thirty-one

                                    

                                          
Hey guys, sorry for the late update. I have been so bad lately, but I have been feeling more inspired so I hope I will be able to write more for you all soon. With that being said, I hope you all enjoy the update. Let me know what you think. Vote, comment, follow please.
                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
"Are you going to get anything for Roman?" Mrs. Brandon asks me sweetly while we wait for Naomi to check out from one of the many retail stores in the mall. She still hasn't talked to me about what happened this morning, I don't think she has talked to anyone about it. She is just acting like nothing happened, but something feels wrong. She isn't opening up to me and I don't know why she doesn't trust me. "Not that you have to, of course," Mrs. Brandon finishes.
                          
This is a good question because it has certainly been on my mind. It is not secret to this family that I have next to no money. They usually give me a few hundred dollars to spend on Christmas gifts, which is really just them giving me money to buy them stuff, but it means a lot. We started this tradition of sorts my sophomore year; the family bought me all of these really nice, thoughtful gifts, and all I had for them were handwritten cards and some diy crafts. I cried out of embarrassment to Mrs. Brandon that Christmas and told her that I couldn't accept her gifts because I had nothing for them in return. She told me that my cards meant more than any gift, and that she would give me money to buy gifts for the family each year, so long as I continued to write them cards every year. She told me that I had nothing to be embarrassed about. 
                          
I still get embarrassed about my financial standing, but it makes me feel better that the Brandons understand that I don't have anywhere to get money aside from my minimum wage job that is part of my work-study on campus. Thankfully, I got a lot of financial aid, but it didn't cover everything. 
                          
"I really don't know what to get him. Nothing feels right. A normal gift feels too impersonal because our relationship is different now," I color at my words. "But a lot of couple gifts would take longer to get and I'm not sure if it's right to get him something like that so early in the relationship." I look at Mrs. Brandon with a pleading look. "I don't want to ask you what specifically I should get him, but what kind of gift should I get him?"
                          
"Oh honey, young love can be so confusing, but his birthday is in a few months, so maybe you can get him a couple's gift then and go with something closer to what you would normally get him this year." 
                          
Overall, her advice gives me no help. Other than to not get him something super romantic this early. Suddenly, I am struck with an idea, and I shoot off across the mall, passing through to food court to get to the right store quicker. How come I hadn't thought of it before?
                          
|~|
                          
"Okay, everyone gets their own room for wrapping presents. Make sure you knock and await admittance to any room to avoid seeing gifts. Any questions?" Naomi says authoritatively. 
                          
"Can we just go already?" Theo complains. 
                          
"Fine, go." 
                          
I make my way up to Roman's room, where I quickly wrap my handful of gifts, then sit down at his desk to start writing my cards. Ever since junior year, when I joined the wrapping tradition with the Brandons, Roman has sacrificed his room so that I can use his desk, which, at the time, he claimed had the best lighting, and was therefore, superior to the desk in Naomi's room. Each year, everyone in the family wraps their presents on the same day, exactly three days before Christmas. I'm not exactly sure how that date was decided, but Naomi says it's so that everyone has a deadline to buy their gifts by that isn't Christmas. There is also something magical about having all the gifts suddenly under the tree.