CHANGES [eric matthews]

Easy Street

↳CHAPTER 4.9
Easy Street.
❆
『 "Oh, no! More horsey. More horsey!" 』
  〉〉〉〉

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER was Beckett's least favorite Christmas movie. It was atrocious really, the way all the other reindeer bullied him because of his shiny nose. It reminded her of the kids who bullied her for being poor growing up, and what she tried to protect her little brother from. She's spent a lot of time seeing it all over again Thanksgiving break, and now that Christmas was rapidly approaching, the girl felt poorer then ever. Buying gifts was expensive.

She often felt like people were watching her, but maybe it was the paranoid anxiety she constantly felt, even on good days. And that's why she left her cold little trailer one day during break, where the Hunter family was preparing for the first Christmas since they'd all been reunited.

On her way to her destination, she thought of her mother, who she still had some sort of pent up anger towards, though she was trying to get over it. Her mom seemed to be actually trying these days. Forcing her lazy father to get a job, hosting a disastrous thanksgiving/birthday gone wrong (and right), etc. It was just hard for Beckett to actually except that either of her parents were here to stay.

Meanwhile, the other side of her brain was mourning the childhood of Shawn.

It had only been about a week ago, her first night of winter break, that the two of them had decided to do a science experiment kit they'd found at the dollar store. It had gone completely wrong, and the boy's eyebrows had gotten singed. Long story short, he had forced his sister to pluck them so they'd look even. But he just looked absolutely hilarious.

But now? He had gotten a job for the holidays, which made Beckett want to cry. She couldn't believe he was old enough to have a job. It was down at the docks, and it was quite the early morning gig for the cold weather they were experiencing. She couldn't imagine attempting a job like that, but she didn't question his ideas.

Her job at the Student Union Cafe had been quite nice, but being a college student, that still wasn't enough to cover all of the Christmas gifts she wanted to buy for people this year. She wondered if Alan would give her a few shifts at the Wildnerness Outpost.

When she finally reached her destination, her toes were frozen solid, and the cuffs of her jeans were wet from the mushy snow that plagued the streets. December had gone by quickly. She was still trying to wrap her head around the year she had experienced, including her terrible New Years Eve. (She still couldn't go on a subway train without thinking of super models, crab cakes, and quiche.) To think she had been so naïve about her feelings towards Eric, and now she was so head over heels that it had made her stupid. She really hoped 1997 was calm and quiet.

But knowing her luck, that wouldn't be the case.

She knocked on the darkly colored door, and rung the door bell incessantly. Her goal was to be annoying, and by the look of Jonathan Turner when he answered, she had succeeded. She shot him a grin.

She liked going to Turner's place every once in a while, more often now that her family was playing up the whole 'I want to be normal' thing. It was overwhelming, and quite frankly, irritating. Everyone was so uptight these days.

Turner's reminded her of home more so then The Pink Flamingo Trailer Park. And the English teacher didn't seem to mind it too much, though he definitely had his questions on why she was spending so much time here. But she ignored him!