All I want for Christmas… (A short story)

'What do you want for Christmas Loretta?' My best friend Sam asked me as we walked on the snow-covered gravel into town.

'I don't know, ummm... nothing really,' I replied

'Come on, you have to want something, anything.'

'I don't know! What do you want?' I asked

'Ummm... I don’t know.'

'Come on, you have to want something, anything,' I mimicked.

'Shut up, okay, it’s harder than I thought to think up presents you want! Never mind, I cant wait until Christmas!' He said with a big smile on his face. 'Hey, do you want to play a game?'

'Sure, what do you wanna play?'

'If you could have any present in the world, what would you get.'

I should have lied. I should have said 'A makeover' or 'to meet Beyoncé Knowles', but no, I answered truthfully without thinking, it just... slipped out.

'A boyfriend.'

You cant tell your best MALE friend that you want a boyfriend, and why? Because they laugh.

'Ha ha! Ha ha ha! No way! Ha ha!'

'Okay shut up Sam! What do you want for Christmas then, if you had the choice of anything in the world?'

'A girlfriend.'

I looked at him for a second, was he serious?

No, stupid me thinking he was! He burst out laughing right away, no he didn't want a girlfriend, or if he did, he's not stupid enough, like me, to go telling people. I walked faster to get away from him, my toes getting freezing from all the slush on the curb.

'Loretta, look I was just kidding, come on, I need to get my little sister a present.'

Now, for people who don’t know Sam's little sister, I’ll tell you something about her. She is the sweetest thing in the world! This morning, I went to call for Sam to head off to town and Megan, Sam's sister, opened the door, gave me a big hug, invited me inside and showed me a picture she had drawn of me the night before. The picture said: 'Loretta, my best friend.' How cute is that!

I knew I would have to get Megan a present, so as me and Sam were walking to the toy shop, I walked past a little shop I had never noticed before and saw the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!

I stopped in awe and looked in the shop window. Sam realised I had stopped and came to my side.

'Do you like that necklace?' he asked and pointed to the gorgeous necklace that had stopped me dead in my tracks. It was studded with blue and silver diamantes, twisted into a Celtic heart shape. It was beautiful.

'Yes' I answered. 'It's stunning.'

'Do you want to change your answer from boyfriend to pretty necklace?' Sam joked.

'No I don’t.' I replied. 'Because if I had a boyfriend, he would buy it for me,' and with that, I continued walking to the toyshop.

Before I knew it, time had crept up on me and it was Christmas Eve. Luckily, I had managed to finish my Christmas shopping; I had even managed to get Sam a present, a Liverpool shirt and a CD of his favourite band 'The Fourgotten'. I can’t wait to get my present off him! Sam and I always exchange gifts on Christmas Eve and today was no different.

I went over to Sam's house and Megan answered the door.

'LORETTA!' She squealed and enveloped me in a hug.

'Hey Megan, here's your present! Go put it under the tree okay?'

'Okay!' she said. 'Sam's upstairs you can go up and see him if you want.'

'Thanks Megan.' I walked upstairs and knocked on Sam's door. 'Sam? It's Loretta, can I come in?'

'Yeah sure.'

I walked in and saw him in his computer; he flicked off the monitor, went to his wardrobe and pulled out a present wrapped with silver wrapping paper and a blue ribbon. I handed his present over and we started a countdown as we always do.

'One... two... THREE!'

I undid the ribbon and tore off the wrapping paper to find a navy blue box. I pulled open the top and saw the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I looked up at Sam's face. He smiled and whispered 'thanks for the gifts they're great! Is something wrong with yours?' I guess he probably asked because my jaw was scraping the carpet right now.

'I... umm,' I swallowed and looked down at the necklace I had in my hand. The necklace from the shop window. 'I was just expecting this gift from a boyfriend, I guess.'

He looked at me and smiled and said 'what am I not good enough for you? I got you everything you wanted didn't I?'

Now, I was so shocked that Sam had just spent £50 on my present for this necklace that I didn't quite intake what he said. 'What?' I asked.

'Loretta, would you be my girlfriend?'

'Yes, of course Sam.'

'Great, now let me put that necklace on you.' He lifted my hair and put on my necklace for me. I could feel his breath on my neck, I was so happy. I had gotten everything I wanted, the most beautiful necklace in the world, and the kindest, most loving boyfriend in the world! Put together, makes this the best Christmas in the world!