One random day in November 2001, a new member joined the Academy. She is given the name of Number 8, and there's much more to her than meets the eye.
As soon as Number 8 and Five meet, they hate one another, always trying to beat the other with thei...
It was now December, and Christmas was just around the corner. I quickly realised that Dad hates Christmas. He thinks it's a useless holiday and just an excuse for people to demand gifts they want. This made sense, coming from a man who didn't have a typical family. He would often say we are not like other children, and so we would not be treated as such.
Strangely, he didn't mind when Mum put up a few decorations around the house. She wanted us to feel a little bit festive, and we all appreciated her effort. Yes, there was no giant Christmas tree, but there was tinsel, a few Christmas lights, and some table ornaments.
Allison, however, loved Christmas. It was her favourite holiday, and we all knew about it. She would start decorating her room in November, which always made me chuckle whenever I entered her room. As soon as December hit, though, she would check in everyone's room to see if they'd got at least two decorations up.
I decided to put fairy lights around my room, making it feel very cosy. Alongside this, I put up dangling lights over my window that were in the shape of snowflakes, a little baby reindeer ornament on my desk, and finally, to make it feel as Christmasy as possible, I managed to secure a Poinsettia plant on top of my dresser.
Allison approved my room immediately, which made her comment on everyone else's lack of enthusiasm.
"Where do I begin?" Allison started. "First of all, Luther has only put up some mistletoe in the middle of his room." She rolled her eyes at this, and I couldn't help but give her a cheeky smirk.
"Hmm, wonder why?" I sarcastically asked. Ignoring what I had just said, she continued.
"Diego, well, he's put up a red sock and hung it over his wardrobe door with a coathanger. Which I must admit is clever, but that's not the point! Although he has a small family of snowmen ornaments, which is very cute, so at least there is more effort there."
I continued listening to Allison go through every person's room. Klaus apparently had gone overkill with the Holly and had many lights in the shape of stars, which didn't surprise me. Five had gone for the bare minimum, stating he couldn't be bothered and had more important things to do, which meant his room only had a Christmas reef on the back of his door. There was some hope for Ben and Vanya, though, as they both put in effort to make their rooms festive.
To be honest, I wasn't as big of a fan of Christmas as Allison, but the way her face lit up, it was hard not to get into the Christmas spirit. As we continued to chat about the others, the topic of Secret Santa came up. Allison told me that they did it once before, but it didn't become a recurring event.
"Well, maybe we should try again? I mean, now we have an even number, so might it work out better?" I started, hoping my words would encourage Allison. She thought momentarily, I could see the cogs turning in her mind. After a few minutes of silence, she turned to smile at me.
"You know what? Yes, I think it would be really nice! I'll tell the others and get something sorted!"
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