I had been too shy before to approach her in front of everybody. Her family and mine didn’t exactly get along well. In fact, it surprised me that both families lasted five minutes in the same room without making some passive-aggressive comment about the other.
The reason we were so close in proximity was because of a neighborhood Christmas party at the clubhouse. Both mothers tried to outdo each other for the best meal. Jennifer’s mom made lasagna, while my mom made hashbrown casserole. I don’t know about Jen’s mom, but mine only makes this meal on Thanksgiving. To be honest, I was kinda tired of it. There were so many leftovers.
The dads were the biggest squabblers if you don’t count my little sisters and Jen’s little brother. My dad and Jennifer’s dad start talking rationally about hockey or golf at one point; the next, they're at each other’s throats insulting each other. Yep: they also lead the snarky comment rally.
I sighed. Jennifer was the prettiest girl in my class. I couldn’t compete with her looks even if I had any desire to. Alas, I didn’t. I was okay just being mediocre Alex. I mean, I never was a super competitive person like the rest of my family. In fact, it got me lectured half the time.
“Come on, Alex! Join some sports! You’re in high school now! You’ve got to be part of something!” my dad would say to me.
But it was always the same story. I would shrug and say, "Meh. I’m not too interested in that sorta stuff," and he’d shake his head in disappointment and walk away.
I eyed Jennifer from across the room. She was sitting on one of the chairs lined up against the back wall, playing rock-paper-scissors with Eddie, her brother. Finally, I decided to make my way up to her, weaving through the various adults dancing to “Jingle Bell Rock." Who knew my elderly next-door neighbors knew so many cool dance moves? I shot them a quick, supportive grin, and the next thing I knew, I was reaching out my hand to Jennifer.
She looked puzzled. I started heating up fast in my ugly Christmas sweater, not to mention feeling awkward. To make matters worse, Eddie stuck his tongue out at me and wrinkled his nose.
“Um, di-did you want to, um, dance?” I bit my lip and tried not to make complete eye contact with her as she made her decision.
“Sure,” she agreed. Taking my hand, she stood and we began slow-dancing to "Silent Night." Eddie’s jaw dropped. Part of me didn’t want my parents to notice us together, but part of me did. Who knows? Maybe we’d all stop fighting so much with each other if they did notice.
I knew one thing for sure, though, and that was that my crush definitely liked me back. I was gushing with joy. And, what turned out to have been step one of my plan had worked. Jennifer's parents - and mine - were staring daggers at the both of us. It was then that I decided that I wanted to show my parents what I really wanted for Christmas.
“Jennifer?” I began to ask her, just loudly enough that my parents and hers could hear.
“Yes?” She grinned, immediately understanding the next step in my plot.
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
This time, when she answered, it was more than her merely playing along. She bounced up and down with glee, repeatedly replying with “Yes!”
She smiled and hugged me tight. “That was exactly what I wanted for Christmas.”
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