“Okay, so you all know your jobs correct?” Kelley asked Lauren, Amy and Sydney.
They were at the team’s annual Christmas party. It’s been a couple hours since it started and everyone had a few drinks in their systems. The girls decided they were tired of watching their friends and teammates Tobin and Alex dancing around their obvious feelings for each other. Everybody knew how they felt except for the two girls themselves. The mindless flirting and innocent touches made it seem like they were a couple. But they aren’t. Not yet. But if it’s up to Kelley, Lauren, Amy and Sydney, that will all change tonight.
“We’ve gone over the plan like ten times now Kel. I think we got it.” Lauren said.
“Yeah. Lauren and I lead Tobin under the mistletoe while Syd does the same with Alex.” Amy said in a monotone voice like she had heard it a thousand times. Which she had.
“Then we ditch them and you come up and point out the mistletoe.” Syd said.
“Yupp! Then I also ditch them and leave the rest up to fate! There’s no way they’ll keep being oblivious to each other’s love after tonight!” Kelley said, giddy and determined.
“I still don’t think we should be interfering like this though. I mean what if we’re wrong?” Lauren chimed in.
“There’s no way we’re wrong Chen. I mean we’ve all witnessed their loving glances, flirty comments, and innocent touches that they don’t think anyone else sees. It’s like they’re the only two in the world when they’re together.” Kelley pointed out.
“I’m with Kelley. And they’ll never grow a pair and admit it themselves. So we’re giving them a little push.” Syd said.
“Exactly! Now let’s do this before it’s too late!” Kelley said, and with that everybody separated and went to do their jobs.
On the one side of the room Lauren and Amy see Tobin talking to Ashlyn. They can tell it’s about surfing so they don’t worry about going up and interrupting.
“Hey Tobs, come with us, we want to exchange our gifts now!” Amy said with mock excitement.
“Can we do it in a couple minutes? Ash and I are having a very serious conversation right now?”
“You guys can finish your surfing talk later. Amy has to get Ryan to bed soon.” Lauren said truthfully. The kid was basically sleep walking.
“Fine, we’ll continue this later Ash.” Tobin said as she grabbed her gifts and followed her fellow new kids. She followed them to the center of the room until the suddenly stopped.
“We’ll be right back Tobs, we have to go get our gifts.” Amy said, her and Lauren leaving an oblivious Tobin standing right under the mistletoe. Knowing nothing about the girls’ true reasoning for leaving her there.
After a minute of standing there alone, Tobin sees Sydney and Alex walking towards her. She smiles at them as they walk up.
Meanwhile on the other side of the room, Syd walks up to a moping Alex.
“What’s wrong my wittle baby horse?” Syd asked.
“Abby’s retiring. What am I supposed to do without her?”
“Umm score goals with me duh! It can be like the good ole U-20 days Lex! Me and you kicking ass and scoring goals!”
“I guess, but she’s my mentor.”
“She can still be your mentor. Just your virtual mentor who you can call anytime you need to talk to her.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right.”
“I know, I’m always right. Now come dance with me! You promised last year you’d dance with me!”
“Ugh fine. One song, and I get to pick it!”
“Deal!” Syd said as she and Alex made their way to the middle of the room. Syd saw Tobin already in place so she could easily leave Alex with her, making the excuse that she has to call Dom.
“Hey Lex, I forgot I gotta go call Dom before it gets too late.”
“Fine, I guess I’ll talk to Tobin for a couple minutes then.” Alex said as they walked up to the midfielder.
“Hey Tobs, do me a favor will ya? Make sure this girl doesn’t go back to her seat. She promised me she’d dance with me but I gotta go call Dom before it gets too late.”
“Alright Syd, I’ll watch her for you. But hurry up, I got better stuff to do than babysit a whining baby horse that doesn’t want to dance.” Tobin said jokingly before earning a slap from Alex. With that Syd walked away to call her husband, leaving Alex and Tobin alone. Both oblivious to the mistletoe hanging above them.
"I'm surprised they were able to be away from each other this long. I figured Dom would come with her." Tobin said.
“I know the newlyweds seem like they’re always together nowadays.”
“It’s cute though. I’m happy for them.”
“Yeah me too. I hope I find that certain someone one day.”
“You will Lex. Any guy would be lucky to have a girl like you. You’ll meet him one day. And when you do, you’ll know it.”
“Yeah I guess.” Alex said, breaking eye contact and looking around the room. “I think I’ve already met her.” She mumbled so Tobin couldn’t hear. Or though she thought.
“Her?” Tobin asked surprised. Truth be told she’s always had feelings for the forward but she always figured she was straight and she didn’t have a chance.
“Yeah, her.” Alex said looking back into Tobin’s mesmerizing brown eyes. She has also always had feelings for her best friend but always assumed the feelings weren’t mutual. But at this moment she felt herself leaning in, surprised to see Tobin following her lead.
As their lips were about to meet, they heard someone clear their throat beside them. Both their heads quickly shoot up to see an upset Kelley standing right next to them.
“You guys suck!” Kelley yelled. “You ruined our plan!”
“Plan? What are you talking about Kelley?” Alex asked.
“The brilliant plan I came up with, along with a little help from Syd, Lauren and Amy, to get you guys to finally admit your feelings for each other! But you guys had to go ahead and ruin it!”
“How did we ruin it? Did you not just interrupt us right before we were about to kiss?” Alex asked again. Tobin was still in a daze from their almost kiss.
“Well yeah but it didn’t follow the plan!” Kelley yelled again. “The plan was to get both you guys standing here under the mistletoe and then I would come over and point out the mistletoe, forcing you two to finally kiss and fall madly in love with each other!” Tobin finally broke out of her trance to look up and see the mistletoe hanging above them. She was about to say something hen Kelley continued. “But noooo you guys had to ruin it by skipping my whole part in the expert pla-“she was suddenly cut off when Lauren walked up behind her and put her hand over her mouth.
“Can’t you just shut up and be happy for them Kel? Who cares if you didn’t get to do your part?” Amy said walking up behind Lauren.
Kelley licked Lauren’s hand making her let go and said “I care! I put a lot of work into making that plan!” Kelley yelled.
“Gross Kel!” Lauren yelled, wiping her hand on Kelley’s pants. “Come on, leave them alone. Your plan was so good it worked before it was even finished. Now let’s go, leave these two alone.”
“Fine. You’re welcome.” Kelley said to Tobin and Alex before pouting and following Lauren and Amy, leaving Alex and Tobin alone once again.
“Well that was strange, even for Kelley.” Tobin said chuckling.
“Is it really that obvious I have feelings for you?” Alex asked.
“Alex, I thought you were as straight as a stick. I had no idea you liked me. Is it that obvious I have feelings for you?”
“Not at all. I always thought you only liked me as a best friend.”
“Well it seems everyone else knew before us.”
“That’s okay. They’re our closest friends. They’re supposed to know us better than we know ourselves right?”
“Yeah, sure. So about this mistletoe…” And with that Alex smashed her lips into Tobin’s. Years of dancing around each other and they’re finally doing what has been a long time coming. It started out slow, Tobin wrapping her arms around Alex’s waist and pulling her closer. Alex tangled her hands in Tobin’s hair, enjoying the feeling of Tobin’s lips against her own. When oxygen becomes a problem, they slowly pull apart and rest their foreheads together. They hear the cheers and whistles from their teammates around the room, making them giggle a little.
“Wow. That was better than I imagined.” Tobin breathed out.
“Definitely. Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.” Alex said as she pulled Tobin in again, smiling into the kiss.
From that day on, every Christmas, Tobin and Alex would be reminded by Kelley of her expert plan to get them together. And every Christmas they would meet under that same mistletoe, wherever it was that year, and share remember that first kiss. Every present they got since that night didn’t add up to that kiss.