Here we go a simple fluffy story, hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading,reviewing etc.!

Story 13: Christmas Decisions

Prompt/Premise: Stella doesn't know what to get Lincoln for Christmas

A gift exchange so each of the six friends wouldn't have to try and get something for everyone, something for no one. They each picked a name from a bag; Stella got Lincoln. Lincoln, the ripped piece of lined paper in her hand had his name on it. She was going to find gift for Lincoln, but what?

This was her first year with this group of boys as her friend. She had moved into town, while the welcome was slightly weird, she did eventually get to know Lincoln, Zach, Liam, Clyde, and Zach.

She was stuck on the thought, what to do get Lincoln? It was a harder question to answer than she thought it would be. Lincoln has many different interests, what could she get him? Comic books? He was always caught up on the ones he liked. Magic stuff? Well maybe, but she would have to see everything he had and that would maybe give it a way her intentions. It had to be the right gift, a gift that showed she was happy that Lincoln first met her that day on the bus and that they've become friends.

The store had everything and people who say choice is good, yet choice is daunting and hard. If this were a sweatshirt store with one sweatshirt then it'd be easy.

"Hey Stella," Mollie said.

"Oh Hi, Mollie," Stella replied.

"Are you Christmas shopping too?" she asked.

"Uh yeah," Stella said.

She hoped somewhat that Mollie wouldn't ask who she was shopping for at that moment.

"Hey why do you want to shop with me?" Mollie asked.

Stella agreed, maybe shopping with someone else would help her think of what to do. The girls walked to an aisle that was selling plush toys. Stella looked at the different stuffed plush toys she thought of Lincoln; he wouldn't want one of those. Lincoln did have a stuffed rabbit; she had seen it before in his room, she didn't laugh and didn't mention it to embarrass him. She thought it was kind of sweet he kept something for so long and still cared for it.

Mollie grabbed a stuffed donkey and put in her shopping basket. Stella had met Mollie at school, she was a popular girl, she hung out with a girl named Jordan, they called her Girl Jordan because there was a boy also named Jordan. Unlike girls she had seen in TV shows and movies who were popular, Mollie and Jordan never seemed to be mean or push anybody around. They invited her to into their group, but Stella was interested in hanging out with this group of guys instead.

"So, what are you looking for?" Mollie asked.

"Like what kind of gift?" Stella asked.

"Well yeah," she said.

"Do you know what you want to get?" Mollie questioned.

Stella shrugged and rubbed her elbow.

"I really don't know," Stella answered.

"Who are you looking for a gift for, your mom? Your Dad? Do you have a brother?" Mollie asked.

"I'm doing a secret Santa thing and it's for Lincoln," she said.

"Lincoln Loud?" Mollie asked.

"Yeah."

Mollie smiled.

"It's not what you think, my friends and are doing a secret Santa," Stella replied.

"That's not why I was smiling; Lincoln's a pretty cool guy, but I can understand it being hard to shop for a friend," Mollie explained, "I got him a model plane for his birthday, he likes to collect those."

The other girl nodded in acknowledgement; she had seen Lincoln's models before. That was an idea. Stella continued to help Mollie shop, when she was done, they parted from each other, with Mollie wishing her a Merry Christmas. Stella walked the other direction on the sidewalk, she wanted to get him something special. There was a comic bookstore on 5th street, she walked inside. As she browsed the aisle, there was someone else she noticed. A girl with dirty blonde hair done with a braid in the back.

"Hi Stella," Jordan said.

"Oh hey, are you getting a comic book?" Stella asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting some for my cousins who are staying for Christmas," Jordan replied.

"I hope they like them," Stella said.

"So, are you looking for a gift?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah, it's for Lincoln Loud, I was trying to get an idea; I already know he would have comic books," Stella answered, letting it all out before any prying questions were asked.

Jordan was quiet and thoughtful, she rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. Stella was surprised that she didn't think they were boyfriend and girlfriend or crushes or something.

"That's right, you hang out with him and his friends," Jordan replied.

"Yeah," Stella said.

"I sometimes wish they'd hang out with us more, but I understand," Jordan replied, "This year I invited them to a pool party and turned it down at first, because Liam was having his first sleep over, not sure what happened, there but they ended up coming to my house after all."

"That must have happened before I moved here," Stella said.

"Lincoln is kind of goofy, but sweet and cool; and I remember you guys finding my earrings," she said.

"Yeah, that was fun."

"Hmm, it's hard to think about something when you've been thinking about it all day, so take a break and try tomorrow."

That was interesting advice, maybe it was helpful. It was getting late, the darkness before 5PM made things feel later than they were; she thanked Jordan and walked home.

The next morning, her mind was slightly refreshed but the idea of trying to find the perfect gift was still burned into her mind. Maybe taking a walk through the park would help, she thought. There at the park she walked her boots crunching in the old slush that used to be snow. There was a girl adorned in pink with a boy, also with blonde hair, wearing a purple coat and pink scarf. The girl looked, it was, Lola Loud.

"Maybe I could ask his sister," Stella thought, "What could it hurt?"

"Lola, there's some girl starring at you," the boy said.

"Hmm., she's one of Lincoln's friends, don't worry about her Winston," Lola replied.

"She's coming towards us," Winston replied.

"Ugh, she is," Lola groaned.

"Hey, Lincoln's sister," Stella called.

The six-year-old's face scrunched at being called that. It was insult, her name was Lola Loud, she was a winning pageant girl and should be addressed properly.

"I was wondering if you could help me," Stella said.

"Well, Lincoln's Friend, we could start on that outfit you wear," Lola said.

"Lola, remember, Santa Claus," Winston replied.

"Oh, alright, what do you need?" Lola questioned.

"I'm wondering what you think a good gift for Lincoln would be?" Stella asked.

"So, you do want to date my brother huh?" Lola asked.

"What, a girl can be friends with a boy and not be romantic, we're only eleven!" Stella yelled.

"I guess, all can't have what we and Winston have; Lincoln is simple, he likes simple things; I got him a pack of underwear because that's what he spends his time wearing around the house, might as well give him something that won't bug me out seeing," Lola said.

"Should you really be saying that to his lady friend?" Winston asked.

"It's alright, I know about his habit," Stella replied.

"Hmm, maybe you should get him a gift card to place he really likes," Winston said.

"I..they don't seem very personal, though." Stella said.

"They can be if you find a place that is special to the person, it can show real thought," Winston said.

"Just make sure you don't look cheap, though, a 10-dollar gift card is not cutting it, it's not 1963," Lola replied.

"Thanks, I guess," Stella said.

"Good, let's go Winston, Merry Christmas Girl." Lola said.

She figured she picked the wrong sister, maybe a gift card would be a good idea, but it would just be easier to hand him cash.

Going to Flip's around Christmas time was weird, he was trying to make money off anything. He was more than just a convenience store man, he was selling Christmas trees, cheap electronics, decorations, books, novelties, and much more. He was doing something called instant sales where a product would be on sale for 5 minutes then he'd jack the price up again, sometimes the sale price was the price the product was supposed to be sold for in the first place. Stella went to Flip's to get some hot chocolate.

"So, is that it?" Flip asked.

"Yeah, Flip that is all," Stella answered.

"Christmas is coming up, and I'm sure you are looking for a gift, how about these spiffy wireless headphones," he said.

In his hands were blue chrome wireless headphones. Stella did think for a moment, a moment of desperation and delusion, she should buy them. Lincoln would like them, but she'd seen those before at Bargain Hunt for $24, Flip was selling his for $49.

"No thanks, everybody I know already has them," she lied.

"Oh, well, can't get them all," Flip said.

Flip did give her one idea, that was visit the Bargain Hunt and see what they had. That store was busy for Christmas it was crowded with holiday shoppers trying to get something good for Christmas. Stella asked a woman, who looked like she had been there working for hour, about the headphones.

"I'm sorry, some guy came through the store yesterday and bought all of them," she said.

Stella rolled her eyes, she figured who that was and walked away from the poor frazzled woman. Looking through the aisles, she was stuck the same way before. Then she saw a boy classmate, his name was Lance. He was trying to reach something, Stella was taller than most kids in her class, she was happy that Lincoln never brought it up first. Many kids did, it was only natural, she guessed, but it made her feel weird, always being the tallest.

"Here, I'll help you," she said.

The item that Lance was trying to grab was a hair curler. Stella looked at then at him but didn't want to judge too much. She handed it to him.

"Thanks, and it's for my sister," he said.

"No problem," she said.

"You Christmas shopping for Lincoln, aren't you?" he asked.

"Huh? How'd you know?"

"I heard from Mollie, maybe I could help you."

"Ok."

"Well, I don't hang around him much, but he is an interesting guy, and nothing bad I could say about him; having 10 sisters must be a lot on him, I just have the one, so I can't imagine ten of them."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Get him one of those neck massagers on Aisle 10."

She was surprised, it was a helpful idea and solution. She smiled and thanked him. It would have been great, a neck massager for a stressful day to be gone. He'd like it, the only problem was that other people liked them too, and the aisle was cleared out. Once again, she was stuck.

She went to a sporting goods store, it was a strange idea, Lincoln didn't like sports. Maybe he would get into something, she thought. There was a girl she met there that knew who Lincoln was, Lynn's friend Paula. Paula suggested that she get him a pair of roller blades, a strange suggestion, also she was selling some used roller blades. She ran into a boy with a shaved head whose father was a barber, and he suggested a hair cut gift certificate.

"Maybe your friend could rock my look," the boy said.

Stella felt it would be strange to give someone a gift saying they need a haircut. She passed on it and went to a music store. There she met a man who seemed to know Lincoln and thought maybe she should the boy some instrument lessons. Learning something would be a strange gift, she felt. It was a surprise to her how many people knew Lincoln. Royal Woods wasn't the biggest city in the world, but it wasn't that small. He hung out with 4 guys, they knew people, he had 10 sisters, 9 of them hung out with other people, and of course it spread around.

She realized something and that gave her pause, but it felt like a great weight had lifted from her body. Her face had an expression of joy and the idea came to it. She went and bought something and wrapped it and waited for Christmas Eve day to come.

The friends could exchange their gifts on their own time, she figured out that everyone else but her had done as such. Her gift was more personal, so she didn't want the other guys to be around. Christmas Eve at 9AM she waited in the park after texting Lincoln to come. She had a green paper wrapped gift with a gold-colored ribbon on top. Lincoln showed up, he had a smile on his face.

"Hey Lincoln, I was your secret Santa," she said.

"Cool, I really thought Clyde was since he kept looking at me with a strange look," Lincoln said.

"Here you go," she said.

She handed him the gift. He tore open the package and inside was ring case, he was puzzled. Inside the ring box was a vintage "Muscle Fish" ring. He was surprised, but happy.

"There's actually something else I want to give you, but felt silly to ask empty handed," she said. "Are we getting married?" Lincoln asked.

"No, I … wanted to ask you if we could spend the day together, just the two of us, I realized that when we hang out it's always with Clyde or Clyde and the other guys, but we've never hung out together as just the two of us, friends," she said.

Lincoln smiled; it was an interesting gift idea. The ring was nice, it was a vintage ring that many collectors sought out. She had found one just like that. He figured it out too, that he had spent time when his other friends one on one but never her, was he scared what people would think or something?

"Sure," was his answer.

"Really? That wasn't too corny to ask?" she questioned.

"No way, I'm sorry we've not hung out just the two of us before," he replied.

"That's great to hear!"

"Thank you for the ring too, it's great!"

"Here let me put it on for you."

The two friends spent Christmas Eve day together playing games at the arcade, reading some comic books, visiting a wig store, Stella liked trying on wigs there. They watched a movie at her house and had some lunch at Gus' Games and Grub. They took goofy pictures. When they rode the bus back to her house, that moment reminded her of that time Lincoln first met her on the bus, that day, he was shy but sweet and she wanted to be friends with him ever since. They had a slight bump at the start but now things had worked out.

"This is my stop, Merry Christmas, Lincoln," she said.

"Merry Christmas, Stella, thanks for the ring, and the great day," he said.

"Yeah, we should do that again," she blurted out.

"For sure, I'll text you later!" he said.

He watched as she got off the bus and watched her walk the steps from the bus stop to her house as the bus pulled off. He had a big smile on his face too. He looked that ring and let out a breath.

"Merry Christmas, Stella, you are a great friend." he said.