Chapter Ten: Christmas Traditions
"Hey Nate!" Lucas said with his mouth filled with a bite of a blueberry bagel.
"Luke, what's up man? Hungry I take it?"
"Yeah, completely starving. I woke up late this morning so I didn't have time to eat breakfast. I figured I would grab a bagel in the cafeteria before we headed to English."
"Well, I'm glad you're not going hungry anymore."
"Me too!" Lucas said as he took another bite of his bagel.
"So we write to our pen pals today, Luke. You excited?"
"Not as excited as I know you are. It seems like these are always the best days of the month for you, when you get to write to Haley."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right, I really enjoy writing to her. I finally agree with you when you said this whole writing project would be somewhat therapeutic for me. We have a lot more in common that I ever thought we would. Even though we don't have the same hobbies, we somewhat live parallel lives with family problems and whatnot. It's really nice to have someone to write to."
"I'm really happy for you, Nate" Lucas said as he opened the door to their English classroom.
Nathan and Lucas both sat down at their desks. Lucky for them, they both sat next to each other, in the back of the classroom. The bell rang as they pulled out their notebooks and writing utensils. Mr. Rival read the attendance sheet and then prepared to tell them what they would be doing for the hour.
A month had passed and it was now two weeks before winter vacation for both Haley and Nathan. Since they both had Thanksgiving break, they hadn't had time to write letters in class. Finally, the day had come for Nathan to write another letter to Haley.
"Settle down students so I can tell you what you will be doing today."
The room fell silent, which allowed the Mr. Rival to give them their assignment.
"So it is already December, which means you have been doing this project for a little over three months now. I think it would be nice for you to maybe tell your pen pal what your traditions are for the holidays coming up. Those are usually pretty interesting to read. Other than that, just keep answering your pen pal's questions. I'm sure they will all like the letters you will sent them. The next hour is yours to write, so have fun!"
Nathan looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of what to write to Haley. He finally decided to just start writing, hoping something would come to him.
Dear Hales,
Do you mind if I call you Hales? I figured since you used a nickname for me, I could return the favor. You like? Let me know in your next letter. Okay, so since it is December already, my teacher said that we should tell each other our holiday traditions. To be honest with you, we have no traditions. We get a Christmas tree like two days before Christmas Eve. My parents were never huge on decorating the house so we usually just have the tree covered in lights and a couple of homemade ornaments that I made when I was little. We usually have my grandparents over on Christmas Day. My mom will either make a simple dinner or we will cater a meal from a local restaurant. Later on, my grandpa and dad end up arguing about basketball while my grandma and mom are left cleaning up the mess in the dining room. Okay, well after writing all that, I guess we do have traditions but they aren't really great traditions. I really wish we had more of a family bonding type thing on Christmas. A guy can wish right?
Oh and to answer your question, yes North Carolina is nice during the winter months. The only thing I don't like about the winter is that it limits my basketball hours at the rivercourt because of the colder weather. It's nice though, having basketball practice after school, at least I can get some playing time in then.
Thanks for wishing you could change my home life. It's nice to have someone like you, care about me. Time to go. I'm ending this letter a little sooner than expected. I just remembered that I have killer history test today that I have yet to study for. So, I am going to use the last 15 minutes of class to study. Aren't you proud of me? Talk to you later, Hales.
Nathan
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A few thousand miles away, Haley was also writing a letter to Nathan. Nathan and Haley's teachers both agreed on having their students write letters before break, considering they wouldn't be able to write until the middle of January because of finals. Unfortuantely, this made the letter harder for Haley to write because she didn't know how Nathan responded to her last letter. She figured she would wing it, asking him a couple of more questions, hoping he would answer them in his next letter to her.
Dear Nate,
Hey, it's me again! I know, I bet you are so excited to get yet another letter from me. I am currently sitting in English class watching a huge snowfall outside the classroom window. Oh how I love snow. It is so gorgeous when it falls down. Plus, it is so quiet when it falls. It's not like rain, which makes a pounding noise when it's falling hard enough. Snow, it just gently falls from the sky, not hurting a thing. Alright, enough with my ramblings...I'm sure you really don't want a whole paragraph on why I love snow.
On with the letter. Okay, Christmas is coming up soon. I love this holiday only because all of my siblings finally come home. There are 7 siblings in my family; did I ever tell you that? Yup, I am one of those kids with a humongous family...which only means one thing...lots and lots of presents! Haha, all joking aside though, I love the fact that we all really do get along well. My mom is huge on Christmas decorations. The whole house is covered in them. I think we have enough snowman figurines to fill Denver alone. My dad isn't much for the figurines but loves picking out the Christmas tree. Every year, he insists we buy a bigger tree, knowing all too well that a big tree never fits in our family room. Once we pick out the tree, we come home and try to set it up in the family room and it always never fits. Then, we all go outside in the driveway and Dad gets the chainsaw and trims the tree so it fits in our house. He usually does a pretty sketchy job too. One side is always bigger than the other. Haha, I'm laughing just thinking about it. The neighbors think we are nuts but I love it. It's definitely a tradition that we can call our own!
Other than that, we have a big family meal on Christmas Day. All of my relatives come over, which means we are feeding about thirty people all at one time. Talk about commotion! It's really fun though; everyone jokes around and has a good time. See why it's my favorite holiday of the year?
By the way, my parents are finally going to be home with me more. They don't have to go to those lame-o dinners anymore. Cheers to that! Other than that, there is nothing else going on with me. OH! There is something that I really have to tell you! Haha...but you'll just have to wait till next time. I think I will leave you hanging...just to make you wonder! Can't wait for your next later, Nathan! Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and good luck on your finals!
Haley
Haley walked to the front of the classroom and handed her letter to Mrs. Sonat. She spent the rest of the hour staring out the classroom window. She really did love watching snow fall.