Chapter 22

After singing at the restaurant with Cason, and making a fool out of myself at the same time, I started to realize that maybe it was easier to change the way you used to be. The walls that I built up around myself to protect me from the various words, insults and rumours back where I grew up were slowly coming down thanks to him. Unlike a year ago, I could now eat lunch with the true friends I’ve made, joke around with them without getting tossed under the bus and, actually confide in them about everything.

As the next couple of weeks passed, everything was looking up for not only me, but my friends as well.

Like every other year, November would without a doubt bring a bit or stress and anxiety to all high school students as the midterm exams were scheduled throughout the month. The exams came and passed like a breeze, except for a few late night study sessions with Olivia, Cason and Evan that ended up being a barrel of fun. Although we did study for giant chunks at a time, we also joked around, watched movies and went swimming in Cason’s backyard pool a couple of times to keep us from falling asleep at the sound of any school related word.

Midterms ended on a high note for all four of us as we all received the marks we were hoping for and then some. I kept in mind that there was still a lot of time left in the semester for my mark to drop or change, however, I sent those thoughts to the back of my mind for the weeks that followed.

Although the first half of November was filled with studying on our parts, Olivia and Evan still found enough time to hang out by themselves and develop their relationships. Whenever we would all hang out as a group you would always be able to catch Evan steal a kiss from her every now and then, not caring if his friends saw him admire the girl of his dreams. I was so incredibly happy for Olivia and Evan. They were one of the cutest couples I had ever met and, I just hoped that they had the strength to carry on being friends if something ended up breaking them apart – which seemed highly unlikely at the moment.

Cason and I were also getting closer as the days passed. Since Evan and Olivia would go out by themselves on Friday nights and one or two other times during the week, Cason and I would be forced to hang out with each other.

Well, I wouldn’t say forced because we actually didn’t mind each other’s company one bit now that we were friends.

Every Friday night that Evan took Olivia out on a date, Cason and I would automatically get volunteered for the dutiful task of babysitting Fizzy since Friday was also the Thorn’s date night. Babysitting Fizzy every week was always fun because Cason and I would always come up with new ideas to keep her entertained. Fizzy was so cute and sweet for a little girl, I couldn’t even remember the reason why I used to be nervous around little kids. If they were all like Fizzy, carefree and cute, I would gladly take up babysitting to earn some extra cash.

Not only did we babysit Fizzy, we sometimes just went to the aquarium, the movies or a diner for a cheap dinner. It was always fun and, as much as I hated to say it, way better than staying at home watching television with my mom.

With all the things going on in my life, the days of November passed quickly and the days of December started to disappear in a breeze. However, although I was moving on with my life, I started to miss my old town for one simple reason; the snow. The town of Avondale was obviously a beach side town located fairly close to the equator so, although Christmas was approaching in just a few short weeks, the temperature was only dropping a couple of degrees.

Olivia had told me when I asked about snow once that she only remembered three times in her whole life here that it had snowed, and it was because of freak storms that produced huge pieces of hails and blizzards across the country. Hearing her reply made me realize that there was really no use in holding out hope for a white Christmas this year.

Now, as the first official weekend of December shown itself at last, I realized as I closed my locker for the final time that Friday that I had better start shopping for gifts to give my closest family and friends for Christmas.

Turning to face Olivia, who was currently waiting for me as she rested her back on the locker next to mine, I looked at her curiously before speaking. “Have you started shopping for Christmas presents yet?”

Olivia looked at me in shock for a few seconds, her eyes widening the tiniest bit and her mouth opening slightly, before shaking her head and brining her facial expression back to normal. “I totally forgot that Christmas was just a few weeks away.” she stated, confirming my suspicions that the small detail that Christmas was around the corner had slipped her mind. “I guess I’ve just been a little bit preoccupied lately that I must have forgotten.”

“Oh yeah, I wonder what could be occupying your mind.” I replied teasingly, wiggling my eyebrows in a suggestive matter as I spoke. “Or more specifically… who?”

Another thing that has changed slightly over the last month is how comfortable I am around Olivia. Before I knew that we were friends and that we could hang out without fail, but now we just seemed to be so close that a lot of teasing and joking could be thrown around between us and we would know that the other is not being serious. We truly were becoming best friends, as if we’ve known each other our whole lives instead of a few measly months.

Light red tinged Olivia’s cheeks at my teasing remark, but instead of getting embarrassed, she simply rolled her eyes at me and bumped her hip with mine. “Oh haha.” she replied dryly, dramatically faking her laugh as we headed for the front of the school. “But if forgetting your sarcasm, no I haven’t started shopping for Christmas, why?”

I shrugged my shoulders before replying. “I don’t know. The thought that Christmas was around the corner just suddenly popped into my head and I realized that I haven’t even thought about getting any of my friends or my family anything yet.”

Adjusting the strap of her backpack as we rounded a corner, Olivia turned her head slightly to look at me. “Well I’m free tomorrow since Evan is going fishing or something with his dad, so why don’t we go up to the mall for the day to shop for present and just have a girls day?” she suggested smartly.

Thinking about it for less than a second, I knew I was going to go. Even if Cason or my mom wanted to do something tomorrow, I hadn’t hung out with Olivia on our own for a couple weeks because we would always hang out in a group if anything. We seriously needed this girls day to ourselves.

Nodding with a smile on my face, I replied. “Yeah, that sounds fun. I could ask my mom tonight if she would be willing to drive us and I’ll text you when I know for sure if she can or not.”

Olivia smiled at me and nodded as we exited the front doors of the school.

Looking out at the parking lot, I saw Cason and Evan leaning up against their cars talking to each other as they waited for us. Walking up to them, I was graced with the site of my best friend leaning into Evan’s side and giving him a quick kiss on the lips as a greeting.

“Hey.” Olivia said, pulling back slightly from her boyfriend and smiling up at him.

“Hey, are you ready for tonight?” Evan asked her in return, smiling down at her as though she was the only source of light in his life.

Olivia, obviously nervous about something, bit her lip lightly in anticipation and nodded shyly. “Yea, just a little nervous.” she replied quietly, although you could still see the smile she always wore around Evan lying on her lips.

I quickly looked beside me, where Cason was also watching their exchange with curious eyes. He must have felt my brief gaze on him as he swiveled his neck slightly to look at me. Silently, I asked him if he knew what they were talking about, but all I got in response has a shake of the head and a simple shrug tell me no, he didn’t know what was going on between the two of them.

With that in mind, I focused my attention back on the two love birds, clearing my throat a little loudly to snap them out of la-la-land. When they both turned their heads to look at me with curious expressions on their faces, I smiled at the pair of them sheepishly. “Sorry about interrupting your little lovey-dovey moment, but I was just curious… what’s so special about tonight?” I asked.

Evan looked at me funny, before looking to his girlfriend with the same expression. “You didn’t tell her?” he asked in a strangely shocked voice.

Olivia raised her eyebrow at her seemingly shocked boyfriend and shook her head. “No, but by the looks of the confused expression on Cason’s face, you didn’t mention anything about tonight to him either.” she replied.

“Yea, but I thought girls talked about everything together; gossip and whatnot all the time.” Evan replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck lightly.

“Well I didn’t tell her and, for future reference, we don’t gossip all that much.” Olivia replied with a silly smile on her face as she looked at her boyfriend.

Evan smiled back down her, pecking her lips quickly before turning back to answer me. “Olivia’s coming over for dinner tonight to meet my family.” he stated, smiling at me proudly as his arm subconsciously wrapped around Olivia’s waist.

I smiled at the couple as I realized they really were headed in the right direction to being happy and together for the rest of their lives. “You haven’t met them yet?” I asked Olivia, realizing that I had mistakenly thought that this step in their relationship had already passed.

Olivia shook her head, a small pink blush on her cheeks. “No,” she replied, “The few times that I went over to his house to study or watch a movie his parents weren’t home because they were working or taking Fizzy out, so our paths never crossed.”

Before I could reply, Cason slapped his best friend jokingly on the shoulder and smiled. “So, were the Thorn’s shocked when you told them your girlfriend was coming over for dinner?” he asked teasingly.

Evan rolled his eyes at Cason and lightly punched his bicep. “They knew I had been going out on dates and stuff, but I guess they were a little surprised when I asked if they wanted to meet her as my girlfriend.” he replied, squeezing Olivia closer to him slightly. “They’re happy I found someone that makes me happy.”

I nodded accepting her reply as I smiled at them. “Well I hope you two have a fun night.” I stated honestly.

“Oh, and since we’re at home you guys are off the hook for babysitting Fizzy tonight.” Evan said, gesturing to both me and Cason.

As both of us nodded, we looked around us to see that the parking lot was basically empty besides us and a few stray teachers and cars that were still milling around the building.

“Well we should probably get going, and you guys don’t want to be late for your fancy dinner.” Cason said, knocking on the top of his car a couple of times.

Saying goodbye quickly, I told Olivia that I’d text her in a few hours when I knew for sure if my mom could drive us to the mall tomorrow before she jumped into Evan’s car and I slid into the passenger seat of the car Cason’s mom was lending him.

“So,” I started to ask Cason as we pulled out of the parking lot and started on the familiar route to our street. “Are you doing anything exciting this weekend?”

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye as I nudged the radio up slightly as one of my favourite songs started to play. “Not really.” he replied with a simple shrug of his shoulders. “The only thing I had planned was babysitting Fizzy tonight, but since that’s no longer a go I’m just chilling by myself all weekend probably. What about you… got a hot date planned for tomorrow night?”

At that, I legitimately burst of laughing. The idea of me going out with anybody, let alone a hot guy was completely foreign and, honestly quite hilarious in my mind. I shook my head as I relaxed back in my seat and took a few calming breaths to stop my laughter. “Ahh no, definitely not.” I replied. “I’m probably just going to head to the mall with Olivia tomorrow to do some Christmas shopping and have some girl time.”

“Well, remember to buy me something extra special.” he said teasingly as he flicked his signal light on and pulled into my driveway. “Maybe look through a couple expensive watches, maybe an Armani suit, or even a simple sports car will do.”

Rolling my eyes at his teasing comments, I unlocked the passenger door and slid out, turning back to duck down and smile at him. “With that attitude, maybe I’ll just buy you a lump of coal.” I shot back in amusement.

In response, he shook his head in amusement. “Bye Jessa.” he said, waving his hand dramatically as he put the car back into drive.

I sent him one last smile and closed the passengers’ door. “Bye Cason.” I returned before he backed out of my drive away and I headed up to my house.

Since my mom hadn’t got off work yet, I slipped off my shoes at the door and dropped my bag in the foyer before heading into the living room and flicking on the television. I had nothing else I had to do, so why not catch up on much needed quality time with my couch and favourite television shows.

 Just after four ‘o’clock, I heard the front door open and close telling me that my mom was home.

“Hey mom, how was work?” I asked loudly, making sure my voice was loud enough to echo off the walls of the house and reach the foyer.

A couple seconds later she came walking into the living room and collapsed beside me on the couch. “Tiring.” she said with a small smile, showing me that she didn’t mind her job at all. “Some of the kids were all excited because the school announced that ‘Santa Claus’ would be dropping by the school next week for pictures at the beginning of the day. I couldn’t get anything done all day because of the kid’s excitement so, I basically played babysitter for a lot of little kids.”

 "Why didn’t they announce the Santa Claus thing at the end of the day?” I wondered out loud.

My mom shrugged as she stood back up onto her feet. “I don’t know, but that would’ve been a smart idea.” she replied. “Anyways, are you going out to babysit Fzzy with Cason again tonight?”

I shook my head in response. “Nope, Evan’s bringing Olivia over to his house to meet his family so we aren’t needed tonight.” I explained. “I was thinking about just watching a couple of movies out here tonight and was wondering if you wanted to join me?”

My mom smiled at me softly from where she stood. I guess I was now realizing that since we moved here and I had been making new friends, I hadn’t been spending as much time with my mom who just lost the love of her life. Sure, she was probably dropping by to visit Cason’s mom a lot, but she was also watching her only daughter grow up and become more independent.

“I’d love that sweetheart.” she said softly, leaning down to give me a heartfelt kiss on the forehead. “I’m just going to go change into something more comfortable and then I’ll order a pizza for dinner and be right in. Pick out a couple good movies you want to watch and put one in for when I get back.” she instructed, and it wasn’t as though I was opposed it so, I gladly complied.

The next couple of hours flew by as we breezed through two romantic comedies and a couple slices of pizza each. Just as I was about to place the third movie into the DVD player, the title of the movie, Confessions Of A Shopaholic, reminded me about going shopping tomorrow with Olivia.

“Hey mom,” I said, turning around as I slipped the DVD into the machine and went back to my spot on the couch. “Do you think that you could drive me and Olivia out to the mall tomorrow to go Christmas shopping?”

My mom shrugged and nodded. “I don’t see why not. I was going to go and run some errands tomorrow anyways so I guess I don’t mind doing the errands out there.” she replied with a smile.

I smiled at her, giving her a hug. “Thanks mom.” I replied, getting up from the couch. “I’ll be back as soon as I tell Olivia that it’s all sorted out for tomorrow.”

After texting Olivia that the shopping plans for tomorrow were a go and receiving a reply, I headed back into the living room to spend the rest of the night with my mom watching a bunch of chick flicks and eating a bunch of junk food.

Waking up in the morning, I was immediately blinded with a stream of light seeping into my room from the curtains that had been left open the smallest bit. Blinking my eyes a couple of times to adjust to the light, I came face to face with my alarm clock. As the bright numbers came into focus, I sprung out of bed with a scattered brain and rushed into my en-suite to start getting ready.

Somehow it was already past eleven ‘o’clock and we were supposed to be picking up Olivia at her house around noon. I guess staying up until two in the morning watching movies wasn’t the best thing to do when you had made plans in the morning.

After taking a quick shower and doing my normal morning routine, I threw on a pair of jeans shorts and a loose striped tank top with a black bandeau after braiding my slightly damp hair to the side of my face. Rushing down the stairs as I was being careful not to trip, I sprang into the kitchen just after eleven thirty to see my mom cooking eggs.

“When did you wake up?” I wheezed, running slightly low on breath after running around for the past hour trying to get ready. “Oh, and good morning.” I stated as an afterthought, sitting down at the table.

“Good morning to you too.” she said with amusement laced into her tone. “And I woke up about an hour ago, but just started cooking when I heard you starting to shuffle around your bedroom twenty minutes ago. Did you just wake up?”

I nodded as my mom placed the plates of warm bacon and cut up fruit on the table as she kept a close eye on the eggs on the stove. “Yea, I guess I should have set an alarm. It would’ve saved me a lot of running around this morning trying to get ready.” I replied, taking a piece of bacon off the plate and bringing it to my mouth to take a bite.

Taking the pan of eggs off of the stove, my mom scrambled the eggs up as she dumped them onto a large plate that lay on the counter. “I would’ve come to wake you up if I knew you were still asleep.” she stated, looking over her shoulder for a second. “I thought you were awake and just reading in bed.”

I shook my head as she placed the eggs on the table and sat down in her usual seat across from me. “Nope, but I guess it all worked out.” I said, piling the rest of my breakfast onto my plate. “We’re leaving at five to twelve right?”

My mom nodded in response, swallowing the eggs she had previously eaten before speaking. “Yes, so eat up because we have an hour long drive to the mall with nothing but trees and maybe a couple stray animals along the way.” she replied.

I rolled my eyes at her response, but none the less, stuffed my face with the delicious breakfast she had set out.

An hour and a half later, after picking up Olivia and heading out of town, we were finally pulling into the parking lot of the same mall we had visited a couple of months ago, before Olivia and Evan were a couple.

Climbing out of the back seat with Olivia at the drop-off section of the parking lot, I turned back around and smiled at my mom. “Thanks for driving us today mom.” I stated with a smile, readjusting the purse that hung across my body.

“Yea, thanks so much Mrs. Hartley.” Olivia said, pitching in her thanks.

“It’s not a problem girls.” my mom replied with a smile. “Just text me when you’re done shopping so I know when to come and pick you up.”

I nodded, patting my side pocket that had my phone tucked into it. “Gotcha, and we shouldn’t be longer than three hours, but we should get going.” I stated, closing the door to the door. “Love you.”

"Love you too sweetie.” she replied through the open passenger window with a smile on her face before she put her foot on the gas and left us standing at the front of the mall.

“Are you ready to do some serious shopping?” I asked Olivia, half joking and half serious, as we turned to walk into the mall.

She looked at me with a smile on her face and nodded. “I have a little over one hundred dollars saved up for this, so hopefully we can find some good deals.” she replied wishfully.

As we walked into the mall, the lovely air conditioner blasted us with cool air. Compared to the weather outside, this was like jumping into a refreshing pool.

“Let’s get going, we don’t want to spend so much time that my mom ends up sitting in the parking lot for hours with nothing left do to.” I said, nodding to the first store that we would peruse.

Two hours later we were seated in the food court having a late lunch with a big chunk of the people we had to shop for crossed off of our lists. Olivia had bought her mom and her dad each a t-shirt that had the words ‘#1 parent’ printed on the front, along with a new wallet for her dad and a bag of new make-up essentials for her mom. She had also bought Cason a new action adventure DVD.

I, on the other hand, had managed to get a key chain and postcard each for some of my aunts and uncles back in my old town, as well as a t-shirt for Evan that said ‘I’m Too Cool For You Bro’ printed across the front. I also ended up buying my mom a thin blanket for her room and a couple of cute but reasonably priced tops.

I obviously knew that I was going to get Olivia a new book or two to add to her giant collection, but I would be able to purchase that back in Avondale. The problem I was having however, was figuring out what to get Cason for Christmas.

It wasn’t only me that seemed to be having that problem either, because Olivia had looked through quite a few different stores and, couldn’t find anything she felt was good enough for Evan. At the moment, I was trying to help her solve her problem while finishing our lunches.

“Well, what type of things does he like?” I asked her, trying to get her to think of something she could go off of; a hobby, an idea, anything.

Olivia sighed as she dipped another one of her fries into her ketchup. “All I know is that he loves camping because he likes being outside in the fresh air and in the wilderness, he likes horror movies, every kind of food imaginable, rock and country music, and he likes spending time with his family.” she replied, listing off the things she knew to be true about her boyfriend.

Thinking it over for a second, I offered her a suggestion. “What about buying him a bunch of smaller things and putting them all together in a basket or something?” I advised. “Like buy him a new CD, a couple of things he could use while camping, a mask that was replicated from a scary movie, gift cards, things that he could share with his family… you know, things like that.”

At my suggestion, Olivia’s eyes brightened up immediately as though I had just gifted her with the answers to her hardest exam. “Oh my god Jessalyn!” she exclaimed loudly, before realizing her voice was so loud and quieting down as she continued. “That’s exactly what I’ll do! And now that that problem has been solved, what are you gonna get your dad for Christmas?”

At her question, I immediately froze mid-bite. My blood felt like it had started running cold and I had been splashed in the face with a bucket of freezing water. A couple of seconds later, I snapped my eyes up to her face and frowned. “What are you talking about?” I asked; my expression and tone of voice completely blank.

Olivia looked out me strangely as she replied. “Your father… Didn’t your mom and you move down here after your parents divorced or something? You’d have to send his gift in the mail any day now for it to get to him in time for Christmas, and you don’t want him to miss the gift just because you aren’t there to give it to him personally.”

As the false words were spoken out loud, I realized two things. The first thing was that Cason had been the only one that I had actually told about my father and his accident here in Avondale. I hadn’t given Olivia any reason to believe that he had died a few months ago and, if I were her, I probably would’ve assumed the same thing – that my parents had gotten a divorce and I moved down to Avondale with my mom to get away.

The second thing that suddenly hit me like a truck was that this was going to be the first Christmas that I was going to have to spend without my dad there. He wouldn’t be there to give my mom an overly cheesy kiss under the mistletoe Christmas morning, he wouldn’t be there to see me open my gifts from him and mom, he would be there to help decorate or to cook a delicious Christmas feast… he wouldn’t be there at all.

As the thoughts and images of past Christmas’ rolled into my mind and I realized those images would never be recreated again, tears started to build up in my eyes.

Olivia, being the keen observer that she is, obviously noticed that something had suddenly upset me and she gasped in shock. “Hey, what’s wrong Jessalyn?” she asked worriedly, bringing her hand across the table to take both of mine in support. “Is the subject of your dad still sore and I wasn’t supposed to bring it up, because if that’s the case I’m really sorry, I didn’t know!”

I shook my head, trying to force the tears that just kept building up not to fall, but it was like trying to hold up a mountain – no use. The tears started to fall slowly as I spoke in a shaky and timid voice. “Olivia, there’s something that I haven’t told you.”

“What is it?” she asked, looking shocked. “Jessalyn, you’re scaring me. You can trust me with anything and you know that.” she said encouragingly.

I took a couple deep breaths, get choked up on a couple of tears as I did so. “My parents aren’t divorced Olivia. My dad was killed in a boating accident a few months before I moved here and my mom moved us down here to get a new start away from everything that was happening back home.” I said slowly in a choked up voice.

As I moved my eyes up from the table top to Olivia’s face, I saw that her glowing complexion had gone pale as my registered in her mind. A few seconds of silence went by as tears built up in my eyes and Olivia tried to figure out how to respond.

She opened her mouth a couple of times, making me think she was going to speak, but instead she would just close it quickly as though a million thoughts were being jumbled inside her head and she didn’t know what would be appropriate to say at a time like this.

Finally she took a deep breath and sighed. “Jessalyn, why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked quietly.

I shrugged my shoulders as I wiped a few tears from my eyes with a napkin I had gotten with my lunch. “I guess after I told Cason and he understood I felt too drained to tell you right away, and then I just kind of forgot that you and Evan didn’t know yet.” I explained softly. “If it helps, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.”

Olivia slapped me lightly on the arm quickly at my apology, making me snap my eyes up at her in shock. “Don’t you ever apologize for something like that Jessalyn, if you didn’t tell me yourself then there must have been a reason and I am completely fine with you keeping something that traumatic to yourself.” she explained. “I do, however, feel like an idiot for bringing up your dad today though. If I would’ve known I never would’ve mentioned it.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about something you couldn’t have possibly known.” I stated. “The only reason I’m crying is because, since you did approach the subject of my dad, I just realized that this is going to be the first Christmas for my mom and I by ourselves.”

Olivia gave me a sympathetic look and nodded. “It’ll be alright Jessalyn. He’ll be with you in your heart if you want him there.” she offered with a supportive smile.

I nodded at her comment, realizing what she said was true. My dad would always be with us because his memory would never leave my heart. “So, as we’re already on the subject, did you want to hear the whole story about what happened back home before I moved here?” I asked, taking a deep breath as I knew I was about to let the secrets of my past come loose for the second person that I’d become close to in Avondale.

Olivia bit her lip in worry. “If you don’t want to that’s completely fine, but I wouldn’t mind hearing about it.” she replied nervously.

I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes before I launched into the ghosts of my past. I tried not to miss any important details, making sure to include the bullying and shyness I went through, how my parents were the only ones I was really ever close with and, of course, all the things that happened on the night of my dad’s accident.

By the end of my explanation, I had tears in my eyes once again and, as I looked across the table at Olivia, I also saw tears starting to line the brim of her eyes.

“That’s…” she started, pausing as I figured she was trying to think of a word that would be appropriate to use.

Luckily, I knew exactly what she meant so I nodded. “I know.” I said quietly, sniffling a few times as I wiped the new round of tears off of my face. “So, now you know about my past before I moved here.”

“Well it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.” Olivia revealed as she herself wiped all the tears off of her face.

“Yea, sorry about being a downer on our girl’s shopping day.” I said, actually a little upset that I managed to completely turn our girl’s day around in the matter of twenty minutes.

Olivia shook her head, standing up and sliding into the chair beside me. “Hey, the subject wouldn’t have even been brought up if I hadn’t mentioned buying your dad a gift for Christmas.” she pointed out. “But now that the intense conversation is over, let’s just get back to shopping for another hour or so before we call you mom to come and get us.”

I nodded, smiling at her as we both stood up to get back to shopping.

“So, I noticed that you never bought anything for Cason yet.” Olivia commented after we walked out of a music store with a new CD for Evan’s gift basket.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t seen anything that really stood out to me yet as something that he’d like.” I replied nonchalantly, but really I was wondering if I would find a good enough gift to give him.

“Why don’t you just get him a DVD like I did, or even a funny shirt like you did for Evan?” she asked curiously.

Sighing, I explained to her what I was thinking. “Well, I told you about how I used to be a shy and timid girl back in my old town and I also told you that since we’ve gotten closer, Cason’s been helping me whenever he can with my nerves and anxiety around strangers or crowds.” I stated before continuing. “I guess I just feel like I should get him something meaningful and thoughtful instead of something that might get lost in a month or two… no offense to the gift you got him or anything.”

“Oh, non-taken, but you also have to remember that there’s still two and a half weeks left until Christmas actually arrives.” Olivia stated. “There’s still plenty of time to find him a gift that’s perfect.”

I nodded at her statement as I took out my phone to text my mom that we were done shopping for the day and waiting for her.

Although I did nod, the fact that I had think of an amazing present to get Cason was playing on the back of my mind… what the hell was I supposed to get the guy for Christmas?

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So…. time skip! I decided that it was best to move the story along instead of dragging out a bunch of filler chapters over the month of November so, I just skipped to the first week of December because trust me, December is going to be a drama-filled month for Cason, Jessalyn, Olivia and Evan!

Thank you all for continuing to support this story as it will definitely be my Watty Awards entry in a couple months and I can use all the support I can get :) Remember to vote on any chapter and leave your comments below!

Also, I have the next two months off of school, the next two weeks off work, and a lot of free time as I’m going to camp for a week and a half that has wi-fi at some places. This means that hopefully I can crank at least two chapters out by the time next weekend is over!

Thank you all, and until next time… comment/vote/share :) x