Zalfie - How to Live

11. Secret Santa

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15 5/11 years ago

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On December 24th, Zoe rang my doorbell again, her eyes alight with excitement.

"Ready to celebrate Christmas?" she asked as soon as I opened the door.

I grinned and nodded. We walked out the door together. As we did, I pushed my hand into the pocket of my coat and felt the little wrapped package that was destined for Zoe.

I sat in the front of her convertible with her and we drove to Tyler's house to pick him up as well.

Then we went to Troye's.

Him and Tyler exchanged a quick kiss. Tyler had literally asked Troye out the day after he came out. Of course Troye said yes.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Zoe turned on the radio and a Chistmas song played out.

"My brother's place," Zoe replied, her eyes on the road but a smile on her face.

I buried my cold nose into my scarf a little more and glanced at Zoe. Her cheeks were red and there was this sparkle in her eyes that I had never seen before. Her breath was coming out in beautiful, white clouds that hung in the air for a few seconds before disappearing.

She eventually stopped in front of a normal-sized building.

We all opened our doors and got out of the car, walking up the steps and to the front porch.

Zoe rang the bell and a blonde girl I recognized from school answered the door.

"Hey!" she said, pulling us all in for a hug, which was a little odd as I didn't even know her name. "Come in, come in." She gestured us inside and we found ourselves in a smokey room, sticky with beer.

"Hannah Hart," Zoe said under her breath as Hannah left. "Lesbian."

~

The next few hours were an uncomfortable blur. I ended up somehow in the midst of a game of spin the bottle and ended up kissing Tyler, Hannah, Zoe and Zoe's brother, Joe (who I had only just met).

I drank about two beers and Zoe drank none--which was a surprise. When I offered her one, she shook her head.

"It's the end of the year," she explained. "Out with the old, new beginnings, etc. Plus, I wanna be sober for my Secret Santa gift." She winked at me and I touched the little box, which was still hidden in my pocket.

Then some guy offered me some sort of drug, which I declined. By the time he had (finally) given up and left, Zoe was gone.

Almost right after that incident, Joe began kicking people out, until only me, Hannah, Zoe, Troye, Tyler and himself were left.

Hannah was smiling insanely hard as she yelled, "Secret Santa time, yo!"

She threw a big green sack in the center of the living room and then ushered us all into the kitchen (where we couldn't see) and put her gift in the sack.

One at a time, we each followed her lead.

Finally (after a drunken Tyler had nearly fallen into the fire place), Zoe handed all the gifts out.

Everyone ripped open their presents in excitement. Mine was surprisingly heavy.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Tyler shrieked, laughing. "Let's dye my hair!"

He held up his present, purple hair dye and began giggling.

Hannah began to laugh ridiculously hard. "Wait, wait," she said. "Wait." She then fell off the couch.

I laughed quietly before turning to Zoe and watching her carefully take the wrapping paper off her present and open up the white box.

She clutched it to her heart when she saw what was inside of it, her eyes tearing up.

Smiling to myself, I looked back down at my gifts and carefully went through them. My Secret Santa had given me a Smiths record and a couple of mix tapes, along with an old Walkman and a beanie. When I put on the beanie, a piece of paper flew out. I carefully unfolded it and read:

You look cute in hats!xxx

I grinned down, feeling both happy and sad.

I looked at the people in the living room, each sharing a priceless, joyous moment. Each one laughing and no one angry or crying. No one jealous or bitter. Everyone purely happy, every evil in the world held at bay. Creepy as it may sound, I just wanted to watch everyone enjoy their gifts before I enjoyed mine.

Hannah had gotten a collection of snap-backs. Tyler had gotten hair dye. Troye had a peanut suit that he was holding up and examining. Joe had gotten all of his favorite movies.

Zoe stood up after everyone had admired their gifts. "Are we ready to make our guesses?"

Everybody nodded, laughter dying down.

"You want to go, Troye?" Zoe said.

Troye nodded. "Well, I've gotten a peanut suit" he held it up "and as I know that Hannah has quite a few of these I'm going to have to go with .... Hannah Hart!"

Hannah stood up and took a bow. "Oh, Troye .... " she said. "You know my wardrobe so well."

"Hannah!" Zoe yelled, pointing at her. "Who do you think yours is?"

"It was a tough one, Zoe," Hannah said, standing up and rubbing her chin. "But I'm going to have to go with ... " She paused and we all made a misshapen drumroll, "Joe."

"Of course it was me, you crazy lesbian you!" Joe cried. Both he and Hannah hugged and the rest of us cheered.

"What do you think, Joe?" Zoe asked.

"I'm going to have to go with ... Tyler!"

"Hmm, why do you think that Joe?" Zoe asked him, pretending to hold a microphone in his face.

"Well, the day we got our Secret Santa names he made me make a list of all my favorite movies, all of which except two are in this stack." He shook all the movies.

"You weren't supposed to remember that!" Tyler shrieked, but he was laughing.

"You're turn, Tyler," Zoe said.

"Well," Tyler began, "I've gotten lavender hair dye and a note that says 'Come over and we'll dye your hair ... And maybe do a bit more ;) xxx.' So unless Alfie is flirting with me again" I smiled " I have to go with Troye." He pointed at Troye, who jumped up from the couch.

"That's ... " he paused, letting the suspense build, "correct!"

"But Troye!" Zoe said in mock surprise. "You've already gone!"

"Very true, Zoe," Troye agreed.

"So I guess someone who hasn't been chosen go ... "

"Zoe, you can!" Hannah cried, her brow furrowed like it had taken her awhile to come to that conclusion.

"But I'm the spokesperson, I have to go last!" Zoe protested.

"What about," Joe began, "and hang with me here, what if Alfie went?"

The entire room gasped and then burst into laughter. Rolling my eyes, I got up from the couch.

"I was given a record, a Walkman, some mixtapes and a beanie. And--as I didn't give myself these gifts and no one else is left--I'm going to have to say Zoe."

Zoe dimpled up adorably before kissing me for a very long time. "The second part of your gift," she explained as she pulled away.

I smiled and then sat back down in the couch.

Zoe began. "I got a very meaningful, private gift. Something that means a lot and only Alfie Deyes would be thoughtful enough to give me. So I'm guessing him."

I smiled and nodded. "It was me."

Zoe grinned and hugged me again, harder than ever. Troye and Tyler kissed. Hannah put on her own hamburger suit. Joe put a movie in the his DVD player.

Eventually, we left, thanking each other and promising to do it again next year.