Christmas Eve
"Come on, Sarah, don't be chicken." Shane taunts as he tries to coax me into the building.
"Nuh-uh, no way am I doing it." I shake my head in refusal, the petrified screams backing up my statement.
"Sarah, I will literally carry you kicking and screaming into that hotel." Zac threatens, amused. I turn a pleading glance towards my boyfriend, hoping he'll take my side in this.
"Don't worry, Sah, I won't let him touch you," he winks. "I, on the other hand, as your boyfriend, have a very serious duty to fulfill, in getting you onto that ride." He grins wickedly, and scoops me up without further hesitation, carrying me bridal-style into the Hollywood Tower Hotel, Zac grumbling behind us about being a third wheel.
The entire hotel-well, the part that's open to us-is designed to look like it was abandoned years ago, complete with cobwebs and cracking plaster. We, along with the other people inline are all herded into the library by some guy with a blonde mustache in a creepy '60s bellhop uniform, where we stand facing an ancient-looking television. Suddenly the lights go out and I find myself clinging to Shane in the darkness. The television comes on in a burst of blue light, and we hear a narrator telling us about The Twilight Zone and how in the 60s, this hotel was some really fancy hotel for Hollywood showbiz, but then 5 people disappeared into The Twilight Zone the video is in black and white and complete with those bad movie effects like the cheesy lightening, and the fading in and out of people who "disappear". Normally, it would be funny, but now, here, in this spooky set-up, I'm downright creeped out. As the camera pans around to face the narrator, he invites us to take a trip into The Twilight Zone down an old service elevator...if we dare.
The screen goes black, leaving us in darkness. A few of the tourists hoot and holler, Zac and Shane joining in. As the lights come back on, the crowd pushed us down towards the "basement" of the hotel, where we wait inline again to get strapped into our seats. The line is crazy long, and it takes nearly an hour for our turn.
"This is taking forever," I whine, immediately hating myself-that sounded exactly like something Sabrina would say.
"Well, we could do something while we wait." Shane's eyebrows quirk suggestively.
"No. I'm not sitting here watching you two make out in an amusement park line. Do something less cliché." Zac demands, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance.
"Aw, come on, I've never done it before, I want the experience." I tease, sticking my tongue out at Zac, turning to face him, since he was standing behind me.
Shane, seeming to take my words seriously, wraps his arms around me from the back and presses his lips to the hollow at the base of my neck, near my collarbone. I resist the urge to moan out loud and smack him away.
"Shane, too much PDA, okay?" I giggle, causing Zac to roll his eyes for the hundredth time since he got to Disneyland. I wonder if he would be so irritated if he was the one kissing my neck.
Woah, where did that come from?
Just before we make it to the front, I try chickening out one last time. "Guys, Daniella did the Tower of Terror yesterday, she said it scared the shit out of her."
"She also said it was the best experience of her life, babe." Shane reminds me, humor lacing his voice.
"Yeah well..."
"Miss, if you'd step in here," the guy helping people into their seats addresses me, and the guys share a triumphant grin, knowing they've got me cornered. I slide into a bench between Zac and Shane, taking note that Shane is on my left, so as to avoid clutching onto Zac in the dark during the ride.
As soon as we step out into the daylight, I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Never again." The ride had consisted of a constant up and down lurching, and eventually, we just dropped from the top of the hotel, down to the bottom again.
"I think I left my stomach on the tenth floor." Shane groans, then adds with an evil grin, "but so worth it."
"Totally worth it!" Zac and Shane high-five, and I stare at them in bewilderment as they continue to talk about how epic the ride was. Just yesterday they argued about who got to put the star on the Christmas tree, and now they were getting along like long-lost brothers.
"Aww, bromance!" Daniella coos, as she snaps a photo of them, appearing out of nowhere. I roll my eyes.
"Stalker," I mutter, but she just pretends to ignore me.
"How did you guys find your trip into the Twilight Zone?" Kevin asks, causing yet another re-telling of how awesome the ride was.
"The whole idea behind it...isn't it epic, babe?" Shane asks, seeming to finally remember my presence.
"Agree to disagree." I laugh. "I've never been one for scary movies."
"That's because you're chicken." Zac taunts, but I ignore him. "Hey, Shane, we should totally get your girlfriend in front of a few horror movies. Educate her," Zac says this in good nature, but he still spits out the words your girlfriend, causing Shane to tighten his grip around my waist.
Good thing I'm not as ticklish as Carley.
"Yeah, Sarah, you up for a few horror movies tonight?"
"It's Christmas Eve, not Halloween." I deadpan.
"So we'll watch Nightmare before Christmas." Zac shrugs. "Not exactly a horror, but it seems fitting, don't you think?"
"We're in Disneyland, and you want to watch movies?" I ask, incredulously.
"Disney Movies!" Shane defends, and I laugh.
"Okay, you win. After the parade tonight with our parents, we'll watch Nightmare Before Christmas."
"Yes!" Zac pumps his fist in the air like he's just scored a touchdown.
***
After the breath-taking parade(featuring creepy walking gingerbread men, disney princesses, and of course, Micky and Minnie) and an awe-inspiring fireworks display, we have a light dinner in our hotel suite, Janine insisting that Christmas Eve is not a time to be spent separate from family. (She completely avoids Shane and Kevin's gaze as she says this,)
"Presents!" Mia sings excitedly, after we've cleared away the dishes off the formal dining room table.
"Um, don't gifts happen Christmas morning?" I ask, confused, gaining a light, airy laugh from Janine that sounds like she's embarrassed.
"We usually get to open a single gift on Christmas Eve." Zac explains with a sheepish grin. That tradition sounds vaguely familiar, I think Carley's family does that. Or maybe it was Blake's...
"That's a lovely idea," my mom chimes in, and I notice that the dads have slipped away, probably to watch some football game or something.
Do they play a Christmas Eve football game? I know they do on Thanksgiving, but Christmas? I never really thought about it. Huh, I guess that's why I'm not dating a football player.
"Why don't we all open one gift tonight, hm?" Janine suggests to my mother, and she quickly agrees, hollering for my dad to come join us.
Once we're seated in the living area, Mia and Sean sitting on the floor by the tree, they hand each of us a gift addressed to us.
"Wait, don't we get to choose?" Tom asks, laughing heartily at his kids.
"Nope." Mia grins, and hands me a small white box that fits neatly in the palm of my hand, her blue eyes gleaming with mischief. What is she up to?
As I examine the tag, I realize it's from Zac.
My thoughts cloud in confusion as I look up at him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't get you anything," I say apologetically, feeling Shane tense up next to me.
"That's okay, Skittles," his blue eyes glint dangerously, "you'll just have to owe me." He quips, but I don't think I like the feeling of owing Zac Cornelio something. My stomach tightens.
Once everyone's opened their gifts, except me, I can't prolong it. I glance anxiously at Shane, whose wearing a truly ugly Christmas sweater his grandma sent along as his gift, but his expression is stoic, like he doesn't like idea of the gift anymore than I do.
"Come on, Sarah, open it!" I slowly open the box, to find a pair of dangly earrings, designed to look like little skittle packets. I can't help but laugh.
It's long after midnight when I finally creep into my room, Daniella and Kurt having snuck out after the gifts, and Mia and Sean passed out near the Christmas tree on the floor covered in pillows and blankets we pulled from the linen closet.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Shane whispers, wrapping his arms around my waist, effectively pulling me out of the room. I turn to face him, and before I can say anything, he plants his lips self-assuredly on mine.
"Merry Christmas, beautiful." He whispers, and my heart skips a beat or two. I loo up into his eyes, almost surprised to see his dark eyes staring intently into mine.
Why did I think they'd be blue?
"Hey, you guys coming? The movie's starting!" Zac whisper-calls from the boy's room.
"Oh yeah, Zac's still hell bent on watching Nightmare Before Christmas, that's kinda why I came here in the first place." Shane chuckles, and then pulls me into their room.
During the opening credits, Shane falls asleep. Okay, it's bad enough that it's the opening credits, but who can fall asleep during that creepy song?
....everybody scream, everybody scream,
in our town or Halloween
I am the clown with the tear-away face,
here in a flash and gone without a trace...
"Looks like he's out for the count." Zac comments, but I shush him, my eyes fixed on the screen.
"I really want to say that I don't get what you see in him, but I mean, it's hard not to see. He's not that other guy, the leprechaun. He's head over heels in love with you." He whispers softly after a while. I turn to look at Zac, curling my legs up towards my body, leaning against the headboard of the bed. In the dark bedroom, I can just make out his messy blond hair.
"I think-I think I could, would love him, if it weren't for.."
"For what?" Zac asks, his eyes boring into mine, as if reading my very soul. I flush and turn away, loosing my nerve.
"Nothing. It's nothing." I mumble. He lets out a frustrated sigh.
"Sarah, that day that Sabrina beat you up, I broke up with her."
"You did? Or are you just saying that like you did in August?" I narrow my eyes suspiciously.
"I did, that's why she lost it," he starts, and I mutter "Parents divorce my ass." under my breath. I knew she had an ulterior motive. "Then Shane showed up," he continues, "and after that she guilted me into taking her back. What she did to you-no-what's she's done to you, it's disgusting Sarah, it's inhumane. I don't think anybody should ever hate a person, but trust me, I'm pretty close to hating that girl."
Tears start to form. Why is he telling me this? Does this mean that if Shane hadn't shown up out of the blue, Zac and I would have had a chance? I shove that thought down.
"I've spent nearly half of senior year convincing myself that you're no good for me, that you're playing me, that I'm just some challenge to you." I don't know why I'm saying this. He flinches at my words.
"Sarah, I can't say that I love you, but, if there was one person on this earth that I would want to grow close enough to, to learn to love, it would be you." The Oogie-Boogie song plays on in the background, contrasting greatly to our conversation. My heart nearly stops. Zac's looking away now, unable to meet my gaze. "You're right, Sarah. I am no good for you, but not for the reasons you think. I'm not playing with you or chasing after a challenge. I'm a self-centered coward, I cared too much about my image to go after what I really wanted. And now I've lost her. To a guy that makes her happy, who makes her smile, and her eyes light up like that castle tonight. Shane's a good guy Sarah. You deserve him, and more importantly, he deserves you." Zac sounds so broken, so...lost. Like he doesn't know himself anymore. My heart squeezes in my chest, urging me to comfort him, but before I can reach out and touch him, Shane rolls over in his sleep and throws his arm around my now outstretched legs. I slide down and curl up next to him, watching the remainder of the movie with Zac's back to me.
When I wake up Christmas morning, I'm snuggled up between Shane and Zac, both of them snoring, with their arms wrapped around me.
I'm in so much trouble.
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