The 25 Days of Christmas

December 2 - Macy Lewis

"Bye mom!"

"Hey look Daniel, we don't have to rush this morning."

Slam.

"Why do I even try."

This morning it was snowing. Small, delicate flakes danced through the air, swirling weightlessly through the air in their frozen glory before being melted on the spot by the school's heated pavement.

It was barely 7:30 and Macy's thoughts were already taking a dark turn. What a great way to start the day.

Macy wandered into homeroom again, sitting down and pulling out her phone. She had been grounded from her phone for a month, but 4 months had passed and her parents hadn't remembered to give it back to her, so Macy had finally taken it upon herself to find it.

The bell rang and Macy looked up to see no teacher. But Victoria strode in, perfectly late. It was moments like these that called for Flappy Bird. Oh the joys of having her phone back.

Two minutes and thirteen games later, Mr. Lugardo ran in, nearly tripping over the door jam.

"Good morning everyone!" The teacher said, "I had to reprint the class roster 14 times."

"Why?" Someone asked.

"Because we have new students!" Mr. Lugardo replied, "And I promptly lost the other 13 copies. You know what they say, 14th time's the charm."

"No one says that," the same student replied.

"Are we gonna get on with class?" Someone else asked.

"You say that like homeroom is an actual class," Mr. Lugardo replied, "But I digress. We have not one, not two, but-"

"Three new students!" the entire class replied.

"Glad to see you guys listen to what I say," Mr. Lugardo said, "So we've got Jackson Augustin, Matthias Ivan, and Stephanie London. Why don't you guys say a couple things about yourselves."

A tall guy with short brown hair, tan skin, and a t-shirt that said "L.A. Invite" stood up.

"Hey," he said, "I'm Jackson Augustin, I'm from Mountain View, California, and I'm really into swimming."

"Can we ask questions?" Trenton called out.

"I don't think how I respond is going to matter," Mr. Lugardo said, defeated.

"Great," Trenton said, "Where's the shirt from?"

"Oh, it's from when my swim team went to this big swim invite in LA," Jackson replied, "It was great, especially since we won."

"And I'm sure you were a big part of that win?" Victoria asked.

"Come again?" Jackson asked, confused.

"Just go with it, make yourself look better," Victoria whispered, "You are talking to the captain of the swim team."

"Oh," Jackson said.

"Vic, it's no use whispering I we can all hear you," Trenton said bluntly, "And practice is from 3-6 today. Come on by."

"I'm there," Jackson said, smiling.

"Great," Trenton smirked.

"Alright, next," Victoria called.

"Aren't I supposed to say that?" Mr. Lugardo asked.

"Yes, you are supposed to run this class," Victoria mused, "Yet here we are."

"Well, then I'll go," the girl said, standing up. Her hair was platinum blonde, her waist was a size -2, and she must've had at least 15 pounds of makeup on her face. Macy had to give this girl credit, she definitely went the extra mile.

"Hi everybody," she smiled, "I'm Stephanie London, I'm from Chicago, and I just can't wait to get to know you all!"

"Huh, my cousin lives in Chicago," Victoria mused, "What suburb are you from?"

"Suburb? Please," Stephanie replied, a smile still plastered on her face, "Try inner city Chicago. And yes, that does mean that I can incapacitate any of you suburbain weaklings in about two seconds. But that's not the point!"

"Nor should it be," Mr. Lugardo said, "Keeping the violence to a minimum would be appreciated. Now for—"

"Next!" Victoria intoned.

"Are you serious?" Mr. Lugardo asked.

"What," Victoria asked, "Someone had to say it."

Mr. Lugardo just shook his head as Matthias stood up. His dirty blonde hair was spiked up and his olive green eyes matched his leather jacket.

"I'm Matthias," he said gruffly, "I was born in Sarajevo, but I moved to Maryland when I was six. I like short walks on the beach. That's about it."

"Do you work out?" Victoria purred.

"That's irrelevant," Mr. Lugardo interjected.

"I'd beg to differ," Trenton said.

"I don't 'work out' per se," Matthias said, "But I worked a factory job back in Maryland that ignored child labor laws. Speaking of, are there any of those places around here?"

"I am legally required to say no," Mr. Lugardo said, "But there might be a farm or two."

"Sweet," Matthias said, sitting down and stretching, "Cause it's only a matter of time before my dad drinks this job away."

"Okay, well thank you three for your introductions, welcome to Arlo J Braxton High School," Mr. Lugardo said, "No thanks to the peanut gallery over here."

"Watch it," Victoria murmured.

"Anyways, for homeroom today I'm supposed to show this inspirational video about treating others with kindness," Mr. Lugardo said, "But let's face it, a 25 minute video isn't gonna change your outlook on life, so why bother. Just do whatever."

🎄🎄🎄

The rest of the morning was a mindless blur for Macy. Turn in homework, half listen to lecture, get more homework. It all melded together in her mind.

Macy walked into the lunchroom and sat down at the table that she always did. It was empty, as always, and would most likely stay that way.

That was when the first surprise came.

"Hey, you were in Mr. Lugardo's homeroom, right?"

Macy looked up to see Jackson standing there, with a tray of food in one hand and a half-empty gallon jug in the other.

"Yeah?" Macy replied weakly, still not entirely sure that Jackson had actually spoken to her.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked, "I'm really not sure where else to go."

"I don't know. Non-existent friends, can we make room for one more?" Macy paused, "Yes, sit down."

"Thanks," Jackson said, sitting down eagerly, "Wait, I don't think I ever got your name. Or anyone's, really."

"I'm Macy," she replied.

"Cool," Jackson said. No sooner had he replied when Stephanie London showed up, an apple in one hand and a pop-socketed iPhone in the other.

"Mind if I join the party?" She asked, "This table has a view, I need to find the popular table."

"Be our guest," Jackson said.

Just then, Matthias sauntered up to the table.

"Could I join the cliche new kids cluster?" He asked.

"Welcome pal," Jackson replied.

That was pretty much the end of the conversation. Jackson spent the rest of lunch staring at the table with Trenton and the rest of the swim team. Stephanie set her gaze on Victoria's elite group table. Matthias just kinda stared off into space. And Macy just looked at the three, bewildered that they had even showed interest at being at her table. She had forgotten how nice it was to be visible.

December 2, 2018