Hmm... Looks like the tree decorating didn't go too well last chapter. Maybe what Bayley has in store next will help Sasha start to get in the Christmas spirit. And, just what is it that our favorite ponytailed cinnamon roll has in store for Sasha? Read on to find out, my loves. =)
After having decorated the Christmas tree with Sasha and the others, Bayley noticed that the magenta-haired Gem didn't quite seem to be onboard with the Christmas festivities Bayley, Dean, Seth, and Roman usually observed. 'Maybe I just haven't really done anything yet that Sasha would like. It's just...I don't even know what Sasha would like to do for Christmas. This is her first, and I want to make it a special one for her,' Bayley thought as she sat on the staircase that led up to her "bedroom".
Seeing Bayley in such a deep state of focus had Seth, Dean, and Roman feeling a bit concerned for the ponytailed brunette. They knew that Bayley was making it her own personal mission to introduce the Christmas holiday to Sasha, but, so far, they could tell that Bayley had pretty much hit a wall in her attempt to do so. Seth was almost set to call over to the brunette when he saw a gumdrop fly in Bayley's direction and hit her on the forehead.
"Huh?! Wha-what is it? Do you guys need me for something?" Bayley blinked out of her thinking and looked over to the older Gems.
Looking over to an innocently grinning Dean and a snickering Roman, Seth said "Not cool, you two." Turning back to look at Bayley, Seth said "You'll have to forgive Dean and Roman. Apparently, they think it's funny to fling our gingerbread house decorations around like their little toys."
"Hey, you wanted Bayley to snap out of her thinking bubble. Well, now she is," Dean's grin only seemed to grow a bit after he said this.
"You guys saw me like that?" Bayley asked. Seeing the trio nod, Bayley moaned "Oh, man."
"Bayley, if you're worried about something, you know can tell us," Roman assured the brunette. "Whatever's on your mind, just talk to us about it."
Feeling a bit hesitant at first to tell Roman about what was bothering her, Bayley saw the looks of reassurance on the older Gems's faces and knew that she could tell them what was on her mind. "OK. I'm sure that you guys maybe pieced it together, but...I'm not sure what to do about trying to introduce celebrating Christmas to Sasha. I've thought maybe helping decorate the Christmas tree would help, but I guess not."
"Well, Bayley, it's only been that one thing you've tried so far. There's all the other stuff that we normally do that you haven't tried yet. Like, building the gingerbread house, for starters," Dean said, around a mouth of gumdrops.
"And, something that I feel should be a Christmas tradition should be stopping Dean from eating almost all of our gingerbread house supplies," Seth said as he delivered a firm punch to Dean's arm.
"Yeah, that is true. After all, I haven't told her about us wearing Christmas sweaters just yet," Bayley felt a grin start to cross her face.
"Oh, yeah. I'm sure Sash would love wearing a dorky Christmas sweater with us," Dean's grin turned a bit mischievous.
"Great! I guess that means we should take a trip to the mall," Bayley hopped up from the steps as she went over to the coatrack and got her pink hoodie that had a pair of cat ears sewn to the hood. "Can one of you guys go find Sasha and ask if she wants to come with us?"
"Come with you all where, Bayley?" Sasha asked as she came from the direction of the bathroom.
"If you wanted to come with me and the guys to the mall," Bayley answered. "I know you've never heard of what a mall is, but something else Christmas-related is there that I want you to come with us and see. Plus, this could give you a good chance to interact with some other humans a bit."
"Um, okay," Sasha said before asking "You four aren't going to abandon me at this...mall, are you?"
"Of course not!" Bayley shook her head, her ponytail whipping back and forth. "We're all Gems. That means that, no matter what, we all stick together with each other."
Hearing Bayley talk about the Gems and including her in that collective had Sasha feeling what she would later describe as being all warm inside. A smile starting to spread across her face, Sasha said "Thank you, Bayley. OK, then. Let's...go to the mall."
"OK!" Bayley excitedly chirped, feeling happy that it seemed like another part of her "Get Sasha in the Christmas Spirit" plan was starting pretty well.
...
Standing around in the clothing store in the mall as Bayley and the other three Gems tried on different sweaters, Sasha found herself amazed by the fact that her fellow Gems seemed to be having so much fun just trying the garments on. 'And I thought decorating a tree was strange. This is...fairly odd,' Sasha thought. ...Although, part of her could admit that some of the sweaters they were wearing looked fairly nice.
Seeing Sasha watching them with that same look of curiosity that she had when they were decorating the tree earlier, Bayley asked "You want to try a sweater on, Sasha? I think I might have one or two that you might like."
"Really? You want me to try on one of those woolen garments?" Sasha asked, feeling a bit surprised that it was her turn so soon to participate.
"Of course!" Bayley chirped with a smile. "I know that this all might seem weird to you; after all, me and the guys are just getting excited about clothes. But, I think you might like this. Besides, it's not really much fun doing something like this if everyone isn't participating."
"O-OK," Sasha nodded before letting herself get pulled by the hand by Bayley back to the dressing room where she had been.
Closing the door behind her, Bayley began to rifle through the pile of sweaters she hadn't tried on yet until she found the one she hadn't tried on yet. "Here. Why don't you try this one on?"
"OK," Sasha took the garment from Bayley. Seeing the brunette still looking at her, Sasha asked "Um, Bayley. Can I have a bit of privacy?"
"Oh, sure!" Bayley said before turning around so that she was facing the closed door.
With Bayley's watchful gaze off of her, Sasha looked down at the sweater that was in her hands: It was a soft blue color that had lines of snowflakes going across the top and hem of the sweater with a line of smiling snowmen going across the stomach of it. 'I will admit. This does look pretty cute,' Sasha thought before pulling it on. After managing to get the sweater on her right, Sasha said "OK. You can look now."
Turning around, Bayley saw Sasha in the sweater she gave her and the first thing she could say was "Wow, Sasha. That looks pretty cute on you."
"Really? You think so?" Sasha asked as she blushed a bit and pulled the hem of the sweater down a bit.
"Of course!" Bayley chirped with a smile. "I never would've thought that blue would look so nice on you, but it does. Do you like the sweater?"
"I...Actually, I do," Sasha said, turning around and seeing herself in the mirror. Seeing her reflection, Sasha couldn't help the smile that split her face of its own accord. "Wow. I really do look cute in this."
Smiling a secretive smile, Bayley fist pumped in victory that it seemed like taking Sasha on her Christmas sweater shopping trip was a success. It was making Bayley feel good that, so far, it seemed like the hunt for Christmas sweaters was something the magenta-haired Gem took a liking to. 'Operation: Christmas Sweater Hunt was a success. Now for the next part of my plan. But, first, we should definitely pay for these sweaters before we head back home,' Bayley thought before working at pulling off the red sweater that had a design of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all wearing Santa hats surrounded by snowflakes, putting her hoodie back on, and leaving out of the dressing room with Sasha to join back up with the other Gems.
Shopping for festive Christmas sweaters. Is there nothing more Christmas-y that one could do? And, it seems like this part of Bayley's plan worked as Sasha actually seemed to like getting a Christmas sweater (and a quite cute one, at that). After this success, Bayley's feeling ready to go forward with her grand plan with the next step when they get back home. Just what is this next step? Stay tuned to find out. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)
