Picture of Evan above
**It's Christmas Day**
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"Chelsea! Wake up!" I shout, jumping onto her bed. Why did her insomnia act up like this today of all days? I'm not blaming it on her but she's been sleeping since about 2pm yesterday. She has to get up soon...
I've always loved Christmas; even when I was living with James. It might have been the only day of the year where he wouldn't hurt me. I mean, he was still knock-out drunk but he would give me presents like most parents do every Christmas.
He would smile. It was usually the only time he would smile.
He would cook. He actually makes a big roast dinner for each of us.
He hugs me. He actually hugs me. It's probably just the alcohol but his hugs were amazing. He never shows any signs of affection with me so it always feels like the best thing in the world.
It was always the one day in the year where I would be genuinely happy. I hardly enjoyed my birthday. The only reason I got slightly excited for my birthday is because it brought me a year closer to leaving this place.
"Chelsea..." I moan shoving her back and forth; trying to wake her up once again. Huffing after a third failed attempt, I get off of her bed and plop myself back onto my bed just as I see Chelsea sit up with a smile on her face.
"I've been awake the whole time babe...." She teases, jumping up and grabbing my hands to lift me up. "You were pretty forceful don't you think?" She says, brushing her hair once I'm standing sturdily. Laughing slightly at her sarcastic comment, I shake my head until she takes my hand in hers. Walking through the door and shutting it behind us, we start to run down the corridor hand in hand to the common room where we have a Christmas tree in the centre of the room. Underneath, it is completely packed full of presents that the staff have collected from family over the past couple of weeks. Chelsea and I are the first here but after only a couple of minutes, the room becomes packed with almost everyone here. For some reason I can't see Jack and Evan though... they usually get here quite quickly.
"Babe, do you know where Jack and Evan are?" I ask Chelsea who has untangled her hand with mine and has started heading towards the tree. Turning back to me, she lifts her finger to the air as if she is about to speak but in that exact moment, I feel my whole body lift off of the floor. Looking down, I see I'm on Jack's shoulders so I take hold of his raised hands to make sure I don't fall over. At the same time as I burst into laughter, Evan jumps on Chelsea's back making her fall back in surprise and land on Evan. In what seems like a split second, I manage to jump over Jack and push him over. Thinking I would be okay and stay standing, I start laughing at him before squealing as he grabs my lowered arm and pulls me over with him. As we all sit in a jumbled mess absolutely dying of laughter, we get told to get ourselves off of the floor. Doing so, we head towards the Christmas tree.
Me being faster than the rest, I grab the first present in arms reach and it is coincidentally a present for Chelsea.
"Hey, Chelsea! There's a present for you here!" I call to her and beckon her to come over to me. She takes Evan and Jack in tow as they start to forage through the piles of presents. One after another, we each get several presents for everyone and I haven't stopped smiling all day. The only thing that would make it better is to have Jess and Adam here... I'm promising myself I will be out by at the latest December next year, then I'll be able to spend Christmas with the people I love most.
The day passes extremely quickly and we have a roast dinner all together with the rest of the patients. I got a book I've wanted for a while called Diary of an Oxygen Thief from dad. Mum got me loads if note pads because they know how much I love to write. Jess got me a couple of DVDs and the newest album by Set It Off called Upside Down. Finally, Adam gets me a jewellery set with a matching necklace, bracelet and ring. They are all gold and the necklace has a small gold heart hanging from it and on the back are the words "My heart belongs to you". Shaking my head to myself because of the corny love line, I see a piece of card lying under the chain which says, "I know what you're going to say... But what it says is true and love is the corniest thing ever, just like I have said before." Laughing to myself, I get Chelsea to attach the necklace around my neck as I look at the bracelet and ring. The bracelet is a simple golden chain with a smooth heart also hanging from one of the heart's peaks on a small ring attached to the chain. The ring is also gold and has two golden hearts conjoined in the centre of the ring with crystals lining one of the hearts. There are also engraved words on the inside of the ring saying the same as what the necklace says. I absolutely love it!
Looking at the clock, it is around 4 o'clock and all of the presents have been unwrapped. Now there are just bags with names on for everyone to take back to their rooms later.
"Hey Amber!" I hear Chelsea call and turning, I head towards her and she is holding an A4 sized present. "I found this, it's for you from the staff here. Have no clue what it is..." She mumbles, shrugging and handing me the present. Unwrapping it slowly, it reveals a clear folder. It seems like there is a large file in the folder. As I head to the table, I place the folder down and take the large quantity of paper out. Scanning everything quickly, the words I manage to pick out bring tears to my eyes. Biting my lip, I hold back my cries but I still feel a single warm slither down my face. Chelsea noticing, she sits down next to me and looks directly into my eyes.
"What is it?" She asks quietly and I manage to whisper back a reply.
"On the... On the first of January, I'm allowed out..."
This is the best Christmas present ever!
YOU ARE READING
Falling Apart
Teen Fiction*TRIGGER WARNING: DEALS WITH DEPRESSION, SELF HARM AND SUICIDE* Amber is sixteen years old and to sugarcoat it... She hasn't had the best upbringing. She would love a different life, one where she can see her mother again and not be stuck with her...
