Why Melody Price Hated Christmas

Chapter One: Strange Happenings

[ This story is dedicated to northbynorth and her book "The Happy Birthday Song", it was a big part of what inspired me to write my own Wattpad book. Thanks a bunch! ♡ ]

Friday

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Elliot turned around in his seat, looking at me with those big, adorable, stupid brown eyes. His perfect dumb lips curled into that perfect dumb smile that I hated to admit I loved so much.

He didn't have to say anything, I knew what he was going to say, just like every year around this time.

"So, Melody Price." Elliot said, his gorgeous smile splitting his rosy cheeks. "Why do you hate Christmas?"

Ever since freshman year I had been stuck in English with star high school baseball player Elliot Baker. He sat in front of me so I had to stare at his stupid, fluffy chocolate brown hair for fifty minutes every day. We didn't talk much, there was the occasional "what's the answer to number...?" or the "can I borrow a pencil?" and of course, the classic "can I copy off your homework?". Other than that, any type of interaction between Elliot and I was nearly nonexistent. At least, until the end of another year. Every time without fail, when colorful ombre leaves, pumpkins and spiced lattes take a sharp corner into snow, peppermint and creepy looking snowmen, Elliot would ask the same annoying question in the same annoying classroom at the same annoying time. The kid was like clockwork.

I didn't even bother to look at him as I give him the same answer I've given him for the past three years. Instead, I turned my interest back to the doodle I was drawing all over my study guide. I had scribbled melting snowmen and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer without his blinking nose right on the vocabulary worksheet I needed to finish by the end of class. "Because I hate Christmas."

As always, that answer wasn't good enough for Elliot. He turned around all fhe way in his chair and straddled it, resting his hands on the back and gazing at me in amusement. I tried my best to ignore the relentless ray of sunshine he seemed to radiate everywhere he went, but it was kinda hard to pay attention to anything else when the cutest (and most annoying) guy in school was looking at you.

"Aw, come on! That's not a good enough answer. Give me a real solid one!" He beamed showing off all of his perfect, dazzling teeth. I bet that he was the Tooth Fairy's favorite customer.

With an exaggerated sigh, I put my pen down from my masterpiece of X-mas destruction and looked up at Elliot. Even though gawking at the back of his head every day was nice, looking at his face was much better. His face was soft, but with a defined chin and cheekbones that cast wonderful shadows along his face. His lips were plump and pouty, and his eyes were a deep coffee-bean brown, framed with long lush lashes. With a face like that, my hands itched for my sketching pencils so I could draw every angle, every crevice.

But Elliot was dumb, and annoying. And I wouldn't admit how cute I thought he was.

"How about you tell me why you like Christmas so much?" Hopefully, once I got him to do his most favorite thing other than play baseball- talk about himself- he would be so wrapped up in himself that he would forget about that stupid question.

Elliot took his time to think, theatrically tapping his chin and looking off into the distance as if in deep thought. I snorted and rolled my eyes. It was a wonder though, why would anyone like Christmas? Even my English teacher, Mr. Dunphy, participated in the winter fever. His room was littered with trashy Christmas decorations, from the obnoxious colored string lights to the hideous argyle sweater Mr. Dunphy was sporting. Maybe I would hate it less if it wasn't such an eyesore.

Finally, like he had an eureka moment, Elliot sprung up. "The reason why I love Christmas so much is because of the feeling you get. The warmth of hot cocoa and sitting by the fire place, the boxes of gifts wrapped in shiny tinsel..."

I snorted again, and Elliot raised an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry," I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, tapping my pen on my desk. "It's just that all of that is so cliché. So overrated, y'know?"

He didn't miss a beat. "Is that why you hate it?" His lips curled into a kiddish smile. "Because it's too mainstream?"

"No! I just hate it. I hate the warmth, the hot cocoa, fire places, boxes, tinsel..."

Elliot laughed, throwing his head back in a throaty, melodious laugh that made my heart jump. I had always seen him laughing with his friends around school, but never because of me.

"You're a riot, Mel." He said once he calmed down. "But I still don't think that's a good excuse."

I opened my mouth to protest that I didn't need a good excuse but Elliot cut me off with his hand.

"Riddle me this, Mel." His smile wavered, as if he was trying not to laugh at his own "clever" reference. Ugh. "If you can show me a good reason to why you are Ebeneezer Scrooge reincarnated, I'll leave you alone about it. Deal?"

I frowned. This was unusual. The baseball player usually never persisted for an actual answer. I always thought he did it to be annoying, not because he was genuinely curious. And promising to leave me alone? Who was this guy? "How am I supposed to-"

"I'll be over tomorrow around noon, okay? You still live on West Drive?"

Dubious, I nodded. "Well, yeah, but tomorrow is winter brea-"

"Perfect." Elliot smiled, the bell rang and everyone rushed out to get to their next class. A group of his friends waited at the door, calling at him to hurry up. Elliot swiftly gathered up his bag and books, shooting me one last look. "I'll see you then, Scrooge." And with that, he was gone.

Sitting in my seat, I watched him go in disbelief. Is the cutest guy in school coming over to my house? And it wasn't because we had a group project or some activity we had to work on at home?

What the hell is happening?