Christmas Gone Wrong

The Christmas I knew has now vanished. I used to count down the days until December—stringing up lights in my room, singing carols with my friends, and sneaking a peek at the presents under the tree. Family, friends, lights... and don’t forget the gifts! It wouldn’t be Christmas without gifts. At least, that’s what I thought. Christmas was supposed to be perfect this year, but everything went wrong before the first snowflake fell. My name’s Angela, my friends call me Angie for short—at least I used to have friends, until the “incident.”

It all started 12 days before Christmas. My tree was up, the house was decorated, and my so-called friends Stacy and Clover were supposed to come over to spend the night and get our Secret Santa gifts.My little brother Finley—or Fang, as I like to call him—has an extra tooth that sticks out. It’s really cute. When I was younger, I used to take all my problems to him and pretend his fang could speak, it made me happy to be able to include him. He was sleeping with Mum and Dad tonight because my friends were “supposed” to be coming over and he couldn’t stay in his crib in my room, because he snores way too loud and talks in his sleep. Hey, I love my family and all, but they can be a pain in the neck, especially on Christmas. Christmas always made their quirks more tolerable—at least until this year.

It was 10:00 pm, and my friends still weren’t here. Two minutes later, my phone buzzed. A text from Chloe. She’s the most popular girl in school—and the person who hates me most—so I was confused. Her message read, “Say hi 2 ur so-called BFFs, looks like u got no more frnds, as if u had any in the 1st place LOL.” Attached was a photo of Stacy and Clover laughing in front of Chloe’s sparkling tree. At the center of it all was Chloe, with her Gucci makeup and her smug face glowing with satisfaction. Even in the photo, Stacy’s smile seemed forced, and Clover wasn’t even looking at the camera. Was it possible they didn’t want to be there either? My chest tightened, and tears stung my eyes. How could they do this to me? I shoved my phone under my pillow, turned out the lights, and buried myself in my blanket. Sleep didn’t come easily.

December 14th
Monday mornings are bad enough, but this one felt impossible. “Stay focused and try not to die,” I muttered as I walked through the school gates. Okay, that was dramatic, but that’s what high school feels like sometimes. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw Chloe. She was already surrounded by her usual fan club, wearing way too much makeup for a human. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chloe turned out to be some alien experiment in glitter overload. People wouldn’t stop talking about her party. “Amazing,” “epic,” “the best ever,” blah blah blah. I wanted to disappear. Luckily, the bell rang, and I escaped to first-period, math. Don’t get me wrong, I like math—but having it first thing on a Monday? Pure torture. Whoever decided that hates kids. Then Mr. Smith walked in. Or, as we call him, Mr. Oldie. He’s ancient. I mean, he’s so old that the school had to bring in a chalkboard for his class because he refuses to use whiteboards. He calls them “tools for the lazy,” and he says the chalkboard “keeps him young.” Right.

As Mr. Smith droned on about equations, my mind wandered. I couldn’t stop thinking about Stacy and Clover. How could they do this to me? We’d been friends since birth. Every day with them had been an adventure—Stacy with her wild, over-the-top ideas, and Clover with her fierce “if you hurt Angie, I’ll hurt you” attitude. We were inseparable, or at least I thought we were. I remembered the time we made a pact—"Nothing will ever break us up," we’d promised, linking pinkies like kids do. But that was probably a lie too, wasn’t it? Maybe they’d been lying to me my whole life, like when I lost my diary for a week and they claimed they’d busted down all the lockers in school to find it. Now that I think about it, that was probably a joke, not a lie.

A lump formed in my throat. I blinked back tears, trying to focus on the chalkboard. Mr. Smith was still going on about something, but his voice was muffled under the roar of my own thoughts. How do you go from being sisters to strangers overnight? Suddenly I heard my name: “Angela, Angela, Angela, Angela”. I looked up and saw Mr. Oldie handing me some chalk. “Would you like to solve this equation for me, since you’re so intrigued in the lesson that you haven’t said one word?”

"But it’s almost Christmas!" I said, looking for a way to get out of this. "Aren’t we meant to do something fun, or are you that old that you don’t know what ‘Christmas’ is?"Everyone started to laugh. “ANGELA, MEET ME AFTER CLASS!” he yelled, I could smell his bad breath from where I was sitting. I didn’t know what came over me, but I started to despise everyone. I felt angry, and I blamed it all on Christmas, and that was how it all started.

December 15th, 7:00 am
The only thing that made me happy was Fang. I don’t know why, it’s his innocence. I took down all the Christmas stuff in my room (and Fang’s, which made him a bit confused) and stopped listening to Christmas songs. Every twinkling light and glittering ornament mocked me. How could I celebrate when my friends had ruined everything?My room sparkled with tinsel draped along the window sills and fairy lights glowing softly around my bedpost. The smell of pine from our tree lingered in the air, mixing with hints of cinnamon candles Mum had lit in the hallway. Now, the room felt empty. The fairy lights were stuffed into a box, and the cheerful tinsel lay crumpled in the corner. The decorations had to go. I was about to try and block my ex-BFFs for the trillionth time (it’s just too hard to forget about them) when I got a text from Stacy and Clover. It said: “Hey, we need 2 talk. Some stuff’s been going on & we haven’t had a chance 2 catch up. Can u meet us after school?” I suddenly had a rush of emotions: surprised, angry, scared, betrayed. I didn’t know how to feel—are they telling the truth, or are they plotting with Chloe?

I went to school early that day, mostly to avoid Chloe and also to think things through before class. I dragged myself all the way to the library—I always found peace with books and maybe I could find a book on “How to fix your life when mean girls bully you and your so-called friends ditch you for mean girls.” I found that highly unlikely. I didn’t know what to do, so I grabbed a few books about school life and started to read. Before I knew it, the bell rang for class to begin.

The day passed by so quickly and soon school was over. I saw Stacy and Clover waiting for me by the gates, I heard Clover’s voice. ‘I feel awful about what happened, Stace. We really messed up with Angie.' I froze mid-step, my heart pounding. but they hadn’t seen me yet, so should I just sneak past or go talk to them, I thought. Suddenly, Chloe catwalked past and shoved me aside, yelling, “Stacy, Clover, my besties!!” I froze in shock as Chloe ran to hug them. The words echoed in my head: “What am I doing? I have no friends. No one likes me.” Tears streaked my face as I turned and walked home through the back of the school. I didn’t want to face them. Not Chloe. Not Stacy. Not Clover.

As I walked home through the back of the school, my mind spinning with a mix of anger and sadness. I didn’t want to face Chloe, Stacy, and Clover. The betrayal felt raw, and I couldn't stop thinking about how everything had changed.

As I walked through the familiar streets, my thoughts shifted. For some reason I started to remember all the times when I felt close to my friends—before all this drama with Chloe. There were moments of laughter, shared secrets, and unspoken bonds. But now, all of that feels like a distant memory. Christmas, which used to represent joy and togetherness, now feels like a cruel reminder of what I’d lost.

I remembered the time Fang waddled into the kitchen wearing a Santa hat three sizes too big, the fluffy brim falling over his eyes. He giggled as I adjusted it, his fang poking out in a toothy grin. 'Merry Crimmas, Angie!' he said in his baby voice, making me laugh, as I stepped into the warmth of my home, Fang ran to greet me with his toothy grin. I hugged him tight, vowing that no matter what, I’d make this Christmas about family. Maybe, just maybe, I’d find a way to forgive and move forward. But for now, family was all I needed.

By Gabriella Iwobho (S2)