A flashlight in the shadows.

chapter 30: Secret Santa.

Hannah answered after the fourth ring.
"What's up my bitch?" People walked past me in hurried steps. I sighed into the phone,
"I need you to get me from the mall."
"You sound mad." she said. I huffed in frustration,
"Would you just come get me, please?"
"Ok, sheesh, I'll be there in ten minutes."
"K, bye." We hung up and I checked behind me to make sure Isaac wasn't following me. When I saw that he wasn't, I sighed to myself and started towards the main entrance. I saw a little girl about the age of 5 crying on one of the seats that wrapped around the columns of the mall. I walked tentavly up to her and knealy down.
"Hi sweetheart, what's you're name?" She looked up and me and sniffled,
"Katie." I smiled warmly and sat next to her,
"Well, Katie, why are you crying?"
"I-can't-find-my-mommy," she explained through her sobs. I patted her back and turned her face up to meet mine.
"Dont be sad, I'll help you find her, ok?" She nodded and wiped her eyes.
"Now, do you know your mom's name?" She nodded,
"Carol."
"Ok, do you know what she was wearing?"
"A black coat with pink pajama pants." She explained. I smiled and nodded encouragingly.
"Ok, let's go find her." I took her hand and we walked around the mall. We found her mom at shoe carneval by the little girls section. The little girl ran to her mom.
"Mommy!" Her mom spun around and hugged her.
"There you are! Are you ok?" She nodded and pointed to me.
"She helped me find you." Her mom looked up at me and smiled.
"Thank you." I nodded and smiled.
"You're welcome. Bye Katie," she smiled and waved as I walked out towards the entrance. I saw Hannah's car in the front, waiting for me. When I hopped in, Hannah asked,
"What happened?" I sighed and looked out the window.
"I don't wanna talk about it." I said. She nodded and kept silent. She started the car and asked,
"Do you want to stop at your house before we go to kendras?" I shook my head and bit my lip.
"No, just go."
"K," she pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards kendras house. She talked about her plans with Mike for the next date until we arrived at kendras house. It was 6:00. When I walked in with Hannah, Kendra took one look at me and said,
"Somethings wrong." Frowning, I plopped my bag on her kitchen counter.
"What makes you say that?"
"Your cheeks are red and your eyes are flaming." Hannah nodded and leaned against the fridge.
"Yep,somethings wrong, or else you wouldn't have told me to pick you up."
"I didn't tell you to, I asked you to."
"No, you were all, 'pick me up now or else.' That's not asking, that's instructing." She smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and giggled.
"Fine, something is wrong."
"Called it!" Kendra exclaimed, doing her happy dance. Hannah urged on,
"What is it?!"
"None of your business." I replied, smirking. They both groaned and I skipped to the fridge, opening it and asking,
"So...what should we make?" They both smiled and said,
"We'll make dessert if you make supper." I giggled and shrugged.
"Fine, ham and mashed potatoes sound good?"
"Yes!" They both squealed. They started making the pie crust while I rubbed the ham in spices and let it simmer in its own juices. After that, I started boiling water for the potatoes. We heard the doorbell ring.
"I got it!" Hannah yelled, running to the door. She came back two minutes later with Lucy trailing shortly behind her. She smiled at me with white teeth. I froze ,hoping she wasn't upset with me. She sighed and said,
"What's up?" I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Not much, you?"
"Ehh, same. You look upset, are you ok?" I felt relived, she didn't know.
"Yeah, I'll be ok."
"What happened?" She asked, opening the oven door and smelling the ham. I walked over and ushered her away.
"Leave that shut, please."
"What happened?" She repeated. Before I could reply, Mike and Kenny burst through the door, laughing and rough housing. Kenny clapped his hands and shouted,
"Wheres my sexy girlfriend?!" Kendra giggled and ran around the corner, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Here I am, daddy." He smirked and kissed her on the lips. Hannah kissed Mike's cheek. Lucy and I groaned in sync. Dina walked in the door with her arm full of presents. She huffed and set them on the counter
"What smells so good?" I smiled and said,
"Ham and mashed potatoes."
"When is it gonna be done?!" She asked, walking up to it.
"Soon, why don't you guys do something else while I cook?" I suggested. They all sighed and walked out towards the living room. I found her mixer and strainer in the bottom cupboards. Once I'd drained the potatoes into a bowl, I used the mixer to mash the potatoes and set them aside. My phone started buzzing the way it does when I get texts. I picked it up and looked at who it was from; Isaac. I rolled my eyes and set it on the counter top. The timer on the oven beeper and let me know that the oven was done. I took the ham out and set it on the stove top. My phone started playing a high pitch ringtone, which startled me, and I hit my hand on the side of the pan. I yelled out in pain and jumped back, clutching my burned hand. Irritated and in slight pain, I answered hastily,
"Yes?"
"Sarah-" I hung up instantly at the sound of Isaacs voice. My phone buzzed two more times before I called everyone to the food. When they came in, I put my phone on silent and plated up food for everyone. We all sat at kendras dining table. Mike and Hannah barely touched their food because they were too busy lip locking. Kenny was complimenting Kendra on her short seasonal skirt that came almost to the top of her thighs. She giggled accordingly. Lucy, Dina and I found ourselves talking about a currently sensitive subject, boyfriend's.
"Honestly, I'm almost considering going les because of the stupidity of the men in society," Dina said, giggling. Lucy nodded.
"Almost every guy in our grade has asked me out, and they're all morons!"
"Right?!" Dina agreed. They giggled together and Lucy sighed and turned to me.
"Well, at least Sarah's got someone to call her own." I was about to say something, when Kendra shouted,
"K, time for secret Santa!!!" We all cheered and sat in her living room. Kenny and Kendra took the loveseat, Hannah, Mike and Dina took the couch, and Lucy and I sat on the soft carpet. We all looked through the towering stack of presents for one's with our names on it. I found two for me,so I set them by me and waited my turn. Kendra opened her three first.
"Ok, so I got a pair of socks from...I'm guessing...Mike?" He nodded and we all clapped. She looked at her second one,
"K,a pair of pink and grey converse from, Hannah?" She flipped her hair and giggled.
"Yep, that's me!"
"Ok, and a chocolate bar from...Kenny?" He nodded and kissed her cheek.
"Merry Christmas, babe." She giggled and we went through Mike and Kenny. Lucy took her turn and then it was my turn. I tapped my chin,
"Well, I got a copy of Harry potter, the soucers stone, I'm gonna say from...Hannah?" She shook her head.
"Nope."
"Lucy?" She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Ok, and I got a pack of pencils and a note that said have fun with homework. I'm going to say it's from, Kendra." She nodded and bowed her head.
"Yeah." I giggled and Dina went.
"I only got one gift. It was a pink and blue friendship bracelet. From, Hannah?" She nodded and they hugged. I sighed and laid my head on the couch arm. Kenny had left a few seconds before to get drinks. He came back with my phone in his head.
"Uh...Sarah?"
"Yeah?" I asked, turning to him.
"You have 157 unread text messages and 63 missed calls." My eyes widened and I sat up,
"Hand it here." He gave it to me and I checked, they were all from Isaac. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. Kendra asked,
"Whos it from?" I sighed again and looked at them with a sad smile.
"Isaac." Lucy frowned at this and tilted her head.
"All of them?"
"Yes. Let me explain." They all looked at eachother, then at me. When they were all waiting, I started to explain.
"I asked him to drive me to the mall earlier so I could get Dina a dress. When we got to forever 21, he said this one dress would look nice on me. I told him no because Bennett took me shopping. He got mad and told me I was forbidden to hang out with him,so I kind of broke up with him." I looked at all of them. They were all concerned, Lucy especially. She stood by me and asked,
"Can I see the messages?" I nodded. We all crowded around her as she scrolled through them. The first ten or so basically read,
-Sarah, I'm sorry.- then the next eighty or so were like,
-please don't leave me.- then the others were all like,
-please, please call me so we can talk. I really like you and I'm sorry.- Hannah gasped and Kendra rolled her eyes.
"Thats what they all say." My phone beeped two more times from Isaac. Lucy sighed and took out her phone, putting it on speaker as she called Isaac so we could hear. He picked up on the first ring,
"Hello?!"
"Uh, hey." She said in an irritated voice. His voice dimmed a bit as he sighed into the phone.
"Oh, sorry Lucy, I thought you were Sarah."
"Um, speaking of, why're you sending her so many texts?" There was a short pause on his end, followed by,
"Shes with you right now?"
"Yes, she is."
"Can you please put her on? Please?" His voice sounded strained. She looked at me for permission. I nodded and held out my hand for the phone. She gave it to me and stood to the side.
"Hello Isaac."
"Sarah, listen. I know I'm acting like a complete psycho, but will you please forgive me? I feel really bad at the way I acted, you didn't deserve that, and I know I can trust you more than that." He stopped, listening for my response. I sighed into the phone.
"I forgive you Isaac, but I still need some space for a while." I heard a small sniffle.
"O-ok. Sure, whatever you need."
"K, bye."
"Bye." We hung up. Everyone stared at me for a second before Lucy patted my back and asked,
"Are you ok?" I nodded and sighed.
"I'll be fine." She nodded. We all talked and laughed until 9:00. Then I said,
"Well, I should probably be getting back, bye everyone." They all said goodbye and waved. Hannah and I got in her car and left. She dropped me off at the house.
"Well, I hope everything with you and Isaac works out."
"Me too, goodnight."
"Night," she said, backing out the driveway and turning down the street. I walked in the house to find dad passed out on the couch. His face was strained and he was snoring. I giggled and threw a blanket on top of him and set his glasses a side. I heard some talking up the stairs, so I walked up slowly and approached Jane's door. After a second of silence, the door creeper open, revealing Jacob in jeans and a white T shirt. I stepped back a little and smiled. He smiled back,
"Hi."
"Hey, what's up?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Jane and I were working on her calf exercises." I raised an eyebrow,
"In her room?"
"What better place than her home environment?" I bit my lip and nodded.
"Ok, I guess I could buy that. I don't think my dad could, though. So keep it down, k?" He nodded and smiled again.
"Will do." I nodded and went to my room. When I walked in, I looked over to see Bennett writing in his notebook. I smiled and picked out my pajamas. I threw on my blue pajama pants with candy canes on them and a red tank top. After I went out to the bed, my computer dinged. Bennett's curtains were closed. I sighed and opened the top.
'How was shopping?:)' I bit my lip and typed,
'Not so good.'
'Bfriend trouble?' I looked over at his curtains. They only swayed.
'Its personal.'
'So by that you mean yes:)' He typed back. I sighed and nodded to the screen.
'Yeah.:(' it was a few minutes before he typed back.
'Are you gonna b ok?' I sniffled a little. I realized that I felt kind of bad about telling Isaac I still needed space. Again, I nodded to the computer screen.
'Yes.:)' after two minutes of silence, he typed,
'Goodnight, book thief.:)' I smiled and looked over again. His curtains were still closed. I yawned and looked back at my computer.
'Are you gonna b ok?' It was five minutes before my computer replied,
'Maybe.'

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Hope you liked it, enjoy the next one, bye!C: