Sleigh Bells

2 A.M.

That night, we were up until four in the morning decorating the tree. Farkle and Zay wrapped the whole thing in Christmas lights. Then, Riley had to add several feet of tinsel... just to make it sparkly. After that, we spent most of the time hanging dozens of ornaments on the tree.

So, at four in the morning, I passed out on the bed, fully dressed, on top of the covers, and I didn't even bother t take my sneakers off. I was exhausted.

So, obviously, none of us woke up until around noon.

We had brunch, courtesy of Riley, who made us french toast and bagels and mini pancakes.

"So, for today-"

"Stop saying things like that!" I cried at Farkle, "We are on VA-CA-TION! We shouldn't have to do anything."

"May I remind you that we are on CHRIST-MAS vacation? We need to decorate the yard and the house," he said. 

"Fine," I sighed, "Which are we doing today? And I swear to God if you say both I am going to flip this table." Riley edged over to the table and pulled the frosted glass pitcher off the table

"I got all of the indoor decorations out before bed last night," she said.

"When did you do that? We were up until four," I said incredulously. She carefully avoided my eyes.

"What time did you go to sleep?" I asked.

"She didn't," Zay said.

"Zay!" Riley said.

"Sorry, Riley, the secret was killin' me," he said, shrugging.

"You stayed up all night?" I asked. She nodded.

"Ridiculous," I said, shaking my head.

"I'm going to get the decorations out," Zay said, "For the inside of the house."

"I'll help," I said, standing up.

Zay and I went to the hallway, where the Christmas decoration closet was. He pulled a crate of tinsel out and handed it to me. I set it on the floor, and he handed me another crate, full of wreaths and little statues, which I stacked behind me.

"So..." he said.

"What?" I asked, suspicious.

"So.. you and Lucas?" he asked.

"What about me and Lucas?" I said, carefully concealing all emotion in my voice.

"Are you guys... like... a thing?" he asked, his voice light and careful.

"What makes you think that?" I asked quietly.

"Drop the act, Maya. I see the way you two look at each other. When are you guys going to admit it?" Zay cried, dropping a crate of lights with unnecessary force.

"He doesn't think of me that way," I said, shaking my head.

"How do you think of him?" Zay stared at me impatiently.

"Look at you, playing Cupid," I said lightly.

"That isn't an answer, Maya," he said flatly.

"We'll figure it out, Zay. We're here for three weeks. Whatever's there... we'll figure it out," I said through gritted teeth, "So leave it alone." I turned on my heel and stormed out of the hallway.

----------

"Higher," I said, "A little higher, on the left."

I stood back a few feet from the doorway, while Riley and Zay stood on chairs on either side of it, adjusting a strand of garland. Riley lifted the garland an inch or so.

"Perfect," I said. I tossed a staple gun to Zay, who caught it and punched a staple into the wall. He tossed it back to me, but I missed, and Lucas reached around my stomach as he passed, grabbed it from the air, and pressed it into my hand.

"Gotta be more careful with things that fire sharp objects at high speeds," he said, then he left.

"Thanks," I mumbled. Zay looked pointedly at me, but I ignored him.

"We need to put the wreaths up," Riley said. She held her hand out to me, and I took it to help her down from the chair. Zay jumped down and went to help Lucas with whatever he was doing, but I knew Zay was going to say something to him about me.

"Let's go, then," I said to Riley. She looped her arm through mine and we went to hang up the wreaths.

We finished decorating the house with tons of sparkles and garland and ornaments and a lot of Christmas spirit that I thought was really unnecessary. 

That night I couldn't fall asleep. No matter how long I sat with my eyes closed or how many sheep I counted, I couldn't fall asleep. At two in the morning, there was a knock at my door. It was soft, so I knew whoever it was came in secret. I sat bolt upright.

"Come in," I whispered.

The door cracked open, and a figure slipped into my room.

"Lucas," I said, "What are you doing here?"

"Come with me," he whispered.

"What- to go where?" I stuttered.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his eyes shining.

I chewed at my lip, "Of course."

"Then come on."