A Merry Merry Christmas

Four

The next morning I woke up on the couch forgetting where I was for a moment. I looked around and could smell pancakes and bacon cooking in the kitchen. I sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen to find my parents preparing breakfast. I sat down at the table and began looking through a teen bop magazine. In it was a poster of Joey of which I wasted no time ripping out and posting on my bedroom wall. Along with my other new kids on the block posters of course. I sat on my bed in silence for a while before I heard a knock on the front door downstairs. The house was silent as I heard the door swing open. It was Jackie. We're the type of friendship where we just walk into each other's houses, sit on the couch, and eat each other's food. Almost like sisters that don't live together.

"KENDRA!" She screamed. I jumped in fear. I had never heard her scream like that. I ran out of my room and down the stairs, tripping and falling along the way, scrambling back to my feet again.

"What? What's going on?!" I shouted. She smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen. This had to be good.

"Donnie." Was all she said.

"Okay? What about Donnie?" I asked.

"He gave me this last night." She smirked as she slowly lifted up a small piece of paper. My face lit up.

"He gave you his number?!" I shrieked in excitement. She nodded wildly and began jumping up and down with me, squealing like crazy.

"You'll never believe this." I said.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

"JOEY GAVE ME HIS NUMBER TOO!" I screamed. We began jumping again.

"Have you called him yet?" Jackie asked. I stopped quickly and my eyes shifted to the left.

"Yeah... Totally!" I exclaimed, pausing briefly.

"You're lying." Jackie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Wha- I am not! What makes you think such a thing?!" I asked, my eyes shifting to the left once again.

"I always know you're lying when you do that thing with your eyes." Jackie explained. I sighed.

"Fine, I haven't called him yet." I admit sheepishly.

"Come on! Why haven't you done it yet?! I've already called Donnie!" Jackie said trying to put some confidence in me. I was quiet for a moment as I thought about it in my head. He was my favorite new kid, and of course I thought he was super cute. But at the same time I was afraid that I would screw everything up. I didn't want to come off too strong, too creepy or too desperate.

"Fine... okay. I'll do it." I hesitated, but still made my way to the kitchen. I picked up the telephone and hovered my fingers over the buttons. I couldn't bring myself to press them.

"Just do it Kendra. He's not going to think you're creepy. He gave you his number, remember? He wants you to call him!" Jackie pleaded, ripping the phone and the paper with his number from my hand.  She punched in the number, shoved the phone into my hand, and ran out of the kitchen leaving me to go through with the call.

"Hello?" He answered, and my heart rate instantly picked up.

"Hey! Is this Joey?" I asked holding back a nervous stutter.

"Hey! Yeah, is this Kendra?" Joe replied on the other line. I couldn't believe this, I was actually talking to Joey McIntyre and I wasn't making a moron out of myself!

"Heck yeah it is!" I facepalmed, realizing I spoke too soon. He laughed.

"I'm so glad you called!" He said. The line suddenly fell completely silent, but I heard a sigh on the other end. "So I was wondering..." He said. "Do you maybe want to hang out soon?" He asked. I was suddenly quiet. "Kendra? Are- are you there?" He asked. I cleared my throat.

"Yeah, I'm here! I'd love to hang out! That sounds great." I smiled.

"Cool! So, how does tomorrow sound? We have a day off in town before tour picks back up again." This was all so sudden. Tomorrow was so close! Well, of course it was. I had no idea what to say, I was beyond words.

"Yeah! Sounds perfect!" I blurted, not wanting to keep Joe waiting much longer.

"Awesome! So I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked.

"Absolutely!" I exclaimed.

"Awesome, I'll see you then!" He hung up, and I immediately turned to Jackie.

"So... What'd he say, Kendra?" She asked.

"He asked me out." I whispered softly.

"What?" Jackie asked.

"Joey McIntyre just asked me out!" I repeated squealing loudly. I jumped up and down with dramatically. I had no idea what to think, but all I knew was that Joey McIntyre, my celebrity crush, had just asked me out! And I couldn't be more excited!