The Holiday Homework |Christmas Book |

s e v e n

"It's a family tradition to go Tree hunting in the Christmas Tree farm."
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It was awkward.

Will it not be awkward to have their son bring a guest home when the guest is a girl?

Jasper greeted every member of his family who was standing in front of me. They were all having a lost or confused expression. I could tell one thing for sure, Jasper has never brought his friends home or that he has never brought a girl home.

Jasper came back and stood next to me and I waited till he made a move in introducing me to the family as their guest for Christmas. Before Jasper could even begin to say a word, his mother spoke up.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I have been rude!" she exclaims and she walked over to me. "Hello darling, I am so sorry to have not greeted you." she apologises.

"It's not a problem, really," I reply quickly with a smile on my face.

"Jasper, you are supposed to introduce your guest rather than just standing there. Where are your manners?" His mother looked at him, he opened his mouth to respond but he chose not to.

"I'm Sarah and do call me Sarah only, I'm Jasper's mother." she introduces herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Holly." I tell her my name. "That's a really sweet name for a girl like you." His father stepped up. "I'm Peter, Jasper's father and I was never informed that he would be bringing his girlfriend home." he glared at Jasper.

Girlfriend?

See, this is what happens when the son brings a girl home even as a guest.

"No dad, you've mistaken. Holly is not my girlfriend." Jasper tells his father.

"Exactly Sir, in fact, we happen to meet a few weeks back at our writer's club meeting," I add a little explanation. "We have a small assignment to do and since she wasn't going home for Christmas, I invited here." Jasper finishes the explanation.

"Oh." Sarah's smile faded for a moment but it came back. "Well! The more the merrier!" She pulled me into a hug. "It's good to have you here for Christmas." She tells me as she pats my back.

"Alright then, Sarah and I are heading for the kitchen. Jasper, introduce Holly to your brothers and sisters and also show her the guests ' room." Peter instructs him, he nodded his head and soon, Sarah and Peter left the room.

"Hi, I'm Jesse and you really look beautiful in that sweater." A boy came up to me, he brought his hand forward.

"Thank you and it's nice to meet you, Jesse." I shook his hand.

"He's trying to flatter you. It's his latest hobby." A girl came and stood next to Jesse. "My name is Jessica and you must be different for Jasper to have invited you home." She tells me.

"Jessica it's nothing like that. We've got a group project to work on, that's all." I smile.

"Hmm.. It's anyway good to have you home for Christmas." She smiles and shook my hand.

The twins left the room and I saw a girl older than Jasper standing there. She stepped forward and introduced herself.

"Juliet." She brought her hand forward. "Holly." I shook her hand. We smile at each other and then her eyes shifted to Jasper and she gave him a smile. She turned around and walked towards where Sarah and Peter left.

"Don't bother about Juliet." Jasper tells me, I give a slight nod and pick up my suitcase.

"Right, I'll show you the room you will be staying in." He starts walking towards the stairs but he stopped and turned around. "May I help you take your suitcase up the stairs?" he asks me.