Come To Stay Page 8

  Jared deflated a little. He uncrossed his arms.

  “Why do you think I’m scared?”

  “Mainly because you told me you were. But also, because I am too.”

  They stared at each other for a moment, the impact of her words sinking in.

  “I don’t know if he even likes me, Ellie. Or boys.”

  Ellie shrugged. “So, you shoot your shot. What’s the worst that happens?”

  “I lose my one and only friend at university.”

  “If your friendship is so fragile that it falls apart from something as simple as you asking him out, it’s not worth your time anyway.”

  Jared nodded and exhaled slowly.

  “Okay. You’re right. Thanks Ellie.” He paused. “Wait, have you actually used your own advice?”

  “Okay good talk,” Ellie said quickly. “I’ve actually got a long drive home and—”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Jared shook his head. “I might be crazy, but I think I’m going to listen to you anyway.”

  Henry put up his door decorations on Tuesday. Where Jared had tried to make his door look like a gingerbread house, Henry made his look like a fireplace, complete with flames made of tissue paper and stockings attached to the ‘mantle’. In fact, when Jared looked closer, he realized that the stockings had Henry and Daniel’s names on them.

  “This is war,” he muttered to himself. He stalked off to his room, wondering how he could make his door compete with Henry’s. “Lights. I need lights!”

  He quickly dropped off his school things in his room then grabbed his wallet and headed out again. There was a Canadian Tire within walking distance so he went there and bought a couple of strings of Christmas lights that he could attach to his door.

  He didn’t want to have to ask Henry for his doorstop a second time since this was a competition after all. Instead, he propped his door open with the small garbage bin — it wasn’t quite as open as he would have preferred but he had no better ideas and his pride prevented him from asking Henry for help — and he stood in an overturned box so he was tall enough to attach the end of the light to the top of the door. The lights were battery-powered, luckily, so he used sticky tack to attach it to the back of the door. That way, he could control whether the lights were on or off from inside his room.

  “I see you’ve redecorated,” Henry said the next day when he came by so they could walk to lunch together.

  “Hm?”

  “Your door. You added lights.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Did you see that I also added tinsel and pom-poms, so it looks more 3D?”

  “How long did that take you?”

  “Too long. Do you like it?”

  Henry shrugged. “It’s okay.”

  “Okay? I slaved over that door and all you have to say is that it looks okay?”

  Henry grinned. “Fine, it looks good.”

  “Thank you, was that so hard?”

  “But we both know I’m going to win.”

  Jared shoved his shoulder. Henry stumbled away from him and fell into somebody’s door. Unfortunately, the person who lived in that room happened to open the door at the exact same time, so Henry fell straight against his chest. Henry righted himself as quickly as possible and cleared his throat.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Lost my, uh, balance.”

  He walked rigidly back over to Jared and they went down the hall as quickly as possible without making it obvious. The other boy didn’t walk out of his room, his destination seemingly forgotten. As soon as the heavy door at the end of the hall closed behind him, Jared and Henry both burst out laughing.

  “Never do that to me again,” Henry gasped.

  Jared calmed himself down long enough to say in his defence, “That wasn’t my fault!” He fell into a fit of laughter again. “That was the worst possible timing, though.”

  “Do you know who that was?” Jared shook his head, unable to speak. “Jared, I’m pretty sure it was Alex Ramirez, our floor representative. Also known as the person in charge of the door decorating competition.”

  That only made Jared laugh harder.

  “Well, we’re definitely not winning that,” he choked out. Once he got control of himself again, he said, “Good thing we’re running our own competition, huh?”

  “I’m never going to be able to look him in the eyes again,” Henry said mournfully. Jared clapped him on the back.

  “Come on, it’s not that bad,” he said. “How often do you look people in the eyes, anyway?”

  Henry was waiting outside Jared’s door when Jared got back from his exam. When he saw his friend, Jared slowed down immensely and stared at him in confusion.

  “How was the exam?” Henry asked.

  “Good,” Jared said warily. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Only a couple of minutes. I figured you would be back soon.”

  “Uh-huh.” Henry stepped aside so Jared could unlock his door and walk inside. He dropped his backpack on the floor beside his bed and threw his coat over his desk chair. “So what’s up?”

  “I was wondering if you wanted to judge the doors now,” Henry said. “Or, well, not that we’ll judge the doors but I thought I would see if you wanted to get Daniel to judge the doors now. Since we’re leaving soon, we should get it done.”

  “Oh yeah, of course,” Jared said. “Is Daniel here?”

  “I think he’s in our room.”

  “You think?”

  “Well, I just got back too, and I went to drop my stuff off before I went to wait for you. When I went in, the lights were off but I’m pretty sure he was on his bed.”

  Jared scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

  “Oh… okay.”

  “Come on!” They walked next door. Henry threw open his room door and announced dramatically, “It’s time, Daniel!”

  Daniel, who had been in the middle of a post-exam nap, cracked open one eye and stared at his roommate.

  “Time for what?” He mumbled. Henry strode across the room and threw open the blinds. Sunlight streamed into the room. Daniel groaned and closed his eyes again, covering his face with his arm.

  “Time to judge our doors for the door decorating competition,” Henry said. Daniel didn’t respond. Henry looked at Jared and shook his head. “He’s like this a lot. We might need to wait a few minutes.”

  “I feel bad for waking him up. He’s on vacation now too.”

  “Jared, we have precious minutes—”

  “Hours, actually.”

  “—before we leave for the holidays,” Henry continued as if Jared hadn’t said anything. “We had no choice but to wake him up, lest we go home before he can judge the doors and then we never find out who won.”

  “But we could just judge them when we get back after Christmas, Henry.”

  Henry gasped. “How dare you suggest such a thing! We cannot judge a Christmas competition in the new year.”

  “Why not?”

  “Why not? It just isn’t done. By that point, Christmas is eleven and a half months away. No, it must be now.” He shook his roommate. “Wake up, Daniel! This is a matter of life and death!”

  Jared smiled despite himself and shook his head a bit. He hadn’t known that Henry was this into Christmas but now that he knew, he wasn’t surprised. The holiday did seem right up his alley.

  “Fine,” Daniel groaned. He threw off his covers and rolled off his bed, landing hard on the wooden ground. Jared cringed at the sound, but Henry just stood there as if this was all perfectly normal.

  “Uh, Henry?” Jared asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Is your roommate… okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s fine,” Henry said. He nudged Daniel with his foot and Daniel groaned. He slowly pushed himself until he was sitting. “See?”

  “His bed is pretty high up from the ground… aren’t you worried one day he’ll get a concussion?”

  Henry shrugged. “At that point, it’s natural selection.”

  “I don’t—�
��

  “I’m right here, you know,” Daniel said. He stood up. “It’s fine, I learned how to fall without hitting my head. I probably won’t die.”

  “Probably?” Jared asked skeptically. Daniel shrugged.

  “With every choice we make, we’re risking death, don’t you think?” Daniel asked philosophically. Jared frowned as he mulled over that statement. “Anyway, let’s do this.”

  He led the way back into the hall. Henry and Jared stood behind him as Daniel looked back and forth between the two doors. He crossed his arms tapped his finger against his mouth as he thought. Jared couldn’t help but think that he looked like someone staring at art pieces in a gallery and he almost laughed at the thought of either of their creations being considered masterpieces.

  “Well?” Henry asked after a few minutes. “What do you think?”

  “Don’t rush me,” Daniel said softly. Henry rolled his eyes behind his roommate’s back.

  “He’s a bit indecisive,” Henry muttered to Jared when Daniel went closer to inspect Jared’s door. “Probably not the best person to be a judge.”

  “You couldn’t have said that earlier?” Jared muttered back.

  “I forgot he was like this, I never ask him to do anything,” Henry whispered. Daniel walked back to his original position, right in front of them, still facing the doors.

  “Well, this is a really tough decision,” Daniel said slowly. He tapped his mouth with his fingers and continued looking back and forth between them as if waiting for a mistake to suddenly become visible.

  “But…” Jared urged. Although this competition was just for fun and he lost nothing from losing, he desperately wanted to win. He supposed that growing up as a middle child of four kids had left him a bit competitive.

  Daniel sighed. “I think I’m going to have to give this to… Jared.”

  “Me?” Jared asked. “Really?”

  “Yeah?” Daniel said. He didn’t sound particularly sure of himself, if anything, it seemed like he had just picked a door at random, but Jared didn’t call him out on it. Daniel pulled the Starbucks gift card out of his pocket and handed it to Jared. “Congratulations. Don’t spend it all in one place.”

  “It’s like twenty bucks.”

  “Okay, so if you want to you can spend it all in one place, I don’t care. I’ll see you guys later; I have to go finish packing.”

  “Thanks, man,” Henry said. Daniel nodded and walked back into their room. Henry turned to Jared and stuck out his hand. “Congratulations. A worthy opponent.”

  “Thanks. You know… twenty dollars is a lot for me to spend all in one place. I might need somebody to help me out with it.”

  “What, you mean like a date?”

  “Yeah. Like a date… What do you say?”

  Henry’s eyes widened comically, and he pointed at himself.

  “What, you mean me?” He asked. Jared bit his lip and nodded self-consciously. “I… wow. And here I thought you were straight.”

  “Wait, are you straight?”

  “Oh, hell no!” They stared at each other for a moment. Then before he could psych himself out, Henry grabbed the front of Jared’s shirt and pressed his lips against his. Jared pulled away after a couple of seconds, with his face only inches from Henry’s.

  “Is that a yes?” Jared murmured.

  “What do you think?”

  Jared smiled widely and leaned back into the kiss.

  SISTERS ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN

  Year: 2016

  “Why are we doing this again?” Lincoln asked as they got in the long line of waiting families in the mall.

  “What are you talking about? The girls want to meet Santa Claus!” Parker replied. Millie smiled happily up at Lincoln.

  “Yeah, Uncle Lincoln! Don't you want to meet Santa Claus?”

  Lincoln's heart melted. He didn't have the heart to tell the three-year-old that adults didn't care about Santa.

  “Of course, I want to meet Santa, Millie,” Lincoln told her. “But we're really going so that you two can meet him.”

  “I'm scared,” Olive said.

  “What?” Parker asked. He picked his daughter up. “Why are you scared, Ollie?”

  “Santa's scary!”

  “Oh, no he's not. Why would you say that?”

  “Why does he come into our house in the middle of the night?” She asked.

  “To give you presents of course! He leaves them under the tree, remember?”

  Olive hid her face in the crook of Parker’s neck.

  “I don’t want to meet him,” she cried. One of the elves working at the “Santa’s Workshop” quickly hurried over.

  “Is everything alright here?” She asked sweetly.

  “Oh yeah, it’s fine,” Parker said. “My daughter is just scared to meet Santa.”

  The elf, a 20-year-old girl, smiled sympathetically. She tucked her brown hair behind her ears.

  “What’s her name?” She asked quietly.

  “Olive,” Parker said. “Ollie.”

  “And I’m Millie!” Millie said. Lincoln lifted her up so she could see the elf better.

  “Those are both very pretty names,” the elf said. “Are you two sisters?”

  “Uh-huh,” Millie said seriously. “Twins!”

  “Twins? Wow, that’s awesome!”

  Ollie sniffled and looked at the elf.

  “Are you really an elf?” She asked quietly.

  “Of course, I am, Ollie!” The elf said. “And because I work for Santa, I can tell you that he is really excited to meet you.”

  “But he’s scary!”

  “It’s okay, sweetie,” the elf said. “Santa is very nice! He’s the one who brings your presents on Christmas Eve.”

  Ollie eyed her suspiciously.

  “Are you sure he’s nice?” She asked. Lincoln had to hold back a laugh at how serious she looked.

  “I pinky promise. And after you meet him, you get a candy cane!”

  Ollie looked at the basket of candy canes sitting next to Santa Claus then back at the elf. After a few moments, she nodded.

  “You want to meet him?” Parker asked. Ollie nodded her head.

  “You’re going to have a great time, sweetie!” The elf promised. The family in front of them moved on, making it their turn to meet Santa. “There you go, whenever you’re ready.”

  Millie started squirming in Lincoln’s arms, so he put her down again. She ran up to Santa and Parker followed behind her with Ollie still in his arms. Lincoln waited to the side while the girls met Santa. He was there more so to help with Christmas shopping afterwards than to be there when Millie and Ollie met Santa for the first time.

  “Hey,” the elf said. “This might seem weird, but I’m pretty sure we know each other.”

  He looked at her for a moment.

  “Oh my gosh,” he said. “Ryleigh?”

  “Yeah! Lincoln, right?”

  “Yeah! Sorry, I didn’t recognize you in your… costume?”

  She laughed. “Yeah, that’s fair. You also look pretty different, I think.”

  “It’s the glasses,” he said. “They change the whole structure of my face.”

  “When was the last time we saw each other, anyway? High school graduation?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Lincoln said. “How’ve you been?”

  “Pretty good! Yeah, I’m studying kinesiology at McMaster. I’m just working here as a seasonal job, as I did for all of high school…” She sighed. “It sounds so sad when I say it out loud, doesn’t it?”

  A man dressed similarly to Ryleigh in an elf costume walked by.

  “Hey, Ryleigh, I’ve got it from here,” he said.

  “Okay, thanks Tom,” she said.

  “Is your shift over now?” Lincoln asked.

  “Oh, yeah. Now I get to go home and… oh, who am I kidding? I’m going to go home and watch Netflix alone.”

  Parker walked over with Millie and Ollie.

  “Alright we have met Santa and got
ten pictures for their mom, so we’re good to go,” he said.

  “Great,” Lincoln said. “Uh, it was nice seeing you again, Ryleigh.”

  “You two know each other?” Parker asked.

  “Yeah, turns out we went to high school together,” Lincoln said. “And were friends as kids. But, anyway, her shift is over so we should just—”

  “Hey, if your shift is over, you should join us!” Parker said.

  “What?” Lincoln asked.

  “You two haven’t seen each other in a couple years, I’m sure you have tons to catch up on! Might as well join us if you don’t have other plans. Right, Lincoln?”

  “Right,” Lincoln said in a strained voice. “O-only if you want to, though.”

  “Sure!” Ryleigh grinned. “It would be nice to catch up. Let me just punch out and get changed, so I’m not walking around like a Christmas elf for the whole day.”

  “But aren’t you an elf?” Millie asked. She craned her neck to look up at Ryleigh.

  “Oh, of course I am, sweetie!” Ryleigh said. “But I wear normal clothes when I’m not working.”

  “Why?” Ollie asked.

  “Well because when I’m out in the world and not near Santa, it’s better that people don’t recognize me.”

  “Why?” Ollie asked again. Recognizing that this could go on for a long time, Lincoln swooped in.

  “Hey, girls, are you hungry?” He asked. “We can go to the food court.”

  “Oh, that’s a great idea,” Parker said. “But you know what, I don’t want to drag you to the food court with us. Why don’t you two go shopping, and I’ll take these two munchkins to get some food?”

  “Are you sure?” Lincoln asked. “We can come with you.”

  “No, no. This way you can actually get some stuff done.”

  “But I came to help you watch the kids—”

  “I can watch them myself for a couple of hours! You kids go have fun.”

  Parker scooped up Millie and Ollie then walked off in the direction of the food court.

  “So, I guess it’s just us,” Ryleigh said.

  “So it is,” Lincoln said. “Um, you said you needed to get changed?”