Star Crossed

Chapter 11: Secret Santa

Hawk

I drive down the road to Melanie's house. After a few apologies from me, she agreed to forgive me for harassing her about who she went on a date with. However, she still doesn't even want to talk to Mason. I feel really bad for him, and I try to explain to Melanie that he didn't mean anything by it, but she refuses to listen.

I pull into the driveway of the mansion, locking my car as I exit it. I get to the door, not bothering to knock, and walk inside. I see Melanie sitting at her kitchen island on her phone. I smile, take my shoes and coat off, and go over to her.

"Hey, how's it going?" She asks, looking up from the small screen momentarily.

"It could be better." I haven't told Melanie or Mason that I kissed Jayden. It's not like they would really even know who he is anyway, but it's just kind of...weird. I don't normally talk about my feelings, well deep feelings that is.

Suddenly Melanie gasps, her eyes widening slightly.

"What?" I ask, confused. She holds up her phone to me. I raise an eyebrow, but look at the device non-the-less. My mouth falls open when I see a picture of Jayden and I kissing.

"How- what?" I stutter. Melanie puts her phone down, looking at me quizzically.

"Is this real?"

"I guess I can't really hide it now," I start, "It's real. It happened two days ago."

"Who's the guy?" She leans forward a bit.

"He's from school, but I don't know what his deal is, or even why we kissed." A realization hits me. Has he seen this? I sit down in the chair next to Melanie. My face almost expressionless.

"I'm sure everything's going to be okay," she reassures, rubbing my back.

"You're probably right," I reply, nodding slightly. Melanie hops down from the chair.

"Now," she says, "let's go to my room to watch a movie!" I laugh a little. Leave it to Melanie to brush off the little things and change the subject.

I follow her upstairs. As we walk I notice that she's wearing a pair of tan leggings, a white cropped sweater, lime green fuzzy socks, and her hair is made into a messy bun. I chuckle at her weird style, then run after her.

* * * *

"If any seniors are interested in this year's secret Santa, feel free to sign up on the board by the office," I hear our Principal, Mrs. Reyne, say over the announcements.

"Hey," I feel a tap on my shoulder, "Are you gonna do the secret Santa thing?" Mason asks me from behind me. I turn around to look at him, but not before checking that our English teacher isn't looking.

"I'm not sure, it seems kind of dumb to be honest." Mason's eyes go wide and his mouth hangs open.

"How can you say that? Secret Santa's the best! It's so cool how you have to figure out who has you!" He whisper-yells, catching the attention of Mr. Brenson who shushes him immediately. 

"Fine, I'll sign up if it'll get you to shut up," I say, anger and annoyance apparent in my tone. Mason just smirks. I roll my eyes, and turn my attention back to my work.

I walk down the hallway to the office. There's a large bulletin board with a paper that says: "Secret Santa Sign Up". I grab the pencil attached to a string on the board and write my name down. I see a few other names I recognize, but there's only about five of them.

I look behind me when I hear footsteps. I stare into the familiar deep blue eyes in front of me. I look down Jayden's body, seeing his black and white flannel over a grey hoodie, a pair of black loose jeans, and his black Converse. I gaze back up to his face, his light brown hair is messily placed on his forehead.

I catch myself blatantly staring at him, so I quickly avert my eyes, turning back to the sign up board (pretending I'm suddenly very interested in it).

"So, you're doing the secret Santa thing?" He asks quite awkwardly.

"Yeah, my friend kind of bugged me into doing it with him," I reply, trying not to be as awkward as Jayden is.

"Well...I should go now." With that I walk away from him. Before I'm too far away, I risk a look back at him. He's standing there, just looking at the sign up sheet. Then he leans down slightly, picking up the pencil, and writes his name down.

I turn down a hallway, not wanting to be creepily standing in the hall staring at him. I realize I'm by where Melanie's locker is.

"Melanie!" I shout, practically running towards her.

"Are you doing secret Santa?" I ask, standing next to her at her locker while she puts some things away. She closes her locker, locking it, then turns to face me. She leans her head against the locker, sighing quietly.

"I'm not sure. Are you?" She questions, although there is no excitement or enthusiasm in her voice.

"Yeah, I just signed up. It would be fun if we could do it together. And besides, I think Mason hopes that you'll sign up so that he can possibly give you a Christmas present."

She scoffs at this. "That's a stupid reason."

"Melanie, it's been a while now, I think it's time to forgive him. He's your best friend. You don't want to end that just because he's a nosy bitch," I say, placing my hand on her shoulder. She looks up at me, rolling her eyes.

"I guess you're right. But if he tries to pull that bullshit again I'll smack him," she says threateningly. I just laugh, wrapping my arm around Melanie's shoulder, guiding her to the bulletin board to sign up.