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Chapter 8

The early morning sun was shining through my window to wake me up. There were no plans for this Saturday during my winter break. It was three days until Christmas and I still needed to go gift shopping. I reached over for my phone and texted Alyssa. She never wakes up early so I decided to get up and see what my mom was up to while I waited for her response. I walked into the kitchen and found a note on the table saying that my mom and sister had gone out Christmas shopping and David and my father were at work. I grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and poured some Honeynut Cheerios. I turned on the TV and stated to watch another episode of Grey's Anatomy. When the episode was almost over my phone buzzed and Alyssa had replied.

Sure. Can I pick you up in an hour?

I quickly replied to her message and played the rest of my episode before getting ready.

*****

An hour later her dark Mitsubishi was sitting in my driveway. I locked the front door and got into the passenger's side. "Hey. What's up?" She began.

"Oh nothing. I just have got NO shopping done." I replied as I placed my wallet back into my purse after making sure I had brought my debit card with me.

"Where did you want to go?"

"Um, I think our best option is the mall. We can try and get everything done in one place."

"Sure. Lets go to the larger mall in Annapolis if that's ok with you?"

"Yeah. I rather not be in this area anyways."

"Why is that?" She took her eyes of the highway to look over at me. I had decided that I was not going to tell her about the text messages I had received from Logan last night. Alyssa is a great best friend, but she cannot keep her mouth shut to save her life. She hangs out with Anna on a regular basis so I knew it would just make the situation worse.

"This whole thing with Anna. I still don't know why she would be talking to you about me doing something that I hadn't even thought of."

"She's just worried. She probably just feeling the same way you felt when she was spending time with Luis." I knew she was right and I remember how that felt. I wanted her to just leave the school and never be in my life again. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to see her in person until we got back from winter break. I did not want to have that kind of conversation over text message or phone call. "So I was thinking that maybe you would help me plan a New Year's party at my house?"

"Oh, that's a great idea!"

"So I was thinking that if we move the table to side or into the kitchen we could make that hardwood floor area the dance floor."

"That would be a great idea! And the music can be played off the TV stereo system. We can watch the ball drop on the TV!"

"I want Mitchel to give me a New Year's kiss."

"Well, I guess this is your year then!"

We arrive at the mall and start to head into the stores searching for things to buy our families. After spending an hour in a Nike store and spending way too much money on a pair of shoes off the clearance rack for my brother we start heading towards the perfume shop to look for some scents for our moms. We walk into the Macy's and start looking through the displays they have laid out. After deciding on an elegant scent we each walk out with a small bag in our hands. Not long after we leave the store my bag is grabbed from my hand. Before I can react, I hear a familiar laughing from behind.