I awake in the darkness of my room and glance at the clock that reads midnight. I smile, throwing off the blankets and grabbing my robe. It’s Christmas, the first one in years the entire family has been home. Quietly, so as to not wake up Mom and Dad down the hall, I open my door and tiptoe to the stairs and all the way down. Once I’m on the bottom level, I rush into the living area to the massive tree flickering with multicolored lights and find Chad sitting on the floor beside it, still fully dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. We both grin at each other like little kids, though I’m nearly eighteen and he’s twenty-four, and I love it. I hurry to him, then sit on the floor Indian-style and he nudges me. “I thought you were turning into an old lady, going to bed so early.” “You weren’t here when I went to sleep.” “I went to see Dawn,” he says. “She still hates me.” “You missed your girlfriend’s birthday.
