Sam

"What are you doing?"

I ignored her. Somehow, she knew exactly how to get on my nerves.

"Sam, are you spying on them?"

"Shut up!"

"You know, I'm starting to think you're like, having a crush on her."

Yes. This. This was why I hated her guts, and I didn't care June always said you should never say you hate someone, because she also pushed me to tell the truth, and this, this was the truth. All of it. "I do not have a crush on June, I just wanna know what she's giving him!"

Hayley folded her arms, looking at me with her eyebrow raised, something June taught her, since she thought her new friend needed some intimidation skills. Well, it worked. When Jennifer and I broke up, I thought we'd go back to the way it was, but no. Hayley was everywhere these days, and June's bossiness was rubbing off on her. "It's none of your business," she said.

I wanted to tell her to go fly a kite and leave me alone, when it dawned on me. "You know, don't you?"

She giggled. "Well, duh. June's my best friend. Of course she told me."

If she'd been a boy, I'd have kicked her right then and there. But she wasn't. "Tell me what it is!"

"No."

Well, fine. Then she left me no choice. I was going to go right in and snatch the envelope from their hands!

"No, Sam, stay — here!"

She yanked at my shirt. For a girl, she was really strong. I tried to push her away; she wasn't letting go, though. Together, we crashed into the wall, me slamming into her. Ouch, shit!

When I realized I was practically flat against a girl for the first time in a month, I hastily jumped away, hoping she wouldn't notice my boner. Luckily, it was dark in the hallway. I might hate her guts — that didn't take away she was a girl. Essentially the same problem as with Jennifer. She was annoying as hell, but shit, that ass... It wasn't a guarantee for good sex, however. I'd found that out in the most awkward of ways. I was so glad no one knew about it.

Hayley hadn't seemed to have noticed. She'd taken my place at the door, squinting through the small open space. Hypocrite. Coming down here in her pajama, telling me off for spying, while she obviously left June's room for the same reason.

"Let me watch too!" I whispered, harshly pushing down her head so I could look over her. She glared at me again. I wished she'd do that with Nathan as well, so he could see I was right about her and that he shouldn't let her stay over. He never believed me, said she was a shy girl who barely spoke a word. Yeah, right. Why didn't she spend Christmas Eve with her own family, like normal people? At least her dad was coming to pick her up tomorrow. We'd be rid of her for a while.

June and Nathan were settled next to the Christmas tree, on the carpet they'd bought last month, close together. She'd just handed him the red envelope, and he was smiling at it like she'd given him a million dollars. What the hell was on those cards? I'd tried to find the one she gifted him last year, with no success. I was starting to suspect he kept them in the safe or ate them or something. Carefully, he opened it up, then slowly read through it.

"What are they saying?" Hayley asked. "I can't hear, with the music playing."

Music? Complete crap, more like. June's taste had been ruined by him; suddenly, new stuff wasn't good enough for her anymore. No, she liked to listen to dudes that were either dead or ancient. "I can't hear with you talking and breathing — ouch!" She'd elbowed me, only narrowly missing my nuts, and I was very thankful for it.

"Look!" She grabbed my arm, but I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking at — yeah, she was hugging him. Wasn't like she didn't do that all the time. Alright, that kiss on her cheek was certainly new, for me anyway, and suddenly, the way she looked at him was making me very uncomfortable. No idea why. It wasn't like I didn't know she preferred him over me. She practically worshipped him, after all, her big brother always protecting her, as if she needed it. Still, something about this was bugging me.

"What's going on here?" said a voice behind us, and Hayley's head crashed into mine. God, that girl was clumsy! My skull throbbed like when the dictionary had been dropped on it — wouldn't surprise me if I had a concussion again.

Charlotte. She was standing right there, in her bathrobe, hair tousled, eyes sleepy. This might've been the first time I'd seen her without make-up. Huh, who'd have guessed she had freckles? She was a lot less impressive this way.

"Err..." Hayley said, for some reason with widened eyes. "Err... Sam and me, we were... waiting for Santa Clause!"

What the hell, girl? I looked at her in disbelief. Charlotte shook her head, probably thinking she was dreaming or something. "It's Nathan and June," I said, ignoring Hayley stepping on my toe. "Last year, she gave him something, and I wasn't allowed to know what it was, and she's doing it again now, so we're trying to find out." Then, I realized. She was his girlfriend! "You probably know what it is, though? Come on, tell us!"

She stared at me like my truth was more unbelievable than Hayley's obvious lie. See, June? This is what you get when you tell the truth! "I — I had no idea," Charlotte said. A little unstable, she walked towards us. Hayley jumped aside; she was kind of afraid of my brother's girlfriend for some reason.

Hayley gestured at me frantically. I held up my hands, not getting what she meant, and she sighed. A few minutes ago, she'd stopped me from going in — now, that was exactly what she was doing. She was so weird.

Well, if she was going in, I was going in too. I pushed past Charlotte, who immediately followed, and then, the three of us were gazing down upon a clearly startled June and Nathan.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were dealing drugs.

June was looking at Hayley, silently begging for answers. She and Nathan were both sitting cross-legged, facing each other, and he was holding the red envelope, obviously surprised by the sudden spectators.

"What are you all doing out of bed?" June asked, almost annoyed.

"The card," I said. "We want to know what's on it — Hayley knows, so Charlotte and me have the right to know as well."

"Yes, Nathan, I must say I was very intrigued when they told me what was going on." She had her arms crossed. She was taking this a little too seriously.

"Hayley doesn't know," June said, just as confused as us. "Only two people know, and they're sitting right here on this carpet."

Hayley smirked at me. Bitch. She'd been playing me! Did you see that, Nathan? That was what I meant. But he wasn't looking at her; instead, he was chuckling quietly. "Really, Charlotte?" he said. "You too? I think I'm living with the nosiest people in the whole state of California."

"It's not fair," I said. "We have the right to know what's on that card!"

Nathan laughed. "I've never heard of a law dictating you're obligated to show your Christmas presents to your little brother."

"What about your girlfriend?" Charlotte said, finally woken up. I hadn't seen her in action before, but according to Nathan, she could be good when she was fired up.

"No," he said, like it was the densest thing he'd ever heard. "It's for my eyes only; otherwise, there'll be dire consequences. I don't want June to end up dead, you know. Lawyer-client confidentiality, if we're going to make a court case out of this at two am in the morning."

June was giggling. Charlotte and me were less happy with his bullshit, though. "Just give it here, you ass," I said, charging at him. He jumped up, holding it above his head again. This time, it didn't matter that much because I was almost as tall as him.

"Fucking hell, Sam, let it go already! You wouldn't even care if you really knew what it was." June was actually getting pissed at me. Like she had any reason to!

Frowning, she got up, a little unsteadily. "Maybe I would've told you if you'd just asked nicely, but seeing as you're acting like a four-year-old, you're going to have to wait till you're seventy-seven!" She threw me a fiery look, not unlike Nathan's laser eyes, then turned to Charlotte. "I'm sure he'll tell you what it is if you really need to know." A smile at Nathan, who was definitely getting annoyed as well. "Night, Nathan. Come on, Hayley, let's go to bed..." He watched the two girls walk away, still holding the card up in the air.

Charlotte was blushing, rubbing her arms, avoiding Nathan's eyes. "Okay, she's gone, so you can tell us now," I said. I was finally going to find out!

"No, Sam," Charlotte said. "June's right. We don't need to know. It's their secret. People are allowed to have secrets."

What the hell? Usually, she'd go into this wild fit of rage if she lost something; it was scary and entertaining at the same time. Why not now, when it was actually necessary?

Nathan was pleased. "Thank you, Charlotte. See, Sam? Some people are sensible in this house." He put his arm around her, kissing her on the cheek, and somehow, it made me uncomfortable again, thinking back to when we'd spied on him earlier. It was different, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Weird.

Breathing in deeply, I kicked the side of the couch. Life wasn't fair. They were probably going to have mind-blowing sex, and she was going to know what was on that crappy card.