Sub: *screaming at us to calm down*

Timothy(guy who constantly gets in trouble but is also the class clown): ....Deer jerky? *holds up a piece in front of her*

I REALLY WANNA GO TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY AND TAKE THE COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY COURSE BUT I'M NOT SMART ENOUGHHHH

Y/n POV

"98 bottles of milk on the wall, 98 bottles of milk!" The twins and Keegan annoyingly sang.

"Shut up!" Ethan groans. "Why couldn't I have drove?"

"You're still grounded from a few weeks ago." Ethan's dad answered.

Keegan and the twins continued their song, even though it wasn't a long ride. Ethan constantly yelled at them to shut up, but they never did. His parents sat calmly in the front, in their own conversation. Andrew, sadly, didn't come.

"I'm glad I'm an only child." I chuckle, staring at Ethan's incensed face.

The three were sitting in the back, Ethan and me in the middle two seats, and his parents in the front. Having five kids, I'm not surprised they have a mini van. It was almost one four ten. The dinner starts at four thirty, and I dreaded it. The small children aren't that bad, I just don't want to deal with looking like an idiot. I guess it could be worse. I could be in Ethan's spot.

Ethan shakes his head against the head rest and mumbles, "You have no idea how much I wish to be in your place."

By the time Ethan's siblings were down to 79, we pulled into the parking lot of the community center. Ethan quickly got out of the van, away from his brothers and sister. Once I was standing next to him, everyone was out of the van and began walking towards the building.

Something small hit my back, making me stop in my tracks. Confused, I feel where it was hit to feel the spot is cold and still had small chunks of snow on it. I turn around to see the twins pointing at each other. Smirking, I quickly grab two handfuls of snow and throw it towards the running boys. The three of us were laughing as we continued to throw snow at each other, still walking behind the family as we did it.

Quinton scooped up a handful of snow from the hand rail going up the middle of the concrete stairs, sneaking up behind Grey and shoving his face in his hands. Grey yelped from the cold and punched Quinton in his arm. Sadly, our fun was over when we had to walk through the glass doors of the community center. Ethan shook his head, a small smile on his face when he saw me. I giggled, shrugging.

"I was just in a war." I joke.

Ethan smiled. "A harmless one."

"I beg to differ!" I gasp sarcastically. "I could've slipped and fell!"

Ethan shrugged. "You can do that walking normally. The 'war' has nothing to do with that."

"Ethan, Y/n, follow your dad." Ethan's mom said, pointing towards his dad as he walked towards the back. The two of us began following him, trailing a few feet behind.

"I guess he's my dad too then," I shrug, thinking of Ethan's mom's choice of words.

Ethan shakes his head. "Being related to you? No thanks."

I bump my shoulder into his. "You love me."

Ethan smiles, rolling his eyes. Once we were in the back, the view looked like a storage room. The room was crowded with junk on shelves and racks. Decorations for multiple holidays covered the shelves, and multiple different costumes, from Disney characters to the Easter bunny, sat neatly inside clear bags on the racks. There were two more people in the room with us: a blond girl with low pigtails and a tall, strawberry blond haired guy that looked around my age.

Ethan's dad stopped in front of us, searching through the rack. Eventually, he picks up a bag and hands it to Ethan. Soon, his dad picks up another bag, but set it back down before it could reach my hands. "Whoops, thats a guy's outfit. We need female..." He mumbles to himself, looking at every label on each bag.

"Female elf?" The girl with pigtails asks. "One's right here!"

"Thank you so much Syden," The adult thanked, taking the bag. Turning to me, he holds it out. "Lets just hope it's your size."

Ethan nods towards the door before walking that direction, signaling for me to follow.

"You cannot take any pictures when yo see me. Got it?" Ethan says sternly as we walk down the short halls.

"No promises." I chuckle.

Ethan rolls his eyes, parting ways as we split into opposite bathrooms. An awkward interaction in the bathroom with a random lady later, I'm standing outside the bathrooms waiting for Ethan. Neither side had a door, just a brick wall painted blue and pink to hide whats on each side. The dinner was supposed to start in five minutes, but people were already seated. Looking like an idiot in an elf costume, standing outside the bathrooms, I'm thankful no one is near. Bright yellow tights under a dark green dress, mid-thigh length, was not something to blend in with. The long sleeves sort of helped with the slightly cold temperature in the building. A black belt hugging my stomach was something I wanted to rip off. Why was it so high? Mid-stomach? Is that necessary? The hat was the weirdest part. It looked like a green origami boat I'd make in fifth grade, but with an annoying bell at the point.

"Ethan!" I yell, leaning my head on the wall behind me. "Hurry the hell up!"

Ethan laughs. "Hold on! I cant see past the abnormally big stomach!"

Tapping my foot, I sigh. "Are you fully dressed?"

It takes a moment for him to answer. "Um, yes. Why?"

Impatient, and knowing we're supposed to be there by now, I make my way into the guy's side and knock on the only locked stall. "C'mon!"

"Y/n!" Ethan yells, startled.

"You're struggling, you aren't naked, now c'mon! We need to be in there."

With an over exaggerated groan, Ethan unlocks the stall door. Without a thought to contain it, I burst out into fits of laughter. The white shirt was covering the fake belly and tucked into the fuzzy red pants he had on. The red jacket with white hair at the end of the sleeves was on one arm but not the other. Ethan rolls his eyes.

"Why couldn't have Andrew do this one more year." Ethan sighs.

Standing up straight and taking deep breaths, I apologize. "Okay, I'm sorry. Turn around."

He does as told. I grab the other end of the jacket and hold it out for his arm to to through. He buttons the single button up, laughing when he saw himself in the mirror.

"One problem thats not fixable." Ethan grins. "My voice."

"C'mon," I sigh. "You can make your voice deeper."

He attempts to deepen his voice. I grin and mock him, making my voice deeper as well. Both of us giving out small giggles, we continue to speak with our voices in the deepest pitch possible.

Ethan grins, picking up his things and shoving it in the bag the costume was in. "Brian came with us every year to these things. He got a little offended when he found out I asked you to cone instead. I said he could come too, but he said he had something with his family today anyway." He shrugs, taking my bag with my stuff in it off from the sink and holding it along with his things. "Already, its better than when he came. You're a better sight to see in tights as well." He chuckles.

Eyes widening with mine, he realizes what he had just said. "No! I didn't mean it like that, I swear! I was trying to say he looked absolutely terrible in them but-" Ethan started to explain, rushing out each word, but I interrupted him.

"No worries," I laugh. "Lake has done the same thing with guys plenty of times. It resulted in a lot of breakups, along with a lot of tears."

Ethan laughs nervously, picking up a ball of white, curly hair. He straps the beard around his face, and sets the red hat on top of his head. He strokes the beard. "Finally! I have facial hair!"

I set my hand on his shoulder. "Sweetie," I tilt my head as I spoke. "Facial hair comes after puberty."

"Fuck off." Ethan giggles, beginning his way out of the bathroom.

Entering the main room, the tables were full, and children were everywhere. A bright, decorated tree stood tall next to a leather chair Ethan was supposed to sit in, a camera set up a few feet away from it. A long table off to the side was full of toys for the children to pick from after their words with "Santa".

As soon as we step foot in the room, Ethan's dad was in front of us. "Ethan, go sit in that seat. Y/n, stand on this side-" He points to his left of the seat. "-and help the kids pick something before they leave."

I nod and do as told. The girl, Syden, and the tall guy from the storage room were there and dressed just like me. Syden was on the other side of Ethan, and the guy was behind the camera. Ethan sat in the leather chair, laughing to himself.

I lean onto the side of the chair. "What's so funny?" I ask, a smile playing at my face.

His grin was covered by the artificial hair, but it was clear it was there. "This belly is funny."

"You look funny too!" Syden giggles from the other side.

"You look like a ladies man, Ethan!" The guy laughs, snapping a picture.

"Looks? I am a ladies man, Asher!" Ethan giggles.

"Not with me, you aren't." Chuckle, slowly backing away, my hands raised.

Ethan giggles softly. I stand back in place and looked around the room. Circular tables with white cloth covering them filled the room, a candle lit in the middle inside a glass with red confetti around it. To entertain the impatient children as they wait, different characters walked around to every table, taking pictures with them. The small girls would light up when they saw Elsa, and the boys were excited to to meet their favorite Marvel character.
(That kinda sounded...sexist? I don't know the proper word for this, but I'm not saying boys can't freak out over Disney princesses, and girls can't love Marvel/DC. I mean, I'm a girl and I fuckin' love Marvel(Marvel is better than DC, fight me).)

Once Ethan's dad gave the sign, telling everyone to line up, the children pulled their parents and/or siblings with them into line. All of them were so adorable, dressed nicely with grins covering their faces. The first one up was a little boy, probably six years, a sweater vest hugging his body. Ethan picked him up and sat him on his lap.

"Whats your name?" Ethan asked, his voice deep like it was in the bathroom.
(Oh boy, oh boy XD)

The boy grinned excitedly. "Wyatt!"

"How are you, Wyatt? Have you been good?"

Being the dirty minded freak I am, I had to hold back a laugh. Syden noticed and held one back as well. Asher was calmly standing behind the camera, oblivious to everything but what the camera sees. Keegan, Quinton, and Grey could be seen rushing around, setting the food on the long tables against the wall for the remaining family members of the kids sitting at the tables.

Wyatt nodded, straightening his back.

"What would you like for Christmas?" Ethan questioned.

"A BB gun, just like my brother's!" Wyatt exclaimed, pointing at a male standing by Asher. He looked around 18 or 19.

"Are you sure you don't want something more simple?"

Wyatt's eye's lit up again. "A phone!"

Ethan laughed, knowing thats the closest to simple he'll get. He pointed towards the camera and told him to smile widely, as if he wasn't already. Asher snapped the picture, Syden and me on either side.

Soon, Wyatt was standing next to me, his brother slowly making his way towards us. Crouching down to Wyatt's level, I send him a kind grin.

"Pick anything that catches your eye." I say, gesturing towards the long table full of toys. Wyatt walks along it slowly, taking a look at each thing. His brother is standing by me now, so I decided to stand up straight, keeping an eye on Wyatt.

"I'm guessing he asked for a BB gun?" He grins.

"Yep," I nod, folding my arms with a slight smile. "He's like me when I was little. I always asked for big things I knew I'd never get." I chuckle.

"Isn't that every child?"

"True," I nod.

Wyatt ran over to us with a  nremote control car in his hands and an excited expression on his face.

"Ready to go?" Wyatt's brother asks him. Wyatt nods, staring at the box in his hands. "I guess I'll see you later. My name is Nathan, by the way." He smiles, beginning to walk away with Wyatt trailing behind him.

***

All the families are eating, every child had a small meeting with Ethan, and everyone met their favorite characters. Ethan, Syden, Asher, and me were standing in the corner of the room full of people and food. All four of us were dressed back in our normal clothes. Ethan looked comfortable and satisfied, his maroon hoodie halfway zipped up.
(Yes, the maroon hoodie of his)

He was sweating and was constantly being followed by a child with the Santa costume on, so he decided to change. Being around Asher and Syden for a bit has been fun. It's as if everyone Ethan is related to is absolutely amazing in every way. Syden is Ethan's cousin and Asher is a foreign exchange student like Embry, but from Norway and is living with Syden. He'll be leaving for Norway in June, so he's got a bit of time until he leaves.

Standing by the long table full of food, the four of us ate as we talked.

"These kids are so adorable, but so annoying." Syden sighs, scanning the room.

"I don't know about annoying, but I think they're pretty cute." I grin, setting my hands on my hips with a small hop.

"Pedophile," Ethan mumbles from next to me.

Rolling my eyes, I bump his shoulder then fold my arms. "Shut up."

"Hey Y/n, since you're a good friend, will you throw this away for me?" Asher asks, holding out a paper plate.

Rolling my eyes with a hint of a smile, I take it into my hands. After I dropped it in the trashcan, I turn back to make my way back the the three, only to be stopped by a remote control car hitting my foot. My eyes immediately locked with Nathan's, the guy from earlier. A smirk was present on his face as he strolled up to me, the controller in his hand. "Oops?" He shrugs.

"Yeah, oops." I giggle. "Keep your eyes on the road."

"What am I supposed to do when there's a hot girl, not look at her?"

Ignoring the red painting my face and comment he just made, I decided to change the subject. "So where's Wyatt?"

"My mom took him to get some desert." Nathan points over to the desert table where a tall, blond lady stood with a small child next to her. "He wanted me to put the batteries in this thing, and I was testing it out when I happened to see you."

"You could've just walked up to me instead of running a tiny car into my foot at full speed, y'know. It'd be less painful."

"Sorry 'bout that. First thing that came to mind." Nathan apologizes.

A few more words exchanged between us before I heard a familiar voice. "Nathan!" Wyatt shouts, jogging up next to Nathan. "Where's my car?"

Nathan holds in in front of Wyatt. "Right here."

Wyatt happily takes it in his hands and sets it on the floor. Driving it around, he was close to hitting multiple people's feet before they quickly hopped out of the way. I crouch down to his level and watched as he drove it around the room. "You know what'd make it easier?" I smile, turning my head to look at Wyatt.

"What?" He asks.

"Taking it into an empty area so you don't have to watch for other people."

Wyatt nods excitedly, running to pick up his car. Once we brought it into an empty area, he began driving it around the room. Nathan was right next to me as we watched him laugh. At one point, he even let me try, which was fun, but a disaster.

"You're terrible at this." Wyatt states.

"How can I be terrible if there are no rules of how to do it?" I reply.

Nathan then jumps on my back, sending me down to the floor. He is laying on top of me while Wyatt is laughing his head off. "Try to drive the parameter of this room now! Then you'll be terrible at it."

Wyatt thought this was a great opportunity to jump on top of Nathan, adding more weight on top of me. Trying my best to free an arm to reach for the controller while laughing so hard it makes me weak, I struggled a lot. Giving up completely, I fall limp under Nathan and Wyatt, only to see Ethan giggling at me from afar.

Boy oh boy! Thats a long, unedited chapter, most likely with a shit ton of mistakes! :D

If you don't celebrate Christmas, don't worry. No big events will happen with that holiday. I only like this time of year, and have every one of my cringy fanfictions in this time of year.