House Rules
It was a normal winter day in Fair City, and Becky and Tobey were headed to Violet's house to do some studying for an upcoming test for a class they all shared.
Becky knocked on the front door with a smile. Ever since Violet and her mother had eased up on the artsy, not-her-thing house rules, Becky had begun to feel a lot more comfortable in the house. So much so that she had been the one to put together the study group and have the study session at Violet's house.
"I think you'll have fun, Violet's mom is a stitch, and her house can be a lot of fun when there aren't a lot of artsy, creative-type rules in place." Becky said with a smile as they waited for someone to answer the door.
"Oh, hello Becky! And it's nice to meet you, too, uh…" Violet's mom answered.
"Tobey." Tobey answered.
"Nice to meet you, Tobey." She said cheerfully as she shook his hand. "Violet is upstairs in her room, waiting for you."
"Thanks, Ms. Heaslip." Becky said. As Violet's mom stepped aside, the two headed to Violet's room.
"Hey Vi!" Becky said with a smile as the two walked into Violet's room.
"Hi Becky, Hi Tobey." Violet said. She looked up from her chair to see that Becky and Tobey were standing right under the mistletoe she so loved hanging from her bedroom doorway, and smiled.
She cleared her throat.
"Uh, Becky…you guys are standing right under the mistletoe." Violet explained. The two looked up. Becky smiled, and Tobey blushed.
"Oh…w-well, i-it's okay, we don't have to, I'm sure Becky doesn't really want to-" Tobey said nervously. He was interrupted by the feeling of a soft pair of lips on his cheek, which sent shivers down his spine, and an electric feeling running through him. He couldn't help but to smile and blush even harder.
He looked over to Becky with a goofy grin on his face.
"Who says I don't wanna? I love Christmas traditions!" She said with a smile.
Without even thinking, Tobey blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
"Oh yeah? Well, I love you!" He said. There was a very awkward silence for a moment.
"I-I-I mean, you…your, uh, your enthusiasm for the holidays. Sorry, that came out wrong…uh…" Tobey stuttered nervously. Becky giggled. He's actually really darn cute when he's nervous, she thought.
"C-can we just get to studying now?" Tobey asked, embarrassed and blushing like crazy.
Now that's one house rule she's more than comfortable with…Violet thought with a smile.
Christmas Gifts
Tobey knocked on the Bottsfords' front door nervously. He held the present he had spent hours searching for at the mall, another several hours trying to wrap to absolute perfection, and another few hours wondering whether or not she'd like it at all, tightly in his hands. He had been a nervous wreck for the past week in anticipation for the day he'd get to give her his present.
True, they were only friends, but he still wanted to give her the perfect Christmas gift, because all she deserved was perfection. She is perfection. He thought.
Tobey knocked once more out of sheer nervousness.
"Coming," a voice sang from behind the door. A moment later, the door opened to reveal an ecstatic Becky. She had a smile brighter than the sun decorating her cheeks, and her eyes were so sparkling and filled with joy that he couldn't remove his own eyes from them.
"Lovely sweater," he said as he noticed her red sweater with a Christmas tree with the words 'Merry Christmas!' Elegantly written across it.
"Oh, thanks! You think so? I saw it at the mall last weekend with Violet, I thought it was just adorable." Becky said happily. "Christmas sweaters are my favorite."
Tobey was silent for a moment as he admired her radiant beauty. Her ebony hair was tied back into a ponytail, and a green headband rested on her head to match her shirt. Her Christmas sweater was matched with a pair of skinny jeans and some red and green fuzzy socks.
Her smile brightened the room, and oh, her beautiful brown eyes. They were so full of childlike wonder and happiness that he found he couldn't wipe the smile from his face.
"You look absolutely perfect right now," he blurted, without thinking. Becky blushed heavily and let out a small smile.
"Thanks," she said shyly as she brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Idiot! Tobey thought. She probably thought that was really weird. Why did I say that? I must've ruined the entire evening! Well, don't just stand there like an idiot, say something!
"Oh, silly me, where are my manners? Cone in, Tobey! You're right on time for Christmas cookies and some Christmas specials on TV!" Becky said cheerily.
Tobey stepped into the house and Becky shut the door behind him.
"Here, I got you a little Christmas gift." He said shyly, handing her the present. His arm shook with anticipation. Becky smiled.
"Oh, Tobey, you didn't need to get me anything! Being your friend is gift enough for me." Becky said as she admired the wrapping.
"Nonsense, I wanted to." He said confidently.
"Oh, and the wrapping paper is so pretty, I almost don't want to ruin it!" Becky said happily. Tobey merely smiled as he watched her slowly and cautiously tear away at the paper. She tossed the paper aside to reveal a small white box with red and gold striped ribbon tied around it and in a bow atop the box. Becky carefully removed the ribbon and opened the box to reveal a red, heart-shaped ornament with the words 'Merry Christmas' written across it in gold ink. The words were written in perfect cursive. On the back a smaller message read:
For Becky, the girl with the biggest heart and the most capacity for caring and love ive ever had the pleasure of meeting.
-Tobey
Becky, holding the tree ornament in her hands, looked up to him with a wide smile.
"I made it myself. It took about a week to get that piece of metal into the perfect ball shape and from there into a heart shape. I must've done and redone this all month. But I wrote everything on it myself." Tobey explained.
"Tobey, this is gorgeous! I can't believe you made this just for me. It's amazing. I've never seen an ornament like this, I absolutely love it! Thank you so much!" She said as she set the ornament down and slung her arms around him in one of her tightest hugs to date.
"You're welcome," he said, the breath being squeezed out of him. Becky let him go and went to hang the ornament on the tree.
"There. In perfect sight, so I can see it every time I walk by. Oh, I just love it. I really do. I almost don't deserve a friend as great as you."
"Now, don't you dare say that." Tobey said, walking over to her and grabbing her shoulders. "You deserve every bit of perfection in the world. You're perfect. Don't you ever put yourself down so much."
"Oh, but I didn't get you anything yet! I feel so bad. In all this holiday rush I forgot to get gifts for friends and family. And your gift is so amazing. Oh, I'm sorry!" Becky explained.
"You don't need to get me anything, you've already given me the greatest thing I ever could've gotten: a second chance. That's enough for me. Every day you make me thankful to be alive. All that and you think I need more? Don't even fret about it." Tobey explained as he ran his thumb across her cheek.
Becky smiled.
"You know, you're amazing. You really are. I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you, for everything, Tobey." Becky said as she hugged him again.
As she let him go, she pecked him on the cheek.
Tobey smiled goofily.
"Merry Christmas, Tobey." She said.
"Merry Christmas, Becky." Tobey responded.
Christmas at the Bottsfords'
It was a cold, snowy Saturday night, and inside the Bottsford house, the fire was roaring, each Bottsford had hot chocolate warming their bellies, and their favorite Christmas special was on television. They were all enjoying the special, until a commercial for a Wordgirl doll interrupted, claiming that it would be the 'perfect Christmas gift'. Becky grunted in annoyance.
"Ugh, why do I agree to all these silly things anymore?" She muttered so only Bob would hear. Bob simply shrugged as he sipped his hot cocoa.
"What was that, Becky?" Sally asked.
"Oh, nothing. It just gets annoying seeing all this Wordgirl stuff all over the place." Becky explained, doing her best not to let on that she was Wordgirl.
"What are you talking about? All this Wordgirl stuff is the best!" TJ exclaimed.
"Ugh, that's because you're obsessed with her." Becky said in disgust. She honestly didn't like that TJ was so infatuated with her; mostly because she was secretly his sister, and she knew that part of his obsession was a crush. It was too weird for her.
"So? She's worth obsessing about." TJ said with a happy sigh.
"Ew, TJ, please stop. She's not that great." Becky said, disgusted.
"You take that back! She is better than great! Since when did you stop liking Wordgirl? You used to like her as much as I did." TJ said angrily.
"No, TJ, you don't know her. What if one day you get to find out who she really is, and who she really is disappoints you? I'm just telling you that she's not all you think she is. She could wind up upsetting you, big time." Becky explained.
"As if. She's wonderful no matter what. I mean, if I could have anything for Christmas, I'd have Wordgirl's secret identity." TJ explained. Becky slammed her cocoa mug onto the coffee table in a fit of fury, standing up as she did so.
"I don't wanna talk about this anymore, I just can't." Becky said angrily as she walked out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Sally asked.
"I don't know." Tim responded, both parents highly confused.
"Becky's no fun anymore, that's what that was about." TJ said angrily.
"Well, TJ, whatever you said that upset her, maybe you should apologize. It's the holidays, it would be a shame if we couldn't all get along." Sally said.
"Ugh. Fine." TJ said, reluctantly standing up and heading to Becky's room.
He knocked on her door.
"Becky? Whatever I said I'm sorry. So can you get along with me so I can get back to the movie?" TJ said.
"You don't even get it," Becky said as she opened the door. "You admire someone you know very little about. I'm just saying, you don't know who she really is. You know why they say never to meet your idol? Because they're never who you think they are. I'm telling you, if you ever got to meet the girl Wordgirl really is, you would hate it. I know you would."
"How do you know? How can you tell me this so confidently? How would you know any more about her than I would? You don't. So stop trying to protect me, you're just being annoying." TJ said.
"UGH, I can't do this anymore! I don't want to hear another word on the subject, okay? I'm done with this conversation." Becky said, sighing as she let the topic go. She bent down a little and placed her hand on TJ's shoulder.
"Look, I know a friend of a friend of a friend of Wordgirl's. I can try and pull some strings and get her to maybe make a personal, 'Merry Christmas' appearance at your fan club, as my gift to you." She said in an attempt to drop the subject.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" TJ asked hopefully.
"Sure, you're my brother, why not?" Becky said with a smile as she headed back downstairs.
Tobey shrugged and smiled as he headed back downstairs as well.
So yeah, I decided to write a few Christmas related short stories. The last one isn't really all that Christmas, but in my defense, it was started out as one…my brain just took me down another path. Ooops *blushies*
Lol, well anyways, see you around the reviews, and have a VERY merry Christmas! XD