No Noël | ✓

23 » i didn't want to hate christmas

23 » i didn't want to hate christmas

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It was surprisingly hard to find a store that sold lamps and was open on Christmas Eve.

Apparently everyone else in the fucking world enjoyed this day and wanted to go celebrate. Or maybe, and most likely, people saw it as an opportunity to skip out on work.

I knew that, despite all my complaining and hatred for the holiday over the years, I always loved the breaks school granted because of it, and the days off from work. Right Words always took Christmas Eve and Christmas off. It was one of the few things about the job that didn't irk me.

But finally, after what felt like hours of searching, I stumbled upon a store. The lamp looked nothing like the one I broke, but Amin was going to have to suck it up and be grateful I had even found anything.

I immediately shook my head. I knew that wasn't the right attitude to have.

Amin didn't need to have been thankful that I found the lamp, because a new lamp wouldn't have been needed if I hadn't thrown a fit in the first place. If I hadn't let my parents and Christmas in general bother me.

In fact, a lot of things in life wouldn't have been the way they were had I not held such a strong grudge against the holiday, and my parents. So much of my present had been affected by my past, because I let it be. I let all of those previous fuck ups continue fucking up my life. But why?

Because I was a fucking idiot, that was why.

I grumbled to myself as I pushed through the door to the one other place I'd been able to call home. A sense of relief had usually come to me whenever I walked in, but now, all I had felt was shame.

"Noel?" a familiar and warming voice questioned. "What are you doing here?"

Jun Chen was bussing a table in the corner, but she dropped the rag and walked over to me when I sent her a small wave. "Hey, Mrs. Chen. I'm surprised you're still here this late."

It was only around seven, but it was already dark out, and a holiday. I had expected Jun to have been home with her family.

"Business is business," she replied with a shrug. "People like you always waltz in at this time, on this day."

I ignored what she could've meant by people like me and grinned. "I'll take my usual, then."

She smiled and headed off behind the counter and into the kitchen to get my order started. I saw movement in the corner of my eye, and realized both her children were by the counter.

Her youngest, Lee, saw me first. "Noel, hey!" he called out happily with a wave. "Did my mom tell you the good news yet?"

I walked closer and held out my hand for a fist bump. "Hey, Lee. What good news?"

"I'm going to NYU," he said with a big smile. "Just like you."

"Congrats, man," I told him, refraining from adding that he should've left out the like you part. He definitely didn't want to be like me.

Kimora stepped beside him, sending me her own small smile. "That's not the real good news," she said as she pushed her brother to the side. "I'm finally graduating."