Page 31 of A DIY Christmas Miracle
There was some movement behind his eyelids, a little twitching, then he squeezed his eyes shut more tightly.
I sighed inwardly.
“Eli, it’s half past ten.”
“It snowed,” he grumbled. I furrowed my brow. What did that have to do with my statement?
At least he finally opened his eyes, his steel gray orbs blinking up at me tiredly.
“We’re in Canada. It’s winter. Is it really that much of a surprise?” I didn’t know what Eli wanted to say. A nagging feeling in my brain told me there was a deeper meaning to his sentence that I couldn’t decipher, but I wasn’t sure. He could just be sleepy.
“Of course it’s snowing…” he whispered quietly, talking to himself rather than me. “Why tonight? Why was it late?”
He looked at me with such crushing sadness and utter defeat in his eyes, all I wanted was to pull him into a hug and make it all better. Even if I didn’t know why the snow had made him so sad.
“Don’t you think it’s nice that there’s fresh snow on Christmas?” I asked.
“Yeah… probably.” Eli heaved a deep sigh and rubbed a hand over his face, his actions betraying his lackluster words.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I blurted. “Are you getting sick?”
Eli furrowed his brows. “Why do you think I’m getting sick?”
“Because everyone is surprised you’re still in bed, even though it’s Christmas. They said you should’ve been up since six AM, waiting for the rest of us to ‘finally get our asses in gear.’”
“Oh.” Eli nodded. “I… I should probably get ready. You’re right. It’s Christmas.” The smile plastered to his face seemed forced, pained, and it didn’t reach his eyes at all. He didn’t appear to be happy about it being Christmas at all; he was faking it, and badly at that.
But why?Eli had been so excited to go on this vacation. When we’d decorated the tree together, he’d basically been glowing the whole time. He’d been so joyful, so happy, and it’d been infectious. But now, the light inside him had faded, leaving him a dull, burned-out shell of himself.
I found myself desperately wanting to do something about it. I wanted to bring the shine back to his eyes, to rekindle the fire inside of him. Seeing him so dejected fucking hurt. My heart ached for him, even though I had no idea what was wrong.
I just wanted my Eli back. The cheerful, loud, sassy Eli, the Eli who wore his heart on his sleeve.
“I’ll… I’ll leave you to it, okay? I’ll let the others know you’re awake,” I said, albeit reluctantly. I didn’t want to leave him alone, but I couldn’t very well stay while he changed. That’d be inappropriate because I knew I didn’t have the necessary self-control not to take a peek.
“Okay.” Eli sat up and gave me a quick smile. Usually, his smiles launched a whole swarm of butterflies in my stomach, but today it only intensified my desire to pull him into my arms and cheer him up. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Something was going on — and I was being excluded. It hurt. Everyone exchanged mysterious glances and meaningful looks; and it seemed that I was the only one the reason was unknown to.
I was sure I wasn’t just imagining things.
I knew what being an outsider was like. I’d been there, done that. It wasn’t new to me. Of course, always being thenew guyhadn’t helped. No one let thenew guyin on insider information or divulged delicate details until they were certain it wouldn’t be passed on to the other outsiders. The problem was that by then, we’d likely already moved again.
It had never really bothered me. I’d always found the other two or three guys who were left out, too, and I’d found it was much easier to connect with them than connecting with a larger group because their presence and friendship wasn’t as overwhelming.
But I was bothered today.
Maybe they thought I wouldn’t notice them exchanging furtive glances, but I did. If it’d just been Juliet and Linda or Cassy and Josh, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it because it could’ve easily been one of those couple-things. But it wasn’t Cassy and Josh glancing at each other, it was Marc and Cassy exchanging looks, Juliet nudging Sophie and raising her eyebrows, looking at Eli with pity in their eyes. As if they knew what was up with him.
Apparently, everyone did. Everyone but me.
I sighed and averted my eyes; I didn’t want to have to see this secret, non-verbal communication any longer. Instead, I focused on the festively decorated tree next to the fireplace, glistening and shining bright in all its glory. The fairy lights were on, illuminating the tree, making the shiny silver baubles sparkle and the garland glitter like myriads of tiny silver strings. Filigree patterns were painted across polished red baubles, some in an abstract pattern and some with recognizable shapes: snowflakes, stars, gifts.
Beneath the tree on the green blanket we’d placed under the Christmas tree stand, presents were piling up. From small envelopes to big boxes, there were presents of all shapes and sizes.
I quickly recognized the ones I’d brought. They were easily discernible because, aside from wrapping them all myself, I’d used a plain red wrapping paper with silver snowflakes scattered all over it. It’d reminded me of Eli and his silver hair peeking out beneath a red cap the day before. So, naturally, I’d had to buy it.
Fortunately, no one but me would ever know why I’d chosen the paper.
