Step into Christmas
Let's join together
We can watch the snow fall forever and ever
Eat, drink and be merry
Come along with me
Step into Christmas
The admission's free

- Elton John

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store
But the prettiest sight to see, is the holly that will be
On your own front door

- Johnny Mathis

Does he have this one already?

Luan stood in the middle of Gamerville in Royal Woods Mall, a slim black cartridge in her hands. The artwork on the cover depicted a spaceship soaring though the void and firing its blasters or cannons or whatever they were called. It looked like it would be right up his alley, but she didn't want to spend sixty dollars just to find out he already had it.

She looked up, undecided. People were browsing around her. A fat man in a T-shirt scooted by, and she leaned as close to the rack as she could to allow him passage. Should she get it? Hmmmm.

It was December 15, and Luan had put off Christmas shopping until the last minute. Again. It was a habit of hers. A bad habit. Her reasoning was this: Why buy something for someone in September and store it under a bed or in a closet? It's a long way from the first day of fall to Christmas. What if that person's must have isn't even around when you went shopping? Video games, for example. She could have picked one up in October or November, but what if a new one came out right before Christmas that he reaaaally wanted?

If you waited for that last minute item, you looked like the man (or woman) on Christmas day. Sixty bucks, though, wow. She had a hundred dollars that she'd saved up over the course of the year, a hundred bucks for twelve people.

She usually did her shopping at Dollar-Rama, but this year, she wanted to get Lincoln something special. The thing was: She didn't know which damn video games he had which he didn't. She played them with him from time to time, sure, but they were all the same to her. Blow this up, slay that thing, run from this thing. He was such a boy.

She grinned.

Okay. She'd get it if the store had a return policy, that way he could bring it back and exchange it for something else. Looking around, she saw a man with short hair and glasses talking to a woman in a heavy coat. He wore a black shirt with the red and white GAMERVILLE logo over the right breast. A keychain hung around his neck.

Luan slipped through the increasingly crowded store and waited for him to be finished. When he was, he turned, and started.

"You scared me," he said, his hand flying to his chest.

"Sorry," Luan said. "I want to buy this game for my brother, but I don't know if he has it already. Can he bring it back if he does?"

The man nodded. "Yep. He can exchange it for a game of equal or lesser value or he can exchange it for a gift card of the amount you paid for the game. If he exhanges it for a game of lesser value, he'll get the difference back."

"Okay, cool," she said.

The man nodded and turned to help a boy in a brown hoodie. Luan took her prize and wormed her way to the counter. There was a long line, and she had to wait for nearly fifteen minutes, her impatience growing.

You're lucky I love you, Lincoln.

When it was finally her turn, she paid the bored looking clerk and then walked out into the mall proper. Tinsel, holly, and garland were wrapped around load-bearing columns. Piped Christmas music played through tinny speakers. A giant Christmas tree dominated the lobby, soft white lights wrapped expertly around its length. Shiny presents were heaped beneath it. People carrying shopping bags wandered to and fro. Behind her, near Books-a-Plenty, a mall Santa sat in a red throne, smiling for pictures with tots. Luan wondered what kind of pay those guys got. It had to be a rough job. She remembered when Lana and Lola were little and mom brought them here to take a picture with Jolly St. Nick. How they cried. Oh, and thrashed. The poor guy almost dropped Lola.

At the escalators, she stopped and checked her phone. She had a text from Lincoln. "We r at the food court."

Lunch sounded good right about now.

She started in that direction, getting stuck behind a very fat man riding an electric scooter, and then a very old woman with a cane. As she neared the foot court, the good smells of a dozen different types of cuisine found her nose, and her stomach rumbled.

At the food court, she found her family occupying several tables. Lori, Leni, and Luna were at one, mom, dad, Lisa, and Lilly at another, Lola, Lucy, Lincoln, and Lana at another, and Lynn sitting by herself. Luan walked to Lynn's table and sat down; her and Lincoln had been taking great pains not to spend too much time together lest they arouse suspicion. After what happened in October, both were terrified of being ripped apart again.

"What'cha got?" Luan asked Lynn.

"Meatball sub," Lynn said happily. She picked it up and took a bite. Meatballs and marinara sauce spurted onto the plate. "Aw, man."

Luan laughed. "Looks like it got the drop on you."

Lynn picked up a meatball and plopped it into her mouth. "Lynn Loud scores!"

"Luan," mom said, "come here."

Luan got over and went to her parents' table. Mom pulled a five dollar bill out of her purse and handed it to her. "Thanks, mom," she said.

She stood in the middle of the food court for a long time trying to decide what she was in the mood for. Pizza? Hm, maybe. Tacos? Nah, it wasn't Tuesday (get it?). Finally, she settled for Chinese.

Food in hand, she returned to Lynn's table just as Lynn shoved the last bit of the sub into her mouth.

"What's that?" she asked, bits of meat and bread spraying the table.

"Tofu and bean sprouts."

Lynn crinkled her nose. "People actually eat that stuff?"

"Yes."

Lynn shook her head as Luan dug in. The tofu was a little overdone and the bean sprouts were dry, but you can't argue with 3.99.

"Hey, lame-o!"

Luan tensed.

Ronnie Anne.

She glanced over her shoulder just as Ronnie Anne leaned over the back of the booth Lincoln was sitting in and gave him a nuggie. He winced and threw his head back and forth. He was smiling though.

"What'cha up to?" she asked.

"Christmas shopping," he said.

"Yeah, me too."

Luan turned away as their conversation continued. Lynn was looking at her, her eyebrows raised.

"What?" Luan asked defensively.

Lynn put up her hands. "Whoa, killer. I'm not the one talking to Lincoln."

Luan shook her head. "Shut up."

Behind her, Ronnie Anne laughed. "Alright, pencil-neck, I'll catch you later." As she passed, mom and dad both greeted her.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Loud. Hear about the storm?"

"Yes, we did," mom said. "It's supposed to be really bad."

"The storm" had been big in the news for nearly a week. The meteorologists were calling it "Winter Storm Carrie," and it was supposed to be the biggest winter storm in forty years; it was currently creeping east, dumping on Iowa and the Dakotas. It was supposed to hit them either tomorrow or Saturday.

"Three feet," Ronnie Anne said, then added with a grin, "school'll probably be out for a week!"

She walked on, and Luan watched her until she disappeared into a crowd of shoppers. When she turned away, Lynn was trying to suppress a smile.

"You're like a dog with a bone," she said, "or me with a football."

"No, I'm not," she replied, but she was.

Since she and Lincoln had gotten back together in October, Ronnie Anne had been hanging around more and more, texting Lincoln, showing up unannounced, seeking him out after school and walking home with him. At first Luan didn't think much of it. They were friends, after all. But as time wore on, she woke up and smelled the coffee: Ronnie Anne liked him.

And that scared the shit out of Luan. She couldn't lose Lincoln again; she barely survived the last time, and she was the one who broke up with him. If he left her for Ronnie Anne, she would die. Not metaphorically, literally. Her heart would give out and she would pass away.

But what could she do? She didn't want to be bitchy and make Lincoln stop hanging out with her. She trusted Lincoln. She didn't trust Ronnie Anne, though.

If it's not one thing, it's another, she thought.

By now, everyone was done and starting to get up. "Okay," dad said, "meet back here at three."

"Enjoy your 'meal'," Lynn said as she jumped up.

"Enjoy rushing to the bathroom in twenty minutes."

Lynn stuck out her tongue and followed Luna and Lucy. Lincoln brought up the rear and glanced back at her. She made a kissy face, and he pecked the air.

She was smiling when she went back to her 'meal'." It never ceased to amaze her how happy Lincoln made her. Before him, she had no clue that joy this intense existed. It made all the happiest days of her life look like puke by comparison. Her thoughts turned back to Ronnie Anne, however, and her mood darkened. She finished her tofu and beans, got up, and threw the container into one of the trashcans. At the insersection, she hung and left and started toward Dollar-Rama. Past the fountains, she saw Lynn dodging in and out of the crowd, her hands clasped to her stomach.

"Told you!" Luan called.

Lynn looked at her and, without breaking stride, raised a middle finger. Luan laughed.

Dollar-Rama was even more crammed than Gamerville had been. Of course, if they didn't call it "Dollar-Rama" they could call it "Smaller-Rama," because it was small. Ha. She walked up and down the aisles, looking for something for each member of her family. She found a Mick Swagger calender for Luna, a gift basket of soaps and creams for Leni, make-up for Lola, and a watch for dad. Lisa and Lori were the two hardest to shop for. She could get away with getting Lori nail polish and a tube of moisturizing cream, but Lisa...Lisa was the real hard one. Most of the things she used on a daily basis weren't sitting on the shelves of a dollar store in the mall.

Along the back wall, a row of small TV sets lined a shelf, all on and tuned to The Weather Channel. Images of snowy wastelands, crashed cars, and fallen power lines flickered across the screens. "Nearly a million people are without power," an unseen man was saying, "and millions more are in the direct path of Winter Storm Carrie. The governors of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan have already declared a state of emergency. In Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, the national guard has been activated."

That bad, huh?

Luan paused for a moment and watched. The scene cut to a man sitting in front of a screen displaying a map of the US. A big white blob sat over the Dakotas and Iowa. A model showed it plowing through the Midwest and into Ohio and West Virginia.

"This is the big one, folks," the man said, "we're talking whiteout conditions, winds up to 75 miles per hour, and up to three feet of snow in places. If you're old enough to remember the Blizzard of '78...this is worse."

Wow. Luan didn't know how bad the Blizzard of '78 was, but Carrie sounded pretty effing bad.

"What makes this storm worse than '78?" The camera panned to reveal a woman sitting next to the man.

"Well, Pamela, you see this band of purple behind Carrie? That's an ice storm. Immediately after Carrie comes through, this little guy riding her coattails is going to turn everything to ice. That means power lines are coming down, roofs are caving in, and road travel is going to be near impossible. The world's not coming to an end, but it's going to feel that way."

"Pretty neat, huh?"

Luan jumped. Ronnie Anne was standing next to her, her hands shoved into the pockets of her purple hoodie. Luan inwardly sighed.

"It's kind of scary," she admitted.

Ronnie Anne shrugged. "I'm not worried. This isn't the first snowstorm we've ever had. Tell lame-o I said stay warm." With that, she turned and walked away.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Luan began to wonder if Ronnie Anne had been following her, and whether or not "tell lame-o I said stay warm" was a meant to be snide. Tell him I said hi. Kiss, kiss.

Of course it wasn't, Luan cautioned herself. Ronnie Anne had no idea that she and Lincoln were together.

Still, Luan didn't like it.

Maybe I should talk to Lincoln after all...

No, she couldn't do that. She was being paranoid, and damned if she was going to be the jealous, clingy type. No way, no how.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she went off in search of presents for the rest of her family. In twenty minutes, she had everything she needed.

Except something for Lisa.

Damn it. A line from an old movie she watched with her dad once came to mind. A scientist type said, "Maybe in 1985 plutonium is available in drugstores, but this is 1955." Or something like that. It was a long time ago. If this like that was available over the counter, shopping for her smartest sister would be a breeze. Here's a nuclear reactor and some uranium. Merry Christmas.

But if Luan had learned one thing in her nearly fifteen years on planet earth, it was this: Things were never that easy.

Sighing, she totaled up the cost of her purchases. She'd have eleven dollars left over. Lisa liked Indian food, and if she wasn't mistaken, there was a kiosk somewhere with a butt load of gift cards.

Worth a try.

Luan paid for her things and left, walking up and down the mall. She passed Leni and Lori at one point, and Leni waved at her. "Hi, Luan!"

"Hey," she said, stopping. "Isn't there a kiosk with a bunch of gift cards around here somewhere?"

"Back there," Lori said, hooking her thumb over her thumb. "You're looking for a gift for Lisa, right?"

"Yeah," Luan admitted.

"There are gift cards to that Indian takeout place she likes. They're on the far side, by the corner."

"Thanks, Lori!"

Ten minutes later, Luan's Christmas shopping was officially done. Whew. And not a moment too soon: When she checked her phone, it was 2:56.

She started back to the food court, and spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

"Hey, Clyde!" she said, waving.

He saw her, and his eyes widened. He looked like a boy who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "H-Hi, Luan."

"Shopping for your dads?

"Yeah," he said too quickly, "just a little shopping." He flashed a toothy grin.

Luan raised an eyebrow. "Well...good luck. This place is a madhouse."

When she reached the food court, her parents and siblings were waiting, each one holding plastic bags. "I was just about to text you," mom said.

"Sorry," Luan said, "I had trouble finding a gift for Lisa."

Inexplicably, the hairs on the back of her neck stood, and she shivered. She glanced over her shoulder, and Clyde was there, fifty feet away, half hidden behind a column wrapped in golden garland.

She watched him watching her. Then, slowly, he slipped fully into concealment.

That boy is so weird, she thought.