~ Chapter 1 • “Merry Christmas” ~

{ December 25th, 2012 }

§ Justin’s POV: §

“Justin!” There was a female voice shouting in my ear. “For God’s sake, wake up!”

I groaned, sinking my face into the comfort of the pillow. “Go away,” I mumbled, sleepily rubbing my eyes.

“No, I will not go away, it’s Christmas!” Delight bounced off all over the walls in the room and my eyebrows furrowed together as I fluttered my eyes open in realization.

She was right.

It’s Christmas.

I instantly sat up in my bed, becoming face to face with my sister’s smiling, cheerful one staring back at me.

“Merry Christmas, Jazzy!” I chanted, wrapping my arms around her skinny body and hugging her to my chest.

“Merry Christmas, brother,” she sighed happily in my arms, hugging me back before climbing off my bed. I followed behind her and we both quietly descended down the stairs where the Christmas tree illuminated the house.

“Justin!!” another familiar voice echoed through the halls and there were running footsteps approaching me. I turned around in time to be tackled to the ground by my own brother. “Merry Christmas! WHOO!”

I let out a loud laugh, joy circling in the atmosphere. “Merry Christmas, Jaxon,” I smirked at him. “Now get the hell off of me.”

He grinned mischievously before messing up my bed-hair even further and fleeing to the Christmas tree after Jazmyn.

“What are you doing?”

I snapped my head over to meet the eyes of my father, who stared down at me in amusement.

“Jaxon tackled me again,” I rolled my eyes, laughing quietly as I stood on my own two feet and brushed the dust from my pajama pants.

“That kid has more energy than Santa himself,” my father chuckled, laying a hand on my shoulder. “Merry Christmas, son.”

My mother showed up not too long afterwards and we all exchanged “Merry Christmas” before Mother sat by the tree, smiling as she picked out presents one by one and passed them down.

In my family, every Christmas we all make sure we open presents one by one, acknowledging the gifts each one of us gets. Father usually takes the pictures, Mother passes the presents to the person whose name is written on top, Jazzy and Jaxo shake in excitement, and I watch the happiness unfolding in front of me—it’s been this way for as long as I can remember. There’s usually always a routine for us, and the way we behave is what causes my best friend Dylan to refer to us as a “formal family” the first time he met me. I don’t know if it’s because we live in a quite large, classy house or the fact that my brother, sister and I call our parents Mother and Father and rarely call them Mom and Dad.

“Jazmyn,” Mother called out, passing the present to Jazzy, who gladly took it into her hands with a smile on her face. Father got his camera ready as Jazzy teared apart the box, a gasp escaping her mouth a few seconds afterwards.

“Yes! A new phone!” she squealed.

“You’re fifteen now, Jazmyn,” Father smiled at her daughter, love for his family glistening in his eyes. “I thought it was time for an upgrade.”

“I love you, Daddy,” Jazzy attacked Father with a hug, which he gladly returned.

Next, Mother reached for quite a large box that was resting near the core of the tree’s stem. “Justin,” she announced, and my eyes flickered towards the present. Mother and I exchanged smiles.

As I began tearing open the box, flashes from Father’s camera began to go off and I soon became face to face with a brand new, beautiful acoustic guitar.

“No way…” I whispered in amazement. “I’ve been meaning to get a new one for so long.”

“You’re welcome,” Jaxon butt in, causing me to look at him.

“You got me this?” I asked teasingly, and he nodded.

“It was the least I could do since… You know… I broke your old one,” he laughed sheepishly.

“Thank you,” I smiled sincerely. “I love it.”

Jaxon smiled shyly back at me before the opening of presents continued as usual, everyone ending up happy with what they got regardless of what it was.

No wonder they call it the most beautiful time of the year.

§ Tori’s POV: §

I flung open the top drawer, searching hurriedly for my earrings. The sunlight shone brightly through the curtains that covered most of the windows, though its warmth was nowhere to be found. Winter is as cold as it gets, specially on Christmas Day. If you look out the window, you can already see tiny specks of snow shedding from the sky—something that never fails to comfort me.

I soon found the earrings and quickly put them on, popping open my lipstick afterwards and applying them onto my lips before smacking them together. I heard shuffling in the background and turned around to see Mike waking up.

“Hey,” his voice was groggy as he propped his body up on his elbows and looked up at me. “Good morning.”

“Hi,” I simply replied, fixing my hair before walking back towards Mike’s scattered clothes on the floor, no longer accompanied by mine. It was evidence that he was naked under the sheets. “May I borrow $50?”

He watched me dig into the pocket of his pants and pull out his wallet. “Umm… Sure?” he said, but by the time he had finished, I had already gotten my hands on the fifty-dollar bill.

“Thank you,” I mocked a sweet-toned voice. He let out a small chuckle before his face fell.

“Are you leaving?” he asked quietly. I stopped, putting the money inside my purse before crossing my arms and staring at him.

“Honey, we both knew it’d be a one night stand,” I slightly smirked before uncrossing my arms and quickly kissing his cheek. He continued to watch me in silence as I walked towards the exit of his room, swinging the door open.

Before walking out, I turned around to look at him again, a small smile curving upon my lips.

“Merry Christmas,” I whispered. And then I was gone.

The cold winter breeze hit me instantly, freezing my face from the warmth of the air in the room I had just gotten out of. It was strange as I breathed in the naturally icy wind. Weirdly enough, I actually felt disappointed in myself. Not that I never do, but this time it’s different.

It was Christmas Day and I don’t have a family to spend it with. I could spend it with my friends but I’d feel like an intruder—unlike me, they actually do have families.

So I did something I didn’t think I’d ever do in my life, on such a day. I slept with a stranger, basically. I didn’t know Mike. Going into a club on Christmas Eve and hooking up with a stranger doesn’t mean you know them, exactly. I’d only spent one night with him and he’s quiet talkative anyway.

Then there I am on Christmas morning and instead of waking up to a tree decorated with beautiful lights that everyone in the family had contributed in making, with presents loaded under it, Christmas joy surrounding the place, I wake up, naked in bed with a man whose last name I don’t even remember.

So much for Christmas spirit.

Upon walking around for a bit, I noticed that the streets were practically empty, making the entire town seem isolated. Within every step I took, the crunching of snow followed suit and I began to wonder where exactly my feet were taking me. It seems as if they somehow grew a mind of their own and started to guide me someplace.

Next thing I know, my entire body comes to a sudden stop and I decide to look up, only to see the familiar alley between two abandoned buildings. My friends call it the Garbage Shack for some reason… Well… In my defense, the only thing in it is a huge, garbage metal box at the back of the alley.

“Tori!”

I did a double take at the sound of my name being called out to the cold, winter weather.

“Jesus?” I gasped jokingly, obviously recognizing the voice after a while.

“No, not Jesus!” the voice giggled, footsteps approaching me. Seconds later, my friend Tara emerged from hiding and out to the open. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas to you too,” I smiled, and we shared a quick hug before she pulled away.

“Can I ask you for a huge favor?” her eyes stared straight into mine, becoming serious in a matter of seconds.

I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jacket and gave her a confused look. “Sure, what is it?”

“I, umm… I met this guy last night at a bar,” she bit her lip. “He’s kinda drunk right now so I told him I’ll drive him home but…”

“You forgot you didn’t bring your car?” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“Kinda?” she smiled cheekily.

“Don’t worry, I got this under control,” I assured her. “Now where is he?”

“Uhh—”

“Right heeere, sweetheart!” a familiar voice slurred, and I snapped my head over in time to see a man wiggle his way over to us. Or as I like to call… Drunk walking.

“Oh great,” I sighed, clapping my hands together. “Let’s just get this over with and maybe we can go shopping or something.”

“Sure. I don’t have any plans on celebrating Christmas either so why not with you?” her green eyes twinkled with joy.

“Are we getting inside that magical cab thingy?” the drunken man asked, looking straight at me. That’s when it hit me.

“Joey?” I asked, slightly gasping.

“Eeeeey, how do you know my name, pretty thang?”

I held back the urge to roll my eyes. “I think I’ve met you at a bar before, too.”

“Oooohh yeahh, I remember you!” he paused, licking his chapped, frozen lips. “Hey, why don’t we all go shopping? We can go to Toys R Us and I’ll show you a cool toy I saw there the other day. Look-it!”

Joey reached inside his pocket and pulled out a shiny, black object. I blinked a few times, the cold breeze causing me to shield my eyes, therefore unable to see properly. The minute I recognized what it was, a wave of intense unsettlement rushed anxiously throughout my body.

“Joey… Where the fuck did you get a gun?!” I tried hard not to yell the words.

“I told ya! Toys R Us!”

“Joey, put that down,” Tara tried convincing him calmly, though you can easily sense how nervous she was.

“What, you want one too?” Joey asked, sloppily pointing the gun at Tara in what he would think is a way of offering it to her.

“No!” Tara said quickly, slowly but bravely approaching him. “Now hand it over and we’ll take you home.”

“What about Toys R Us?” he slurred.

“Joey…” I spoke in a warning tone. “Be a good boy and give the weapon to Tara. We really can’t deal with this right now.”

“What about the Jack?” he pouted.

“The Jack? What Jack? What are you talking about?”

“Jack in the box,” he smirked, only to replace it with a saddened look. “I want to meet the Jack in this box.”

“This is not a children’s toy!” Tara yelled.

“But Jack’s friendly! He only wants to play! Look!” Joey looked down at the gun and fumbled with its textures.

“NO. JOEY S–” before I could finish my sentence, Joey had found the trigger to the gun and pushed it, accidentally shooting a bullet straight at Tara, where the end point of the gun was pointing at.

My eyes widened in disbelief and I slapped both hands to cover my mouth, clearly in shock.

“Cazzo!” I screamed, disturbed by the sound of Tara’s body plummeting to the snow, the gush of blood from her wound spreading to the floor, causing it to turn red.

Still drunk as fuck, Joey dropped the gun to the ground and looked around.

“Happy birthday! Happy birthday!” he began to shout, and it took all the strength in my body not to grab him and punch the living shit out of him. But before I could even react to my Joey problem, he began to skip off down the street, shouting incoherent phrases in the sort of joy that was annoying the hell out of me.

I would’ve chased after him and stopped him but need I remind you that, oh I don’t know, maybe that MY FRIEND JUST GOT SHOT?

“Tara,” I whimpered, tears rushing down my face. I dropped to my knees where her body was resting and quickly pulled out my phone, dialing 911.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Umm,” I clutched the phone tighter into my grip. “M-My friend just got sh-shot. Please h-help her, please.”

“Ma’am, I need you to breathe and give me a location on where you are.”

“Uhh,” I looked around, trying to wipe my tears in the process. “Corner of Maple Street, umm… N-Near the Tailor shop.”

“Thank you ma’am. Hold tight now, help is on the way.”

All I remember happening next was the freezing cold atmosphere surrounding me as I sat by Tara’s body. I couldn’t tell if she was even breathing or not but I was still as hopeful. The tears rushing down my cheeks had probably frozen by now and I soon heard the sound of ambulance trucks.

I remember paramedics lifting Tara up in a gurney, slipping a mask over her and putting her inside an ambulance truck. They told me I could follow them with my own car and that’s exactly what I did.

I spent Christmas morning in a hospital.

*************************************

Well there ya go! Now you have a little taste of what this book is like ;)

I hope you guys don’t give up on this just story yet. If you give it a chance, it can be one wonderful journey ahead (and yes, I do have plot plans and plot twists and everything in between).

This may or may not be a shit gets real kind of book.

New chapter will be up soon, hopefully!

Oh and, btw, if you guys are wondering… Yes, Jazzy and Jaxon are actually Justin’s real siblings in this story, rather than half-siblings. And they’re children of Pattie and Jeremy, who, in this book, are still together.

Merry Christmas! :)

Twitter - @UndercoverGirly

- Nina xx