A Modern Day Scrooge

Christmas was coming.

When we're little, Christmas means presents under the tree, the excitement of placing out cookies and a glass of milk for Santa to drink, staying up late just to hear those sleigh bells and the infamous tapping of hooves on the rooftop. As we get older, things change; Santa isn't there for us anymore, and Christmas becomes more. It becomes a time for family and friends, seeing the reaction on their faces as we give them that Christmas present we saved up for.

This year was different.

I could care less about presents, or family, or friends. I was becoming my own personal Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Everyone knew it, too; its not like I hid the fact that Christmas was the last thing I wanted this year. If I could have changed the fact that December 25th was anything important on the calendar, I would. I did...in my own personal way.

I was dirt poor, so presents were out. My family had moved far away and, considering I was dirt poor, I couldn't even fly out to visit them. My friends were off doing there job so I couldn't spend time with them. I was alone, broke, and severely lacking any holiday spirit.

So, I deleted Christmas from my mind and moped.

Sitting in my small apartment, I wrapped myself in a fuzzy blanket with a mug of coffee resting between my palms, the scalding liquid burning my tongue with each sip. But its not like I minded. The television was on, my thumb continuously flipping through the thousands upon thousands of Christmas movies, the themes and plots veering on exactly the same. It was always a happy ending in those films.

I scoffed, “Way to stick to reality,” I mumbled, continuing to flip until I fell upon what had to be the most un-holiday related film in existence.

I'm not sure what Saw movie it was, but it sure kept my mind off the Christmas season.

There was a knock on my door, my eyes gliding over to the front entrance, not wanting to get up from the warmth of the couch mixed with the blanket surrounding me. When the knock sounded again, I groaned, getting up from the cheap material of the couch and toward the door, looking through the peephole to see a man standing on the other side, his brown uniform informing me that he worked with the delivery service.

I opened the door, the man's eyes falling over my attire of flannel pajama pants, old t-shirt I had stolen from one of my friends, and the blanket draped over my shoulders.

“Hey,” He said, sticking his hands out with a package in his palms. I raised my eyebrows, taking the parcel and tucking it under my arm. The man handed me a clipboard which I signed before he walked away, wishing me a Merry Christmas over his shoulder. I scoffed once more, my lips threatening to mutter a humbug, but I suppressed the feeling before closing the door behind me.

I looked at the brown packaging, turning it over in my hands before ripping open the package in one fluent motion. Inside were three DVDs, each labeled in three different scripts and colors. From my side, I heard the small hum of my cellphone vibrating against the wood of the coffee table in the living room. Quickly picking it up, I tossed the DVDs and box onto the couch, falling next to them as I answered the small mobile device.

“Hello?” I answered, my eyes scanning over the package as I awaited the caller's response.

“Alexis?”A soft smile fell upon my lips as the voice of my best friend came through my cell phone.

“Hey, Johnny Boy,” The sound of his all too familiar chuckle made its way through the phone making my heart throb with the nostalgia of him and all my friends back in my hometown of Tempe, Arizona.

“Merry Christmas, Ms. Scrooge,” I rolled my eyes though he couldn't see, picking at a loose thread in my blanket.

“Shut up, Cornelius,” I retorted; I could practically hear his crooked smile growing on his lips.

“Nice insult, Catherine,” John laughed into the phone, the sound vibrating through my eardrum. After a moment of listening to my friend's contagious laughter, he spoke again, “How's college life out there in Massachusetts?” He asked, his voice sounding slightly sad as he talked about college. It had saddened all of our friends when we had talked about my going away so far from home. They all knew how badly I had wanted to leave Arizona however and, with their constant traveling schedules, I would have been alone in the town that held such trouble to me over the past years of my life.

I sighed, “Boring as hell. How's touring?”

“Boring as hell without our favorite girl there with us anymore,” John responded, a smirk evident in his voice.

“Don't lie to me.”

John laughed, “Fine, not boring as hell but we all miss you a whole lot.”

“I miss you guys, too. A lot.”

“So much that you've become Scrooge.”

I could never lie to John; he was one of those friends that would always be able to see through my false fronts and call me out on it until I told him what was really going on. I lacked the mental stamina at this point in time to actually try and make up something to try and fool my friend. “Yes.”

“Well, we've come up with something that should help you not miss us so much, Missy. And, if I'm correct, you should have received a package today?”

My eyes widened as I looked over at the small box on the cushion beside me, “Uh, yeah. I just got it; its right beside me.”

“Good,” John smiled through the phone.

“John, what's this about-”

“From this point on, you shall address me as Marley.”

“What?”

“Well, Scrooge, I know for a fact that we both read a Christmas Carol in school a couple years ago so don't act like you don't know the story. Now, you shall be visited by three Ghosts, and , since we can't be there, we sent DVDs to take you through your journey.”

“John-”

“Just shut the fuck up and put in the first DVD!” John shouted, hanging up the phone and leaving my with a dial tone.

I sighed, tossing the device onto the couch cushion as I pulled the DVD on top out of the box. Printed clearly on the top were the words Ghost of Christmas Past in bright red ink. I jumped up from the couch, popping it into the DVD played before sinking back into my couch.

An empty room appeared in front of me, its set up tipping me off that it was a hotel room. Suddenly, a face appeared in the screen, my body jumping off the couch in surprise as the face began to laugh, his blue eyes squinting as he laughed into the camera lens.

“Hey, Alex, its me, the Ghost of Christmas Past!” the face pulled back and I got a good look at his short messy brown hair, his old tattered t-shirt and nose ring that crinkled as he smiled at me, “Hope I scared you good enough. I'm sure you jumped,” I smiled, shaking my head; he knew me all too well.

“Whelp, John told all of us that you were turning into Scrooge so we chipped in to help you get back your holiday spirit. I know Boston's a huge bummer, but don't let that get your Christmas game down!” I burst out laughing as Garrett pulled out a Santa hat from behind his back and pushing it over his already messy hair, a goofy grin on his lips.

“Alright, I'm in the holiday spirit, so you should start too.” Garrett said, getting close to the camera again, his eyes squinting once again with his smile. He pulled away quickly, his face serious as he looked down at his hands, “But that's not why I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past is it?” He shook his head as if I was standing right in front of him, “No, I'm here, on your TV because I've been your best friend and neighbor for...God knows how long,” He pulled the hat from off his head, messing with his hair before looking into the screen, “So I've piled up a bunch of videos for you to watch, with commentary from myself of course, so..sit back, watch, and..try to lose your terrible Christmas spirit!” Garrett's face faded from the screen and I was met with a black screen.

But only for a moment.

“Okay, so remember when we were first started drinking our Sophomore year and you and John would sing Christmas carols when you two were extremely drunk? Well...” The screen faded from black to a very shaky camera clip of John and I standing on a table, beer bottles in our hands as we sang a terrible rendition of Angels We Have Heard On High, our notes terribly off key but shit eating grins on our faces as the group around us laughed. “You're not a very graveful drunk, but I could say the same about John too so...” Garrett's laugh mixed with mine as the screen switched from John and myself to a shot of the entire group of our friends sitting on my couch as I stood in front of them, a white envelope in my hands.

“Remember when you got your acceptance letter from Boston University on Christmas Day and we were so excited?” Garrett's voice faded out as my friend Pat's higher voice faded in.

“Open it, Alex! I'm dying here!” He shouted, jumping up and down in his seat. A recorded version of myself smiled as I tore away at the white envelope, holding out the paper and clearing my throat.

“Dear Alexis Marten, Congratulations-” And that's as far as I read as the group of boys jumped from their spots on the various spots in the living room and tackled me in a hug, laughter filling the air.

The screen was black once more and Garrett's voice came through again, “Okay, one more and this one might be a little hard for you...” His voice faded a bit before the sound of him taking a heavy breath came through the speakers, “Okay, remember last Christmas Eve when your jackass ex-boyfriend of two years dumped you and we weren't there because we had just gone on a tour for a few months? Remember how you checked your email and we had sent you a video of that song Ho Ho Hopefully, that we had written a few months prior, with John, Kennedy, and Justin singing it to cheer you up? Well, we ho ho hope this will cheer you up too.”

The screen flashed once more, revealing a single camera shot of an ironing board and an iron as the torso of my good friend Justin Richards in a ridiculous green Christmas sweater. A few moments later, John appeared wearing a pair of extremely baggy red pajama pants, a black beanie on his messy, long brown hair, and a matching baggy, red pajama top, the buttons all undone except for one which left his bare, skinny chest out for the world to see. Suddenly, John bent down, pulling off the pajama pants and handing them to Justin who then proceeded to iron one pant leg as John (badly) mouthed the lyrics to the music in the background.

As the video continued, I found myself singing along to the familiar words that had comforted me so long ago when my friends couldn't be there for me.

When John finally walked off the screen and the music died off, Garrett's face appeared, a soft smile on his face as he placed the Santa hat back over his messy hair.

“Yeah, we decided to make it for out fans last week,” He said, a slow grin creeping up his cheeks, “but mainly for our number one fan,” Garrett pointed his finger into the lens before pulling it back quickly, “Okay, well, I take my leave! Love you, Alex!” Garrett whipped his hands above his head, puckering his lips and closing his eyes as the screen blackened, a few words popping onto the screen.

Put in Disc 2
-Love, Garrett-

The disc was ejected from the DVD player and grabbed the second DVD, exchanging one for the other before walking over to the couch with a little more enthusiasm than before.

A face appeared, the toothless grin on his face as he waved at me through the glass, a Santa hat on his head as well. Patches of reddish-brown hair peeked out from beneath faux fur of the plush fabric, the strands falling into his eyes.

“Hey, Lexy! Its me Ja-...The Ghost of Christmas Present,” Jared corrected himself, laughing slightly at his mix up, “I was conned into being this Ghost; I wanted to be the Ghost of the Future and I had this awesome idea of how I was gonna do it, but someone else won me out on that one...and John told me that I looked more like the Ghost of Christmas Present,” Jared tapped his chin, fixing the hat on his head before shrugging his shoulders into the camera, “I'm still not sure if that's an insult or not but, whatever!”

Jared smiled, reaching behind him as he pulled out a piece of computer paper, writing on one side as he flipped it between his fingers, “Its kind of hard to be the Ghost of Christmas Present when the whole point of this ghost is to tell you what's going on around you...but we're not there in Boston so we can't do that! So, I found a different way to help,” Jared turned around, yelling for someone to come over to him and soon, a skinny, long haired boy came jogging into the shot, a grin on his face as he waved into the camera.

“Hey, Lex!” Pat yelled, walking up to the lens and peering into it like he could see me, “If you can see me, say map,” I laughed, shaking my head at the younger boy, “SAY MAP!”

“Pat!”

“Sorry,” He said, pulling back and handing Jared a camera and a chord that Jared plugged into what I assumed to be his laptop, “Jared and I have filmed a few people that also wanted to help win back your Christmas spirit...”

“Pat is the Ghost of Christmas Present's helper,” Jared explained as he looked back up at me, his familiar toothless smile back on his lips, “Did it!” Jared yelled, pulling back his hands as Pat clapped, cheering for his older friend, “Alright, now sit back-”

“Relax,” Pat chimed in.

“-And enjoy your good friends wishing you a Happy Holiday!”

And the screen blackened.

Suddenly, Jared and Pat flashed back onto the screen, laughing and pushing each other as they smiled over at the screen, “Ha, we got you!” Jared yelled.

“We're the bestest friends you could ever ask for!” Pat exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis.

Jared nodded, “Well, on that note, we have a task for you that is really your traveling for my Ghost...whatever. I have no idea what I'm saying anymore. Pat take over,” Jared said, getting up from his chair and taking off the Santa hat, plopping it onto Pat's messy hair.

“Alright, you need to follow these directions. Write. This. Down,” He said slowly, waiting a few moments and I realized that was him signaling me to grab something to write this down with. As soon as I had opened up a new text message, Pat started speaking again, “Okay, go to that hotel down the road a couple blocks down from your house and ask for the key to room 237. They should give you a key and go right up to the room, sit down and bring the third DVD in the package with you. As soon as you put in the DVD,” Pat said as I typed out the directions, saving it as a draft before closing my phone and putting it on the cushion next to me, “Alright. That's it. Merry Christmas, Alexis,” Pat smiled, waving into the camera.

“We love you,” Jared yelled from the bed behind Pat, waving his hands over his head, “Go now and do what The Ghost of Christmas Present has foretold to you!”

“And his helper!”

“No one cares Pat.”

The screen blackened again and I smiled at the screen as it read in big white letters:

Remember what you have seen here, Scrooge.
-Love, Pat and Jared-

Hurriedly, I ran up to my room, grabbing my winter jacket, switching my flannel pajama pants for a pair of ripped jeans with holes in the knees, my sneakers, and a red t-shirt to try and get some Christmas spirit in my wardrobe on behalf of my friends who were trying so hard to get me back to my regular ways, before I was the Scrooge I was now.

Upon reaching the hotel, I walked up to the front desk, the main lobby filled in decorations in every corner of the room. The man at the desk smiled at me, asking me what he could do to help me with anything.

“Um, yes. My friend told me to ask you for a key to room, uh...” I whipped out my phone, looking at the text of directions I had typed out from the video, “Room 237?”

The man smiled, telling me to hold on a moment before he produced a key card, handing it over to me and wishing me a happy holidays, my response being a small nod before I walked over to the elevator and heading up to the room.

Once inside, I placed the DVD into the player before sitting down on the bed and waited for the disc to load.

“Hey, Alexis, good job. You can follow directions,” Jared said, a smile on his face, “hopefully. I don't know if your actually in the hotel but...if not, your loss.” I smiled, shaking my head at my two friends as they grinned into the camera.

“So, if we're correct, your gift should be outside your door, but don't get up, its coming to you. Right...about...NOW!” I looked over at the door as it cracked open, my eyes widening as a hand pulled through the doorway, followed soon after by a head.

“Hey Alexis,” He said, his ginger hair messed on top of his head with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

I screamed, jumping up from the bed and tackling Nick in a huge hug as he stumbled backward into the hallway, his laughter filling my ears, “Missed you too, Lex.”

“Nick Santino, I thought you were on tour?!”

“I was on tour,” He responded, pulling away from me as we walked back into the room, closing the door behind us and sitting on the bed facing each other, “I just got off of one and Jared called me to come visit you in Boston and to stay in this hotel and to wait in room 236 until I heard the door close and to wait outside room 237 until I heard the words Right about now and then I should walk in to find you sitting here,” Nick listed off the tasks he was to accomplish on his fingers, smiling over at me when he finished, “And I'm supposed to watch this with you,” He said, pulling a DVD case from his jacket pocket, handing it to me as he pulled the sunglasses from off his hides and tucking them into the top of his v-neck t-shirt.

“Its all part of this thing they're doing to cheer me up-”

“And to get you to stop being a Scrooge?” Nick added, pulling a Santa hat from his jacket as well, placing it over his hair as he grinned over at me.

“What is with everyone and these hats?” I laughed, pointing at the red and white fabric atop his head.

“All part of the plan, now put in the DVD!” He ordered as I got up, giggling slightly to myself and putting the disc into the player in exchange for the other.

The disc loaded, a figure with a blanket draped over their head as a single hand lifted up, pointing into the camera lens, “I am the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,” The all too familiar voice called out from beneath the sheet.

“That Ghost doesn't talk, Kennedy,” John's voice yelled from the other direction as Kennedy ripped the sheet from off his head and rolled his eyes, shoving a Santa hat atop his head before turning back around to face the direction I could only guess John was standing.

“Shut up! I can't do shit if she can't hear me!” Kennedy countered, looking over at me from behind the glass of the television, “Well, hello, Alex. If you're watching this, Nick is there with you which means you also can follow directions well and so can Nick so good job to both of you!” Nick and I rolled our eyes and laughed slightly as Kennedy continued.

“Alright, now, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come showed Scrooge that he was better off with the holiday spirit not just during Christmas time, but all year round and everything about Scrooge's life changed dramatically from that point on. Now, I'm not going to show you the repercussions of your death or all that jazz, but I will tell you, if you let the Christmas spirit go this year, all the years after that will suck ass. And I think all of us will have terrible lives after this if you don't get that awesome spirit back. Right Nick?” I looked over at the ginger as he nodded, a grin on his face, “Correct. Now, we have one more thing for you before the end of this Christmas adventure,” Kennedy said, grinning as he pulled out a piece of paper from off the desktop and holding it up in front of the camera lens, “Follow this address, Nick will take you and prepare yourself for a holiday surprise.” Nick scribbled down the address and nodded his head toward me, “Now, have fun and merry Christmas, Alexis,” Kennedy blew a kiss into the screen and made a heart with his hands before the screen was black, the words, Follow the address. -Love, Kennedy- flashing across the screen.

“Alright,” Nick said, getting up and placing the disc back into its case before turning back to me, “let's go.”

Halfway to the address, I realized just how much I had missed Christmas adventures with my friends. Every year we had found some place to hang out the night before the holiday to just celebrate another year together. We hadn't done that for two years now, this year being the second, but I was excited to find out what Kennedy and the guys would have planned for Nick and I to do.

Nick pulled into an empty parking lot with a small warehouse the only building in existence from what I could see. I looked over at Nick who just smiled, opening his door and walking over to my side and opening my door as well as we walked over to the building in the distance.

Upon opening the door, I noticed how dark it really was inside, Nick's arm leaving my waist as I whipped my head back and forth looking for him in the darkness to no avail, “Nick?” I whimpered feeling scared for what was really around me.

The sound of switch flipping clashed through the silence in the room until one by one millions of twinkling lights flashed around the warehouse, lighting up the area around me. A Christmas tree stood in the middle, small presents underneath and a rocking chair beside it with a few Christmas books on the wood of the seat. There were seven stockings tacked onto the wall beside me and mistletoe strung beside each strand of garland. The table near the wall held a true Christmas dinner, turkey and all just like it would have been in the Christmas Carol.

As I scanned the room, my eyes fell upon the five familiar figures of my best friends, grins and Santa hats adorning their heads and faces. They all wore Christmas sweaters and skinny jeans but I could care less about what they were wearing; the fact that they were here was the best thing about them at that moment.

“Merry Christmas,” They chanted, throwing their arms in the air as I covered my mouth with my hand, tears stumbling form my eyes with pure joy seeping through each water droplet.

They jogged over, wrapping arms around me from every direction with our laughter filling the air around each of us, “We're sorry we made you cry, Alexis,” John apologized, pulling away from me and wiping a few stray tears from my eyes with his thumb.

“Yeah, we just wanted you to be Alexis, not Scrooge,” Garrett admitted, kissing my cheek quickly.

“And to surprise you with our presence-”

“-Instead leaving you all alone on Christmas like last year,” Pat said, interrupting Jared.

“But to make up for it, we got you tons of presents for our number one on every occasion,” Kennedy grinned, pulling out a matching Santa hat from behind his back and handing it to me.

I grinned, taking the hat from his hands and placing it on my head, “All I need for Christmas is best friends who care more about me then I could ever dream of anyone caring about me in my entire life,” The boys smiled, “and I got that a while ago. I guess I just forgot.”

“Don't do that,” Garrett jokingly warned, pointing his finger at me.

“I don't think I will ever again.”