@artic was the steoreotypical shy girl with big round eyes that are framed by a pair of glasses. She also had very little friends and is always seen with a pair of earphones around her neck. She is the kind of person tries to make eveyone happy. However, there were only a few people who are not happy with her and that is where her problems begin. She is always bullied for her simple hairstyle of half of her hair being tucked over her ear. Every lunchtime, she will try to avoid them by wandering around the school until her lucjbreak was over. Since they went back in different directions, she didn't have to worry about them after classes.

One day when she was wandering around as usual, @artic found a wooden shed around the secluded area of the school. While wondering why she hadn't noticed this shed after wandering around the school,she went in and found out that it had workinng lights and things stacked neatly around her. After coming to the conclusion that no one was using it, she decided to make it her 'hideout'. Since she has a new place to rest, she decided to go there everyday without fear of her bullies finding her. After a few weeks of peaceful solitude, @artic was surprised when a visitor showed up to take shelter from the rain. Although he had found out about her 'hideout' by accident, she still let him stay even after it stopped raining.

Cody was his name and he was also facing the same problems as she is. He was bullied for being nerdy-looking and it didn't help that he was not as tall as the guys in his class, making him seem like a weakling. Because of this, he always has a pair of headphones draped around his neck to tune out any mean comments at any given moment. Ever since he found out about @artic's 'hideout', he started going there with her, with her saying that he can. From there, they bonded over many things and found company in each other which was something they didn't get to have due to their akwardness in class despite seating next to each other. Slowly but surely, they started having proper conversations with each other inside and outside of class, This bond also led them to going to places outside their comfort zones, memories being made in the process.

As time passed, they went higher upin their studies. They were deskmates again but this times, they weree away from theor bullies. Even though they didn't have to wait out their lunchbreak anymore, they still use their hideout and have their lunch there instead. It was peaceful just being with each other, even if no conversation is taking place at the moment.

Towards the end of their final year, Cody became busy with running errandsafte school each day. This upset @artic a little but she knew he had his reasons for doing so. Cody had been doing a part-time job to buy some supplies he needed for a project as he was worried on what his parents would say to his project. Not long after he had the funds for his project, he started working on it. It took hime a few days to put everything together and he hoped it was worth it. On the last day of the school year, he told @artic to meet him at their hideout in the evening.

When @artic got there, the shed was dark. Since there was still a little bit of sunlight left, she wasn't too bothered by it, but decided to switch on the lights anyway. She was surprised that instead of the usual white light, it was Christmas lights that decorated the shed. Just up ahead where the table was, there was a piece of paper that said "Look around you". Around her, photographs hanging on some string can be seen. She took a look at the photographs and shed a few tears of joy.

Behind her, Cody's voice can be heard. He was thanking her for letting him into her hideout and eventually her heart. He told her how much he enjoyed being with her and how he wants to be by her side forever. From his pocket, he pulled out a pair of chasity rings and told her that he will wait for her. She put the ring on and told him that she will wait for him. after everything had been said and done, they walked out of their hideout, hand in hand.

*I'm sorry if this is really cheesy and probably used in many other stories, but I can assure you that this is an origanal story.

I walked down the hallways of East Wood High to look for my new plaything, new kid Johnson, who had just moved from Malaysia to our sleepy town of East Wood, due to his parents' work.

"This will be fun," I thought to myself. I then proceeded to trip him up and laugh along with everyone in the hallway. All he did was just ignore me and the other people.

Now, I may be a bully, but I wasn't always like that. It didn't help much that I looked and was built like a bully, and wherever I went, I was labeled as a bully, so why not live up to my label? I had also lost both my parents in an accident (cliche, I know) and got taken in by another family who had a daughter who was also a bully. I guess you can say I learnt much of my bullying from her. However, unlike my half-sister, who cyberbullies and harrasses her victims, which can be anybody she chooses, I just do minor harrasment to people I don't really like, such as Johnson.

I didn't really like Johnson because he was always showing off how wealthy he was. He always showed up with expensive things that I can only dream about almost everyday and he always had a bunch of people near him. Petty and stupid of me, I know.

Each day goes by like clockwork, and I notice that Johnson never fights back. Why? This is the question I wanted answers to and so I asked him. His answer surprised me.

He told me that he was once a bully himself and he got expelled many times. His parents' work? They were taken by a plane crash 19 years ago. His expensive things? They were just knockoffs.

"How are you still accepted to schools at this point?" I asked him. He told me that he was a volunteer worker that stops bullying all around the world. How this thing works is that the organization sends previously troubled kids to schools with high bullying rates and tries to stop them like that. Kind of like the 'Use a crook to catch a crook' principle.

I refleted on my mistakes that night I went back home. I didn't want to get expelled! I thought about all the people I've harrassed and felt sorry for them for the first time. The next day, I waited for Johnson at the school gates. He never came. I cried myself to bed that night, all the while thanking him from my heart, as he let me see the monster I've became.

What I want for Christmas?

This is a yearly question I get asked each year by different people. Family, friends, sometimes teachers.

But what is the real meaning behind the gifts?

Is it because of our conscience to give?

Or is it from the bottom of our heart we thank someone and want to reward them?

This is the question I want you, dear reader to answer on your own.