~ Monday, December 14th - 9:21 AM ~

The weekend was over.

Games had been played and people had been burned.

But that didn't bother André Harris at all.

He had other stuff to worry about.

Like the fact that he got a D on his Creative Music project.

Not to mention that he came up with the idea for the song from something that Jade had said.

It's not a Christmas party without you.

Just nix the "a" and "party" and you got the title.

Even though he was through with her, he didn't have any other way to come up with a starting point for the song and that phrase was the one thing that was stuck in his head.

The song was good… no, better than good. It was perfect! How in the hell could it get a D?! A D?!

He also had to come up with the perfect gift for Beck.

Better to find an excellent gift rather than going Christmas yodeling with Sikowitz.

But even though André had these two issues to deal with, he was extremely glad that he didn't have one very big issue to deal with anymore.

~ 1:12 PM ~

Jade West sat quietly in the library.

Last Friday night changed her.

What's wrong with me?… How could I sink so low to do something like that?

After Friday night, Jade questioned herself about how she could possibly try to make things right, but no foolproof idea could be thought of.

She just hated to see anyone look so disappointed in her.

She already had enough of that from her father, but when it came to seeing that same reaction from Andre… it sadden her.

And even if she did come up with a way to apologize to Andre, he wouldn't take the time out of the day to even listen to her.

I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to make him pay for making me feel useless. I wanted him to hurt! But when it really happened… I didn't like what I saw.

At that moment, Jade received a text.

It was from Sikowitz.

Along with the name of the person that Jade had to give a gift... and she was none too pleased to see who it was.

"Vega?! Seriously?!" yelled Jade, as she stared at the message, "You've got to be freakin' kidding me."

A student who was trying to study loudly shushed Jade.

"Oh, shush yourself!" she snapped, gathering her things and storming out of the library.

Sikowitz is fuckin' nuts if he thinks that I'm getting Tori a gift-

Not paying much attention to where she was going, Jade accidentally bumped into André.

André, not wanting anything to do with Jade, simply walked around her.

It was like she didn't exist to him or something.

Jade felt deeply upset that things had turned out like this.

It was all her fault.

She only hoped that she could find some way to fix the mess that she made.

~ 4:02 PM ~

[Perfect Christmas Gifts for Guys]

Read the title of the article Tori was reading.

She had just recently found out that she was André's Secret Santa and was desperately trying to find The Perfect Gift.

"Does André like toasters?" Tori asked herself, scrolling down the list of gift ideas, "Maybe a nice toaster would be perfect for him."

After a while, Tori realized how stupid she had just sounded.

A toaster? Really? What's next? A pair of socks? Spoons?

Tori was at her wit's end trying to find André something.

"It has to be meaningful. It has to be spectacular."

But it was impossible.

No gift seemed to be good enough for André in her eyes.

It wasn't until she saw an advertisement for Color Me Pot, that she came up with an idea.

Looking for the perfect gift for that special someone this holiday season?!

Then how about a gift that comes straight from the heart?!

For this weekend only, get 50% off any ceramic item of your choice!

"Straight from the heart?"

Finally coming up with what she thought was the perfect gift, Tori rushed out of the house but returned shortly when she remembered something.

"My car is in the shop." she said, as she ran upstairs, "Mom! I could use a ride to the mall!"

~ Wednesday, December 16th - 5:55 PM ~

André was sitting on his porch, quietly strumming his guitar.

The rain softly poured outside.

He loved when it would rain like this.

It had a strangely calming effect on him… one that he'd been craving for the past couple of days.

He was finally over Jade.

Out of sight, out of mind.

But this whole situation with him having to give Beck a gift… somehow made him struggle to try to keep from thinking about You-Know-Who.

No, not Voldemort. Haven't we been over this before?

What kind of gift would he like?

Gazing at the falling rain, an idea crept up on André.

He chuckled at the thought of it.

He could probably use a good night's sleep, what with that cricket in the RV …

A good night's sleep…

Cricket…

RV…

He knew just what to get.

"That's it! That's it!" he yelled, cheerfully, All I have to do is get the cricket out of his RV! It's perfect! It's brilliant!

André felt joyous over finding the right gift for Beck… especially since this gift wouldn't cost him a penny.

Besides, this wasn't a contest to see who gave the most expensive gift. So you can't say that André is being cheap here.

With his mind still on gift-giving, André began wondering who his Secret Santa was and what surprise they might have for him.

As long as they don't gift me something lame... like socks.

~ 6:21 PM ~

Jade has been sitting in her driveway for the past five minutes.

She was originally going to stop by André's to try and talk to him but quickly decided against it.

I can't face him, at least not now. I don't want to see that look on his face again. That look of disappointment. That look of regret. I can't put myself through that again.

Wanting to distract herself, Jade took out her phone and began strolling around The Slap, where she came across the posts which Tori recently updated.

Ugh, she's still whining about not finding André the right gift, and who the hell buys someone a ceramic guitar for Christmas? I swear she is so clueless!

Jade began to think of exactly why she had to give Tori a present.

Why couldn't it have been Andre?

She would have easily known what to give him:

Perform his Christmas song in front of the whole school.

With elaborate Christmas decorations

A band.

Backup dancers.

Make it spectacular!

Show his teacher that he was a jackass for giving Andre's song a D.

But the chances of Jade making that happen were very-

Wait!

Maybe, she could do it.

At that moment, Jade finally figured it out.

My gift to Tori would also be a hidden gift to Andre… damn, I'm good!

Jade started her car, pulled out of the driveway, and drove to Tori's house.

I finally have the solution to both of my problems. I'm definitely not wasting this one chance!

~ 6:36 PM ~

When Jade finally got to Tori's house, she wasn't surprised to see that like always, there was something weird going on.

Robbie and Trina were spraying who knows what on a Christmas tree and Tori was… well, being Tori.

Which was weird enough for Jade.

She even had to go through a body search for scissors, which she kinda enjoyed… but not that much.

"Okay, so what's this plan of yours?" asked Tori, as Robbie and Trina continued to clean up the flocking mess by the Christmas tree.

"Well, you know how André's song got a D, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, the plan I have is a way to persuade his teacher to give him a higher grade."

"Sweet! How?"

"Me, you, and Cat are going to sing his song… in front of the entire school."

Tori's eyes opened up.

"That's brilliant. Like really brilliant."

"That's not all, we'll be dressed up in Christmas outfits, have tons of Christmas decorations, a band to perform with us, and backup dancers."

Tori felt like Jade was a godsend for the first time in her life.

"Thanks for giving me this great idea!" rejoiced Tori, as she gave Jade a hug.

Jade thought that it was only fair to allow the hug for only a few seconds and then quickly pushed her afterward.

"Just because I'm your Secret Santa doesn't mean that I actually like you." she snapped, "To say the least, I tolerate you."

Not letting Jade ruin this wonderful moment, Tori replied, "Well, I tolerate you too."

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Whatever." scoffed Jade, as she continued to explain her plan, "Anyway, we have a day and a half to get the band and dancers together, decorations set up, and choreography done."

"But how are we going to get André's song?"

"I got it covered. Cat is going to get a copy of the song from him without drawing suspicion."

"Are you sure that Cat can do this?"

"Let me worry about that. We have to start preparing for this if we want to make this perfect."

Even though Tori was eager to get started, she couldn't help but wonder why Jade was so eager to participate in this plan.

She understood that the idea was Jade's gift to her, but… could there have been an ulterior motive for this?

When Tori later asked Jade about it, Jade only had this to say:

"Let's just say that I'm trying to get back on his good side."

His good side? What could that mean?

But Tori decided to put that thought aside and continue planning the big surprise for André.

She could worry about that another time.

~ Friday, December 18th - 2:05 PM ~

It was an hour after the spectacular Christmas performance.

The students were eagerly getting ready to leave for Christmas break.

Tori was still excited about helping André pass this semester with an A.

"Hey!" smiled André, walking up to Tori, as she gather her books together, "Just wanted to tell you thanks… again."

"You don't have to keep thanking me." responded Tori, closing her locker and slinging her book bag on her shoulder, "I was just your Secret Santa."

"I know, but it was the thought that counts. You really helped turn things around for me," said André, as he hugged Tori.

Try as she might, Tori couldn't escape the fact that it wasn't entirely her idea.

A part of her didn't feel right taking all the credit.

She'd only recently rekindled her friendship with André, and she didn't want to ruin it by withholding a crucial piece of truth.

Slowly pulling away from him, Tori confessed, "André... I have to tell you something."

~ 4:25 PM ~

Sitting under the large oak tree in her backyard, Jade was drawing the scenery of her mother's garden.

The cool air and mostly cloudy skies were the perfect weather for her to relax outside.

For a moment, this period of tranquility helped keep her mind off of André.

For a while.

She thought about how happy he looked after getting an A for his song.

It made her feel good for what she had done.

Even if André never knew that she was the brains of that performance, she didn't care.

She was just glad to know that she helped make him happy once again.

Looking down at her sketch, Jade noticed that she unknowingly began drawing Andre's face.

She smiled as she closed her sketchpad.

"Jade."

She looked up, surprised to see André standing there.

Getting up, she uttered, "André… Hi…"

It was quiet between the two for several seconds.

The silence was broken when André responded, "Um… Tori told me everything and it was very nice of you to do that."

"Thanks, I just couldn't stand seeing you upset. Especially since I caused most of your grief with… well, you know."

"Yeah. Let's not talk about that ever again, okay?" André chucked, as Jade laughed with him.

After the brief laugh, it was once again quiet between the two.

This time Jade broke the silence.

Choking back tears, she said something that was a rarity for her.

"André... *sniffs* I'm so sorry... for everything."

André slowly began feeling like this silent treatment of his was going on for far too long.

Jade went through all of this trouble to redeem herself, even though she was probably never going to reveal herself as the mastermind.

Sure, the scene in the RV used to haunt him; but it was time to let go of the hatred that he held onto because of it.

Jade was a friend of his.

A friend who had just gone above and beyond to redeem herself.

That doesn't sound much like a heartless, cold-blooded person, now does it?

"Come here," spoke André, as he opened out his arms to hug her.

Not hesitating to react, Jade rushed to hug André.

With tears streaming down her face, André knew that Jade was sincerely sorry for her previous actions.

Deep down inside, he was glad that she went through all this just to earn his forgiveness.

It once again showed how much she really cared about him and it gave him his friend back.

Holding him tightly, Jade felt as if all things were finally set right.

"You forgive me?" she asked, tearfully.

"I forgive you, Jade. I forgive you."