Beneath the Surface

Chapter 12

Time was going by fast when I was with Arnesto. It was like whenever something bad happened, I forgot it almost instantly because he was always there to save me.

I didn't hate swimming nearly as much anymore because it meant I got to see Arnesto everyday. At meets he was always my biggest cheerleader and he always respected my friends. He completly understood that sometimes we needed girl time. He was perfect.

Weeks had past since thanksgiving. We had been dating for over a month now, and still hadn't kissed. I never pushed it or anything because I wanted it to be just right.

Christmas break was coming up, so me and the girls went to the mall to buy some gifts.

We bought perfumes for our moms at bath and body works. We bought movie posters and movies for our dads. We even managed to find something perfect for all our siblings.

The real hard part was finding gifts for each other. We came up with a system a few years back to try and make life easier. We did a secret Santa between us so we would be less stressed.

I ended up getting Erin which was pretty simple. Arianna got Andy. So we kinda split into groups so we could keep the gifts a surprise. We agreed o meet up in the food court later.

Finding something for Erin is pretty simple. I go to hot topic and find shirt with her favorite band on it. I take it up to the counter to pay for it and find some cool pins to add to it.

However Andy, is a little harder to come by. She likes strange things so you never know what to get her at first, but when you see it, you'll know.

We start by looking in Spencer's. You're bound to find weird things there. While we go looking through the shelves, we get to catching.

"How are things going with Arnesto?" Arianna asks.

"Everything is great. He is seriously like my prince in shining armor." I reply.

"You guys doing anything special for the holiday?"

I nod my head and point to some necklace Andy might like. " I'm going to spend Christmas Eve at his place. He also said he had a special date planned for me the first night of break. Can't wait for that. "

"Sounds like you got a lot going on. Have you got a present for him yet?" She asks. Arianna heads over to check out the posters.

"No." I say. "I don't even know where to start. What kind of gift does one give to their boyfriend?"

Arianna turns around and picks up a box of condoms of the shelf. "maybe you could start with these."

I laugh and take the box from her. I put it back on the shelf. "Ok. Let me rephrase that. What kind of appropriate gift does one give to their boyfriend?"

"See you lose me there. Never had a boyfriend. How would I know?" She suddenly gasps and rushes across the store. "Omg! this is the perfect gift for Andy!"

I walk over to see what she's pointing at. It's a pair of bacon suspenders. " It's absolutely perfect for her! shell love them."

She takes them off the rack and up to the counter. She buys them and put them in a bag.

We head out of the store and towards the food court. I do a little window shopping for a gift for Arnesto. I'm at a complete loss.

We find Andy and Erin at a table by McDonalds. They already had food for all of us. We sit down across from them and grab our food.

"What? No frappe?"" I say jokingly. I wasn't expecting Andy to actually pull one up from under the table. "Chocolate chip? oh you know me so well".

We have a good laugh and stuff our faces. Shopping always makes us so hungry.

"So did you guys find what you need?" I ask.

" Yes. Yes we did," Erin answered. "What about you guys?"

Arianna says yes. I say almost.

"What do you mean?" Andy asks.

"I still need to find a gift for Arnesto, " I answer. " I have no idea what to get him."

"Well maybe we can do a little more window shopping after lunch" Erin says.

"Yea. That should help," Arianna agrees.

We clean up the table and head out. we wander around the mall for about another hour, doing lots of looking, but with little success.

We were just about to call it a day when I saw something in a window. I walk up for a closer look.

"Omg guys this is percect!". I say with excitement. We walk into the store so I can buy it. "He's going I love it."