Miranda's P.O.V.

It was time for another one of Jeff Atkins Christmas parties. Jeff was known for having pretty crazy parties, but this time, it was going to be different. It was going to be a small party with a few close friends. My sister Hannah and I had gotten out of school for Christmas break, and we had no idea what we were going to do.

That was until three days before Christmas. We got an email from Jeff saying that we were invited to a party at his house and that  we would have to use the email that he sent us to get in. Hannah and I had a few rough months because of personal issues, and we thought that attending this party would be a good idea, so it could help get our minds off things. Our parents agreed to let us go, as long as we promised to work a few hours at the pharmacy a few days before Christmas.

While me and Hannah were working, not a lot of people came in, just the people who stopped by just because they were walking by the store and they needed something. We also saw a few of our classmates. Tyler Down, Tony Padilla, and Alex Standall. But, there was one person who showed up to the pharmacy most frequently, and that person was Clay Jensen. Ever since Hannah and I moved down to Evergreen County, Clay was the first guy who hung out with us when we started attending Liberty High.

He would ask us if we were doing okay, and whenever we were on lunch break, we would always walk down to Monet's and get cups of delicious hot cocoa with whipped cream on top. It was nice to have somebody else besides my sister to talk to and not make a fool out of myself. Whenever I wanted to strike up a conversation with someone, I could never work up the courage to do it, and I would stick my head into my locker and pretend I was invisible.

"Miranda! Are you ready to go yet?" Hannah called from the living room. I had completely zoned out while I was staring at a picture of Me, Hannah, and Clay from the last day before winter break. I quickly put on a long t-shirt and jeans and placed a Christmas headband on top of my head. At the pharmacy, we had a shelf that was full of different headbands, and mother allowed me and Hannah to grab one for the Christmas party. I chose one with Reindeer antlers that had fake Christmas lights wrapped around them, while Hannah chose one with a small Santa hat on top.

"Miranda! Come on! We're going to be late!" Hannah called out again. "Just a second!" I said as I adjusted my headband. I smiled at myself in the mirror as I saw the antlers placed perfectly on my head. I hope everybody likes them. I walked out of my room after grabbing my Secret Santa gift bag from my bed, and I saw Hannah sitting on the couch with her jacket already on. "Are you sure you are going to take your jackets? it doesn't get cold often," Dad asked. "We're sure. Besides, it's Christmas Eve. I'm sure the temperature is going to drop a little," I smiled.

"Okay. Well, you girls take care of yourselves tonight. Don't drink too much hot cocoa. You'll get a stomachache," Mom said as she gently embraced us. "We will. Love you, mom," I smiled. I gave my dad a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, then Hannah and I got into the car and drove over to Jeff's house.

"Can you check to see if we still have the email on our phones?" Hannah asked. I nodded slightly, and I unlocked our phones, and sure enough, we still had our emails from Jeff among the various ads we gotten from our favorite stores. "Yep, we still have them," I answered.

"Good," Hannah smiled.