"Dude, this guy in a Santa suit just walked into Macy's and grabbed a bunch of lipsticks and put them in his pocket and walked out!" Miranda said quietly into her phone.

"What? Why would anybody do that?" replied her friend, half listening.

Miranda decided she would follow him. The mall was pretty crowded and she believed she was invisible when she was on her phone. He was headed for Bath and Body Works.

"OMG! Sophie! He is taking stuff from another store! He is stealing!" Miranda couldn't believe what she was watching.

"Who?" asked Sophie.

"The guy in the Santa suit! What should I do?"

"I don't know. Are you sure? Maybe he like works there or something."

"No. Sophie. He is definitely stealing. Oh, crap. I think he saw me. Oh no. Ok, uh, I gotta go. I'll text you later."

Miranda slipped into a store, grabbed a few pairs of jeans and headed for the dressing room. Locked. She tried not to get herself too freaked out while she found a sales associate to open up a room for her. She wondered if the guy really got a good look at her or not. Why would he really care if a girl saw him? He wouldn't really care, right?

Then she saw him. He had actually turned around. Had he followed her? Or maybe there was just something in this store he wanted. Oh thank God the stores were so busy. She shut the changing room door and waited. Ok I will just act like I didn't see anything, she reasoned. I will just pretend everything is cool. I will just wait here and he will leave. Maybe it's not even him. It could be another guy in a Santa suit! This place is crawling with Santas!

She pulled her hat out of her bag and put it on. Then she took off her vest. It was all she could think of to try to change her appearance so he wouldn't recognize her. Time passed, maybe 3 or 4 minutes? It didn't matter, it was time to leave the dressing room. She went out and put the jeans on the counter. No Santa suit. Relief did not begin to describe how she felt! She was supposed to meet her mother at the food court and she was still going to be able to make it. It was almost like nothing happened.

"What are you going to have Miranda?" her mom asked.

"I'm not really very hungry mom, maybe just a soda."

"Well I'm starving. I've got to eat something. Are you all right sweetie?"

"Yea, I'm ok. I'm just ready to go home."

Miranda and her mom sat in the crowded food court while her mom had a salad. So many people were there, looking angry, tired, frustrated. It was Christmas Eve and nobody looked happy. Miranda looked at all the faces and did not see the Santa suit guy. She began to wonder if maybe it was just a guy in a red shirt inside the store where she hid, that the thief never really saw her, and definitely did not follow her. She began to wonder what caused him to be stealing in the first place. Was he stealing Christmas presents for people he actually loved? Did the people know he stole them? Did he think they would not love him if he didn't give them gifts?

Miranda decided if she ever saw him, or figured out who he was, or why he was stealing, that she would continue on with her original plan. She would indeed act as though she did not see anything. He didn't hurt her even though he probably could have. She would keep his secret. She vowed she would never expect people to give her expensive gifts to show their love for her. If and when Sophie asked about it later, she would tell her it was just a guy who worked there .