Fell In Love With My Best Friend.

Christmas Break

It was the first day of Christmas break, and Liam couldn't be happier. That morning he woke up and went straight to Erica's house. He was hoping to spend his whole Christmas break with Erica, I mean why not? She's a lovely person and he likes her so it's all good. When he knocked on the door, he heard someone walking down the stairs, and when someone finally answered the door, he saw a very annoyed Erica.
"Why are you here this early in the morning?" she demanded.

 "I would rather explain it to you inside. It's sorta cold out here," Liam said, shivering.

 Erica rolled her eyes and headed back upstairs, and once she got in her room, she jumped in bed. Liam laughed which caused Erica to sit up again. "What's wrong with you? Why are you here anyways?"

 "I thought you would've liked to see your boyfriend," he teased.

 "We've been dating for a month."

 "So? We're still dating," he said, walking closer to her bed.

 "Yeah we are..." she admitted, sighing.

 "Oh? You're not happy with me here? I guess I can just leave..."

 "No. Just.. I'm still tired, Liam. You woke me up at 8 in the morning, and I can guarantee you that if you would've woke my parents..."

 "I would've been dead."

 "Exactly."

 Liam laughed and sat next to her. "What do you want for Christmas?"

 "Christmas?"

 "Yeah. You know the day that's coming up in 5 days..." Liam said, looking at her weirdly.

 Erica punched him in the arm. "I know that idiot. I'm just wondering why you want to know what I want for Christmas. You're only 12, it's not like you can get anything."

 He shook his head and couldn't help but smile. "Really? You think because I'm 12, that I'm not able to get you something for Christmas?"

 "Yeah," she said in a 'duh' tone. "My family gets me what I want."

We'll see... "Erica, I'll get you something for Christmas. You'll see."

 "Whatever you say, Liam. Can I go back to bed now?" she asked.

 Liam sighed and said, "I guess so. I have to get going anyways." Hoping Erica would stop him, he stood up and walked toward the door, but she didn't stop him. She fell asleep as soon as her face hit the pillow.

***

"So...You want me to go to the store and buy Erica a Christmas sweater?" Liam's mom asked him.

 "Yes. I need to get something for her for Christmas, but I'm not old enough to have any money. I only have a few dollars from tooth fairy money, which my friend broke the truth to me 3 years ago..." Liam said, losing his concentration, thinking about the day Bradley told him the tooth fairy wasn't real. He realized he was off topic, so he shook himself and turned back to his mom.
"Anyways, just a sweater. Maybe some cookies," he said, smiling sweetly and innocently.

 "Okay Liam. I'll buy her a sweater," his mom said, sighing.

 "Thanks Mum!" Liam hugged his mum and smiled.
His mom laughed and said, "You're welcome. Are you going to get your two sisters something for Christmas too?"

 "Isn't that the parents' job?"

 "Liam..." she warned.

 "Okay. Get them both teddy bears, but not the same color."

 His mom shook her head and sighed. "Okay Liam..." she said, sighing a sigh of defeat. "You're a pain, you know that, right?"

 "You asked for this."

 "To have an annoying son? I don't remember that one."

 "Don't do the crime if you don't do the time," Liam said, winking at his mother.

 "Liam, that was just awful."

 Liam laughed and grabbed his coat while running out the door to Erica's house. "See you later, Mum. Thanks."

 "Man. I swear he spends more time over there than at his own home," she said out loud to herself. She watched him run down the sidewalk, knocking on Erica's door as soon as he got there. Then, she saw him walk in, shaking the snow off his shoes before walking in. At least he still has manners over there.

***

It was the day of Christmas, and Erica woke up at 8:30 a.m. with happiness. She ran downstairs, but her parents weren't down there. However, she still walked into the living room, and there before her was a colorful Christmas Tree with a bunch of presents under it. She smiled and sat down next to the Christmas tree as she looked at all the presents. There was more presents than there were last year. Last year, her dad wasn't working much and neither was her mother, so there wasn't any money to buy a lot of things. This year was different because he got this job, and her mom was babysitting on weekends to get some more money. She picked up a present that was in the far back, and she was shocked. It was from Liam and his family. I didn't know he was actually going to get me something, she thought to herself as she started to take off the bow. She dropped the present on the floor once she heard her parents coming downstairs, so she put the present back and pretended to be admiring the Christmas tree.

 "Someone's eager," Mrs. Blake said, smiling as she sat down on the floor next to Erica.

  "Maybe a little," Erica admitted.

 "Where's Liam?" Mr. Blake asked.

 "He does have his own family, Dad," Erica said, giggling.

 "Right... Okay, let's get some breakfast."

 "But..." Erica said, looking at the presents.

 "You know the rules. Breakfast first," Mrs. Blake said, helping Erica off the floor. Erica sighed and walked into the dining room and sat down. "Do you want cereal or pancakes?"

 "You know I only like my pancakes one way."

 "I know. Chocolate chips," Mrs. Blake sighed.

 Erica smiled. "We can have the pancakes since Liam is still with his family opening presents,"
Erica decided. So it was settled. They spent the next hour eating pancakes and going through their stockings, but they didn't open any of the presents yet. Erica wanted to wait for Liam, but it was already 10:00 and he still wasn't here. Erica was starting to get worried, so she went upstairs and called him.

 "Hello?" It wasn't Liam. It was another guy's voice.

 "Hey. I was looking for Liam."

 "I bet you were. My son is a fine boy. May I ask who's calling, love?"

 "My name is Erica. I'm Liam's best friend."

 "I'll go get him for you."

 Erica nodded as he heard the guy, who was supposed to be Liam's father, call for Liam. "Your best friend is on the phone. She says her name is Erica." For some reason, he pronounced it like Ee-rica. Erica just shrugged while she waited for someone to come back on the line.

 "Erica?"

 "Are you still coming over? I've been waiting for 2 hours."

 "Oh, sorry about that. I was going to. My dad just came over at short notice, and I've been hanging out with him. I got distracted, but yeah I'll be right over."
"Okay. You don't have to. You can spend time with your dad since he hasn't been with you for long."

 "No it's okay. He'll be here all Christmas vacation."

 "We go back January 4th."

 "I know. I know."

 "Okay... I'm going to start opening presents downstairs now."

 "You haven't opened your presents yet?"

 "I told you I was waiting for you."

 "Oh...right. You should've opened your presents awhile ago. I'm sorry...I should've called."

 "It's fine. I'll see you later."

 "Okay. Bye."

 Erica put her phone in her pocket and ran back downstairs. "There you are," her dad said, holding a wrapped present.

 "I was calling Liam."

 "We should just open these now..."
"That's what I was thinking too. Hand me a present," she said, getting into tearing mode.
Mr. Blake laughed and handed her one. As soon as she got the present, she started tearing up the present like crazy, and this process continued until she got to Liam's present. This was the last present she decided to open, but she thought that this present was special because it was from Liam. She carefully tore off the the paper, and under the paper was a sweater, white Hershey bar and a card. She looked at the sweater and what it said. It said: All I want for Christmas is you. Next, she grabbed the card and read it carefully.
Hey Erica. I got this sweater for you. I hope you like it...Actually my mom helped me get it for you, but it's still special from me. Have a Merry Christmas. Keep being awesome!

From: Liam xoxo

Erica smiled and slipped the sweater over her head, over her tank top she wore to bed which was odd since it was winter. "That's cute," her mother said, smiling at her.

 "Thanks Mom. Thank you guys for the presents..."

"We didn't get you all the presents," her dad said, smirking.

Erica laughed and nodded. "I know. I need to thank Liam too."

 "You guys are so adorable."

 Erica just stared at her mom for a minute. "What do you mean you guys are adorable? Are you talking about Liam and I?"

 "Yeah. You guys are such a cute couple," her mom said.

 "Couple? How did you know we were dating?"

 "It's so obvious, Erica. He's been coming over a lot more, he's getting you gifts, he's always calling. This is more than a friend relationship."

 Erica was so embarrassed, but she wasn't going to let it show. Then, she finally said, "We're just 12 Mom. It's not a real relationship..."

 "I already know that. You're just like me. When I was your age, I was always hanging out with boys other than girls. I get it. Now... When you turn 16, this will be a different story..."

 "We have awhile for that.."

 "Not as long as you think. You're in middle school already. Time flies! You can wake up tomorrow for your first day of sophomore year of high school!" Mrs. Blake exclaimed with a mixture of excitement and sadness in her voice.

 Erica smiled and started to take most of her stuff upstairs, but she stopped to sit on her bed and do some thinking. Is it really true? Will I be 16 before I know it? I know I'm in 7th grade, but I didn't know it would go by so fast. I don't know if I'm ready for all that. Once I'm 16, that's where all the responsibility comes around. That's when you get a car, get a license, get a job, get a boyfriend... Wow, I didn't know that life could go by so fast. Does Liam realize how fast life can go? He needs to know that he needs to start thinking about what he needs to be doing. I need to start thinking about my future... Erica was interrupted from her thoughts by her phone ringing. She jumped and grabbed her phone.

 "Yes?"

 "I can't come over."

 "Why?"

 "My mom wants me to spend time with my family."

 "Oh OK. Have fun."

 "Are you okay?"

 "Yeah Liam. I'm just thinking. Call me tomorrow."

 "Okay, I'll see ya."

 "Okay."

 Erica hung up and laid on her bed. "What do I want to do with my life?"