Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa everyone!! (:

Gwen's pov!

"I'll take good care of them, don't you worry." A pretty blonde headed girl smiled to my mother. "Just remember that the 'do and don'ts' list is on the fridge. Have a good night." She grabbed her coat and purse and left behind the closed door. I looked at my two brothers, Jake and Daniel, who were playing with their blocks like nothing was happening. "What are you guys doing? There's an imposter in our house!" I whisper-yelled at them. "What are you talking about, Gwen? That's our babysitter." Jake rolled his eyes at me. "Still.." I tangled my arms behind my back and rocked back and forth on my heels. "Bedtime is in a hour." She spoke gently to us with every word she said. "Why do we have to go to bed so early..?" I whined. "Because mama gave her a time in which we are supposed to go to bed." Jake answered. "For a big brother, you're really starting to annoy me." I glared at him. "Well, I don't wake up everyday to be sweet as pie to you like that babysitter." He stacked one colorful block after another. "I like pie.." Daniel began to fascinate about his many favorite flavors of pie. Jake was seven, I was five, and Daniel was four. I wish I was the older one so I could become the leader for once. I sat on the couch and watched the blank television screen as my two brothers played with little dinosaurs. Daniel was, and like always, the king dinosaur. Jake would end up being the king's wife or some dinosaur who fights in the 'dino wars.' The doorbell rang. "I got it." Lainey smiled and walked over towards the door. Why is she so cheery all the time? I peered over her shoulder and saw two girls and a guy soaked in rain and their eyes watery. One of them gave Lainey a baseball cap. "W-What happened?" She began to shake slightly as she stared at the hat. "It's Aaron.. he got into a motorcycle accident on the highway." One of the girls whispered. "He was just driving along when a drunk truck driver lost control of the wheel and spun like a helicopter blade right into Aaron." The guy looked down at his mud covered boots. I looked over at Daniel and Jake. They were both cowered under the kitchen table as they looked at the people at the door. Lainey collapsed to her knees and put the cap to the side. "We're so sorry.." The guy whispered and they walked away. I sat there cold as stone on the couch as I watched Lainey hunch over on the rug and cry her eyes out. She was sobbing so loud, people a mile away could hear her. Tears plummeted from her eyes and soaked the rug. She soon noticed us watching her and reached over to turn up the music our mother forgot to turn off. A very haunting acoustic guitar intro began to play and then the words came. "Summer has gone and past. The innocent can never last. Wake me up when September ends. Like my father's come to pass, seven years has gone so fast. Wake me up when September ends." There is even one chilling sentence that ran down my spine 'As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost.' She stormed off to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. There was loud sobbing, but then it got all quiet. It was dead silent. The three of us looked at each other with worried faces. Mother finally came home and she looked at her children's horrified faces. "What's wrong? Where's Lainey?" She quickly asked. All three of us pointed to the bathroom door. She softly knocked on the door but there was no answer. She slowly opened the door and her hands flew up to her mouth to muffle her screams. We started our way towards the bathroom but she shoved us away. I got a quick glimpse of the terror filled scene in the bathroom. Lainey had found our stepfather's shotgun and shot herself in the head, leaving a huge bloody mess along the walls and the ceiling. The police, an ambulance, and even the fire department showed up. They put Lainey in a body bag and wheeled her out on a little wheel thingy. "Do you know the reason why she committed suicide, mam?" One of the officers asked as he wrote down stuff on his notepad. "No. I came home and found my three children terrified and then found her dead. That's all I know." She sobbed. My stepfather pulled up in his car in the driveway and he looked as scared as my mother. He gave her a tight hug before asking millions of questions. "Should we tell her?" Jake whispered to me. "I don't know-." My stepfather cut me off. "Tell her what?" He raised an eyebrow. We told them and the police the whole story. My mother was more upset than she was at the beginning of the story. "This is horrible!" She screamed with her hands over her eyes. Daniel started to bawl. My stepfather scooped Daniel up into his arms and rocked him back and forth to quiet him, but he kept on going. "I'm going to go lay Daniel down for a nap. I don't want to hear anyone talk about what just happened for the rest of the night." He carried a crying Daniel to bed. I wish I could erase the horror I witnessed. That picture of Lainey's dead body will forever stay in my mind. "Did you see her?" Jake snuck into my room after the parents were asleep. "Who, Lainey?" I whispered, looking around shakily. "Yeah.." He mumbled under his breath. "I got a quick picture of Lainey's head burst open by a shotgun." I choked on tears. "That is just so sad.." He wiped his eye. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close. He silently cried into my shoulder. "It's alright." I soothed. I guess the little sister is the one who comforts this time. "Goodnight." He pulled away and dried his eyes with his sleeve. "Night." I smiled and he smiled back before going back to his room. I curled up under my sheets and held my little teddy bear close. Wait a minute. Teddy bear? When have I ever had a teddy bear? I turned on my lamp and saw a beautiful red ribbon wrapped around it's neck with a tag at the end of the ribbon. It read, 'From: Lainey (: You're the best kid I've ever met!' My eyes filled with tears. I felt so bad for hating on her in the beginning. I hugged the bear into my chest and cried myself to sleep.

...

Years went by so fast and yet that night felt like it was just yesterday. I was in high school, Jake had just started college, and Daniel was in middle school. I was a major outcast in the school category. I had a few friends and tons of people who just loved to pick on me. "Hey, emo goth chick. Think fast." One of the most spoiled girls I've ever met threw a book at the back of my head. "That was pretty harsh." Bridgette, one of my friends, picked up the book and glared at the crowd of jocks walking away and laughing. "I'm used to it." I shrugged it off and headed towards social studies class. God it is so boring. The teacher, Mr. Cooper, is like millions of years old and looks like Santa Claus's twin brother. He just sits in front of his desk and reads things off topic out of a worn out textbook. ".. And so now we're gonna learn about the American Revolution. Isn't it going to be exciting?" He looked at the class with such a creepy smile. The class murmured words trying to sound enthusiastic so he would shut up about trying to make the class sound louder and more excited. "There will be a quiz on all of this next week, so study, study, study!" He smiled and the class dragged their way out of the room. I was silently walking through the snow on my way home from school. I shivered violently as the breeze continued to pick up in speed. I stopped in my tracks when I looked up at a snow covered sign that read, 'Abbottsville Cemetery.' I slowly walked into the bone chilling place, hearing only the sound of my heart pounding against my chest and the silent crunch of my boots walking through the snow. I looked around at all of the many tombstones surrounding me. Some were crooked and some were neatly straight up. I saw a flock of crows fly through the moonlight, making their crowing sounds and causing the trip to the cemetery even creepier. I knelt down in front of one of the tombstones and wiped the snow off of it to read the name written across it. 'Lainey Jackson: 1988-2012.' I held back my tears as much as I could and soon felt a few drops stream down my cold cheeks. I was startled when I heard a footstep a couple of feet behind me. I quickly got up to my feet and shook in fear as I stupidly stood there looking from side to side. "W-Who's there?" I called out. Another footstep was taken and I turned around and saw a dark figure moving towards me. I shrieked in fear and stumbled out of the cemetery and towards home, never looking back. I took a quick glimpse to make sure I was far enough from the cemetery as possible and right before I could relax again, I bumped into someone. "I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." A black haired, green eyed teen held out his hand to help me up. "No, it was my fault. Sorry." I mumbled and got up without his help. "What were you running from anyways?" He raised an eyebrow. "Me? Running from something? Nah, I was just out for a run." I laughed stupidly. "When it's 30 degrees out?" He smirked at me. "Never mind.." I shuffled my feet in the snow. "You look like you're freezing." He took off his scarf and wrapped it around my neck. "Kinda.. Well, I must be on my way now. Goodbye." I quickly started walking back towards my house again. "Wait up. Can I walk with you?" He smiled a smile no one could resist but say yes. "Sure.. I guess. I mean if you want to." I blushed, warming up my face. "Cool." He smiled and walked me home. "Aren't you like on the football team or something?" I questioned. "Yeah, I'm the quarterback." He responded. "Why are you talking to an outcast like me then? Shouldn't you be off with your jock friends at some party?" That didn't come out as nice as I planned in my head. "Not exactly. I'm not those kinds of guys who like to party a lot. I just like to stay at home and play the guitar." He didn't seem pissed off at the comment I made. "You play the guitar?" I asked with somewhat enthusiasm. "I write songs too." He smiled. "That's cool." I held back my awkward girly giggle. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school?" He asked. "Yeah. Before you go, what's your name?" I held my arm in embarrassment. "Trent Wyatt." He whispered, his eyes glimmering under the moonlight. "Oh, okay. I'm Gwen Jenner. It was nice meeting you. Bye." I waved and quickly walked inside. "Who was that?" Jake was sitting at the table reading a book with a smirk on his face. "No one. Are you on Christmas break?" I changed the topic. "Yeah, finally. I thought they would never let me out of that hell." He rolled his eyes. "Welcome home princess." My stepdad wrapped his arms around me. "I saw Gwen with a boy outside." Daniel came into the living room dancing around the sofa. "Does someone have a little boyfriend?" My mother asked as she stirred soup in a pot. "No. I just met him as I was coming home." I scoffed. "Does he go to your school?" My stepdad asked me. "Yeah.. he's the quarterback of the football team." I sounded like one of those spoiled brats at my school. "There's no chance you'll ever be with him." Daniel laughed. "Shut your face." I hissed at him. "Leave her alone, Daniel." My mother ordered. "Yes, mam." He giggled and ran off to his room. "I'm going to bed." I announced and walked towards my room. I plopped on my bed and randomly drew things in my sketchbook while listening to music. "Hey, Gwen. Did you visit the cemetery today?" Jake opened the door and then closed it when he was in my room fully. "Yeah, it was weird too. There was someone there who was following me or something." I shuddered at the image of the dark figure popping up in my head. "Must've been there to visit their loved one." He shrugged. "I guess. I've been doing things lately I never done a day in my life." I mumbled. "Like what?" He asked. "Well.. I'm starting to like girly things, I write my thoughts down in a diary, and-." He cut me off. "You're just going through a phase." He chuckled. "I've taken up drinking." I blurted out. "What? You must stop immediately!" He whisper-yelled at me. "I know, I know. I am seeking help from my counselor at school to stop drinking." I rested my forehead in the palm of my hand. "That's good. Well, I need to go to bed now. It's late." He tucked me into bed like dad used to and wished me a goodnight before going off to bed. I didn't tell him the rest of the things I've taken up because I thought I'd give him a heart attack. I tossed and turned in bed as the dark figure image kept popping up into my head as I tried going to sleep.

How the hell'd we wind up like this
And why weren't we able
To see the signs that we missed
And try to turn the tables
I wish you'd unclench your fists
And unpack your suitcase
Lately there's been too much of this
But don't think it's too late

Nothing's wrong
Just as long as you know that someday I will
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright
But not right now
I know you're wondering when
(You're the only one who knows that)
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright
But not right now
I know you're wondering when

"Do not run up and down the halls!" I tried talking over the three small children horse playing in the hallway. "You cant make us." One of them protested. "Yeah, you're not our mommy." Another one spit his tongue out at me and ran into the living room and bounced around on the couch. I sighed of defeat and plopped down on a chair at the kitchen table. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was from Jake, 'Almost done with work?' I replied, 'Not really. Two more hours of these noisy children.' He quickly responded, 'Hehe. Sounds like us when we were their age.' I giggled silently to myself and looked up at the damage the three kids have made when I looked away for only a few seconds. "What have you guys done?" I gasped with my hands on the sides of my face. "It wasn't me, John did it." The little girl pointed to what looked like her older brother. "No I didn't. Drew did it!" He shouted at his sister. "It was obviously Grace, I'm too young-." I cut Drew off. "It doesn't matter who did it. I want this place cleaned up." I demanded. The three of them mumbled 'Okay' before slowly cleaning up the mess they made. Their mother finally arrived home. "Were they any trouble?" She asked as she took off her coat before setting down her purse on the table. "Maybe just a little.." I tried setting a good example to their mom for them. "That's good, I suppose. Here's your pay." She handed me twenty five dollars. "See you guys next week." I waved to the three children playing with blocks and other small children toys. I hugged my jacket tight and shivered as the cold wind continued to slap me in the face. I could see the worn, rusty old cemetery sign a couple of blocks away. Instead of continuing my route towards home, I decided to have another little visit to the cemetery. When it's light out it isn't that scary, but when it is dead into the night it is like you're in a horror movie and there's a killer waiting for you somewhere in the cloud of darkness. I stopped in front of Lainey's tombstone and sighed somewhat heavily. When I looked down to read Lainey's info on her grave for the thousandth time I noticed a trail of footprints that were right beside mine. I knelt down and traced my fingers in the footprint. "Okay, whoever you are stop following me around!" I shouted and in return all I got was the branches rustling in the wind and the crows making their annoying crow sound as they flew from tree to tree. "Excuse me, dear?" Came a ragged yet sweet voice came from behind me. I turned around and before me was an old lady wearing a dark brown christian robe with a necklace around her neck that had a cross on it. "Who are you and why do you keep following me?" I demanded for an answer. "My name is Amanda. I've seen you come here a lot lately." She sweetly responded. "Yeah, so I come to visit an old friend. The real question is why are you following me?" I tightened the scarf around my neck to keep warm. "How rude of me, you must be chilling to the bone. Follow me. I know some place warm." She shakily walked out of the jungle of creepy trees and crows with me following slowly behind her. She led me to a small cottage that had a chimney with smoke coming out of it. "Tea?" She sat down a mug of tea in front of me, it's delicious steam running up my nostrils. "Thank you." I thanked her before taking a sip of the tea. I looked around her home and it looked like it was from the eighteenth century. She had black and white photos on her wooden walls, no electrical lights just the fire was her light, had one of those old fashioned typewriters, and an oven that needs fire in order for it to cook anything. "Not to be rude or anything, but how old are you?" I questioned. "That doesn't really matter right now. You asked me a question before, I shall answer it for you now." She smiled and sat down the sweater she was knitting. "Okay then." I shrugged. "I've been the owner of this cemetery for years and I have never seen someone visit as much as you do." She explained. "Wait, so since I've been a little girl you have seen me come here almost everyday?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yep. You were such a cute little darlin'." She giggled and pinched my cheek. "You sound like my mother." I laughed along with her. "I've seen your mama come around here a few times. You look just like her." She talked to me as she continued her knitting. "Yeah, well.." I took a small sip of my tea. "The other night I just thought maybe I'd get to meet you for the first time, but you got scared and ran off." She chuckled. "I'm what you call stubborn." I laughed and she soon joined in with me. Her grandfather clock chimed midnight. "I should get going before my mother sends out a search party." I laughed. "Have a goodnight dear." She rocked back and forth in her rocking chair. "Night-." She cut me off right as I was about to turn the doorknob. "Do you have anything in remembrance of Lainey?" She questioned with her voice full of hope. "Well, yeah.. I do. Why?" I turned around to look at her with such question. "I was very close to Lainey at the time and I don't have anything to remember her by.. Do you think maybe.." She trailed off. I smiled and nodded, reaching into my purse and pulling out a small stuffed bear. "She gave me this right before she left us." I handed her the bear. Her eyes whelmed up with joyous tears and she hugged it dearly. "Thank you, thank you! I must pay you back." She looked up at me with a glowing face. "No, no. It's fine." I assured her. "Thank you again, sweetheart." She got up from her rocking chair to give me a hug. "No problem. Goodnight Amanda." I gave her another hug before leaving for home. "Hey beautiful." A voice came from behind me. I hid my blush and turned around to find Trent standing there in front of me. "Hey.." I scratched the back of my head. "How was work today?" He asked as we walked upon the quiet sidewalk. "It was okay, I guess. Hopefully next week they wont be as bad." I rubbed my forehead in annoyance. "Sounds like you had fun." He chuckled. "You wish. I'm exhausted." I yawned silently. He smiled and lifted me up onto his back. I squealed with laughter as he carried me home, sometimes twirling me around and sometimes picking up speed just to mess with me. "Hope I'll get to see you tomorrow." I climbed down from his back. "I hope so too." He held my hands and stared into my eyes. I looked away a couple of times but when I went back to look at his eyes they were still fixed on me. "I should really be getting to bed now.." I whispered softly. "Do you think maybe we could.. I don't know.. hang out sometime?" His cheeks turned a bright red. "Sounds cool." I smiled, trying to hold back my blush. "Awesome." He grinned. "Gwen, it's late." My mother called out from her window with a slightly noticeable smirk on her face. "Okay, mom. I'll be in bed in a minute." I glared at her. "Goodnight." He gave me a peck on the cheek and walked away. I traced my cheek with my fingers before going off to bed with a smile. I snuggled up under my sheets and went off into a satisfying sleep.

Well, I'd hope that since we're here anyway
That we could end up saying
Things we've always needed to say
So we could end up staying
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of a Hollywood horror

Nothing's wrong
Just as long as you know that someday I will
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright
But not right now
I know you're wondering when
(You're the only one who knows that)
Someday somehow
I'm gonna make it alright
But not right now
I know you're wondering when
(You're the only one who knows that...)

"So, you guys are going out?" Grace sat beside me on the couch, kicking her feet. "Yeah." I chuckled. "Are you guys going to get married someday?" Drew was sitting crisscross in front of me. "Well, I don't know about that-." John cut me off. "Are you gonna have kids?" He asked. "I'm not sure-." Grace cut me off. "What will you name them? I'm sure they'll be so cute!" Grace squealed. "Guys, guys. We've only been dating for about six months now. I think its a little too early to be thinking about getting married and its definitely too early
to decide if we want to have kids." I explained. "Do you want to have kids?" Drew questioned. "I guess so. I'm not so sure." I shrugged, feeling this moment to be somewhat awkward that I was telling them about my love life. I made the three of them dinner and the boys went off to play with their toys. "You wanna watch television with me?" Grace looked up at me with the remote in her hand. "Sure." I smiled. She tried turning it on but the television screen remained black. "Aw man." Grace whined. "We could just listen to the radio instead." I suggested. "I guess.." She mumbled. I turned it on and it was kind of scary to find out what song was playing. 'Ring out the bells again like we did when spring began. Wake me up when September ends.' "I love this song!" Grace grinned and sang along with it. I placed my hands over my mouth and held back my tears as hard as I could. "Gwen, are you alright?" Grace looked at me with a worried expression. "You're me." I gasped into my hands. "What?" She raised a confused eyebrow. "I'm Lainey and you're me. I'm becoming more and more of her and when I first heard that song- Oh God, no!" I ran into the backyard so I wouldn't scare the children. I pulled out my cellphone and tried to get bars. No luck. The thunderstorm going on isn't helping me get any signal. "Gwen, there's someone here to see you." John called out from the door. I dropped my cell phone and felt my heart slowly stop beating. I walked back into the house and found my three closest friends, Bridgette, Leshawna, and Courtney standing at the door. "What happened?" I asked, tears whelming up in my eyes. "Gwen.. You wont believe this but, Trent died in a horrible motorcycle accident." Bridgette's eyes were red and puffy. I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. I could feel my legs shake and it caused me to collapse. They soon left and once they did I completely broke down. I've never felt this way before. It was like having your heart ripped out of your chest. My head was spinning, making me dizzy and it made me feel like I was going to vomit. My vision was blurry from all of the tears plummeting from my eyes. All I could see was the three terrified children standing at the top of the staircase. I completely ignored them and continued crying my eyes out. I went into the kitchen and tore it apart for pills. After being unsuccessful, I ran into the garage to find something, preferably a gun. "Gwen, you're scaring us." A gentle voice came from behind me. I turned around to find Grace with tears in her eyes to see me holding a shotgun. I shook my head and stormed off to the bathroom. Why did it have to be me to lose something so dear to your heart? I rammed myself into the wall and fell harshly onto the floor having my head hit the wall. I slit my wrists open with shards of glass from the mirror I broke and cried out in pain. I looked at the shotgun sitting there on the bathroom floor. 'If it's to be with him, I'll do it.' I picked up the gun and aimed it at my chest. "Don't do it!" Someone shouted from behind me and tried pulling the gun out of my grasp. "No, stop it! Leave me alone! I just want to be with him!" I pulled the trigger but it shot it's only bullet at the wall. I turned around and slapped the person in the face, causing that person to fall onto the floor. "Why did you waste the damn bullet you asshole?" I shouted and kicked the person in the side. "Because I love you." The person whispered. I turned on the light and saw a bruised and cut Trent lying there on the floor. He had grass all over his clothes, his face and arms and legs were all bloody, and he had a black eye. "I-Is that you? Am I dreaming?" I slapped my hands over my mouth and slowly stepped backwards away from him. "You aren't dreaming. It's really me." He grabbed onto the sink counter and shakily pulled himself up. "Oh, Trent! It is you!" I ran into his arms and hugged him tight. "I'm here. Ssh, ssh." He tried to calm down my sobs. "I thought I would never see you again. A couple of people came over and told me you were dead." I looked up at him. "I actually thought I was dead too. An ambulance came by and shocked me back to life. Said I was dead for a couple of minutes and, well, here I am now." He cupped my cheek with his hand and I placed my hand over his. "I love you." I whispered, feeling tears continue to stream down my cheeks. "I love you too." He pulled me into a warm, passionate kiss. "Eww.." The three children giggled at the doorway. I shut the door and we continued our make out session.

...

"Lets go for a walk. babe." Trent suggested. We walked hand in hand down the street, talking and laughing as we enjoyed the nice day out. Years went by and I have forgotten what happened that day. Trent and I have been married for a few years now and we are about to have our first child. We are going to name our little girl Lainey Jackson Wyatt. "Wait, I want to visit someone first." I stopped in front of the cemetery. Trent looked concerned at first, but shook it off and went with me inside the cemetery. I walked up to the cottage and opened the screen door. "Hello? Amanda, are you here?" I called out. All I saw was dust covering her furniture and spiderwebs hanging from the ceiling. I noticed a little piece of paper on her table and I picked it up and read it. 'I owed you one.' it read. I raised an eyebrow and walked out of the cottage to find Trent kneeling in front of a tombstone with a questionable expression. "What is it?" I looked at the tombstone and gasped. 'Amanda Jackson: 1965-1990.' The tombstone was right beside Lainey's. "Oh my God.. Amanda was her mother." My eyes whelmed up with tears. I was talking to her spirit the whole time. I looked at the note again and scanned it, then I noticed the small bear sitting in front of her grave. "Wait a minute.. she said she would pay me back for giving her the teddy bear-." I cut myself off and started to tear up. "What's wrong sweetheart?" Trent wrapped his arms around me. "She paid me back by saving your life." I planted kisses multiple times on his lips and hugged him tight. "What are you talking about..?" He chuckled. "Never mind, I love you so much." I gave him another big kiss. I looked over his shoulder and saw Amanda's apparition standing beside her cottage smiling. "Thank you." I mouthed to her with a huge grin on my face and tears falling from my eyes. "Your welcome." She mouthed and disappeared. "Seriously, what happened?" Trent looked at me with a confused expression. "I just got the best Christmas present I ever got." I rubbed my nose against his. "What?" He asked. "You." I smiled and he did the same before I tackled him with kisses.

How the hell'd we wind up like this
And why weren't we able
To see the signs that we missed
And try to turn the tables
Now the story's played out like this
Just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
Instead of a Hollywood horror

Nothing's wrong
Just as long as you know that someday I will
Someday, somehow
I'm gonna make it alright
But not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday somehow
I'm gonna make it alright
But not right now
I know you're wondering when
(You're the only one who knows that)
I know you're wondering when
(You're the only one who knows that)
I know you're wondering when