Hey, guys! So, this story came to me one day, just out of the blue! So, I've decided to write it. :) I hope you guys enjoy! ONE SHOT.
Also, I thought of this before I heard of the SLOD episode, A London Carol. And I'm so sorry if this is a tad overly in character. x3
Another note: Sorry to everyone who reads my other fic, You Can't Change the Past! I've decided to go on a hiatus from that one. Please don't worry, I'll start writing it again soon.
"Goodnight, London," said Bailey, dressed in her pajamas, which was decorated with little corn cobs. She looked over at her roommate, the flabbergastingly rich and conceited heiress, London Tipton, who treated her pretty much like dirt. She would insult her nearly every hour of the day. But, she tolerated it. London was already fast asleep. She sighed, switched off the lights, and climbed into bed.
***
Hours later
London suddenly shot awake, looking around.
"Bailey! Did you hear that?" she looked at Bailey, who was asleep and snoring loudly. She crinkled her nose. She'd do anything to get off of this stupid ship and away from her badly dressed roommate! She glanced at the clock, tilting her head.
"Oh, yeah! The big hand is the hour, the little hand is the minute! Yay me!" she clapped, feeling good that she remembered. It was midnight.
"London," said a voice. London looked up, and screamed. It was a man unfamiliar to her, and he was slightly faded.
"AHHH! Bailey, help me! Maybe you can scare him away with your ugly clothes!" she said, looking over to Bailey's bed. But she was gone.
"London Tipton, I am the Ghost of Christmas past. I have come to show you your past." he said.
"I'm not going anywhere with you! Look at your clothes! It's so 100 years ago. I'm not going anywhere near ugly clothes." London replied, turning up her nose. But the ghost grasped her arm, and dragged her through some sort of portal. London struggled and screamed, but it was no use. Everything went blank.
***
London looked around. This place was oddly familiar... She had definitely been here before.
"Hey, this is the Tipton Hotel!" she said. The 'ghost' man nodded. A young girl ran past them, a big grin on her face. She had a deep blue dress on with a matching purse. Her hair was dark brown and shoulder length.
"Moseby!" she shouted.
"That's me!" London exclaimed, shocked. "Aw, look how cute I was!"
"Mr. Moseby, is Daddy still coming?" little 7 year old London asked Moseby, who was working at his desk. Moseby's face saddened.
"I'm sorry, London, but your father had a sudden conference and won't be able to make it." London frowned, tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's no fair! He never comes to see me, not even on my birthday!" London remembered that day perfectly. It was her birthday, and her father was supposed to come today. She had been mad at him for weeks. "Stop!" London shouted, covering her eyes. "I don't want to see anymore!" she shouted, and before she knew it, she was back in her room, on her bed, with the sound of Bailey's snoring filling the room.
"Ugh... I've never been so glad to hear Bailey snoring in my life!" London yawned, exhausted. "I hope that was all just a terrible dream..." She pulled her thick, hot pink blanket over her body, and drifted off again.
***
Not long at all afterwards, London was once again awakened by that strange sound again... It almost sounded like a huge bell ringing. London's eyes popped open, looking around. She glanced at the clock. It was now 1 o'clock, an hour after the strange event where the "Ghost of Christmas Past" had taken her back to the past.
"Oh no... not again..." London mumbled as a figure began to materialize in front of her. Honestly, she was quite scared. She leaped out of bed, and started towards Bailey's. But once again, she was gone. She looked up at the figure that now stood in front of her. He was a jolly looking fellow with red cheeks. He was wearing a red robe.
"Ew, did you just get out of the shower? Ooh, your bathrobe has jewels on it!" London swooned, trying to touch them. But her hand went right through him.
"London, I am the Ghost of Christmas Present," the ghost's voice boomed. It was loud and deep, yet it had a merry, joyful sound to it.
"I get a present? Where? Is it diamonds?" The ghost rolled his eyes, and grasped London's arm. Once again, she screamed and fought as he pulled her through a mirror...
London looked around. She was in the ship's classroom. This had just happened earlier today.
"OK, class," Ms. Tutweiller began, "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! So Christmas is just two days away!" All the students cheered.
"And, I have a date tomorrow! At least I won't be celebrating Christmas Eve all alone, with only my cats to-" Ms. Tutweiller stopped herself, noticing that her entire class was now staring at her. She rubbed her neck, awkwardly.
"You have a date? Wow, the last time you had one, we were docked in Germany, and that was months ago! That's a long ti-"
"OK, I get it!" Ms. Tutweiller said, interrupting London. "The whole ship is doing a Christmas organization. All you have to do is find some things that you don't use or need anymore, such as clothes, and it will be given away to the poor. I have decided that we should do this, too."
"Ooh! I have a lot of brand new clothes that I have never used. And-" Bailey said, but was rudely interrupted by London.
"Ew! Who would want your clothes? How could anyone wear them without passing out?" Bailey frowned at London's comment. She sighed, trying not to let get to her.
"Well, I'm not doing this! I'm not giving away my clothes! Or my bags!" London clutched her precious designer purse and real diamond jewelry. "Or my earrings! Or my necklace! Or my-"
"You know, London, you could always buy things to give away. And you could have it delivered immediately by your helicopter," Bailey suggested. She knew it probably wouldn't work, but she decided to try anyway.
"Well, they're gonna have to buy the clothes from me!" Everyone sighed.
***
London gasped. She hadn't realized how mean she had been...
"It is time to go, London," said the ghost. London nodded. She didn't want to see anymore of this! Her own cruelty was sickening her. London clasped her hands over her eyes. Within seconds, she was back in her bed. She slowly removed her hands and opened her eyes. Once again, she was lying in bed, with the sound of Bailey's snoring filling the room.
"Hold on a second..." London said, suddenly. She and Moseby had watched a movie like this. She struggled to remember the name... Christmas something... She gave in. She couldn't remember the end. If she remembered correctly, then next ghost was the Ghost of Christmas Future... She didn't remember what happened, though, because she had fallen asleep. London looked at the clock again. Another hour had passed, and it was now 2 o'clock. The ship suddenly tilted left, and London was thrown off her bed.
"Whoa!" she shrieked. It began to rain severely, and water came flying in through the porthole. London looked up. Just as she had thought, another person had appeared in front of her, and Bailey was gone again. London froze with fear. This person wore a black cloak, hiding his face in the shadows.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Future," said the ghost. His dark, haunting voice made London's stomach flip. He quickly extended his arm, a shadow casting over London. She shrieked, covering her eyes. Everything was black. She couldn't see a thing. But, within seconds, light shone through her hands, and she removed them. She looked around, having no idea where she was. Across the street, she saw her future self. She was dressed very poorly. Her clothes had many stains and tears in it. She was also holding a sign which read "Will Work for Food".
"W… why am I dressed like that?" London gasped, feeling like she would faint. The ghost didn't answer. London watched to see what would happen next. Her father suddenly appeared behind her, also wearing ragged and dirty clothes. He had no bodyguards surrounding him, as usual. London glanced up at the ghost.
"What happened to us?" London begged.
"This is your future. Your father has lost all of his money, and you have been kicked off of the S.S Tipton. In fact, it's not even called the S.S Tipton anymore. Tipton Industries has been taken over. It is now Brimmer Industries. And because you didn't do well in school, you could never go to college and get a job to support yourself and your father." London gasped.
"Chelsea's daddy bought Daddy's business! But… she's my best friend, and-" The ghost interrupted her.
"She abandoned you immediately after your father lost his money," he said. London couldn't believe it… Chelsea wasn't really her friend after all… She just liked her for her money!
"What happened to Bailey, Cody, Zack, and Woody?" asked London, watching her future-self beg for food. She never thought that this would ever happen!
"They still live on the S.S Brimmer,"
"Did they abandon me, too?"
"No, they didn't. In fact, they tried to keep you on the ship with them, but your father couldn't afford it." London's jaw dropped open. Bailey had tried to keep her on the ship? Wow, she really was a true friend. Even after she had insulted her, treated her like dirt, and put her down all those times? London stared at the ground. She couldn't believe this was going to happen to her… A loud honk interrupted her thoughts, and she immediately looked up.
"It's the S.S Tipton! I mean S.S Brimmer…" London said. She watched as it docked, and all the passengers flowed out. She recognized a few of them. It was Bailey, Woody, Zack, and Cody. They all looked around, marveled by the beauty of their surroundings. London turned around. Now she knew where they were! They were in Romania! She had been here when she was 5.
"Wow! This place is amazing!" Bailey exclaimed, breathing in the Romanian air, "It's too bad London isn't here… They have some great places to shop." Bailey frowned at the memory of London. She hadn't seen her in ages. She couldn't even remember how long it's been.
"Wait… they're passing by the future me! Hey, guys! I'm right there!" London shouted, but they didn't hear her. She dashed across the street, when a car hit her. No, it went right through her. London gasped, but didn't pay much more attention to it.
"Bailey! Cody, Zack! Woody, I'm over here!" she pointed to her future self, who weakly held up a can. It had nothing in it but some dust. Everyone just walked right through London. They didn't even recognize the future London, because she was so dirty and dressed so poorly.
"I can't believe it…" London said, turning around. "Is this really going to happen to me?" London asked the ghost. He nodded. Tears lined her eyes. "Is there a way that it can be stopped?" London asked, hopefully.
"Change your mean ways. Donate to the less fortunate, treat others better. Do better in school, so you can get into college. Then, it may be avoided…" he said, and London grinned wider than ever.
'Oh, thank you so much! I definitely will!" she said, and threw herself at the ghost to hug him. She was surprised that she was actually trying to hug someone, especially a ghost. Actually, no, she wasn't. Because from that second on, she had changed. London suddenly began to fall, because she went right through the ghost.
"Ah!" London screamed, shooting up out of bed. She found herself in her cabin, with Bailey combing her hair. She was dressed in the most hideous blue and white plaid dress with matching shoes.
"London, are you alright?" asked Bailey, worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine… Just a bad dream," London replied, although she knew it was much more. She felt frozen by how ugly Bailey's dress was, but tried not to show it. Bailey sighed.
"London, I know that you're going to make fun of my dress, but my grandma sent it and-"
"No, I-I love it! It's beautiful," said London, getting out of bed. "And I'm sorry for all the times I've mistreated you! You're my best friend in the world, Bailey," she said, throwing her arms around Bailey, who was completely dumbfounded.
"London… are you feeling OK?" Bailey asked, really concerned now.
"Yeah, I'm fine! In fact, I'm better than ever!" London grinned, skipping into the bathroom to get changed. Bailey turned around, putting her backpack over her shoulder.
"I'm taking her to the doctor after school," said Bailey, writing herself a note.
Later at school
London took her seat in class. She had a sparkly pink backpack over her shoulders, filled with actual textbooks. It was brand new, even though she had gotten it a year ago. She had never used it. Ms. Tutweiller walked in.
"Good morning, Ms. Tutweiller!" London chimed, getting her school books out.
"Good morning, London," replied Ms. Tutweiller, sorting through her papers. She looked down at London. "Are those… textbooks?" she asked, confused.
"Yep! I found them in my closet. I'm ready to study for that test in 2 weeks!" London said, eagerly.
"London, are you feeling alright? Maybe you should see the nurse,"
"No, I'm fine! By the way, I hope your date tonight goes great! Oops, I forgot one of my books at my cabin!" London sighed. "May I go back to get it?" she asked. "I promise I won't ditch,"
"Yes, you may," Ms. Tutweiller replied, absentmindedly. "Cody, would you go with her, just in case?" she asked when London was out of the door.
"Sure," he said, rising from his desk and followed London.
"Bailey, did she hit her head or something?" Ms. Tutweiller asked.
"I don't think so. Who knows, maybe she was visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future!"
I really hope you guys enjoyed this! Thank you so much for reading, and please REVIEW! :)
