{"id":129,"date":"2025-12-25T15:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2025-12-23T21:50:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T21:50:12","slug":"high-school-reunited-a-christmas-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"High School Reunited; A Christmas Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anastasia x Naftrel AU<\/strong> |1st Person POV<\/em> | Characters are kemonomimis<\/em>, meaning they have animal characteristics (e.g. rabbit ears, wolf tail) | Note: “Hjslops” is pronounced “slopes”; anything with a ‘<\/mark>*<\/mark>‘ is something in the book itself.<\/mark> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

“Christmas isn’t Christmas without your nasty attitude,” Hjslops*<\/mark> notes, a mischievous grin in her voice. I shift the phone in my hand a little as I roll my eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shake my head despite the aumturner*<\/mark> unable to see the action. “That wasn’t a necessary comment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hum from her line. “I was trying to say I’m glad you’re coming back to town for the holidays. Lighten up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sounded more like a backhanded compliment,” I scoff, placing the phone between my cheek and shoulder, putting my suitcase onto my bed, recoiling in a bounce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purple-haired woman giggles, the sound creepier than anything. But I suppose that’s Hjslops for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Are you <\/em>excited to be coming back?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe. Very rarely do I go back to UFeril. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As dramatic as I’m making it sound, it wasn’t bad being there. I had to move after high school due to college (which to be fair isn’t something I wanted to do in the first place). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m always busy so I hardly have time to visit Hjslops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little hesitant to go back, though. And over an old crush, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God, I hate admitting it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What, are you not?” Hjslops asks after the few seconds of silence I offered her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I swear I hear her lips creaking up in a creepy, teasing grin. “Oh, <\/em>you miss your boyfriend, don’t you?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Boyfriend, really?” My eyes roll, throwing a few pairs of shirts in the suitcase, not caring how wrinkled they’ll get. “We were never together.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hjslops hum lowly. “Didn’t deny you missing him, though.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My lips purse and I huff harshly through my nose, my jaw clenching. “I’m so over you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The ground was covered in a light sheet of snow, and a wind blew gently through the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town looked the same as it ever did with shops all lined side by side, a few small cafes in their own little corner, and just a few blocks down holding the neighborhood of UFeril. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a cozy town to be quite frank. As much as I hated to admit it, I did really miss this place. Especially high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rub my gloved hands against my jean-covered thighs, trying to warm them from the chilly air before I set off, making my way through the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I appreciate how the cold is making me feel stronger than I am as I carry my suitcase, packed for a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The houses all look the same. You would’ve thought with how long I’ve been gone they would’ve at least redone some of the houses; some weren’t looking too good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially Hjslops, though, with how well she keeps up with the building, it doesn’t look as bad as the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I eye the home. It’s decorated–of course, it is–with bright colored lights that color the outside just right with the slight fogginess around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large snowflake lights hang from the porch ceiling, along with cotton to look like snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not a lot but it’s cute. I suppose…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I walk up the small set of stairs, take off a glove to knock on the door, only to find it swinging open just as I was about to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing there in the doorway is none other than Hjslops with her long, luscious purple hair, the glowing effect not there with her not in Eldermerthoden.*<\/mark><\/strong> Her body scarily thin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Geez, couldn’t have waited for me to at least knock?” I grumble, slipping my now-naked hand into my jacket pocket, resisting the need to chatter my teeth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her creepy smile is… oddly comforting as she shakes her head, grabbing me by the shoulders and shoving me into the warm home, the inside far more decorated than the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hear a thud come from behind me. My glare turns to the aumturner but she only offers a mischievous look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’ll put your stuff in your room, KK?” She informs me. A huff comes from my nose but I shrug and nod. “Sit in the living room; there’s hot cocoa waiting for you on the coffee table.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hjslops is so predictable. She wasn’t when we first met back in high school–a shiver runs down my spine just at the thought of those interactions–but after getting to know her, she’s one of the most predictable people you’ll ever meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She hurries off in the direction I know to be the guest room. As she does that, I walk into the living room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s cozy and very Christmas-y. Santas are in almost every corner and lights are an obvious obsession. Some are colorful, some just a cold tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I sit on the humble, creme-colored couch, my gaze runs over every other decoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Christmas tree is on the far left from the wall where her TV sits on a desk. The window beside the tree gives off a warm Christmas movie vibe and I can’t help but admire it a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You didn’t touch the hot cocoa,” I suddenly hear Hjslops voice beside my ear. My body jumps and I whip around, eyes wide and heart pumping faster than before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hjslops!” I can’t help but yell, my gaze nothing but a glare as she laughs. My throats clears and I shake my head, adjusting in my spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glad one <\/em>of us is amused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was just… I was just noting your decorations. You\u2019ve outdone yourself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She nods and I watch as she walks around the couch to sit beside me, the amusement still caught in her eyes. “Christmas is the best holiday, I had to.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I scoff. “Or you just idolize Santa, himself.” She shakes her head, crossing her arms across her chest. “Never, he’s just a glutton in red.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yet he takes space in almost every nick and cranny of your living room”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She just quirks an eyebrow and I roll my eyes, unable to help the small hitch at the corner of my mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Anywho!” She clasps her hands together causing me to jump yet again. “Big news… Mr. Wolf Hottie is back in town, too. Did ya hear?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My eyebrows immediately draw together, both at the news and the way the news was delivered. “Don’t… Don’t call him that, that’s… Why would you said that?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hjslops only snickers as she leans back in her seat after picking up her own cup of hot cocoa, taking a quick sip. She hisses quietly to herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My bad… Naftrel…<\/em> Is back in town. Are you excited?” She raises her eyebrows in an almost taunting manner. I resist strangling her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, I shrug, a heavy sigh leaving me. “Why would I be? Him and I haven’t spoken since he left back in high school.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purple-haired woman nods, her lips pursed. “Tragic.” She sucks in a breath as she sits up. “Good thing you’ll be speaking tonight, then, yes?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight? That sounds… like a threat. Suspicion rises in me, and my eyes narrow at the devious creature. “What do you mean?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She acts surprised. “Oh… I didn’t tell you? Hm. I invited him over for a Christmas party with a few others.” She shrugs as if this conversation wasn’t sending me into an aneurysm. “Figured we all could use one, yes?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

And Christmas party there is. Naftrel hasn’t arrived yet, but I can feel the way my heart is pattering, the way I am swallowing every few seconds, constantly glancing at the front door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naftrel and I were friends back in Sophomore year up until Senior year when he suddenly moved away. I heard he moved to somewhere in Jsaleo which isn’t far. Just… a day away… By plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, him and I were… close. Hjslops likes to insist I liked him and he liked me. She’s half right. I did like him. Not too sure he liked me back, though. She says, “It’s obvious!!”<\/em> and I call BS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends a few years back are here. Christmas music plays in the background and dishes of delicious(?) food line the counter of Hjslops kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one is too <\/em>dressed up. We’re all wearing ugly sweaters with jeans and the like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t even catch the current conversation between everyone with how hyper fixated I am on the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I know it, a knock is heard and I instantly jump up from the couch, catching a few weird looks from everyone, except Hjslops, who gives an annoyingly smug grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My attempt to play it off is useless with her, so I ignore her and instead focus on answering the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It opens and there looking nearly the same from high school–just maybe his hair is a darker black, his eyes a lighter green, and his body muscular. Not to mention, snake bite piercings–is Naftrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His eyes light up, and a smile spreads on his lips, his tail*<\/mark> even wagging behind him. So, he does <\/em>remember me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Bunny, hi,” he greets, the pet name he gave me still easy on his tongue. I blink and quickly swallow to wet my dry throat. “Naftrel,” I reply. “You remember me?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He chuckles, his gaze still as gentle as it ever was. “Of course, how could I forget the <\/em>Anastasia?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My shoulders raise briefly. “You left so suddenly, I thought that… by now you’d forgotten. Surely.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sighs, a sadder gentleness taking over his eyes. “I did leave out of the blue, but I swear I tried to stop it; my parents wouldn’t listen. But… I’m glad that we’re meeting again after so long… I kind of had the thought that we’d never see each other again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yeah,” I mumble, nodding softly, “me, too.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Alright, lovebirds,” Hjslops voice startles me, taking me out of the small trance I found myself in, “let’s get him inside. He may be a wolf, but cold air still travels, unfortunately.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Thought you liked the cold,” I say as I move out of the way for Naftrel. He steps inside, giving me an appreciative smile. Hjslops only hums in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there… It wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be. In fact, I actually had a bit of fun. Reuniting with some of the people I used to talk to was nice and we all got along like we used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I tried my hardest not to gawk at Naftrel which I found harder than it needed to be. He’s a normal dude. Nothing special. Yet… My gaze always pulled back to him. As if there was some magnetic field. But I’ve kind of always been like this with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone had eaten by the two-hour mark, and surprisingly, Hjslops isn’t a too bad of a cook. Some of her… dish choices were a little odd but they in the end tasted fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sigh leaves from my nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need a break from everyone. Especially Naftrel. Always having to fight the urge to look over at him gets exhausting, plus… I’m a guest here, I may as well show my appreciation for my friend’s hospitality by putting up my dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also kind of want one of our friend’s, Marissa’s, cookies she had brought with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excusing myself, I get up from the couch where I sat beside another friend, Oledsc, my plate and fork in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hjslops’ kitchen is just as bad as the living room. If anything, worse. I feel like I can feel Santa’s eyes on me every turn I take in the average space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ignoring it, though, I walk to the sink and place my plate and fork inside, turning on the faucet to rinse them off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You having fun?” I suddenly hear somewhere behind me. Not Hjslops… Not this time. I look over my shoulder and see none other than Naftrel himself. Of course, he followed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shrug nonchalantly. “Mm, yeah, it’s not too bad.” The faucet turns off, and I turn around to face the wolf hybrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He chuckles, coming closer to me. “As weird as Hjslops is, she didn’t do too bad hosting.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A chuckle follows me next and I nod. As rough it is to admit it, he’s right. “Yeah. Not too <\/em>bad. Still a little…” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hjslops?” He finishes for me. We break into a small laughter. I nod again before shaking my head. “Yeah. Hjslops. <\/em>She seeps into whatever she touches.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His smile… God, that smile. He’s always been so gentle despite being a predator. Everything he does it’s never aggressive or harsh or hateful. He’s my polar opposite. Yet I admire it. “That’s our Hjslops,” he agrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets quiet between us, our eyes locked. I feel that trance-like feeling coming back and I’m not entirely against it. In fact, it’s… addicting. It’s like high school all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naftrel takes a step closer, his face neutral, yet his gaze holds something meaningful. I was never really great at reading people and now isn’t any different since I can’t seem to decipher that meaningful<\/em> look in his eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He opens his mouth and at first hesitates, then softly asks, “Is it weird that I missed you?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no doubt he could hear my heart beating against my chest. Even I could hear it. My head shakes on it’s own, my lips subconsciously parting. “No,” I reply back just as softly, maybe a little quieter. “…I… missed you, too.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His eyes crinkle a little and the swift of his tail wagging back and forth doesn’t go unnoticed. He… liked that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone breaks the moment, though, as they clear their throat. We turn to face who it was and of course <\/em>it was Hjslops. Amusement covers her entire face. She points up, a malicious grin on her obnoxious face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naftrel and I both look up to find a mistle toe hanging nearly right above us. Talk about cliche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our eyes widen before meeting back up with each other. The other quickly recovers, though, as he smiles. “Can I?” He whispers, a hand already lifting up to cup my chin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I swallow. This… cannot be happening. And yet it is, and my heart has never been this fast. My cheeks are even a little hot. In the end, I give permission. Naftrel leans down, stopping just briefly before our lips touch, our breaths mixing. Then, our lips meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His kiss is soft, gentle–as I’d expect it to be. Yet it still gets butterflies working in my stomach. We stay for a few seconds, almost like we were basking in each other’s closeness, getting what we wanted since high school. If… he’s even ever wanted this like I have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pull apart, and for a moment, we don’t say anything; we stare into each other’s eyes, processing what had just happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then our friends, especially <\/em>Hjslops, awe at us, even snapping like we’d just given a poetic speech. But then again, it did feel intimate like a poetic speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naftrel breaks out into a soft laughter, and then I follow. This was cute…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Merry Christmas, Bunny,” he concludes. “Merry Christmas,” I reply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIN.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anastasia x Naftrel AU |1st Person POV | Characters are kemonomimis, meaning they have animal characteristics (e.g. rabbit ears, wolf tail) | Note: “Hjslops” is pronounced “slopes”; anything with a ‘*‘ is something in the book itself. “Christmas isn’t Christmas without your nasty attitude,” Hjslops* notes, a mischievous grin in her voice. I shift the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[16,9,31,32,12,13,33,17,15],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stuck-in-laemek-au-coming-soon","tag-ao3","tag-book","tag-christmas","tag-holidays","tag-romance","tag-romantasy","tag-unreleased","tag-upcoming","tag-wattpad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170,"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstoryau.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}