December 20th

Z Tech

Chyna, who watched Olive leave abruptly, looks back at the prodigies. Just like that, they all went back to their devices. Chyna sighs in defeat and follows Olive into the room they share.

"Olive? What's wrong?" Chyna asks her friend who is laying on her bed the opposite direction of Chyna. Surrounding Olive is the quilt she made five years ago featuring "Fletcher's greatest moments." Chyna steps closer, peering over the bed to catch Olive's expression.

"How come you didn't have anything in your list? I'm sure you could have thought of one thing you wanted for Christmas," says Chyna politely. Olive's back continues to face Chyna. She hugs the quilt against her body tightly, giving a great big sniff out of her nose.

"Are you crying Olive?" Chyna worries.

"No," squeak's Olive with an obviously stuffed nose. Chyna hurries to the other side of the bed. She kneels down to her level and Olive's mascara-stained face is revealed to her. It's then where Olive's crying becomes more apparent, and she makes more noise.

"I didn't put anything on my list because-" Olive's crying doesn't let her finish her sentence.

"Because what?" says a comforting Chyna.

Olive waits till she stops sobbing. "Because..." more tears. "What I want for Christmas..." sniff, sniff. "Is just too impossible to get."

Chyna nods slowly. "Oh so you mean, what you want is too expensive or high in demand that it'll be hard to find?"

Olive shakes her head and cries out "No."

Chyna becomes puzzled. "Then what is it?"

Olive shuts her eyes, almost calming down. "It's not an it, it's a..." she breathes in and out slowly. "It's a person."

Once she said, "person" it clicks in Chyna's head and suddenly she feels stupid for not knowing all along. She begins to feel Olive's sadness.

"Olive." She looks at her seriously. "What do you want for Christmas?"

One tear slips past Olive cheek and hits the corner of her mouth. "Fletcher. I want him to come back. He said he'd visit us, but he never did. Chyna, I want him back," Olive pleads, as if her friend is a genie and can grant her wish.

Chyna's heart breaks for Olive. She too misses their best friend Fletcher, but it's obvious Olive misses him in a different way. He left for New York after they'd just gotten together and then Olive "broke up" with him so he could chase his dream. But apparently, she still had feelings for him.

"I'm sorry Olive. I don't know if Santa can bring you that for Christmas," Chyna tells her in a motherly tone.

"But why hasn't he come visit us like he said he would?" Olive cries.

"He's probably busy with his art. I hear he's in almost every art museum in New York," Chyna explains.

Olive's eyebrows scrunch and she uses her elbow to prop her body up. "Wait? You talked to Fletcher?"

"Of course! Don't you?"

"He hardly ever tells me anything. I don't text or call him because I think he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you. Why would Fletcher hate you?" Chyna asks.

"Chyna, we've been hating each other our entire lives!" Olive reminds her.

Chyna rolls her eyes. "Yes, but you two became a couple. You guys could have never hated each other that much."

Olive flops back down, hugging the quilt tighter. She stares at the ceiling, ignoring the point Chyna just made. "You know? I finally understand the song 'All I Want For Christmas Is You.'"