by J.J. Bonds
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Midterms come and go. I don’t need to see my scores to know that I’ve passed although I’m sure my performance won’t be top of the class. Studying paid off but not to the extent it might have if I’d been sleeping more. I promise myself that I’m going to get the dreams under control and rest up before New Year’s. I don’t want Aldo to worry, and I know I can’t go on like this much longer.
The campus is quiet. Many of the students have left for holiday break and won’t return until New Year’s, if at all, before the semester starts up again. It’s eerie being at Crossroads when the school is so quiet. There’s no laughter in the hall, no slamming doors, no horse play in the dining hall.
Christmas passes uneventfully. I stay in bed all day and watch holiday movies: It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol. I’ve seen them all before, but they remind me of past Christmases. I look at old photos and think of my life before Crossroads, before Aldo. I know where I’d spend the day if I weren’t restricted to campus. Since I can’t leave, I gorge myself on blood instead.
As I lay in bed, I stare at the colorful miniature Christmas tree Shaye dropped off before she left for break. The lights twinkle in the dark, casting little rainbows here and there on the wall. I’ve placed Aldo and Lissette’s gift under the tree. This is the only area of my room that will pass for festive today. Everything else is pretty bleak, including my mood.
While it was really thoughtful of Shaye to bring it, the tree is just another reminder of my isolation. I’m jealous of Shaye. She’s spending the holiday with her parents in Colorado while I’m stuck here by myself.
Aldo and Lissette call to wish me a Merry Christmas, but we only talk briefly. I’m feeling melancholy and don’t want to bring them down too. I still don’t get a chance to ask Aldo about the connection between a sire and a mixed-blood. It doesn’t seem right to be discussing such things today. Christmas is supposed to be a day for family and tranquility, neither of which I am experiencing this year. Mostly, I just feel alone.