Silent Genius

Chapter 10

December 2010

Christmas! One of the best days of the year. We have a Christmas tradition where, instead of Santa leaving presents under the Christmas tree, he leaves an envelope with clues in it and hides all our presents. Of course, Tom and I are both too old to believe in Santa, but we keep it up for Claire. Although I believe that she already knows the truth and just hides it to keep Mum happy.

Well, this year is no exception. Except that instead of it being just us three kids, Mum has invited one of her friends from work and their kids. As it turns out, Tyler just happens to be Mum’s friend’s nephew. He laughs at the shocked expression on my face when I answer the door in my old Hello Kitty PJs. Then he looks down and I realise he’s still wearing his PJs (Bad Boy boxers and a black shirt).

‘My aunt insisted, saying that all the other kids will still be in their PJs too,’ he laughs and shrugs.

I just nod and lead him and his family into the dining room, where my parents and Tom are sipping tea.

‘So,’ Tyler’s Aunt Kelly laughs, ‘when does the hunt start?’

She’s still in her pyjamas too, although I don’t think she woke up with makeup on and hair perfectly curled in ringlets.

‘When Claire wakes up,’ Tom sighs.

‘He’s way too eager for this game to be over,’ Dad whispers to Roger, Tyler’s uncle.

Tyler’s three little cousins (Rose who is seven, Billy who is six and Marcus who is four) are tugging at the bottom of Kelly’s robe. Valerie (who is twelve and a kid from Roger’s first marriage) has folded herself neatly into a corner where she listens very intently to her i-pod.

‘Tanna, how about you go and wake Claire?’ Mum suggests.

‘Sure,’ I stand up and head towards her room.

Tom and Tyler follow me. In her room, Claire is curled into a ball under her lilac blankets. I shake her awake and she smiles when she sees the three of us crowding her bed. She crawls into my arms and I carry her back to the dining room. As soon as she sees her, Valerie drops her i-pod and runs over to great Claire, taking her from my arms. Claire gives the girl an annoyed look, but smiles when she realises that she’s about to receive a whole lot of attention.

We eat breakfast, all twelve of us at an eight-person table. We eat pancakes, ham on toast, cheese platters, fruit, peach-cakes and much more. By the time we are done, the younger ones have actually forgotten about the present hunt. When the adults remind them, they go crazy (it turns out Kelly and Roger had brought over the others presents and Mum and Dad had hidden then last night with ours).

We each open our envelope and read the first clue. Mine leads me to the laundry, where I find a little blue box which I put in my Santa-sack. I follow my next clue and the one after that and all those after that until I end up halfway down the street in my PJs.

‘You look really cute in those,’ a voice whispers in my ear.

I jump and turn around to face Tyler, a scarlet blush creeping over my cheeks.

‘What are you doing out here?’ I ask.

‘Looking for the park,’ he shrugs, ‘what are you doing?’

‘Going to the park.’

‘Well then, I guess you can lead me there,’ with that, he takes my hand and gestures for me to show the way.

I lead the way, but we walk slowly. I look him up and down. His green eyes sparkle in the early morning light, his legs are muscular from years of playing hockey and his hands are firm and callused from working at a construction site for the summer. I can see him checking me out too. He takes in my long, blonde hair, bright blue eyes and lean, tanned arms and legs from surfing at the beach all holidays.

At the park, we find a single envelope with both our names on it. The clue leads us back to the house, where we find a note that simply says “Look up.” Above the door is another envelope. Beside that is a little piece of mistletoe. I groan. Tyler laughs.

‘Tom?’ he asks.

‘Probably,’ I nod.

We stand in an awkward silence, neither of us knowing what to do. Slowly, Tyler leans down a little. I don’t lean back, but I don’t lean forward either. I’m not sure what to do. It’s not that I don’t want to kiss him, it’s just, I’ve never been kissed before. I don’t know what the hell I’m meant to do with my hands and what if he doesn’t want to kiss me and he’s just doing it because that’s what you do under the mistletoe and by me not moving in to kiss him he’s just gonna think I’m a dork. Plus I barely know him.

‘I won’t kiss you if you don’t want me to,’ he whispers and starts to lean back.

‘No,’ I step forward, taking his hand in mine.

‘So you do want me to kiss you?’ he raises an eyebrow at me.

‘No?’ I say in a shaky voice.

‘What if I just kissed you on the cheek?’

‘I guess that would be fine.’

He leans down and places a kiss on my cheek. I just smile like an idiot. Then I see the flash go off. Before I know what’s going on, both Tyler and I are being pelted with snowballs (really just handfuls of that sloppy ice stuff in slushies). Tyler stands in front of me, taking as many of the blows as he can. I just stand behind him and laugh. I reach up and crab the envelope above the door.

Beat the others in a snowball fight and presents shall be your prize.

That’s when I see the buckets of slush hidden behind the bushes. Tyler and I grab a bucket each, throwing handfuls of ice in every direction. By the time we are all out, all eight of us kids are drenched from head to toe.

‘That was a bad idea,’ Dad laughs as we all trudge mud and slush into the garage.

From here, we are all rewarded with the rest of our presents. After, Tyler comes up to me.

‘Which present was your favourite?’ he asks.

‘The one from you,’ I whisper back, ‘I got you a present too.’

‘Yeah?’

I stand on my tippy toes and kiss his cheek.