Page 44 of A Class of Her Own

“Let’s go over the description of Santa once again, shall we?” Ruby said. “‘He had a broad face, and a round little belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.’ Nowhere in there does it say, ‘He had huge biceps, and a firm little belly, that flexed when he laughed, and ate protein jelly.’”

We all laughed, which helped ease some of the tension.

Aryn shook her head. “You win. Plus, Meredith is right; my brothers’ eyes don’t twinkle at all.”

“My dad could maybe do it,” Ruby said when the laughter died down. “He’s a big guy. I don’t think he could grow a beard by Saturday though.”

“We can get a fake beard, but your dad lives out of state,” I responded. Ruby nodded glumly. “I think he’d be great, but we do need someone more local. I’m not sure what to do. I’ve exhausted all my ideas.” We sat in thoughtful silence for another minute before I muttered morosely, “Maybe we should manifest a Santa into our lives.”

Hailey cocked her head. “Did you suggest wemanifest a Santa?”

I blew out a breath. “It’s something Willow mentioned the other day when I was helping her with inventory. She’s manifesting a man into my life.”

They sat up straight, all thoughts of Santa flying out the window.

“Interesting. Why is she doing that?” Hailey asked.

“She thinks I’m a lonely spinster who deserves love, I guess.” I pulled a face. “Who knows what goes on in Willow’s head.”

“How does one go about manifesting?” Aryn asked, more intrigued than I’d have expected.

“You do a bunch of visualizing and imagining and then show no doubt that it will happen,” I replied with a wave of my hand.

“What kind of guy is she trying to visualize?” Hailey asked.

I rubbed my hand over the bridge of my nose, wanting to drop it but knowing they never would until I gave them an answer. “Someone smart, hardworking, kind, who would make me feel safe. Now, can we please get back on task?”

Ruby wrinkled her nose. “I had an aunt one time who swore she was going to have a new house by her birthday. There was no way it was happening, because she was broke and lazy, but she walked around talking about it all the time. ‘I’ll hang blue curtains in my new house; I’ll buy red towels for my new bathroom.’ Then, all of a sudden, two days before her birthday, someone shows up offering her an RV to live in. She hung those curtains and bought those towels like she’d never doubted it for a minute.”

“I’m not buying it,” I replied, not to be mean, but because I didn’t believe in this whole business of attracting things to oneself. “There has to be a logical reason someone did that for her.” Because there were once things I’d needed very much, and no amount of wishing had changed my circumstances. Getting up and working hard were the only truly reliable things. “It’s a bunch of hocus pocus.”

Ruby smiled. “This stuff works.” She patted her stomach as it rumbled. “I’m about to manifest myself a cheesesteak sandwich.”

“At eight o’clock in the morning?” Hailey laughed. “I can’t digest meat until noon.”

“I’m going to manifest myself a new car,” Aryn added. “I wonder what time my new car will arrive next week?”

A bell rang, alerting us to the fact that the students would be arriving soon. My friends all stood, laughing and chatting about what they’d be manifesting themselves.

“What about Santa?” I called after them.

“Better start manifesting,” Aryn offered as they rounded the doorframe and disappeared from sight.

I was in trouble.

It was time to tuck my tail between my legs and beg for mercy two days later when no Santa had materialized, regardless of the fact my friends had told me that Thornback manifesting was twice as strong as regular manifesting, and that they knew it would come together. They had actually put in some work, making a few calls, and coming up as empty-handed as I had.

Desperate times occasionally birth desperate answers, and at lunch that day, I’d had an idea pop into my head that was so abhorrent I’d had to push away the rest of my lunch and try to stop a cold sweat from trickling down my spine. However, by the time the students went home, I’d realized I had nothing to lose. So, I walked the long walk to the principal’s office to ask Mr. Wall if he wanted to play Santa.

I sat rigidly facing his desk as he leaned forward and templed his fingers in front of him. “Let me see if I understand this,” he said.

I hated that phrase. People only said that phrase when they fully and completely understood something but wanted to say it out loud one more time to make sure thatyouunderstood how displeased they were with the situation.

“We have a Santa and cookies party scheduled for Saturday. It is now Wednesday, and we have no Santa. So, what we do have is a cookie party and decorations. But no Santa for the Santa part of the party.” He said this all very calmly.

I nodded. “That’s the basic idea, yeah.”

He smacked his lips. “I don’t think I have to tell you what a problem that is.”

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