With the winter holidays now in full swing, Ellie was spending most of her time over the break trying to study. She was good at a lot of things, especially History and English, but she was trying to get better at some of her other subjects like Maths and Biology.
About a week after the Christmas party, she sat in the kitchen, studying at the dinner table. She usually worked in her room, but she had kept getting distracted today. She was in the middle of going over a Maths past paper when her mum and dad walked in.
"What're you doing down here?" Her dad asked, filling up the kettle with water.
Ellie shrugged. "Couldn't focus upstairs."
"What are you up to, anyway?" He asked.
"Maths past paper. I think it's safe to say I'm probably not passing..." Ellie chuckled, awkwardly.
"Pass or fail, as long as you tried your best." He said, getting some mugs out from the cupboard.
"I thought you were going out today?" Her mum asked, sitting down across from Ellie. She peaked over at the past paper before pulling away with a confused look.
"No, everyone is busy. I think we're talking about a New Year's party, but we've all got to study so I don't know when we'll all hang out." Ellie said. It sucked that she couldn't see her friends, but she spoke to them often enough that it wasn't a big deal.
"Hopefully at some point. You've been working yourself to the bone." Her mum said. "If you can't see all of your friends, maybe you and Freya can do something together? I'm sure both of you could use the break."
"Maybe, I guess we'll see." Ellie shrugged. "Oh, by the way, can I invite Freya over for Christmas dinner?"
"Aren't her own family doing something?" Her dad asked.
"They don't do Christmas, but Freya said she wanted to at least try dinner." Ellie said.
Her mum and dad looked at each other. "I think we should have space. Abby's bringing her boyfriend, so I don't see why you can't bring your girlfriend. Other than that, your gran and grandad are coming, but it should be fine."
Ellie broke out into a huge smile. "Thank you!" She let out a sigh, she looked back down at her work. "I think I'll take that break now..."
Her mum chuckled as Ellie started to gather everything together. She put her stuff away and went upstairs. Once there, she took out her phone and called Freya.
"Hey, what's up?" Ellie said.
"Not much, I gave up trying to study. My TV is stuck on some stupid teleshopping channel, so I've been watching some really dodgy ads for like an hour." Freya laughed. "What about you?"
"I've just finished up studying, probably for the day." Ellie chuckled. "Hey, listen, you know how you told me that you wanted to try a proper Christmas dinner?"
"Yeah?" Freya said, a little hesitantly.
"My house, three o'clock, Christmas day. My dad is making turkey and ham. You won't be able to move afterwards." Ellie grinned.
Freya was quiet for a second before Ellie heard a little sniffle. "Three o'clock. I'll be there."
YOU ARE READING
An Unexpected Fate
Teen FictionBen has always known he was different from the other boys, but when his school uniform gets swapped with his sisters, his entire life changes into something he had never expected. WARNING: This story contains some transphobia, assault, and some scen...
