Jordyn and Carter live in two completely different worlds.
But their worlds start to collide through three separate Christmas Eves, and nothing will ever be the same for either of them.
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Jordyn felt fake.
It was like a bad repeat of last year, only so much worse. She felt gaudy and cheap in her borrowed dress, the top completely covered in glitter and fading out to navy blue at the bottom. The feeling was only made worse by the glitter makeup on her face.
Cami, a coworker and Theatre cosmetics major, had definitely gone over board with it. Jordyn was sure that she'd be cleaning glitter off her face for the next three months.
The restaurant they worked for was catering a fancy Yuletide Gala on Christmas Eve, and Cami had volunteered both of them for the job of hostess. Jordyn didn't have to serve, but the alternative was wearing heels and smiling so much her cheeks hurt.
It was Cami's and Jordyn's job to stand in the foyer, welcome guests, and recite the menu, even though they got the menu inside as well. At least she got paid a little extra for it.
Jordyn needed the money, or more specifically, her family needed the money. Badly.
It had been a hard year for all of them. Jordyn's dad had a back injury, and got laid off from his work. Her mom got paid well for cleaning the houses of the rich, but it was never enough. So Jordyn had to step up. She took extra shifts at the restaurant, looked after her younger siblings, and managed to get good grades as well.
Jordyn was so tired, worn down to the bone, and it was so hard to keep going. She knew that her mom felt the same way; they had the same worry lines, the same weariness in their face.
Just thinking about it made Jordyn's whole body ache. There was a lull in guests, and Jordyn's fingers went to her necklace, pulling on it without really thinking about it.
Her abuela had given it to her one Christmas, when Jordyn was younger.
"Never lose faith, Jordyn," her abuela had told her, "even when everything is falling apart and it's so hard to hold your head up, never lose faith. Remember that."
Jordyn had clung to the small diamond-studded, looped cross after that, reminding herself to keep faith, to believe when it was hard.
It had become her own personal mantra, and when things got rough, she chanted it to herself until she believed it.
"Hey you two, break time." Jordyn had never been so happy to hear those sweet, sweet words. Sighing, she slumped against one of the pillars in the foyer.
Cami looked just as tired as Jordyn felt, although in Jordyn's opinion, Cami looked a thousand times better than she did in her pale lavender dress.
"My feet are killing me." Complained Jordyn, flicking a curl off her bare shoulder. Jordyn's mom had insisted on doing her hair, even though Jordyn had known she was tired.
Cami snorted, "Trust me, this is ten times better than serving. I'm going to go eat something. Wanna come?"
"No," Jordyn shook her head, "I'm good. I want to check something out."
