Right In Front of Me (Finished)

Chapter 27: Santa Will Solve it All

Two days later, I am awaken by Greyson jumping on my bed. I can not even tell you how tired I am. It's 9:00. And it's Christmas break. "What the hell, Greyson?" I grumble. "Geez, Avalon. Good morning to you too. Now wake up. We have places to be. Get up, get dressed; we're going to the mall." He demands, hopping off of my bed. "And, uh, dress... Christmas-y." He adds. I throw the covers over my head for a few seconds, then throw them back, hopping up and over to my closet. I take forever picking out what to wear, but I am overall very pleased with what I chose.
        When we are both ready, we go to my kitchen, scarf down some waffles my mom was making, eat some bacon, and we are out the door. It turns out, Greyson wanted to visit Santa at the mall.
        "I used to do this every year with my family, " I tell Greyson as we jump out of the truck which is now in the JC Penny parking lot, the cold wind slapping us in the face. "This year, though, my family is too busy."
        "I went as a kid, but I haven't been in so long." Greyson tells me. I feel bad for him. I went just last year, and this is the first year my whole family couldn't go altogether. He hasn't been in years.
        Suddenly, I remember that Greyson said the other day that he had to ask Hallie something, so he drove with her. I haven't even asked what yet. "Oh, yeah! Grey, so what happened the other night when-," I get cut off by Greyson yelling, "Santa, here we come! We can talk about that later; right now let's just focus on getting into the Christmas spirit!" I go along with it. My question probably requires a whole conversation about it, and I don't want to ruin this moment he wants so bad.
        We walk into the Mall, instantly hearing one of my favorite Christmas songs; 'White Christmas' By Michael Buble and Shania Twain. I love Shania Twain so much. We run to the center of the Mall singing along.
        In the Mall Center, there is a white picket fence around the Santa area. There is fake snow everywhere, and Christmas lights hanging from the fake penguins. There is even a guy playing guitar on a small stage, singing Christmas tunes. There is a giant, tall, white gazebo In the middle of it all, sprayed with sparkly fake snow. Inside of it is a huge red and green cushioned bench attached to the edge of the gazebo, with a basket of white and cherry lollipops. Most importantly, on the bench sits a potbellied, white bearded, cheerily smiling Santa Claus. As a kid I found it amazing that he traveled right here just to see me and ask in detail what I want for Christmas, even though he already had to know, since he was Santa after all. Now, I find it creepy that a bunch of parents are letting their children sit on some fat, obviously unhealthy, stranger's lap. I tell Greyson that and he replies, "I know! I mean, 'he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake'?! Why do people encourage this?" We laugh, and I look over to a giant mailbox that is supposed to trick kids into thinking that their letters go to the North Pole if they drop them in there. Just for giggles, I go over there while Greyson holds our spot in line to see Santa. I pick up a piece of paper with snowflakes decorating it, and a pen with a big snowman on the top of it. I write:

        Dear Santa,

                My name is Avalon Starr. I live in Gainesville, Virginia and I am 17 years old. I have had quite the past few months, full of drama and betrayal, not that the betrayal part is over yet. I can tell you about it, can't I? Promise you won't tell the elves? I don't want them to get the wrong idea about me. But you I can trust. You see, I was always really unpopular, and my only friend, Eliot Mae Greene, she moved away. So during last summer, I was super scared for school. I had no idea how I would fit in without any friends. But that's when I met Greyson.
                Greyson Montana is my best friend now. He moved into the house behind mine, and since our bedroom windows were only about eight feet away from each other, we became really best friends. We talked about popularity and how he was popular when I wasn't. We decided, to help me become popular and to win the guy I had been crushing on for months, that he would give me a makeover. And it sure worked.
                I dated Hayden Diamond, the hottest guy in school, and I became super popular. Greyson even won Hayden's best friend, Hallie Landen, and they began dating. But... eventually I couldn't live with the guilt of pretending to be someone I wasn't. So I told Hayden the truth. He broke up with me. I kinda had a breakdown after that. Even at school. I lost my social status completely. People made fun of me, stared, called me terrible things and, thankfully, my true friends stood up for me.
                But now... I am afraid I may have feelings for Greyson. Which is terrible, because I am best friends with Hallie, as well. But I'm not totally sure how loyal she is being to Greyson. I saw her with Hayden the other day, and it sorta looked like they had just done something bad. I'm not completely sure if it was what I think it was, so don't go putting coal in their stockings. They are good people. I am just a little stuck. Plus, now I don't really have a Prom date, since Hayden and I broke up.
                But please, get Greyson something super special for Christmas; he totally deserves it. And me... I have no idea what I want. I don't think I really deserve anything for some reason. I just feel like I have been completely selfish. Greyson has been so selfless and doing all of these things for me. I feel like I just owe it to him to get him something amazing. Any ideas?!
Much Love and Thanks,
Avalon Starr


        I write my address on the blue envelope, put the letter inside and for some reason, I kiss the envelope before dropping it in the mail box. I don't expect a response; I know Santa isn't for real. But I just felt like I needed to vent the whole situation to someone not included in it all.
        I walk back over to Greyson. "What were you doing over there for so long?" He asks me. I shrug. "Just writing to Santa." I say simply. He leans in closer, says, "You do know that Santa Claus isn't real... right?" A kid behind us starts crying. "Mama, he said Santa isn't... isn't real! Is that true?!" Greyson says sorry to the kid's mother, who is now telling her child, "Oh, Benny, of course Santa Claus is real. Why, he's right up there!" She glares at Greyson. He puts his arms in the air defensively. Benny cries out, "IF HE'S REAL THEN WHY WOULD HE SAY HE'S NOT REAL?!" He continues to cry, and I whisper to Greyson, "Of course I know that. I just wanted to write a letter. You know, for fun." He nods, still confused. "Did you write about me?!" He suddenly asks, turning his head to look at me.
"Maybe..."
"Well, what did you write?!"
"You mean if I wrote about you?"
"Yes..."
"Oh, well, that was just between me and Ol' Santy Claus."
Greyson just sighs.
        It's our turn. We walk up to Santa. I sit of the cushioned bench beside him, Greyson on the other side. Santa shakes his head at me and pats his lap. This is just wrong. He is in his seventies, and I am seventeen. I should not have to sit on his lap. But I do it anyway.
        "Well, what's your name, darlin'?" Santa asks me. "Avalon." I answer. "Oh, what a pretty name for a pretty girl, Avalon! Say, how old are you?" He asks. "I say I'm seventeen." I tell him. "Ho ho ho, this is a smart one here." He says to Greyson pointing at me. Greyson laughs and says, "Oh yes, sir. Very smart, this one. She's also a great singer." I glare at Greyson. He did that on purpose. He knew what Santa would do if he heard that. "Ho ho, are you now? Well, why don't you sing old Santa Claus a song." He says to me. "Oh, you don't wanna hear that." I assure him. "Why, yes I do! That's why I said so! You can't be any worse than Mrs. Claus." He says back. I sigh, say okay.
"Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?
In the lane, snow is glistenin'.
It's a beautiful sight, we're happy tonight.
Walkin' in a winter wonderland.
Gone away is the blue bird.
Here to stay is the new bird,
Who sings a love song as we go along,
Walkin' in a winter wonderland.
Walking... in a winter... wonderland!"
        At the last line, Santa joined in and we harmonized. We all laugh, and I catch Grey recording us. "Greyson!" I shout, still with a smile on my face. Santa laughs, says, "My, my, my, Avalon! That was fantastic! We could use you down in the workshop, keepin' the mood light and happy with your beautiful voice." I blush. "Thank you, Santa." He waves a hand to dismiss the idea that he was just being nice. He meant it.
        "So, Greyson, what would you like for Christmas, sonny?" Santa asks. I try not to laugh at his use of the word 'sonny'. Greyson responds, "Well, you know, health, happiness and blah blah blah... but, "he looks at me, "what I really want... is happiness for others. My best friends... and Avalon. And, well, what I really want for Christmas? I'm pretty sure you can figure that one out yourself, can't you Santa?" He looks at Santa and slaps him on the back. Santa says, "Ho ho ho, now Greyson..." he looks back and forth between us, "I have a pretty solid idea what you want. Avalon? How 'bout you, sweetheart?" He looks at me.
        I look at Greyson, then back at Santa. "What do I want?" I pause. "I want to be able to pay Greyson back for all of the amazing things he's done for me. He saved me. And... I have no idea how to pay him back for that. I want, also, just... for me to understand what my next step is." He nods. "Good choice. I can't guarantee that you will find those under you tree, but I can promise that you will get what you wish for." He looks at each of us for a few moments, then offers us some lollipops. We each take one. We have Benny's mother take some pictures of us on our phones. Then I get up from his lap, and Greyson from the bench. We smile at Santa who says, "Merry Christmas to the both of ya." We smile and walk away. I turn and look back at Santa to see him wink at me. I blow him a kiss, and catch up with Greyson.

        We go shopping for hours, getting presents for our families, Hallie, Yolanda, Taylor, Lana, Mercedes, Jackson, Mason, and Hayden. We didn't get presents for each other when we were there; we wanted those to be a surprise. We are sitting, eating Chinese food in the food court. I ask Greyson about the other night again. He sighs and looks down.
        "I broke up with Hallie." He told me. I drop my honey-seared chicken and chop sticks. "You what?!" I ask. "Yeah..." He says.
"Why?!"
"I... okay, the truth is... I never liked her in the first place. I-I mean, I grew to like her, but... it was just like with you and Hayden. I was pretending and it wasn't fair to Hallie."
My mouth drops opens. "Then why did you tell me you liked her?"
"I-I don't know. You asked me who I liked... and I thought that I had to have an answer. I just said the first name that popped into my head. I couldn't go back after that. Then you wanted to set us up... and I just sorta went with it hoping that I would end up liking her as much as you thought I did."
"Well, if you grew to like her, then how was it pretending?"
"Because, yes, I liked her... but I also cared about her too much to keep it going when... when I didn't like her as much anymore."
***Greyson's POV***
Avalon says, "Did you tell her this?"
I couldn't tell her the real reason I broke up with her. Yes, I still have a little bit of feelings left for her, but I couldn't be with Hallie when I really just wanted to go out with Avalon. I tell Avalon, "No. I just told her I thought we should break up."
"And then?"
"And then... she said, 'Is this because of Hayden and I? Oh, I knew you would see us sneak off earlier. Greyson, I'm so sorry.' I told her I didn't know what she meant. Then she came clean. She said that when she was at Hayden's house helping him after you and him broke up... they kinda kissed. And she said she didn't feel right about it, but that then a few nights ago, they were studying for Mid-terms and they hooked up then."
"Wait, what's your definition of hooking up?"
"Just like making out and stuff, and maybe like in their underwear or something, but she said they didn't get that far. They were just, like, using their tongues and all. And apparently, they hooked up and The Snow Ball, too."
"I know." She said.
"You wh-" She cuts me off.
"Yolanda and I saw them sneak out of the Janitor's closet together. But I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure if it was what I thought it was. I wanted to give it a chance to not be true. I didn't want to freak you out, because I thought you really liked her." She explains.
I nod. "Yeah, so, I told her that I thought we should definitely break up then."
She asks, "Did she ask why you thought you should break up in the first place?"
"No, thank God. I don't know what I would've told her."
There is a silence. She breaks it, saying, "So what now? Here we are, back where we started, And all we got out of it all was some heartbreak and a few good memories."
I take her hand. "I think we got more than that out of it." She smiles, but I don't think she knows what I mean, or why I grabbed her hand. She probably doesn't know how much I love her.

        We walk around skipping and holding hands, just being goofy. We run into Sears, and we are laughing and walking through the bed section. We jump on a few beds, and when we jump off and continue walking is when I see the horror in Avalon's eyes. I look where she's looking, and I see it. On the bed about seven yards away is Hayden and Hallie making out. I look over at Avalon, whose breathing is quickening. "Hallie? Hayden?" She breathes out. They both look up, shocked, and sit up. Hallie slides off of Hayden. "Avalon, we-," Hallie is cut off by Avalon screaming, "No, don't! Don't even try to..." She doesn't finish what she is saying. She runs out of the store.