DEAR SANTA CLAUS, HE'S BACK! 1

Chapter 1---Blast From The Past

“This is definitely the perfect outfit.”

I turned to face my quirky best friend, Jessy.

A huge smile was plastered on her face, as she held up a plum-colored dress with way too many ruffles.

I raised my eyebrows. “You're kidding, right?”

She rolled her eyes, putting the dress back on the rack. “Lia, we've been to seven different stores already. You need to choose an outfit.”

“Jessy, you know the way I am when it comes to shopping.”

“Yes, I do. You're very, very, very, very, very—”

“Alright, I think that's enough very's.”

She put her chestnut-colored hair into a ponytail. “All I'm saying is that you're super picky when it comes to choosing things for special occasions.”

I held up a black dress with a thin lavender accent around the waist. “This is the one.”

“Hallelujah!” she yelled out and sighed in relief.

*

A few hours later, we arrived in front of my place.

“Well, good luck tonight,” Jessy said.

“I'm gonna need it. Are you sure you don't wanna come along? My parents just love knowing that I have at least one friend.”

“You ask me that every year, and you know that I have my own holiday priorities.”

“I know...but thanks for helping me find the dress.”

“No problem,” she replied. “But I am going to that New Year's party with you, so I'm not completely deserting you for this holiday season.”

“Not completely, but you are deserting me when it really counts.”

She gave me a small smile before driving away.

I walked through the front door and prepared for the weeks ahead.

*

The snowy road was starting to get on my nerves.

I love the snow, but I hate driving in it.

I was about fifteen minutes away from my parents' house.

*

I finally arrived in front of the two-floored white house decked out in a bunch of Christmas lights and blow-up holiday characters, plus one of those life-sized snow-globes.

I smoothed out my dress and walked up the porch steps.

I rang the doorbell, which my dad always manipulates to play the tune of “Jingle Bells.”

The front door swung open and I was greeted by my mom.

“Lia, you're finally here!” She immediately pulled me into a hug. “I told you to leave early. You didn't listen to me, huh?”

Dad approached us. “Honey, you know our daughter never shows up on time.”

“Hi Dad,” I greeted.

He pulled me into a hug. “Nice to see you again, Lion.”

“Please don't call me that. I beg you every year to stop calling me that.”

“This is the one time of the year that I get to call you that, so you can't stop me,” he argued.

“Lia, you're here!” My ten-year-old sister, Mel, wrapped her arms around me.

“Hey there, little sis. I've missed you.”

“Obviously not enough to come visit,” she commented.

“It's not that I don't want to. It's just...I've been busy.”

She patted my arm. “Sure you have. Anyway, come on.”

“Come on...where?” I asked.

“To the living room to greet our guests, who are going to be staying with us for the next few weeks,” Dad explained.

“I think you'll be glad to see who it is,” Mom told me.

“Guys, if this another holiday where you're going to force me to be nice to strangers and—”

I trailed off as we walked into the living room.

“Well, I didn't think we were that strange.”

“James. Trudy.” I said, seeing the familiar faces that I hadn't seen in years.

They're the parents of my then-best-friend, Leo.

I gave them awkward hugs but a genuine smile.

“Hi. I'm Jimmy.” A boy, about Mel's age waved at me.

“Wow. The last time I saw you, you were wearing superman underwear,” I said, ruffling his hair.

Leo and I were best friends up until the eighth grade. We were fourteen and our younger siblings were only three. Then some things happened that year, and we stopped being friends. We stopped talking to each other and basically became enemies. The summer before freshman year, Leo and his family moved away. Now, seven years later, we meet again.

“Hey, Lia. Um, nice to see you again.”

“Yea—yeah. Nice to see you again...too,” I replied.

He held out his hand, and I quickly shook it.

He looked different. He'd changed, in a good way. He had a more muscular build. He got rid of his extremely asymmetrical haircut. He was...a man, now.

The question is...did his personality change?

“I see you're still wearing clothes that don't suit you,” he pointed out, observing my outfit.

Well, that answers my question: No, his personality hasn't changed much.

I glared at him. “I happen to think that it suits me quite well.”

“You keep thinking that, Lia Lonely.”

Ah...Lia Lonely. The nickname he and his old friends gave me towards the end of middle school. I didn't have many close friends, and there were days when I would have to hang out with no one. I wasn't anti-social. I was just super shy. Everyone else already had their little tight-knit groups; I didn't think I could just join one.

“Well, it looks like someone still has a bad attitude,” I mentioned.

“Lia, I happen to remember that—”

“Alright, settle down. We don't want to bring back any bad memories,” Trudy told us.

Too late, I thought to myself.

“Well,” my mom said, “Why don't we all head into the dining room.”

Typical, she put place-cards on the table to label the seats.

I ended up sitting across from Leo.

“Great,” I whined. “Now I have to sit through dinner in front of the traitor.”

“Lia, be nice,” Dad warned.

“I'm confused. I thought you two were best friends,” Mel commented.

“Yeah, I thought that, too,” Jimmy added.

“We were,” Leo and I responded, simultaneously.

“Whatever happened between you two...just put it behind you. Keep it in the past,” James suggested.

“That's what this whole thing is, though,” Leo stated. “A blast from the past.”

I poked the turkey on my plate with a fork. “Let's face it. Things are never going to be the same.”

“What even happened back then?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, we never really did find out the circumstances behind your little friendship break-up,” Trudy said.

I turned to her. “It's not that important.”

“It's just a silly thing,” Leo stated.

“Apparently, it's not just some silly thing,” James commented. “It's been seven years. You're both twenty-one now, and you're still arguing with each other.”

“Honestly Lia, why did you have to start this up?” Mom asked.

“Me? You're blaming me for this?”

“I'm not going to blame Leo. He's a guest.”

“That does not justify anything,” I said, flatly.

“Eat your turkey, Lion,” Dad told me.

“Stop calling me that,” I complained.

Flashbacks of a curling incident entered my mind. I was getting ready for school picture day, and my hair was not suited for curlers. It puffed up into this huge ball that looked liked a crazy lion mane. Basically, it looked like a sloppy afro.

“Lion.” Leo snickered.

Trudy placed her hand on his shoulder. “Manners, Leonardo.”

“Leonardo,” I mocked.

He stabbed his turkey and smothered it in gravy.

Mel picked up her glass of apple juice. “This is so weird.”

“I hear ya,” Jimmy agreed.

*

Dinner was painful enough.

How was I supposed to survive the next few weeks in the same house as Leo?

*

I headed up to Mel's bedroom, which I'd be sharing with her during my stay here.

“I like what you've done with your room,” I said, sitting on the bottom mattress of the bunk beds.

“I call the top bunk,” she told me.

“I didn't want it anyway.”

She grabbed her favorite teddy bear and then took a seat next to me. “Lia, can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Why aren't you friends with Leo anymore?”

“It's complicated. You'll understand when you're older.”

“I hate it when people say that,” she whined.

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah...me too.”

“If you won't answer that question, can I ask you something else?”

“You just did,” I told her.

“Why don't you visit?” she asked. “Do you not love us anymore?”

“Mel, of course I love you guys. You're my family. I'm stuck with you.”

“But we never get to see you.”

“I just need my space from Mom and Dad. That's all.”

“Why?”

“You know, you ask a lot of questions.”

“I'm a 10-year-old girl. It's what we do. Please, just answer me.”

“I'm sort of...not fulfilling the expectations of our parents. I'm not the dream daughter that they've always wanted. It doesn't matter now, though, because you're their pride and joy.”

“Yeah, but I look up to you,” she confessed.

“You do?”

“Of course, Lia. You're my older sister, and you just seem so awesome.”

I didn't know how to respond, and Mel understood. I didn't know that she thought of me that way.

She gave me a quick hug and climbed onto the top bunk.

I sighed and left Lia.

I passed the guest room where Jimmy was playing with is action figures and headed downstairs.

Dad and James were watching a Christmas special on the flat screen.

Mom was talking to Trudy by the kitchen counter.

I made my way to the fridge and pulled out some milk to go along with the cookies Mom always keeps in the cookie jar.

“Having a late night snack?” Mom asked.

“Every time I come to visit, I feel like a little kid again. You and your homemade cookies and all of your holiday cheer.”

“That's not a bad thing. It's actually a great thing,” Trudy said. “Maybe some of your parents' holiday cheer will rub off on you. That's what James and I love about this family. You're all so close and understanding.”

“Sure we are,” I said, dunking a chocolate chip cookie into my glass.

Leo walked into the room and snickered when he saw me eating cookies.

“What are you? Five?” he asked.

“Leo, you're an adult now. Start acting like it,” Trudy urged.

“I'll start acting like an adult when Lia starts acting like one. After all, she is a woman...supposedly.”

“Supposedly? What are you trying to say?” I asked.

“Lia, look at you. You're eating milk and cookies. Oh, and I noticed that you're sleeping with your little sister on a set of bunk beds.”

“There's nothing wrong with that,” I responded. “It's not like I live here.”

He crossed his arms. “Oh, so when you're at your place, you're what? A successful executive manager with a rich boyfriend and a secret sports car that you refuse to drive to your parents' house? No, wait. You're the CEO of a company that you're not telling us about, and you happened to fall in love with your male secretary. Or maybe you're—”

I shook my head. “Leo, are you going to be a jerk the whole time you're here?”

“Well, I'm not going to act all friendly if that's what you were hoping for.”

“Son,” Trudy said.

“Mom, I'm not a child. I don't even have to be here. I came because you asked me to. You can't tell me what to do.”

“But sweetie, it's rude. You're a guest in this house, and you can't just treat your best friend that way.”

“Ex-best friend. We're not even just regular friends anymore,” I corrected.

“Why won't you two just tell us what your problem is? What happened seven years ago that made you drift so far apart from each other? You used to be the greatest of friends. You were so close.” Mom looked disappointed.

“People change. It's what we do,” I replied. “We can't all live in the past.”

So what's going to happen next? Well, find out!!!...