The Heartthrob Won't Leave

Chapter Thirty-Eight (New Chapters)

As time passed, the world started to change, just as it did every year. People put their colored lights up, their decorated trees, and the constant tunes of Christmas started playing through the speakers of every retail store, blending together into a mess of identical tones and over-used lyrics. Blake should have been excited, after all, she had missed Halloween and Thanksgiving due to that stint in state-run child prison, now it was December, and Christmas was everywhere. The school decided to celebrate by putting up rungs of shiny garland over the doors, little cutouts of trees, and presents stuck to the hallway walls. She also found out that unique to this school, every year they had a tradition where students could buy each other flowers, whether they were friends, to be nice, or to finally confess their feelings to another that they had been hiding them from. 

The school was calm for a time, and everyone appeared happy. There was something about the holidays that lingered in the air, Blake could feel it, and it impacted everyone in some way. Well, except her. Growing up, Blake didn't celebrate Christmas. To her it was just another day, as all the other children woke up to presents and surprises from those who loved them, she always woke up to her hung-over father sleeping on the couch in the living room and her brother never there, sleeping at friends' houses because he was sick of having her play referee between them. Although Karl did do Christmas every year, it just never had the same effect on her as it appeared to have on everyone else. But, she still smiled when they talked so fast and excitedly about their joy waking up on a snow-covered morning to the things they had asked for. Although she'd never tell them, it was almost odd to her how they reacted. But, she didn't have time to focus on that particular issue. 

The night of the school play was speeding towards them hollering, and there was still so much to do it made her head spin. They continued with rehearsals, and Lucian continued to slip gum into her pockets as a sort of strange ritual. As it got closer, she became more anxious, everyone was talking about it and when they discovered who was directing it, she could feel the eyes all over her from her fellow students. She knew they were wondering why a nameless noob was in an intricate, important part of something that this school did every year and was known for across the city. To be honest, she couldn't really answer them if she were asked. Theatre in this school was almost as important as the football team, and they loved their football team. But, what did happen every year around Christmas like a tradition for Blake was listening to Mikayla complain about Jace. With football out of season, he had a lot more time to follow her around and piss her off, which resulted in much more frequent venting to Blake from Mikayla attempting to rip her hair out with her hands.

"Then! He has the gall to say I'm in love with him! As if! And that I'm following him around! After everything he's done, that's fucking rich!-" She continued to go off on another tangent as they leaned against the back wall of the school during lunch, watching the younger kids from the elementary school across the street in the middle of a snowball fight. She just watched them, running around and screaming in joy, stumbling in their heavy, thick jackets and pants. She tried to remember what she was like at their age, certainly not like them. She was reminded of those cold winter days, shivering as she walked to school alone because the clothes she wore were too big, thin, and full of holes. Even though her father never told her that she had to go to school, it was better than being at home. Suddenly she found herself zoned out, so taken by their alien happiness that she was only brought back to attention with Mikayla calling her name repeatedly 

"Blake!", shaking her from thoughts and turning to look at her friend.

"Goodness, I called you like ten times!"

"Sorry" she responded truthfully, leaning the back of her head against the cold bricks of the building against her back. Despite her hair with protection, she could still feel the cold of the surface radiating against her scalp.