"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la la la..." Stina sang to herself as she wrapped the strings of Christmas lights around her bed posts. This was her favorite thing about a canopy bed: tall bed posts for Christmas lights.
"Stina!! Get down here!" Mrs Starrdust called. Stina headed for her door, but had to untangle her feet from the ball of Christmas lights on her floor first. Her mother was standing at the foot of the steps by the door with her coat on.
"I'm going shopping. I'll be back in a couple hours. Your brother is out with your father getting his haircut. They should be back in about an hour. It's supposed to snow tonight, but if it starts early, make sure the garage door is closed. I'm leaving it open for your dad becuz he seems to have misplaced his door opener, AGAIN," Mrs Starrdust said quickly, pulling a small mirror out of her purse and checking her makeup. Stina peered into the living room.
"Mom, why aren't there any gifts under the tree yet?"
"Why do you think I'm going shopping?"
"You haven't gone Christmas shopping yet?? Itz Christmas Eve day! When are you planning on wrapping them?" Stina exclaimed.
"I've been busy lately. It's not my fault. I'll wrap them when I get back"
"When are you going to have time? We're going to Aunt Laura's at 5 for dinner, aren't we?"
"I'll make time. Bye!" Mrs Starrdust said rushing out the door and slamming it behind her. A gust of cold air blew inside and made Stina shiver. She was wearing a tight red shirt from Express (she didn't usually wear red clothes, but it was making her feel festive) and dark blue JNCO flares. Her bare toes were becoming numb from the cold wood floor. 'It would probably be smart to wear socks in the middle of December, wouldn't it?' Stina thought to herself. She started back up to her room to find a pair of socks. She put on a pair of white socks with little Santa's on them and walked across her room to put her radio on. There was talking on every station (about the snow) so she switched to her CD player. She was about to put on her Sublime CD, but she changed her mind.
"Festive, festive, festive. Think FESTIVE. CHRISTMAS damnit!" Christina said outloud. Her Snowed In CD seemed to be staring at her from the top of her dresser. She glared at it.
"No! i am NOT going to give into temptation!" She scolded. She tried to think about something else, but she kept seeing Zac wrapped in Christmas lights.
"NO...BEING...TAKEN...OVER...BY...HANSON..." Stina choked, falling to the floor (Hey, we Italians are known for being dramatic, ok?? LoL). She crawled across her room, grabbed the CD, and put it in her CD player. She pressed play and sighed.
"No self-control..." She muttered. She got up and stood in the middle of her room, confused. She knew there was something she should be doing, but what was it? She glanced at her desk at the huge pile of unwrapped boxes.
"Damnit" She whined. She was not in the mood to wrap a stack of gifts. Stina wasn't a very giving person. Spending money on other people was quite painful for her, and spending time wrapping their gifts hurt too. She sighed and headed downstairs for gift wrap, scissors, and scotch tape.
About a half hour later, the phone rang. Christina was glad to have an excuse to get away from the torture. She threw down the Animorphs book she was wrapping for her brother and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey girrrrly!"
"Zac!! Hi!!" Stina's eyes lit up.
"Is that my Christmas album I hear playing in the background?"
"Umm, no!! Uh, You'll be home tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah...something like that..."
"What do you mean 'something like that'?" Stina asked.
"I'm afraid our plane was delayed becuz of the snow that expected to fall tonight, we won't be able to come home until the 28th" Zac said sighing.
"I'm not gonna see you on Christmas?" Stina whined.
"I'm afraid not"
"Damnit" Stina said. The doorbell rang. "Hold on Zac. There's someone at the door. Oh, wait, never mind, I'm on the portable. i can bring you with me"
Stina ran down the stairs and to the front door. The peep hole was frosted up from the cold so she couldn't see who was standing outside. She decided to take the risk that it could be a psycho with a weapon ready to kill her, and open the door. Not even psycho's came out in this cold weather, which led her to wonder why anyone would be ringing her doorbell...She pulled open the door and her jaw dropped.
"Gotcha" Zac said laughing. He was standing on the porch holding his cell phone in his hand. He had snowflakes in his eyelashes and on his shoulders and hair.
"Oh my God!" Stina said. She dropped the phone in her hand and threw her arms around Zac.
"Oh my God, it's snowing!" She said, practically knocking Zac over as she pushed past him to get outside. She frolicked joyfully in the falling snowflakes (which were more like little snowballs).
"Nice to know your glad to see me," Zac said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry! But I've seen you more recently then I've seen snow!" Stina said spinning around in circles, not even looking up at him. Zac rolled his eyes.
"You're an odd little person" Zac said laughing. Stina looked at Zac and smiled. She managed to pull herself away from the falling snow, and go inside.
She and Zac sat down in front of the fire that had been going in the fireplace since early in the morning.
"So anyway, why are you here?" Stina asked, sipping the hot chocolate she had made for her and Zac.
"Well, we heard how much it was supposed to snow tonight and we knew that all flights are going to end up being either delayed or cancelled, so we got on a plane last night and here we are. Ike dropped me off on the way to meet Mara at the mall" Zac said. Stina pulled off her wet socks and waved them in front of the fire.
"I'm glad you came. I was really bored. I was wrapping presents"
"Oh, and we all know how much you LOVE to wrap gifts. You selfish little shit" Zac joked. Stina hit him.
"I'm not selfish. I'm just lazy and crazy about money," Stina said laughing.
"So what are you doing tonight?" Zac asked, taking a handful of red and green M&M's out of the candy dish.
"Oh good, more sugar. Just what you need...I'm going to my Aunt Laura's house for our annual Christmas feast. How fun," Stina said, taking some of the M&M's from his hand and putting them in her mouth.
"We're having dinner at my cousin's house. We can't have our usual huge gathering cuz everyone insisted that my mom should quit pushing herself so much when she's pregnant. She wouldn't have to worry about that if she'd quit having more children," Zac said.
"Maybe we can get out of what we have to do and go somewhere together," Stina suggested. She threw and M&M up in the air, and attempted to catch it in her mouth, but missed as always.
"I doubt it. It would be a waste of time even asking," Zac said, arranging a pattern with the M&M's on the coffee table.
"Yeah, you're right. Wow, this is boring" Stina said, getting up and picking up the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Zac asked, continueing to build onto his M&M pattern.
"Eric. i haven't talked to him since before you told him about Kelly and I wanna here how everything is going" Stina said, dialing Eric's number.
"Mooooooom PLEASE? Just for two hours!" Stina whined. Eric hadn't been home when she called, so Stina and Zac just sat around talking until around 3 o'clock when Mrs Starrdust arrived home, arms full of boxes. Zac had called home asking if Stina could come over for a little while before they had to leave for their cousins house and before Stina had to go to her aunts.
"No no no. Absolutely not. Today is already hectic enough without me having to worry about picking you up from Zac's house," Mrs Starrdust said.
"Mom! You're being TOTALLY unreasonable! Aunt laura lives like 10 blocks from the Hanson's! Zac's house is ON THE WAY to Aunt Laura's! Just leave home a little earliar than you were planning to and pick me up!" Stina said, stomping her foot in frustration.
"Christina Marie, this is Christmas Eve. I do NOT need anymore things to do. If you want your gifts wrapped, then you cannot go to Zac's. Plus, it's snowing pretty heavily outside and you know how much I absolutely LOVE driving in the snow. Besides, you have like 3 weeks to visit Zac. Quit complaining," Mrs Starrdust said, pulling all the receipts out of the bags and putting them in a pile on the kitchen table. Zac was sitting upstairs in Christina's room trying hard not to listen to Stina and her mother fighting, but it was pretty hard considering their voices were floating up the stairs and into Stina's room and Zac could hear them quite clearly.
"You're right! This IS Christmas Eve! So quit being so selfish and think of someone else for once and let me go!" Stina yelled.
"You wanna talk about selfish? You wanna talk about SELFISH? YOU wanna talk about SELFISH? You are THE MOST selfish person I have ever met, and YOUR calling ME selfish??" Mrs Starrdust said in amazement. Zac couldn't help laughing to himself. Stina was selfish at times, but Mrs Starrdust had her moments too...
"Mom PLEASE. Just do this ONE thing for me today?"
"You couldn't do ONE thing for ME. i asked to you close the garage door if it started snowing, and I come home to find half the garage covered in about 2 inches of snow!"
"I'm SORRY! I already told you that. i forgot, it's not my fault"
"Oh, so if I had FORGOTTEN to go Christmas shopping, that would have been ok?"
"MOM, that's TOTALLY different! And we're getting off the topic. Can I please go?" Stina whined.
"No! That's final! I am going to wrap YOUR gifts now, goodbye!" Mrs Starrdust said, lugging the bags of gifts up the stairs.
"Grinch! No, you're more of a SCROOGE!" Stina yelled after her.
"Well Bah humbug!" Mrs Starrdust called before slamming her door. Zac waited a few seconds before slowly creeping into the hall and downstairs. He was afraid Mrs Starrdust would bite his head off if he dared say 'hi'.
"Well, that certainly didn't go as expected..." Zac said.
"Yes i noticed," Stina said, plopping into one of the kitchen chairs. She took a cookie from the tray of fresh baked Christmas cookies on the table, a nibbled on it a little before chucking it at the trash can.
"These things taste like shit" She said
"i thought they were pretty good--"
"Shut up Zac," Stina said cutting him off. The front door opened and in walked Dr Starrdust and Frankie, their shoulders lightly covered in snow.
"Geez, it's really coming down out there" Dr Starrdust said, shaking his snowcovered coat and forming a pile of snow on the hardwood floor. Frankie followed his example.
"Mom's gonna be pissed when she sees that" Stina said. A small smile spread over her face as an idea dawned on her.
"Um, Dad?" Stina called.
"Yes?"
"Come in here, i need to ask you something"
"What? Oh hi Zac, I didn't even noticed you were here." Dr Starrdust said, entering the kitchen. Zac smiled in reply.
"Can I go over to Zac's house, and then you can pick me up on the way to Aunt Laura's?"
"Sure! Oh wait, did you ask your mother?" Dr Starrdust said, taking a gingerbread man off the tray. Stina thought for a second before answering.
"Yes...She told me it was ok with her if it's ok with you," She said slowly. She felt guilty for lieing, but it's not like anything extremely bad would result from this, right?
"Then i don't see why not. As long as you bring your good clothes to change into. We'll probably pick you up around 4:45, so be changed and ready to go when we get there," Dr Starrdust said, taking another cookie.
"Ok, but i don't know what I'm wearing yet"
"Oh that's real bright sweetheart. Go upstairs and find something, and then I'll drive you over"
"That's ok, Ike can drive me. Zac will call him once I pick out what I'm gonna wear, ok?"
"K, sounds good. Have fun" Dr Starrdust said, retreating with the newspaper into the bathroom. Stina smiled at Zac.
"See? Whoever said 'you can't always get what you want' obviously never met me"
"MERRY CHRISTMAS HANSON FAMILY!" Stina yelled as she entered the Hanson household. She could smell cookies baking. Mrs hanson came out of the kitchen laughing.
"Merry Christmas to you too sweetie!" She said hugging Christina.
"Those cookies smell great!" Stina exclaimed.
"Thank you, I hope they taste just as good. I had a little accident with the eggs, but oh well" Mrs hanson said, looking down at her apron which had obvious stains from egg yolks. Stina laughed. Mrs Hanson returned to the kitchen.
"Where is everyone?" Stina asked. Usually the Hanson house was alive with hyper children.
"Dad took Jessica, Avie, and Mackie over to my cousin Spencer's house already to keep them out of Mom's hair. Ike and Mara are still out in the car, and Taylor's probably in our room," Zac said, taking his coat off and throwing it on the sofa. He headed in the direction of his room, and Stina followed. Zac knocked on the closed door.
"Yes?" Tay's voice called.
"Can I come in?"
"No"
"What are you doing?"
"Attempting to wrap gifts"
"Are you done with mine?"
"Yes"
"Then why can't i come in?"
"Cuz you'll destract me and i need to consentrate. Wrapping gifts gets more complicated every year"
"Well where are Stina and i supposed to go?"
"Stina's with you?" Tay said, suddenly perky.
"Hey Tay" Stina called. Tay's heart began to race. This was going to be the first time he was seeing her since he had decided to quit liking her. This was like quitting smoking, and then suddenly being surrounded by people smoking after going 3 months without even smelling a cigarette. This would do one of two things...1- Cure him totally of any left over feelings from his obsession. Or 2- Cause him to go into total relapse and be even more in love than he was before. Tay took a deep breath and crossed the room to open the door. 'Oh god, please don't let her be wearing anything tight. Please don't let her be wearing anything tight. Please-' Tay thought over and over in his head. He took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and pulled it open.
"Hey! Long time no see!" Stina exclaimed smiling. 'DAMNIT!! DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT!' the little voice in Taylor's head exclaimed. She was hotter than he remembered. She was wearing a tight lowcut red shirt and dark blue JNCO flares. Her chunky Steve madden shoes made her at least 5'5" and made her legs look endless. Her golden blonde hair was pulled half up, and the way the light in the hall was hitting it, it looked strawberry blonde. A few strands that had escaped from the scrunchie were falling in her eyes. Tay realized her hair must still be angled, cuz the rest of her hair was a few inches past her shoulders. Her light blue eyes were lined with silver eyeliner, and her eyelids were lightly powdered with glittery white eyeshadow which sparkled every time she blinked. Her clear lip gloss made her lips look shiny and smooth and very inviting, completeing the ensemble. if this has been the smoking situation, Taylor would have had about 5 cigarettes in his mouth right now.
"Tay? You alive?" Stina said laughing.
"Oh, yeah, sorry! it's just-um-everytime i see you itz like you've changed even more!" Tay stuttered. Zac glared at him. He didn't like the way Taylor was acting.
"Well, maybe I have changed! hey, no hug?" Stina asked.
"Awww, come here" Tay said, opening his arms. They embraced in a long hug, while Zac ground his teeth.
"Tay, you have Scotch tape in your hair," Stina said laughing, as she attempted to pull out the long piece of tape stuck in Taylor's long blonde hair.
"Ow ow ow ow!" taylor exclaimed
"Get it out yourself, I don't want to hurt you" Stina said, giving up. Zac chewed noisily on the peppermint gum he had just put in his mouth. He noticed how Tay seemed to be inching closer and closer to Stina. 'Taylor, if you know whats good for you you'll back off...' Zac thought to himself. Tay ripped the tape out of his hair.
"Oh good job Tay. I could have done that," Stina said laughing. Tay smiled.
"Thank you, thank you. i know I'm wonderful. hey, you smell really good," He said leaning in towards her and sniffing her neck. Zac balled his fists and chewed louder on his gum.
"Thanks. It's GAP Dream"
"i see your still wearing this" Tay said, gently tugging on the choker he had given her. Stina smiled and blushed.
"I haven't taken it off since you gave it to me" She said.
"Really?" Tay said, his eyes lighting up. Christina nodded. Zac was done listening.
"Hel-lo? Let's not forget about Zac!" He said, waving his hand between Tay and Stina. Tay laughed.
"Sorry Zac" He said.
"Looks like you made a grand mess," Zac said bitterly, looking around the room. There was wrapping paper all over the floor. Tay had a stack of gifts on his bed, and also an unwrapped coloring book and play-dough kit.
"Who's the coloring book and play-dough for?" Zac asked.
"Sorry Zac, they're not for you. They're for Avery" Tay joked.
"Ha ha, so funny. Smart ass" Zac said, glaring at Tay.
"God Zac, i was kidding. Sheesh" Tay replied.
"Come on Stina, let's go watch TV," Zac said. He took her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room, his eyes never leaving Tay. If looks could kill, Taylor would have been 6 feet under.
As Stina and Zac sat watching a Gilligan's Island rerun, Stina could feel Zac's eyes practically burning a hole in the side of her head. She tried to ignore it, but gave up.
"Yes?" She said turning to Zac.
"Nothing"
"No, somethings wrong. You've been glaring at me for the past 15 minutes"
"No i haven't"
"Yes you have"
"You haven't even looked over at me in the past 15 minutes" Zac said stubbornly.
"And how would you know that if you hadn't been watching me for the past 15 minutes, eh?" Stina shot back. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, but when a commercial break came on, Zac broke the pause in conversation.
"i know you like him"
"Like who?"
"Tay"
"What makes you think that?" Stina asked, shocked.
"Because of how much you were flirting"
"I flirt all the time"
"You didn't used to"
"Well i do now. People change Zac"
"Yeah, well your new group of trashy friends doesn't help either. I gotta thank Eric for introducing you to them" Zac said sarcastically.
"Don't you drag my friends...OUR friends...into this. And where do you get off calling your own friends trashy?"
"When you start acting like this, thats where"
"You don't own me! You stuck up superstar. You're letting fame go to your head"
"How can I NOT let fame go to my head? Do you know how many girls out there want to get laid by me? BUT the only girl I want to get laid with is flirting with my dickhead brother right in front of me..." Zac said trailing off. That last sentence had come out all by itself.
"I-I-I-I need to use to bathroom," Stina said, rushing out of the room. Zac sighed. Ike and Mara entered the front door.
"Were you out in the car that whole time?" Zac exclaimed.
"Uh, yeah. We needed a quiet place to-uh-catch up on what we've missed" Isaac stuttered.
"Isaac, you don't have to hide things from me, itz not like I'm going to run off and broadcast to the world that you and Mara were getting it on in the family car"
"But we weren't!" Ike exclaimed. Zac smirked.
"Surrrrre" Zac said. Torturing Ike always helped cheering him up. Isaac tried to come up with a comeback, but sicne his mind was blank he decided it was best to just pull Mara towards his room. On the way down the hall they passed Tay.
"Where are you going?" Ike asked.
"Bathroom. Someones a little nosy today" Tay said, looking at Ike funny. It's not everyday when you're asked where you're going in your own house. The bathroom door was closed so Tay knocked.
"Yes?"
"Oh sorry Stina, I didn't know you were in there. i can wait" Tay said. the door opened.
"No, that's ok, i wasn't using the toilet or anything" Stina said.
"So you were just kind of sitting in there doing nothing?"
"Basically"
"And the point of that was...?"
"To avoid Zac"
"Ah, I see...well, um I'd love to stay and chat but nature is calling..." Tay said motioning to his pants.
"Thank you for being so graphic"
"Sorry. if you need to hide out just go into my room. I'll be in there in a second"
"Ok, thanks tay" Stina said, heading for Tay's room. The door was open a crack, so Stina figured there was no need to knock. She opened the door all the way, and immidiatly wished she hadn't done that.
"Oh, um, hey Stina...I haven't seen you in a while" Ike rambled. He was on top on Mara, and when Stina has first entered the room, Ike and Mara had been hooking up and his hands were up her shirt.
"Yeah, and i was just leaving..." Stina said, quickly turning around and shutting the door behind her.
"Damnit Isaac, I told you to lock the door" Mara said. Ike shrugged and the two returned to their previous activity.
Seeing as though she had no other option, Stina returned to the living room to watch Gilligans Island with Zac.
"I'm sorry" Zac said, not looking up. Stina couldn't help smiling. The way he had said it, he sounded like a weak little boy, apologizing to his mother for doing something horrible.
"Oh, Zac. It's ok. I understand now. A little more than I wanted to understand, but at least I understand" Stina said laughing. Zac blushed and the two hugged. Stina heard the bathroom door open and tay begin down the hall.
"OH MY GOD IKE! What are you doing to her?" Taylor exclaimed. Christina couldn't help laughing, she probably should have warned Tay on her way into the living room...Mrs Hanson came out of the kitchen wiping her hands with a dish rag.
"Should i go check on Ike and mara?" She asked to no one in particular, raising and eyebrow. "No, i trust my sons judgement. i trust all my children. I have very good children..." She said, wandering back into the kitchen.
"Is she always that frightening?" Stina joked.
"No, but she has the tendency to talk to herself when she's nervous. And she's very paranoid about the cookies..." Zac said. Stina noticed the credits for Gilligans Island rolling. She looked at her watch. It was only 3:30, she had thought it was later.
"Goodness gracious, look at how much snow is out there!" Mrs Hanson exclaimed from the kitchen. She hurried into the living room, talking to herself again.
"Jesus, it must be like a foot and a half out there...and itz coming down harder now! Oh no! What if they close the roads? i know! I'll drive everyone over now! oh but who will watch the cookies? Oh i know! Christina and Zac can stay home and make sure the house doesn't burn down since her parents aren't coming til like 5 anyway. And i can drop mara off on the way to Spencer's house and after i drop everone off at Spencer's i can drive home, get the cookies and drive Zac over since stina's parents will be here by then...Perfect! Genius plan Diana!" Mrs Hanson said to herself so quickly, Zac and Stina could hardly understand her. She ran off down the hall yelling orders to the other occupants of the house.
A few minutes later, ike, mara, Taylor and Mrs Hanson were all running out the door.
"I'll be back, just make sure the cookies don't burn ok?" Mrs Hanson said to Zac. Zac nodded. Diana opened the door and stepped outside. She sunk into the snow up to around her knee.
"Oh my Lord! I'm stuck!" She cried.
"Mom, calm down, just take big steps and you'll be fine" Ike said, shoving everyone outside and closing the door behing him.
"Ah, alone at last," Zac said, putting his feet on the coffee table.
"i thought your mom was about to have a heart attack," Stina said laughing. Zac just smiled. He stood up and crossed the room to join Christina on the couch. he put his arm around her. She happily rested her head on his shoulder. They sat silently watching another rerun of Gilligans Island, and Stina dozed off to sleep.
"Christina. Wake up." Zac said gently shaking her awake.
"What time is it?" Stina groaned sleepily.
"It's 4:30. My Mom still isn't back yet," Zac said.
"Uh oh. That can't be good," Stina said sitting up. She looked out the window.
"Damn," she said in amazement. It didn't even look like it was snowing anymore. it looked like someone had draped a white sheet from the clouds that fell down the ground. The houses across the street weren't even visible anymore through the thickness of the falling snow.
"Holy shit" Zac said, joining her at the window. He ran to the front door and pulled it open. His jaw dropped.
"Stina..." he called. his tone of voice sounded frightened. stina looked past him and out the door. The snow was about 1/2 the way up the screen door.
"Shit shit SHIT" Stina said. i gotta call my mom," She said running to the phone. She was greeted with no dial tone.
"Damnit, the phones are dead" She said. Zac turned the radio on and put it on the news station.
"...Police are still looking for suspects. If you know anything about anyone involved in this case, please call our toll free number, 1-888-555-5555. On the subject of traffic, most major roads have been closed down including Plymouth Avenue, Washinton Parkway, and Falcon Boulavard. They will be reopened by tomorrow morning according to police, and they apologize for any interference this may cause with your holiday plans. Another foot of snow is expected by midnight, so Hanson's new Christmas album won't be the only thing that's Snowed In around here. Hee hee, sorry, just a little Christmas disaster humor there..." The announcer said. Zac shut the radio off.
"Well, this is just wonderful. if Falcon is closed, then neither of our parents are gonna be able to get here," Stina said, flopping on the couch. Zac sighed.
"Well, I guess we should look on the bright side of things. At least we aren't alone" Zac said sitting down next to her. She smiled.
"I'm cold," Stina whined, suddenly realizing how freezing she was.
"I am too. I have a heater in my room, we'll be warmer if we go in there..."
An hour later, the two were still lieing under a blanket next to the heater in Zac's room.
"2?"
"No"
"Uhhh, 7?"
"No"
"30?"
"Zac you retard, I told you, the number I'm thinking of is between 1 and 20" Stina said.
"i don't wanna play this anymore, it's making my brain hurt" Zac said, rubbing his head. Stina lay her head on Zac's chest.
"I'm so tired" She said yawning
"Ahhh! That's one of the first signs that your about to freeze to death!" Zac exclaimed.
"Don't worry sweetheart, I think I'm just sleep deprived," Stina said sitting up. She arched her back, trying to wake up. Zac had a sudden wave of confidence.
"Stina?"
"What?"
"I want you"
"You what?" Stina asked, sure she had heard him wrong.
"I um, want you, um, to know how much i, um, am glad you're here with me" Zac said.
"Oh. Thanks" Stina said. She sounded dissapointed, but Zac wasn't sure why she would be dissapointed.
"You don't sound too thrilled" Zac said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, it's just I thought you said--oh forget it. I'm tired, I'm going to sleep," Stina said as she closed her eyes. Zac just sighed.
"Zac?" Stina called, confused. She sat up and yawned. She was lieing in Zac's bed, with no sign of Zac. She was sure she had fallen asleep on the floor, with Zac right next to her. She stood up and walked out into the hall.
"Zac?" She called again. A piece of paper stuck to the bathroom door caught her eye. She walked over to read it. 'STINA ~ FOLLOW THE SIGNS TO FIND ME AND YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT. THE NEXT SIGN IS IN THE KITCHEN, IN THE FREEZER: THE ONLY PLACE COLDER THAN THE REST OF THE HOUSE'. Stina sighed.
"Zac, I'm really not in the mood for this" She called. No response. Stina knew she wasn't going to find him until she played along with his little game, so reluctantly she walked into the kitchen and pulled open the freezer. Taped to a fruit cake was a piece of paper. 'HA HA. GOOD GIRL. YOUR PLAYING ALONG. TRUST ME, YOU WONT BE SORRY ONCE YOU GET YOUR GIFT (I HOPE). THE NEXT CLUE IS IN THE SHOWER (WISH I COULD GO IN TO FIND IT WITH YOU, HA HA. JUST JOKING. SORT OF...)'. Stina crossed the house and entered the bathroom, pulling back the shower curtain. 'SORRY BABE, I KNOW YOUR PROBABLY FINDING THIS VERY UNAMUSING. SO I'LL KEEP THIS SHORT. YOUR LAST CLUE IS ON THE TV'. Once again, Christina crossed the house and into the living room. On the TV was a piece of paper (what a suprise). 'YOU'LL FIND ME (AND YOUR GIFT) IN THE CLOSET IN MY ROOM. HA HA, I'M TAKING U BACK TO WHERE U STARTED'.
"Sped. Why must he always be so difficult?" Stina said to herself and she walked back into Zac's room. She hesitated before opening the closet door, half expecting to find Zac standing there naked with a bow around his neck. She smirked thinking of how she would actually enjoy that. She opened the closet, and Zac was standing there smiling (fully clothed...damnit!).
"Merry Christmas," He said smiling. He took her hand and led her to his trundel bed.
"Sit down," Zac said. She did as he said. He sat down next to her.
"Look up," He said. Stina looked up to see that she was sitting directly under mistletoe taped to the ceiling. She smiled.
"Zac-"
"Shhh," He said softly, putting his finger to her lips to quiet her. He gently slid his hand under her chin and just stared into her crystal blue eyes.
"Zac, what are you doing?" Stina asked, grinning. She knew very well what he was doing, but couldn't think of anything else to say.
"What I should have done back in September when we were playing truth or dare in the treehouse," Zac said, closing his eyes and leaning in. When there lips met, it was like years of waiting for this moment was being released for both of them. Zac kissed so naturally, like he did it everyday, even though Stina knew this was his first kiss. 'Must be all the singing he does,' she thought to herself. Zac's tongue moved all around her mouth. Across her teeth, and along the sides and roof of her mouth too as Stina did the same to him. Zac had the urge to go up her shirt, but stopped himself. He knew she would let him, but he decided to save that for another time. Instead, Zac gently began laying her back onto the bed. He wasn't sure what he was gonna do once he had her in this position, but he knew he liked it better. Zac carfully stradeled her, still consentrating on kissing her passionately. Stina pushed him away.
"Damnit Zac, if we were older I would beg you to fuck me," She panted. They had been kissing for 5 minutes straight without realizing that neither of them were getting enough air.
"Hey, if we were older you wouldn't have to beg becuz I'd already be doing it," Zac said laughing.
"Your a horny little devil tonite," Stina joked
"I can't help it" Zac said looking at her innocently. She laughed and grabbed him by the shirt so she could pull him down to kiss her again.
"And you're calling ME the horny little devil," Zac said once the kiss ended.
"Zac sweetie, that's nothing. You have missed out on a LOT since you've been gone. Eric isn't the only one of our friends that isn't a virgin, everyone else has been a little busy too..."
"Are you saying you're not a virgin??"
"NO! You totally misunderstood that...i wanna wait until I'm older or until I'm sure I'm in love. I'm just saying that kissing isn't as much as you may think it is"
"I'm still not following..."
"Oh Zac just shut up. It's not important"
"Now I'm confused"
"Dumb blonde"
"Hey! Shut up! You're blond too! Now tell me what you meant by that" Zac said.
"I honestly didn't mean anything by it. i guess if I had to give it a meaning, it would be that I meant that I can do a lot more than kissing once you have me warmed up. Or something like that" Stina said laughing. She had no clue what she was talking about, and she didn't care.
"SO much trouble. You have no idea how much trouble you're in," Mrs Starrdust said wringing her hands, pacing back and forth in front of Stina.
"Ok, sorry, can we open the gifts now?" Christina asked, anxiously eyeing the gifts under the Christmas tree. it was 11:30 in the morning on Christmas morning. The roads had reopened at 6:00AM, and the Starrdust's had been at the Hanson house at about 7:30 to pick Stina up. The Hanson family arrived just as the Starrdust's were leaving, and Mrs Hanson couldn't quit apologizing for Stina and Zac having to spend the night alone.
"You're not taking me seriously!" Mrs Starrdust yelled.
"Yes i am, I'm just being distracted by something i find more important"
"I can't believe i let you talk to me this way" Mrs Starrdust said sighing.
"Right right, can I open the gifts now?"
"You and Zac were left ALONE. Overnight. Zac's a sweet boy, and i trust you not to do anything you'd regret. That's not what I'm worried about. What if someone had broken in and murdered you? A psycho fan that was jealous cuz you were with 'her man'?" Mrs Starrdust said. Stina held back a smile when her mother said she trusted her. She and Zac had slept in his bed. They hadnt done anything more but kissing, but her parents still would have thrown a fit.
"Mom, not even 'psycho fans' attempt to kill people in like 10 feet of snow"
"You never know. I've watched those girls on TV. I'm sorry, but i am terrified of them. have you heard them scream? Have you? HAVE YOU??"
"Yup, open presents now?"
"Fine, go ahead," Mrs Starrdust said giving up. Stina, Dr Starrdust, and Frankie all dove for their gifts. There were tons of gifts under the tree, but Stina knew that nothing under there was gonna be as good of a gift as what Zac "gave her" the night before.
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Back to *~Christina's Hanson Cloud~*
On to Chapter 13