all the little party favor packs they had that came with matching glasses.

I shopped at that one store for hours, finding multiple gifts for my mom. When I left the store I had two bags on each arm, proud that I was able to find her some really nice gifts. Next up I wanted to find a gift for each of the boys and Evan.

I passed by a store next to the Starbucks that was blasting some pretty loud music. I paused outside, shrugged, and headed in. I wasn't sure what was in the store but maybe I would find something special in there.

The store was filled to the brim with boys that looked like they belonged at concerts. I looked extremely out of place as I pushed past a few crowded around a glass display.

"Hey! Need any help? You look a little lost," a guy called, smiling at me.

"Oh, actually I am a little lost, but not in the location sense. I'm trying to find some gifts for my friends. Only problem is that I have no idea what to get them," I replied, grinning at the guy.

He came out from behind the counter and waved me down an aisle. Both sides were covered with posters of different bands and CDs just hung there. It was quite interesting.

"From America, yeah?" I nodded as my eyes flew over the CDs. I spotted a You Me At Six one and grinned.

"They're in a band, so I know they like music. I just don't know what kind."

"Well you don't sound like too good a friend then," he joked. I laughed with him.

The guy helped me out, showing me some shirts and other merch. I was able to pick up a few shirts on sale for Dan and Matt, knowing that they would love them, and threw in a CD for each of them too. Now I had to figure out something for Max, Chris, and Josh. I knew Josh would be the hardest to shop for, since we barely even knew each other.

Minutes later I found gifts for both Max and Chris. They were simple gifts but I knew they would be appreciated.

"So who's the last person on your list?" the man asked.

I pulled a face as I looked into his brown eyes. The man was a good foot taller than me, so I had to strain my neck to see him, but he was able to get things off top shelves for me.

"His name's Josh. We're....he's complicated. I don't know what to do for him. I don't even know if we're really friends."

I sighed. The man helping me, who's name tag read Connor, leaned against the wall and seemed to ponder that. All of a sudden I spilled my guts to him, telling him just how it felt when Josh hadn't forgiven me yesterday for my mistake, and how happy I was when we weren't fighting or harassing each other.

Connor waved me over to a small section in the back of the store. The corner had a table overflowing with books on subjects ranging from sci-fi to a book about soccer and economics...combined. Not really sure how that worked but I figured Josh didn't either.

I smiled as I saw one sweater draped over a coat rack next to the table. There were a few other miscellaneous clothing items and accessories, like a top hat, hanging there too but the sweater really stuck out. It was a dark gray with white lettering on it that read, "I'm not out yet" across the front.

"This is it," I said suddenly, clutching the sweater in my hand, praying that it would be the right size. It was a medium but I had no idea what size Josh was. "I'll take it!"

◊

When I arrived home late that night I entered a house filled with people. My mom was apparently having a Christmas party too. I hurried upstairs to place the bags in my closet, hopefully hiding them from Chris and my mom. Returning back downstairs, I saw my mom chatting with a grey haired man. He looked familiar, yet I couldn't place him.

"Hi mom," I greeted, wrapping an arm around her waist in a hug.

"Oh Jordan, perfect. I'm so glad you're here. This is Evan's dad. You met him at the wedding, remember?" She smiled at me and I turned to the man.

"Hi Mr. Miller, how are you?" I forced a little smile because I, in fact, did not remember who he was.

We talked for only a few moments before a hand covered my eyes and excused me from Chris' grandfather. I was dragged backwards a little ways until I felt a cool cloth slipped over my eyes and was turned around to walk forward normally.

"Um, where are we going?" I managed to squeak out as I stumbled over a stair and almost fell.

"You'll see," a happy voice chimed. I fought the urge to roll my eyes but let the person lead me nonetheless. The voice sounded like Max but I couldn't be sure.

"Ok, we're here. Ready?"

"I don't really know what I'm supposed to be ready for, but alright I suppose."

The blindfold was removed from my eyes and I blinked. It was dark and I only saw the man standing in front of me. I was right, it was Max. He had a cheeky grin on his face. Seconds later a bright light illuminated the basement hangout room behind him. Max stepped aside to reveal a beautiful Christmas tree. The only decorations on it were the colorful strings of lights.

I grinned at Max when I saw three cardboard boxes stacked up next to the tree. Each box was marked in red sharpie "ornaments." He motioned for me to walk over so I did, kneeling next to the tree and pulling the first box on the ground. I opened it, smiling down.

"How did you-"

"Your mum said somethin' 'bout liking a festive tree so the guys and I went out and bought one for downstairs. It's all yours to decorate unless you need any 'elp," Max said.

"Oh, thank you so much!" I squealed, jumping up and throwing my arms around him tightly.

Decorating the Christmas tree was something my father and I did together as a child. He would lift me onto his shoulders and hand me the ornaments so I could place them on higher areas of the tree. We usually decorated the tree when my mom was at work so that when she came home she would see the almost completed tree. The only thing it was missing was the star, which my mom would put on the tree. My dad used to say that she was the star in his eyes and what always held us all together.

Apparently it wasn't enough to keep them together. My parents split up when I was seven, claiming that their differences overwhelmed what they had in common. I was devastated, but tried my best to understand. My mom moved to England to start a new life, leaving me with my dad by my choice. I loved my mom but I didn't want to uproot my life. Just over a year later my mother married Evan.

When my mom left we stopped really celebrating Christmas. I would decorate the tree while my father was at work and we would put the star on when he came home, but it just wasn't the same. I knew my father was alright. It wasn't an awful divorce, it was mutual. I wouldn't have known what to do if it was difficult and they were always fighting. In fact, my mom and dad are somewhat friendly with each other still, even though it is a little awkward.

"Tomorro' we're 'eading to the studio again. I'm sorry you have to be alone," Max interrupted my thoughts.

I smiled, knowing just what I planned on doing. "Don't worry Maxy. I'll be fine alone again. I have some classwork to do too so I can just finish that up."

Max let an easy smile come over his face. "I think your brother's home. Josh must be with him 'cause I can hear him yellin'."

I rolled my eyes but linked my arm through Max's as we walked upstairs to greet the unwelcome guest.