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The classroom was a total mess of Christmas cheer-or maybe just a mess. There was glitter on everything, bits of red and green paper on the floor, and the sound of kids chattering and laughing filled the room. It was Christmas Decoration Day, and instead of doing any real work, we were spending the afternoon making decorations for the school hallways.
Garret and I had snagged a spot at the back of the room, away from the teachers and the chaos. I was struggling to make a paper chain, which was way harder than it looked. The strips of paper wouldn't stay together, and I kept getting glue on my fingers. Garret, meanwhile, had given up entirely and was just cutting random shapes out of construction paper. He said they were "ninja stars," but they looked more like blobs.
Across the room, I spotted Juliana, who was, of course, being her usual over-the-top self. While everyone else was making simple stuff like paper chains and snowflakes, she had somehow taken over her whole table and was constructing a massive cardboard snowman. She had cotton balls everywhere, making it super fluffy, and she was humming Christmas songs like she was in her own little world. It was kind of hard not to notice her.
Garret followed my gaze and groaned. "Look at her," He said, rolling his eyes. "Always has to be the center of attention. Like, seriously, who needs a giant cardboard snowman?"
I shrugged, still half-watching Juliana as she carefully glued a button onto the snowman's face. "Yeah, she's always doing too much." I said, even though I wasn't sure if I really meant it. But Garret was my friend, and I didn't want to sound like I was defending her.
Garret smirked, clearly pleased that I was on his side. "Right? And what's with her hair? She looks like a boy with that short, curly mop. It's like she's trying to be one of us or something, but it just makes her look dumb."
I looked at Juliana's hair. It was short and curly, but I'd never really thought about it like that before. I knew Garret was just being mean, but his words stuck with me. I mean, it's not like Juliana was my favorite person right now-especially after that whole Haunted House disaster. Deciding on where to choose our free pass tickets was supposed to be mutual, but no, she had to force me into that Haunted House. And what did that lead us to? Trauma! I was still annoyed at her for that, even if I didn't want to admit it.
So I found myself nodding along. "Yeah, she could just shave it off and it wouldn't make a difference."
Garret laughed, a mean, snickering kind of laugh. "Exactly! She'd look even more like a boy. I guess that give more entertainment for the class."
I chuckled. "Yeah, maybe." I muttered, looking back down at my paper chain.
Just then, Juliana looked up from her snowman and waved at us with a big grin on her face. "Hey, Mark! Garret! Do you guys want to help me with Frosty? I'm making him super fluffy!" She called out, her voice full of excitement.
Garret made a face like he was about to puke. "Uh, no thanks, Juli. We're busy with... important stuff," He said, waving his scissors around like his blobs were the coolest thing ever. "And plus, we wouldn't wanna ruin your masterpiece!"
