Author's Note: Hello, everybody. This is my early Christmas present for you guys. A songfic to my favorite Christmas song (though Aly & AJ's Jingle Bell Rock kicked teeth, also). I don't wanna build up the story, so just read!
Christmas used to be Keely Teslow's favorite time of year. But we all change, sometimes if we don't even want to. Things happen, alter our lives for the better.
But that doesn't happen. Usually, when your life is changed, it is made much worse. Keely had to feel the sweet sting of both ends of the spectrum.
(Happy Christmas)
"What's wrong, Keely?" Mandy Teslow asked, as Keely absentmindedly twirled a pencil in her hands. Keely was not the type to stay at home, and during the past two weeks, she had done nothing but when she came home from school. "You've never spent this much time in the house in your life…"
"I guess I just don't feel like going out," Keely mused. That much was true. There wasn't a single thing that could get her to leave her house.
Mandy shook her head, and left Keely staring at a particularly plain spot on the wall. Her sisters came down the stairs. Ashley, her older sister, sat down next to her, and her younger sister, Bonnie, stood behind her.
"Come on, Keely," Ashley said, "you can't just stay locked up in the house for the whole December. This is our time of the year… Why are you wasting your time in here? It's been too long."
Keely looked up at her older, auburn-haired sister, whose hair was tightly curled in small spirals. Ashley was a few inches taller than Keely, the tallest in her family. Even taller than their father. "This is me, pretending this is all I need," Keely said simply.
Last Christmas I gave you my heart
But the very next day
You gave it away
This year to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
It had been a long year, but Keely hadn't shown any signs of caring about it. But, just like a smoker lights a cigarette after eating, she felt a psychological connection between December and what had happened.
"Come on, Keely," Bonnie encouraged her, "we're going to a party. We think you should come. Maybe it'll lighten your spirits…"
Keely sighed, and went upstairs, changing into pair of beige corduroys and a matching colored jacket, that hung down by her knees.
She looked at herself in the mirror, fixed her hair, and walked outside to Ashley's car, where the other two were already waiting for her. "Trust me, Keely," Ashley said, as she started the car, "this'll take your mind off of what happened last year."
Last Christmas I gave you my heart
But the very next day
You gave it away
This year to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
"Hey," the dark-haired boy said to her.
"Hey," she returned, smiling.
It turned out the boy was wondering if she had a date to the Christmas dance. When she told him she didn't he eagerly asked her. She had accepted in a heartbeat. She'd never forget the expression on the boy's face. So happy, so eager. His brown eyes lit up, all his teeth showing in a quirky smile. "Should I pick you up at eight?" he had asked her. She nodded, eagerly awaiting the next Friday.
"You okay?" Ashley asked, as Keely thought back.
"Yeah… just… thinking about something." Ashley and Bonnie exchanged nervous glances, but didn't bother to pry any further. Her mother had pried before, too.
"Honey," their mother said to Keely, "why aren't you out with your friends?"
"I don't want to go out," Keely replied simply.
"Is something bothering you?"
"Nothing, Mom," Keely said a little more sharply.
Mandy sighed. She usually didn't have this kind of trouble with Keely. "Well, if you ever feel like talking, feel free to talk to me."
Keely had interpreted this as her mother trying to force her to talk. "I don't want to talk!" she shouted. "I don't want to hang out with anybody right now! Is that such a CRIME?" The house fell silent, and Keely stormed upstairs.
No, Keely would work through whatever it was she was going through.
Once bitten, and twice shy
I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
Tell me baby, do you recognize me?
Well, it's been a year… it doesn't surprise me.
The three girls arrived at the party, Keely looking to avoid a certain brown-haired boy, should she spot him in the crowd.
Soon enough, Bonnie spotted her boyfriend. "Well, guys," she said, "JS is waiting, so I'll see you later."
"Sure," Ashley said. Keely nodded, spotting somebody across the room.
"It couldn't be," she thought. Still, the hair looked so familiar… if only he'd turn this way, so she could make sure if it was him or not.
She was about to head through the crowd, but the boy turned around, and Keely saw an unfamiliar face. But still, there was something about him… something striking her.
The boy picked her up at eight, just as planned, and they went over to the school.
During the dance, she looked over at the boy, the boy she had known so closely. She knew what he loved, what he hated, what his darkest secrets were.
She had never imagined she'd be accompanying him to a winter dance.
But still, here she was, dancing along with him.
There was something interesting about this boy across the floor. Something like an enigma…
(Happy Christmas) I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note, saying 'I love you' - I meant it
Now I know what a fool I've been
But if you kiss me now, I know you'd fool me again
"Don't ever leave me," Keely whispered in his ear while they danced.
"I won't," he reassured her. "I won't."
A tear ran down Keely's face.
"Listen," he said, when the song ended, looking at his watch, "I need to get some fresh air… could you get me some water?" Keely nodded, and he walked outside.
As a tear ran down her face, Keely took a sip of water, watching all the happy couples dance.
He had been gone for a good five minutes now. Keely was getting worried, and she walked outside. She called out his name, and rounded the corner.
There he was, his arms full of Charlotte. His mouth was full of her too.
A tear slid down Keely's cheek as she stood outside, looking absently at the wall, where she had encountered them last year. She thought they had meant more to each other. She was usually wrong about her theories of the opposite sex.
Happy Christmas, Keely Renée Teslow thought, and walked inside, leaving the two outside, kissing.
Last Christmas I gave you my heart
But the very next day
You gave it away
This year to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas I gave you my heart
But the very next day
You gave it away
This year to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special, ohh, oh, baby
Shivering, Keely entered the building again, and ran into Ashley. "See, Keely," she asked, "This isn't so bad, is it?" Keely shook her head. "No sign of that jerk, either," Ashley added, reading Keely's mind.
"Not yet, anyway," Keely added, speaking to Tia.
"Girl, you can't just let guys stomp on you like that!" Tia said.
"I know, but… Part of me doesn't want him to leave. After all that time we've spent together, just hanging out, getting to know each other…"
"I know he means a lot to you, but face it! He's a jerk, just like the rest of the males…"
Keely smiled. Tia always found a way to cheer her up.
"Let's just hang out together for the rest of the night, okay?" Tia asked.
"That sounds good," Keely replied.
"Not yet?" Ashley asked.
"I have a feeling he'll show up…"
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you and your soul of ice
My God, I thought you were
Someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
Bonnie spotted him first, and made her way over to Keely. "Hey, I just saw that guy come in," she told Keely.
"Doesn't surprise me," Keely said.
"Are you sure you don't want to leave?" Tia asked.
"No, I'll be fine," Keely had reassured her.
"I'll totally understand if you leave…"
"No… it's Christmastime. I'll meet somebody else."
"I don't want to leave," Keely told her sister.
"Okay," Bonnie said, eyeing her suspiciously, then returning to her boyfriend.
Soon enough, Keely saw a similar head of styled brown hair to the person she had mistaken for him earlier. And yet, she could somehow tell that there was something different about the other boy than the one she was watching now.
Keely called out his name, and he looked around, eventually spotting her. She beckoned him over. "Hello?" he said, trying to put a name to her face.
"Do you remember me?" she asked, already certain of the answer. After a few moments of silence, she added, "Didn't think you would… I'm Keely. Remember last year?"
"Oh, Keely. Wow… how are you?" he asked, actually curious to how she was doing.
"I'm okay… what about you? What happened between you and Charlotte?" she asked, adding a little anger to Charlotte's name. She actually liked Charlotte, but… jealousy makes you do crazy things.
"We broke up about a month after we got together…"
"I'm sorry to hear that," Keely said, cheering inside.
"Yeah…"
"Are you here with anybody?"
"No. What about you?"
"Yeah…" Keely lied. "He's just getting some…" Keely stopped herself before she said 'air', and changed it to, "water."
"Wow. Well, it was good to see you again," he said, smiling.
Keely nodded, returning the false smile.
A face on a lover with a fire in her heart
A girl undercover but you tore me apart
Now I've found a real love you'll never fool me again
"You handled that nicely," Ashley said, walking over to her sister.
"Thanks. It wasn't anything…"
"Yeah right it was nothing!" Tia said. "You totally just told him off! That was amazing!" Keely beamed. "I need to take some break up lessons from you, I swear…"
Keely continued to act modestly. "I wasn't just going to let him get away with it… Anybody could've done it…"
"Right," Tia said, rolling her eyes. "And Orlando Bloom is just a regular looking guy…" The two collapsed in a fit of laughter.
"You didn't even… let him affect you," Ashley said, awed.
"Oh, he affected me… You don't think I still care about him?" Ashley didn't respond. "I just couldn't let him know I was still upset about it…"
"Keely, he was really close to you. I don't blame you for being mad at him."
"I blame myself… we were practically best friends, and I threw it away by saying something stupid, like 'I love you'."
"Well… you did well Keely. You didn't let him affect you…"
Last Christmas I gave you my heart
But the very next day
You gave it away
This year to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas I gave you my heart
But the very next day
You gave me away
This year to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (Special)
"I want to be able to break up with somebody like you can," Tia said, staring at Keely at awe.
"I'm not proud of what I did," Keely said, finding a great interest in her fingernails.
"You should be! You just gave all the jerks in the world a warning. 'Look out! Don't mess with Keely Teslow!' You should be shouting right now! Let it out! WOOOOOO!"
Keely smirked, but that was only because Tia was making a fool of herself. "I guess I'm
not really over him," Keely finished simply.
"That's nonsense," Ashley reminded her. "He betrayed your trust. How could you still miss him?"
"I guess it's just because… he did it at this time of year last year… It's only natural I'd remember it better now, right?" Ashley crossed her arms. Keely looked up into her sister's brown eyes. "But… I still think it's because-"
"You guys were so close before you became too close?"
"I ruined something perfect. I tried to make it better," Keely said, a tear running down her cheek.
"You'll meet somebody else," Ashley reassured her.
"I doubt it. He was one of a kind. I'll never meet somebody exactly like him again…"
A face on a lover with a fire in her heart (Gave you my heart)
A girl undercover but you tore her apart
Maybe… next year…
I'll give it to someone
I'll give it to someone special
Who'll give me something in return
Hold my heart and watch it burn
I'll give it to someone
I'll give it to someone special
I thought you were here to stay
Could love me for a day
I thought you were someone special…
Then, the boy she had spotted at the beginning of the party made his way over to her. She realized he didn't look too much like the other guy, when he was closer. His eyes were a darker brown, he didn't have any freckles, and his smile was much quirkier, much happier.
"Hi," he said, and introduced himself. His brown eyes studied her green ones, and she felt something oddly calming about him… though this was the first time she'd laid eyes on him. There was something about this boy. She could sense his warmth, his charm. He extended his hand, and when she took it, a wave of happiness rushed through her. She never wanted that feeling to leave.
"Hello, Phil, I'm Keely," she said, smiling.
I don't own the rights to Wham!'s "Last Christmas."
As you guys can see, I'm a sucker for using familiar characters. I own the ideas of Bonnie and Ashley as far as I know, because for all I know, in the series, Keely is a posthumous only child. If Disney adds a sister named Bonnie or Ashley, you know where the idea came from… Heh heh. Yeah, right.