“It’s Christmas! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”

Maxine groaned. She knew it was Alex that was shaking her so much and disturbing her in her sleep. It was too early to wake up. She wanted to tell Alex to go away but she was too sleepy to speak.

“It’s Christmas morning! Wake. Up. Already!”

Tock! Tock! Tock!

She faintly heard someone knock. He little brother finally stopped shaking her. She heard him walk toward the door and open it.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Todd!” exclaimed Alex loudly.

Maxine moved so fast that her head spun. As soon as she heard Todd’s name, she bolted to sit up from bed. She carefully turned her back to the door, so that Todd couldn't see her face. She certainly didn't want him to see her looking ugly in the morning.

“Finally!” sighed Alex, climbing back up to bed. He hugged Maxine and said, “Merry Christmas, Max!”

She smiled and hugged her little brother tightly.

“Merry Christmas, Alex,” she said. And then added, “You too, Todd.”

“Yeah,” yawned Todd. “Merry Christmas, haystack-haired girl.”

“Haystack?” revolted Maxine, turning around to see the guy who insulted her. But he already left. “Who is he calling ‘haystack-haired girl’? That untidy-tousle-hairedboy!”

“PRESENTS!” yelled James quite loudly, from downstairs.

Alex’s eyes turned very round with delight.

“Presents!” he beamed, jumping out of the bed and dashing downstairs.

Maxine took that as her cue to go to the bathroom to wash up. When she looked in the mirror, she gasped. Her hair was standing everywhere and it looked like a haystack indeed.

Todd saw it.

He saw what Maxine looked like when she was freshly out of bed.

He, the boy of her dreams, saw it.

Maxine groaned again.

“Great. Just great.”

. . .

In a matter of minutes, Maxine went downstairs when she finished up. Alex was already half-way through finishing all of his gifts, while James was watching him.

Todd, on the other hand, looked at Maxine when she came in the room.

“I see,” he said, nodding impressively. “The haystack-haired girl vanished and was replaced by Max.”

She ignored him. She wasn't going to waste her Christmas morning bickering petty things with Todd. She actually planned to enjoy this morning.

“Our parents not home yet?” she queried, sitting down beside the Christmas tree.

“They’ll be arriving soon,” answered James.

“Thanks for the silver chain necklace, Max,” grinned Todd. “It was . . . nice.”

“If you didn’t like it, then give it back,” she said, scowling at Todd.

“I didn’t say that,” said Todd indignantly, chortling at Maxine’s reaction. “I just said my thanks, didn’t I?”

“You’re welcome, then,” she replied coolly. “Well — thank you again for the charm bracelet,” she said quietly, hiding her wrist which wore the bracelet.

She didn't take it off. It was too precious for her to do so.

“Don’t mention it,” he told her, looking back at his new gadget: iPhone.

Maxine picked up a neatly wrapped present that was addressed to her. It slightly surprised her that it was from James; a book, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (It was her second copy of the book; the first one was given by her father two years ago).

“Thank you, James,” said Maxine, smiling at him.

James grinned at her.

She was amazed to see that the gifts from the gang were already there. She looked questioningly at Todd. He noticed her pointing at the presents.

“FedEx delivered them this morning,” he responded, answering Maxine’s quizzical look.

“Oh,” nodded Maxine in understanding.

She opened Kim’s present first, which was a two-heart charm perfect for her bracelet. There was a letter attached to the box, she picked it up and realized it was of Kim’s writing.

Dear Maxine,

Merry Christmas! I do hope that it is finally merry for you. I also hope that you will like the charm. I think you already know what it means. The two hearts were supposed to be indicating you and . . . him. He told the gang that our presents for you should be something to add for a charm bracelet, knowing that you don’t like expensive gifts. I have a strong feeling that he’ll give you a charm bracelet for Christmas. If ever he does give you one, I must say, it will be especially made.

I hope you're doing fine. xx

Much love,

Kim N.

P.S. Call me for the details of what happened! I can’t wait to see you!

Maxine stared off to space after reading the letter.

So Todd took the time to plan everyone's gift for her? How thoughtful of him . . . She didn't quite expect that. That was really sweet.

Her eyes looked up and found Todd's already looking at her. She blinked.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked, a bit commandingly.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I'm not staring at you. I'm merely watching.”

Her brows furrowed. “Isn't that the same thing?”

“Not quite. Go on, open the rest of the gang's presents.”

She ignored Todd's bossiness and continued opening the rest of them.

The next present was from Brian, a guitar charm; from Karl, a music note charm; from Jen, a smiley face charm; from Peter, a key charm.

By the time she finished, she was grinning like a Cheshire cat. She then got ready to attach the charms to her bracelet. How difficult could it be? But difficult, it turned out to be.

“Need help?”

She didn't need to look up to know that it was Todd who offered to help. With a sigh, she nodded and gave out her wrist.

“Do you like it?” he asked, barely more than a whisper. He didn't leave his eyes on what he was doing, which made her calm down a bit.

“The charm bracelet?”

“No – me.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She parted her lips to gather more breathing.

But then, he added, “Of course I'm referring to the bracelet, dummy.”

At that, Maxine rolled her eyes. For a second there, she thought he was confronting her about her feelings for him and everything was over.

“No, I don't like it.”

Todd stopped what he was doing to look at her, one of his eyebrows lifted up. She tried her utmost will to keep a straight face.

“I absolutely love it,” she admitted, her lips stretching into a wide grin.

“Oh, ha ha,” he said sarcastically at her effort to joke.

After he finished up putting all the charms on the bracelet, he stood up and gently knocked his fist on Maxine's head.

“Please don't try that again,” he told her pitifully.

She gasped, her eyes widening in complete shock.

“What?” demanded Todd, alarmed.

“You said 'please'!” commented Maxine, still in shock.

James laughed out loud, hearing their exchange.

Todd let out a breath. “I'm done here.” He grabbed his things and made a move to leave, but then stopped and turned to a still shocked Maxine. “I'm glad you love it, though.”

With that, he left and went to his room.

“Nice one, Maxine,” complimented James, patting her on the shoulder.

Maxine could only grin, not believing how things picked up on this Holiday break. So many things have happened that she to pause at let things sink in her before pressing the play button again.

When she opened the rest of her presents, they were mostly money, from the adults. Natalie even gave her a credit card, which made her happy. She could now go shopping with Kim and Jen whenever they felt like it.

That night, Maxine called her father. She wished him a ‘Merry Christmas’ and apologized for not being understanding. Her father was so blissful that he sent her a beautiful puppy-styled bag pack that very night. He also sent Alex a car-styled bag pack, which made him quite thrilled.

It was the first Christmas that she felt her father closer to her than he ever was.

The strange thing was, he was thousands of miles away.

A couple of days have passed, Maxine had already told Kim everything that happened. She didn’t stop laughing after hearing the story.

Todd and Maxine mostly spent their time together, either playing with Alex or teasing each other. The usual. Half the time, Maggie and James would hang out with them, sight-seeing and going around town.

Everything was going along fine.

One cloudy and breezy day, Maxine was reading Twilight (the book that James gave her for Christmas). She was reading by the window when someone knocked.

“Come in,” Maxine called out.

And in, entered Todd.

“Peter called me,” he informed her. “He invited us to their rest house in East Hampton to spend the New Year there with the gang. I already asked Mom and Dad, and they have no problem with it. So . . .” He trailed off, sitting on the bed. “Do you want to go?”

Maxine closed her mouth from dropping in astonishment at the idea.

“That’s going to be a lot of fun!” she beamed. Her expression turned thoughtful. “But I have to ask permission from my Mom first.”

“Is that your only problem?” he asked. When Maxine nodded, Todd said, “Problem solved. I already told Aunt Natalie about it — she agreed right away.”

She gasped deeply. “That’s awesome!” She exclaimed, jumping for joy. She abruptly stopped when she noticed Todd looking at her weirdly. “So, when are we leaving?” she inquired calmly, changing the subject.

“This afternoon,” he answered at once. “Hence, you better pack your things and get ready. I don’t want to wait for you.”

He stood up and walked toward the door. He glanced at Maxine and he noticed the book she was holding. He was already at the doorway when he stopped walking and shifted his body.

“What is it that’s so interesting in that book?” he wondered aloud. “Isn’t that a typical story about a vampire and a human in love?”

“No, it isn’t just about that,” she said patiently. “It’s about the love that they have for each other that can go through challenges that makes it so interesting. And Edward Cullen . . . he is every girl’s dream guy put together,” she added dreamily. “This book has something in it that no one can explain yet everyone can understand.”

Todd grimaced at the way she was talking about a fictional character.

“That Edward Cullen . . . He’s just a fictional character, so why be obsessed about him?”

She snorted. “That’s the main point, isn’t it? He doesn’t exist. No guy like that can ever exist. That’s what makes him special. Edward Cullen is a fictional character that no human guy can ever be.”

“Of course, no human guy can ever be like him,” said Todd reasonably. “He is a vampire. And on top of that, he is a fictional character.”

“And of all the fictional characters there is, Edward Cullen is the most perfect,” countered Maxine, trying to hide her annoyance in Todd’s narrow-mindedness. “You know what I mean, Samuels.”

“Ah,” said Todd, smiling a little. “You’re calling me by my last name. That is always a sign that you’re irritated at me, Ferguson.”

Maxine sarcastically smiled at him.

“Whatever,” sighed Todd, leaving the room. When he was out of earshot, he murmured, “That’s right. Because I’m a real live human that no other guy can ever be.”

_________________________________________

Ooh. What does Todd mean by that last sentence? ;)

Yeah, it wasn't that eventful. But it's giving out clues for the future chapters. *evil laugh* What do you reckon would happen next? :)

ADVANCE HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!! xx

Note: Cute chapter alert? Hehe. I'm excited to edit and upload the next chappie, but I'm going away for the weekend so as soon as I'm back I'll update. :D

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