love or host - tommyinnit

chapter 25- i can't see these

as soon as we get home, i anxiously bolt up the stairs to grab george's present. it's in a blue gift bag with white paper in the bag. i spent a lot of time wrapping it, so i hope he focuses on that rather than the gifts.

i walk downstairs and see a few people carrying their gifts. niki's is in a purple box with an orange ribbon tied around it, making it clear that it's karl's gift. tommy's is very sloppily wrapped, as is alex's, but wilbur's is wrapped to perfection.

"head count!" clay shouts. "one, two, three, four... yeah we're all here."

we all sit in a circle with our gifts in front of us. we all play a game with our presents. we all try to guess which gift is ours before we get it. we get three tries, and if we can't guess which present is ours within the three tries, we lose.

karl starts, and guesses that niki has him first try. niki nods slowly and slides the gift over to him.

he punches the air and cheers.

"now niki try to guess," clay says.

"okay, uhhh..." she looks around at everyone's gifts. "alex?"

"no," alex laughs.

"shoot, okay. nick?"

"nope," nick says. "one guess left."

"toby?" she asks frantically. toby shakes his head.

"and we have our first loser!" wilbur shouts. "let's give niki a round of applause, shall we, fellas?" we all laugh and clap for niki. she rolls her eyes and gives a slight bow while sitting.

george passes a blue gift bag to her.

"i was going to wrap it pink but i'm colorblind," george says meekly. everyone snorts.

"that's okay, george," niki laughs. "it's your turn to guess."

"clay," george says instantly. clay wheezes and shakes his head. "definitely valerie, then. she's the only one that has their present wrapped in a color I can see." i roll my eyes.

"was it that obvious?" i ask while sliding the bag towards him. "okay, now for me... ummm..." I glance around at everyone's gifts. wilbur's present is wrapped in dark purple wrapping paper, which he knows is my favorite color. i guess him.

"i was hoping the wrapping would throw you off. it's not me," wilbur says with a chuckle. i sigh.

"tommy?" i ask. he shakes his head.

"of course you would guess tommy," karl says. i flash him an annoyed glance and mouth "shut up."

i look around at the gifts. i want to guess nick's, because his is neatly wrapped in pink and white striped paper, but i go off on a whim and guess toby, who's is wrapped tightly in mustard yellow wrapping paper.

"yeah!" toby shouts. "you got it!" he slides the box towards me. i grin and put it on my lap.

everyone guesses their presents and only a few people lose the game. karl has clay, clay has wilbur, wilbur has toby, tommy has nick, nick has alex, and alex has tommy.

"look at how shitty this wrapping job is," tommy whispers to me, showing me his box. i nod grimly.

"pretty shitty," i agree. the gift is wrapped in red paper, but it's torn in so many places that alex might as well not have wrapped it. the tape doesn't hold it down and white tissue paper is spilling out of the box.

"toby tried so hard on yours. you're lucky."

"look on the bright side, you'll get to your present quicker." tommy grins widely.