Underneath the Mistletoe by Emerson Locke

Author:Emerson Locke [Locke, Emerson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ScreamReel Publications
Published: 2024-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8: Silent Night

‘I’m gonna find that girl underneath the mistletoe, we’ll kiss by candlelight…’

That’s what Kristian dreamed that night. Unfortunately, the reality he faced when he woke up was far less rosy.

Another of the Mandevilles’ stupid holiday traditions was having a Christmas jumper day. Kristian hated Christmas sweaters – they feel sweaty and itchy, and look terrible. So from the moment he got out of bed he was determined to avoid taking part, for the sake of his dignity and personal comfort. He was so reluctant he had even developed a multipronged strategy to achieve his goal: avoidance, delay, deprival and refusal.

When he got dressed he picked a green-and-red hoody to wear with his jeans, figuring the Christmassy colours would help him blend in, and didn’t enter the kitchen until everyone was busy eating their breakfasts, hoping no one would notice he was breaching the dress code.

Of course his shitty luck meant his mom called him out straight away, but he was prepared for that – explaining innocently that it had slipped his mind and he would look for something to wear later.

Unfortunately, he’d used that tactic too many times before. His mom knew what his game was – delaying and delaying until the day was over – and told him he could get changed now.

Now? Kristian said he would love to, but had just remembered he’d forgotten to pack a Christmas jumper. How tragic!

“Well it’s a good job I brought a spare one for you. It’s in the wardrobe in mine and your dad’s room.”

Kristian glared at her – May the Lord smite thee down! – as the bitter taste of defeat filled his mouth. Avoidance, delay and deprival had all failed, and he knew refusal wouldn’t prevent his mom from having the Mandevilles pin him down and force the infernal jumper over his head.

When he came back downstairs in the jumper his mom had bought him – thank God one without music or lights – Madeline said he looked cute in it. He didn’t know whether it was a good or a bad thing. Did she mean ‘cute’ in a younger brother sort of way or a potential lover sort of way? All he could say for certain was how he felt: stupid, stupid, stupid.

To make matters worse, Tom had made arrangements for a professional photographer to come and take a photo of their families in front of the fireplace with their Christmas sweaters on. So it wasn’t enough for him to inflict a day of discomfort on Kristian – he wanted to immortalise it too.

As a perfectionist, Samantha insisted on styling everyone’s hair and applying makeup to their faces, which took ages. And the photographer prolonged the torture by taking forever to get everyone into position – ‘You: a little more to the left. You: come forward half a step. You: stop picking your nose. You: it’s okay to smile. You’re at a Christmas photo shoot, not a funeral…’ All the while, Kristian had to stand by and watch Madeline in Gareth’s arms.

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