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If Laura could watch one Christmas movie on repeat it would be Elf and she’d already seen it three times this holiday season. That is why she was so committed to spreading Christmas cheer. She just needed to find someone who looked like they needed it. The difficult thing about being in a small college town is most people already seem to have it, but there’s this one girl from her English class that was definitely lacking any kind of spirit. She’s kind of terrifying, but something about her is intriguing and Laura has been trying to get the nerve to speak to her all semester, so this might be the perfect opportunity.
Laura was determined that she could convince the girl to accept the joy of Christmas cheer. She just needed to figure out a nice thing to do, but since she doesn’t know anything about the girl she’s at a loss. She was going to have to suck it up and talk to her to figure out what nice thing she could do to make the girl’s Christmas better.
Laura walked in and glanced around the classroom before spotting the girl sitting by herself in the corner. Laura went over to her, opting to sit next to her rather than sitting in her normal seat. She was nervous, but she tried to start a conversation, “Hi, my name is Laura. What’s your name?”
They both sat in silence for a few seconds before the girl turned, looked at Laura, and then looked back towards the front. There was another bout of silence before the girl eventually said, “My name is Carmilla.“
Laura looked over at her and although she could tell the girl was avoiding her, she said, “It’s nice to meet you Carmilla. Do you have any plans for Christmas?“ Carmela didn’t appear very interested in Christmas or Laura‘s question in general, but that wasn’t going to deter her. She was going to spread Christmas cheer and Carmilla was going to be the target of that cheer. They had two weeks before Christmas break and Laura was determined to spend the next two weeks trying to figure out how to bring Christmas spirit to someone who didn’t want it. They didn’t speak again for the rest of the class, both of them spending the class looking ahead and taking the occasional note. After class Laura tried to catch up with Carmilla, but the girl slipped away before she could reach her.
The next class, Laura again decided to take a seat by Carmilla who at this point seemed annoyed that Laura was back. “Wasn’t this week's assignment so fun? I absolutely love doing pieces about my life or about life in general,“ squealed Laura. She figured maybe they could connect over the class. At least that’s one built in thing they had in common, right? Carmilla just nodded and didn’t say anything, so Laura asked something else, “Okay, well if you didn’t like this week's assignment what has been your favorite assignment so far?“
“Do you always talk this much?” Carmilla snapped.
Laura was quiet for a moment before she said, “yeah, I guess I do. I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, but I know you sit back here by yourself an awful lot and I thought you might enjoy having some company. But I guess I was wrong.” Laura kind of felt bad for the harsh tone she used, but she didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and Camilla rubbed her the wrong way. She wasn’t the first person to comment on how much Laura talked, but it still had its occasional sting.
Carmilla actually looked like she was feeling some sort of remorse or at least guilt for snapping at Laura. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped. I know you were probably just trying to be nice, but I like my alone time and I don’t take well to being bothered,” Carmilla remarked.
Laura got up silently, walked to a different part of the classroom, and took a seat at her old desk. The class started and Laura didn’t think about Carmilla again until the end of the class. She was quickly running out of time to spread Christmas cheer. They only had a week until their next class and then only three days until they went home for winter break.
Laura had spent the last couple of days brainstorming, but she was still at a loss. How do you bring joy to someone that seems to hate all things good and pure? As Laura entered the classroom, she once again found a seat next to Carmilla. This was the last class of the semester which means it was also Laura’s last chance to do something nice for Carmilla to give her a little bit of Christmas spirit before they both leave for break.
Carmilla didn’t acknowledge her as she slid in to the desk. Laura didn’t want to say too much, but she knew she had to say something. “I know I’m bothering you, but I made a resolution that I was going to help at least one person get the Christmas spirit and I feel like you need it,” Laura said assuredly.
“Do I not seem Christmasy enough to you, Creampuff?” Carmilla quipped.
Laura stuttered, “I mean—well, um, I guess you just don’t seem like the Christmas type?”
Carmella glowered at her and said, “Well, you’re right. I’m not the Christmas type, but I don’t see how that is any of your business? Why are you, a stranger, so invested in making me the Christmas type?”
“One could argue that at this point we’re not so much strangers as we are classmates or acquaintances,” Laura said.
“That is a matter of semantics and from my perspective you are still a stranger who keeps entering my personal space,“ Carmilla said, pointedly. Laura could tell that she didn’t have much wiggle room in this conversation. Carmilla obviously didn’t want Christmas spirit, but something was still pulling at her heartstrings and she felt that this was the person who needed Christmas spirit the most.
“Okay, so, I know you don’t like me and you don’t like Christmas, but there’s a Christmas party on my hall and maybe you could join me? Laura asked. She was timid and nervous because she realized it kind of sounded like she was asking the girl on a date which she definitely wouldn’t do. Not because the girl wasn’t attractive, but because Laura was absolutely not the type of person to make the first move. She glanced over Carmella who was now staring her dead in the eye and she gulped. “So what do you say?”
“When’s the party?” Carmilla asked, which was more than Laura was expecting.
“Oh, um, it’s tonight. There’s not really a start time? But I think if you got there around eight that would be good,” Laura said.
“What kind of party starts at 8 o’clock?” Carmilla inquired hesitantly.
“Okay, well, party might be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s a hall event my RAs are hosting and they asked me to be there.”
Carmilla glanced over at her and then turned back at the professor who was just about to start speaking and whispered, “I’ll think about it.”
Laura was so focused on listening to the final instructions for their end of semester assignment that she didn’t even realize that Carmilla had slipped out and she never got a chance to tell her what hall the party would be on. She knew then that Carmilla was absolutely, definitely not showing up at this party. Laura was just going to have to accept that she failed at getting someone to see the Christmas spirit.
She was helping Perry and Lafontaine get ready for the party when out of the corner of the eye she got a glance at someone she thought might be Carmilla. She shook her head, though, and cleared herself of those thoughts. There was no way that Carmilla would be showing up. Actually, there was no way anyone would be showing up because no one liked hall events. If Laura wasn’t friends with Lafontaine she probably wouldn’t have shown up either, but she felt bad because RAs are required to host these events regardless of whether or not anyone likes them and, well, no one likes all events.
Once they were all decorated Lafontaine pulled out Cards Against Humanity for them to play while waiting for someone to show up. A few minutes late, Laura heard a cough from the doorway and turned her head. “I thought you said this was a party?”
“Well, I did end up telling you that it was a hall event, so you should have assumed that this would be the turn out. Sorry Lafontaine,“ said Laura.
“It’s okay, I get it. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t required to,“ said Lafontaine. The room was silent as Lafontaine and Perry looked between Carmilla and Laura trying to figure out what was happening. There was an undeniable tension, but Perry could’ve sworn she’d never seen this girl before.
“Well, let’s play pretend. I’ll pretend this is a party and you’ll pretend like we are having fun,” Carmilla said as Laura watched her entirely captivated by Carmilla’s contagious energy. Carmilla eventually got tired of standing in the doorway and said, “If I say that this party got me into the Christmas spirit do you think you and I could go somewhere else?“
Carmilla’s tone felt suggestive and all of the sudden Laura felt very warm and very eager to get out of there, so beyond her better instinct she got up and followed Carmilla down the hall into what was apparently Carmilla’s dorm room. “I have a single, so we don’t have to worry about a roommate,” Carmilla said, providing information Laura hadn’t realize she was waiting to hear.
Laura felt like her heart was about to fall out of her chest, with anxiety, but she still wanted to follow Carmilla into the room. As she followed Carmilla, she hoped she would instinctively know what to do. This was not what she was expecting when she decided to instill the Christmas spirit in someone, but you know? Following Carmilla into her room? That could be a nice thing to do.