Page 105 of All of You

“Shit, sorry!” Anderson squeals. In his only defense option—he throws the buzzer at me—knowing I’ll catch it, be momentarily distracted, and runs.

“Anderson!” I bellow. Delia grabs my arm as I lurch forward. I spin around to face her, hot with anger.

She’s biting her bottom lip. Stifling a laugh. Face red and chest heaving. Jennifer’s in the living room asking Andersonwhat’s wrong and I can hear my dad’s footsteps approaching. “We weren’t hiding. It’s not his fault we got caught,” Delia says.

“Caught what?” my dad asks staring at us.

Delia clears her throat.

“Kissing,” I blurt out. “We were kissing, and Anderson snuck up and blasted that stupid buzzer directly in my ear.”

A grin creeps over my dad’s face and he chuckles. “Well, he shouldn’t have done that but why don’t you two join us in the living room.”

Delia giggles when my dad walks away, and I adjust myself so my raging boner doesn’t offend the household.

“Come on,” she says, tugging my elbow. “Let’s go play some games with them.”

I pout but follow her around the corner.

Fifty Two

Delia

Tiny snowflakes have taken a stance, banded together and overthrown the sky—now they march down to earth and coat everything like a layer of dust. I love watching the snow fall. I love Christmas. It’s five a.m. and I am wide awake, waiting. I know better than to wake Mom up before six-thirty in the morning. I grab my phone and text Miles and Lyra.

Merry Christmas!

My phone pings back almost instantly with Christmas tree and Santa emojis followed by a ridiculous photo of Miles in a Santa hat with his stocking. I’m mildly jealous that Miles’ family is all up and doing things already.

I glance at the snake plant Viv gave me yesterday before we closed for the day. She said it was impossible to kill but I don’t have great luck with houseplants so only time will tell. It’s next tothe bag that contains Langdon’s Christmas present. I smirk, excited to give him his gift this evening.

Merry Christmas, can’t wait to see you.I text Langdon.

Why are you up? It’s not even six yet.He responds.

I text him back.IT’S CHRISTMAS! Everyone should be up.

Babe, go back to sleep for at least an hour

I laugh and respond.

GRINCH. Xo

I tip-toe downstairs. I can’t risk waking up Mom or Gramps. Mom’s rules for Christmas morning have always been no one goes to the tree until everyone is up and ready to head to wherever we put the tree up. One apartment I had to wait at the top of the stairs until she woke up so that there was no peeking before she could supervise.

I avoid the living room and creep into the kitchen so I can make a pot of coffee. Maybe the smell will wake them up faster. Also, I want a mug. While it’s brewing, I spray a heap of peppermint whipped cream into the bottom of my mug.

The urge to peek in the living room is strong but I manage to restrain myself. I love Christmas. I love the magic, the vibe, the ambiance. Twinkling lights, warm mugs, sparkly ornaments, glitter everywhere. And the anticipation of thegifts under the tree.

I’m not a child, I know that Christmas Eve when I go to sleep Mom puts all the gifts out under the tree so that when we wake up, it looks like Santa came. Even though I don’t believe in Santa I appreciate these little traditions that make the magic still feel real. I don’t ever want to be too grown up for Christmas.

I take my mug to the top of the stairs and plant my ass down and sip my coffee while I wait for any signs of life in the bedrooms.Please wake the frick up soon.

***

It’s six p.m. All the adults and Anderson have gone to church where there’s a big family-style dinner happening. Even my mother. I almost fainted on the spot when Gramps asked her (and me) to go to the church dinner and Mom said she’d love to. They drop me off at Langdon’s on their way and Lang and I wave off his parents and Anderson and Gramps and Mom.

“I can’t believe we’re actually alone.” He wraps his arms around me and yanks me inside the front door making me laugh.