"Okay," I say as I stick a bow on Mateo's present. I wouldn't consider myself an expert at wrapping gifts, but I would say I'm pretty decent. "How does this look?" Alison looks up from her phone and takes the present out of my hands. She lifts up the gift and squints her eyes while rotating it.

She's so extra sometimes, but that's why she's my best friend. "It looks good Vero. Either way I'm sure Mateo will love it. Just as much as he loves youuuuu," she bops my nose with her index finger and grins widely.

Alison has spent the night for two days in a row, but she has to leave tomorrow since Christmas is the day after. Her Mom was fine with her staying. Usually whenever she comes over, her parents stay for dinner to catch up with my parents. They're considered family to us by now. Even though we met freshman year, it feels like I've known her my whole life.

"So you and Alejandro seemed distant at the park," I set the present down on my vanity and lay down next to her on my bed. She sighs and puts her phone on her chest. Whenever we hang out we usually try not to speak about our relationships. I mean we obviously still do but it's not like all the time.

"We had gotten into a little fight. But it was so dumb, it was all him. And you know how I get, I just can't hold back the things I say."

"What was it about?" I say as I turn on my side facing her.

"He really made me mad, and I was going to hide how I felt." She runs a hand through her curls and turns to her side so now we're facing each other.

"Alison, I love you and you know that. But I mean this in the nicest way possible. Just say what happened!" I raise my voice a bit.

"Fine," she rolls her eyes.

"We were on our way to the park right, and I had grabbed his phone to change the song. And when I was looking through his playlist, he had gotten a message from this girl." She puts her arm beneath her head and tucks in a curl behind her ear. I kind of see where this is going.

"I clicked on the message and it showed that they had been texting, and I got mad. The girl was flirty with him and that made me even more mad. So I asked him why he was texting her back and he asked who I was talking about. That's when I started going off on him and he was like telling me to calm down and that she was just a friend. But obviously I wasn't gonna believe him since he was texting her back."

I never thought Alison would be the jealous type but if I doubt Alejandro would actually text another girl. Ever since they started dating, Alejandro has been nothing but sweet and loving to her. As her best friend I'm gonna tell her my honest opinion.

"Alison, were the messages actually flirty? And did Alejandro like answering back with the same energy?" I can see why she feels this way. If I found messages in Mateo's phone I would be upset but I would ask him calmly about it.

"Well," she shifts back onto her back. "He wasn't flirting back he was just like giving dry responses BUT that doesn't change the fact that he was texting back!" She responds and turns her head towards me.

"Look Ali, you know we always tell each other the truth. I'm being completely honest with you here, but I think you're overreacting. I don't think Alejandro meant to text her in the way you thought." I sit up and lean on my elbow. "Ale shows nothing but love and respect to you, and that says a lot since he's the captain of the soccer team." We let out a small laugh at my comment. Ever since freshman year I would always tell her that soccer players are...well players. They just lay around with girls and move on to the next.

"Maybe it's because you're scared you'll lose him since he's 'the love of your life," I say the last part with air quotes. She smacks her lips and pushes my shoulder. "But I think you should let him have his girl friends, just like he lets you have his guy friends. It's only fair that you respect him just like he respects you."

Once I'm done we stay quiet for a few minutes. She's fidgeting her hands and biting her lip. If anyone were to meet Alison and Alejandro for the first time, they would be able to see right away how in love they are. She has this glow to her now, so does Alejandro, they're meant for each other.

"You're right," she breaks the silence. "I'm overreacting. I don't know Vero, maybe it's because he's someone I finally take seriously. Like I don't mean to sound cringey but he's the one for me." A smile grows on her face while she's talking, she does that a lot. When she talks about him her cheeks heat up and she doesn't even realize it.

"You're in love Alison," I poke her cheek and she swats my hand away. "Hey don't push me away, you always tease me about Mateo, it's finally time for me to tease you." We start to laugh, and it's even worse when we start laughing because we continue laughing for a long time even when nothing is funny.

"You remember when you had a crush on Caleb," I turn face down onto the bed and groan. She's always bringing him up. I literally only liked him for a few weeks sophomore year. Alison laughs at the memory we always think about when we talk about him.

"Please, remember how you went to talk to him but ended up falling in front of him," she sits up and starts to wheeze. Jesus Christ, this girl and her laugh. She literally starts to wheeze and all you hear is like a whistle. "Or when you texted him telling him you liked him and got rejected."

"Alison I- I was sad for like three days that's not funny," I mutter as I lift up my head. "Plus now that I think of it, why would you let me catch feelings. He was not that cute." As much as I tried to hold in my laughter, I couldn't contain it. Literally I don't know what was going through my mind freshman and sophomore year of high school.

It's moments like these I like to keep forever. Just laughing together, not a care in the world. I'm gonna miss her when she's off to college. She's my sister, the person I go to when I need cheering up or when I need to rant.

"Okay well now that you have given me advice, get back to wrapping presents." She tells me once we both calm down.

"Fine," I stand up from the bed and make my way back to the beanbag in the corner of my room. She gets back on her phone and I look at her. I smile to myself at all the memories we have made and the ones that are yet to come.

God, what would I do without her?