And right at that moment three of them were sitting across the table, doing their best to make me gag into my lunch. “Five sleeps till Christmas,” Kirby chirruped, her blonde waves bouncing with enthusiasm as she addressed us. “Are we, like, getting together or what?” I stared at my ditzy friend, feeling my body sag in despair at the very thought of having to sit and play nice over a Christmas-themed tablecloth. I was sure we’d put a veto on mentioning the C word in my presence. Had she forgotten? “Time’s running out,” Kirby continued, “and I sooo want to do that Secret Santa thing. Plus, I have a totally cute Christmas dress to wear. It has jingle bells sewn around the hem. It’s, like, red— of course — with fur trim on the collar.” Fur? In summer? I groaned inwardly. Honestly, when Kirby started gushing over ‘cute this’ and ‘divine that,’ I questioned our friendship — especially if said gushing occurred in the same sentence as ‘themed apparel’. Sane people didn’t do Christmas wear in public unless it was hidden away as underwear and even that was stretching the friendship.
