My heart beat a mile faster as I walked towards the front door.
It swung open and my Uncle waved me in. I walked faster but started to slip. The wind pushed against my face but I moved forward anyway. I got inside the ever so warm humble abode.
He shut the door and I took off my coat.
"Lea, finally, Are you okay? It's a blizzard out there." He said worried.
I slid my boots off and left my gloves, scarves, and hat in my coat sleeve.
"Yeah, I’m fine," I still had that smile plastered on my face.
"I hope so; the blizzard is worse than last years’!" He returned the smile.
I hung up my coat and followed my uncle down the black and white striped corridor. They are very sophisticated, so there house is really decorated by their styles. I saw a statue of a naked lady as we walked through and a very fancy like chair that was red.
I saw Aunt Molly sitting at the dining room table, sipping some coffee in her favorite Christmas Mug. There was a tiny Santa Claus climbing down the chimney.
To fill you in, my aunt is an actress. She flies all over the world to play many roles (even psycho/crazy ones).
"You can sit down," Uncle Sylvester said.
I sat down in front of my aunt.
"Mom told me to come to get you guys, are you ready?" I asked.
"No, we aren’t coming for Christmas this year" Sylvester said.
My jaw dropped to the bottom of the dark hard wood floors.
"What...? Why?" I asked.
"Listen, Lea, we can’t. We are going to Japan." Molly explained to me.
Japan. Really?
They noticed my questioned and shocked face and continued explaining.
"Lea, we are going to Japan because I have an acting role there --and I have to go today! The movie productions start next week!"
"Oh, an acting role…" I sounded dissapointed.
Aunt Molly got a lot of acting role’s during the holiday season.
She dug her head in her hands as her red locks grazed the white dining table.
Uncle Sylvester sat down next to me.
"You’re going too?" I simply asked.
He nodded his head.
"Well, then have fun," I said half heartly.
"Lea, we are so sorry. But you understand right? I mean you want to be an actress as well and being one is so hard! You have to be ready to disappoint people and you have to be ready to hit the road because of the acting role. Lea, don't be so stuck up about this! Don't you want me to be happy as well?" Aunt Molly spoke words that didn't hit my hearing.
"I understand; acting is important to you. But you didn’t celebrate with us last year because you went to Russia to play an Eskimo. The year before that you went to New York for Ryan Seacrest’s Christmas Party. " I explained.
Uncle Sylvester spoke up with a hoarse tone.
"Lea," he cleared his throat, "We are so sorry. We know that being together as a whole family is important to you, but we’re really busy."
"It is important to me because you guys are never there and every time I want the whole family to be handing presents, singing carols, I stare at the front door expecting you guys to come in and say ‘Sorry We’re late! Merry Christmas!’." I felt guilt grow in me.
A tear prickled down my now hot cheek. They both shook their heads and Uncle Sylvester shut his eyes, deep in thought.
“We know that for the past five years we weren’t there…it’s just.” Aunt Molly couldn’t even finish.
“Yes, jobs are very important, I know that. I just hopped that this year it would be different.”
Aunt Molly grabbed my hand and held it tight.
“Lea, you’re sixteen years old. Why is Christmas so important to you?” she asked dumbly.
She knew exactly why.
I loved Christmas. It made our families stick together and have a great time. You got to celebrate Jesus Christ’s birthday, sing those cheesy but great carols, watch Christmas movies, and have fun with each other.
“Aunt Molly, you know why.” I pulled my hand away and got off the leather black dining chair.
“I’m sorry,”
“Tell mom that,” I said coldly and walked away.
***
I looked out my window and saw the dark sky covered by little spots of white. Snow was hitting the ground making this Christmas a White Christmas.
I put my hand against the window and felt the coldness run through my body. When I moved it away, my imprint was on it.
"Lea," My mom called after me.
I got off my day bed and heard my heels click against the floors. I ran out of the room and down the wooden stairs.
A crowd of family and friends filled the bottom floor. I could smell everyone's perfume and I heard Christmas Carols play through the house. I saw my younger cousins run by me, chasing each other.
Yup.
This was my Christmas movie.
I walked through the crowd and smiled to everyone. My mom was in the bright yellow decorated kitchen, talking to aunt Demetria.
"Hi," I said.
They both smiled and I walked up to them. They were both holding champagne glasses.
"What'd you want mom?" I asked nicely.
"Your boyfriend is waiting for you in the living room," she replied with a sigh.
I nodded and walked away.
What was my boyfriend doing here?
Hold on, I forgot to mention my boyfriend. You would be clueless if I didn’t.
His name is Tyler, he’s a great basketball player and we’ve been dating since last year. We are still dating even though we don’t love each other anymore. It’s just, we’re used to it and forgot about the whole dating scene. Okay, I’m the one who lost feelings for him but I don’t have the guts to break up with him.
I pushed through my family and got to the white French doors. I opened them and saw my blond haired boyfriend sit on my leather couch, watching TV with my grandpa. Well, to be exact, my grandpa was sleeping.
"Hey Tyler," I smiled.
He looked up at me and smiled. He got off the couch and walked up to me --holding something in his hands.
"Merry Christmas Lea," he said warmly.
"Oh, thank you." I sighed.
The weird thing was; my heart didn't skip a beat. It didn't beat faster. It was normal. My stomach did not flip or get any butterflies.
I had his present under the Christmas tree that was in the corner of the red and white striped room. I walked up to it and kneeled down.
I found his name and picked up the present. I got up and walked to him, handing him his present.
"Merry Christmas Tyler," I repeated.
He smiled and we opened our presents together. His green eyes grew wider open he opened the rectangular box.
When I opened mine, I saw a necklace. It had a silver and red heart hanging from it; it looked so delicate when I held it up.
"Wow, Tyler." I said with awe.
"I knew you'd like it." He smiled showing his not so pearly whites.
I returned a small smile and waited to see his reaction for his gift.
"I can't believe you got me a..." he opened it and his smile faded for just a second, "...book..." he didn't sound so happy.
I was a bookworm, so I knew what he'd like to read. But the problem was; he didn't read anything. Literally.
"I thought you'd like it. It's about the Ferrari car, its history and what not." I explained.
"I love the Ferrari, really, Thank You!" he tried to sound as happy as he could.
I let that slide and hugged him. "I knew you would like it," I repeated what he'd said before.
We let go and he tried to kiss me. I didn't let him.
"Sorry, I just." I tried to spit something out.
"It’s okay, it’s Christmas and you want to be holy," he joked.
"I never kiss on Christmas," I lied. I had to say something!
He smiled and kissed me on the cheek.
"It's okay," he whispered in my ear and I smelt his onion breath. I cringed away but put that fake smile on.
He pulled away and walked toward the front door.
I followed him and set my gift on the bookshelf. My cousins would break everything if they could, so I’d rather hide my stuff.
I opened the door and let him go.
"See you tomorrow," he said.
"See ya," I replied.
He walked down the porch with his puffy coat. The cold air hit my body and I shivered. Then I saw him.
I saw Charles.
My heart leapt out of my chest and the cold didn't bother me anymore.
He walked down the sidewalk with a green shopping bag at hand.
My stomach was flipping over and over again.
"Lea? What are you doing?! You're going to freeze." my grandma made me jump.
I turned around and felt as if someone was looking at me.
"I'm fine Granny, I was just watching Tyler walk away safely," I lied.
"Well, I don't believe you, but either way you should be wearing a coat! You've only got on a dress." she rejected my lie.
Granny was good at detecting lies. You would think that your ordinary grandma pulls you in and gives you food, food, and only FOOD. My grandma does do that but she’s a spontaneous sixty five year old. She doesn’t have any rules. My grandma knows how the modern times d work and how we ‘teens’ live. She didn’t believe me because: One: She didn’t like Tyler from the start. He seemed ‘suspicious’ to her, well he did cheat on me later. Two: I stopped loving him, so really I wouldn’t watch him walk away like that.
I looked down at my red flowy dress and sighed. Yeah, she was right, I would freeze. It's a sleeveless. That's all I need to say to get the cold running after me.
I smiled and she winked. When she does that, then she sees that someone is looking at me for too long. I turned around and grandma threw a coat at me. She pushed me out delicately and shut the door. It was Charles. She wants me to "get him". Grandma would do anything for me to get someone new, someone that I actually have feelings for.
I put on my coat and walked down the steps. The snow climbed into my heels when I noticed that Charles looked away quickly and started to walk away as if nothing happened. The wind was slower than before, so I wasn’t in big danger.
"Wait!" I felt dumb.
I was just calling out to a stranger. Well, he's not exactly a stranger, I mean, I know him.
He turned around and stopped in his place. I ran up to him, knowing that I would have swollen toes in the morning.
"Charles, hi," Now I felt even more dumb.
But, he smiled. He smiled widely, making me melt.
"Hey Lea, aren't you cold?" He asked noticing that I was wearing a dress that went down to my knees.
"A little, yeah," I admitted.
"Then why are you outside chasing me? You should be at a party or something by the way you look." he sounded worried.
"I'm not chasing you,"
He raised his brown eye brow.
I breathed in deeply.
"Well then you like to run after random guys in the snow with heels, right?" he joked.
I laughed and felt the cold snow run into my shoes again.
"Right..." I said sarcastically.
"So...?" he asked filling in the silence.
"Okay, this may sound weird but, my grandma kicked me out to talk to you." I admitted.
"So you came against your own will?"
He transferred his weight from one foot to the other.
"Not really," I said quietly.
He smiled. Now, this smile was amazing. Whiter than Tyler's.
That made me smile even wider.
"So, you ran to me because...?" he asked impatiently.
"I don't know,"
I looked down at my freezing feet.
"Well maybe I do," he said.
I looked up at his face and saw his smile again. It made my heart beat faster than ever.
"Your boyfriend? You're looking for him aren't you?" he asked.
My smile jumped off my face and left a serious face.
"No," I said sharply.
"Well, he ran down the street saying "My girlfriend Lea is a lesbo!" inappropriate since I like you," he explained.
And I didn't hear that? The door was open the whole time. Maybe because I was stargazing at Charles.
"Why would he even say that... wait." I noticed he said "I like you,”
"One, I'm not a ‘Lesbo,’ " I raised my fingers and made the “ symbol “And two, why would he even think that?"
He looked at me, not being able to answer. So I changed the topic.
"Wait, you said you like me." I said curiously.
Mind as well ask.
"Yeah, I did," He looked at me straight into my eyes.
The cold didn't bother me because he stare made me warm all over.
"But, that won’t change anything because you have a boyfriend and..." I put my hand against his mouth and he looked at me, baffled.
"Don't speak," I said acting dramatic.
He tried to laugh but unfortunately my hand was covering his great smile.
I noticed his dimples and my heart skipped a beat.
I pulled my hand away slowly just to make sure he wouldn't say crazy things again.
"So, you...?" he spoke up.
"I don't like him anymore, now I'm dating him because he, well --I don't know why." I admitted.
"Well, who do you like?" he asked curiously.
I wrapped my coat a little tighter because the wind was picking up. It blew our hair around.
"You," I said simply feeling a warm sensation at the bottom of my stomach.
He smiled and that's when something happened.
He landed on the ground face down. Everything went by in slow motion. I stared at who did it and fell to the ground next to Charles.
"Tyler, what the fuck!?" I yelled at him.
He held my book up in the air. It had a hard back cover and had over three hundred pages. Yeah, it could knock you out especially if you have the muscles of a wrestler. Yes, he wrestles too.
He had a smile covering his face.
"Fine, I would have expected that you would hit me because I'm your girlfriend, not Charles." I yelled even louder.
Tyler was silent with glee. He walked away without any replies. That's when I pulled off my heel and ran after him.
I hit him in the back and he turned around, angry.
"So, you think you could hit me? ME?" He yelled back.
"You're the one cheating on me!"
"I didn't even do anything yet, all I did is...”
"Say you like him that's it," he finished for me.
I put my heel back on and remembered something. He cheated on me, and actually cheated. He made out with Kylie in
the Janitor's closet. Poor Janitor... Poor me that I actually forgave him!
"Hey ass hole! You cheated on me! And you actually cheated by making out with Kylie! I'm not a cheater! I can't believe I ever forgave you!" Tears stung my eyes.
I ran back home and he didn't run after me this time. I looked back and saw him lie down on the snow and cry. What a loser...
I landed next to Charles.
"Grandma! Granny! Come Here!" I yelled as loudly as I could.
Then I saw my grandma run down the porch and through the winds. She walked up to me and saw Charles. For an ordinary grandma she’s fit. She runs about five miles every day, in the winter. In the summer she does four. So, running to us was not a big deal for her.
"Now, I didn't want to see my grandson-in-law dead." She joked.
"One, he isn't dead, two, grandson-in-law?"
"Pick up his legs, I'll get his front." she ordered.
I nodded and grabbed his legs. He was pretty heavy, but we can carry him. I looked to see if Tyler was still there. He was.
***
