A/N: WOOT! Thanks for the reviews. I went to see RENT on stage yesterday---The touring company---and it was amazing. I was sooo happy! Yeah sorry I had to share that lol...I have concluded, with the help of you reviewers, that my sequel will take place in the boho kids' 5th grade year! Nope, not 4th, not 3rd. 5th. Is that ok? Let me know. Also, last chapter, I had technically said that this chapter would be 'Christmas' but it's actually BEFORE Christmas, and then AFTER it. Just lettin' y'all know. R&R! ENJOY!
There were merely days left until Christmas, and, that day being the last day before Christmas break, Mrs. T was letting the students make decorative Christmas cards for their families. As Angel sprinkled glitter on his red and green paper card, he asked, "So what did you guys ask Santa to get you for Christmas?"
"I want a new baseball bat. The one I have now really stinks," Tom said flatly. "And then I wroted down a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember. What do you want for Christmas, Angie?"
"Lotsa stuff," Angel said, "But I want a drum set the most. I like drums. My sister gotted a drum set once and she never, ever used it, and I always played with it, so I want my own!"
"I want a doll!" Maureen shouted, "With a pretty pink dress!"
"I want a doll, too," said Mimi, "and a makeup kit!" The group of friends began chattering loudly about toys and reindeer and Santa Clause. Then Roger decided to put in his two cents:
"Santa? Santa don't give you the gifts. Parents do."
"That's not true!" Joanne gasped.
"Do you mean," Angel said, his eyes widening, "That you don't believe in Santy Clause?"
"Yeah, it is true. And I ain't believin' in any Santa, Angie."
"Who says Santa doesn't give gifts?" Maureen raised an eyebrow.
"My brother," said Roger, attempting to draw a Christmas tree on the inside of his card.
Tom rolled his eyes, "Why do you listen to your brother anyhow? He's probly lying."
"No he isn't!" Roger cried defensively.
"Ooh, Roger," Joanne teased, "You're a bad boy for not believin' in Santa. You're gonna get coal for Christmas instead of toys!" The group of kindergartners began to giggle, and Roger pouted.
"Whatever, I don't want that fat guy comin' in my house anyway."
"What fat guy?" Mark hadn't been paying attention.
"SANTA!" They all shouted. Mark jumped in his seat.
Angel burst out laughing, almost falling out of his chair, and Mimi said, "Rog, I guess you believe in him 'cause you said he comes to your house!"
"Aww, shut up, Mimi," said Roger. Mimi giggled.
They continued to work on their cards in silence, until Angel looked out the window briefly and then turned to Tom.
"Look," he whispered, "It's startin' to snow!" Tom looked outside and smiled. He took Angel's hand and led him over to the window so they could get a good look at the tiny snowflakes falling to the ground. Soon the entire class had crowded around the windows and begun to stare in amazement at the snow.
"Roger, it's so pretty!" Mimi squealed, tugging on his sleeve and standing on tip-toe to look at the snow over the other children's heads. Normally, Roger would have pushed Mimi away for tugging on his sleeve like that. But today, he let her. Maureen was jumping up and down, crying out, "Ooh! I wanna make a snowman!"
"But there isn't enough snow yet," Joanne said.
"Whatever...I'll make a baby snowman if I gotta."
"Who would wanna make a baby snowman?" Roger asked.
Maureen stomped her foot. "I wanna! So ha! Baby snowmans are better than regular snowmans!"
"No they're not," Roger said flatly.
"Mark! Aren't baby snowmans better than regular snowmans?" Maureen snapped. Mark blinked. If there was one thing Mark wasn't especially good at, it was making decisions—especially when he was forced to make decisions on the spot. "Um...I like both."
"BOTH?" squealed Maureen. "BUT BABY SNOWMANS ARE CUTER!"
"Not really," replied Roger.
"But---"
"All right, children, back to your seats!" Mrs. T interrupted Roger and Maureen's argument and they were forced to go back to the table.
And as Tom was walking back to his seat, it was then he realized he had been holding on to Angel's hand the whole time. He quickly pulled away and looked at Angel, who just grinned at him and skipped back to his seat.
In the end, Roger and Maureen decided to settle the dispute on the fact that baby "snowmans" were just as nice as regular-sized "snowmans".
In all honesty, Mark didn't really like making snowmen.
Christmas vacation flew by in a blur, and soon the children were back at school again. The first thing that was said to Mark when he entered the schoolyard was, "I GOT MY MAKEUP KIT FROM SANTA!" He watched as Mimi jumped around him excitedly. Roger was standing there, slightly annoyed that he wasn't getting any attention.
Then Angel came into the schoolyard, holding a drum and some drumsticks, shouting, "Look what I got!" He sat down on the concrete and began to play on his new drum, showing off to any student who happened to pass by. A group of sixth grade girls walked by and whispered, "Aww, how cute!" and giggled hysterically. Angel just looked up at them and blinked.
"Didn't they like my drums?" He asked. Mark simply shrugged.
By the time lunch rolled around, the boho kids were already hyper and didn't even need the sugar provided by the cookies and sweets (i.e. leftover Christmas candies) that were packed in their lunch boxes.
"Oh my gosh, Angie, I love your nails!" Maureen squealed, pointing to Angel's nail polish—each nail was painted red or green.
"Thanks," said Angel. Mark stared. Angel's nails—they were...shiny. And he had to stare at them. The shininess was too shiny to ignore, it was...
"Shiny," he whispered. Tom looked up from his sandwich at him.
"Why'd you say 'shiny', Markie?" he asked.
Mark blinked. "Angel's nails. They're shiny."
Angel giggled, "Thank you, Markie!" He held out his hand so Mark could see the almighty shininess that was even shinier than before.
"Did your sister do that for you?" asked Joanne. Angel nodded. And Mark stared.
Once it was recess time, the hyper-ness that the children were experiencing was finally allowed to be let loose. The seven friends played catch, jump rope, anything that would keep them running around...and, of course, Angel brought his drum outside, too.
But then a certain someone who wasn't paying attention did a very, very bad thing.
"Mark!" Roger screeched, "Pass the ball to me! Throw it real far!"
"Okay," Mark said quietly, throwing the ball as far as he could. Roger started to run backwards so he could catch the ball.
He didn't notice who, and what, was right behind him. He caught the ball, and, CRASH! He stepped right into something. He looked down at his feet and stared, wide-eyed. His left foot was right in the middle of Angel's drum.
"ROGER!" Mimi cried as she ran over to him, "You broke Angie's drum!"
"Uh-oh..." Roger mumbled.
Mark ran over to his group of friends. He had a feeling what was going to happen next. Sure enough, as he predicted, Angel began to cry. Mimi wrapped an arm around her friend and said, "Aww, Angie, it's ok. Maybe your mommy and daddy will get you a new one!"
Tom came running over to the scene, followed by nosy Maureen and a very concerned Joanne.
"Angie!" he cried, sitting down next to his best friend.
Angel sniffled. "Roger...broke...my...drum!"
"ROGER! YOU DUMMY!" cried Maureen.
"I didn't see it there!" Roger said defensively. Tom stared at the broken drum, which had a hole right in the center of it. It didn't look like Angel would be using it anymore.
"You really are a dummy, Rog," he said, as Angel continued to cry. He helped Angel to his feet and the entire group left Roger standing there with the drum beside him, for once really feeling like a 'dummy'.
Mark glanced over at Roger during Share Time. He was on the other side of the room, clearly focusing on something that Mark couldn't quite see from the angle he was at. He shrugged and continued to play with his friends.
But a little while later, Roger came over to the group, holding something behind his back.
"Um...hi," he said quietly.
"Hi..." they all mumbled. Angel sniffled. Roger gulped.
"Um, Angie, I'm sorry I busted your drum. I gotted some tape from Mrs. T's desk...and...um..." He pulled out what he was hiding behind his back, and sure enough, it was Angel's drum—the hole in the center covered in tape.
"I tried to fix it," he said, "But it didn't come out too good."
Everyone stared at it for a moment. Then, suddenly, Angel burst into a fit of giggles. Roger raised an eyebrow.
"What's so funny?" he asked. But Angel kept laughing. He laughed and laughed until he was clutching his sides and almost fell over, but luckily Tom caught him before he fell. Mark stared.
"Come on, Angie, why're you laughin'?"
Angel pointed. "The drum! It looks funny!" he squealed. Mimi looked from Angel, then back to the drum, then back to Angel again, and soon she was laughing, and then everyone was laughing. Except for Roger, of course.
"Are you still mad at me?" he asked. Angel shook his head. "No, Rogie, it's ok. I'll just use my sister's...or my mommy and daddy will get me a new one!"
"Good," Roger said. He paused. "Don't call me Rogie."
A/N (contd): LOL. I think we all could use pathetic!Roger instead of emo!Roger once in a while...
