You are my Sunshine

Chapter Eleven

*Elizabeth's point of view*

It was only a week till Christmas. Only a few days ago Matt had proposed to Jamie, and the entire week he hid out at our house while Jamie's aunts and cousins invaded their apartment. Today I was doing my Christmas shopping while Josh, Mike, Ian and Matt were in Toronto for Marianas Trench business. Jamie decided to tag along, attempting to get away from her family for a bit.

I set out to the mall not too far from the apartment building. It was around 2 on a Thursday, so it was no surprise when I reached the mall it was almost completely empty.

Some people were really easy to shop for. My nephew, Alex, was only four years old. I figured any toy car would do. Isabelle, my newborn niece, was too young for toys, so I picked out some cute shirts from the baby section in Sears, not really sure what to buy for a month old baby. Every year since I was 15, I had gotten Devon tickets to see the Canucks play a home game, just the two of us. Even though we had been out of touch for so long, I figured it would be nice to carry on the tradition.

After I picked up a special copy of Alice in Wonderland I had ordered for Jamie a few weeks ago. It was a neat idea I got from Matt, after he told me how much she enjoyed the book. Using a really cool website, I replaced all the original names in the story with ones of people we knew. Like, I made Jamie Alice, and me the Cheshire Cat. I also turned Josh into the red queen for my own personal enjoyment.

While in the bookstore, I also picked out a cookbook for Michelle. I didn't know her well, but I knew she loved to cook.

For Matt, Mike, and Ian, I picked out stuff from the record store down the street from Josh's apartment. Well, I guess it's mine too, I just never took time to get used to the fact of me living there.

After picking out some really cool, vintage records for Matt and Mike, I picked up the personalized drum sticks I bought for Ian. I would've gotten the other boys something this special too, but Ian was the only one who actually gave me any ideas. Josh might've given me some ideas, but they were all terrible.

At first when I asked him he gave me sarcastic ideas, like flying instruments or for a horse.

Then it started getting dirty, and I'm not going to elaborate on Josh's dirty mind.

I stood at the counter with my records and bags from earlier, waiting for the man I had ordered Ian's present from.

"Hello again. Picking up your friends drumsticks"?

I smiled at him over the counter; "yes I am. And these records. Almost done my Christmas shopping now".

He nodded at me, taking the records off the counter top. "Good for you! How many people do you have left to buy for".

"Just one, my boyfriend. I have no idea what to get him, he didn't give me any good ideas"!

He leaned against the counter, studying me. "What's he into"?

"Well, he's really big on instruments. He has the biggest collection of guitars I've ever seen", I added with a smile.

He came out from behind the counter and led me to the back of the store. "We have a pretty nice collection of instruments in the back if you want to take a look.

In the end, I picked out a guitar that the guy said was a really nice pick. Honestly, I would go in to detail, but I had no idea what I was doing. I felt like such a loser, standing in the music store with absolutely no idea of what I was doing. But, the guy who sold me the guitar said I had good taste, so I just went with it.

I got home around dinner time, hiding the bags in the back of my closet. I was looking for a good place to put Josh's guitar when the first wave of nausea hit. I quickly ran to the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet, throwing up everything I had eaten that day. When my stomach was empty, I collapsed beside the toilet, feeling sweaty and gross. Slowly, I got up from the ground and made my way back to the bedroom, crawling under the blankets. It wasn't long until I fell asleep.