12 DAYS OF DEXER!!

christmas shopping

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"Pleease, Exer?? What- no! Of course I have my own money! Jeez, you're no fun. Really? See you in ten!"

David hung up the phone, rushing to collect his things before his best-friend/crush Exer Campbell arrived to join him while they did some Christmas shopping.

It was mid-December, and he hadn't thought of anything for anyone yet- he would need gifts for his mom, dad, Brenda, Ron, and Exer. Of course, he wouldn't be able to get Exer's gift today, but hopefully he'd be able to get some ideas.

David grabbed his jacket off the rack where it sat, sliding his wallet into the pocket and taking a seat, waiting for Exer to arrive. "Where're you heading, David?" David jumped hearing his name, looking up to see his Dad leaned against the wall, a steaming mug of tea in his hand.

"Oh! Me and Exer are going out Christmas shopping. We'll probably be gone most of the day." His dad's expression changed ever so slightly, revealing some annoyance. "Hm. You two have been hanging out a lot lately." David looked down towards the ground, hiding the hint of red that had spread across his face "W-Well, yeah! We're both just happy to be friends again, haha!"

His dad stared at him, trying to read his face. David looked up at him, about to add something but he heard a knock on the door behind him and quickly turned around. "Exer!! Hi!!" David beamed, a smile quickly spreading across his face. "Hi, Day! Oh, hi Mr. Miller." Exer said, waving to David and then looking to see the figure glaring behind him.

"Well, we're going now. Bye dad!" David quickly said, pushing past Exer out the door and dragging him away from the house. "What's up with your dad? He seemed to be giving me a weird look. Did I do something?" He turned to look at David, a look of concern washing over his face.

"What?? Oh, no, of course not!!! My dad.. he just.." His voice trailed off as he tried to find the right words. "Ever since he found out that like- you quit the football team and stuff.. he's just seemed to.. not like you? It- I mean, it's not your fault, he just doesn't understand why you quit. He was so mad when I told him I was quitting, you know. He tried to call the school and tell them I wasn't allowed to leave!!"

Exer smiled, walking next to David and looking at his watch. "So, where are we headed, anyway?" He asked, facing towards the other boy. "Hm.. why don't we go to the mall? It's nearby." The mall had plenty of stores where they were sure to find something, any sort of gift that someone they knew would like. "Alright. Oh, look- we're almost there!" David looked up, seeing the large outline of the mall against the white snow.

They crossed the street and entered through the doors, revealing a crowded place full of people yelling and rushing around to get their Christmas shopping done. "Where should we start?"

After a while, they had gone through nearly half the mall, getting distracted by random junk in stores and looking through them for much longer than they had time for. "Woah, Day, look at this!!" There was a blanket, covered with different shades of greens and blues. But the thing he was looking at was sitting on the blanket. It was a small cat stuffed animal. It had bright blue eyes and a brown fur coat. They both chatted about it, talking about how cute it was and how they wished they could get it.

By the time Exer realized, it was 4:30, with only about 30 minutes until his shift at the cafe started. "Oh- David, do you have everything you need?" David looked away from a poster that had caught his eye, turning towards Exer, who was staring towards the clock on the other wall.

"Yeah, for the most part. I still haven't thought of anything for you though." Exer turned towards him, then started laughing. "It's ok, Day, you don't have to get me anything, really!!" David frowned. He knew that no matter how much he asked Exer, he wouldn't tell him anything he wanted. "Hm.. alright, fine. C'mon, you have work soon, right? Let's head to the cafe." Exer nodded, and he turned around and stepped out the store door. "Oh, hey Exer, can you wait a sec?" He looked back in through the door, before giving a thumbs up and staring off towards the store next door.

David grabbed the cat plushie, quickly paying for it and shoving it into his bag. "Alright, sorry about that, we can go now if you're ready!" They began walking through the stores back towards the front of the mall. There was an area with a large crowd, people pushing and shoving trying to get presents and products, not seeming to care for anyone.

"Ow!" David said, as he got shoved to the side by someone. "David, come here!" Exer grabbed his hand, pulling David through the noisy crowd and out to the front door. "Thanks-" He said before looking at their hands, with Exer still holding his tightly. "Oh- sorry!" He quickly let go, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-It's fine, let's go now."

They left, walking down the street towards the small cup-o'-cat cafe. It has began snowing, and David rubbed his hands together to warm them. Exer took off his own gloves, nudging David on the side and putting them up to him. He stared at them for a second, before smiling and putting them onto his hands. They soon arrived, and Exer left into the kitchen to get ready, saying bye to David before doing so.

David took a seat near the front door, staring out the window into the vast emptiness of the snow-filled town. He tried to think of something, anything else he could do for Exer, but there was nothing. A few minutes later, Exer came over to David, a latte in his hand. "Thanks!" He set it down on the table, smiling at David before he left back into the kitchen.

David finished his drink and ran up to the counter, paying Dylan and turning to leave. "Oh, while I'm here Dylan, can you give this to Exer for me??" He rummaged through his bag, eventually pulling out a small piece of paper and the cat plushie. "Yeah, sure." David pushed through the front door, turning back and waving towards him. "Thank you!! Merry Christmas!"
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"Hey, Exer. You're on break right now, right?" I turned to see where the voice  was coming from, seeing Dylan sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. "Yeah, what's up?" I asked, walking over and standing next to him. "You're friend gave me this earlier. He said it was for you." He grabbed a plushie from the shelf, handing it to me.

I immediately recognized it, smiling at the familiar eyes. They reminded me of David's eyes, blue like the sky. "Thanks, Dylan!" I brought it over to my backpack, setting it on top and watching a small piece of paper glide to the floor beneath it. I picked it up, unwrapping it to its full size and reading the small and messy handwriting written out on it.
It read:

To Exer
So, seeing that you're reading this, you got the plushie, right? I hope you aren't mad at me for getting it for you. Because I know you said that you didn't need anything, but I just felt like i had to get you something, especially because I got everyone else I know something today.
I'm writing this quick, because I have to leave and head home once I finish my latte (which is great, by the way.), so I'm gonna make this quick
I have something I need to tell you, and I've needed to tell you it for a while. I asked Brenda about it, and she told me to write a letter. So I thought "why not?" and now here we are.
So, basically what I want to say is
I like you
Like, more than a friend liking.
I can understand if you don't feel the same, and I'm sorry I couldn't say it to you in person.
merry Christmas, and if you still want to talk after reading this, I'll see you Monday.
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I stared at the letter for a second, trying to figure out if this was actually David or some mystery person. But there was no doubt it was him. I reread it, trying to acknowledge what he had said. "What's the note say?" Marco said, peering over my shoulder. "Huh? It- It's nothing!!" I said, hiding it from him so he couldn't read it. He grabbed it from me, unwrapping it and quickly skimming through the page-or-so of writing.

"Ha! I won the bet!"

(their bet was on who would confess first. bailey thought exer would, marco thought david, and dylan said that neither of them would.)