SAM's POV

I drove to Jake's house and parked my car along the curb. I walked up the driveway to their front door and rang the doorbell. They had a lighted Christmas sign hanging on the door that read Feliz Navidad. The roof of their house was lined with multi-colored holiday lights and so were the bushes surrounding the house. It was nothing extravagant, but still festive. After a few seconds of waiting, Jake opened the door and let me in. I followed him down to the basement where we had hung out just last week. It looked the same - same exercise equipment in the corner, a couch, TV, table with snacks on it - nothing new.

"What's up?" He asks.

"Where are my Twizzlers?" I ask, holding my hand out.

He smirks and walks over to the small table in front of the couch, grabs the bag, and hands it to me.

"Cherry pull 'n' peels...? Hm. It'll do." I take the bag of sweets from him and smile devilishly. 

We both walk to the couch and plop down on it. I rest my foot on the corner of the small table. Jake snatches a bag of Doritos and starts to eat them.

"So... what are we gonna do?" I ask while opening my bag of sweets.

"Well, I was thinking about beating you in a game of COD: Advanced Warfare, destroying you in Assassin's Creed, then maybe watching a few movies."

"First of all, you will NEVER beat me in Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed because I am the all-time champion of both of those games--"

"Uh-huh," he nods at my response, a smirk on his face.

"And second of all... what kinda movies you got?" I said in a calmer tone this time. He grins at me, sucks the cheese dust from his fingers, and gets up to grab a movie that I assume he's picked out. He picks up a stack of about 5 movies from the ground and individually holds one up at a time.

"Okay, so I picked out, like, two Christmas movies since it's Christmas. The others are kinda random." - he laughs a little - "I got This Christmas, Friday After Next, The Purge, 22 Jump Street, and Madea's Big Happy Family."

"22 Jump Street all day!" I throw up my hands and smile.

"Alright," he laughs as he puts in the DVD.

"Did you get any presents?" I ask him as the movie trailers are rolling.

Jake takes a seat back on the couch. "For Christmas? I got accepted at another job."

"I meant presents you can wrap."

"I wrap... groceries," he says slowly.

I can't help but laugh when he said that. He's so dumb.

"But really, I got a job at Wal-Mart. I start next week," he explains with a prideful look.

"Mo' money, mo' money!" I cheer while pulling apart a Twizzler strip. "I can't even be mad at that."

"Yeah, so it's gonna be pretty busy this winter. What about you? Did you get any presents?" He takes a sip from his can of pop.

I didn't really get any presents honestly. I mean I usually buy my own stuff now that I'm grown. But I wasn't really thinking about clothes or shoes or an endless supply of video games... none of that stuff really mattered right now because the "engagement situation" still infuriated me.

"Well... I got a surprise..." I begin.

"What?" He asks, sounding bored.

"My mom's getting married..."

"Oh, she is?" Jake takes a look at me.

"Yep. Old Antonio asked her yesterday. At the dinner table." I shake my head, remembering the whole scene all over again.

"Who's the lucky guy?"

"Remember that Hispanic guy that was at the store with us?"

"Oh! Him? He seemed pretty cool, I guess. Why do you look mad though?" He asks while observing every inch of my face with his eyes. My arms were crossed and I was chewing on my bottom lip, deep in thought.

"I wish my mom would've told me beforehand. She didn't even ask me how I felt." I put another Twizzler strip in my mouth. Jake scoots closer to me and puts his arm around my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. Without thinking, I instinctively rest my head on his shoulder and pout.

"Just give him a chance, Sam. Everyone deserves a chance," he softly recites above my head. Mmm, he smells really good. I just wanna fall into his strong arms and-- 

Ahem. Wait. Nope. Let me not get in my feelings. I lift my head off his shoulder and straighten myself up. Jake's sensitive eyes are so hypnotic, it's hard to look away from him, but I force myself to turn towards the movie which is now starting. He scoots back over to his corner of the couch, giving me a grin, and presumes to eat some more Doritos.

***

~After the movie, 4:00 pm~

"Now what?" I ask, bouncing up and down on the couch. That movie was super duper funny and put me in a good mood. 

"Another movie? I could pop some popcorn and raid our snack cabinet again..." Jake suggests.

"I wanna do something fun!"

"Well, I didn't mean to bore you--" he pretends to sound hurt.

"Noo! You don't bore me!" - pause - "Do you wanna play Never Have I Ever?"

"What's that?"

"It's this game that my cousins and I used to play when we were little," I begin, smiling like a little kid. "So one person says 'Never Have I'... and then says something that they've never done, and whoever has done whatever the person said, they have to take a drink of egg nog."

Jake raises an eyebrow, laughs a little, then asks, "Seriously? That's your idea of fun? I'd rather watch Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill avoid shooting each other in the nuts!"

"We already did that. I promise it'll be fun!!"

Jake shakes his head and laughs, "Okay, okay. You're lucky you're cute."

I smile back and clap my hands together. "Good. Do you have egg nog?"

"It's your lucky day." He gets up from the couch and goes upstairs to get egg nog. 

I clear off the little table in front of the couch to make room for the egg nog. I take my cell phone out of my pocket and use the screen as a mirror; I make sure my hair looks good and that my beanie is fitted on my head. Putting my cell phone back in my pocket, I switch it out with some lip gloss and apply a fair amount to my dry lips. I'm not trying to impress Jake if that's what you're thinking... and don't roll your eyes because I'm telling the truth.

"Got the egg nog! I hope you don't mind, it contains rum." He walks over to me and sits the carton of egg nog and two glasses on the table.

"Why would I mind?"

"I mean, I just don't think you're ready for this. Given your alcohol virginity." He smirks and sits on the couch next to me.

"You don't think I've drank alcohol before?" I glare at him.

"Well...?" He raises an eyebrow.

I stare him down for a few more seconds, then: "Never Have I... drank alcohol."

"A-Haaaa! Knew it!" He pours himself a small amount of egg nog, barely one-fourth of the glass, and drinks it like a shot. "One for Jake Ruiz!"

"Aight. Your turn," I say.

"Hmm, let's see what I haven't done," he says, eyeballing me with an obnoxious smirk on his face. I roll my eyes. "Never Have I... stolen food from the quick shop."

I pour myself a glass of egg nog, barely half full, and chug it. I make an ugly face as I taste the rum.

Jake laughs. "What?! You stole something? And I thought you were a good girl."

"I was little! And I really wanted a candy bar," I explain with a shrug.

"Mm, Mm, Mm... anything for a candy bar." He shakes his head and his finger at me. I push him and tell him to shut up.

"My turn. Never Have I... slept with my best friend's enemy."

Jake raises his eyebrows and there's a short silence. "Can't say I have..."

He notices that I'm in deep thought as I mess with my fingernails, and I have a feeling he's gonna say something. But then the doorbell rings. He gets up and walks upstairs to see who's there. I sit on the couch thinking about random things. Pretty soon, I get a text from Becca that shakes me outta my dream state.

BECCA: You use the mistletoe yet?

I had told her that Jake invited me over, and I decided to bring the mistletoe with me.

ME: Not yet. I don't know if it's the right time

BECCA: Girl, anytime is the right time. Preferably NOW. It'll make you feel better ;))

ME: Stop being creepy lol.

BECCA: Just do it. 4 me. PLEEEZZZZ

ME: OK! g2g bye

BECCA: Don't 4get to gloss! And pop a mint in ur mouth, u know u can have stanky breath sometimes, what is that thing ur doctor said u had? Halitosis! Yes mami... take 3 of em just in case :)

ME: SHUT UP BYE

Shaking my head, I put my phone back in my pocket and take out the mistletoe. Quietly walking up the basement stairs, I attempt to stick it above the doorway so that if he comes back in, I'll be waiting for him right there. Sounds good to me. Now I just need some duct tape or a pin... 

I quietly walk back downstairs in case he comes back and start to look for some tape. I find a roll of duct tape behind the TV stand and tear off a piece. I quietly run up the basement stairs and stick the mistletoe up there when the basement door opens and I see Jake and Diggy. I quickly snatch the mistletoe down and hide it behind my back.

"What are you doing?" Jake asks, looking at me suspiciously.

"I... was stretching, and walking up the stairs, and... you guys just so happened to open the door." I nod my head and look confusingly between the two. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Sam, do you mind letting me and Diggy talk down here for a minute? My mama's upstairs sleeping and I don't wanna wake her by going up to my room."

"Uh, sure. I'll just... sit in the kitchen." 

I walk past them and go to the kitchen. I was so close! Now I have to wait until Diggy is gone. Why is he even here? And what do they have to talk about?

DIGGY's POV

We sit on the couch and I let out a sigh.

"Thanks, man, for letting me in."

"It's cold outside. Couldn't let you freeze to death," Jake replies.

"Right... well, might as well get to it. Look, Jake, I... want to apologize for blowing up in your face about the... Julie situation. I shouldn't have blamed you for something I didn't see you do."

"You accused me... of something I didn't do and would never do in my entire life. I'm not that desperate." His eyes look mean.

"I'm sorry. I believed some girl instead of you... we were really good friends, man. And I let some girl that I thought I loved come between us," I say, rubbing my head.

"You loved her?" Jake asks looking surprised.

"I guess..."

"Ha, that's funny." He chuckles.

"I don't need you to laugh at my pain."

"Haha, my bad..." He shrugs. "Is that all you came over for? Because me and Sam were actually in the middle of something, so..." He begins to get up.

"You guys were in the middle of something?"

"Yeah..." Jake looks at my facial expression and chuckles again. I see that there are two empty glasses and a carton of egg nog on the little table.

"I see..." I say.

"I'll walk you out."

"Wait." I stand to my feet. "I just want us to be on good terms again. I hope we can still be friends?"

Jake looks at me, smirks, and says, "You know what? It's Christmas. Yeah man, we can still be friends."

"Forreal?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I'm not gonna let some chica stand between us." 

We give each other some dap and a pat on the shoulder. I'm glad Jake is real cool. We walk back up the basement stairs to the main floor of his house. Before we reach the top of the stairs, I turn around and stop. I still had something that was bothering me.

"Hey, uh, you and Sam aren't..." I scratch my head.

"Aren't what?" Jake looks confused.

"She told me that you asked her out?" I laugh a little. "Did you?"

"I might've done that."

Awkward pause.

"Oh. I'm kinda surprised. Not that you asked her out if you did, but... because she never mentioned anything..." I say kind of feeling disappointed. Which is weird.

"Anything like what?"

"Like mentioned that something was going on between you guys."

"No offense, Diggy, but you haven't been the most trustworthy friend these days. How can she tell you anything if you aren't even there?" He holds his hands out with a shrug.

"Yeah... well. Tell her I said happy holidays. And, uh, have fun with whatever you guys were doing."

"Take care, Diggy."

He walks me out of his house. At least I was able to apologize to Jake and I'm thankful he accepted it. Since the New Year is coming up, I definitely want to start fresh to finish out my senior year. I'm gonna make it my priority to stay away from girls; I can't get distracted. And since basketball season is over, I definitely gotta focus on my schoolwork and getting into UCLA. No more distractions.

SAM's POV

Jake and Diggy passed through the kitchen to walk out the door. Once they were out of sight, I quickly and quietly ran down the stairs back to the basement and taped the mistletoe above the doorway that led down the stairs. Oh, I almost forgot! I took my lip gloss out of my pocket and applied some to my lips. I cupped my hand and blew my breath into it taking a whiff. Not too bad. I cleared my throat and let out a shaky breath. My heart was beating really fast and my nerves were bad. Why am I so nervous?! I bit down on my bottom lip waiting for Jake to show up when finally the basement door opened and my eyes were met with his confused face.

"Hello?" He asked with much curiosity.

"Hey." I began to blush, so I looked down at my feet and tried to straighten my face.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Trying not to smile, I look up and say, "I found this mistletoe hanging from the doorway. Isn't that weird?" I point to the mistletoe as he looks up at it in surprise.

"How did that get there?" He eyeballs me as if he knows I'm up to something.

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. But, I always wondered how they actually work. I've never... used one."

"You wanna know how it works?" Jake smirks and leans his body up against the door frame.

"Yeah..." I tug on my sweatpants and exchange flirty eyes with him. "Can you show me?"

"Can I... show you?" He smiles and his dimples show.

I nod my head and blush.

"Well... it's really simple. If two people stand under the mistletoe, they're supposed to kiss, and if they are meant to be a couple, something magical will happen. At least that's what my mama tells me."

"I see..."

"So, what I do is wrap my arms around your waist..." He wraps his arms around my waist. "...look you deep in the eyes, and then..."

I hold onto his upper arms and can feel his warm breath on my face. We look into each others' eyes. Jake leans in towards me, our noses brushing against each other. Our lips meet and press against each other... then I start to suck on his bottom lip and slowly pull it. We kiss for what seems like eternity, but in reality, it's barely a minute. I pull away from the kiss to catch my breath and soak up this moment.

"Wow" is all I can say.

"Didn't mean to take your breath away," he seductively says. Ooh, why is his voice giving me chills?

He unwraps his arms from my waist and bites down on his bottom lip. I reach up and grab the mistletoe and stuff it in my pants pocket.

"Maybe we can continue this 'mistletoe lesson' another time?" I ask.

"Anytime," he replies. We both laugh a little and head down the basement stairs to finish the carton of egg nog...