After the five of us met up at Tori’s house for a rapid present-wrapping session, we loaded up her car.

Tori’s Christmas Eve party would start in less than an hour, but first we had to make a very important delivery. The sound of Christmas music in the car had me pumped for what we were about to do.

Tori pulled into my street, but instead of turning into my driveway, she parked in front of the house before mine.

We opened our doors, and the music stopped, but it didn’t matter because “Jingle Bell Rock” kept playing in my head.

Grabbing bags of groceries and wrapped Christmas gifts with giant bows, the four of us made our way to Melissa’s front door.

I shivered even though I was wearing a thick jacket. “Is it me or is it really cold all of a sudden?” I asked.

Lena’s teeth chattered, and she nodded. “Definitely cold.”

Ella rang the doorbell, and we waited.

The sound of footsteps and voices reached us. It sounded like Melissa’s brothers were at the door. One of them peeked through the curtains, and I smiled.

His eyes widened at the sight of the presents in my hand, and all we could hear after that was the sound of excited screams.

I glanced back at my friends, and they all had on big smiles too.

Finally, the front door opened. Melissa stood there with her two brothers.

She was dressed in pajamas with little reindeer all over them. Just like her brothers, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of me and my friends. “Harper, hi…”

One of her younger brothers, who looked like he was in third grade jumped up and down. “Are those for us?” he asked.

His brother and Melissa clearly wanted to know the same thing.

I bit my lip, wondering just how to say what I was going to say next. “Hi, there,” I began, smiling at Melissa’s brothers. “I’m Harper. These are my friends. Ella, Lena, Rey, and Tori.” My friends waved in turn. “What are your names?”

“I’m Josh,” the younger one said.

“I’m Tommy,” the other one said. Both of them couldn’t get their eyes off the presents in our hands.

“Hi, Josh. Hi, Tommy,” I said, wondering if they still believed in Santa. “We’re here to make a special delivery on behalf of…uh…”

“Santa?” Josh finished for me. He looked like he was about to pass out from disbelief. “I knew he would come to our house after all! I knew it!”

Tommy’s mouth fell open.

I turned to Melissa. “Is it okay if we come in and set these inside?”

She nodded, eyes bright. “Of course,” she said. “I can’t believe you and your friends did this for us.”

She closed the door behind us, and her parents walked into the living room.

Melissa glanced back at us. “Mom, dad, this is my friend Harper from next door.”

I set down my gifts and walked over, hand out. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Douglas. Nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Douglas.”

They shook my hand then stared curiously at the gifts and bags of groceries in our hands. “What’s this?” Melissa’s dad asked.

I glanced at the #BFFs. “My friends and I have a special delivery for you all.” They smiled and waved.

Glancing at the boys who looked like they couldn’t wait a minute longer to find out which gifts were theirs, I said, “Just a little something from Santa…and a few other people who wanted to make sure you guys had a great Christmas.”

Melissa’s mom immediately teared up, and I got busy handing out gifts.

Lena and Ella asked where they could put the groceries, and Melissa’s dad guided them to the kitchen, looking pretty astounded with everything himself.

Melissa came over and gave me a big hug. “I can’t believe you guys did this,” she said.

Her brothers asked if they could open their presents since Santa had delivered them early, and all their mom could do was nod.

My friends rejoined me.

Melissa’s mom stared at the scene in front of us, her husband taking her hand. “I don’t know what to say,” she finally said.

“You don’t know how much this helps,” Melissa’s dad said quietly.

I glanced at my friends, and they looked about how I felt inside. Incredibly grateful to have been able to help.

Ella said, “It was all Harper, really. It was her idea, and while most of us were worried about other things, she reminded us about the real meaning of Christmas.”

Now I wanted to cry. I took Ella’s hand and squeezed it.

Lena came over and gave me a hug. Then Tori and Rey were there too, and we were happy to just take in the scene.

“Mom, dad!” Tommy said. “There’s presents for you too!”

They joined their kids on the couch, and Melissa came over again. “Thank you so much,” she said. “My parents knew I would understand if we didn’t have much of a Christmas this year, but it was hard on my brothers.”

“I know it’s not much,” I said.

“But it is,” Melissa replied. “How can we ever thank you?”

I remembered Ms. Elizabeth and her selfless contribution to a family she’d never met. “We wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for two special people, Ms. Elizabeth and her daughter, Beatrice. They’re the ones who were really able to make this possible.”

Melissa brow furrowed. “Well, is there a phone number or email we can reach her at?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, but she was really happy to be able to help.”

With that, we said our goodbyes and left Melissa and her family to continue their Christmas.

When we climbed back into Tori’s car, she spun around to look at me. “Harp? That was about the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Lena nodded and gave me a sideways hug. “Thanks for putting up with me and my Scrooge-like tendencies.”

I giggled. “No problem.”

She looked down for a second and then around at all of us. “Definitely not the worst Christmas ever. In fact, it’s pretty awesome.”

Rey hugged me too, and Ella smiled at me from the front passenger seat. “That was seriously better than any physical gift I could have gotten this year.”

I grinned. “You guys are the best. I’m just glad we could make a difference for someone this holiday season.”

Rey raised her hand. “I propose we make this a new #BFF tradition.”

I gasped. “Yes!”

“But first,” Tori said with a wink. “We have a party to get to.”

Yes, I thought. And I had a boyfriend to dance with.