The Christmas stranger

Chapter 1

Bring bring.

I jerked up confused. I looked at my clock and shut it off, and saw that it was only 4:45 in the morning. I dropped my head back onto my pillow and then I jumped up from excitement and fell off of my bed.

"Ugh!" I groaned. My head started hurting just a little bit. I lifted my hand and felt the side of my forehead, only to wince in pain. I pulled my hand away and saw that my forehead was bleeding. So I forced myself to my feet. I was a little unsteady, but I managed to stay upright to my delight. But when I began walking to my bathroom that was attached to my room, I ran into my book shelf.

"Ow! That wasn't there yesterday!" I groaned again.

"You okay?" My cousin called out to me from her bedroom.

"Eh, I'm not even sure right now. I fell off the bed and then I walked right onto my bookshelf. Now you come over here and see for yourself if I'm okay." I told her, irritated. I then heard her footsteps coming my way. She walked into my room and turned on the bright light, blinding me for a couple of seconds.

"Ow! I wasn't expecting you to actually come over here! I was being sarcastic." I muttered to her as I was able to find my way to the bathroom. She followed me but I slammed the door in her face.

"Wow, you're acting immature", She told me, laughing. I opened the door a smidge to flip her off. She giggled some more and walked away. I turned to the mirror and slid it to the side so I could get some Neosporin for the cut on my forehead. I pulled it out and set it on my sink counter and got ready to get in the shower.

After the shower, I climbed out and dried out and got dressed in my ACOTAR outfit. I blow dried my hair and styled it into wavy curls. After that, I lathered the Neosporin onto the cut and, instead of suffocating it with a bandage, I let it breathe. I walked out and began watching some TV. After a couple of hours of that, I pulled out my journal and began writing in it.

Dear Diary,

On December third, I will be driving to see my best friend, Alice. She invited me and a couple of others to come spend some quality time with her and her fiancé. The destination will be Asheville, North Carolina. I am really excited about going and spending time with her. Okay, I will write to you when I get home.

Love Phoenix Parker.

I looked up at the clock and saw that it was 3:35pm.

“s**t” I yelped. I need to pack immediately. Today is the second of December and I need to leave tonight. At 5:30pm I began rushing around the room and picking at my outfits. I decided on comfy because I wasn’t there to impress anybody. After 25 minutes, I finally finished packing and cleaning my room. Because I was throwing my clothes around and they were all over the floor. When I pulled my suitcase down the stairs, my phone began ringing. And it was upstairs.

“Come on!” I groaned. I put down the suitcase and sprinted up the stairs. When I picked up the phone, I was out of breath.

“Hey Alice,” I answered.

“Hey, are you driving yet?” She asked me.

“Um no, should I be driving?” I asked her, confused.

“Um probably, it’s a seven hour drive.” She told me.

“Come on!” I groaned again.

“Sorry, get going so you’re here on time.” She told me, sounding sleepily.

“Are you already there?” I asked her, surprised.

“Yep, get going, I’ll see you there.” Then she ended the phone call.

I started rushing and managed to get into the car and on the road within 15 minutes.

‘Yes’, I thought about six hours into the drive. ‘One hour to go’. I started smiling when I finally reached the mountain retreat. I walked up to the doorway with my hand, took a deep breath and let it out.