“Ooh, a garage sale! And there’s no one around!”

“Shawn don’t bother. You won’t find anything good.”

“How do you know, Nita?”

“That house has a garage sale every weekend, and it’s always the same junk. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone buy anything from it.”

“Well, looks like I’ll be the first.”

Nita Hemmingsly shook her head in disappointment as her best friend Shawn Martin crossed the snow-covered street towards the long tables adorned with knick-knacks and bric-a-brac of all shapes and sizes. The crunch of freshly fallen snow beneath her Ultramarine Blue snow boots (a gift from last Christmas) ceased the moment Shawn stepped onto the sidewalk. Whereas the rest of the neighborhood was blanketed in layers of snow, making the buildings reminiscent of gingerbread houses coated in powdered sugar, this one home was totally bare. The concrete sidewalk was bone dry. The trees on both sides of the old house were covered in dead leaves clinging to the ancient, gnarled limbs.

Shawn looked up at the house looming over her. Unlike most of the houses on the block, this one was completely devoid of holiday decorations. No lights. No wreaths. No hint of a tree. Not even a Menorah could be seen. The pitch-black windows seemed to glare down at her; an intense, almost vicious gaze. The glass panes rattled as a shrill wind pierced the air, dead leaves swaying in the harsh December chill.

Shrugging, Shawn figured, “So they’re not into the holidays.”

“Shawn come on!” Nita called from across the street. “You’re wasting your time!”

Shawn responded with a half shrug half wave as she maneuvered among the selection of items, assessing what this garage sale had to offer. The front table had a sign propped up in big red letters proclaiming “EVERYTHING MUST GO. ITEMS INDIVIDUALLY PRICED. LEAVE MONEY IN BOWL. NO DISCOUNTS. NO RETURNS. ALL SALES FINAL.” Shawn’s gaze wandered down towards the ceramic bowl at the base of the sign. Totally empty.

These people are either too trusting or business must be really bad, Shawn thought. She didn’t really understand why. As she navigated amongst the disarray of objects and heirlooms, Shawn could see there was some cool stuff up for grabs. An antique clock on one table. A mirror with an ornate frame on another. At the end of one row was a lamp almost as big as Shawn’s older brother. They even had a dollhouse which, on further inspection, looked like a miniature replica of the nearby house.

“Why would they want to get rid of this?” Shawn wondered aloud as she spied into the dollhouse windows. Even they were pitch black. “I wonder how this thing op-96 CENTS?!” Shawn’s eyes practically popped out of her head once she noticed the tag on the dollhouse roof. It wasn’t just the dollhouse. Shawn soon realized everything was similarly priced. She couldn’t find a single dollar sign on any of the priced objects. The mirror was marked 93 cents. The clock was 92 cents. Why, even that lamp was a measly 89 cents. Ridiculous!

If everything’s so cheap, why am I the only one here? Shawn mused as she held up a pair of 3D glasses priced 83 cents. She didn’t dare put them on. 3D stuff always gave her a headache and never seemed to work for her. Maybe everything’s actually broken and that’s why the prices are so low.

Suddenly, Shawn was shaken from her thoughts when she finally found what she’d been looking for at the far end of the table. The thing she desperately needed more than anything else in the world.

“Wrapping paper?” Nita sounded disgusted as Shawn blithely skipped up to her with a roll of brightly colored foil paper in her arms. “You seriously bought used wrapping paper?”

“It’s not used, Nita, it’s still got the plastic on see?”

“It’s still used if someone else bought it first.”

Ignoring Nita’s persnickety attitude, Shawn went on to say “And it only cost 23 cents for the entire roll, can you believe it? I left a dollar in quarters in the bowl.”

“Did you get exact change?” Nita quipped.

“I’m not gonna bug someone over 77 cents, Nita. Besides, they’re majorly underselling what they’ve got.” Shawn turned back to see the garage sale was once again empty. “They should better advertise or something. There’s some awesome stuff up for grabs.”

Nita asked, “Why didn’t you take anything else if it’s so cheap?”

“All I needed was some wrapping paper for someone’s present,” Shawn explained. “My moms are totally anal when it comes to wrapping paper. They make us reuse the same sheets every year. It’s supposed to be good for the environment or something.”

“I’ll bet I know who the someone is,” Nita teased in a sing-songy voice. “And her name starts with the letter M.”

“It’s someone you’ve never met!” Shawn shouted back, her face turning beet red from the cold and her sense of embarrassment. “It’s for my Grandma when we visit her at the home.”

“Suuure it is,” Nita grinned.

Shawn scowled that night, thinking about Nita and the catty smile on her face as she teased Shawn all the way home. Opening the roll of wrapping paper in the sanctity of her bedroom, Shawn told herself she absolutely did not have a crush on Margot Brolin, the smartest, sweetest, fiercest, nicest girl in her homeroom. She was simply giving her this deluxe action figure of Japanese anime character Pumpkin Rose from the series Mahou Girl Potion Princesses as a friendly Christmas gift. As friends do. Because why would Margot ever want to be anything but friends with someone like Shawn, who had an annoying laugh. Whose hair was an odd mishmash of red and brown. Who had difficulty not making her Zs look weird when she wrote in cursive? Shawn hated the letter Z.

Spreading out the wrapping paper on her bedroom floor, Shawn was surprised to see the design bore miniature snow-covered houses decorated for Christmastime. Odd, considering the heavy lack of festiveness which so pervaded the garage sale area. And that wasn’t the only weird thing about it.

Am I imagining things, or do they look exactly like that house? Like exactly? Shawn narrowed her eyes as she stared at a house right in the middle of the paper sheet. There was no mistaking those distinctive windows she’d seen earlier in real life, glaring at her in the winter sunlight. Shawn had to hand it to whoever lived in that house. They were certainly committed to a theme. As she cut and snipped and taped the paper over Pumpkin Rose’s box, she wondered if the family who lived in that house would have another garage sale next weekend. If Nita was right and they had garage sales almost every weekend, she’d tell her moms and they could have a shopping spree post-Christmas.

Once she finished sealing up the figure, Shawn felt a sense of pride. The present was perfect. No creases. No tears. Not overtaped or undertaped. Perfect. The perfect present to give to someone as perfect as Margot Brolin. Shawn settled into bed, feeling proud of herself. For once she couldn’t wait for school.

As she slept, Shawn didn’t realize the windows on the miniature houses adorning the red paper glowed a sickening yellow light in the darkness.

The following morning, Shawn arrived at school bright and early with her present for Margot concealed in a green paper bag. Careful to avoid bumping into the object of her desire, Shawn navigated her way into the building. She was immediately greeted by the scent of burnt coffee from the teachers’ lounge and heat coming up from the radiators in the hallways. Shawn hated how warm the school got during the winter, well beyond keeping the students comfortable. In class it was hard to stay focused when the heat could make someone drowsy. Today though, Shawn was alert and wide awake as a girl with a mission.

Heading up to the second floor, Shawn reached her homeroom and found it empty. Not even Mrs. Cullen had arrived yet, but a TV had been set up complete with an archaic VCR. Shawn figured Cullen was planning to make her class watch some horrible Christmas movie like she did every year on the last day before break started. As the oldest teacher in the school, the woman had a fondness for the old TV/VCR. Shawn was just thankful the school hadn’t decided to make Friday the last day, a sentiment decidedly not shared by her classmates. School was the only place she felt brave enough to give Margot her gift.

Looking around to make sure she was alone, Shawn snuck into the classroom and made a beeline for Margot’s assigned desk in the back. Heart pounding in her chest, Shawn debated if she should leave the card signed with her name in the bag.

Stop overthinking this, Shawn told herself. This is a gift for a friend. Friends give each other gifts. But am I really friends with Margot? I want to be. And this is the perfect way to do it. Or is it? What if she hates it? What if she thinks it’s weird? Does she think I’m weird? She probably thinks I’m weird. I shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t-

Shawn slapped herself in the face, saying “Get a hold of yourself!” Taking a deep breath, Shawn slowly, slowly, slowly placed the gift bag underneath Margot’s chair. She stood straight back up, made a perfect 180 degree turn, headed back outside the classroom, and then promptly ran for the bathroom out of fear she might vomit from anxiety.

In her haste to reach the girls’ room, Shawn failed to notice she wasn’t alone in the hallway. Hidden behind a row of lockers, Megan Randel smiled a devious smile as she headed for the classroom Shawn just departed. Casually striding up to Margot Brolin’s desk, Megan looked down and pulled out the green gift bag.

“Look at that,” Megan said aloud with no one to hear her. She opened the card included with the gift-wrapped box, reading the words “’To Margot. I know how much you like Mahou Girl Potion Princesses and I do too. I don’t know if you already have this figure. If you do, let me know and I can easily buy you something else. It’s my way of saying thanks for letting me talk about the show so much. You’re awesome. Merry Christmas from your friend, Shawn Martin.’ Isn’t that nice?”

Megan promptly ripped the card up into pieces. She pulled out a much smaller card which read ‘To Margot. A gift from the heart to show I care. Merry Christmas from Megan Randel.’ Like Hell was Megan letting a loser like Shawn Martin get her hands on Margot Brolin. Megan had her eyes set on Margot ever since the beginning of the school year, and she made damn sure no one else encroached on her territory.

It was Shawn’s own fault for being transparent about her crush. Almost everyone knew when Shawn Martin liked a girl. That hadn’t changed when they entered middle school. Ever since they were kids, Shawn made grand, desperate attempts to impress girls she liked by buying them amazing gifts. Megan begrudgingly admitted the girl had good shopping sense. Which is why she figured she’d let Shawn buy Margot’s Christmas gift for her. All it would cost Megan was a cheap card to go with it. Returning the gift bag to its place beneath Margot’s seat, Megan smiled as she left the classroom.

After the morning bell rang, the students poured into the school already wound up for the arrival of the day’s end. Most of the homerooms were holding little parties instead of doing actual work since it was the last day before holiday break. Vacation assignments were already given out on the previous Friday, so now there was nothing left to do but run out the clock.

“Settle down, people,” the elderly Mrs. Cullen announced as her students chatted with each other. “To get us in the holiday spirit, I’ve decided we’ll watch a time-honored Christmas classic.” She held up a clamshell VHS case and ignored the resounding groans. “I’ve chosen for us to enjoy The Littlest Candy Cane. A favorite of mine.”

Shawn couldn’t care less about her geriatric teacher’s taste in animated movies. She was more concerned with Margot Brolin placing a her gift on her desk. Margot didn’t read the card first, but that was okay. Shawn anxiously waited as Margot tore off the paper, opened the box, and pulled out-

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” Margot’s screams filled the classroom as she yanked her hand out of the box and fell from her seat. She kept screaming as her desk fell over and the box hit the ground. There was a heavy, wet sound as something rolled onto the tile floor.

A human heart.

Everyone was screaming, leaping from their seats, at the sight of the heart on the classroom floor. Margot’s screams intensified as she realized she had actual blood on her hand.

“ENOUGH!” Mrs. Cullen shouted. Only Margot continued screaming as Mrs. Cullen marched towards the heart on the floor. Hands on her hips, the teacher scoffed. “I expect this sort of nonsense on Halloween, but at Christmastime?” She bent down and picked up the heart. “Pathetic. Like I’m supposed to believe this is real?” Several students groaned, and Marianne Littleriver vomited as Mrs. Cullen licked some blood off her fingertips. “Corn syrup.”

Shawn had no idea what was happening when Mrs. Cullen said “Miss Martin. Take Miss Brolin to the nurse’s office. I’m going to personally deal with whoever thought this was funny.” Nodding, Shawn hurried to a shaking Margot and gently led her by the shoulders out of the room.

Mrs. Cullen picked up the green bag and removed the card Margot missed. Reading the letters, Mrs. Cullen’s frown turned into an angry snarl. “Randel. I should’ve known.” Mrs. Cullen muttered under her breath about Megan Randel’s reputation as a bully and a source of disruption, but this was too much even for her.

Knocking on the door to Mrs. Talbot’s homeroom, Mrs. Cullen deftly entered and said, “Where is Megan Randel?” Hands pointed to the front of the room where Megan had her head down. Mrs. Cullen shook Megan up. “I demand to know what you were thinking giving someone a-”

SPLAT!

There was a horrible splitting sound like fabric being torn as something suddenly burst out of Megan Randel’s chest. A plastic, poseable figurine of a teenage girl in an orange skirt and witch hat jutted out of Megan’s rib cage, covered in blood, skin, and muscle. Gore splattered on Mrs. Cullen’s face as everyone in the classroom started screaming.

The last thing Mrs. Cullen remembered thinking before she hit the floor was Now we won’t be able to watch The Littlest Candy Cane.