The Secret About Christmas Read Free Page A

was irritating beyond all hell, snotty and demanding, and no matter what I said to her, I seemed to leave a bad taste in her mouth, but what was under all that hostility?
    I was more than excited when the girls let me know that it was time for lunch. I was physically and emotionally exhausted, and more than anything…I needed a drink, and a stiff one at that. I pushed my way past the crowd of kids, making my way to the backroom as fast as possible. When I walked through the doors to the locker room, I made a beeline for my locker and took a long swig of my little concoction that I kept in a water bottle. As I reached for my sandwich the locker room door squeaked open, and I didn’t even have to turn to know who it was.
    I was continuing about my business, when I felt her standing behind me. “Can I help you?” I spoke without turning around, which I could only assume struck a nerve because the tone in her voice was definitely one of irritation when she responded.
    “Not now.” She huffed as she practically ran back up front.
    I was about to go after her, but just then my phone started ringing in my pocket. When I glanced down at the screen, my father’s name lit up, and I let out an irritated sigh. I was going to decline the call, but given the current career predicament I was already in, I figured answering it would be the better alternative.
    “Hey Dad, what’s up?”
    “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
    “I am working, Dad. I’m on my break.” My anger was slowly starting to rise as he tried to get a rise out of me.
    “Fine. Look, your mother wants to know if you will be coming home for Christmas.”
    When my dad put me out in nowhere Minnesota, I figured me coming home for the holidays was kind of out of the question, but apparently I was wrong. “Really? I mean, yeah. If you guys are offering.”
    “Whoa, I’m not footing the bill this time, Luca.”
    “Don’t call me that.” I muttered under my breath.
    “Your mother would love to have you here for Christmas, so start saving up. You hear me? After all the bullshit you’ve pulled over the last five years, you’re lucky you even have a job with the company still.”
    “ Mom, would like me to come home? Not you? I should’ve known. Tell Mom I’ll call her after my shift today and we can talk about it. I gotta get back at it, so I’ll talk to you later.” I didn’t give my father a chance to answer before I was hanging up and tucking my phone back into my locker, but it began to ring again. I quickly answered, thinking it was my father calling back to berate me for hanging up on him.
    “Hayden?”
    “Oh sorry, yeah this is he.” I clearly didn’t recognize the voice on the other end.
    “It’s Rebecca from last night. I was just calling to see if you wanted to meet up again tonight?”
    “Oh hey, Rebecca. Um…yeah. I get off around nine. How about I come by your place around nine thirty?”
    “Sounds good. See you then.”
    I hung up with a smile on my face. At least the girls were easy in this damn town. Since the day I arrived I haven’t even had to take a girl on a date to get into her pants. It was a cakewalk. As I made my way back out to all the waiting kids, I couldn’t help but notice that she was standing in the corner, avoiding eye contact with everyone. I don’t know what it was about this girl that had me worrying about her, but it was starting to get on my damn nerves.
    I sat down in my Christmas throne, and gave a nice big wave and a ho, ho, ho, to all the waiting kids. Man this job sucked. Needless to say, I wasn’t a big fan of kids. When I waved, I caught her looking straight at me with a look that I didn’t quite recognize. Maybe hope? She let the next kid through, and my attention was quickly taken away from her and back on the job at hand. We were about ten kids in when a tall, overly muscular police officer came strutting up to the front of the line.
    He began speaking with Noel, and I could visibly see the