written by Lena

...

"Santa Baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me, I've been an awful good girl"

Riley threw open the doors of the mall, credit card in one hand and a list in the other. A huge smile on her face. The buzz in the air felt palpable as Christmas was nearly a week away. People were running around trying to find the perfect gift for their loved ones for ten dollars or less. Riley was soaking in every second of it. She prefered to do all her shopping in person for two reasons. One, she didn't trust online companies. She had once ordered a princess tiara and one would think paying 80 dollars for a tiara it would be made of something other than plastic and the size meant for a human being, not for her barbie doll. She's not salty, it's fine, but she learned her lesson. And, secondly, probably the most important reason would be due to the fact that when Riley's online, her self control goes from a little bit to zero. Especially because her computer knows her too well and after her hundredth viewing of Tangled, A Cinderella Story, and Hallmark's Christmas Calendar, the computer didn't need much else to know before sending her pop ups of dresses, tiaras, and highheels. So, a couple hundred dollars later, Riley decided she should probably stick to store shopping. Even though her self-control still wasn't great when she saw something sparkly, she was able to keep herself contained because unlike the computer, when she put something in her cart, it didn't have a little cartoon of the item moving to the cart or throw bursts of confetti when she hit the place order button.

Anyways, back to the store. Riley had spent hours making a list of every person she needed to get a gift for and a list of possible items and stores. She walked into the first store and wandered around a bit. She sprayed a few of the perfumes and did a little dance through them as well as tried on a few pieces of costume jewelry and some funky hats. She found Maya a pair of jeans and a few shirts. One with a kitten that was stretching and yawning from a nap and another with a picture of the empire state building. It looked pretty cool, she just hoped Maya liked it. She paid and walked out of the store, catching the smell of honey buns wafting through the mall. She went to get in line and checked Maya's name off her list, satisfied to have accomplished at least one person on her list.

She turned to move forward in line but was met by a crash. The front of her shirt was covered in sticky honey buns. She wasn't angry, but she wasn't feeling particularly pleasant feelings toward the person who rammed into her. That was until she looked up. She was met with green eyes filled with worry and a slight hint of panic. "I'm so sorry!" He stooped down to grab her pencil and notebook she'd dropped. Riley was mesmerized by the boy who rushed to grab some napkins. He returned with napkins and was about to clean up the mess he made but remembered he had no clue who this girl was and also, the mess was a little below her neck. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, finally taking her in.

"Uh, here…" He handed her the napkins, blushing a little bit too.

"Oh, thanks," Riley seemed to trip over her words. She couldn't help but smile at the boy.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going, I think it was the smell of the honey bun messing with my head." The boy chuckled. Riley laughed too, a bit louder than she had intended.

"Oh, yeah, no worries, I love these honey buns, I get them pretty much everytime I come here." Riley's words came out quickly and kinda mumbled.

"Yeah, we don't really have big malls back where I'm from. I'm just kind of here with my family for the holidays," the boy added.

"That's cool, where are you from...uh…"

"Lucas, you can call me Lucas and I'm from Texas. We have malls, but I never go to 'em, they usually consist of a few stores all selling various shades of plaid and cowboy hats and boots. The food courts there sell squirrel kabobs." Riley didn't even realize Lucas was babbling, she could have listened to him talk for hours.

"Oh, well that sounds good! I've never had squirrel before. And I'm Riley Matthews by the way." Riley replied, a little calmer now. "Anyways, so you're just here with family? Why are you at the mall then?" Riley, definitely the prying type, asked.

"Oh, my family is around here somewhere. They had some late shopping to do, I'm supposed to meet them here in a couple hours…" Lucas trailed off.

"Yeah, I've got some more shopping to do too," Riley added. She glanced back at the mall and then at her phone, it was already one and she had promised Maya she wouldn't be too long. Both were silent, the awkwardness almost tangible before Riley blurted, "You could come with, I mean I could show you around the different stores if you want." Riley turned to herself and subtly put her face in her hands, cringing at her forwardness.

"That'd be great!" Lucas replied, not noticing it. Riley smoothly slid her palms from her face through her hair, hoping to make the movement look nonchalant. Too bad she got her fingers stuck in a particularly tight knot. She cringed as she removed her fingers.

"Okay, well let's get some hot chocolate then, I'm not really in the mood for a honeybun anymore." They both chuckled and Riley led the way.

"So, do you like living in New York?"

"Yeah, I've lived here my whole life," Riley replied. Intensely focused on her drink. "Well, what about you?"

"Well, it's a lot colder but I've found the people a lot nicer than I thought they'd be," He replied, smiling at her. Riley peeked up from her drink and gave him a small smile back.

"Yeah, I'd say we've got some pretty great people here," Riley added, thinking of all the people who meant so much to her and somehow, someway hoping this boy would become one of them.

"Well if they're all as welcoming as you, especially after being hit with sticky food court food, then maybe I should stay…" Lucas trailed off.

"Stay? I thought you were just visiting family?" Riley asked absentmindedly.

"Well, we are but my father is moving here soon and I'm supposed to make a decision whether I wanted to go with," He revealed. He felt as if he could tell Riley anything despite having only just met her.

"Oh, well I don't know if my vote counts but that'd be cool! You could even attend the school I do, you know, meet my friends and the teachers! Oh you'd love Maya and Farkle…Oh you have to meet Farkle!" Riley was opening up more and more as well, nearly jumping at Lucas who she felt as if she'd known for years.

"Farkle?" Lucas just questioned, the name sounding so odd it did in fact pique his curiosity.

"Yeah! Woah, it'd actually be p-..." Riley cut herself off, suddenly realizing she probably sounded crazy.

"Ok, I think I've got to meet this Farkle now." Lucas chuckled. Already making up his mind. The two walked by a fountain and Lucas offered Riley a coin. "Make a wish?" Riley smiled, opening her hand to reveal her own coin. She made sure to throw a coin in, sometimes more, whenever she came to the mall.

"Oh haha, you know we have a saying in Texas."

"What's that?" Riley asked.

"Great minds think alike," Lucas replied with another smile. Riley rolled her eyes.

"I'll trade you," Riley said, taking Lucas' coin and handing him hers. She watched as he took the coin between his fingers. He closed his eyes tightly and blew on the coin.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Riley asked, starring with part wonder, part amusement at the little ritual.

"Shhh, I'm making a wish, it's another thing we do back in Texas." Riley allowed him to finish his dramatics, including the winding of his arm like a baseball pitcher only to gently toss the coin into the water.

"Your turn," Lucas said, turning to Riley who was nearly crying with laughter.

"Okay, should I do it the Texas way, or the New York way?"

"What's the New York way?" Lucas asked. Riley smirked and began to put on her own show. She did a little dance around the fountain, skipping and waving her hands in the air. She came to a stop in front of Lucas and began balancing the coin on her head. "Okay, now we gotta wait five seconds. It's all about balancing out the universe so the wish comes true," Riley added matter-of-factly to Lucas who only nodded with a serious expression.

"I see," he offered. Finally, Riley tossed the coin in.

"Is that really your tradition?" Lucas asked.

Riley retorted, "Was that really your tradition?" Lucas just replied with a hearty laugh. They continued walking around the malls, moving in and out of several of the stores. Riley ended up checking off most the names and having a ton of fun doing it. She tried to call Maya while in a Macy's but got sent to voicemail.

Their trip was coming to an end, the pair laughing and chatting comfortably with each other. "Well, I'd better get back." Lucas said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess I'd better finish up and get back home too…" Riley added.

"Yeah, but hey, I'll see you again next semester hopefully," Lucas replied.

"Really!?" Riley asked, excited by the news. Lucas couldn't help but smile are her excitement. They exchanged numbers and went on their merry ways, excited for the new year ahead.