Mistletoe

Chapter Two

"HURRY UP, MILLIE!" Jake yelled as we ran through the street. This was the result of choosing to do Christmas shopping last minute and believe me, never again.

We were racing to HMV, hoping that the present Jake had in mind for his dad hadn't sold out as there hadn't been many left the last time we were there. I told him we should have got it when we saw it; he should have listened to me.

"SLOW DOWN, SPEEDY!" I yelled back, almost bowling over an old lady who happened to just appear in my line of sight. She didn't look too pleased to have almost being knocked to the floor, if her glare was anything to go by and I only had time to say a quick sorry before I was running again, trying to catch up with the English equivalent of Usain Bolt. 

He didn't answer me so I pushed myself to go faster. I wasn't sure why we had to run to the shop when we could have just walked the distance and probably still be told the same thing; that they'd all been sold out. It was Christmas time after all, so everybody would be rushing around trying to find that perfect Christmas present. What better present to buy for all those book lovers out there than a kindle? It just seemed like the perfect thing to get Jake's dad, considering he was a total bookworm.

Coming to a stop in front of HMV, I spotted Jake already inside and speaking with one of the workers, not looking the slightest bit out of breath. I, on the other hand, felt like I was about to collapse. I was in desperate need of a drink but unfortunately for me, I didn't have one. Breathing heavily, I bent over at the waist with my hands on my knees to try and regain my breath. I didn't have to look in a mirror to know that my face probably resembled a tomato.

"Screw this, I need a drink." I muttered to myself as I straightened up. Turning around, I walked to WHSmith and entered the shop. Thankfully it wasn't that far from HMV, just a few doors down in fact. 

Once inside, I grabbed a can of Monster energy seeing as I would definitely need some energy if Jake was expecting me to continue running around the way we just had been. I then walked to the back of the shop, where there was a few DVDs and CDs. I needed to find Jake the perfect Christmas gift and obviously, I couldn't do that with him around. 

I hadn't managed to find the perfect gift for him just yet, though it wasn't for lack of trying. I wanted to get him something special because he is special to me. I always wanted to get people what they wanted for Christmas but Jake told me he didn't need anything as he already had everything he needed - whatever that meant. I knew what he liked and what disliked but I still hadn't found the perfect one yet. I was confident that I would eventually, it just may take a little longer than I originally thought it would. I'd just have to come back to town when he wasn't with me. 

I was scanning the shelves when my eyes landed on a DVD. One that I knew Jake didn't have yet but definitely wanted. I also wanted it for myself but if I got it for him then I would definitely be watching it with him anyway. This was the perfect thing to get Jake. That thought in mind, I quickly grabbed the DVD to check the price and when I saw the price tag, I smiled.

£10.99

I had to buy it, as far as I could see there wasn't any others left so I kept a tight grip on it as I sped towards the counter to pay for it. I had the money for it with enough left over that I'd still be able to buy other Christmas presents for family and friends. 

Both Jake and I had recently become obsessed with the Sherlock TV series. For me, my obsession started because of my love of the two main actors, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. For him, well, he just enjoyed things like that. We had spent all day watching every episode online, where the quality was rubbish and was totally out of sync as their lips would move, but the words wouldn't come out until a few seconds after. It was ridiculous but we had endured it because we wanted to watch them. We were into the series that much.

That was one of the best days I had shared with Jake. Lazing around at his home, sitting on his bed with his laptop propped up in the middle of us as we shared popcorn and a big bottle of Dr. Pepper. We would try and figure out what was going on before we found out, laughing at some of the ridiculous theories we came up with. It was one of the few rare days that Jake's phone hadn't been beeping constantly every five minutes like I was so used to. Then again, he probably put it on silent just so that he didn't miss any of the shows. 

Quickly paying for the DVD, the cashier placed it into a bag and handed it to me, along with my change and the receipt. Stuffing that into the bag, I smiled at the woman.

"Merry Christmas!" 

"Merry Christmas." She replied, smiling. 

Satisfied with my purchase, I headed outside and back down to HMV, where Jake was just coming out, clutching a bag of his own. I tried to have a look inside it when I had approached him but he was quick to move it away from my sight.

"No peeking!" He said, pointing a finger in my face. "You have to wait until Christmas!" 

"Wait, you got my present too?" I asked. 

"Well I couldn't get it with you stood right next to me, could I? Where did you run off to anyway? I needed your help!" Jake said, the two of us walking to the card shop just a bit further down the street. 

I held up the bag in my hand, laughing. "Seems like we both had the same idea." 

"You bought my present?" He asked, squinting, clearly trying to figure out what was inside it.

"You have to wait until Christmas!" I repeated his words from before, causing him to smirk at me. 

"You're such an idiot." 

"But a lovable idiot." 

"Sure you are." He spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes though there was a hint of a smile on his face.

I didn't hesitate in punching him straight in the arm, satisfied when he hissed in pain. I could thank my dad for teaching me how to punch properly, otherwise Jake probably wouldn't have even felt that.

"You're so evil for someone so small!" He laughed, shaking his head as he looked at me. 

"The smaller we are, the closer to hell we are." I said, smiling sweetly. For a second he just glanced at me, appearing to be deep in thought. I called him out on it, though he told me it was nothing but I continued to press him on the subject, knowing he was lying. He had a habit of doing that, just suddenly staring into space but it was usually happened when we were around his parents so I just put it down to family problems but this time, it wasn't the case. His parents were nowhere near us.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried about him.

"Just wondering how long it will take for you to take over hell when you get there, after I kill you, of course." He said, pushing me slightly. 

"Oh, the devil is just keeping my throne warm. Obviously." I replied without missing a beat. It was clear that he was still lying but I decided to drop it, knowing that if he wanted to tell me then he would. I could only push him so far before he completely shut down after all.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side then, Satan." 

"You already are." 

He turned his head to look at me, confusion clear from the expression on his face. "What? Why?" 

"You thought it would be funny to put a spider on my bed. While I was still in it," I replied, glaring at him as I thought back to last week, when I had awoken to see the creepy thing sat on my bed as though it had been there for ages. "I almost had a heart attack!" 

"Ohhh, that!" Jake nodded as he recalled the memory. When he started to laugh, I glared at him harder, not that it made any difference to him. He was used to me glaring at him by now. 

"I will get you back for that." I commented as we headed into the shopping centre. 

"I'd like to see you try." He replied, smirking at me just as we entered the building.

I didn't reply to his words, purely because I was coming up with all the different ways that I could get my revenge on him for putting a spider on my bed. The possibilities were endless and that just made me all the more eager to get started.