Free Playing With Fire (Sweet Secrets #3) by Taylor Henderson Page B

Christmas!”
    “Merry Christmas!” I yelled back. John and my mom echoed my words.
    Lena’s red hair was straightened, and she had a pair of reindeer antlers perched on top of her head. When she leaned out of the screen, my dad’s face came into view.
    “Merry Christmas, Dad!” I yelled, leaning into the camera.
    His lips stretched into a wide, toothy smile. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart!”
    Lena slid the camera back and adjusted the screen so they both could be seen. “Who goes first?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
    “Me!” I chirped, making my mom and dad laugh. Ever since we were younger, I always wanted to go first opening my presents. Lena and I both liked watching each other open gifts, so we started taking turns so we could watch the other.
    My mom dug around under our beautifully lit tree and handed me an immaculately wrapped present. She was always really good at wrapping presents. My dad, on the other hand, was not. He was excused from that task this year, since all of my gifts were either mailed here, or he sent my mom the money and told her what to buy.
    This one was from my dad. I took in its long rectangular shape and tried to guess what it could be, but I only drew blanks. I held the box up to the camera and smiled before I undid the ribbon first, then tore through the wrapping paper like a wild animal. I knew instantly that Lena had helped him pick out this gift. I knew before I even took the top off of the shoes. Inside was a pair of brown leather riding boots. They had a shiny, gold clasp on the outside of each ankle, and were gorgeous.
    My eyes practically bulged. Lena knew that I wanted a pair of high boots, and told Dad to get them for me for Christmas. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I screeched, holding a boot up.
    “You’re welcome,” Dad responded with a chuckle.
    I went through opening the rest of my gifts like that. Mom bought me a ton of clothes, which was always a great gift for me, while Dad got accessories and perfumes. They had to have planned that.
    Lena’s gift was the last one I opened. It was in a small box. As I opened it, Lena bounced up and down on her spot. When the wrapping paper was off I saw that it was a jewelry box. I popped the lid open to reveal a delicate looking silver chain, with a rectangular prism connected to it sideways. On the side of the prism that I could see were the coordinates ‘N 38 81.6242 W 77 07.1282.’ I held the necklace up to the screen as I asked Lena what the coordinates were for.
    She smiled as she answered, “Virginia.” Then she reached inside of her shirt and pulled the chain of a necklace until it was visible in the camera. She leaned forward so that I could see hers. Engraved into the metal were the coordinates ‘ N 32 77.9541 W 117 14.6344.’ “You have the coordinates for the city I’m in, and I have the coordinates for the city you’re in. Now we’ll have a little piece of each other with us whenever we’re apart.”
    My mouth dropped open slightly, and behind me my mom said, “Lena, that was such a thoughtful gift.” John murmured in agreement.
    “I love it,” I said, sliding around so my mom could put it on me. She hooked it easily, even with a squirming toddler in her lap.
    “Looks great,” John said.
    “Thanks,” I responded, stroking the necklace with my finger.
    “That is really beautiful,” came Dad’s voice from the laptop.
    Lena went through her gifts a lot faster than I went through mine. When it was her turn to open her gift from me, she held up the present. She furrowed her eyebrows at it in confusion and I could tell that she couldn’t guess what it was. She even shook it lightly. When she finally opened it, she let out a loud laugh that was followed by my dad’s laughter, and then said that she loved it.
    “I want to see,” my mom called.
    Lena held up my present to the screen for Mom and John to see. It was a long, rectangular picture frame that had the words, ‘I love you because