Piers: December 24, 1998
It was exceptionally rare for me to be at one of Stiletto's weekly meetups, considering I was just a kid, not even old enough to be a designated driver. Then again, this was a special meet-up for Christmas.
I was sitting on my regular bar stool while my mom and Tanya set up the presents. We'd done Secret Santa and I'd gotten Krauser, which made me kind of sad, considering he wasn't here. Then again, it gave me some more time to come up with an explanation as to why my present to him was just a lame yarn and popsicle stick craft.*
Becky came over and sat next to me. She was wearing a dark green v-neck sweater and jeans, a smile on her face. "I've never really had a real Christmas before," she confided in me. "My mom and I never really settled down long enough to get a tree, or had enough money for any real presents besides little trinkets. But it's the little things that mean the most, in the end."
I didn't say anything to her for a moment, but I did nod. I could relate, somewhat, since we would move around a lot. But my mom told me this was the last time we'd have to move, and I was pleased by that knowledge, considering I'd gotten to be such good friends with Becky, Billy, Tanya, and everyone else I'd met here.
"Alright, time for the gifts! You have to guess who your Secret Santa was," Tanya told us. "Piers, why don't you go first, since you're the youngest?"
"Oh, okay…" I got off of the stool and walked over to the row of presents, easily finding mine. The box had my name messily written on it, and I smiled as it became obvious who it was. "I'm guessing Billy," I announced, 95% sure that's who it was.
"Yep, that's definitely his handwriting," Tanya told us.
I opened the box, finding something small wrapped in tissue paper. I unwrapped the thin substance and discovered a metal lighter.
"Billy," I heard my mother say. I looked over to the man and saw that he was smiling.
"You never know when you'll need a good lighter," he said.
I nodded as I picked it up, entranced by the cold feel of steel in my hands. "Thanks, Billy."
He was still smiling. "You're welcome, kid."
I went back to the barstool, knowing this night was going to be a good one.
The exchange continued, with Tanya giving Rebecca a necklace with a silver R on it, my mother giving Leon a copper kettle (who knows why), Rebecca gave Tanya a gift card to some make-up store, Billy got who knows what from Leon that made him smile like that, and my mother got a charm bracelet from Krauser.
After it was done, some of the adults had eggnog while others (like me) had sparkling cider. They talked well into the night while I just kind of sat there until Leon came over to me.
"How are you doing?" he asked me.
"I'm alright," I guess.
We looked at each other for a moment before he started talking again. "I'm always here if you need someone to talk to."
"That goes for you, too," I told the older guy.
He laughed. "I'll keep that in mind Piers."
Author's Note: First off all, a big thanks to KiLo NaM nAm for helping me with this 'gift' chapter. I actually wasn't going to originally do anything for Christmas, but I obviously did, so... Merry Christmas if ya celebrate it, happy Tuesday/Wednesday if you don't ;)
* = what I was trying to describe here is this craft I did at camp once called a God's Eye, where you do stuff with yarn and sticks... Um, I guess if you don't know what I'm talking about but want to you can Google it...
I actually edited out the flashforward part because I got a review and the reviewer made sense -_- But that'll definitely be a chapter way later on! ;)
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be back to 1999 (St. Patrick's Day, to be exact) and I guess I'll post either Thursday or Friday.
Please review!
~HolleringHawk65
