Lyla
I stared at the bright, sparkling string of lights. They were absolutely wonderful. All the reds, blues, greens, pinks, and purples flickered back at me. It was so magical; I couldn’t find any other way to describe it. I knew my eyes were probably wide as I grabbed the string of lights with Ethan and helped him wrap it around the tree.
The lights blinked and flashed. It was so marvelous that my head spun in complete awe. This was something that I would look forward to every year now. There was no way in heck that I was going back to the Summer Solstice.
Ethan held out an icicle with a green hook on top of it. “Here, Lyla, you can put on the first ornament.”
I took it from him, and looked at it strangely. I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do with this. I glanced at Ethan. He waved his hand toward the tree—he wore a smile on his face. I was embarrassed to tell him that I didn’t know what to do, but I think he already knew that.
He stood up, guided my hand over to one of the trees branches. My hand, not moving of its own accord, gently slid the hook over the branch. Then, Ethan made me pinch the end closed ever so slightly.
I smiled to myself, and then went to get another one, and then another, and then another, until the whole tree was filled with different colored “bulbs,” which really just looked like spheres. There were all these other funky things as well, but I didn’t ask Ethan what they were, I just hung them up.
When that was done, he held me up while I added the silver star to the top of the tree. He then plugged it in, and it immediately began to glow softly, lighting up Ethan’s face like he was an angel or something.
I stepped back to look at our magnum opus… or should I say, masterpiece?
It was beautiful. I almost started crying when I looked at it. Ethan came around me, and hugged me from behind. I leaned into him, and watched the lights go in and out.
Ethan tucked his face into the crook of my neck, gently kissing my favorite spot. “Lyla, you did an outstanding job… God, baby, I l—”
“Oh, kids, this is lovely!” Cherry shouted happily, walking into the room. “I’m so glad that getting a real tree worked out with you.”
Ethan and I exchanged pleased grins, and he let me go. I didn’t want to have another conversation with Cherry about our personal time… She always wanted to know what we were doing, or more so, weren’t doing.
“Now you can decorate the front of the house… have at it. I have everything upstairs that you will need.
You don’t have to do it today since it is getting dark out, but maybe some other time? Like, tomorrow or something?” Cherry wrung her hands, and she couldn’t keep the excitement off her face even if she tried. “There are light up reindeers, blow up things, lighted trees, net lights, and all that good stuff.”
Ethan sighed, but had a slight smirk on his face.
“Maybe, only if you’re good,” he teased his mom.
Cherry came forward and ruffled up Ethan’s mass of dark curls. He blushed from his forehead, down. “I have such a good boy. And my boy has such a good, caring girlfriend. This is going to be a really great Christmas this year, right?”
“Yes, Cherry,” I responded with a smile, putting my hands behind my back.
Ethan’s room was in the basement, so after we tromped down the stairs and into the cold basement air, there was a loud knock on his window. I almost smacked my hand over my face. The last time this happened, it was his ex-girlfriend, Miranda. She always seemed to turn up when we least expect it. She was quite annoying, but what could we do about it?
He and I shared a look, and he turned off his light so he could see better when he opened up the black curtain.
Please don’t let it be Miranda. Please don’t let it be her. I don’t want this spectacular day to be ruined by seeing her. Since there was no school, that meant that we didn’t have to see her for a while, which was fine by me. I don’t think anyone wanted to deal with her unless they had to.
Ethan wordlessly opened his window. A dark, petite figure slid down the wall, and released the windowsill. They landed on the ground with a short smack, and I almost laughed. Good, I hope she hurt herself. Whoever it was swore softly, and stood up.
I flicked the light back on and sighed in relief. It was only Katie, our friend from school. She smiled warmly at us both, and reached out the open window to grab a huge bag that had cartoon pictures of snowflakes all over it. What the heck kind of purse was that? Snow drifted down from her dragging the thing into the room. I shivered. It was really cold out there. I was betting on ten degrees. But that purse…
I snickered.
“Hey, Raven.” Ethan said.
“Raven?” I questioned, moving closer to them. Katie looked at me.
“Yeah, it’s my nickname that he calls me sometimes. It’s because of my black hair, right?” she asked Ethan, who nodded in response. “Well, I brought over you guys’ presents. I know Christmas is in ten days or whatever, but I didn’t want to forget. You can just give me my stuff whenever. Knowing you, Ethan, you haven’t even gone shopping yet.” She dug her hand into the large snowflake bag, and pulled out two envelopes. She handed one to me and the other to Ethan.
I tore open the paper, and found a card with a picture of some type of cute baby animal on it lying in snow. On the inside, it said, Merry Xmas, Lyla XOXO love you, in big, thick black marker. I opened the little flap that was on the second page, and a smaller card fell out onto the floor. I stooped over to pick it up, and it was a twenty-five dollar gift card for a store called… Barnes and Noble… I think that was the bookstore down the street from us. What a sweet, thoughtful gift. I thanked Katie, and went to Ethan’s side to see what he had.
His card consisted of a big white bear and its babies. He opened up his card, and it said, You should be happy I got you something, you deserve coal… okay, I’m totally kidding. Enjoy! Merry Xmas
Ethan lifted up the flap, and he pulled out a card that said twenty-five dollars Hot Topic. What the heck was a hot topic? I asked as much, and then remembered that Katie didn’t know I wasn’t from here, but she didn’t even bat an eyelash at my question.
“It’s a place where heavy metal folks go, like our boy, Ethan here,” Katie said, jerking her thumb in his direction.
We all laughed.
“Thank you, now I can go get another tongue stud!” Ethan said. “I just can’t believe you came over here to bring us gifts in this super cold weather… I love you!” His voice was almost a squeal, and I found that really sexy and comical. He hugged her super tightly.
I should have been jealous that he told Katie he loved her when he hasn’t even said that to me yet, but I wasn’t. Those two were good friends, and he has known her forever. Of course, he would love her in some way.
“Ethan, you’re… squishing… me,” Katie rasped, trying to wiggle out of his arms. He let go, and she began to take deep breaths. “Anyway, I have more.” She grabbed the bag again, and went over to the couch to sit down.
Ethan and I sat on either side of her. She reached into the bag, and handed Ethan a large present. “Here, you go first.”
The package was wrapped in shiny paper— something I’d never saw before. It was so cool! So this was a present!
He tore off the paper, and came face to face with a box full of shirts. He took them out one by one. There had to be at least twenty of them. I caught the words Slayer, Rammstein, Slipknot, Korn, Cradle of Filth… Okay, they must all be band shirts.
“Thank you.” Ethan said, hugging her again. “Where did you get all this money? These shirts usually cost twenty dollars each unless they’re holding a sale for half-off or something.”
Katie blushed. “Uh, I used my dad’s credit card. He really doesn’t limit my spending. You know, he isn’t around, so whatever. I’ll do what I want with it.”
Ethan shook his head, raised his eyebrows, and smirked.
Next, she handed me a huge package that was wrapped in paper that matched the bag. The only difference was that the snowflakes were different colors.
I tore off the paper, and came across a brown box. I lifted the lid, and inside was an assortment of various things. I pulled out sock-slippers, a pink sleep-mask that said I hate mornings, a coconut lotion/body wash gift set, a couple of pairs of stretchy pants that had the word Pink written across the butt, frilly thongs, a few books, and a large makeup set. I jumped up and gave her the biggest hug of my life. This was so cool!
“So, you guys like everything?” Katie asked, standing up.
Ethan and I both said yes.
“Okay, well, I better go. My mom is expecting me back soon. I think my grandma is coming over.” She rolled her eyes. “My grandma is a total God freak. I mean, I believe in God, but she is just really, really crazy about it.”
I exchanged a look with Ethan, and he smiled one of those lopsided smiles that I really liked. I just wanted to pinch his cheeks because he was so cute.
After Katie climbed back out of the window, he and I began putting our presents away. Well, I was mostly looking at it all still; Ethan was done way before I even got started. When I had my last present in my hand, I made my way across the room back to the dresser.
“Ethan?” I said, putting my lotion stuff on top of the dark wood.
“Yeah, babe?” he called from the bathroom. I could hear the sink running, which meant he was most likely shaving.