The Survivor (Book #2)

Chapter 10

"No more classes, no more homework assignments, no more tests!" I sang to myself giddily as Damon, Brooklyn, Caleb, and I drove away from the school parking lot with the heat blasting in the car. I looked at the autumn-colored trees and let out a squeak of excitement.

Caleb began poking me and I turned to him curiously.

"Where's the off button?" he asked, as he continued poking. He hit me between the ribs, and I shrieked, covering my side angrily.

"That hurt!" I complained. It didn't exactly hurt, but I wasn't sure it tickled either.

"There's the off button." He said cheekily. I made a face at him and he tried to make it back, making me laugh.

"Aren't you guys excited?" I asked, bouncing forward to put my head between Brooklyn and Damon's arms.

"Hyped. Now sit down." Damon said, putting his hand on my head and forcing me back.

"You're awful."

"Why? Because I'm not singing like I'm in third grade and we just won a pizza party?" Damon bickered back.

"Hey! That was monumental at the time!" I said, straightening up in my seat.

"Calm down you two." Brooks interrupted, playing peace-keeper.

"No! Too excited!" I stuck my chin up proudly in the air but lowered it when Brooks shot a glare at me that told me it was time to listen.

"Do you guys celebrate Thanksgiving?" I asked as we stopped at a red light.

"Of course," Damon answered. "Mom would never miss an opportunity to decorate. We normally make food in the morning and have a big feast at night with our cousins and other family members, sometimes family friends."

"That sounds so fun." I whispered. I tried not to let the memories of my past Thanksgivings fill my mind, but they came anyway. They were half-formed as if I was seeing something in the future that hadn't happened yet. I tried to ignore the feeling they gave me; like something was seriously wrong.

"It is." Damon replied.

"You'll love it!" Caleb declared, grabbing my hand and holding it between his. His forehead made a little v as he looked into my eyes and I realized he was looking at me with worry. I forced the thoughts to disappear and asked another important question.

"What about Christmas?" I asked as the car veered onto our street.

"It's so fun!" Caleb stated with obvious enthusiasm. "Mom decorates pretty intensely, and we bring donations to homeless shelters normally. Sometimes we even pass out food and stuff. Then we watch Christmas movies and make cookies. Well, Mom makes them. We eat the cookies, though." He said thoughtfully.

"Does anyone else come?" I asked, thinking of the family friends and wondering if any of them were male. Charlotte wouldn't let dangerous people into her house, right?

"No, not on Christmas. Mom likes to celebrate just us." Caleb answered, making me even more excited.

"Well, Santa does come in the morning. If you're good." Damon said, smirking at me in the rearview mirror. I stuck out my tongue.

"Then I've never been good." I said with a laugh. They looked at me sadly and I realized I was so used to my bad experience that I mentioned it casually. The fact that most of my holidays were celebrated primarily without gifts was actually really devastating to them. I tried not to make a lame joke or change the subject dramatically. Brooks saved me from having to do either.

"He'll come this year. You've been good." Brooks announced confidently.

Damon started to disagree, but Brooklyn punched him, and Caleb kicked his seat from behind.

"It'll be a lot of fun." Caleb said again, changing the subject.

"It sounds so cute! I'm going to cry." I exaggerated, thinking about the magical picture he painted. I had never really been one to celebrate the holidays. My uncle normally bought a nice dinner and invited his friends over, but I didn't really remember much else about Christmas. Sometimes he would buy me a gift like some clothes he had seen. He liked me to wear a nice dress when his friends were over. I remembered one velvety red dress I had worn so many years ago. I had a vague feeling of disappointment or maybe discomfort and my forehead gave me a little stab of pain as I tried to remember, until Damon broke my train of thought.

"We're home. Get out." He said, holding my door open. Had we gotten home and parked already? I shook my head in surprise and smiled, then jumped out with a thank you before racing inside.

I dropped my backpack in the garage where it would presumably remain for the entirety of the holiday season, and then sprinted inside to find Dominic.