11 Ch11-The Arrival of Secret Santa

Chapter 11 The Arrival of Secret Santa I was nervous about going to school the next morning. I wanted to get my Secret Santa present, but I didn't want the guys to make fun of me for getting kissed by Andrea. I decided to stay away from her, no matter what. I put my backpack in my cubby. Ryan

and Michael didn't even mention any- thing about me kissing Andrea. I guess they forgot about it. After we pledged the allegiance, every- body got all excited because it was time to open our Secret Santa presents. Ryan got a jigsaw puzzle from his Secret Santa. Michael got Legos from his Secret Santa. Neil the nude kid got a model plane from his Secret Santa. I kept waiting for my turn. "Who is A.J.'s Secret Santa?" Miss Daisy finally asked. "I am!" It was Andrea! Oh man! If I had known that Andrea was my Secret Santa, I would

have moved to Antarctica. "Oooooh!" Ryan said. "A.J. got a present from Andrea. She kissed him too. They must be in love!" "When are you gonna get married?" asked Michael. I told them to shut up. Andrea gave me the present. I tore off the wrapping paper and the dumb bow (which serves no pur- pose anyway). Then I opened the box. And do you know what was inside? I'm not going to tell you. Okay, okay, I'll tell you. It was a hat, A hat! Who gets a kid a hat? A hat isn't a present. A hat is clothes. It was horrible.

Not only that, but it looked just like the dumb hat Andrea wears all the time. "I knitted it myself," Andrea said, "in my knitting class." "How wonderful, Andrea!" said Miss Daisy. "A homemade present is so much nicer than something you buy in a store.

AJ., what do you say to Andrea?" No way was I going to wear a hat that looked just like Andrea's dumb hat. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I had to think fast. "I hate hats," I said. "You're mean!" Andrea said. Miss Daisy made me apologize to Andrea, so I told her I was sorry she made me a dumb hat. "Who is Emily's Secret Santa?" asked Miss Daisy. "I am," I said. I took out the present and gave it to Emily. I was so excited because my pres- ent was way cooler than all the others.

She opened it up. "What is it?" everybody asked. Emily pulled the plastic bag out of the box and started crying. "It's a dead fish!" she sobbed. "I can't believe you got me a dead fish for Christmas, A.J.!" "It wasn't dead when I got it!" I said. "And there were two of them. Where's the other one?" "They must have eaten each other," said Ryan. "Stuff like that happens all the time with fish, you know."