by Jo Gibson
The minute Heather had heard that Jay was benched, she’d dumped him for the new quarterback, a senior who drove a new Porsche. Both Cindy and Diana agreed that Jay was better off without Heather. She was a spoiled, rich girl who’d only been going with him for his celebrity status. But Jay had been hurt by the breakup, and that had made both girls fume. Then, just before Thanksgiving, everything had turned around again.
Heather’s new boyfriend had bombed during his first two games. The college paper had called him Mr. Velcro, because he couldn’t seem to get rid of the ball before he was sacked. He’d been replaced by a walk-on freshman who’d managed to pull off a miracle. Prairie State College had won a bowl bid, and they’d be playing on New Year’s Day. Of course everyone knew that they didn’t have a prayer of winning, not without a seasoned quarterback.
That was when the second miracle had happened. Jay’s injury had turned out to be less serious than everyone had thought, and the coach had told the college paper that Jay would be fully recovered in time for the big bowl game. Now Heather was interested in Jay again, and Diana and Cindy were sure that the only reason Heather had taken a job at the mall was to try to win him back.
Cindy’s eyes were still glittering and Diana shivered. Cindy despised Heather with a passion. “There’s something you’re not telling me, right?”
“Right.” Cindy nodded. “Let’s just say it helps to have a daddy who owns a big piece of the mall.”
Diana immediately caught Cindy’s drift. “Heather’s not an elf like us?”
Cindy didn’t say anything. She just gave a very unladylike snort.
“I take it that’s a no.” Diana sighed. Of course Heather wasn’t an elf. With her daddy’s connections, Heather could get a much better job. “Is she working in one of the stores?”
“Are you serious?! Daddy’s little girl wouldn’t let her lily-white fingers touch a cash register. That’s too much like real work.”
“I guess you’re right.” Diana nodded. “What’s she going to be doing, then?”
“Heather’s got the best job here. She’s the Crossroads Mall’s Christmas Angel.”
Diana tried to conjure up an image of a Christmas Angel, but all she could think of was the time she’d played an angel in a grade school pageant. Her costume had consisted of a white sheet draped around her body, cardboard wings covered with aluminum foil, and a foil-covered halo that had kept slipping over her left eye. “Does Heather have to wear a costume?”
“Of course. She’s got a gorgeous white dress with sparkles all over it. And a real diamond tiara that looks a little like a halo.”
“No wings?” Diana raised her eyebrows.
“Well . . . sort of. She wears this little jacket that’s really lacy around the back of her shoulders. And it sticks out on both sides. I think it’s supposed to be her wings.”
“Well, at least it’s not typecasting.” Diana laughed. “We all know that Heather’s no angel.”
“Truer words were never spoken. Aren’t you going to ask me about her job?”
“Okay.” Diana nodded. “Does Heather have to skip around the mall like us?”
“Nope. No skipping.”
“How about those heavy trays of cookies?” Diana looked hopeful. “Does she have to carry one of those?”
“Nope. No cookies.”
Diana frowned. She was running out of ideas. “A punch tray? They said they’d be passing out punch.”
“Nope. No punch . . . except for the one I’d love to give her right between her baby blues.”
Diana grinned. “Me, too. But tell me . . . exactly what does Heather have to do as the Christmas Angel?”
“Nothing.” Cindy gave an emphatic nod as Diana’s mouth dropped open. “Its true! Heather doesn’t have to do anything at all. The Christmas Angel sits on a gold velvet throne next to Santa. That’s it.”
Diana felt her anger rise. “Heather gets paid for sitting, and we have to bust our buns, skipping all over the mall?”
“You got it. Of course Heather gets a half hour longer for lunch than we do.”
“But . . . why?”
“Because her job is such hard work.” Cindy’s tone was sarcastic. “Sitting all day on a gold velvet chair is horribly exhausting. Heather would never be able to survive without a full hour for lunch.”
The two girls exchanged annoyed glances. It wasn’t really jealousy. Neither one of them would have minded if one of their friends had landed the job, but the idea that Heather, who’d never worked a day in her life, had landed the cushiest job of all, rankled beyond belief.
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the sound of the Christmas music playing over the loudspeakers. Then Cindy cleared her throat. “Well . . . let’s both try to keep Heather away from Jay. I don’t want to see him get hurt again.”
“I’ll do my best,” Diana promised. “But Heather’s not so easy to sidetrack.”
“True.” Cindy looked depressed. There was another moment of silence as both girls listened to the refrain from “Joy To The World,” and then Cindy began to smile. “Did you hear? Shane Winter’s coming out here tonight, to rehearse.”
“I heard.” Diana tried to be casual, but she couldn’t help smiling as she thought about Shane Winter. She was hoping that he’d remember her. Of course, she’d changed quite a bit since Shane last saw her. Her family used to live next door to the Winters, and she’d been the skinny, red-haired kid who’d peered through the fence to spy on him when he’d sat on the porch swing with his dates. Back then, Shane had been the object of all Diana’s fantasies, and she still felt a warm, tingling thrill when she saw his face on the screen, or listened to one of his albums. Diana knew she was being unrealistic by hoping that Shane would come back to his old hometown and fall madly in love with the girl who used to live next door, but that sort of thing happened in the movies all the time.
Diana thought about how she’d changed since Shane had last seen her. She was much prettier now than she’d been in junior high. Everyone said she had a very good figure, and her teeth were nice and straight, now that her braces were off. Her hair even looked good right after she brushed it, and she’d brush it and put on makeup, right before Shane was due to . . .
“Diana? Hey . . . Diana!”
Diana blinked, and she felt herself start to blush as she realized that Jay was standing next to her.
“Oh, don’t mind Diana.” Cindy exchanged a grin with her older brother. “She was dreaming about Shane Winter again.”
“I was not!” Diana crossed her fingers to negate the lie, and glared at her roommate. There were times when Cindy could be a real pain.
But Cindy just kept on grinning. “Sure you were. You always get that mushy expression on your face when you play one of his songs.”
“I . . .” Diana struggled for something to say. This was embarrassing, especially since Jay was staring at her. “I used to live next door to him.”
Jay nodded. “I know. Cindy told me. Do you think he’ll remember you?”
“I doubt it.” Diana shrugged, as if she didn’t care. It was the furthest thing from the truth and she hoped she was being convincing. “I look a lot different now. I was only thirteen when Shane left town.”
“He’ll probably remember. I bet you were a cute kid.”
Jay give her a very warm smile, and Diana blushed again. Cindy’s brother was very handsome. He was tall and broad-shouldered, but there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. It was all muscle. And with his sun-streaked brown hair and dark brown eyes with incredibly long lashes, he was what Diana’s grandmother called a “dish.” He was nice, too, and Diana could tell he loved his younger sister. Cindy was totally different when Jay was around. She dropped her tough act and turned into a regular person.
If circumstances had been different, Diana might have been very interested in Jay. But they weren’t. And she wasn’t. Her heart belonged to Shane Winter, and it had ever since she’d been that skinny kid in junior high. Of
course, Diana dated. The other girls were always lining her up with somebody’s brother or cousin or friend of a friend. Diana usually had a good time, but she hadn’t found one single date who even came close to measuring up to her memory of Shane.
“Were you?”
Jay was smiling at her, and Diana tried to concentrate. What was the question? Oh, yes. Jay had asked if she’d been a cute kid.
“I wasn’t cute.” Diana shook her head. “I was skinny, and my hair was even redder than it is now. My dad used to call me his little matchstick.”
Jay laughed. “Well, you’re not skinny now. And your hair is beautiful. I like it down like that.”
“Uh . . . thank you.” Diana started to blush again. She’d never been any good at handling compliments. She felt like pointing out that her hair was frizzy, and she hadn’t brushed it for several hours, but she’d read an article just last week about how to accept compliments. You were supposed to say thank you, and nothing else.
Cindy turned to her brother. “Are you just here to flirt with Diana? Or are you here in your official capacity as head honcho of the college work team?”
Jay laughed, he was obviously used to his sister, but Diana blushed even harder. There were times when she wished she could gag Cindy with a pair of her old sweat socks.
“I’m here officially. Sue needs you to help in the giftwrapping booth. We’ve got three hundred stuffed toys to wrap before the Tree Lighting Ceremony tomorrow night.”
Just then the speaker system crackled, interrupting the strains of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”
“All Santas report to the costume area for fittings. All Santas, on the double.”
“All Santas?” Diana looked puzzled. “There’s more than one Santa?”
Jay nodded. “The guys are taking turns playing Santa. We’re doing it in shifts. It’s a hard job, Diana. The costumes are heavy, and Santa has to be on his toes for the kids. I didn’t think any of us should do it for more than four hours at a time.”
“So we won’t know who Santa is?” Cindy looked intrigued.
“Absolutely not. That’s part of my plan. If you elves don’t know who’s inside the Santa costume, you can’t slip up and use Santa’s real name.”
Diana nodded. “That’s a good idea. Are you going to play Santa, too?”
“You bet. And I’m late for my costume fitting.” Jay turned to go, but before he left, he reached out to touch a lock of Diana’s hair. “Leave your hair down, Diana. It really looks great that way.”
Cindy waited until her brother had left, and then she grinned at Diana. “Ho, ho, ho!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Jay never said anything about your hair before. I think he’s beginning to get interested in you.”
“You’re dreaming.” Diana felt a blush rise to her cheeks again, and she turned away so Cindy couldn’t see it. She’d been thinking the very same thing. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear that Jay had been trying to pick up on her. Of course, that was ridiculous. Jay was a really sweet guy, and he was only being nice to his sister’s roommate.
Cindy was frowning as they got up from the bench and started to walk toward the gift-wrapping booth, and Diana knew she was in for a lecture.
“Look, Di. You’re my friend, and I’m telling you this for your own good. It’s stupid to get this hung up on a movie star.”
“I’m not hung up!” Diana sighed deeply. “I told you before. Shane Winter’s not just a fantasy. I actually know him.”
“Correction. You knew him. But that was a long time ago, and this is now. Does my brother have a chance with you?”
“Your brother’s very nice.” Diana sighed again. “I like him, okay? But you’re the one who’s hung up on a fantasy if you think he’s interested in me.”
“Maybe. And maybe not. Be honest with me, Di. If Jay asked you out, would you go?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” Diana shrugged. “But I’m sure he won’t ask me out. I’m absolutely certain that the only reason Jay pays attention to me at all, is because I’m your friend.”
Diana was very relieved as they reached the gift-wrapping booth, and Cindy started talking to the other elves. Nan Eldridge, Heather’s roommate was there, and so was Betty Woo, a girl they knew from their English class. Naturally, Heather was conspicuously absent. Wrapping packages was work.
“Hey, girls . . . look at this!” Sue Langer opened one of the boxes, and pulled out a small, stuffed animal. Its eyes were on crooked, and it was covered with a bright green fuzz that looked as if it had been sprayed on.
All four girls looked at it for a long moment, and then Diana asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “What kind of animal is it supposed to be?”
“I think it’s a frog,” Cindy made a guess.
Sue held the stuffed animal up and turned it around and around. She didn’t look convinced. “How can you tell?”
“Well . . . it’s sort of crouching, and it doesn’t have any ears. And it’s green.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Sue stuck the toy back in the box and handed out rolls of paper. “I wonder where they got these cheap little things. They look like they came from a carnival booth.”
Diana picked up a box and flipped it over to read the stamp on the bottom. “They’re from Hong Kong. And this one says, ‘fargile.’ ”
“What?!” Sue cracked up. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
Diana shook her head, and held up the box so Sue could see. “Nope. It says ‘fargile.’ I think it’s supposed to say ‘fragile’ except they got the letters reversed.”
“Maybe not.” Nan spoke up. “Fargile might be its name. Does anyone know what ‘frog’ is in Hong Kongese?”
Sue began to laugh. “They don’t speak Hong Kongese, Nan. Hong Kong is on the coast of China. They speak Chinese.”
“I knew that.” Nan looked a little sheepish. “Hey, Betty. Do you know the Chinese word for ‘frog?’ ”
Betty nodded sagely. “Of course. It’s flog.”
That cracked everybody up, and it was a good five minutes before they could start wrapping the boxes. Diana’s job was to tie the bows, but her mind wasn’t really on her work. She was too busy thinking about what Cindy had said. Was she so blinded by her fantasy of Shane that she was ignoring the real world? There was only one way to tell. Shane was coming out here to rehearse tonight. Diana was determined to look at him honestly, and decide once and for all, whether Cindy was right.
Two
It was so cold, his breath came out in frosty clouds, and he shivered a little as he walked out to the garbage area in back of the mall. One of the industrial-sized dumpsters was already open, and he smiled as he tossed the roll of red foil paper into the bin. He’d decided who Santa should punish first, and that made him feel good. Now all he had to do was come up with a perfect method.
He’d liked her at first, until he’d found out that she’d driven out to the farm last fall, and sweet-talked his grandfather into debt. She’d been canvassing the area to raise money for a children’s play area, and she’d talked his poor, confused grandfather into signing a pledge on the installment plan.
Gramps wasn’t to blame. He’d had no idea what he was signing or what it would end up costing him. He’d forgotten that he’d signed the pledge, and when the bills had come, he’d torn them up and thrown them in the trash. The whole thing had been turned over to a collection agency, and the interest on the money had grown fast. The final bill had come to almost a thousand dollars, and it had been taken out of the estate by the probate judge.
She was totally oblivious to the bad thing she’d done, but that didn’t matter. The net result was still the same. She’d cheated him out of money that should have been his, and it had gone to the very mall that had robbed him of his land.
His hands were clenched into fists, as he turned to walk back inside the mall. She’d been very bad, taking advantage of Gramps. She definitely des
erved to be punished, and Santa would just have to do it.
“That didn’t take as long as I thought.” Jay smiled at Diana as she handed him the last of the gift-wrapped packages. “Are you sure you wrapped them all?”
Diana nodded. “Three hundred and one boxes. I counted them as I brought them out.”
“Three hundred and one?” Jay looked puzzled as he placed the last of the packages under the huge Christmas tree. “Where did the extra one come from?”
“We found it under the counter, already wrapped and tagged. I guess somebody got an early start.”
“But there were only three hundred boxes. I was here when the shipment came in. I wish we could find that extra box to check it.”
“Why?” Diana was puzzled.
“It might be a phony. Someone could have used an empty box to demonstrate how to wrap a package.”
Diana looked worried. “I hope not! It’d be a real shame if we passed out the presents tomorrow night, and one of the kids got an empty box.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Jay nodded. “Do you think we could tell which one it is by the weight?”
“That won’t work. Those stuffed frogs are really light. But don’t worry, Jay. I can find it. I remember carrying it out with the first load, and it’s different from all the others. It’s wrapped in red foil paper with a green ribbon.”
It took almost a half-hour to find the package. They were all stacked up around the tree, and the red foil package was at the bottom of one of the stacks. Diana was the one to spot it, and she sat down on the floor at the base of the Christmas tree to pull it out. “Here it is! Do you want to open it?”
“You can do it. You found it.”
As Diana examined the box, Jay sat down next to her. It was romantic, huddled down here, under the huge Christmas tree, with the scent of pine surrounding them. Someone had turned on the lights to test them, and the tinsel shimmered as it reflected the multi-colored bulbs.
