[25th December]
"Ah!"
I woke up panting and drenched in sweat. I held my head in my hands.
What the hell was that!?
My sister burst into my room with a wooden spatula in hand. "Where is it!?" she yelled, scrambling around.
"There's nothing?" I said, more like a question. I brought my legs over the edge of the bed with a sigh.
"Why were you screaming then?" my sister groaned exasperatingly.
"I had a nightmare. It's okay." I waved her off. My mind was in a jumble right now.
Where the hell was I? Was that seriously another dimension? Why did Ethel die!?
"Oh," my sister cleared her throat before stepping to the door.
"I made you breakfast, by the way. I'm going off now! Be sure to take your lunch box unless you want school lunches." she snickered.
"Where are you going?" she raised a brow at me questioningly.
"Work?"
"Oh." she turned to close the door.
"Are you sure you are okay? You can stay home if you'd like, I can call the school." I perked up.
"Really?" I wouldn't be able to pay attention anyway. Plus, the death date is nearing and I had to come up with a plan.
"Sure. If you're actually ill," my sister was about to come over but I stopped her.
"I'm having a gruesome headache. I don't think I can focus in class," she gave me a skeptical squint but eventually gave in.
"Alright, rest well." with that, she shut the door and I immediately fell back to my bed. I rubbed my face.
Should I have not opened the door? I began to think about all the times Johnny and I had stayed in the room to talk. What if I had walked through that door earlier? Could I have avoided Ethel's death in that dimension?
I scoffed and cleared my mind. No way, I didn't even know how or when he died. It may be a disease for all I know. I rubbed my chin as I thought about the Ethel in this world. He didn't seem to be suffering from any sickness.
I grabbed my phone to inform the others that I couldn't make it to school today.
Messages started flooding in after that.
'Is everything okay?' – Hwang Nicklaus
'Whaaaaaat? Whyyyyyyyy :(' – Ethan Lee
'You never skip classes...🤔' – Dylan Wang
'Do you want me to come over and bring you breakfast?' – Park Jay
Silas sent a 'get well soon' GIF. It was quite amusing. Rikki simply left me on 'read'. Not shocking.
'It's okay, Jay. My sister made me breakfast. I'm just down with a headache. I'll be back tomorrow :]' I replied before marching down the stairs on time to catch my sister leaving through the house door.
"Bye!" I waved at her. She waved back before the door closed shut. I sighed and made a beeline towards the kitchen. I found a plate of food and a lunchbox on the kitchen island. I removed the sticky note on the container and held it up.
'heat this up and eat it for lunch – sis'
I smiled and taped it back on before taking a seat on a stool. I drooled over the plate of food in front of me. Two pieces of hash brown, a sunny-side-up egg, some coleslaw at the side, and a glass of orange juice in front of me. I squealed in happiness. My sister was the best!
-
After that big breakfast, I was feeling energized to work on a plan so, I sped to the stationery store nearby to get a huge roll of paper and returned. I unrolled it on the coffee table in the living room and visualized how I was going to go about with this. Then I thought...
Why would I even need to write it down!?
I cried and hurled myself onto the couch. I could've just envisioned the plan in my head!
The bell rang all of a sudden and I sprung from the sofa. I unlocked the door and three pizza boxes were immediately shoved in my face.
"Pizza delivery!" an exaggerated male voice exclaimed.
"I don't recall ordering pizza...?" furrowing my eyebrows, I took a step back, fearful that it could be a kidnapper at the door. The person removed the boxes away from my view. My eyes widened.
"Nick!?" suddenly, the others popped out from behind him with snacks and drinks.
"Surprise!" well, it was a refreshing surprise.
"Did class end early?" I raised a brow. I was still not accustomed to the timetable.
"No, we skipped the after-lunch classes," Nick said before inviting himself in, the others followed behind.
"What?"
"I mean, all the exams are already done with so..." Silas shrugged his shoulders with a smug grin.
"That reminds me," Jay unpacked the bottles of soda on the coffee table.
"Mr. Kim said to tell you that you need to come early tomorrow for your English test." I nodded before moving the paper aside.
"What's with the big ass paper?" Dylan threw himself onto the settee.
"Oh, I was going to draw..." I muttered, remembering that Johnny liked drawing.
"Hope we didn't interrupt anything." Nick removed his winter coat and hung it on the rack.
"No, it's fine. I was having an art block anyway." all of them started removing their jackets. The rack had limited space so they hung it over the couch. I quickly rolled up the paper and put it aside. I looked over them as they glanced around the house.
Nick was standing behind the sofa while Silas was seated on it. Dylan was dangling his legs over Silas' lap as he laid down. Ethan was unboxing the cheese sticks and Jay was getting plates from the kitchen. "...where's Rikki?" I asked, though I already knew the reason for his absence.
"He had detention so he couldn't leave or else his parents would be informed." my eye grew.
"Detention? For what?"
Silas shrugged. "He beat up some kid in our class. Wouldn't tell us why." that was strange.
"I have to leave in two hours. My parents want to set up the Christmas tree together and I have to help out in the kitchen for dinner." Dylan spoke.
"Oh! My parents and I set up ours last night!" I pointed to the tree behind us.
"Light it up!" Ethan clapped his hands eagerly.
"It's literally only one in the afternoon,"
"Who cares! Turn off all the lights and make it look like it's nighttime!" I was rather fond of the idea. We switched off the lights and draw the curtains. Our only light source was the Christmas tree as it lit up the room and ideally set the mood. There was this feeling in my stomach that I couldn't describe as I gazed around the dimly lit room.
We cheered when Jay came back with cups and plates and a look of uncertainty. "Did the lights go out or something?" we explained it to Jay and he just shook his head with a smile.
"You guys, seriously..."
"Okay, dig in!" everybody gathered around the coffee table and started grabbing their own slices and opening up the fizzy drinks.
"Wow, this was worth skipping lunch for!" I raised a brow. Did they skip lunch to have it with me? An appreciative smile made its way to my face.
"Oh wait!" I reached for the TV remote on the couch and went onto YouTube.
"We have to have some Christmas songs playing!" the others laughed, nodding in approval. After I settled for an hour-long Christmas oldies playlist, I set the remote back down and drank my soda.
"This is fun." Silas chuckled lightly. We hummed.
"You should've seen our school today! Everywhere was filled with Christmas decorations! The council team set them up last night," I smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah, there was even a huge Christmas tree in our cafeteria! There were presents under it, surprisingly." Ethan shrugged, holding up a buffalo wing.
"They're most likely hollow," we snickered at Dylan's remark.
"Johnny, you should set up the fairy lights around the house like last time!" I tensed up.
"Like last time?"
"Yeah! Last year's Christmas, remember? You and I hung up strings of lights around your house and it was so refreshing!" Ethan's eyes were shining as he reminisced.
"I'm not sure where I put it..."
"It's in your storage room!" Ethan quickly got up and made his way to a part of my house that I didn't even know existed. With a grunt, he hoisted a box and placed it on the couch.
I stared with furrowed brows as he removed the lid to reveal an incredibly long string of star-shaped bulbs.
"Tada!" he exclaimed, holding them up.
"Let's set it up!" Nick dusted his hands before leaving the table to help Ethan.
"The ladder is in the storage room too! Help me get it please!" Ethan seemed to know more about my house than I did.
"I'll get it!" I quickly fled the couch to get the steps.
"Is it straight enough?" Ethan huffed as he glanced at us over his shoulder. Nick and I took steps back to check.
"Yes, it's great!" Nick gave him a thumbs up and Ethan taped the string onto the wall with duct tape.
"Won't the paint come off along with the tape?" I asked with an apprehensive tone.
"Trust me, I did this too last year. Well, I wasn't there to help take it off but the paint looks fine to me!" Ethan graced his hands on the wall to review.
Let's just hope Johnny and his family didn't have a repaint last year.
To my surprise, the string was long enough that it went all around the ground floor. Ethan plugged the plugin and switched it on. The lights immediately brightened up the floor.
We could hear the gasps and squeals from the others in the living room. "This is awesome!" I gaped at the lights, amazed.
"Let's go eat!" Nick patted our backs and we made our way back to the living room.
"I wish every day was like this." Ethan sighed as he returned to his seat. Jay refilled my cup from beside me before settling a kiss on my cheek. Ethan and Silas who saw made gagging noises and began teasing us. We laughed together, wide smiles on our faces. Life as Johnny was a joy.
"Yeah...
I wish every day would be like this too."
-
After our lunch and an episode of Adventure Time, Dylan packed up and left to enjoy some family time. He heard that his cousins were coming over too so he had to go earlier than he expected.
Jay had to go too because of a business dinner he was compelled to attend with his workaholic parents. "I'd rather spend more time here with you guys than go to that boring annual party. It's Christmas too. Can't believe I'm wasting precious time like that." Jay grunted as he put on his winter coat and gloves.
"We've spent Christmas together for two years. It's not like we won't get to celebrate together anymore!" Nick waved him off.
"Just go, it's a once in a year opportunity." Jay scoffed at Nick's statement.
"Yeah, and it will be the most boring moment this year too."
"Oh, hold on!" Jay removed his backpack and rummaged for something.
"Did you forget something?" I glanced back at the living room.
"Nothing like that, it's just-" he revealed a rectangular gift box in his hand before waving it at me. I was taken by surprise.
"F-for me?" the twins and Ethan simply watched in expectation. They felt like they were in a romance movie.
"Yeah," Jay gave me a boyish grin. Absolutely gorgeous.
"Thank you..." I hesitantly accepted the gift, not really having anything to give in return.
"Jay, I don't have anything yet. Can I maybe gift you your present later?" I was so focused on the mission that I totally forgot about gifts. Damn it, I should've bought something yesterday.
Jay only smiled at me and nodded. "It's okay. I don't really want anything," he looked away with a blush.
"Just...stay by my side forever, hm?" heat rose my cheeks as I unconsciously gripped onto the box tighter. I was speechless so I gave him a small nod.
He walked over and unexpectedly held onto my cheeks. "Jay...?" my eyes widened when he pressed his lips onto mine. his heat instantly enveloped my body. I could hear the faint yells and squeals of the three behind me.
His warmth was so comforting that when he casually pulled away, I only wanted more.
"Nothing better than a kiss on Christmas," Jay said.
"W-why did you do it so suddenly?" I stuttered. He grinned as he pointed above my head. I looked up.
"Hey," Silas wiggled his eyebrows as he waved the little mistletoe in his hand. I immediately grew flustered and almost launched the gift box at Silas.
"I'll get going now! Bye, guys!" we wished Jay a Merry Christmas and waved him off.
"I wonder if Ms. and Mr. Yang would let us stay for dinner." Ethan hummed lightly as he threw himself onto the loveseat.
"Won't your family want you back home for Christmas?" Nick raised a brow at the eldest. The twins' situation was understandable. Their parents were always at work. Ethan hummed lazily.
"My parents insisted on celebrating Christmas together with my birthday so they wouldn't have to spend on another gift. 'killing two birds with one stone' my parents said." Ethan scoffed in disbelief.
"You can stay and shoot your shot!" Silas snickered at me.
"You only use that phrases when you're courting someone," he said, making me flustered.
"O-oh, really?"
"No, dumbass. You can use it in this situation too." Nick struck his twin's arm. The two started bickering after that.
Ethan and I exchanged glances and shrugged. I was suddenly evoked by what Johnny had asked me every night I met him.
'Have you told them yet?'
I bit my lip and looked over them. Only the twins and Ethan were present right now. Not everyone needs to know right? I don't think Rikki would appreciate the fact that he kissed someone who was not his crush. Jay would be disheartened to know he shared his first kiss with a person who was possessed by someone he didn't even like.
Well, Dylan...I don't think he'd care much. I glanced over at the twins and Ethan again.
Nick and Silas... might actually help me with my plan to keep Ethan alive. As for Ethan, it's kind of obvious. He should know but I hope he wouldn't get too rattled.
"Hey...I have something to tell you guys." they immediately shut up at that. The twins stopped gnawing at each other and shifted to sit properly.
"What is it?"
"I..." I paused for a moment. How should I even word this out!?
"I'm not Johnny," I blurted. They exchanged glances.
"I didn't know Johnny had a twin?" Silas chuckled, not knowing what to say.
"What do you mean?" Ethan stared at me with furrowed brows. That was when I turned to him with a solemn look and said,
"I'm you, from the future."