My First Gift

by SAJ
(Providence)

The most meaningful and romantic gifts I ever got was when I was a junior in high school. I had already a few boyfriends but they were short lived and I never got anything from them. My best friend and I hung around a lot of guys but unlike me, she was very pretty and thin, so I automatically thought if any of them liked either of us, it would be her. Well it was around Christmas time and I was sitting in the hallway waiting for my friend as well as for school to start. I heard someone call my name and I looked up to see Nick. I wasn’t particularly close to him but he hung with our group a lot. He was smiling but looked nervous and I thought something was wrong and I stood up and silently waited for him to come to me. When he did, he looked down at the ground and mumbled something and I asked him to speak up. He still didn’t look at me but he said more clearly, “I’ve had a crush on you for a while now and you don’t have to like me back but I got you a Christmas present and I was hoping that you would accept it.” I didn’t know what to say as he pulled a package out of his sweater’s pouch and handed it to me. I asked if I could open it and he said yes. When I did, I saw the most beautiful jewelry box I had seen and couldn’t help but blush. It was glass with beautiful flowers painted on the lid. After that we dated for a while but I never threw out the box and I still use it.