A Merry Merry Christmas

One

     A blanket of snow fell lightly over the grass in the neighborhood. Kendra O' Reilly was sitting in the living room of her Boston home while her mother prepared cups of cocoa for her family. She was wrapped in blankets trying to keep warm as the snow outside was picking up.
     She was sixteen years old, and in the tenth grade. Like most teenage girls of the 80's, she was obsessed with the new kids on the block. All she ever did was talk about them. She would listen to every single one of their albums as soon as it had been released. Her friends were just as obsessed with them.
     Every weekend, Kendra and her best friend Jackie would go to Kendra's house for a sleepover and watch new kids on the block hangin' tough: live. She was a HUGE Joey girl, and Jackie was a Donnie girl.
     All they'd ever hoped for was that they would be fortunate enough to meet Donnie and Joey one day. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, that meant that Christmas was even closer.... Kendra's hopes of getting tickets to an NKOTB show had never been higher.

     "Kendra." Her mother said, turning toward her daughter.
     "Yeah, ma?" She sipped her cocoa, looking over the rim of her mug toward her mother.
     "Your Dad and I have a surprise for you." Kendra's mom smiled, taking a sip of her cocoa as well.

"Really?!" Kendra exclaimed, her voice shaking with anticipation. At that point, there was a knock at the front door. Kendra looked to her mother, standing up cautiously. She hesitated making her way to the door. Before anything else, she looking through the side window. Jackie was standing on the porch in the snow. She opened the door and gasped, letting her best friend into the house.

"What's going on? Why'd you're mom call me over?" She asked. She dropped her coat on the floor along with her boots.

"Yeah... that's kind of what I was wondering." Kendra answered. She looked to her mother who was sitting on the couch and sipping her hot chocolate. "So?" Kendra inquired.

"We have some exciting news." Her mom teased again.

"Yeah... Kind of got that." Jackie retorted.

"Alright, go on. Your Dad is waiting in the kitchen to give you your gift." Her mom chuckled a little.

"Gift?" Kendra thought. It wasn't even Christmas yet. In fact, Christmas wasn't for another month, and Thanksgiving was in a week.

"Go on." Her mother said again. Jackie and Kendra exchanged mixed looks of fear and excitement, whatever that looked like. They scurried their way to the kitchen where they found Kendra's Dad sitting at the table. He was looking through a newspaper.

"Alright, Dad! What is it?" Kendra asked almost desperately.

"What's what?" Her father asked looking up from the paper with a smirk.

"You know. Aren't you supposed to give us something?" Jackie asked.

"Oh, you mean... These? Hold out a hand." Her father smiled and dug through his pocket. He looked at the two teenage girls, and smirked before pulling the gift out from his pocket. Each girl held out their hand. He put the gift face down in each of their hands. "Flip them over when I say," Her father instructed. "Ready? One... Two-"

"No one has time for this!" Jackie blurted. She flipped over the small piece of paper Kendra's father had given her.

Kendra followed suit, and their faces went blank for only a moment in registration of what they were seeing. They had gotten tickets to a new kids on the block concert, and suddenly their faces were covered in ecstasy.