Haha…anyone remember me mentioning something like this. I've changed the plot about a million times; but here it is!

Logan glanced down at his Christmas list with wet eyes. He wondered why he was even writing one of these again.

"D-Dear Santa…I-I know you m-must be r-really busy and t-this is hard, b-but maybe you can p-put some magic on my mommy and daddy so they will love me. I ask you e-every year, b-but you never help me out…" Logan read his letter to himself and struggled to keep himself from crying. It was too hard, though. Mere seconds later salty tears rolled down his cheeks and he found himself ripping up the note. Santa wasn't real…he couldn't be. Every year Logan would ask for his parent's adoration and nothing would ever change. If Santa were real, then his parents would be here for him…not buried in their work.

The small brunette walked down his house's spiral stair case, running his hand over the smooth wooden rail. Whenever he came across a step that was creaky or rotted, he'd tighten his grip so he wouldn't fall like he did the first day in this new house. Logan had only lived here for a month and was just starting to learn about how to avoid its dangers. The raven haired boy had seen real houses before on TV. Ones with big high ceilings and brightly colored walls. They could practically be the opposite of this building. It was small and old; it had dark colored features and emitted a sad depressing aura into the air.

Logan looked around the living room. Nothing but boxes and dirty furniture lied in front of his eyes. Most normal homes should have had a Christmas tree in this part of the house; but his family didn't celebrate the holiday. They didn't celebrate any holiday…too busy working to care, I guess. They were always too busy for everything, but Logan had grown use to it. But that doesn't mean that it didn't still bother him.

The clock read "6PM" so the 3rd grader knew that school was ahead of him, so he decided that getting ready would be a smart idea, considering the fact that he had to walk to school. You were required to pay a fee if you wanted to ride the bus but Logan's family didn't have the money. He tried to find some new clothes, but the only things that he had were some sweaters and a pair of jeans. His boots were ripping at the sole, but they would have to do. A jacket was out of the question sadly.

"Mommy!" James cheered, "Mommy, come look at my Christmas list!"

Mrs. Diamond yawned and turned to her kitchen stove to see that its little clock was showing the numbers "6:30" and was surprised to see her son up so early.

"James, the bus doesn't come for an hour…why are you up?" She laughed.

"Because I wanted to make my Christmas list before school!" He smiled.

Mrs. Diamond scanned the list to see over at least 30 things.

"It's not finished yet!" He beamed.

"Sweetie, don't you think this is a lot? Santa might not have enough time to make everything."

"No! It's not enough, mommy…I need to add more things." James smiled.

"James!" Mrs. Diamond yelled, "Do you hear yourself?" She sighed and shook her head, "What happened to my little generous son?"

"He's still here!" James replied.

"James, I want you to shorten your list…" She added.

"Why?"

"Because you are acting selfish." She answered.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, honey…why don't you go and get ready so you don't miss the bus."

James nodded and headed off, leaving his long letter on the table next to his breakfast dish. Mrs. Diamond rolled her eyes and began to clean up after her son.

Kendall and Carlos sat on their bus together staring out at the snowy street. They both loved this time of year, well…Kendall did…and Carlos tried to. The Latino believed in Santa with all of his little heart, but his classmates didn't like that; they thought he was a baby and it really saddened him. He just wanted to enjoy this holiday, but it seemed impossible now.

"You don't seem too excited for Christmas, Litos…" Kendall sighed.

Carlos shrugged, "Some kids at recess are calling me a baby, Kenny."

"Why?" Kendall's eyes grew wide with concern.

"Cause I believe in Santa…" Carlos sighed with shame.

"Don't listen to them; Christmas is the bestest holiday of the year! You should still have fun, even if those jerks are being mean."

"You're right, Kendall!" Carlos smiled brightly, "I love Christmas, so I shouldn't let anyone ruin that!"

"Only 24 more days!" Kendall cheered.

The two boys hugged each other and giddily hopped off the bus once it made a stop in front of their elementary school. They headed for the doors where they saw James waiting for them in his usual spot. The three best friends nonchalantly skipped into the school and down the colorful hallways to their classroom, awaiting the day ahead of them.

Kids were nearly falling asleep at the teacher's boring math lesson. The only student who was paying attention was little Logan. He kept all of focus on the board and the numbers that kept being scribbled on it with chalk. Suddenly, the bell rang, and the teacher stopped writing. Logan sighed with disappointment…the next subject was social studies and he hated it. Everything was so boring; he didn't even know why they needed that in their lesson plans…for people who are supposed to be smart, teachers could be pretty dumb sometimes.

"Class we have something really important to discuss."

The classmates all looked up at their teacher attentively.

"Does anyone know what charity is?"

Nobody raised their hands, and the teacher laughed a little bit, "Charity is helping out those in need. Since it's a time of giving as a class project we are each going to do something charitable. For example, if I donated money to a homeless shelter, it could be considered charity. Can someone else give me an example now?"

James' hand shot up into the air like a rocket; he smiled when the teacher pointed to him.

The spoiled child snickered a little bit and glanced at Logan, "So if I gave Logan a dollar it would be charity?"

The smaller boy's face became beat red as he looked down and tried to stop himself from crying. Other kids in the class laughed at him, and all he wanted was to disappear at this moment.

The teacher gasped, "James! Apologize to Logan now."

"But it's a good question, Mrs. Daniels! He looks like he's homeless, so isn't it charity?"

Tears rolled down the boy's face, but James and his friends couldn't see what the big deal was.

Hope you like!

xoxo

~EMiLY