Young Writers Society

The snow flurried around me in soft, white swirls of perfection as I stepped into the warm brightness that saturated the foyer of Melissa’s house. I had no sooner crossed the threshold than I stopped in my tracks in captivated wonder. There in the center of the entryway, in all its grand, twinkling splendor, the Christmas tree rose majestically toward the two-story ceiling. White lights and gold ribbon adorned it from its wide base all the way to the shimmering star at the top, and gold ornaments sparkled on every fragrant bough. From somewhere in the room beyond, the melodic strains of Christmas music floated out to greet me.

I must’ve looked like a little kid, just standing there wide-eyed, soaking up the beauty, but my captivated trance was soon interrupted by the quick click of heels across the polished floor.

“Nikki!” Melissa exclaimed, hurrying toward me. Simple but classy – that was her look in her navy sheath dress with its slight champagne colored detailing.

“Aahhh, it’s so happy!” I enthused, meeting and returning her quick embrace. “I absolutely love Christmas – have I ever said that before?”

“Only about a thousand times,” Melissa beamed. I handed over my gift, and she arranged it under the tree with all the other packages for the gift exchange.

“Come on, come get some food!” she motioned me toward the kitchen-lounge combo.

I quickly removed my coat and hung it on the row of coat pegs just inside the door. Then I followed Melissa to join the others, stopping just briefly to check myself in the hallway mirror. The satiny, deep green dress with its lace detailing was a perfect match for the intricate braid woven in my auburn hair. I was happy with the look. It was exactly what I had wanted for my last formal Christmas party as a student of Martindale High.

Tantalizing smells lured me toward the large, open kitchen that merged naturally into a festively decorated dining area and comfortable, roomy space filled with all manner of chairs that had been added to the regular group of elegant-yet-cozy plush lounge sofas. The laughter and chatter of the crowd of beaming people filled the atmosphere with a warmth that was more than just temperature as Martindale High students mingled at the hot cocoa bar or filled their plates from the tasteful array spread out on the shiny, granite-topped island.

I barely had time to notice that Melissa had scurried off to greet more new arrivals when I spied Harmonie looking bright-eyed, but a little lost, standing off from the crowd in what in party terms would definitely be considered a corner. I maneuvered my way over to her.

“What do you think?” I said, standing next to her. “Isn’t this better than what we did last year? I think this is a lot nicer than having the Christmas formal in a banquet hall. This way, we get to dress up, but it’s not stiff and uncomfortable, and we can actually mingle with our friends.”

Harmonie’s eyes never stopped scanning our bustling surroundings, but she said, “I think I do like this better.”

This was the first year that student council had decided to change the Christmas formal from being a demure dinner held in a rented banquet hall to a more relaxed social setting in the home of an approved student. Since Melissa was, of course, student council president, it was pretty much a natural conclusion that the first shot at this should be hosted at her house. The smiling faces all around told me that the general student body approved.

“Also,” I said, bringing my focus back to Harmonie, “I told you that dress would look good on you.” I gave her my best gloating, “best friends are wise about these things” look, but she really did look awesome in the wine-colored gown that just brushed the floor and sparkled ever so slightly all over the skirt. Even her hair seemed shinier in the chignon sort of style that did all the favors for her curls.

Just then, Kristina swished up in a full skirt of ombre silver and royal blue. She draped an arm around my shoulder.

“High time you showed up,” she teased me.

“I know, right? Take me to the food!” I returned.

“I’m not keeping you. Let’s go,” she said, leading the way. “Harmonie, come with,” she called over her shoulder.

The three of us made our way through a group of noisily giggling freshmen and reached the island just as Jacob did.

“After you,” Jacob motioned to us, adding an extra formal air to his tone and gesture. My eye caught the red bowtie standing out against his dark skin.

“Aw, look at you,” I said playfully. “You look awesome in that suit. And who convinced you to wear a bowtie?”

Jacob looked a little sheepish. “I was roped into it when practically all the other senior guys agreed that they were doing it and then said we all should.”

“It’s not bad on you,” Harmonie remarked helpfully.

“I wouldn’t say it’s exactly your style, but I’ll give you points for being festive,” I joked. “Even Luis has one,” I pointed out, although Luis, who usually wears muted colors and generally avoids drawing unnecessary attention to himself, didn’t look overly impressed about his bowtie.

“At least ours are tame ones, unlike some others I’ve seen here,” Luis said, suppressing a grin. I could only guess he was referring to people like Brady and Ander.

My guess was confirmed when we all found seats a couple minutes later and it just so happened that Brady and Ander were also right there. Brady’s bowtie was candy cane striped. Ander’s was black and covered in a pattern of little wreaths, reindeer, gingerbread men, and even tiny Santas. Ander caught me evaluating the funness of their ties, grinned, and raised his cider-filled plastic party cup.

“Cheers!” he beamed.

“Cheers!” I returned, knocking my cup with his.

“Wait, we need to have a group toast,” Brady said, pushing his way closer, and taking over the scene in typical Brady fashion. “Okay, everybody, here we go! To cool Christmas parties!”

Harmonie, Kristina, Ander, and I joined the toast and laughed.

And thus began a wonderful evening of festive food and games. We laughed through Christmas carol charades, competed for the highest tower of wrapped boxes, and put effort our class projects would envy into a timed contest to see which small group could best wrap a selected person in gift wrap. All the while, the hot cocoa bar and cookie decorating station were popular spots, and Christmas music and laughter maintained a warm, cheerful ambience.

I discovered things about some of my friends and peers that I’d never seen before at school. Luis was super talented at all the obvious Luis-like stuff such as carefully balancing a pyramid of presents that seemed like it would never fall, but I’d never have guessed he was equally good at juggling Solo cups. Dionne was, of course, the one to produce cookies that were literal works of art, in between the times she was flitting about, laughing and chatting and complimenting everyone on their beautiful clothes.

I was so happy with everything that I felt like my face would break from all the smiling. But I couldn’t complain, because it was genuine smiling, and no one was fighting or bickering. By the time it reached the part of the celebration where we got to exchange gifts, I had decided I could hardly have asked for a better evening.

The last activity of the night before everyone parted ways was gathering around the big Christmas tree and passing out gifts. I always loved secret Santa gift exchanges, so naturally I felt eager to find out who my “secret Santa” was. The name I had drawn weeks ago was Paige Firth, a sophomore. I hardly knew her, but I’d had a blast shopping for her based off of the information she’d provided on the paper I’d gotten when we drew names.

Melissa and Kristina oversaw passing out the presents. I stood next to Harmonie in the line that waited for the students ahead of us to find their gifts under the tree with Melissa’s and Kristina’s help.

“Did you snoop earlier to see which one was yours?” someone asked behind us. I turned around to see Connor wearing a teasing smile on his freckled face.

“No, but I was tempted,” I returned truthfully. “Especially in case the person wrote their name on the tag and I’d know ahead of time who it was from. But then I thought that would ruin the surprise,” I smiled.

The line was dwindling, and I was almost to the tree. Excited voices floated all around me as other students unwrapped their gifts and admired them. Finally, it was my turn. It didn’t’ take long for Melissa to help me find it, a slim rectangular box wrapped in gorgeous cream-and-gold patterned paper and tied up with a sparkly gold ribbon. I took it and stepped off to the side where other students were discovering what was in their packages. Somewhere close by, “Jingle Bells” was playing over a Bluetooth speaker, and my heart fell into a merry rhythm with the upbeat sleigh bells in the background.

Carefully, I undid the fancy bow and started ripping off the paper. There was no name anywhere on the outside except for a tag that said, “To Nikki.” I had yet to find any indication who the giver was as I lifted the lid of the box. Inside, an envelope was lying on top of the white tissue paper that concealed the gift.

Delaying the anticipation of the gift, I opened the card first. It was every bit as gorgeous as the outside of the box. I scanned the heartwarming message inside, my eyes wandering down to the bottom where the signature was. I gave a little gasp-squeal combination that was probably really awkward sounding, but I was honestly surprised. Because the name signed in perfect calligraphy was Melissa’s.

I laughed out loud. How had she kept it a secret that she had my name all this time we’d been working together on class stuff? But I was getting distracted from the gift.

Pulling aside the tissue paper, I laid eyes on the most amazing cream-colored cashmere sweater I’d ever seen.

“Whoa, nice,” I breathed. I touched the material, and it felt like a dream.

I was awestruck because it was so lovely, and I was surprised because it certainly was a more expensive item than the other gifts I’d seen being opened. But mostly, I was dumbfounded at the realization that Melissa had gone this far for me. I mean, it was undoubtedly no financial stretch for her, however much it had cost, but it went so far beyond what I would have expected, given the tense feelings, disagreements, and all around rough situations we’ve been navigating lately. If this gift had come from Ashlyn, one might’ve suspected she was just trying to show off her financial status or make us all look bad for spending somewhere in the range of the recommended ten dollars apiece for our gifts. But from Melissa, well, it seemed unexpectedly heartfelt. I would have to make a point to thank her when I got a chance, probably later when all the other students left and we had our private, seniors-only gift exchange.

“This is cool!” Harmonie’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I shifted my focus to see what she was pulling out of her gift bag. She held up a silver Christmas ornament in the shape of a treble clef sign. She shook it lightly, and a jingle bell inside tinkled brightly. Along with the ornament was a gift card for the laser tag arena. “I’ll have fun with this,” she enthused. “Who got your name?”

“Melissa,” I said, and showed her the sweater. While she was admiring it, I felt eyes on me, and noticed Ashlyn side-staring suspiciously. I took the box back from Harmonie and put the lid on quickly, with an uneasy feeling that Ashlyn knew who it came from and was jealous. She and Melissa are supposed to be best friends, but it’s been weirdly turbulent lately.

Before long, people started saying their thank-you’s and goodbyes. Little by little, they trickled out the front door into the gentle snowfall, calling, “Merry Christmas!” Melissa scurried around in the background, swooping stray bits of gift wrap and ribbons off the floor into a white trash bag until Luis, Harmonie, and I took over for her so she could actually see her guests out. It was all picked up by the time the door closed behind the last underclassman and it was just us seniors.

“Okay, one more item of business before you all go home,” Melissa said once we’d all been reassembled in the kitchen. “Who’s ready for our class gift exchange?”

“Whoohoo, yaaass girl!” Dionne cried enthusiastically. The lights glittered off the sequin-embellished Santa hat she’d somehow acquired.

Whether I wanted to admit it or not, my feelings mirrored her exhilaration. The next thing I knew, we were all falling over each other to gather around the smaller but equally beautiful Christmas tree in the living room.

“I call dibs on being Santa Claus!” Brady shouted. He reached over and pulled off Dionne’s Christmas hat, plopping it down lopsidedly on his own head.

“Hey, give that back!” Dionne protested, reaching in vain for the sparkly accessory.

“Actually,” Melissa announced, “I have a method for this, so technically, we all get to be Santa Claus and hand out the presents.” She paused a moment to let everyone settle and focus on her, then proceeded to explain the process she’d laid out for distributing the gifts. It was simple – once you open the gift for you, you then give the gift you’d brought for the person whose name you’d drawn several weeks back. It was so exciting, and all the gifts were awesome.

“Wow, how’d you know I was into pirate stuff?” Luis asked, turning over the special edition book on pirate ship hunting from Brady.

“I might know more than you think I do,” Brady replied smugly.

Ashlyn was equally surprised and impressed with the complex fidget puzzle Ander had gotten her.

“This . . . actually looks interesting,” she commented. As usual, she’d managed to make it a very insulting sort of compliment.

As fascinated as I was by everyone else’s gifts, I was getting antsy when it dwindled down to the last gift and I still hadn’t gotten mine yet. That meant that one lone package was mine. And the only person who hadn’t given one yet was . . . .

“Zayden,” Melissa’s voice called. “You’re the last one left. Your turn.”

Zayden? He was my secret Santa?

My curiosity rose inexplicably. What would be in the present from this rough-around-the-edges, wild card sort of guy?

“Well,” I heard him saying as he shoved the box toward me, “This is for you. In case you haven’t figured it out.”

“I have,” I smiled. “Thanks, Zayden.”

“You don’t even know what’s in it yet,” Connor pointed out.

“Yeah,” Brady interjected. “It’s probably coal or something. What else would you expect from Zayden?”

I tensed at the intentional jab and the malicious undertone I heard in the last sentence Brady nearly spat out. Wouldn’t those two ever resolve their issues?

“Hey, now,” Kristina intervened. “No ugly words at Christmas time.”

“And by the way, I’m saying thanks in advance,” I stated, mostly for Brady’s benefit. “The outside looks great, so even if it is coal, at least the box is pretty.” That was mostly for Zayden’s benefit. And honestly, as I tore into the paper, I mused on how attractive the gift wrapping was. I could find no room for criticism – not that I was looking for any.

“Hey, look,” Jacob teased, pointing to the box when the wrapping paper came off. “It’s a laptop!”

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that boxes lie?” Harmonie joined in. “Especially at Christmas time.”

“Ha ha. Sorry not sorry,” Zayden said. “The box just happened to be the right size.”

“Hm, I’m so curious now,” I smiled.

“Ugh, you’re being slow on purpose just to keep us all in suspense,” Dionne complained.

“Nope, just to keep you in suspense,” I said, only half trying to hide my smirk. I pulled back the last tab on the side of the shallow cardboard box and opened it up.

“Oh, wow.”

“What? What is it?” Dionne could barely contain herself.

I lifted the item out of the box admiringly. It was a framed photo collage of skillfully taken snapshots featuring city skylines from various angles and perspectives.

“This is so cool,” I said. “I love it. Did you take these, Zayden?”

Zayden lifted one shoulder in a shrug and looked at the floor. “Most of them. There may be one or two contributions from Connor.”

“Yeah, but the project was his idea,” Connor said.

“It’s awesome. Thanks.”

I felt the stir of more that I wanted to say, but even if I could without making a big, sappy deal, it somehow didn’t feel like the time or place right now.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about it anyway, because Melissa was clapping her hands together and saying, “Thanks, all of you, for your participation in the gift exchange. I think it turned out great.”

Her sentiment echoed warmly around the room and mingled with the general stir as everyone started collecting up their gifts and discarded wrapping paper. One by one, we began to make our way reluctantly toward the front door to get our coats and leave. It was almost midnight by the time I finally said goodbye to Melissa. I thanked her heartily for the beautiful sweater.

“I’m glad you like it,” she said, looking almost relieved. “I wasn’t entirely sure what to get you, since we haven’t exactly talked about our tastes a lot, but I wanted it to be something special in honor of all the support you’ve been this hectic first semester of senior year.”

She paused thoughtfully, looking into the distance, then said, “I don’t really. . . connect with people on a deep level very well, and I’m bad at showing my appreciation. But I want you to know that I do appreciate you.”

Her words left a warm glow in my heart as I headed toward the door. Maybe I really was making a difference in my class this year after all, I thought, slipping into my coat. Soft piano strains of “Silent Night” still floated out across the room, and my heart swelled with a happy contentment that glistened inside of me like the twinkling golden lights on the tree.

“Hey, Nikki.”

I startled just a bit at the voice. I hadn’t been aware of anyone else in the room. The next thing I knew, Zayden had seemingly materialized out of nowhere.

My heart skipped a beat.

“Hey, Zayden. Have a good time?” I asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Absolutely. And by the way, I really love the photo collage. It’s definitely going up in my room.”

“Cool. I hoped you’d like it. I didn’t know what to get you that’d be . . . you know, good enough.”

“Aw, you don’t have to worry about good enough. It’s perfect. I don’t need anything grand. It’s always the thought that counts when it comes to gift giving anyway.”

“Yeah, well, you deserve the best,” he said, shifting his weight and not quite making eye contact. “You’re. . .” he paused, as if battling over the right word, then settled on, “Cool.”

“Silent Night” filled the beat of silence as I searched for a response. When I finally settled on one, it came out a soft breath hardly above a whisper.

“Thanks.”

It felt insufficient. But I was afraid to say any more, in case it would somehow give away the quickened, fluttering beating that had suddenly taken over my heart.

Not seeming to know what else to say, Zayden zipped up his black leather jacket and stepped toward the door.

“Well, guess I’m out of here,” he said. He put his hand on the doorknob, pushed it open, and stepped outside, holding the door open for me as well.

The song inside changed to a slow, peaceful version of “Let It Snow” just as the door closed behind us. It was completely appropriate, too, as perfect white flakes danced and twirled gently from the silent sky, softly illuminated by the glow of the tree through the glass pane in the door. I chanced a direct look at Zayden to see if I could decipher what was going on in his head. He was looking right at me, the snowflakes coming to rest on his longish, messy blond hair.

Maybe it was the golden backlight, or the cozy mood I was in, or just the Christmas spirit in general, but something seemed to soften the edges of this unpredictable guy, and somehow I felt right then that some small channel had opened, if only for a moment, giving me a glimpse of Zayden Harrison that I’d never seen before and wouldn’t be quite sure how to interpret for a long time.

“Well, I guess this is where I get on my way,” I said.

“Yeah, same here,” Zayden agreed, moving toward his motorcycle at the same time as I stepped toward my car.

“Merry Christmas,” I smiled with a little wave.

And then, once again, he looked right at me in a way like never before.

“Merry Christmas, Nikki.”

The magic of that moment may have only been a special, limited-time Christmas offer, and it certainly contained mysteries that still needed unwrapping, but it warmed my heart all the way home.