Non-Denominational Secret Santas
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Higher Ground characters or locations. The only thing I made up was the plot.
Chapter 10: The Exchange
December twenty-first came quickly for some of the Cliffhangers and quite slowly for the others. They gathered in the main lodge after breakfast, forming a circle with folding chairs. Each of them held a brown paper bag, supplied early that morning by Peter. Everyone watched everyone else, but no one spoke.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, Sophie and Peter entered. Sophie whispered something to Peter, and at his nod, she hung back outside of the circle of chairs, standing behind David. Peter continued into the center.
"All right, guys," he began. "This is how this is gonna work. When it's your turn to be a giver, you take your gift to the recipient, make eye contact, hand it to them, and say their name and 'I made this for you.' Then you give your rationale behind the gift. And lastly, they will thank you."
Scott looked a little pale.
"Any questions?" Peter glanced around the circle. "Okay, then. Scott, you want to start us off?"
No, he did not. But Scott stood up slowly, covertly thrust a slip of paper into Shelby's hand, and walked over Daisy, who sat on Shelby's other side, ignoring the surprised murmur from the other Cliffhangers. Peter took Scott's vacated chair to watch.
"Uh, Daisy," Scott said quietly. "I—uh—I made this for you." Shyly, he reached into the paper bag and pulled out a cassette tape, which he handed to her. "It's a music tape I made—playing on the piano. I tried to pick pieces that had a—um—nice edge. Darker-sounding stuff. That I thought you might like."
"Thank you, Scott." Daisy smiled at him, a real smile. "I appreciate it. Something to play while I'm reading Mortuary Sciences Monthly. I like a bit of background music."
As the exchange occurred, Shelby unfurled the paper Scott had slipped her, feeling a sharp lump in the back of her throat, wondering why he'd lied. Secret Santas was going to be horrible again this year. Sniffing once, she read the note, using one hand to shield it from Peter.
Shelby- Please don't be mad at me. I got Daisy's name. I don't know why I did all that stuff to make you think that I had you. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad. I guess I thought that I was making you happy. I wasn't thinking about what would happen at the exchange. Please forgive me. I wish I did have you. Actually, I think I'm glad I didn't get your name. I wouldn't have known what to get you. I don't think there is anything I could have made that would be just right for you. You're beyond material to me. So I'm sorry, and I really hope you can forgive me. Love, Scott
Shelby looked up from the note, taken aback by the prickly feeling of tears in her eyes. She had been so upset just a second ago. But now…not now. She couldn't be anymore. She understood.
"Very good, you two," Peter was saying. "Scott, you can take Daisy's seat, and Dais, you can deliver your gift."
Daisy rose and Scott sat down next to Shelby, nervously peeking at her out of the corner of his eye. She dropped her hand to her side and grasped his fingers in a tight squeeze, never taking her eyes from the action in the center of the room. Everything was all right.
Daisy strode across the circle and stopped before Auggie. "Auggie, I made this for you." She tossed him the gift. He caught it, looking startled.
"A rubber band ball?"
"Yeah," Daisy said. "A rubber band ball. You needed a basketball. This is the best I could do. And, Peter," she added, turning to face him. "Horizon is now completely out of rubber bands. Sophie said I should tell you so you can order more."
"Um—" Auggie was rolling the ball around in his hands. "Thank you, Daisy. Just what I wanted."
"I try," she replied.
Auggie stood up and let Daisy take his seat, walking over to stand in front of David. "David, I made this for you." He handed David the whole bag.
"Oooh! A present! For me!" David squealed mockingly. He tore at the bag, rather than reaching inside the top. And when he had it open, he found…soap. "Soap?"
"Yeah," Auggie responded. "Soap. I made it myself—with a little help from one of the counselors."
"Well, it's a step up from my usual coal," David mused.
"Auggie, you have some rationale here?" Peter asked, his voice holding a note of warning. He could see where this could become any number of strong insults, all of which he hoped Auggie wasn't about to make.
"See," Auggie explained. "There was this incident back when David came. 'Member that, David?"
David grinned suddenly, and Scott grimaced. Shortly after his arrival, David had begun his reign as king of practical joking by filling the boy's bathroom with soapy bubbles and covering the floor with toothpaste, which had gotten both Scott and Auggie upset and had even triggered a fight between Scott and David. Yes, David remembered.
"Thank you, Auggie," he said cheerfully. "I'll put this to good use." He followed the proclamation with a maniacal laugh that caused Scott and Auggie to groan and Sophie to put a hand lightly on his shoulder in an admonitory gesture.
Unperturbed, David hopped out of his seat and took the long way around the circle, hesitating by Daisy long enough to cause Ezra to wince, even though Daisy had already received a gift. But then David continued on to Ezra, who now looked confused. David pulled a homemade book out of his paper bag and tossed it at Ezra.
"What do you say?" Peter prompted.
David adopted a monotone voice. "Ezra, I made this for you." His tone took on more life as he went into the rationale. "It's a book. Title's David Ruxton's Guaranteed Pick-Up Lines. I've used them all, you know. They're classics."
"Great," Daisy grumbled under her breath. "Just great."
Ezra flipped through the pages uncertainly. "If you were a booger, I'd pick you first. Excuse me, but you've dropped something—my jaw. I lost my phone number…can I borrow yours?"
Auggie, Scott, and Shelby were laughing, Daisy had her head in her hands, Juliette was shaking her head amusedly, Kat was trying not to laugh, and Ezra was studying the book.
"Are they clean?" Peter asked hurriedly.
"Yeah," David said, grinning. "I'm not stupid, and I don't like shuns."
Clearing his throat, Ezra said, "Thank you, David." He set the book down and grabbed his bag, letting David take his seat as he went over to Shelby. Scott gave her hand a final squeeze and dropped it as Ezra carefully took a potted plant out of his paper bag and handed it to Shelby.
"Shelby, I made this for you. Well, kinda, anyway. I made the pot out of clay, but the plant's natural."
"Yes!" David yelled from across the circle. "We have our own source of marijuana now!"
"David!" Peter and Sophie exclaimed simultaneously.
"It's not marijuana," Ezra said. "Doesn't even look like it. It's a fern. A sword fern, the kind you can use to help with stinging nettles." He smiled hopefully. "Could come in handy at this school."
Looking it over, Shelby asked, "Can I get high off of it?"
"Shelby, come on." Sophie shook her head.
"Sorry. Thank you, Ezra." She touched the fern gently. "I'll put it by my bed and try to get stinging nettles on our next hike."
Ezra seemed content with that, and he took her seat as she stood up and walked slowly over to stand before Juliette. Shelby handed what looked like a stack of papers to the other girl.
"Juliette, I made this for you," Shelby said stiffly. "It's…a book. With blank pages for you to write or draw in and stuff."
Juliette's face lit up. "Thank you, Shelby. You made this?" The stack of papers was really a homemade journal, bound together by staples and decorated on the front cover with flowers and the words Juliette's Journal in a loopy, elegant script that no one would have thought Shelby capable of.
"Yeah," Shelby said, looking almost embarrassed that Juliette was so clearly delighted. "I remembered how you actually enjoyed writing in your journal when you had shuns that one time." She shrugged. "Seemed like a good gift."
"Thank you so much!" Juliette beamed at Shelby as she got up and, still clutching the journal, went to stand in front of Kat.
Sophie moved around the outside of the circle to stand behind Shelby. Leaning down next to Shelby, she whispered, "Good job, Shelby. That meant more than you know to Juliette."
The tips of Shelby's ears turned pink, but she shrugged the compliment off defensively. "Yeah. It was okay."
"Katherine, I made this for you." Juliette handed her a homemade scrapbook. "It has pictures and things. Because of you graduating and leaving and all—it's to help you remember."
Kat carefully opened the book to reveal a picture of all of the Cliffhangers on the first page. "Juliette, this is—"
"Keep going."
On the next page was a picture of several Cliffhangers. Shelby looked exasperated, Daisy looked serious, David looked silly, and Ezra was only half in the frame—as though he were trying to escape. On the next page was a picture of Peter and Sophie. Then one of Scott and Shelby sitting together at the piano, deep in conversation. Several more pages of various group shots of the Cliffhangers, some staff members, a few of former students, and one photo of Hannah—the Cliffhangers' old counselor with whom Kat had shared a special bond. The final picture was one of Kat and Peter talking. She recognized as the one Juliette had snapped the day she had asked Peter about the Secret Santas project.
Tears in her eyes, Kat rose from her chair and, setting the scrapbook down on her seat, hugged Juliette. "Thank you, Juliette. This is so wonderful."
"Sophie helped me go through some files to find your old groupmates, and that picture of Hannah." Juliette smiled. "And I took some of the photos too. Now you can't forget us."
"I wouldn't," Kat responded quietly. She put her hand on Juliette's shoulder briefly, then picked up her bag and walked over to Scott. "I drew your name, Scott."
"Oh yeah?" he said, looking slightly unsure.
"And I had no idea what to get you," she continued. "But then I talked to Peter, and he said that you and I were a lot more alike than I thought. So I thought about it for a long time and realized that he was right. There is something meaningful I can say to you."
Peter, listening intently, nodded encouragingly to Kat. She smiled at him before turning back to Scott.
"I've always kind of been the leader of the Cliffhangers," she said steadily. "Sort of a natural leadership thing. But I see those traits in you. You're becoming the leader of the group—you've been becoming the leader since that Eco-Challenge race." Her face grew slightly sad. "When I leave next year, you'll still be here. You'll be the one who whips all these guys into shape. And I wanted to tell you that.'
She reached into her bag and pulled something small out, hiding it in her hand. "I wanted to give you a symbol of that—of what you are. So you know how important you are to the Cliffhangers." She gently placed her hand on the front of Scott's shirt, just below his shoulder. "Scott, I made this for you."
When she pulled her hand away, there was a C on Scott's shirt, one that had been carefully cut out of felt and attached with tape. Scott looked down at it, then back at Kat. "I know you're a sports buff," she explained. "It's for 'Captain.'"
"Thank you, Kat," Scott said quietly.
She leaned down and hugged him, whispering in his ear, "Take care of them when I'm gone."
"I will," he replied softly.
"Thank you all," Peter said, standing up. Kat took his chair as he went back to the middle of the circle. "I'm proud of the way you all handled this assignment. Shows some maturity on your part, and it feels good to get something meaningful from another person, doesn't it?" The students of the group all nodded or mumbled yeahs. "I think that's all, unless anyone has something else to say?"
"Um, Peter?"
"Yes, Juliette?" He turned to face her.
"Can we finish with one of our tribal calls?"
"Yeah!" David cried. "Tribal call, man!"
"I don't see why not," Peter said.
"Could we—" Juliette went on. "Could we say something like 'happy holidays' instead of our regular yelling?"
"How incredibly corny can we get?" Daisy groused. Juliette's face fell.
"Hey!" Auggie said sharply in her defense.
"I like normal screaming," David protested.
"Let's act like complete losers," Shelby said sarcastically. Beside her, Scott rolled his eyes in agreement.
"I think that's a great idea," Kat announced.
"I agree," Peter said. "On three, 'happy holidays.' One, two, three…"
"Happy holidays!" hollered the Cliffhangers as everyone else in the main lodge turned to stare.
Sophie had come over to stand with Peter in the center of the circle, and he took her hand. As the students all yelled, the two looked around at all of the excited faces. Despite their talk, the Cliffhangers were content and happy, and no one was above screaming, "happy holidays!"