Pins and Needles

Chapter 27

The two days leading up to Christmas Day were bland. Since Mom had gone and Maeve was spending time with family, I was all alone at home. It wasn't horrible, but it also wasn't eventful. I spent the majority of both days watching TV and eating. I had tried to spice things up by making a gingerbread house, but it fell apart the second I started adding the decorations. The morning of Christmas, I made myself some breakfast and opened the two presents Mom had left me under the tree. One was a box and the other was a small bag, so I chose to go from smallest to largest. The bag had a necklace inside with a silver heart charm attached to it. The box held a hoodie with the words "Fell straight from Heaven" on the front of it in big letters. I assumed it was a play on my name and immediately labeled it as a returnee.

I was now standing in front of my mirror, wiping the sweat from my palms onto my jeans.

"Today's the day. I'm so nervous," I told the girl. "I've been waiting for this moment since school started and now that the day has finally come, I have no clue how to approach it."

The girl faced me with a sympathetic smile which made me feel a little bit better.

"I should take a deep breath and calm down; it'll be fine. I got this," I hyped myself up.

The doorbell rang a little later indicating that my ride was here.

I looked back at the girl one last time and let out a hearty breath, "Wish me luck!"

I walked to the door and opened it, Maeve standing behind it with a broad beam lining her lips. She was wearing a zip up hoodie with a shirt underneath that had Mickey Mouse on it. She paired that with a black, high-waisted skirt and white, knee-high socks. My outfit didn't match her energy at all as I had just thrown on an old hoodie and some jeans.

"Hey! You ready to go?" Maeve inquired.

"Yup, let's go."

We hopped in the car and wasted no time getting on the road. It was an hour drive from where we were to Disney World, so we spent that time listening to Christmas music and chatting. I couldn't contain my shifting in the car and I believe Maeve noticed, but she never spoke up about it. She probably thought it was my elation keeping me from being still.

We got to and through the park at 8:30, giving us an hour and a half to mingle around the park. We weren't there to ride any rides, so we spent 30 minutes just walking around and visiting shops. We stayed close to the part of the park where the parade would be held to make sure we would be able to get a spot along the gates. Since this year the parade wasn't being pre-recorded, we knew everyone was going to be here.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Maeve asked me.

I shook my head, "No, I could go for some food before seeing the parade."

Maeve agreed, so we headed from Main Street and to the plaza where there was a quaint pizza shop. It was the only one that wasn't entirely crowded, so we were able to order and get our slices of cheese pizza in time to return to Main Street. We stood along the gate where already multiple people were standing and ate while waiting.

"I've never seen the Christmas Day Parade, not in person nor on TV, so I'm super stoked to see what'll happen," Maeve exclaimed.

"Really? I've seen it a few times, but only on TV. It's usually the same stuff with the characters coming out, dancing, singing, and then that's it."

"Oh... well, regardless, I'm still looking forward to it."

We stood for a good amount of time before 10:00 finally hit. Once the festivities started, it was hard to look away. Seeing the floats and characters in person was a hundred times different than seeing it on a screen. The colors from their clothes and cars popped more vibrantly than they did on the TV. There was also so much to focus on at once. In one corner there was Ariel lounging on a big shell singing Under the Sea and in the other was Minnie and Mickey dancing to Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. To say it was incredible would be a severe misstep. It was spectacular. I knew Maeve felt the exact same way when I turned to look at her.