My Christmas Angel

Meet Anthem Lights

I woke up to the singing birds and the smell of pancakes. I jumped out of and made my bed, then walked downstairs. I saw Alan, Brycie, and the girls eating pancakes. I walked over to the counter and saw a plate full of pancakes waiting for me.

"Good morning" I looked over to Brycie who was behind me putting pancakes onto her plate.

"Good morning" I replied with the same cheery tone. I grabbed my plate and sat next to Alan. Brycie sat across from me, AJ sat across from Alan, Presley sat next to Alan, and Rowe was being fed by Brycie.

"So, I was thinking that we could go shopping to get you some clothes. How does that sound?" Brycie asked me. I nodded.

"That sounds great" I replied. She smiled and finished her pancakes.

"Ok we are leaving in about an hour so you can take a shower and I'll let you wear some of my clothes, ok?" I nodded again and stood up to put my plate in the sink. I then headed to my room and into the bathroom. I turned the water on and let it get warm. I removed my clothes and stepped into the shower. I did what I had to do, then turned the shower off. I dried off and stepped out of the shower. I walked into my room and saw clothes on the bed. 'Brycie must've left them there' I concluded. I put the clothes on and dried my hair. I looked in the mirror and was satisfied with what I saw. The outfit Brycie let me wear was pretty cute.

I really like it and it fit really well to. After a few minutes of admiring what I looked like I heard a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I asked loud enough so the person could hear me.

"It's Alan, may I come in?" He questioned me.

"Yeah sure" I replied and a few seconds later Alan was standing at the bathroom door.

"I came to tell you that Brycie is ready. Also when you girls get home, my friends are going to be here and I didn't want you to freak out when you saw four random men in the living room" he finished. I nodded, telling him that I understood. I walked out of my room and downstairs where Brycie was standing at the front door.

"You ready?" I nodded and we both walked outside into the cold November weather. I shivered and folded my arms together like I had when I was kicked out of my home. I felt an arm around my shoulders and looked at Brycie. She had a warm smile on her face. We walked to her car and I got in the passenger side. I buckled my seatbelt, as did Brycie, and she drove off.

(Skips car ride)

We had arrived at the mall and walked inside the warm building. We went to different stores and bought different things. At about 11:48 we went to Chik-Fil-A to get some lunch. We walked inside and ordered food. I went to go find us some seats while she waited for our lunch. A few minutes later she had found me and sat down. We prayed, then started eating.

"So how did you sleep last night?" She asked me. I nodded while I was chewing.

"Pretty good, best sleep I've ever gotten in years" I replied when my mouth was empty. We continued talking until we had finished our food. We then sat in our seats, just talking.

"So what happened with your family?" She asked the question I dreaded the most. I looked down. She held my hands with hers.

"Riley are you alright?" She questioned worriedly. I looked up at her.

"Yeah I'm fine. It's just I don't really want to talk about my family. At least not right now" I answered. She nodded and all of the sudden stood up.

"Come on let's get out of here. Alan is probably worried" she said, then I stood up and walked out the door with her. The car ride was silent besides the radio playing quietly. After a few minutes we arrived back at the Powell household. I quickly got out and closed the car door behind me. I walked to the front door and Brycie opened it. I walked in behind her and heard four unknown voices talking all at once. I followed Brycie into the living room where the guys were and saw Alan sitting on a love seat with his daughters next to him, I saw a blonde haired guy sitting on the couch with a brown haired guy next to him. I also saw a brown haired guy with the most beautiful blue eyes sitting on the floor with his back against the couch. Then, sitting in a rocking chair, I saw a really handsome guy with gorgeous blue eyes, with beautiful brown hair. I must've been staring to long cause I saw Brycie's fingers snapping me back to reality.

"Riley are you alright?" She asked me. I nodded then headed to my room. I walked upstairs and dropped the bags of clothes onto my bed. I went to the big closet and started hanging my clothes. After about thirty minutes I had one bag left. As I was about to grab the first piece of clothing, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in" I said. I looked up when the door was fully open and saw Alan standing there with his arms folded across his chest.

"The guys want to meet you" he quickly stated once he had my attention. I nodded and walked out of my room with him behind me. I made my way to living room and stood in the open doorway. Alan walked around me and stood in between his four friends ending their conversation.

"Alan we were talking" the guy with blondish hair complained. I stifled a laugh, but a giggle escaped which caused their eyes to be focused on me. I looked down not wanting their attention. I heard a chuckle, then a deep voice.

"Don't worry Riley. They won't bite" Alan said calmly. I looked up and my eyes met with beautiful blue ones. The guy standing next to Alan started walking towards me. He held out his hand.

"Hey, I'm Joey" I cautiously took his hand. He let go and turned to Alan.

"So Alan where did you find her?" He asked like I was some lost puppy. Alan sighed and walked towards me.

"Sorry about him, he can be a little..uh...nosy at times" Alan apologized. I shook my head.

"No it's fine, I'm just not used to being the center of attention" I replied loud enough for everyone to hear. Alan then turned and pointed to each guy as he said their names.

"The one who complained is Chad" he pointed to the guy on the end of the couch.

"The one on the floor is Caleb" he pointed to the guy sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the couch.

"And the lonely guy sitting in the rocking chair is Spencer" he said and I looked over at Spencer. He smiled at me. I turned to Alan as he spoke.

"And you obviously know Joey" I glanced at Joey as he waved. I waved back and looked back to Alan.

"You probably may know this, but they are in a band that I used to be a part of" he stated. I shook my head.

"No I didn't know that" I told them and they looked at me like I was crazy, but soon replaced it. Alan brought me over to sit next to Chad and sat next to me. They told me how they had formed and about their previous member, Kyle, and how Joey had replaced him when he left. Then how Alan had been replaced by Spencer.

"And you should know the rest" Caleb finished. I nodded.

"Well, Riley, meet Anthem Lights" I smiled and looked at my new friends. I think I've finally found my place.