Nineteen

The next morning, I was awoken by Tim gently shaking me awake. "Little Woods, wake up! Come on!" He whisper-yelled, making me groan and swat at his arms.

"If you don't get up now, I'll tell everyone what you've got them for Christmas." Tim said, making me shoot up in alarm. I shot Tim a glare, raising an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't." I said, but he only nodded. I shook my head, getting out of bed. Tim stood up, putting on his jacket and shoes. He looked at me expectantly, but I gestured to my outfit. "I have to change, Tim." I said, making him turn around. In a record time, I had changed into a pair of leggings, one of Jeff's oversized hoodies I had taken a few days ago, and a pair of fuzzy socks Natalie gave me.

I grabbed my hairbrush, telling Tim that he could turn back around. I grabbed two bobbles, wrapping them around my wrist as I brushed through my hair. I put my hair into a tight high ponytail, before brushing through it again to wrap up into a bun. Tim watched me as I did so, and I gave him a kind smile as I put the brush away. We left my room, making our way to the kitchen.

Once at the kitchen, we sat down after getting some cereal, talking with the others about next week- Christmas.

"Mellie! Mellie wake up! Wake up it's Christmas!" I was pulled out of my sleep by three boys on my bed. Keith, Jeff, and Liu. Jeff was sitting on my torso, with Keith and Liu on either side of me.

"Ooh I wonder what Little Mellie got us!" Sully exclaimed, childishly smiling at my brothers and I.

I playfully shoved my brothers off of the bed, looking down at the sweatpants and hoodie I wore. My hair was in a messy bun, and I decided since it's Christmas, and since my brothers are also in their pyjamas, that we'd just go down like that.

We made our way to the living room, smiling at everyone else in the room. We sat on the couch- they'd saved us a spot. Under the tree we had set up were many presents, set into thirteen piles. I could see which pile was mine, and it was full of presents. We all smiled at each other, before nodding in sync.

We all dived for our piles, and I immediately ripped the biggest present open. Inside was a box. I opened the lid, seeing twenty-four scented candles and a note. The note read 'You know you love them -Keith.' He was right, I do love them. I thanked Keith for the gift, having to speak loudly over everyone else's voices.

I turned to the next present, which was a smaller, squishy present. I ripped the paper, revealing a blue denim jacket. The note with this read: 'A jacket to complete your outfit. -T. W' I smiled over to Tim, who gave a small smile back, gesturing to the clothes I had gotten him. I had bought a blue flannel and black jeans for him, my note saying 'Now we can match-- L. W'

The next three gifts I opened were from the girls (Natalie, Jane, and Nina)- a group present. They worked together to get me an array of makeup products. Some noticeable items were the black lipstick (there was a few sticks), the eyeliner (also a lot) and the eyeshadow. The three had the same note, which said, 'Noticed you didn't have any – N, J, N.'

The next gift I opened was from Jeff. It wasn't that hard to guess, as the entire gift was white hoodies. Lots and lots of white hoodies. He didn't even leave a note. Classic Jeff.

I opened my next gift, seeing a Greek to English dictionary. I found the note, reading it. 'Found a paper version of me. Jack.' I smiled as I read over the note, knowing that I'll never struggle translating between Greek and English again.

My next gift was messily wrapped with pink wrapping paper, making me guess it's from Sally. Inside the present was a small snow globe. In the middle of the globe was a round table, four small people sat around it. I identified the people as Jane, Natalie, Sally, and myself.

The next gift was inside a wrapped box. I unwrapped it and opened the lid, seeing a pair of black combat boots. There was only a small note, saying, 'All those clothes and only one pair of shoes…. From Brian' It's nice that at least one person says 'from' these days.

The next gift was bigger, and thicker than some of the others. I opened it, revealing a book titled, 'The ins and outs of cooking for the lactose intolerant.' I laughed at the name as I picked up the note which read, 'An easy way to know what Tim and I can't eat. – Merry Christmas! From Toby.' I grinned at the note, knowing well that this book would not be going to waste.

The next present I picked up was smaller than others, and lighter than them too. I unwrapped it, seeing a gaming-themed notebook. 'You do a lot of investigating and stuff, right? Thought you'd need this- Ben.' I chuckled at the note, knowing that the boy was absolutely spot on.

The last gift I had was rectangular shaped. I unwrapped it, seeing a box for a Samsung galaxy S10. I gaped at the box for a minute, before grabbing the note even though I knew who it was from. 'You're welcome Mellie, it's already fully programmed with everyone's number and all that thanks to Ben. -Liu (and Sully).' I looked up at my brother with a large smile on my face as I got my phone out of the box, putting it in my pocket.

"Everyone done?" Tim asked, getting a positive response from everyone. "Put your stuff away then!" he exclaimed, as we all got onto their feet, our new unwrapped presents in our hands. I carried everything just fine, making my way to my room. I first deposited everything on my bed, sorting them into piles. One pile consisted of clothes only, which was the jacket, and the many hoodies. The second pile was books, the dictionary, the cookbook, and the notebook making that pile. The next pile was all of the makeup the girls got me. The last pile consisted of my shoes, the candles, and the snow globe.

I hung up the jacket and all of the hoodies in my closet first, placing the shoes beside the closet. I then went over to my desk, shoving random papers aside to stack the books on the surface of the desk. On the bottom was the biggest (the cookbook) then the notebook, and on top was the dictionary. I picked up the snow globe, setting it on top of the books. I then got all of the makeup, placing it all in one of my desk's drawers. I took the twenty-four candles from the box, putting them in the draw below the makeup.

I then lay down on my bed, smiling to myself as I held my new phone in my hand. I looked through the app store, looking for a few games to download. Before I could, a knock was heard at the door. I put my phone in my pocket, going to the door. I opened it, seeing Tim and Brian. Tim had a wrapped gift in his hands and Brian held a sealed envelope.

"Hey guys." I said to them, moving out of their way as I invited them in. I nodded over to my bed, making the pair sit down on it. I closed the door before going to sit beside them. I looked down at the present, raising an eyebrow.

Tim noticed that, and he placed the present on my lap. "Open it. It's from Brian and I." He said, making me tear into the paper. Once I saw what it was, I gasped aloud, looking up at the pair. They'd bought me a new backpack. I held the soft gray fabric in my hands, running my fingers over the stitching. I opened the bag, looking at the large space inside of the bag. I gasped once more when I saw a matching gray purse inside of the bag.

"I…... I can't believe you'd get me a new backpack. And a purse too!" I whispered, smiling softly at the two.

"Well, Mel, we saw how heartbroken you were when your old one was ruined. We got you a new one, just like we said we would. And that purse is for this." Brian grinned at me, before holding out the envelope.

I took it in my hands, carefully ripping the seal. I pulled the two sides of paper apart, gasping loudly when I saw what was inside. "Uh... just how much money is in there?" I muttered, in awe, at the pair. The envelope was filled with money, ranging from £5 notes, £10 notes, £20 notes, £50 notes, and £100 notes.

Tim and Brian exchanged a look before shrugging. "About £5000 in total, I think." Brian guessed, making me stare at him, jaw dropped.

"But why?" I asked them, "Why give me £5000?"

Tim leaned forward, grinning at me. "You see, Little Woods, we have a lot of money. I know you know that too. And both you and Keith don't have as much as we do, so we decided that starting today you two will get fortnightly spending money of £5000. A small start, but it's to see if the two of you can manage keeping £5000 for two weeks. Think you can do it?" Tim explained, and I scoffed at him.

"Of course I can keep £5000 for a fortnight! All I'll be spending my money on is medical stuff…... probably." I trailed off, looking back up at the pair. "Not too sure about Keith, though." I said, shrugging.

We sat in my room for a short while, sorting the money into different areas of my purse before Jeff burst in, looking frantic. "Mellie! Mellie! This was at the door for you!" He exclaimed, handing me a small envelope that read 'Melanie Woods'.