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Alex stared down at the piece of paper in his hands, his eyes wide.
Willie, the name scrawled across the top read in messy handwriting.
Alex swallowed hard, his heart suddenly speeding up with the knowledge that he had gotten his crush for Secret Santa.
Fuck. How was he supposed to choose a gift for him? It couldn’t be just anything- it needed to be special, but how could he get him something special without giving away too much information and accidentally revealing his crush?
“Okay,” Julie said after Reggie had drawn the last name out of the bucket. “If you got yourself, tell me. Otherwise, you have your person!”
Alex scanned the rest of the paper underneath the name. Julie had printed out questionnaires she found on the internet for everyone to fill out before drawing names, asking for everyone’s favorite store, candy, scent, band, accessory, etc. This, of course, was useless to Alex, considering he already knew pretty much everything about Willie, and nothing on the page was new information for him.
He glanced across the small circle of his friends at Willie, who was scanning the questionnaire in his own hands. With a small pang in his heart, Alex hoped that Willie had gotten his name. He had written on his questionnaire that he loved earrings, and he couldn’t help but imagine how elated he would feel if Willie bought him a pair.
He shook his head. The chances that they both drew each other’s names were pretty low, and even if Willie had gotten him, he would probably get him something like candy and a gift card, not earrings. Earrings were the kind of gift you gave somebody you liked the way Alex liked Willie, but Willie didn’t like Alex the same way.
***
The day after the group drew names, Alex went to Target in search of ideas for a gift for Willie. He wandered the aisles for hours, but nothing was good enough.
After leaving Target, he got back in his car with a sigh, pulled Willie’s questionnaire back out of his pocket, and read through Willie’s answers for probably the hundredth time, smiling at the boy’s endearingly messy handwriting.
Favorite Candy: reese’s christmas trees!
Favorite Store: (if you’re julie or flynn look away) hot topic (please don’t bully me)
Favorite Band: all time low ofc
Favorite Sports Team: i’m gay
Favorite Activities: skateboarding (duh), painting, photography
Alex stared down at the words, trying to think of what he could get for Willie that he would enjoy the most.
Willie loved skateboarding, obviously. It was one of his favorite things in the whole world to do, and the two of them originally met when Willie crashed into Alex on his skateboard. Willie had mentioned that the incident dinged his board, and Alex knew he hadn’t gotten a new one. Maybe he could get him one for Christmas.
Alex nodded to himself as he started his car and drove out of the parking lot toward his house. A new skateboard- that felt almost right. But still not quite there. Maybe he could find someone to paint a custom board for him? Alex shook his head- he wouldn’t know exactly what design Willie would want, and he would want the gift to be perfect.
Alex gasped as an idea came to him just as he was pulling into his driveway.
Willie loved skateboarding, so a skateboard was a good gift, and a skateboard with a cool custom pattern painted onto it was a great gift.
But Willie also loved painting, so a blank skateboard and the supplies he needed to paint it himself was the perfect gift.
That night, Alex watched at least ten videos about painting skateboard decks. He didn’t know much of anything about skateboards other than what he had learned from Willie- which wasn’t much, considering he frequently pretended to understand what the other boy was saying to impress him rather than ask for clarification.
The next day, he went online and ordered all the supplies he would need: a blank board, primer, a large array of cans of spray paint and bottles of acrylic paint. They arrived two weeks later, just a week before Christmas.
Alex smiled as he opened the package full of supplies. This was the perfect gift for Willie.
***
A week later, Alex arrived at Julie’s house buzzing with excitement at the prospect of seeing Willie’s face when he opened the gift.
“Hey,” Julie greeted him with a smile when she opened the door. “Is there a name on yours?”
Alex nodded and pointed to the tag that read Willie in Alex’s neat handwriting.
“Awesome,” Julie took the box from him, welcoming him into the house. “Thanks for following directions.” She leaned closer to him and lowered her voice. “Luke and Reggie both forgot to put names on theirs.” She rolled her eyes and went to put the gift under the Christmas tree.
Alex went into the kitchen, which Julie had designated as the waiting room for the guests so that no one but her would see who brought which box. However, when he got there, he saw that he was the last guest to arrive.
“Hey, Alex,” Flynn greeted him cheerfully.
“Hi, Flynn,” Alex said back. “Are we starting soon?”
“Should be,” she nodded. “Julie said we could start as soon as you got here, so-”
“Okay, guys,” Julie called right on cue. “You can come in now.”
Alex, Flynn, Willie, Luke, and Reggie filed into the living room and settled into their seats. Flynn sat next to where Julie stood, Luke sat next to her as he held hands with Reggie on his other side, then Willie, then Alex.
“Okay, here’s how this is gonna work,” Julie clapped her hands together. “Everyone make sure to pay attention, since some people don’t seem to know how to follow directions.” She gave Luke and Reggie a pointed look.
“Hey,” the two boys both protested, but they were cut off by a sudden whack on both their heads from Flynn, who was sitting next to them with two flyswatters.
“What the hell?” Luke asked, rubbing the top of his head.
“Julie told me to use these if you two talked out of turn,” Flynn said smugly.
“Please tell me they’re at least clean,” Reggie pleaded.
“They’re brand new,” Julie assured him. “No fly guts whatsoever.”
Reggie nodded. “I’m okay with it, then. Swat away.”
Julie giggled, then continued talking. “So, I’m going to pass the gifts out, but don’t open them yet. We’re going to go around the circle and open them one by one, then we’re going to go back around, and each person is going to try to guess who gave them the gift. Ready?”
They all nodded, and then the gift opening started with Flynn and they worked their way around the circle.
Flynn received an assortment of hair accessories and a nail art kit that made her squeal with excitement; Luke got guitar picks that were custom-painted with the logos of several of his favorite bands; and Reggie got a clear phone case decorated with cute little bugs, along with several bug-themed stickers that made him smile.
Finally, it was Willie’s turn, and Alex’s heart pounded with excitement as the brunet boy opened the box.
Willie pulled the plastic-wrapped board out of the box, and his face lit up. “A new board!” He exclaimed. “Awesome!” He looked slightly confused at the blank wood, but realization flooded his face when he saw the paint in the box.
“Holy shit,” he grabbed the paint cans out of the box. “Is this for me to paint my own board deck? Dude, whoever got this for me, that is so sick, thank you!”
Alex smiled, his heart fluttering.
Next, it was Alex’s turn. He had a small, simple box in front of him, and he opened it to reveal a small pair of cute earrings with stars dangling down.
Alex’s face broke into a smile. “I love these,” he beamed. “They’re beautiful. Whoever got them, thank you.”
He couldn’t help but hope it was Willie.
Julie was the last to unwrap her gift, which was a pair of converse with dahlias painted onto them. She looked like she was going to cry at the sight of her mom’s favorite flower. She immediately crawled over to Luke and hugged him around the neck.
“Thank you,” she said. “I love them.”
Luke laughed. “What makes you think I had you?”
Julie rolled her eyes as she pulled away from him. “I was the guest-greeter, dumbass. I saw who brought each gift. Thank you.”
He smiled at her. “You’re welcome.”
Julie returned to her seat, and the guessing continued with Flynn. On her third guess, Reggie confirmed that he had gotten Flynn the accessories and the nail art kit. Flynn had given Luke the guitar picks, and Julie had given Reggie the bug memorabilia.
“Because Luke calls you ‘Bug,’” she explained.
“I love it,” Reggie beamed. “I’ve always loved bugs. Thank you, Julie.”
But Alex hardly even heard the exchange between them. He was too busy internally freaking out over the fact that he and Willie were the only two people left to guess, and he certainly hadn’t gotten himself the earrings.
“Well,” Willie said, turning to Alex when it was his turn. “I guess there’s only one person left to guess, but you’re who I was going to guess all along anyways.”
Alex smiled. “I hope you like it.”
“I do,” Willie said earnestly. “I really, really, love it. It’s gonna be so fun to paint my own board. Thank you so much, Alex.”
“And thank you for the earrings,” Alex said, desperately trying to fight the blush he could feel rising in his face. “I love them so much.”
And now he had to cope with the knowledge that the guy he had a massive crush on had bought him earrings for Christmas. He thought he might die before he ever left Julie’s house.
***
He did not, in fact, die. When it started to get late and their little group’s Christmas party had finally ended, he and Willie walked out of the house at the same time.
“The earrings look good on you,” Willie said, glancing at the earrings Alex had put in shortly after opening the box.
Alex smiled at him, thankful for the darkness outside disguising his reddening face. “Thanks. I really love them.”
“And I really love your gift, too,” Willie said. He paused for a moment. “And, you know… I was kind of thinking that maybe we could, I don’t know, paint the skateboard together.”
Alex nodded. “That sounds cool! I’m not really a painter, but it would be fun to give it a shot!”
Willie giggled and hesitated. “Awesome. But… to be clear, I- um- was kind of thinking it could maybe be, like, a date. Y’know, if you’re down for that.”
Alex’s brain short-circuited.
“A… a date?” he repeated.
“I mean,” Willie said, suddenly looking embarrassed. “Unless you don’t want-”
“ Nonono ,” Alex said quickly. “I do want to. A date sounds good.”
Willie grinned. “Awesome.”
Alex let out a soft exhale. “Yeah. Awesome.”
And that was how, a week later, Alex found himself in Willie’s garage, his hands and denim overalls littered with spilled paint as he shared his first kiss with a certain brown-haired skater boy.