A Series Of Firsts

Three★ Christmas eve has never been better.

Shopping with Jack was beginning to be one of Annie's favorite moments. They had been to three different malls already. The first, they left because it was simply too crowded to even move in. The second was because it was practically empty as customers had descended upon the place already. The third mall they got to wasn't crowded and had a few pieces of stuff they could look at but none of them caught their eye.

They were now on their way to the fourth mall. They had both decided to drop their bicycles at the coffee house and were in a taxi at the moment. Annie made sure to put their bicycles inside the shop to prevent anyone from stealing them.

"You shouldn't have waited till the last minute to get Christmas presents," Jack told her for the umpteenth time that hour.

"I think I should've gotten that by now, Mr. Early shopper considering how many times you've said it."

"You know what they say, the fourth time is the final time."

She looked at him in disbelief and couldn't believe he was the boy she had a crush on at first sight. "Nobody says that."

He pouted and she thought that was the cutest thing she had ever seen. She even felt like ruffling his hair but she knew how guys were with their hair. "I say that."

"As I said, nobody."

She laughed at the murderous glare he gave to her but before he could retort, the taxi driver declared that they had arrived at their destination. Over the hour they'd been shopping or trying to go shopping together, they had fallen into the sequence of teasing each other or dishing sarcastic remarks. She was happy he could dish back as he could take because her house was literally filled with sarcastic jackasses.

They got down and Jack paid for their fare. She didn't even try arguing with him because she knew it would do no good. He had told her the first three times that she wasn't spending money on him; even went as far as taking the money she gave to the driver and giving him his before shoving her money back in her hand. The second time, he just slipped the money back into her jeans pockets. She gave up after that.

"This one looks a little bit crowded but at least, no one's hoarding the outside," Jack said in an attempt to make her believe they were going to find presents.

"Let's just get it over with." She said, sounding less eager than she had been at the first three malls. Even then, only Jack's presence made her giddy despite how cocky he'd been in the beginning. He had toned that down.

He chuckled at her lack of enthusiasm and she thought that had to be her favorite sound. She wished she could just record it and listen to it anytime she felt like it. She knew she sounded like a lovesick puppy but she couldn't bring herself to care. It's not like anyone could hear her thoughts after all.

He took her hand in his and she ignored the bolt of electricity that shot through her. It was the first day they were conversing and he was already holding her hand. He was bold, she thought.

She let him lead her to the mall and in it, she found out most of the shops were still full of items. It wasn't all that surprising since they were in a quieter part of the town so she thought not many people resided there.

She saw a toy store and instantly decided they go there. He shot her a funny look and she laughed. "My brothers like to give dumb gifts as their first presents and I think I should do the same this year. Maybe, they'll finally realize I'm growing up."

"How many brothers do you have?" He asked as they made their way into the toy shop, still holding hands and swinging it. He wasn't lying when he said she wanted to talk to him as bad as he wanted to talk to her too. She wondered if he also liked her at first sight or if he had exterior motives.