Cape High Christmas: A Side Story (Cape High Series) (6 page)

"And what are you going to do?" Jack demands.

"I will... be here for when someone has an idea that they think I can help with," Max says, jumping into the air and lounging there, intent on taking a nap. Before he can even close his eyes, though, Carla tugs him down by his shirt. "Whoa--" he says, barely catching his balance. "What--"

"I need you," she says seriously. "Come on, okay?" She grabs his wrist and hauls him towards the dorm building, far away from the others. She closes the door behind them when they go in, and then searches the room for a second before letting out a breath. "I need help," she declares dramatically. "And money--but cash won't work, right, because it's online!"

"You want to buy music for Emily, right?"

"Yeah!" she says. "But I don't know ANYTHING about Ska--it sounded weird to me, so how do you know the good stuff from the bad when it all sounds strange? And how am I going to deliver it to her phone without her knowing?"

"Technico phone," he reminds her. "It's all connected to the main base--all of the music anyone brings in can be accessed by anyone that wants it, as long as they have one of our phones. But I can help you pick the music! You've got a computer, right?" he asks.

"Um, no... but Morgan does!"

"Then go ask Morgan if you can use it--" she's gone and back before he can finish the sentence. Soon he's got her watching a short documentary on Amazon about the history of Ska. She seems bored at first, but then--

"Bob Marley! Max, Max, look--Bob Marley was Ska!" she jumps to her feet and points. "I never knew!"

He hadn't either, he thinks a bit dryly, but just grins. "So you've got an idea, now?"

"Yeah!" she says, going back to the video.

"Tell me when you need money," he says as the door opens and Ward comes in, holding his envelope in one hand.

"I need your help," Ward says. He follows along, soon dragged from one job to the next, until before he knows it, his phone dings.

"Crap," he says, pulling it out and heading for the gym. He gets on the loudspeaker, tapping on it twice before going, "It is now time to exchange gifts, everyone, so if you'll meet in the gym, we'll get started. If you haven't finished your gift, well, you can explain what you plan to the person you're giving it to."

He heads down the stairs, watching as everyone comes in. "How'd it go?" he asks them. They seem pretty happy, although most of them are trying to hide their gifts behind their backs and failing. "Oh, wait, Carla, I forgot entirely--"

"I figured something out," Carla says, holding up her phone.

"I'll go first, then," Vinny says, "since there's no hope of hiding this sucker--Jack, this is for you," he says, holding out a painting.

"You told him to give me something avant-garde," Jack says, staring at Max. Max gives him a shameless grin.

"I was hoping it might culture you," Max says evilly, walking over to see what he got. He stares, his jaw dropping at the picture. "You painted a picture of him?" he demands of Ace, motioning to the highly stylized picture of Jack. "That's just going to go to his head!"

"It's AWESOME!" Jack says, bringing it up to look, finally. "Wow, man, this is going over my bed!"

The sound of upbeat music makes Max look over, watching as Carla and Emily dance together. All of a sudden everyone is giving and getting, which almost makes up for Jack actually LIKING his gift. (He'd really hoped to irritate the guy, okay? It was going to be the best part!)

He gives up, grinning as Zoe walks over and tugs his arm over her shoulders. "You made them very happy," she praises him, kissing him on the cheek.

"What did you get?" he asks her.

"I don't think I should tell--it'll go to your head," she says teasingly before pulling out a painting.

"Wow, that IS awesome," he says, admiring the painting of him. "You aren't that attached to it--"

"Nuh uh, this is mine," she says, running away with it.

"But I didn't get anything!" he says, chasing after her. "Come on, Zoe! We can share it--you can have it on weekends!"

"NEVER!"

Advent Calendar - Day Nine

"Okay, I should be able to afford it," Aubrey says, closing her bank account website. She pulls back from her desk, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Mom?” she says, not bothering to yell.

Liz appears in the room behind her in a flash. “So have you decided to make me your helper?” she asks, excitedly. “I was SURE that Emily would, but then she brought in Dad, which is cheating, right? That’s absolutely cheating. ANYTHING that involves Dad is cheating.”

“You don’t mind, do you?” Aubrey asks, looking up at her with a little smile. “It means you’re going to have to wear either a hat or the wig, again,” she warns.

“It’s cold enough out that I can get away with a hat,” Liz says. “So? What are we going to do?” she asks. “I bet it’s going to be huge and showy--”

“Actually... Um...” Aubrey says slowly. “We’re just going to go buy some coats.”

“Coats.”

“Yeah,” Aubrey says. “THEN we’re going to donate the coats to the homeless. I’m going to need your help keeping people in line, and providing the transportation--”

“And the money for the coats, of course!” Liz says, starting to smile. “You know, if I was in charge of one of these days it’d be a massive showy thing of fireworks and barbecue and--”

“Well, if you want we could end it that way?” Aubrey says. “I mean, I was just planning on helping some people out, but barbecue would definitely make Jack happy, and I bet a lot of the others would enjoy it, too--but I REALLY want to donate coats. I’ve been saving up my money for something big, and this is the opportunity, right?”

“You don’t worry about money,” Liz says firmly. “I’ve been making S-class cash since I was about seventeen. It tends to add up. I’ll call the Hall and get the bus. Honestly, they need to make their OWN bus, at this rate. I think I’ll call Nico, instead--”

“You can’t!” Aubrey says. “If he builds a bus for me to take them on their trip, then that’s breaking the rules--I can only have one helper, right?”

“That’s stupid, how many of you kids are going to need a bus for this?” she says, looking at the ceiling. “You heard me, didn’t you, big brother? Go make the school a bus you lazy slob,” she says. To Aubrey’s mortification, Nico starts laughing.

“I was just wondering when someone would say that,” he says. “But since it’s YOU asking me and not Aubrey, then you’re the one that owes me a favor.”

“Yeah, yeah, as if you weren’t already planning a school bus,” Liz drawls. “Now! We need to call up the closest clothing store--they’ve got a few that have the donation area, right?” she says, bringing out her phone and tapping on the screen. “So we’ll go straight to the store, buy the coats and drop them off at the same time. Once that’s done, considering we’ll have two Liberty boys, we should have the barbecue, right?"

“The sooner the better,” Aubrey agrees.

“So tomorrow after lunch works, right? I need to call Mastermental and get the day off!” Liz says before she races away. Aubrey looks at her computer for a moment longer before bringing up stores and donation programs, instead. She aims her phone at the screen a few times and taps on the screen, taking the information. With that done, she heads for bed, intent on getting some sleep.

The next day is bright and clear--or at least she wishes it was, Aubrey thinks as she heads outside. Instead it’s cloudy and threatening to rain. She looks up, frowning at the sky as if she could fix it that way. Maybe Liz could, she thinks as her foster mom comes down, but she seems HAPPIER when she looks up. “Oh, nice day!” Liz announces happily. Why yes, she HAD slept in. They all had.

The sight of a gleaming bus with a digital sign on the side makes them both stop. At the moment the sign says, “AUBREY’S DAY,” and flashes the Cape High logo right afterwards. “Not exactly discreet, is it?” Aubrey says as Nico pulls the bus to a stop in front of the school and gets out.

“Don’t worry,” he says as he sees her look, “this entire thing can be changed.” The bus shimmers and suddenly it looks exactly like a typical orange school bus. He snaps his fingers and it goes back to the "Aubrey Day" bus.  “I did have to pull a few strings to get it licensed, which means YOU owe me more, little sister,” he adds with an evil grin for Liz.

“I know, I know--I’ll help you with the Christmas presents,” she says.

“Thank you, my most loving sister--”

“Skye probably loves you more at the moment,” Liz says.

“Sure she does, but keeping her focused long enough is pretty much impossible,” Nico says far too honestly. Liz starts laughing. “Okay, guys, you’re clear to leave,” Nico says to the canyon. One by one the students of Cape High come out, apparently appearing out of nothing. Behind Aubrey, the apartment kids, Max, and Adanna show up in their various modes of transportation. The bus is loaded in a blink of an eye.

“This thing is awesome,” Max says, looking around the extremely plush bus with a grin. “Bucket seats, cup holders--are those tablets built into the back of the seats?” he asks, leaning over and tapping one.

“Of course,” Nico says. “What bus is complete without the basics?”

“Ahem,” Aubrey says, as everyone sits down. “Today is my day--and this might shock you, but Nico’s not my helper,” she announces. “My foster mom, Liz, AKA Firefly, will be helping us today. Everyone make sure you thank her for taking the day off of work for this.”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome,” Liz says, bowing grandly while grinning like an idiot.

“And today we’ll be going to a clothing store,” Aubrey says, getting a rather lack-luster reaction. Considering that their clothing is mostly made tailored for them, it’s not that big of a surprise. “But we won’t be buying for ourselves. This is another one of those do-something-for-someone-else days. We’ll be picking out a coat, each, and then donating them to their donation program. Don’t worry, Liz and I will pay for them. But I want you to think long and hard about who you think would need that coat. Is it a child? A teenager? An adult? What color would they want? And most importantly, what sort of situation would cause them to need a coat and not be able to get one for themselves?"

The group goes silent, looking down or around, anywhere other than at her, and she realizes that question might be a bit too heavy. "Well, um, anyway, let's get going," she says. "Ace, I hate to ask this of you--"

"I'll make sure metal head doesn't stick out," Ace says. "IF you make him pay for the coat he picks out," he adds a bit evilly.

"Sure, I get paid surprisingly well for someone making money under the table," Jack says. Aubrey smiles at him, sitting down in her spot next to Liz as the bus takes off. Before long, they're all heading into the large coat store, spreading out like a wave. Aubrey looks around for a moment before heading to the kids' section. Not surprisingly, more than half of the group is there, already.

She looks at them for a moment before heading for the women's section, where, to her surprise, Jack and Ace are looking at coats blankly. "Think this would be warm enough?" Ace asks, holding one up. "I've only been cold, like, once since I was ten," Ace admits as Jack takes it from him. "It sucked."

"Won't work--this is one of those frilly ones that are for going from your car to the store and back," Jack says, fingering the material. "It's not what we're looking for." Ace hangs it up, and goes back to looking. "An' don't just assume the little sizes are right, people come in all sizes. Back when I was an orphan, there was a lady that was tossed out of her home 'cause she lost her job--"

When he checks out, he has a pile almost four feet thick of coats, all to donate. Aubrey watches that silently, her heart pounding against her chest and a little smile that doesn't fade as they board the bus back to school.

"Happy?" Liz asks her.

"Extremely," she says.

"Good," Liz says, "because it's time for the party!" she declares as the bus pulls to a stop in front of the school. Most of the Hall is standing there, and picnic tables are laid out with piles of food on them. Several boxes of fireworks sit to the side.

"Oh, wow, we're having a party?" Carla asks, staring out the window excitedly.

"We sure are! Who wants to help me blow up a lot of stuff?" Liz asks. Every kid on the bus raises their hand.

And as the fireworks blast through the air, Aubrey steals a kiss from her boyfriend--and promptly goes, "HAH! I knew I wouldn't stick!"

"Try it up in the Arctic Circle!" Emily shouts over to her. Aubrey sticks her tongue out at her, making her sister laugh.

So what she'd chosen for her day wasn't fancy, or even something that would make headlines, she thinks as she turns to watch the fireworks. It was something even norms could do. But for every coat they'd bought, she imagines a person keeping a little bit warmer in the upcoming cold.

Advent Calendar - Day Ten

Freddy looks at his helpers, taking a deep breath and placing the map on the table. "So first of all, thanks, guys," he says, "I really appreciate it. I couldn't come up with anything, you know? I mean, I guess I could have called in an adult, but... I'd rather do something stupid and fun than something that'll put me in debt for who knows how long."

"It's fine," Lance says, grinning, "this sounds like it'll be awesome."

"I don't mind," Brandon says, slowly disappearing in front of their eyes.

"Brandon," Freddy says. "Stay with us."

"Sorry, sorry," Brandon says, appearing again, "habit."

"You can do your work invisible, but right now we need a strategic meeting," Freddy says. "Here are the items--I sort of borrowed a couple of Nico's junk boxes from the gym building, right? And a few other things. But, like, hide them all around. We've got some great areas to hide stuff here, here, here, and here, got it?" he says, pointing at the map. "We can't get caught by ANYONE, got it? If we get caught, it'll blow our game."

"Yeah, but what will we give as prizes?" Lance asks, perching on Freddy's bed and staring at the map. "I got nothing, man."