Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
ELI
I’m absolutely exhausted when I go to bed Thursday night, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Part of it is that after I talked to Jack Wednesday night, I spent another hour working on his gift before I went to bed. That late night bled into an early morning.
Most of it is the movie-perfect snow day I spent with Jack, his family, and our friends.
We watched three movies throughout the day that started first thing in the morning, built a snow dog for our snowman (though I think it’s more of a snow blob), played a few games with Mrs. Benson and Janet (and Hugh, when we pretended and randomly threw down cards with him), and met Fred, Seth, and Jack’s friend Kenny at the park.
I pass out within a minute of hitting the pillow Thursday night and wish I could repeat Thursday right when I open my eyes Friday morning.
Then I sigh and get ready for school, though I don’t really mind going.
It’s the last day before Christmas break.
Yesterday was a preview of the next week I’ll have off.
I’ll gladly go back to school today to finish this bit of the year and properly be on break.
We don’t do much in most of our classes, anyway.
We watch a holiday short in Spanish, listening to the Spanish dub and reading English subtitles.
We have to identify three dimensional shapes we can see in pictures of ornaments in Geometry.
Chemistry is pretty interesting. McGee lets us analyze microscope slides with snowflakes he’s preserved over the years.
He got one during the storm on Thursday and tells us we can look at it after break, since it needs a few days to be ready.
Ms. Walters does give us a reading quiz in English, but it doesn’t feel mean. She actually tells us we can select one short answer question to count as a bonus, so if it’s wrong, it won’t count against us, and once the quiz is done, she lets us have free time.
“Have a wonderful break!” she says as the bell rings to dismiss us. “See you next year!”
Jack doesn’t linger in her room today. A quick, excited smile at me and then he has his bag and is zooming into the hall, to Seth’s locker.
I hustle after him, lips tugging up.
Friendmas time is here.
Seth blasts Christmas music all the way to Fred’s house. Jack and I have never been inside Fred’s house. It’s roomy and inviting-looking from the outside, with pretty stonework around the base. “My parents are both at work, but my grandma’s home,” Fred says. “Helen will probably be home in a bit.”
“How come you never drive your sister?” Jack asks.
“I’m always with you hooligans,” Fred says, ruffling Jack’s hair as he walks by and opens his front door. “And Helen has different extracurriculars than I do. Different schedule.”
I rarely see Helen, despite the fact that she’s in my grade. We don’t have any classes together other than gym. “Makes sense.”
Fred chuckles. “She likes riding with her friends, anyway. Thinks that’s cooler than letting her brother drive her, until she gets her license.”
“Oh, any updates on that, Elliot?” Seth asks.
I haven’t taken the permit test yet. “Mrs. Benson said she can teach me with Jack in the spring.”
“God help her,” Seth mutters.
“What about you?” Jack retorts. “You don’t drive.”
Seth pulls his wallet out and flashes his license. “I drive, Padawan. I just need to finish saving up for a car.”
Jack crosses his arms as Seth puts away his wallet.
We greet Fred’s grandma where she sits in the living room, watching a black and white TV show, stop by his kitchen to grab snacks to tide us over until Seth keeps his promise to buy pizza, and head upstairs to Fred’s room.
I decide I like his room immediately. It’s spacious, not huge but definitely not cramped.
Fred’s twin bed is pressed against one beige wall, and a futon is next to it. A large TV is mounted on the wall opposite the futon, a dresser beneath it with a DVD player and—a record player?
A storage cube next to the dresser confirms it, filled with record albums.
“This is awesome,” I say, spinning. Framed pictures are hung neatly on the walls with the bed and futon. The remaining wall in the room has a tall bookcase against it, shelves lined with titles. I sit on the edge of the futon.
“Looks like the futon’s Eli’s spot now, Seth,” Fred says.
Seth scoffs. “What?”
“First come, first serve.”
“I was served years ago.”
Fred crosses his arms. “New seating arrangement since it’s their first time.”
“In that case . . .”
Seth bolts toward Fred’s bed. Fred moves to block him, and they scuffle, punching at each other. Jack sits beside me, and I lean back to watch.
“You gonna give him back his spot?” Jack asks.
“I was. Then I leaned back and found out how comfortable it is.” I watch Fred and Seth for a few more seconds and clap my hands sharply. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be doing Friendmas right now?”
Fred lunges onto his bed and grins at Seth. Seth swears and sits on the floor. “You’re absolutely right, Elliot,” Fred says, chuckling. “Now, everyone close your eyes and toss your gifts into the middle of the room. I’ll distribute them.”
I take my wrapped parcel out of my bag and toss it a bit in front of me, and after Fred asks if we’ve all pulled out our gifts, he says we can open our eyes. He hands Seth his first.
“You get first honors, bro.”
Seth takes the box from him with narrowed eyes. “Almost makes up for losing my throne. Not quite.” The instant everyone has their gift, Seth tears into his.
“No way,” he says, peeling back the tissue paper inside.
He lifts a varsity jacket from the box: a sleek, navy blue and white jacket with an F like in our school design over the chest on the front left side.
Falcons is embossed on the back, his jersey number below it.
He lets out a laugh. “A varsity jacket!”
“Perfect for an upperclassman, don’t you think?” Fred asks, a twinkle in his eyes.
Seth pulls the jacket on. “I don’t care if it’s dorky to anyone else—they’re wrong. I know I look amazing. Right? Right!”
“It’s so cool!” Jack says, going to the floor to touch the sleeve.
“All right, Freddy boy, you’re the only one who knew I wanted this, and since it’s so epic—all’s forgiven,” Seth says. He can’t stop looking at the jacket, extending his arms and twisting to look at it from different angles. “I can’t believe you actually got me one.”
“This way you can wear it next year.”
“Next year? I’m wearing it next week!”
I look at Fred. “You might have created a monster.”
“Created, or just given him more strength?” he asks out of the corner of his mouth.
“Did you get yourself one too?” Seth asks.
“Who do you think I am?” Fred asks, deadpanning. He goes to his closet and pulls out a hanger with a matching jacket. “I can’t let you be the only Falcon wearing one.”
“Where can I get one?” Jack asks.
Fred looks at all of us. “I bet we could get Coach to get one, too. And some of the guys. I’ll send you the link in our chat, and we can run it by the others at the follow-up Friendmas with them.”
“We can show them exactly what they’re missing ,” Seth says, pulling on the edges of his jacket as if flexing it.
“Eli, are you gonna get one too?”
“We’re on the same team, aren’t we?”
Jack grins. “Fred, you go next. It makes sense to go in order like that, where whoever got the gift for the last person opens theirs next.”
I know I don’t reveal anything on my face, but I watch with extra attention as Fred opens my gift, and it’s hard not to smile right before he realizes what it is.
“A collection of hot sauce?” He turns it over and sees the envelope I taped to the back. The hot sauce packet from Bueno Burritos falls into his palm, my note saying to help you be a better hothead wrapped around it. He reads it aloud, reveals the hot sauce packet, and groans. “Ah, not this one!”
He and Seth had a competition to see who could handle hot sauce best, a while back. This was the hottest one they tried, and the one that sent Fred into a coughing fit.
“That’s just mean,” he says through a laugh, looking at us each in turn to guess who gifted it. “This one hurt!”
“Looks like your Secret Santa wants to build up your hot sauce endurance,” Jack says.
“Okay, ‘fess up. Who is it?”
I raise one hand, and Seth gasps. “Elliot James, you conniving son of a bitch!”
I let the smile tugging at my lips show. “Couldn’t resist.”
Fred tosses the solo packet of hot sauce to me. “You’re trying all of these with me. You know that, right?”
“Eli can’t handle hot sauce,” Jack says.
“At all?” Seth asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t like spicy beyond barbecue.”
Fred takes the packet back from me, frowning. “Barbecue is not spicy. Seth! Round two with these hot sauces!”
“You know it,” he says.
I open my gift next. Two bundles wrapped in tissue paper are inside the gift bag. One contains two Hershey bars.
“Basic, but classic,” Seth says.
The other bundle has an ugly sweater inside. Emphasis on ugly. I’m really hoping it’s supposed to be that way, because if Jack or Seth really think a strand of multicolored lights arranged like a tree on the front of a sweater (battery pack attached) is a good look, they need an intervention.
The way Seth bursts out with his barking laugh, I’m sure he wasn’t my Secret Santa. Jack’s ears turn red when I look at him. I hold the sweater against my chest. “Really?”
We’re all laughing now. “I couldn’t resist,” Jack manages. “You love your sweaters.”
“And now I have one I love to hate.”
“Put it on!” Fred says, tossing a chip at me.
“Then I’m the only one without a new outfit,” Jack says.
I offer the ugly sweater and he shoves it back. Turns out he does get something he can wear, though. Seth got him Christmas-themed socks—and a green elf hat with a big red puffball on the end.
Seth and Fred definitely got the better end of the deal, wearing their varsity jackets while I light up the room in my sweater, but Jack looks adorable with his new Christmas tree socks and his elf hat. Seth orders two pizzas and Fred puts on a holiday record.
The first night of holiday break becomes one of my favorite memories before it’s even complete.