Scholar

Twenty Five

Winter break seemed to fly by. First of all, I was insanely excited for Christmas that year. It felt different because I had someone really special to me to give a gift to. Ryan swore he'd spend Christmas with my family, so that was a huge plus.

My mom and Chelsea didn't know anything about Ryan's family, but they started asking questions when I said he was spending Christmas with us. I refused to answer and told them it was something Ryan had to tell them himself. Of course, neither of them were satisfied with that, but they left me alone.

Finally, the day came. Ryan came over sometime in the afternoon. I was beyond excited to give him his gift. I was awful at wrapping, but I'd done a decent job this time around.

I had a job over the summer and used the money left over to get Chelsea, Ryan, and my mom a gift. I got Chelsea a bracelet with her name engraved in it. She cried when I gave it to her, of course. My mom  got a pair of boots she'd been asking for since the previous year. When Ryan came over, my mom and Chelsea gave us the living room.

"Here," I told him, offering him a medium sized box. Ryan raised his eyebrows.

"You got me a gift?" I nodded. "Good, then I can give you this." He held out a slightly smaller box. I grabbed it and gave him the box I wrapped. "You first," he said quickly.

"You're so stupid," I mumbled with a smile. I opened it, peaking inside the box and laughing when I saw what was in it. I put a hand on my forehead. "You're way too much to handle," I told him.

"Maybe I am, but you like it." I pulled out the red hoodie that said "STANFORD" on it. I smiled and nodded. 

"Yeah, I love it, actually. I'm not gonna lie." Ryan smiled widely. "Now, open yours."

Ryan ripped off the green wrapping paper with white trees on it, popping the top off the box I put his gift in. I saw his jaw drop, and he gave me a huge, dorky smile.

"Aw, Alex," he picked up the picture frame. "This is so fucking cute. How are you so precious?" He stared at the picture of the two of us. Of course, Ava had never deleted the picture she took of me leaning on Ryan when we had just started becoming friends. In his hands, he held the photo of us, smiling, like I'd given him the best gift possible.

He pulled me up against him and kissed my forehead. I laughed and rested my head on his shoulder, admiring the picture.

"Just so you know, I got a copy of that and put it on my wall," I told him. "I loved that picture too much to not keep my own copy."

"Well, I guess I need a copy of you because I love you too much." I laughed. Despite his lighthearted tone, I still felt my heart skip a beat when he said it. Did he love me? I couldn't help but wonder about it.

"I really hate you," I told him, refusing to dwell on it. "Let me put this away," I added, holding up the sweatshirt Ryan had given me.

The next few days blurred together until New Year's Eve. Ryan had come over late that night. Gabriel, Jackson, Ava, and Jordan had all come over, too, and we were all hanging out.

"You know, you're all seniors, but only two of you have ever been in a serious relationship, and you just got into it," Gabriel commented. We were sitting on the floor in a circle. I was leaning on Ryan, and his arm was around me.

"I still can't believe you two are dating," Jackson said.

"Did you guys really not have a feeling beforehand? Was it really just me?" Ava asked.

"No, I called it way before you," Gabriel announced. "Remember? I said they'd end up fucking sooner or later."

"Yeah, he did," Jordan agreed. I rolled my eyes.

"But you were joking, that doesn't count!" Ava whined.

"Yes, it does!" Gabriel insisted.

"No, because fucking and dating are different!"

"Hardly!"

"It counts," Ryan intervened, putting an end to their argument. Ava pouted.

"Fine, whatever," she grumbled.

As the time came closer to midnight, Ryan pulled me away from our group of friends. We went upstairs and stood in the hallway.

"Got any resolutions?" Ryan asked with a smirk.

"Not that I can think of," I teased. "You?"

"I'm never letting go of you, no matter what." I smiled.

"Don't worry, I won't try to get away from you, ever." I leaned forward to kiss him but was quickly interrupted.

"Alex and Ryan! Get down here and make out when it hits midnight so I can put it on my Snapchat story!" Jordan shouted. I laughed and looked at Ryan's reaction.

"I'm down," he said. We went downstairs and saw everyone either on the couch sitting down or standing over it, leaning on the back edge. Jordan actually had her phone out and ready.

"Wow, that was quick," she commented. I gave her an extremely sarcastic laugh, and she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"We were just talking," Ryan defended. I rolled my eyes. As cute as he was, he was such an idiot. Jordan nodded.

"Well, of course," she replied with an eye-roll. "Oh, thirty seconds, get ready!" She held up her phone, and Ryan and I stared at each other. I laughed, and he shrugged. I felt nervous realizing they were all looking at us. I anxiously tilted my head down. "Midnight!" Jordan squealed. Ryan placed his hand under my chin, turning me towards him and close to him. 

The second he pressed his lips to mine, I relaxed. I put my arms around his shoulders and neck, and his hands went on my hips as he did what must've been his favorite thing to do, sliding his fingers through my belt loops and keeping me close to him. I didn't let go of him even when he moved away. He kept his forehead rested against mine.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"My fucking mascara is coming off!"