A Day in My Life

Christmas Shopping

With Christmas only a week away, my family was rushing to get everything done. Because of our lack of money, we decided to do a Secret Santa this year. In our secret santa, we each chose a name from a hat and then bought one present only for that person. We had pulled this morning and I had gotten Dylan as mine. Blake then drove us all to the mall to let us shop wherever we wanted for a present. Talen, Nick, and I had split off from the others and were walking around the outdoor plaza area.

Right after we chose, Talen had told me about how he got Blake. He wasn't really good at keeping secrets. Nick, however, was super trustworthy so hadn't admitted a thing. We wandered around, drifting through weird stores and then eventually saw a Hot Topic, so we all walked in. Talen said that he already knew what he was going to get for Blake later, but that he would help me look anyways. Dylan, however, was harder to shop for. Would he want...

A jacket? No.

A video game? No.

Food? Probably not.

I decided just to look and see what came to me.

I searched through the racks of weird black clothing and bracelets nervously, while goth people in the store looked on curiously. I self consciously tugged my plain white shirt down over my maroon pants. A girl with a turquoise mohawk and 6 piercings in her face alone looked at me and smirked. I frowned and kept searching. Suddenly I found something perfect!

I looked at it shocked, and then smiled. I knew Dylan would love it. I pulled out a twenty and ran up to the register. They handed it to me in a bag and I wrapped it up, to make sure nobody could see it. Nick found something too from the back of the store for whoever he chose. After we had paid, we met the others at the front and went home.

On the way home, Talen asked Blake if we could stop somewhere for him to get a present.

"Sure thing kid. Where do you wanna stop?" Blake asked him.

"The grocery store!" he answered confidently.

Blake looked at him questioningly.

"Don't worry, I'll help him." I said. It was somewhat known in my family that I was good at getting presents. Probably because I was the only one who actually listened to other people.

"Alright." Blake allowed, dropping us off outside.

We grabbed a cart from outside and ran into the store. Then, I followed Talen into the breakfast foods aisle.

"What? Are you buying Blake oatmeal?" I asked jokingly.

"No!" he said. "I'm buying him...." he walked down a ways and gestured to some red boxes.

"Pancake Mix!" he said with a bright smile.

I bust out laughing but stopped when he frowned.

"I'm sorry, I don't get it." I admitted, trying to hide my smile.

"Okay, well, remember how every Christmas when we were little, Dad used to wake up early and get Blake from his bed and make pancakes shaped like stockings and Christmas trees and stuff?"

"Oh yeah!" I said fondly, thinking back.

"Well, I was thinking I would get him the mix and I'll find the old cookie cutters to make the shapes and stuff! Isn't that perfect?"

"That, is a great idea." I said, pulling a couple boxes off the shelf.

As we walked to the checkout area I thought back to how my dad would pick Blake up and put him on his shoulders as they made the pancakes, every year, no matter how big he got. And how when Blake was making some he would wear our dads huge shoes to protect himself from the splattering oil. And then, how every year they would call us down as if it was a huge surprise and not a tradition. My mom always acted shocked and overjoyed so the rest of us always followed suit.

I looked at Talen and the pancake mix boxes he payed for and smiled. This was actually a really good idea.  

We stopped a few other places afterwards for the others and then went home.

Everyone split off separately into their rooms and Emma and I went into the living room. When we turned on the TV, Its A Wonderful Life was on so we decided to watch.  I did like the story and thought it was cute but I couldn't stand the black and white coloring, I guess I was spoiled that way. Once we finished, Nick called everyone into the living room with us. 

We all sat down and Nick began "Okay, guys. So you know how I've been working on my play...." He smiled excitedly. 

"Yeeeessssss......" we answered.

"Well, the play is in less than a week, and I bought you all tickets, as an early Christmas present."

We all cheered and thanked him. 

"Oh! And I bought Taylor and Aubrey a ticket too, just in case they want one." he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Dylan and Blake. 

"What about Luke?" I asked. 

He sighed and said, "I guess I could get him one, too. But you better be careful." I rolled my eyes. 

"Hey, what play is it?" Emma asked. 

He smiled, "It's a Christmas Carol, a classic." 

"What role are you playing again?" Blake asked. 

Nick rolled his eyes. "Thanks for listening to me, everyone. I'm playing Scrooge, himself!" he said, dramatically. I wasn't surprised though, he was normally the lead. Probably because the drama teacher was 50 and didn't have a husband, or because he was just a seriously good actor. Maybe a mixture of both.  

After the planning, we eventually all dispersed and then Emma and I watched a Home Alone rerun we found on TV. 

I love Christmas time.