Secret Santa

Chapter 1

Our class is doing Secret Santa this year and I am not happy about it. Mrs. Lord is enthusiastic about this idea, but the class clearly isn't. "It's going to be doing something differently." she said last week during Math. The classed groaned as soon as they heard about the idea. Kylie seemed to have enjoyed that the students were pretty mad.

Kylie was running for class president, so she needed a way to earn the votes. The first promise she made was that she would do was convince Mrs. Lord to not do the Secret Santa. It's pretty obvious that Mrs. Lord wouldn't even budge.

"Ms. Hill?" Mr. Steves clears his throat. "Hm?" I look up from my violently scribbled notebook. "What is the answer to this equation?" He points his ruler to the blackboard showing a written-out equation. I shrug. "670?" Mr. Steves rubs his forehead and sighs. "Wrong. Ms. King?" I sigh and put my hair into the tightest bun. I glance at my phone. A few texts. One from Cole.

COLE: Who did you get for Secret Santa? I seriously don't know what to get for my person. I need help.

I roll my eyes. Of course, he did. I move my fingers quickly across my screen typing up some words and press send.

ME: Omg how? Your Cole. You know everything.

That's not true. We both know that's not true. When our best friend Maddie started acting weird during the school dance last month, we knew something was wrong. Maddie had been always the person that was cheery and social. I asked her what was wrong, and she wouldn't tell me. Soon, Maddie fainted in the bathroom and then one of the teachers called the ambulance. Later Cole told me that he knew what was wrong with Maddie. She has been addicted to drugs for the past few months and she overdosed that night. I was super mad because Cole could have at least told me because I would have done something. But he apologized a million times and said he panicked and didn't know what to do.

COLE: Naomi, you and me both know that's not true.

ME: Anyways, I got Maria.

COLE: Well good luck with that. She's going to diss whatever you get her.

ME: Probably. I'll try my best anyways.

Maria Foster, the all-time popular girl in our school. Back in Grade 3, me and used to be best friends but later on she drifted away from me later on in life. Books always say, "Oh I wish they were here for me still! They were so awesome!" But seriously, who even does that in reality? I hate Maria and I don't even wish to be friends with her again.

That's when the bell rings and I look at my schedule to see what subject I had next. Math with Mrs. Lord. Great. The last thing I need is for Mrs. Lord to blab about the Secret Santa. I grab my Math books out of my locker even though I know I won't need them. "Tam!" I turn around and Cole and running over holding his bag. "Hi Cole. What's up?" He smiles. "Did you see my texts?" I roll my eyes. "Of course, I did that's why I replied." He shakes his head. "No, the one I said after about Maddie, Tamsin Steve." I ignore the fact he said my full name and emphasized it. I raise my eyebrows. Maddie? I haven't heard from Maddie in weeks, and I haven't seen her in months. "Well, she's coming back to Halifax, aka here." I gasp. "She's ready to come back?" He nods. "I think so. Or at least that's what her mom said Mrs. Brown called me and said she's coming finally." "Wow. She's coming and I can't believe it." Just then the bell rang. "Darn it! I am late for class! Catch up with you later! Bye Cole!" He waves and I run into Math excited. "Take a seat Tamsin. We were just getting started." I grab a seat as far as away from Maria because she's in this class. She's murmuring to Sofie, her best friend, about her dad ordering her a limo for prom night. So annoying.

"Alright class. Enough chit-chatter," Mrs. Lord says, and everyone stops talking. "Like I said last lesson, we are going to be talking about Secret Santa this class. Some of you guys asked me last class that was participating an option," then she glances at me. Yea she doesn't need to call me out. I was the one who asked her because I don't want to participate. "The answer is no. It is mandatory and this will be a fun way for us to get to know each other. Everyone must have their gift by tomorrow because we have a math lesson coming very shortly and I still want to give you guys time to study. Is this clear?" Everyone nods silently. "Ok good. Now let's start our lesson." Jack raises his hand and Mrs. Lord calls on him. "What if we don't know what to get for your person?" Mrs. Lord adjusts her black glasses and says, "Well, then figure it out Jack." I sigh and go to doodle some colorful designs.

After school, I waited for Cole forever and he finally came. "Rough day because of Mr. Simone. He is so annoying." I roll my eyes. "Let's go already." We get in this old minivan and drive to the nearby store. Cole is a hand down kid. He always gets his older brother, Carson's stuff. He doesn't care unless he gets what he wants. New or Used it doesn't matter. Carson graduated high school a few years ago and now he is in college to become a lawyer. The great thing is that Cole still gets to see him because he goes to college in a nearby place. Their family doesn't have enough money to pay for his education but one day Carson showed up with so much money his parents didn't even question him. They just swallowed the money whole.

"Right here fine?" Cole asks pulling into a parking lot. I nod and get out. "Alright. I'll wait." I shake my head. His face pulls into a frown. "Why?" "Because I have choir practice. It's the opposite direction of your house." He rolls his eyes. "It's fine. I am willing to make a huge sacrifice for you." Cole laughs. "Cole just go." I turn and walk away before he could say anything.