I Spent Christmas In Short Sleeves

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“So… your family moved here from North Carolina?” the girl turned to me. “I mean, that’s what your Mom told my Mom. “She shook her head.”

Her long curly hair hit me as she shook it. “Ah! get yo’ hair outta of my face ‘fore I yank it off!” I yelled.

“Geez, I’m sorry!” She said, glaring at me through her purple square glasses.

I was so tempted to take my shirt off. It was too dang hot around here. Winter began last week and it was STILL way too hot for comfort.

Why had Mom made me walk with this girl to go get food? I’d rather be inside playing games online with Ray, not walking down a beach town in the middle of winter with some nosey girl.

We had finally made it to the Chinese restaurant at the corner. I looked at the list Mom had given me.

The Cashier lady smiled. “Hey Railanna! Made a new friend?” Railanna adjusted her glasses and looked at me, and said nothing. Good. she knew we were NOT friends.

“His family’s new to the block.” She answered after a moment.

“Well, then, hello there! What can I get you?” the lady asked. I recited the list of orders Mom had written down, and the woman told us to go sit at a table.

As soon as we got to the seats I put my arms and head on the table and blew air out of my lips. Railanna scratched her face.

We sat there in silence for a moment. Scritch-scratch, scratch-scratch.

“Stop.”

Railanna huffed. “What now?”

“Stop scratching your pimples. Mom told me scratching only makes things worse.” I mumbled with my chin on the table.

Raina stopped scratching. That girl had so many pimples, it looked like someone had sprinkled her whole face with them from forehead to chin. Some were red and bumpy, others were just a tiny lump the same shade as her skin. Her skin was the lightest shade of brown you could get, like a vanilla cookie.

Her dark brown eyes were the color of wet soil, darker than mine. I could feel her eyes on my head as I stared out the window at the palm trees that lined the sidewalks. They had Christmas lights wrapped around their stems. How would you have Christmas in 70 degree heat? Where was the snow!?

“Merry Christmas See-jo.”

I looked up at her. “See-jo!? Who’s that?”

Well, you wrote your name down on the list for that cashier and it said “Seijo, so I thought your name was-”

“It’s pronounced Say-Jo, not See-jo! Wow, so you can’t even read!” I frowned at her.

“I’m sorry! Look, I’m trying to be nice to you, since we’re gonna be living in the same apartment, but dude, you’re gonna have to kill your mood!”

“How can I!? I’m spending Christmas in the desert!” I yelled. Everyone turned to us.

I dropped my head into my arms and stared at the table. I was tired of this dumb place. I was tired of this dumb year. All I wanted was to go home, and play video games with Ray, who was my best online friend.

I felt a rush of cold wind, as if someone had walked over. Then I heard shoes slide a way and a wrapper riggle-ing. Chips!?

I looked up and saw Railanna opening a fortune cookie. “A stranger will become a friend,” She read aloud. “Hmm,” she glanced at me. “It definitely won’t be you.”

I grabbed the other fortune cookie. These cookies had always tasted bland to me, but I was hungry. While I crunched on the cookie, I read what mine said in my head.

Finally! Someone’s read me!

I burst out laughing.

“What?” Railanna asked. I told her what my cookie said. She began to laugh too. She had a pretty smile. She had slight round ridges in her teeth. We began to talk about things, like video games. Surprisingly she knew a lot about my favorite games.”

“My friend OG loves those games, Seijo,” She told me.

I widened my eyes. “OG?”

“Yeah,” She nodded. “OG’s his profile name. He told me it stands for Original Gamer. What about it?”

No way. No way.

“Are you Ray?” I asked.

“Yeah! It’s short for Railanna-” She gasped. We both widened our eyes.

“No way.” We both said.

“OG!?” she asked.

“Yes!” I nodded

I couldn’t believe it!

“I thought’chu were a boy!” I said honestly. But it made since. I had always thought Ray’s sister was online when I saw her account playing Pony Blast.

We were about to get into an argument about what game was best when a Christmas song started to play through the speakers.

Rayilanna started to hum to it.

I stared at her.

Her forehead wrinkled. “What? I can’t get into the Christmas Spirit?”

“How can you? It’s not snowing, and it’s not even cold around here!”

“That’s TV stuff. To me, Christmas isn’t the weather, it’s a feeling. You can take the feeling anywhere, even if you don’t have snow. Like at this store,” Raylanna held a hand up. “I’m not at home with my family near a tree, but there's Christmas music on, and there’s stockings by the menu board, so it’s still Christmas.”

I smiled at her. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Yoo-hoo!” The cashier lady held a bag up. “Seijo! Your order is ready!”

I went to the counter. While I paid, Railanna grabbed the bag. I gave Railanna a nod and smiled.

“Merry Christmas,” the lady at the counter smiled warmly.

“You too,” I said as we began to leave.

And for just a second, I felt the same way about Christmas as I did at home. Maybe this Christmas won’t be the absolute worst.

Me and Railanna talked about the video games we wanted for Christmas all the way until we got back home.

Thanks for Reading!

Like my stories? Check my children’s book, Imagination on Amazon!

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I also write on Wattpad! : https://www.wattpad.com/user/restcity

And read.cash : https://read.cash/@restcity

Front Picture edited in Autodesk Sketchbook.

What a very clever idea for a story. You develop it well. The truth sneaks up on us as it sneaks up on Rayilanna and Seijo. Your descriptions of the scenes, the characters and action are rich in detail. Details bring the story to life.

As good as this story is, more careful proofing would have yielded a smoother result. There is an inconsistency in the way you deal with quotes. For example, in the first paragraph there is a misplaced quotation mark. And, in this sentence, "My friend OG loves those games, Seijo,” She told me. 'She' is capitalized when it should be lower case. There are other instances. While these seem like minor errors, they do mar the otherwise wonderful flow of your story.

This is a wonderful, inventive story, as your stories always are. Thank you for sharing it with us, @restcity