Naughty or Nice

Chapter 1

“God damn it, Mom, would you hurry up with that eggnog already?”


“Language, Victoria! And you’ll get it in a second! Just be patient for two seconds!”


“To hell with patience!” Victoria snapped. “I asked for it five minutes ago!”


“You know,” Charlie grumbled, “you could just get it yourself.”


“And you could mind your own damn business, Charlotte!” Victoria hissed.


The two sisters glared at each other, opposites in more than just mannerisms. While both were pretty, Victoria had been blessed with their father’s height and a slim physique. Charlie, on the other hand, had was both short and fat. She was also much paler than her younger sister, with light auburn hair and an almost ghostly complexion, as opposed to Victoria’s black hair and tanned skin.


Physically, the two sisters weren’t very alike, but that was nothing compared to their mannerisms. Charlie was sweet and kind, eager to help without thought of reward. Victoria was anything but. Short-tempered and rude, she’d forced Charlie to develop skin thick enough to shrug off the most brutal insults.


Most of the time.


“You know what, Victoria, you’ve been home for less two hours and I’m already sick of your—”


“Stop it, girls!” their mother said as she bustled into the living room. “No fighting, please. It’s Christmas Eve! And here’s your eggnog, Victoria.”


“Finally!” the dark-haired girl said, snatching the drink from her mother and taking a sip. “Hey, where’s the alcohol?”


“No alcohol for you,” her mother said. “Not with the rest of the family visiting. Too many little ones.”


“Well, that’s bullshit!”


“Language!” her mother said exasperatedly. “I don’t want to tell you again.” She turned towards her other daughter. “Are you sure you don’t want something, Charlie?”


“No thanks,” Mom,” she said, resting a hand on her soft belly. “I really do need to lose a few pounds.”


“Obviously,” Victoria said into her cup before taking a sip of her eggnog. Her mother stared at her in open-mouthed shock.


“Victoria Cross!”


“What?” Victoria said defensively. “Are we really going to pretend that Eat-a-Whole-lotte hasn’t gotten fatter every year since she graduated from high school?”


“My weight is none of your business!” Charlie snapped.


“Apparently it’s none of your business, either,” Victoria retorted. “If it was, then maybe you wouldn’t be blowing up like a god damn blimp!”


“Listen here, you little—” She cut off at a furious look from her mother, who pointedly nodded to the other side of the room. The sisters turned together and saw their cousin Lena looking back at them with a curious expression.


“Auntie Chris, what does…”


“It means Victoria deserves to be on the naughty list,” Victoria’s mother said, hurrying over to her niece. “Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be writing a letter for Santa?” She hustled the young girl out of the room, but not before giving her daughters—Victoria more so than Charlie—a withering look.


“I don’t understand you,” Charlie said softly to her sister, her eyes still locked on the door through which their mother and cousin had disappeared. “You really used to be so sweet. Then you went to college and turned into such a…well, such a bitch.”


“It’s a good thing Lena didn’t hear you,” Victoria sneered. “Otherwise, you might be on the naughty list, too.”


Charlie shook her head. “You don’t even care, do you?”


“About some stupid Christmas bullshit that’s not even real?” Victoria scoffed. “Yeah, I’ll definitely make that a high priority.”

“You know, sis, one day you’re gonna pay for that attitude, and I just hope I’m there to see it.” She turned to leave by the same door through which their mother had disappeared.


“Yeah,” Victoria called after her, “well, maybe one day you’ll see your toes again, too!”


Ignoring her, Charlie kept walking.


Throughout the rest of the evening—including dinner, a movie, and a round of presents for the younger kids—the two sisters managed to stay away from each other. It wasn’t later that night, after almost everyone else was in bed, that Victoria walked into her room and found her sister, sitting on the floor and playing on her phone.


“What are you doing in here?” she demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the mall pretending to be Santa, or whatever it is fat people do during Christmas?”


“Didn’t you hear Mom? Since you refused to give up your room, we’re bunking together. Aunt Sierra and Uncle Ray are using my room.”


“Wonderful. You’re not gonna sleep in my bed, are you? I’m not sure my mattress would ever recover from that.”


Charlie sighed. “Stop it, Victoria.”


“Make me, ya dumpy fat ass!


“Would you stop?”


“You used to be so hot, too. But I guess that’s what happens when you can’t stop stuffing your face!”


“That’s not what happened!”


“Then what did happen, Eat-a-Whole-lotte?”


“Don’t call me that!”


“Why not? It fits! But maybe something else. How about Cow-lie? Or Lardy Charlie? Or how about—”


“Enough!” Charlie snapped, her chest heaving as she glared at her younger sister. “Enough,” she said again, softer this time. “I know I’ve put on a lot of weight since I started college. I’m not stupid. You don’t gain 150 pounds without noticing, so I don’t need you to keep pointing it out!”


“I wouldn’t need to keep pointing it out if you’d get your ass off the couch once in a while. Seriously, if you just exercised once in a while then maybe you wouldn’t have eaten yourself into a blob!”


Charlie threw up her hands. “That’s it, I’m done. I’ll find somewhere else to sleep tonight.” She heaved herself off the bed and ambled towards the door, pausing just before opening it.


“Mom was right,” she said. “You really deserve to be on the naughty list.”

Victoria gave her a mock salute. “Thanks for your expert opinion, Santa.”


“Whatever,” Charlie said, and left.