12 Days of Christmas

Chapter 21: To Go or Not to Go

Joey had accidentally left his hairband behind at the apartment, so I shoved it into my bag so that in case I ran into him in school today, I could hand it off to him. I'd been staring lethargically at the Mickey Mouse-themed accessory all day as it rested inside my bag with the rest of my textbooks and notebooks.

"Your project is due on the twentieth of December. Don't forget since it is worth 40% of your grade, okay, class?" our professor reminded us before the bell rang. "Class dismissed. I'll see you all next week."

Packing up my stuff, I groaned inwardly because the project she was referring to was a partner project, meaning I'd have to actually find someone to work on the project with me, even though I'm perfectly capable of doing it alone.

The project was to make a two to three minute long video explaining the events and outcomes of World War I. Now, that would've been fine, but again, I hated group projects, whether or not it was just going to be the two of us.

I despised partnerships. I never really knew anyone from my class.

...but luckily, Hayden was in this class. Oddly enough, I hadn't really spoken to him since we parted ways yesterday, but he should be okay with partnering up with me, right? If not, I was doomed.

Zipping up my bag, I slung it over my shoulder and quickly ran over to Hayden's seat before he left.

"Hey," I greeted, a little too excitedly for my taste. "You, uh, got a partner yet?" 

"Nope," he replied, his eyes not meeting my eager ones because he was still packing up his stuff. When he finished, he lifted his bag with one hand and finally held my gaze. "You interested?"

"In case it wasn't painfully obvious, yeah," I chuckled, wondering if the formation of every partnership was as pathetic as this one, "you know, seeing as you're the only person I know in this class."

"Wow," Hayden exclaimed histrionically, emphasizing that interjection. He brought his hand to his chest and feigned offense. "And here I was thinking that it was because you wanted to spend some time with me. Little did I know, I was just your only choice. I am hurt, Emma Collins—truly hurt."

"Oh, stop being dramatic, Hayden," I laughed, "and of course since we're buddies, too."

"Nope, there's no salvaging it." It was at this moment, with his eyes focused intently on mine, that he smiled down at me.

That's when it hit me.

He had a lovely smile, the kind of heart-melting smile that would make any girl fall in love with him in an instant—not me, of course, a different girl—but that didn't mean I was immune to his charms.

Hm, he and Joey could be friends.

I was still mesmerized by the way he smiled that I barely noticed my phone vibrating in my pocket.

Blinking twice, I quickly shook my head to snap out of it. Yep, definitely still didn't know how to act around Hayden yet. "Hold on, I need to take this," I told him before answering the call.

"Hey, Joe," I greeted after checking the caller's ID. "What's up?"

"What do you mean 'what's up'?" he reacted. "Hurry up, and meet me at the parking lot. We can still make it."

"Uh, make it?" I echoed.

"To Disneyland, stupid. Did you forget?"

"Oh, right!" I exclaimed sarcastically. "I'm totally going to Disneyland with you! It's not like I disagreed this morning or anything."

"I chose to forget this morning."

"Joe, I'm not going, and that's final," I said firmly.

"Please! Just come here, okay?

I sighed, knowing I had to be the voice of reason again. "Joe—"

"Please," he begged.

"Ugh, fine," I gave in. "Hold on. I'm on my way." I ended the call and turned to Hayden.

"I don't know how much you heard, but I have to go. I'll text you regarding the video, okay? Okay. See you!" I quickly said before running out of the classroom.

I didn't know why, but I rushed to the parking lot to see Joey. He was leaning on the door of his Jeep with his arms crossed over his chest like he was in a car commercial or something.

"Sweet ride," I complemented. "Is it new?"

"Yeah, my dad gave it to me to apologize for not being there on my birthday last week," he explained, tossing the keys up in the air and catching them.

"What? Your birthday was last week?" I reacted, widening my eyes.

"Yeah," chuckled Joey. "You forgot? Damn, I thought I didn't get a greeting because we were fighting and not because you forgot." He played it off as a joke, but I could tell he was slightly hurt by the lack of importance I seemed to give him.

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

If the guilt I felt from turning down his Disneyland idea wasn't already enough, knowing that I had forgotten the most important person in my life's birthday was definitely a heavy blow to my principles. I've known Joey for years, and I totally forgot his birthday! What kind of friend does that? A terrible one, that's who.

"Tell you what, to make it up to you..." I trailed off, unsure if I was making the right choice here. I sneaked a little peek at Joey's hairband still nestled in my bag, and I sighed. "Let's go to Disneyland." 

"What? But you still have two classes," Joey said, clearly surprised at my decision.

"I do?" I asked, playing dumb. "Besides, don't tell me you called me out here just to flex your new car."

He laughed before opening the passenger seat door for me. "Guilty as charged," he said as he held my hand to guide me to the seat. "Now, I do believe we have a magical day ahead of us."

"I believe we do," I grinned, playing along, as I got in.

And let me tell you this, I couldn't be more thankful that I decided to ditch those last two classes for an afternoon of fun with Joey. Sometimes, in life, we have to make sacrifices, but when you choose the right decisions, those sacrifices don't feel like sacrifices anymore.