Author's Note: Again, I apologize for getting behind on this story yet again. Seems every single time I think I'm gonna have a ton of time to update, something else keeps creeping up in my life. At this rate, I'll be lucky if I have 140 stories completed on my profile come the end of the 2015 year, which might be a better goal to spring for, since time is quickly running out between now and Christmas day, and there's other stories I really wish to get released and completed come Christmas, which, all new stories will begin on December 15, when my semester at school is finally officially finished for me. Criminy, I hate it when I think it's going to end one day, only to find out differently at the last minute, screwing me up elsewhere in the process. No matter, you're not here to listen to me rant about the problems in my life that seem to be more or less, beyond my control, you're here, to check out another chapter of this story. And before we begin this chapter, I should point out that the Christmas presented in this chapter takes place during the events of the All Grown Up episode from season 3, The Finster who Stole Christmas, though it might not appear so quite as much during the chapter, I'll explain what I mean come the end of the chapter, for anybody who's confused. Also, while the story will be written in regular text as always, two letters will be presented in the chapter, and those, will be presented in italics. With that out of the way, let's get on with the chapter.
Chapter 10, Christmas Letters
Ten-year-old Zack sat there on his living room couch, staring out the window, where mountains of snow lay before him on the ground, as he dribbled his new basketball on the living room floor in frustration. It was a one of a kind basketball, orange, and autographed by his favorite basketball player of all time, Michael Jordon. But while he was happy to receive this gift from his aunt that year on Christmas eve, the fact that he was snowed in wasn't the problem. It was where he was snowed in that was his problem.
He was once again, in Wheeling, West Virginia. This time however, it wasn't to visit relatives for the holidays. Oh no, by Christmas of that year, he had been living there for eight months, when his aunt got transferred to work at the local radio station in town, right before Zack had a once in a lifetime opportunity, to attend an Emmica concert with all of his friends back home. Now, here he was at Christmas, with nobody but his aunt, and none of his closest friends nearby.
"I! Hate! This! Town!" Zack yelled in frustration, as he dribbled his basketball at each pulsing word that came out of his mouch, just as the front door of their small house opened, and he heard footsteps.
He turned to see his aunt walking towards him, with her cane in one hand, and the mail in the other. She was wearing a red winter coat, blue gloves, and a dark green and sparkly Christmas scarf that she had received as a secret Santa present at her work.
"Hi Zack, did you have a nice day?" Celeste asked, as she set the mail down on the coffee table.
"No." Zack muttered, as he lay his basketball down on the floor, knowing his aunt didn't really appreciate him playing with that in the house, he only did it when she wasn't home, to ease his frustration of being lonely, and his hatred towards moving and this town.
"Oh, don't give me that attitude, so the roads are closed. I at least made it home from work before the weather got so bad, I'd have to be snowed in, as Hank is doing the gravy shift this year. So, be thankful we're together for Christmas." Said Celeste, as she stroked Zack's blond hair, and took a seat on the couch next to him.
Zack just shook his head, as he looked through the small pile of mail on the table.
"What's in the mail sweetie?" Celeste asked, as he went through the small stack of envelopes, which were now on his lap.
"Junk, junk, junk." Said Zack, as he tossed a few letters out from credit card companies, a catalogue with stuff for girls in it, and one of those sweepstakes where one could win big prizes by completing crossword puzzles.
His aunt was against him doing those, as they're just a bunch of scams. Then, he picked up a white envelope addressed to Zack and his aunt from King Peter Albany of the Confederacy.
"Wow! We got some mail from Peter!" Zack exclaimed.
"He probably sent a Christmas card. Why don't you open it." Said Celeste, as Zack tore open the envelope and looked at the card inside.
He pulled out what appeared to be a store bought Christmas card, that had a Christmas tree on the front. He opened the card and found a check for two-hundred dollars inside, with a note.
May your holidays be bright. Merry Christmas Celeste and Zack from Peter, Randy, Lucy, Alisa, Buster, Edwin, Susie, Lou, Lulu, Drew, Charlotte, Angelica, Stu, Didi, Tommy, Dil, Chaz, Chuckie, Howard, Betty, Phil, and Lil.
After Zack read through the signatures on the card, it suddenly hit him, two signatures were missing.
"Wait a minute Aunty Celeste, two signatures are missing." Said Zack.
"What are you talking about?" Celeste asked.
"Where are Kimi and Kira's signatures? They never signed the card." Zack asked.
Celeste shook her head in puzzlement.
"I don't know." Celeste replied.
"Maybe Kimi's mad at me for moving away." Zack thought to himself, as he tossed the Christmas card aside.
But then it hit him. If that were the case, then surely Kira would have signed the card, and her signature was missing from it as well. There had to be a different reason for their absence of signatures. He'd soon have some answers though, as he came to the last piece of mail in his lap. A brown envelope addressed to Zachary Michael Wehrenberg, from Japan.
"Well here's the last piece of mail." Said Zack to his aunt, as he looked at the envelope in his hand.
"Who's it for?" Celeste asked.
"It's addressed to me, but it's from, Japan." Zack replied in surprise.
"Japan?" Celeste asked, confused.
"My thoughts exactly." Said Zack.
"Hmmm. Well, you could read the address, so whoever addressed it to you can speak English if you could read the envelope. Why don't you open it while I go get dinner started." Said Celeste, as she got up off of the couch and made her way into the kitchen.
Zack studied the brown envelope for a few more minutes, before he finally decided to tear it open, and see what was inside. Upon opening it, he pulled out a few sheets of white notebook paper, which to his surprise, appeared to have Kimi's handwriting on them, along with her most recent school picture. In the school picture, he noticed something different about her. She had a streak of pink in her hair, which took him a bit by surprise.
"Does Kimi now have a new look? Perhaps I should read her letter and find out." Zack thought to himself, as he clutched the three sheets of notebook paper in his hands, and went off to his room, where he could have a little bit of privacy to read her letter while he waited for dinner to be ready.
He walked into his room, closed the door, sat down on his bed, and began to read the letter to himself.
Dear Zachary,
I hope things are going well for you in your new home in Wheeling, West Virginia. Sorry I haven't been around much lately, a lot has been happening since you moved away. For starters, we had a lot of fun at the Emmica concert, well, once we all got to go. To make a long story short, Tommy's dad had this madalion necklace that looked just like Emmica's, that Angelica wanted to wear to the concert. Being her usual self, she tricked Tommy into steeling it from his dad so she could borrow it, which only got him into trouble. At first, he was grounded, but once I found that Spike had buried the necklace in his old sandbox, we got it to his dad, who was in that dance competition at the park, and made it to the concert, where Tommy and Angelica got to sing on stage with her. I was sorry you had to miss it, but we had a good time.
In other news, a lot has been happening since you left. For starters, Phil and Lil are starting to go their separate ways, being more so individuals than twins. They both got their own rooms, and Lil is taking up an interest in soccer and boys while Phil is being his usual, disgusting self. You may recall Dil always being weird, but seems since you left, his weirdness has only skyrocketed. He's obsessed with aliens, to the point that he has some imaginary alien friend named Izzy. And get this, half our school is just as dorky as he is. Did you know that they voted for him along with my brother for safety commissioner this year? What a bunch of hewy!
Enough on Dil's excentrickness, I'll give you some details of some more normal people. Well, as normal as it gets. Tommy's been taking his possible filming career a bit more seriously. He entered a competition where he nearly exposed a bunch of our secret conversations on film, but in the end, he combined what was going on with some pictures of us growing up. Sadly though, he only included footage of movies he shot when you weren't around, otherwise I might have asked him if I could have sent you a copy of A Day in the Life Before My Friends. If that's not enough, he just recently entered his latest film, Colidascope Lunch into another contest. He should find out sometime in January if he won.
As for my brother? Well, other than being his usual nerdy quirky self in braces, nothing out of the ordinary with him. Ok so we almost didn't go to my parents ten year anniversary because we were fighting, as we were potitioning against one another when it came to cell phones in school. I wanted to ban them, because as I'm sure you're aware, cell phones have become so tied to our existence, that nobody talks to one another anymore. Susie helped me with my side, while Angelica got Chuckie to help her with her side, to keep cell phones in school. This caused us to end up at war with one another, but we got over that when we saw the movie Tommy put together for my parents at their anniversary, and all is cool between us again. Chuckie and I even got cell phones from our parents as a present, but I'd rather give you my cell phone number the next time we talk on the phone in person. For now, call my house phone please.
As for our friends, well, all was cool amongst us until Halloween. Ok, so I have to confess. I really miss you a lot. In fact, I miss you so much, that I nearly did something that would have left me totally and completely insane. There I was, in the garage one day, minding my own business, when I got the crazy idea to carve our initials into the wall. But at the last possible second, when I meant to carve ZW + KF, I chickened out. I mean really! If people saw that I carved our initials into the wall, they'd call me crazy for having a crush on someone who no longer lived in town anymore. So to cover myself up, I carved TP + KF instead. Yeah, Tommy's initials. Now don't get any ideas that I have a crush on him. I don't. Besides, I forgot to mention that Tommy has recently started Hebrew school, as in case you forgot, his mother's side of the family is Jewish. There, he met some pretty blond named Rachel, and they've been going steady ever since. But back to my situation with my stupid carving in the wall. Thinking back on it, I should have put our initials there, because as soon as the rest of the gang saw TP + KF, they instantly thought that I had a crush on Tommy, and that Tommy had a crush on me.
This caused my brother and Tommy to not speak to one another for two days, and it nearly ruined Halloween for everyone, as they vowed to not go trick or treating together, as they were going to share a Halloween costume. Thanks to me, Phil and Lil though, ok, more technically, thanks to my dad's security system to keep from getting toiletpapered, they made up, and we're all friends again. Then came Thanksgiving, where another big adventure hit for us.
Ok, so I should flash back a little bit here. You remember Susie Carmichael right? Well I'm sure you're aware of her talent for singing. Not long after you moved, some lady named Beverly Jones overheard her singing, and tried to get her set up with a record deal. We all were a bit skeptical of this lady, but Susie was all for taking this lady's offer. However, her parents were against supporting her in this ordeal, so she got her sister to give her a thousand dollars, and in the end, poor Susie was ripped off. The lady turned out to be nothing but a con artist, and we're just glad she didn't get hurt. She and I are also a part of the language club at school, and on the night of the big competition, Susie had another chance at a singing gig, which I'm glad she turned down, as I felt pretty neglected when she nearly chose that over helping our school win the golden tongue award. However, she finally had her big break at Thanksgiving. Not sure if you saw the parade on TV, but Susie got chosen to sing on the American Cheese float in the Gracy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, and we saw the country in style, in an RV with our moms.
Ok, so it wasn't the best trip of our lives. I won't bore you with all of the details, but we were miserable, and this meant for me, suffering from car sickness much of the way, we got separated from our folks in New Mexico, having to use an assortment of transportations to get to our moms, who had headed all the way to Misouri, and finally, thanks to being rescued by the onion capital of the world, ok, more technically, a float on its way to the parade representing the onion capital of the world, we made it there in time for Susie to perform. After the parade though, it hit me that you lived within driving distance of New York City. Sorry we didn't think to invite you, but with all we had been through, don't take it personally Zack, but you were the last thing on my mind at that moment.
Upon returning from our trip, Chuckie and I were given family tree projects in our English class to complete before the holidays. It was then that I decided to learn about my Japanese harritage, as you may or may not know, my mom and I are of Japanese descent. Of course, Chuckie was all mad at me that I joined Japanese Club at school, and didn't take any time out of my day to teach him to iceskate. One time I wished you hadn't moved away, as I would have asked you to do that with Chuckie for me. Or, more likely, you would have offered to help him out, so I could get done my project. No matter, I got an A plus on my assignment, and after I got home from school that day, mom had an even bigger surprise for me.
She was so proud of me for all of the work I did on my assignment, that for the first week of our Christmas break, she was flying me to Japan, where she and I would get to spend some time with my biological dad Hiro, as well as some of my other Japanese relatives. In fact, I'm on the plane, heading to Japan, as I write you this letter, and plan to send it off after we get there. Because I'll be in another country, I won't be reachable by phone, but mom says we'll be heading home on Christmas eve. I'm glad too, as Susie is hoping to get to sing the solo at the Christmas Eve service at her church, and I don't wish to miss it.
And finally, as for Peter and Angelica, as we're about to land soon, not much has changed with Peter, he's still the same goofy king with his Disney characters, keeping us in line and hanging out with us, being his royal self, and as for Angelica? Well, I know how much you despise her, so I'll simply say, she hasn't changed much since you left. Ok so last summer, we all got to go to this ranch owned by some friends of Tommy's grandfather, and she befriended a baby ostrage, but that's about the only good thing I feel she has to offer in her favor. With that, I'd better see to wrapping up this letter before we start to land. In closing, I hope things are going well for you, and if I don't hear from you before the holidays, hope you have a Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year.
Your Friend,
Kimi
P.S.: Enclosed is my latest school picture. Don't be alarmed by the pink streak in my hair. I just, wanted to go for a different look. I hope you like it.
As Zack finished reading Kimi's letter, he just sat there and stared at it for a few minutes, amazed at all that had happened since he left, though in some ways, he was a bit disappointed. For starters, he was sad to see that Phil and Lil were going their separate ways, but more so, he was a bit upset that Kimi couldn't be honest with her feelings towards him, covering them up by carving Tommy's initials on the wall instead. It then hit Zack for the first time, that deep down, he liked Kimi more than just a friend. He picked up her picture and stared longingly at the Japanese girl with a pink streak in her hair, and thought how pretty she looked.
"Wow! Kimi looks nice with pink hair." Zack thought to himself, as he continued to look at the picture for a few more minutes, before going and adding it to the box of photos he kept hidden in his dresser drawer.
After staring at the photo for five minutes, he put the picture up with his stash, and pulled out a small white square box, where he pulled out the turtle dove he had gotten four years ago on Christmas eve.
"I wonder if Kimi still has her turtle dove?" Zack thought to himself, as he studied his in his hand for a few more minutes, before putting it back in the box, closing the drawer, and staring at himself in the mirror.
There he stood, his blond hair a mess, wearing a white undershirt and dark gray sweat pants, with a black eye, thanks to the most recent fight he had been in at school, all because he got one-hundred-and-ten percent on a math test, making an eighth grader jealous. He couldn't stand to look at himself, and was thankful he didn't have a picture of himself right then to send to Kimi. He did look through his school photos from that year, thankful those were taken before this fight broke out, and maybe, he'd send Kimi one of his school pictures with a letter, but right then, he just wanted to hear her voice.
"It is Christmas eve, I wonder if she's home from Japan yet?" Zack asked himself, as he pulled out his cell phone, and gave Kimi's house a call, as while she now had a cell phone, he still had yet to get the number from her.
He dialed and heard three rings before somebody picked up.
"Hello?" He heard an all too familiar nazely voice on the other end of the phone.
"Chuckie? It's Zack." Said Zack into the phone.
"Zack?" Chuckie asked, unsure who it was.
"Wow, it's been way too long, hasn't it? You know, Zack. We've only known each other since your third birthday." Zack replied.
Chuckie stood there on the other end, trying to comprehend who was there. He wasn't really up for this conversation, as he already felt bad for steeling somebody's Christmas tree just a couple of days before, he didn't need somebody to come back into his life, who he hadn't spoken to in nearly eight months.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't recognize you." Said Chuckie apologetically.
"Well, I'm looking for your sister, is she home?" Zack asked.
"Could you hold on for a minute?" Chuckie asked into the phone.
"Sure, I'll hold." Zack replied, as Chuckie put the phone down and went to get his dad, who was singing Oh Christmas Tree for the sixtieth bazillionth time that day.
"Dad, could you come to the phone? Some kid named Zack is looking for Kimi." Chuckie called to his father, who looked up to see his son before him.
"Oh my gosh! Zachary? That nice blond boy who moved away last spring?" Chaz asked, recalling who Zack was.
"Is it true that we've known each other since my third birthday?" Chuckie asked.
"Yes it is son. What does he want?" Chaz asked.
"He wants to talk to Kimi." Chuckie replied.
"Oh, well Kimi and your mom aren't home yet. I'll go talk to him." Chaz replied, as he went and picked up the phone off of the counter.
"Zack, are you there? It's Chaz, Chuckie and Kimi's dad." Chaz said into the phone.
"Oh my gosh, Chaz, it's nice to hear from you. Is Kimi back from Japan yet?" Zack asked.
"Oh, I had no idea that you and Kimi were still speaking. No, I'm sorry, I recently spoke with Kira, and they're stuck in Mexico. I can have Kimi give you a call when they get home if it's not too late, as I know you're three hours ahead of us." Said Chaz into the phone.
"That would be great. Thanks." Said Zack.
"No problem." Chaz replied.
"Well, talk to you later, and Merry Christmas." Said Zack.
"Merry Christmas." Said Chaz, as he hung up the phone, and Zack did the same on the other end, just as his aunt called him for dinner.
He went into the kitchen, where his aunt had laid out a feast of maple glazed pork tenderloin, garlic mash potatoes, and grilled asparigus. He took a seat across from her at the table, and dug into his food.
"So Zack, who was the letter from?" Celeste asked.
"It was from Kimi. She sent it to me from Japan, because she went there to visit her biological father." Zack replied.
"Oh that's right, I forgot that Kimi is Japanese." Said Celeste, as she took a bite of some mash potatoes.
"You knew she was Japanese?" Zack asked.
"Uh huh. Found out at Father's Day, right after your biological parents and paternal grandparents died in that house fire whehn you were little. I returned from attending the funeral to collect you on Father's Day, when Kira told Kimi about her biological father, after you all found a box of precious momentoes from him." Celeste explained.
"Gosh, I was so little when that all happened, that ten years later, I had nearly forgotten about that." Said Zack.
"It's ok, so what did Kimi have to say in her letter?" Celeste asked.
Zack went on to explain most of the things in the letter, though he was a bit discrete about the wall carving that took place at Halloween, a bit too embarrassed to talk about it. Then, he thought about it for a minute, and decided to bring up the subject with his aunt, as perhaps she'd have some advice for him.
"Celeste, I have a question for you. If you really liked someone, and I mean, romantically, would you rather carve someone else's initials on the wall and hide it? Or would you rather be completely honest with everyone, even if they thought you were crazy for liking someone who doesn't live in town anymore?" Zack asked.
"Hmmm, that's an interesting question. Well, if it were me, I wouldn't care what anybody thought. Always remember sweetie, honesty is always the best policy." Said Celeste.
"So, do you think I should tell Kimi how I really feel?" Zack asked.
"Well, yes." Said Celeste.
"But what if she doesn't like me back? I mean, even her own brother didn't even recognize me when I gave her a call this evening to talk." Zack replied.
"If Kimi thought about you enough to write you a letter on her way to Japan, and send it, then I believe she considers you to be a very special friend. And ever since you took your first steps, you and Kimi have been more or less, inseparable. I know this might sound a bit embarrassing, but I think you and Kimi would make a cute couple. And if she's gone as far to hide her true feelings for you, I think she might really like you. Go on Zack, tell her how you feel. Who knows, maybe it will help Kimi to feel a bit better about being open and honest with her feelings in the future." Said Celeste.
"You really think so?" Zack asked, as he took a bite of asparigus.
"Yes, I do." Said Celeste.
Zack thought long and hard about what his aunt said, as the two of them finished their dinner in silence. He was thinking about trying Kimi's house again as he climbed into bed that night, when he looked at the clock on the wall, and saw it was nearly eleven thirty at night. While this would only make it eight thirty in California, chances are Kimi would be tired from her trip, and probably suffering from a great deal of jet lag. So he turned out the lights, rolled over, and went to sleep.
The following day was Christmas, and thanks to a terrible snow storm, he and his aunt were snowed in, unable to attend the family Christmas party. He also never heard back from Kimi either, so by mid afternoon, he gave her house a call again, only to get four rings and an answering machine.
"You have reached the Finster residence. Please leave a message, after the tone." He heard Chaz's voice say on the answering machine, before a beep was heard.
"Hello Kimi, it's Zachary. Just wanted to call and wish you a Merry Christmas. I got your letter, thanks. Call my cell when you get this. Bye." Said Zack into the phone, as he hung it up and stared out the window, about ready to cry.
He was really missing Kimi at that moment, and then, he thought.
"Maybe they're at the Java Lava. I'll give her a call there." Zack said to himself, but decided against it, as in all seriousness, why would they be open on Christmas.
He thought about calling the Pickles or the Devilles, but he didn't want to call them, mainly because he wanted to talk to Kimi in private. His plan was to get her cell phone number from her and call her back on that, but as the hours wore on, still no phone call from Kimi, and soon, it was dark.
"Guess Kimi got involved in celebrating Christmas with her family and friends." Zack thought to himself, as he pulled out a blue loose leaf notebook, and opened to a blank page.
"And now I know why Kimi and Kira's signatures weren't on that Christmas card from Peter. He sent that after they left for Japan, causing them to not be present to sign it. Ba hum bug." Zack thought to himself, as he picked up a number two pencil, and started composing a letter to Kimi.
"I guess, talking to Kimi, the old fashion way, will have to do." Zack thought to himself, as he began to write.
Dear Kimi,
It's me, Zachary.
I got your letter, thanks for the updates. From what it sounds like, you and everybody back home have been super busy. Sadly, while I've been busy too, it hasn't been the same around here without you guys. So as you probably are aware, I'm in middle school now, though with me being the youngest kid at school, they insisted in having me repeat the fifth grade. My aunt and I fought to keep me in middle school, as with my level of intelligence, I would only be bored, unchallenged, and probably slack off as a result. Thanks to my intelligence, I'm in the Gifted and Talented program, keeping very busy with creative writing assignments, math competitions, and complicated science experiments. I'm also playing trombone in the school's concert band, and have taken up piano lessons, as I've always wanted to learn a musical instrument, and my school's band director said that in seventh grade, I could join the jazz band as a keyboard player, since their current keyboard player is graduating at the end of the year. Interested in this, I decided to take up piano lessons and I take from a nice elderly lady who lives in the neighborhood named Hilda at her house on Tuesdays after school.
While this is all dandy, the other students at school don't think very highly of me. Most of them are jealous of my intelligence, and right before going on winter break, this big eighth grader who's twice my size named Blake, gave me a black eye, all because I received one-hundred-and-ten percent on a math test. It was ridiculous, and I was about ready to crush his head in, when the principal walked out of his office and saw the whole thing. And while Blake got suspended from school, I didn't wish to get suspended too, so put my hand down, before I could get into any trouble. I probably look like a real loser, but who's gonna care anyway.
And if that's not enough to ruin my life at school, my home life hasn't spared much better. My aunt works long hours at her job, so we hardly spend any time together anymore. You'd think having a ton of time at home alone would be super great, but the truth of the matter? It stinks! I'm lonely! And I miss you guys terribly! If only I had stayed in California. If I had stayed, I could have taught Chuckie how to iceskate while you worked on your family tree project, which, congratulations on your good grade on that by the way. If I had been there, maybe Tommy would have chosen film clips for his Friends movie with me in them. I do wish him luck with his latest film he's entered into a contest, and hope it wins. I'll have to call him up in January and see if he won. And if I had been there, you could have carved our initials into the wall, which would have made for a better Halloween, not causing your brother and my two guy best friends since infanthood to be at each other's throats. It's all my falt that everyone back home has gone through such a terrible mess, and I'm sorry if I had to move. But if you really wanna be mad at anybody, be mad at my aunt. She's the reason why we moved. Her and her stupid job.
Ok, I'm sorry I ranted, but I just had to get that off my chest. I hope you can forgive me for that. But yes, the truth is, I miss you Kimi, I miss you terribly. And the honest truth, the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to realize, I, too, like you more than just a friend. Yes, I like you like a girlfriend, and rather than covering it up by carving the initials of some other girl at my school's name on the wall, I'm gonna be completely honest. I really like you Kimi, and regardless how far apart we are from each other, I hope we can be more than just friends in the future.
I don't have much more to say, so I'll close by saying this. Tried to give you a call yesterday, but got your brother. He hardly recognized me, which is kind of a shock, but not, after all you guys have been through since I left. I was actually pretty surprised to see that letter from you, but I thank you for doing that. I hope you and your mom made it home safe and sound from Japan. I briefly spoke to your dad Chaz, and he said you two were stuck in Mexico when I called. I tried to call today, on Christmas, but I'm guessing you guys are most likely at Peter's annual Christmas party, because nobody was home. Hopefully you can call me back, even if it's not until after you get this letter. My cell phone number hasn't changed, as my aunt never bothered to get my California number changed to a West Virginia number after we moved. Chances are when our contract expires in February, that will all change, but I'll be sure to keep you posted. Here's hoping you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and, we'll talk soon. By the way, love your new hair dew, the pink streak looks neat! Sending you one of my school pictures along with this letter. Haven't changed my look, it only changes when bullies punch me, but luckily on school picture day, no bruises or black eyes were present.
Your Friend,
Zachary
After he finished composing his letter, which ended up on two sheets of notebook paper, he ripped them out of the notebook, folded them up, and placed them into a white envelope, along with one of his school pictures that was taken that fall. Ordinarily, he wouldn't sneak out after dark, but he was determined to get his letter into the mail. Once he addressed the envelope and put a stamp on it, he looked around and saw his aunt went off to bed early, seeing she had work the following morning, so he put on his boots and winter coat, and carrying the letter in his hand, he made his way through the deep snow in the yard, down the street to the mailbox, where he dropped his letter off. Then, he went back inside, where he plopped down on the couch, and put on the DVD of A Christmas Carole, while he tried to enjoy what little bit of Christmas day was left, as it was nearly ten thirty at night. Though truthfully, he was miserable, and he more or less, put on the movie, to keep from doing something he'd regret, as he was so tempted to hich hike on to an airplane and fly off to California at that moment, but knew he'd never be able to face Hell of his stupidity once his aunt found out, so decided against that plan, before things could get way too out of hand.
"Next year, maybe next year, we can go home for Christmas." Zack thought to himself, as the previews on his movie ended and he pressed play on the main menu screen, and got lost in the famous Charles Dicken's story that he and his aunt usually enjoyed together every year, only this year, he had to watch it all by himself, because it seemed that everybody was too busy to care about the blond genius on Christmas.
And this, ends chapter 10. So, will Kimi return the feelings? Guess we'll find out next year, and in the next chapter, which I hope to have up later.
Author's Note: Ok so several All Grown Up episodes were made reference to in this chapter. Hopefully, I can name all of them off. Susie Sings the Blues, Coupe Deville, The Finster who Stole Christmas, RV Having Fun Yet, TP + KF, Patition This, Rachel Rachel, Dude, Where's My Horse, Susie's Choice, and the way Kimi looked in her school photo she sent to Zack was how she looked in the episode, Bad Kimi. I also made tiny references to Izzy or Isn't He, Truth or Consiquences and Oh Brother, Can you Spare the Time. Hopefully, I didn't forget any episodes, but if I did, I apologize, and feel free to name off the other ones I made reference to in your review that I may have forgotten to make reference to here. Also, I think how this chapter turned out is pretty self explanatory. Kimi wrote that letter on the way to Japan, and Zack called while she and Kira were still trying to get home. And as far as the timeline on All Grown Up is concerned, I'm pretty sure that series took place over a single school year, which means technically, TP + KF and RV Having Fun Yet, in actuality, took place before The Finster who Stole Christmas. And you may be thinking, Rachel was mentioned in the Halloween and Thanksgiving episodes, but the Christmas one aired before Rachel Rachel. Well, in actuality, if my theory here is correct, Rachel was entirely Jewish, thus, why would she have any involvement in Christmas plans? Thus, if in actuality, Tommy and Rachel were dating at Christmas, he'd probably leave her out of his Christmas plans, because they'd mean nothing to her. I think even in TP + KF, she was against trick or treating because she believed it to be a means of ripping off candy stores and dentists. So there's my thoughts on the whole thing. Some events obviously haven't taken place yet, because it's only been slightly over half a year since Zack moved away, but chances are if they write letters back and force the following Christmas, perhaps Kimi will tell him other stuff that happened within the time that passes post Christmas. For now, take care, and more will be up soon.