Snowflakes

December 10th

10th

"Even on my weakest days I get a little bit stronger" ― Sara Evans

On Wednesday, my gift is a pack of sparkly snowflake stickers. At first it confuses me, until I read the little note that comes with it.

Even your window deserves to be Christmassy!
Enjoy, love your secret santa. X
P.S 14 days to go!!

The little additional 'P.S' part perplexes me, too. Surely it is supposed to be a countdown to Christmas Day, but that's to Christmas Eve. What's happening on Christmas Eve?

I don't know, but what I do know is that it has made me way more excited for the 24th.

When I get home from a mediocre (yet thankfully lacking in any gossip of the party) day at school, I go straight to my room. I snatch up the snowflakes from my bag and pad across my thickly carpeted bedroom to the wide window. It faces out onto the street below.

I peer out to see the road completely deserted, which is nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing exciting ever happens on my road, even the appearance of motorists tends to be infrequent.

But, apparently, today is different.

I'm standing at my window, winter window stickers in my hands, when I catch a glimpse of something just a bit down my road. I squint, determined to get a closer look.

It's a couple: a boy and a girl, and they appear to be young. But what's more interesting is the fact they also seem to be shouting. Slowly, he's edging backwards which brings them closer and closer towards the end of my drive. My window is already open a crack but I push it open fully. It probably seems weird – stalkerish even – but I can't help but become drawn in by their conversation.

The girl is angry, that's for sure. She's waving her hands about in wild gestures to accompany her fierce words. The boy looks more reserved, more held-back, like he too is annoyed, only his fear overrides the urge to shout. It's as if he doesn't want to cause her any more reason to be resentful, but by the look of it he's already done some irreversible damage to their relationship.

"Don't try to apologise to me now!" she exclaims, gritting her teeth. He chews his lip nervously.

"I-" the boy tries, but she cuts him off.

Her voice drops, so quiet I can barely hear it, but her stillness is more frightening than when she was raging. "It's too late. Nothing will ever change what you did. It's over."

Suddenly, a rush of memories run through my mind's eye in a blur, like flicking through an old photo album. But these aren't the kind of memories you'd put in an album, because they're so loud, loud, loud and so angry, angry, angry and I'm taken aback by the unexpected force of them all.

"Don't pretend you ever cared," I said in a voice darker and colder than the ice we were standing on. His eyes darted around nervously. I picked up on it, taunting him cruelly. "What are you looking for? Back up from some of your arrogant, stupid mates? Or maybe you want one of those girls whose company you so clearly enjoyed? You know, the ones who's flirting you just couldn't deny, not even when I was right there."

"No. Listen, Scarlett. I-" he attempted, but I was having none of it.

"Get out of here. I never, ever want to see you again. So get out of my sight- no, actually get out of my life entirely." When he didn't leave me alone, I exploded. "I said get out. Out! Go!"

I was near screaming now, desperate tears running down my cheeks.

I snap out of it instantaneously, feeling dazed. On the street below me, the girl is crying. The boy looks bewildered and and I almost feel bad because he clearly loves her so much and he's trying to reach for her hand but she shoves him away.

Then he leaves and it's just the girl as she slides down against the wall. Tears relentlessly pour from her eyes, glistening under the glow of the streetlight.

It's only when I touch tentative fingertips to my cheek that I realise that I'm crying too. I drop the packet of stickers as salty teardrops continue to stream down my face.

I cry myself to sleep that night, raw from the vivid memories and the events that unfurled before me.

The window stickers are left abandoned on the window sill. I don't know if I'll ever put them up.

this is really short, but it's pretty depressing so I didn't really want it to be too long. don't worry, this isn't going to become a sad book, it just has some unhappy moments.