Free The Perfect Present by Morgan Billingsley

I don’t know what my twin brother wanted for Christmas, but I was about to give him a gift all right, a hard punch in the right eye. Okay, I’m not really a violent person, but after what he just said, Max deserved that and then some.
    â€œSay it again,” I threatened.
    â€œI’m not scared to say it!” he yelled.
    â€œThen say it! I triple dog dare you.” My nostrils flared as I breathed in and out. I felt like I did after gym glass when our drill sergeant gym teacher used to make us run all those laps and I’d be out of breath.
    Max took a step in my face and with a gigantic grin said, “Santa. Isn’t. Real.”
    I couldn’t believe this! My little brother (because he was three minutes younger than me) really had the nerve to say Santa isn’t real!
    I balled up my fist, but then I thought about Santa and figured he was probably watching right now. That’s what saved Max. I really wanted that new Wii and Santa might put me on the naughty list if I gave my brother a black eye.
    So I just said, “Everyone knows Santa is real and he comes once a year on Christmas Eve!”
    He rolled his eyes, laughing like I was the president of dumb.com . “Mickey,you really are too old to still believe in Santa,” he told me.
    Oh! By the way, I’m Mickey, which is short for Michelle but everyone just calls me Mickey. Max is my nerdy twin. In other words, he’s a loser, especially since he doesn’t believe in Santa.
    How I could have a loser for a twin, I have no idea. Max always tries to make fun of me, saying I was named after a mouse. But then, I have to remind him that Mickey is an international personality and the universal symbol of the twenty-first century (I don’t exactly know what that means, but I saw it on Google and it sounded really good).
    People call us the M and M Twins and even though we fight, nothing can break our bond. Well, I used to think nothing could break our bond. This craziness he just said, well that just may do it.
    This all started earlier today when me and Max were eating lunch, and my friend Avery brought up what we wanted for Christmas. That got everyone at the lunch table talking.
    â€œI think we should scam Santa into getting us a whole lot of presents. Like, give him a list, then give our parents another list,” said Justin, Max’s friend.
    â€œYeah, that way we get double gifts,” Avery said.
    â€œUh, really?” said Max’s friend, Peter. “We’re second graders. Everybody in second grade knows that Santa isn’t real.”
    Me, Avery and Justin stared at Peter like he had two heads.
    â€œOf course Santa is real,” I finally said. “How else do you think we get our gifts?”
    â€œYeah, and nobody but Santa is brave enough to go down the chimney,” Avery chimed in. “Right, Max?”
    I just knew my brother was going to agree with me. But he just sat there looking stuck on stupid.
    Finally, he said, “I think Peter is right. We’re too old to believe in all that fake Santa stuff.”
    My granny used to say ‘bury me now’ when something was shocking to her. I had no idea what that meant when she first said it, but now I got it. My twin brother was giving up on Santa. Yep, just shoot me now.
    I couldn’t even pay attention in class the rest of the day. My teacher said, “What’s twenty plus twenty” and I answered, “Santa.” That’s how crazy my brother had my head.
    The rest of the day, all I could think about was how to put some sense back into my brother.
    â€œI’ll give you my ice cream sandwich for a week if you just say Santa is real,” I said as we road the bus home.
    â€œI’ll take your sandwich, but I’m not saying it because I don’t believe it,”Max replied.
    â€œI’ll let you win at Robolox,” I said, talking about our favorite game.
    â€œI’m gonna win