[BOOK 1]
❝She grew up in an Indiana town, had a good looking momma who never was
around, but she grew up tall and she grew up right with them Indiana boys on an Indiana night. ❞
Charlotte and Billy were best friends for many years. But one drastic e...
It was Christmas Day. I woke up in El's cabin. The sun was shining that day, but the snow still bundled up outside. I had to stay in her cabin because I wasn't able to really be outside without being noticed. And staying at Billy's house would get me killed because of his father's hatred towards me.
Hopper told me I was able to go to school starting in January, but not the beginning of January. More like the end of January. I was excited because now I was able to go to school with Billy. Hopper placed me in a program that helps students who are behind academics, like the students who came from other countries and don't really know English.
I hopped off my bed and walked out in the living room where El was sitting there with the tv on. Hopper was at the kitchen table, cooking some breakfast. I huddled over him to see what he was cooking. Some homemade pancakes with some Christmas sprinkles.
"Merry Christmas," he said cheerfully. "Merry Christmas to you too," I said in return. I've grown closer to Hopper recently, he's becoming more of a guardian to me. He always wants the best for me.
"Hope you're not allergic to bananas, I added some of these," He said, pointing to the dark crispy looking pancakes. "No, it's okay," I laughed.
I went over to the tree that El and I decorated. It had a few presents on the bottom. One of them was for Mike which was from El. One was for Billy which was from me. I made another for El. And the other was for me, but it didn't say whose it was from. It was a large cardboard box with my name on it. 'Charlotte'
I grabbed it and it felt heavy. "Hey, El, is this from you?" I asked her, holding up the box. She shook her head. "No, I got it from the mail last night, it came from some anonymous person," Hopper intervened. I was confused about who would send me a present.
"Can I open it?" I asked. "No, wait for the rest of them to come. We're having our Christmas party here later today," Hopper said.
I nodded. "Okay," I whispered.
-
It was close to evening and everyone including the Wheelers, Byers, Sinclairs, and Max with Susan came. I saw no sign of Billy.
Everyone brought dishes to pass out and the kids brought board games and their presents to open up for later. I saw Max talking to Lucas and I decided to walk over and ask her about Billy. "Max," I said to her, she looked at me and smiled. "Yeah?" she replied.
"Is Billy going to come by any chance?" I asked her. "I don't know, he's been gone all day," she said. I nod.
"I'm sure he didn't forget, or he must've gotten himself lost on the way here," Max said. "Oh," I whispered. Billy's been here many many times, there's no way he got himself lost. And if he was gone all day, where would he be?
"But don't worry, he'll come by any time soon today," Max reassured me. I nodded. "Yeah, he probably will,"
I tried my hardest to forget to not worry about him, he'll be here eventually.
We all ate dinner and played board games with the kids, I learned a few games with the kids since it was my first time playing them. They tried to teach me this one dragon game but it was way too complicated that I backed out.
It was time to open presents, so we all went from youngest to oldest in the row and they passed out hot chocolate while they were opening the presents. El got a small dinosaur figure, a new watch, and a handwritten letter. The rest of them got new art supplies, action figures, hairpins, clothes, Dustin got a new cat.
It was my turn to open my gifts. I opened the one that was from El. It was a bracelet that had a broken heart on it and she wore the other half. And she also got me a few hairpins for my hair. I slipped my fringe to the side with one of them. I opened the other present and I was confused on what it was at first. But then I saw a pair of cowboy boots. On the back, they said, Bon Jovi in red text. It was from Bon Jovi.
"Who's Bon Jovi," Mike asked. "My friends," I replied. I was in aw about this present. I love both presents equally. The Bon Jovi gift had a letter attached. It said; Enjoy these new boots we customized for you. Merry Christmas. See you soon -Bon Jovi, but mostly Jon ;)
"Put them on," Hopper whispered. I laughed and put them on, they fit perfectly and were very comfortable.
-
They were almost leaving since they were packing their dishes and the kids were putting on their coats and shoes when I heard the door. Hopper pushed back the kids from hovering over it and he opened it. It was from Billy.
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He was filled with snow. He was also out of breath. "Sorry I'm late," he said. I walked over to him and I noticed he had a large present in hand. He smiled at me and kissed me on the lips.
"You're here," I said with a smile. "I would never miss Christmas, I know how much you love it," He said.
"But everyone's leaving already," I said. "It doesn't matter, as long as I'm here with you. I can spend the rest of the night with you, right?" he said.
"Yes, Hopper can Billy stay the night?" I asked Hopper.
"Yes, but no breaking things and keep your door open, I don't want funny business," he said. Billy just gave me a wink. "Come sit and open my present for you," Billy grabbed my hand and swayed me to the couch. "You didn't have to," I said, I opened the present and it was a large frame of him and me at the snowball. It looked like someone took this photo of us. We were slow dancing and I smiling wide while looking up at the ceiling and he was staring right at me.
"Billy," I whispered putting my hand over my mouth. It was so beautiful.
"I love it so much," I said. I leaned forward and hugged him tightly placing my legs around his waist.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered. "Merry Christmas,"
