Good vs. Evil High (24 page)

“Here, Nadine,” I said, handing her a
present. “This’ll make you feel better.”

“Thanks.” She took it and offered me a sleepy
smile.

I handed the other two girls their presents
as they sat down on either side of me.

Since there wasn’t exactly a shopping center
nearby, I had to be creative and stick to my artistic abilities to
make their gifts. For Nadine, I painted two big jingle bells to
look like soccer balls and tied them to a ponytail holder. Then I
drew tiny soccer balls on white shoelaces and wrote “Nadine
Rodriguez” in cursive in the center of each one. Since Harmony was
always making us write in the notebook she loves so much, I had
Nadine and Sassy write about Harmony—the things they loved about
her, the most fun they could remember having with her, stuff like
that—and then I wrote a bunch myself. After drawing little pictures
in the top corner of each page, I bound them together and designed
a music themed cover. Sassy’s present took the longest, though.
Miss McCree secured a black sweater for me and I used silver fabric
paint to make the Eiffel Tower on the front. Then I sewed on
lights, ornaments, and a star to make it look like a Christmas
tree.

“I love these,” Nadine said, finally waking
up. She pulled her hair back with the bells. “I’ll wear these laces
in my next big game.”

Sassy gasped as she held up the sweater. “Did
you make this?” she asked me.

“Is it that obvious?”

“No. If a professional had designed something
this cute, I would already have it.”

“Yeah, I made it.”

“This is incredible. Next time I have
designer’s block, I know who to talk to. Thanks, Kristine.
Here—open mine.” She handed me a small box wrapped in shiny blue
paper.

Inside, I found a glittery gold headband with
“Kristine, Harmony, Nadine, and Sassy-Best Friends Forever” written
on the inside of it. “I love this,” I said, putting it on.

Another package was tossed into my lap and I
looked up at Nadine, who simply nodded. I opened a messily wrapped
box of fancy paints, brushes, and sponges. “Thanks, Nadine. I love
this, too.”

I looked over at Harmony, because she hadn’t
said a word. She was staring at the present I’d given her, staring
at the page where we’d each written about the first time we met
her.

“Earth to Harmony,” Nadine said, holding a
gift bag out to her.

“I’m sorry,” Harmony said, looking up. “This
is just so sweet. Years from now, I’ll be able to look back at this
very Christmas and remember right now.” She picked up three
identical red bags and handed them out. We each found a pair of
white gloves with fur trim and our names embroidered on them. I
slipped mine on. They were unbelievably soft. “Thanks!” I said at
almost the same time as the other two.

“Merry Christmas, girls,” Miss McCree said,
coming around my bed. She was carrying a big basket, which was
bursting with red cellophane bags, each one filled with cookies and
tied with gold ribbon. She knelt down to give us each a hug and one
of these sweet-smelling bags. “Are yah’ all ready for the dance
tonight?”

“Will you do my hair like you did last year?”
Sassy asked her.

“Of course, dearie. I’ll find yah’ well
before it begins. Does anyone else want me to do their hair?”

“I think Sassy’s got it,” I said. She’d been
talking about how she was planning to do our hair for weeks.

“Well, Cinder Headmaster has a special
breakfast downstairs when you’re hungry.” She put a hand on my back
as she got up and went to find more girls from our hall.

“Should we change and go down?” Sassy
asked.

“For sure,” Nadine said. “Last year they had
all sorts of fancy breakfast treats from different European
countries. I just about made myself sick tasting everything.”

“I know what I’m wearing today.” Sassy threw
my sweater over her shoulder and pulled a deep purple skirt out of
her dresser. “I’ll meet you in the bathroom.”

I grabbed a red sweater, a pair of black
skinny jeans, and boots, and followed Harmony to the bathrooms. She
had her con play Christmas music as we got ready. After I showered
and got dressed, I went to grab my bag, making sure I had Luke’s
present inside.

It was similar to Harmony’s, but a lot more
elaborate. I’d filled an entire notebook with every memory of him I
could think of, how much and why I loved him, and how much I would
miss him when I went home. A lot of the memories had drawings to go
with them, like when Santa brought me a bike when I was ten and
Luke taught me how to ride it, because I’d never ridden one before.
Miss McCree also got me a disposable camera, which I had Harmony
take pictures of us with from across the cafeteria and in the
hallway when she was sure he wouldn’t notice. After Miss McCree got
them developed—don’t ask me how—I put them at the tops of several
pages and filled each page with stuff about the picture. I also
filled a few with drawings alone. It was my way of leaving a piece
of me behind when I left in a little over a month.

I was dreading our separation a great deal,
but every day I spent with Luke it became easier to think about.
His love was more powerful than anything else in this world, and I
didn’t doubt that he would come see me every chance he got. There
would just be a lot of really long days in between.

Harmony hummed as we left the second floor.
Halfway down the stairs, something big appeared right in front of
me. Luke hugged me as I fell into him. “Merry Christmas, Kristine,”
he said quietly.

“I love it when you do that!” It was always
like I was staring at gray stairs and then this gorgeous guy
materialized right in front of me and took me in his arms, like the
best kind of magic ever created.

“Merry Christmas, Luke,” Harmony said. She
and the other two kept going.

Luke looked a little unsure, but wished her a
Merry Christmas too, as she reached the last step.

“Where do you want to meet for the dance
tonight?” Luke asked as we started for the dining hall.

“You’ll probably have to meet me there.
Harmony and I have to be there early to make sure everything’s
straight for the party....You wanna know a secret?”

He gave me a slightly wounded look. “You’ve
been keeping something from me?”

“Only the activities committee is supposed to
know, and that’s only so we can give them plenty of space.”

“What is it?”

I pulled him into the old gym where we used
to meet. No torches were lit today, so we were plunged into
absolute darkness. “The invention competition’s going to be held
tonight at the dance. Our headmasters thought it would be a fun way
to start things out.”

Luke laughed. “We finally get to see whose
invention will win. My money’s still on the Cyclone.”

“And my money’s still on The Baring
Springs.”

He put a hand on my cheek and stroked it with
his thumb. “Remember the first year I spent the night over on
Christmas Eve? We stayed up late watching old Christmas movies and
you fell asleep halfway through one of them. You rolled over to
face the couch in your sleep and your hair was covering your face.
I went to lie next to you so I could watch you sleep. And when I
brushed your hair away, I couldn’t help myself. You were sound
asleep, but that was the first night I kissed you and told you I
loved you. I knew it was wrong, to steal your first kiss when you
wouldn’t even remember it, but I had to...I’ve never regretted
that, because I would always remember the way your sweet lips felt
against mine and know that no other man could ever take your first
kiss from me. I came over just to watch you sleep some nights after
that.”

So Luke
was
my first kiss.

“I remember, but—I always thought it was a
dream. I must have been partway awake. That night’s part of your
Christmas present, actually.”

His thumb stopped. “What do you mean?”

I took my con out of my bag and let it light
the space around us as I took out his present. “Merry Christmas,
Luke,” I said, handing it to him.

He opened it carefully, like a bomb might be
inside, and let the purple foil paper fall to the floor. He stared
with deep, concerned eyes as he ran his fingers over the thin braid
of my hair I’d cut off, my first North Haven medal, and the best
picture of us Harmony had taken. Each one was tied or taped onto
the front. In the picture, Luke and I were laughing at each other
as we stood up at his table in the dining hall. I chose it because
I could see the best of both worlds in him, a perfect mixture of
brute strength and childlike wonder. It was the only photo that
captured it so well.

“How did you get this picture?” he asked
without looking up.

“I had Harmony take them whenever you weren’t
looking. That way they would be a surprise.”

“Then there’re more?”

“Yeah. I kept a few, but most of them are in
here.” Reaching out, I opened the notebook and flipped through
pages until I found the section where every other page had pictures
of us, beginning with the one where we’re walking into the North
Haven gym together. He’s holding my hand, dropping me off for
physical fitness that day.

He turned the pages and stared at each
picture, never looking up or allowing the grave expression on his
face to diminish. “Why did you say that Christmas Eve night was
part of your present to me?” he asked, still staring at the
pages.

I moved to his side and flipped through the
notebook until I found it. “Because I put the entire memory of that
dream in here.”

He turned away from me when I looked up at
him. “Could you turn that thing off?”

“Okay—Kristine Con, return.” I waited until
it was back in my bag to ask, “Do you not like it?” I’d put more
time and thought into that present than I’d ever put into any other
one.

“I love this, Kristine. It’s the best present
anyone’s ever given me.” I felt his hand reach out for my shoulder
before he came to stand against me. It slid slowly upward and then
to the back of my neck before he kissed me. A single droplet fell
from his face onto mine, and I knew it was one of the tears he was
trying to hide. “Thank you,” he whispered as he leaned away. “I’m
going to put this somewhere safe. I’ll be back in a few
minutes.”

“Okay.”

I stared through the darkness until I saw the
bit of fragile light when he opened the door on the other end of
the gym. Then I left for the dining hall. It brought me a great
deal of satisfaction to know my gift was probably going into that
safe he had hidden in his room.

In the dining hall, Bane was sitting next to
Damian, who was also one of the higher-ups. It was strange how all
the higher-ups were cool with me. Since I had a feeling Bane had
something to do with it, I’d made him a Christmas card, disguised
with heavy black paper pasted around the outside.

Damian stood up as I walked through the door
and nodded to me on his way out. I was glad, since it meant no one
would probably notice me hand the card over, anyway.

“Hey, Bane,” I said, sitting across from him.
Over the past weeks, I’d grown comfortable enough with the Cinders
to sit with them alone.

He looked around me as I reached in my bag
and pulled out the blank cardboard folded in half. He was a tall
guy, you could tell that even when he was sitting down, but he
wasn’t the biggest guy. Still, all the other Cinders seemed to fear
and respect him. “Where’s Knight?” he asked.

“He went to his room. He’ll be here in a
minute.” I repressed the urge to wish him a Merry Christmas and
silently slid the card across the table.

He stared intently as he opened it and looked
over the message that said, “Merry Christmas, Bane. You’re
Cinderific,” with tiny elves climbing all over the letters. He
looked up at me as he folded it and slipped it into his
spike-studded pocket.

“I had a feeling you’d do something like
this.” He pulled a strip of paper out of his sleeve and slid it
across the table. I could see through it enough to make out the
“thanks” written on the other side. That was huge coming from
him.

“Who are you taking to the dance tonight?” I
asked, once I had the paper in my pocket.

He laughed, revealing the pin-thin gap
between his front teeth, as I reached down the table for a plate of
weird-looking omelets. “Why? You looking for a date?”

“I’m going with Knight.”

“Well—I haven’t asked anyone.”

“Seriously? I woulda thought you’d have done
that ages ago. You could probably get any Cinder girl you
want.”

“Maybe I don’t want any of the Cinder
girls.”

“Really?”

Someone came up behind me and laid a hand on
my arm. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

I looked up at Roman, who I hadn’t seen or
spoken to in weeks. Dark circles hung under his eyes and he looked
like he might have lost some weight. He didn’t look well at
all.

I really didn’t want to talk to him, but I
figured, hey, it’s Christmas. “Okay.” I stood up and walked away
from the tables with him.

“Will you let me give you a present?” Roman
asked.

“What is it?”

“This.” He held up an origami heart between
two of his fingers. “Open me” was written on the front.

“I guess so.” As I took it and slipped my
thumb into a fold, he leaned forward and kissed my cheek before he
began walking away. “Roman!” I said, wiping my cheek off.

Luke walked through the doors just then. When
he saw I wasn’t sitting at the table waiting for him, he searched
the room until he saw me standing there with the heart in my hand
and Roman walking away from me. They both glared when they passed
one another.

I opened the letter as Luke came to stand
beside me. “What did he want?”

“To give me this,” I said.

Scratch marks from writing way too hard
became apparent the more I opened it. A few of the letters were
shaky and a couple of I’s were dotted with holes. Luke read along
with me when it was open: