The New Kid

Chapter 21- Home For The Holidays Part 2- Christmas

Mom and I left Phoenix once again to go to Winston for Christmas. I was a little hesitant to go back after what had happened on Thanksgiving, but I wasn't just going to ditch my family like that. Once we got to Winston, Valerie hugged me and wouldn't let go.

"Are you okay?" Valerie asked me.

"Um...yeah, I am. Why?" I replied.

Valerie let go of me, "I was just making sure you were okay after what had happened on Thanksgiving."

I nodded. After telling everyone what had happened, I felt a bit better. The words Grandpa Roger told me didn't bother me as much now. Maybe any future belittling from him wouldn't hurt as much now.

We went inside Topher's house. Inside, there sat a big green Christmas tree. Their house had a pungent smell of pine. Topher's family was the most spiritual about Christmas, so the pine smell came to me as no surprise. They managed to be more spiritual than the last year.

"Hey Scott, you've got some visitors," Topher said.

Valerie and I looked at each other, then I went with Topher to the door. Out on Topher's front porch, there were my old friends: Wyatt West, Kendrick Jacobs, and Willow Jackson. They each held a wrapped box.

"Damn, it's been forever," I said.

"Yeah, bro, it's been a long time," Kendrick replied.

Kendrick was tall as all hell, maybe a bit taller than Davonte. He had a fade with the numbers "47" on the side, which I assumed was his football number. He looked down at me with dull hazel eyes.

Wyatt reminded me of Preston with his light blonde hair in a pompadour, only Preston was a bit taller than me; Wyatt was the same height as me. He had blue eyes like Jessica, only his eyes were sky blue, not a dark blue.

Willow was gorgeous. She had black hair like Jessica that flowed down to her tailbone. She was very tan, looking almost like she was Indian. She looked at me with piercing emerald green eyes.

"Hey Wyatt...and Willow," I said.

Wyatt smiled, "What's up, Wynter?"

Willow turned red. She must've been shy, "Hi Scott." Then they each handed their boxes to Kendrick, who handed them to me.

"What're these for?" I asked.

"Well, we heard you were in town, so we thought we'd all get you something," Wyatt said.

I smiled, "You didn't have to do this, but this was a nice gesture. Thanks."

We talked for what seemed like an hour, catching up on what we had done over the past couple of years. Of course, I hadn't accomplished as much as the other 3 had. Eventually, they left, and Topher and I went back inside.

The next morning, it was Christmas morning. I drowsily made my way to the couch. Aunt Diane had A Christmas Carol on the TV. I watched Alyssa and Topher open their Christmas presents. Alyssa got gift cards, and a lot of make-up, and that was basically it. By a lot, I had counted twenty-eight pallets of make-up that she had gotten, seven pallets in four present boxes. Topher also got gift cards and a new PlayStation controller.

Then Aunt Diane grabs two large drawstring bags from a closet. Both had the same Johnny's Sporting Goods logo on them. Topher and Alyssa undid the string, which revealed two letterman jackets. The jackets were sky blue with white sleeves. There was a large "W" on the left of the jackets' chest. They smiled brightly as they marveled at their jackets. In cursive writing on the back of the jacket was Topher and Alyssa's last names. I was jealous that they had already lettered in something and I hadn't.