Merry Eve of Christmas Eve all! I hope you are all ready for which ever winter holiday you celebrate, I know I am. Toady I have a short story that I wrote for my friend Kristi. I hope you guys enjoy it and have a Merry Christmas!
It Must Have Been the Mistletoe
December 15, 2009
The streets outside the two bedroom condo Sharpay shared with her friend Chad were calm. Many of the houses were covered in lights and Christmas trees could be seen through the bay windows. But at their home, there were no lights up and the only thing people passing by saw was a blonde woman, pacing in front of the window, talking angrily into the phone.
"Mother, for the last time, I do not need to be setup with any of your friends' sons!" Sharpay exclaimed.
"But darling, I'm just trying to help you," her mom replied. "And it's not like they're complete strangers, you've known many of them since you were in diapers."
"Which is exactly why I don't want to be setup with them!" Sharpay snapped. She had to get her mother off her tale, but how? "Besides, I-" she paused and then it came to her "-I – I have a boyfriend."
"You have a boyfriend?" Her mother repeated, surprised. "You've never mentioned having a boyfriend."
"Yeah, well I do," Sharpay retorted. "And I have to go because we're going out tonight."
"You should have said something," her mom said. "Bring him home for Christmas, your father and I would love to meet him."
"We're not that serious yet," Sharpay replied.
"Well, fine then, tell me his name and what does he do for a living?" Her mom asked.
"Ooh, there's the doorbell," Sharpay lied. "Bye mom."
She hung up the phone quickly and threw it onto the recliner before falling backwards onto the couch. She loved her mother, but sometimes she just wanted to strangle her.
To her mother, who, like her own mother, grandmother, great grandmother and so, on had married before the age of 21, the fact that Sharpay was nearly 25 and not settled down was unimaginable. She failed to see that Sharpay was happy with her life and successful.
The slam of the front door alerted Sharpay that her roommate Chad was home from the gym.
"Hey," he greeted as he came into the room, dropping his gym bag on the ground. He took one look at her and shook his head. "Been talking to your mom again, I see."
"Don't even get me started," Sharpay sighed.
"So how did she bring in your lack of romance this time?" He asked, moving the phone before sitting down in the recliner. "I doubt it's as good as last year's 'have you gotten your early pap smear this year and oh are you having sex with anybody,' that was freaking priceless."
"I'm glad you get enjoyment out of my problems," Sharpay glared at him. "And she brought it up by informing me she had setup blind dates for me, except their really not blind dates because I knew the guys when I was a kid and then I -" She stopped, she didn't want Chad to know what she had done.
"Then you?" Chad prompted.
Sharpay sighed then quickly said, "ToldmymomthatIhaveaboyfriend."
"Wait, you told your mom you have a boyfriend?" Chad laughed. "Sharpay, you haven't had a boyfriend since April."
"Thanks for the reminder," Sharpay glared at him. "And worst of all, she wants me to bring him home for Christmas."
"If you actually find a guy in time to pull that off, I'd pay to see it," Chad laughed, but stopped laughing when he saw a smile growing on Sharpay's face as she sat up. "Uh huh, what ever you're thinking, stop it." Her grin got bigger. "I'm serious, Sharpay, you're freaking me out now."
"You should come home with my and pretend to be my boyfriend," she stated.
"Uh huh," he shook his head. "Love ya, but it's not going to happen."
"But Chad," she whined.
"I don't do Christmas, Sharpay, you know that," he stated. "I haven't done it since my grandma passed away 6 years ago and I don't miss the holiday at all."
"Please Chad," Sharpay begged. "Please, please do this for me. I'm begging you." She pulled herself off the couch and knelt down by the side of the recliner. "Come on, Chad, have a heart and do this for me. I'll do anything for you."
"Define anything," he replied, crossing his arms. "And it better be something good to make me cancel my plans to surf."
"I'll pay your half of the rent for two months," she offered then sighed when he motioned for more. "And I'll wash and wax your car five times."
"Throw in getting me a beer and making me a sandwich and we have a deal," Chad stated.
"Alright, fine," she replied. "But you better be the perfect boyfriend and do exactly what I tell you to or parts of the deal become null and void."
"So basically I'm your bitch?" Chad grinned.
"You better believe it," she smiled. "I'll go make your sandwich and then we're talking rules."
December 22, 2009
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Sharpay said as she shoved her suitcase into the truck of Chad's four-wheel drive SUV. "Why did you let me talk you into this, Chad?"
"Relax," he said, putting a hand on her arm. "Everything will be fine."
"She's going to see right through this," Sharpay stated. "She's going to know that we're not really dating and then she's -"
"Hey," Chad said, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her to look at him. "People have assumed we're dating before and if we act like we're dating then your mom shouldn't think otherwise."
"You're right," Sharpay nodded. "We've got this in the bag. With my acting skills and your ability to charm everyone we'll be fine."
"Exactly," Chad smiled. "Now get in the car, we have a long drive ahead of us today."
With holiday traffic and other delays, the journey from Los Angeles to her hometown of Albuquerque took them nearly fifteen hours. Chad had driven the first few hours of the trip, but once they encountered snow, Sharpay took over the driving for Southern California beach native.
By the time they reached her parents' house at a few minutes past 10pm, there was a good foot of snow on the sides of the street. They got their bags and presents out of the trunk then walked up the salted sidewalk to greet her parents who were waiting on the front porch.
"Mom and dad, this is Chad," Sharpay said once everyone was inside. She hoped her mom wouldn't reenact the excitement she had shown over the phone when Sharpay told her that she was bringing her "boyfriend" home with her. "Chad these are my parents."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans," Chad smiled, shaking her father's hand. "I've heard a lot about you."
"I wish we could say the same, Chad," her mom said. "But Sharpay hasn't told us a single thing about you."
"You know more than you think, mom," Sharpay replied. "Chad's my roommate."
"You're roommate?" Her mom echoed. "The athlete slash personal trainer?"
"That's me," Chad nodded as he slipped with arm around Sharpay's waist. "I finally convinced her that she should give me a chance."
"But that's a story for a different time," Sharpay pretended to yawn. "It's been a long day of driving and I'm ready to go to bed."
"Oh of course," her mother nodded. "You guys will be in your old bedroom." She looked at the couple. "Unless you'd like to share a room with your nieces, Sharpay, and let Chad have his own bedroom."
"We'll be fine in my room," Sharpay smiled. "When do Ryan and Gabriella get here?"
"They're on a red eye flight to Los Angeles," her dad said. "Then they'll hope on a plane first thing tomorrow morning and be here by 9am."
"We could have saved them the trouble of the second flight and come tomorrow," Sharpay stated.
"Maybe next year," her mom smiled. "We'll let you two go to bed, we're going to do a few more things before we turn in for the night."
Sharpay and Chad said goodnight to her parents then went upstairs to her childhood room that had been redecorated into a guest bedroom.
"I think they bought it," Sharpay smiled happily after the door had been closed. "You're the best Chad." She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go take a quick shower and then I'm going to bed."
After she showered, Sharpay returned to their room in her pajamas and crawled into bed as Chad left to shower. She was almost asleep when he returned and climbed into bed next to her. If it had been anybody else, she would have rejected the idea of them sharing a bed, but he was her best guy friend and she was comfortable with it.
December 23, 2009
Chad was awaken the next morning by yelling and, after one look at his surroundings, it took him a minute to remember where he was: Sharpay's parents' house pretending to be her boyfriend. He rubbed his tired face then glanced at Sharpay's empty side of the bed. One look at the clock told him it was a few minutes after eleven in the morning.
Hearing his stomach growl, he climbed out of bed and got dressed then headed down the stairs. He followed the sound of people talking and found Sharpay in the kitchen with her parents, her brother, sister-in-law and nieces.
"Ah, he lives," Sharpay teased when she saw him come in. "We were just talking about you."
"Sharpay was just telling us how you guys got together," her twin brother Ryan, who Chad had met several times before, stated.
"What can I say, I'm a charmer," Chad smiled, knowing that she had told her family they had gotten together after he told her he couldn't let her go out with another jerk and that she should go out with him. "And a sucker for your daughter."
"So what are you kids up to today?" Her dad asked after a few minutes.
"I'd love to see Albuquerque," Chad stated. "See where Sharpay grew up."
"That's a great idea," her mom smiled. "How about this, your dad and I will watch the girls and the four of you can explore the town."
"Mom, I don't think they want us going with them," Ryan stated.
"I don't mind," Sharpay replied. "Besides you've always been better at driving in snow than me."
"So true," Gabriella, Ryan's wife, agreed. "I don't suppose she mentioned that she got a car stuck in a snow drift before she convinced you to drive out here with her, Chad."
"No, she failed to mention that part," he laughed as he wrapped his arm around Sharpay's shoulder. "Makes me wonder what else she's failed to tell me."
"Oh, have I got stories for you," Ryan laughed. "Let's go change into warmer clothes and then we can head out."
After they'd all changed into clothes, they got into Chad's SUV with Ryan at the wheel, Chad in the passenger seat and the girls in the backseat. Ryan acted as an official tour guide as he drove around town, pointing out major landmarks. He, Gabriella and even Sharpay, kept Chad laughing with tales from their youth.
They returned to her parents' house after a late lunch and found Ryan and Gabriella's daughters, Abbee, 5, and Morgan, 3, itching to go outside and play in the snow. The four grownup kids granted their wish by ushering them outside to play with Sharpay's parents' left to go to a Christmas party.
When a snowball fight was declared, Chad teamed up with Ryan and Abbee despite protests from Gabriella and Sharpay that it wasn't a fair fight since they were teamed up with Morgan. The arrival of a couple neighborhood kids made it more even and soon it was everyone against everyone.
Chad was tucked behind the side of the house making himself several snowballs when he was ambushed from behind by Sharpay. He spun around quickly with two snowballs in each hand and chucked them at her as she ran away squealing with laughter. He grabbed a few more snowballs then followed after her, knowing she wouldn't be able to run very fast. He caught up to her quickly and after lobbing the snowballs at her, he tackled her to the ground.
"Let me go," she laughed as he pinned her arms above her head.
"Not huh," he shook his head. "You didn't play fair."
"You're right, I didn't," Sharpay admitted when she spotted Abbee approaching from behind Chad with a handful of snow. "I'm sorry, sweetie."
"Much be -" Chad let out a girly scream when he felt snow going down the back of his coat. He jumped off Sharpay and danced around trying to get the snow out of his coat as Sharpay and her nieces giggled.
It wasn't until their fingers and their faces were red from the cold that they all went inside to warm up in front of the fire. Chad was given the task of hanging up the wet clothes while Gabriella gave the girls a bath and Ryan and Sharpay made hot chocolate for everyone.
Once everything was done, he and Sharpay sat down on the loveseat while Ryan, Gabriella and crew sat down on the sofa. Chad smiled as Sharpay snuggled into his side.
The smile returned to his face a few hours later when they were in bed and she again snuggled up against him. Having grown up in busy Southern California, the city of Albuquerque was peaceful. Sharpay's parents lived near the city border and the only noises that could be heard were from inside the house.
He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes.
December 24, 2009
Sharpay rolled out of bed early and, after a quick shower, escaped from the house with Gabriella to spend some time with her best friend turned sister-in-law, something they had been doing since Gabriella and Ryan had gotten married the year after high school.
They returned shortly before lunch and found Chad and Ryan on the roof putting up Christmas lights.
"What are you guys doing?" Sharpay called up to them. "Christmas is tomorrow."
"The girls were sad that mom and dad didn't put lights up," Ryan called back. "So we're going to surprise them."
"Be careful," Gabriella called to her husband. "I don't want to spend tonight and tomorrow in the hospital with you."
"That goes for you too, Chad," Sharpay added.
"We're good, promise," Chad smiled. "Go inside and don't say anything."
Obeying orders, Sharpay and Gabriella went inside. They said hello to her parents and the girls then went upstairs to wrap the last minute gifts.
It wasn't until nearly dinner time before Chad and Ryan came inside. They each took a shower then joined the others downstairs.
Sharpay was standing in the archway between the kitchen and the dining room when Chad came in and stopped next to her. As they stood there, Sharpay noticed Morgan pulling on Abbee's sweater and both girls giggling.
"Grandma says mistletoe is for kissing," Abbee stated in her five-year-old know-it-all voice, causing Sharpay and Chad to follow her gaze to the top of the archway where mistletoe was hung.
"Well get on it, you two," her mom said after a few seconds. "Dinner is almost ready."
Sharpay felt her face flush at her mom's words. Her eyes were drawn to Chad when she felt him cup her chin; she closed her eyes as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers for a single second, but even that was enough to send chills down her spine
After he pulled away, her eyes remained closed until she heard her mom declare dinner was ready. When she opened her eyes, she saw Chad studying her. She smiled to assure him everything was ok and forced herself to look away to help her mom.
All throughout dinner, her mind kept going back to the kiss. It hadn't been anything long or grand, but she could still feel his lips pressed against hers.
It wasn't until after dinner was cleaned up and everyone had gone to bed that Sharpay felt like returning to the scene of the kiss. She climbed out of bed and tip toed down the stairs to the kitchen. She stared at the mistletoe trying to figure out how one simple kiss had sent her from viewing Chad as just a friend to viewing him as more than that.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up and found Chad standing on the dining room side looking at her. Their eyes met and even though no words were spoken between them, the emotions in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.
December 25, 2009
The striking of the grandfather clock in the hall at midnight alerted them to the arrival of Christmas day.
It was Chad who made the first step towards the archway and she followed. They met under the mistletoe and their lips met again, this time for a longer kiss.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered after ending the kiss.
She wanted to kiss him again and see where things went, but she knew that in her parents' house on Christmas wasn't the time or place for them to do either.
"Merry Christmas, Chad," she finally said.