and laughed.
Where was Josh? I was dying to see his reaction to his gift. To see if he understood the significance
of the paintbrushes--the same ones we'd used last year to fling paint all over his dorm room walls.
It had been the first time I'd realized just how much I cared about him. How much he understood
me. Loved me. But Josh was nowhere to be found.
Feeling desperate now, I finally moved from my safety zone and did a slow lap of the room, staying
on the outskirts by the tables--
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never really approaching the tree. I found Trey and West checking out their new Nintendo DS
systems, which had each come with a pile of games, but Josh wasn't with them. Had he left before
the gift opening had begun? Had he taken one look at who his gift was from and tossed it in the
nearest garbage can?
Soon the crowd around the tree began to disperse and I could tell there were only a couple dozen
gifts left. Tentatively, I approached, wanting to check to see if Josh's present was still there. I
walked around the tree slowly, carefully, stepping over crushed balls of wrapping paper and
discarded packaging. I didn't see the small red box anywhere. Neither did I see anything intended
for me.
Even though I had been prepared for the worst, I still felt a pang. Ostracized again. Left out of a
huge tradition. Whoever had found my name in their mailbox had simply decided not to bother.
"Reed! Reed!"
I looked up to find Constance skipping toward me, her face flushed with excitement. She was
waving a white envelope in front of her excitedly, like it contained all the answers to all the
questions on all the finals we would ever take. She stopped short in front of me, nearly slipping on
some fallen tissue paper, and held the envelope out with both hands.
"From your secret Santa," she said with a huge smile.
My name was written across the front of the envelope. I recognized Noelle's elegant handwriting
instantly.
"What is it?" I said, half scared, half elated.
"Just open it," Constance whispered giddily.
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