Christmas (a bonus)

Silver and Fiona save Christmas.

  With Christmas soon approaching, classes ended. Mr.  Aaron had cut down a huge fir tree and put it up in the cafeteria, snow still covering it. The lake outside had frozen over, and the sun never melted all the snow fast enough.

    And it was beautiful.

    Every morning I walked outside in the courtyard to enjoy the cold air, listening to the students around me. Some boys were having a snowball fight, and a girl on the bench was sketching the trees on her drawing pad.

    David presented me with his present early.

    “Hey Silver!” He called as he raced forward.

    “Hey David. What’s up?” I asked.

    “Well, my parents are picking me up tomorrow for Christmas so I wanted to give this to you now.” He said, holding out a small wrapped box. “You can open it if you want.”

    I tore through the wrapping with my finger nail easily, and then popped the lid. “Oh David! It’s beautiful!” I exclaim looking at the silver necklace he gave me.

    On it was a single charm, a silver and gold moon. He went behind me to tie it and I realized what the charm meant.

    “You remembered?” I asked, and he smiled and nodded.

    “Yeah. Your name isn’t exactly hard to forget.” He said, and I laughed.

    “Thanks so much.” I say, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. “Now, don’t kill me, but I didn’t get you anything near expensive.” I say.

    I ran over to a tree and stuck my hand in the nook in the center, feeling around. Finally, my hand grasped something hard, and I pulled it out. David gasped at the sight of his wanted water gun.

    “Whoa! This is the exact one I wanted! How did you know?” He asked.

    “I heard you and Markus talking the other day.” I say, and he grins.

    “Thanks so much Silver! I got to go now, parents are here. Merry Christmas!” He said, dashing inside.

    When he was gone, I pulled out my checklist and crossed him off.

    Three fifteen p.m. (same day)…

    When I got back to the dorm, Fiona was marking things on a yellow sheet.

    “What are you doing?” I asked her.

    “Making my Christmas list. The teachers each give us a sheet that we can right our list down, and they will get us one thing from that list. This is exactly why everything I have on here is expensive.” She said, and I smiled.

    My sheet was on my bed, and I pulled out a pen and sat at my desk, thinking. What did I want? Fabric maybe? A flat screen TV? But I didn’t need those things.

    Clicking my pen on, I scribbled down a few things.

    Couple rolls of ductape.

    Scissors, needles, and thread.

    A puppy.

    The ductape was for Xeynordamere if he ever got too chatty. The scissors were for if I needed to threaten him, and the needles and thread were for sewing him back together. The puppy was for Wolf to be able to play with somebody…not a shadow.

    Scribbling my name on the top, I folded it up and left it on my desk.

    Right then the intercom came on.

    “Christmas wish list is canceled. Christmas wish list is canceled.”

    Fiona stood there, mouth agape, for a full ten minutes. Then she finally snapped.

    “WHAT? WHAT? You heard that too right? It wasn’t just me?” She asked, enraged.

    “Yeah. I heard it too.” I reply, and she growls.

    “How can those…those…ugh I can’t say anything that they deserve without getting in trouble!” She snapped.

    “Try screaming into your pillow.” I tell her, and she nods before beating her head against it.

    Across the hall, everybody seemed to be having a heart attack at the news. I heard Carrie from next door screaming, and Sophie and Abigail kicking things.

    “Why would they cancel it?” Fiona asked, spitting with rage. Literally.

    “I don’t know. Want to ask your mom?” I asked, and she stopped for a moment.

    “That is a great idea!” She said, clasping my hands. “Come on! Let’s go now!”

    Fiona practically dragged me to her parent’s apartment, but we weren’t the first ones there. Fio was standing in the kitchen, asking the same question.

    “Why did they cancel it mum?” He asked.

    “Oh sweetie. You see, we have a lot more students coming in this year, and we have enough money but not enough time to get everything done. So we couldn’t just cancel only a couple people, because that would just be wrong. So we had to cancel the whole thing.” She said, and I frowned.

    “So we don’t get presents?” Fiona asked, stepping up to her brother’s side.

    “From the school, no. But I bet Argentum has presents for you.” Mrs. Sungsay said, shooting me a look.

    “She doesn’t, I already checked.” Fiona said, and I grinned.

    “That just means I hid them well.” I reply, and she scowls.

    “Well, Christmas isn’t over. I mean, we can still do Christmas dinner and make ice sculptures. Right?” Fio said, trying to cheer me up.

    “Definitely.” Mrs. Sungsay.

    “Of course.” Me.

    “This sucks.” Fiona. Naturally.

    Laughing, Mrs. Sungsay gave us cookies fresh from the oven and then we were gone.

    On the way back, I stuffed the rest of the sugar cookie in my mouth and dusted my hands off.

    “We need to do something.” Fiona said, taking another bite.

    “Yeah, yeah we do.” I reply.

    “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She asked, and grinned.

    “Yep.” I reply.

    “Come on Silver! She said, grabbing my hand and dashing back inside. “Let’s save Christmas!”

    1:08 A.M. (Christmas morning)…

    Fiona and I crept back into our beds with multiple yawns. I almost fell off the ladder as I climbed into bed.

    “Uhh…night…Fiona.” I say sleepily.

    She was already snoring.

    7:46 A.M. (Christmas Day)…

    When we went to the cafeteria, I was stunned to see it decorated beautifully. Paper snowflakes were suspended by string from the ceiling, and the tables were lightly dusted with snow. And the food…oh it smelled so wonderful.

    I got in line quickly and served myself, hardly able to stop myself from diving in before sitting down. Fiona came in and just got a bowl of cereal before sitting down.

    “Think they know it was us?” She whispered to me.

    “Hey! Everybody! Fiona and Silver are here!” Somebody yelled, and the entire school seemed to erupt. Applause crashed into us, and we were lifted up on the crowd surf, grinning.

    Wondering what we did?
    It was simple really.

    We pretended to be collecting wish lists from everybody to dump them in one sitting. But really we just wanted to know what they wanted. Then we spent a whole lot of money on their presents. Thankfully, every single dorm had stockings out on the doors, so we could put their presents in them. It was fun running around the school in the dark of night, but it took forever.

    The principal was there, and we were lifted up on the stage, where he presented us with medals and congratulations. But I didn’t care about that. Yana, Emily, Candara, Wolf, Zarma, Vienne, Fio, David, Fiona, and pretty much everybody all had the perfect Christmas. That was what mattered the most to me.

Author's Note

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