Twelve Days of Christmas

Monday, December 18th

(Seven days until Christmas)

Monday morning brought a flurry of activity for Sam. She'd forgotten, with the drama that her secret admirer (the moniker certainly fit, as much as she hated to admit it) had put her through at the Nasty Burger. She'd gotten an e-mail from Tucker before bed the night before that fully two-thirds of the people who'd made book with him on Danny being the culprit had withdrawn or changed their bets after word of her very public serenade had made it out. it had kept her up half the night, and the other half she'd spent dreaming of geese who were intent on flocking to her as if she were their mistress.

She was already dreading school. She was dreading seeing Danny even more. Sam didn't dare try and disillusion herself into thinking that Danny didn't already know about the singing elves and the CD, though she hoped to god that Tucker had exercised restraint and not told Danny what the link between the twelve songs was.

And despite the pain and hurt that it was causing her because of Danny, Sam couldn't help but feel even more cherished now. a stranger, a complete and utter stranger, and somehow she felt so close to this faceless, nameless entity. Logically Sam knew that she couldn't wait for Danny forever; emotionally Sam knew that she always would. But knowing that there was someone out there who was willing to go to such lengths (and please don't let it be someone who was put up to it by her parents; that would be so crushing) made her feel special.

Between the jewelry, the flowers, and the personal touches laid in by knowing how much she loved wildlife conservation, and wolves in particular, as well as taking the time to make a mix CD despite that she had several of the songs already… Sam couldn't deny that she had never felt more like a girl than ever before, even when she was convinced to get dressed up for school formals.

But the irritation of not knowing who it was behind the gifts was a nagging problem that her mind couldn't seem to let go of, even in her sleep. Hence the geese, she thought as she tugged on her trusty boots, lacing them tightly up her calves before pulling her jeans down over them.

"This is why I'm Jewish. Eight days of presents and none of this insane song stuff," she muttered irritated, flipping a brush through her hair and tugging a soft knit cap on to protect her ears. The movement gave her a glimpse of the earrings, bringing on another surge of near violent annoyance, and in a fit of pique she lifted them out of her ears and laid them on her dresser.

That in itself was annoying beyond belief, the fact that she could go from one moment to feeling so treasured that she couldn't help but wonder how her mystery man would top his already intriguing enterprises to wanting to gut the enigma without question.

She glared at her reflection in the mirror, daring a smile to come and firmly ignoring the faint twinge of guilt in her stomach as she ignored the earrings and picked up her eyeliner, lining her eyes in the deep black with quick, easy movements that spoke of long practiced habit. A touch of neutral eye shadow and a hint of the violet that brought out the shade in her unusually colored eyes, and she grabbed her purple lip gloss to apply on the run as she heard the doorbell downstairs ring.

Tucker and Danny were picking her up at her house this morning since her parents were out of town. Overprotective of them, she knew, since her parents left her home alone on a regular basis. This time would be short, since they'd return by the middle of the week, but Tucker and Danny always took it upon themselves to baby her while she played mistress of the house.

"I'm coming!" she shouted down the stairs as she snagged her jacket from the newel at the top of the stairs, sliding her arms in and zipping it as she skidded to a stop at the door. Tucker and Danny were waiting for her, cheeks pals and cold when she opened the door. She grabbed her backpack up from the floor and flipped the fuzzy spider onto her back.

"Sorry, I overslept," she said, knowing that she was only running a minute or two late and that they had plenty of time to get to school without being tardy.

"No worries, Sam," Danny told her, looking more cheerful than she'd expected him to. Sam glanced at Tucker who gave a hint of a shrug before she turned back to Danny with a quick smile.

"Alright, let's go," she told him, locking the door behind her before following them down the walk. "Maybe tomorrow we can meet at Tuck's since we have to pass his house anyway?"

Tucker snickered and Danny just shot her a sidelong glance that made her squirm mentally.

"I think we're fine picking you up here, Sam," Tucker told her as he gestured to the icy roads.

Danny laughed as he added, "Besides, Tucker can always use the exercise."

"Hey!" Tucker exclaimed. "I don't need more than what you guys already force on to me! I have to chase you all over town at least four days a week, Danny, and Sam's mental enough to go to the gym on her own."

"I have one at home," Sam put in smugly as they turned the corner onto Tucker's street, his house nearing with every step. She almost stopped when she saw the delivery van in his drive, but shook the need to off. "You expecting something, Tucker?" she asked as she pointed up the sidewalk at it.

"What? Oh, no," Tucker said as they neared.

Danny had grown quiet again, but when Sam glanced at him where he walked next to her he didn't seem unhappy. Maybe, she thought, he was alright with what was going on, since she had no control over it. It was entirely possible that he and Tucker had had a heart to heart since she'd last seen Danny. She let the nerves go as relief that, for once, the delivery obviously couldn't be for her. The relief was short lived.

"Good morning, Miss Manson," said her now regular courier, and Sam stopped dead, slipping in her haste and falling backwards. Her fall was broken by Danny's arms around her waist, and Sam blushed bright red, the heat much worse than normal because of the cold air on her face.

His fingers squeezed her waist once before he let her go, and Sam could barely look at him as she accepted the slim package without a word. Finesse was ignored as she looked at the box. The pretty white paper was very plain but for the silver swirls across it and flecks of incandescent glitter, and the silver bow had six white geese chased across the six loops of ribbon. She tore the bow off, fingers crumpling it before the paper followed it to the unevenly salted sidewalk.

The box was slim, long, and plain black velvet. Like the earrings, she realized as she opened it. Nestled inside was, she saw as her heart skipped a beat (the traitorous thing), a bracelet that matched the earrings. Sparkling white gold links that housed more deep blue sapphire rounds, separated each by two small princess cut diamonds. The square shape was elegant amidst the larger blue solitaires, and Sam couldn't help but feel helpless as she lifted the bracelet from the box.

She didn't dare look at either Tucker or Danny, for fear of what she would find in their faces, and she didn't dare not put the bracelet on, because she desperately wanted to know who'd given it to her.