One Sucky Christmas Day... (Lyra's POV)

Submitted into Contest #73 in response to: Write about someone who gets proposed to five times on Christmas Eve.... view prompt

597 comments

Romance LGBTQ+ Christmas

“There! All done!” my little brother - Adryan - screamed, his arms above his head in a jumping jack position. In front of him, the lights of my mother’s Christmas tree twinkled red and green.

A loud, shrill beep came from the kitchen, and the mouthwatering smell of candy-cane cookies filled the air. My mom rushed into the kitchen, a grin on her face. We all followed her, ready to help her whenever she asked.

“Lyra, when did Marcia say she was coming?” Mom said. She took the cookies out of the oven and put them on a separate platter.

I glanced at my phone and looked out the window. “She’s coming soon, okay? Nobody’s arrived yet, so it’s fine.”

I ran to the window and pressed my hands to the glass because I wanted to see the snow float in the air. The snowflakes caressed the window and accumulated on the bushes like dust.

Headlights blinded me as they came closer to our home. I looked away for a second and skipped to the door, a smile on my face.

“Marcia’s here!”

I threw the door open but stopped it before it slammed into the wall. The taxi Marcia had taken was stopped in the driveway, which Adryan and I had cleared beforehand. Marcia stepped out and paid the driver. They backed out of the driveway and left.

Marcia, her neck covered by a coat and the most beautiful gold scarf I’ve ever seen, ran up the pathway, her mouth curved into a grin. White smoke emitted from her mouth as she jumped up the stairs. I opened the door and hugged her tightly. The sounds of our laughs mixed.

“Hi, how are you?” she asked and pulled away.

I held onto her, my candy cane pajamas tickled my skin, and exclaimed, “Check out the tree! It looks so good!”

Marcia looked behind me, and I backed out of the doorway, letting her come inside. She took off her boots and shook off the snow, and we walked arm-in-arm to the Christmas tree. As she marveled over the star and the pretty colors, I stared at the present with her name on it.

“Hey, anyone home?” a voice came from the door, and it creaked open.

I turned and saw John standing in the doorway, a huge grin on his face. “Merry Christmas!”

We avoided each other’s eyes, and I crossed my arms as Marcia ran up to him and hugged him. He turned red and his eyes widened. He hugged her back, a huge grin on his face.

I knew he liked Marcia, and he was so obvious about it too! It’s a bit surprising that Marcia didn’t know about his crush.

Once John let go of Marcia, he said, “I-I meant besides these two gremlins!”

We both laughed, and just to make Marcia happy, I copied her actions and smacked John’s arm. As I did, John glared at me.

“Hey, Marcia, u-um… can I talk to you about something?” John asked and scratched his chin.

Marcia stared at me, her eyebrows raised, and I glanced away, my eyes wide. They burned with tears that threatened to spill from my eyelids if I didn’t run away. I backed up away from them and ran into the kitchen.

Paper towels on the marble counter caught my attention. I grabbed them and blotted my eyes with the rough towels.

Adryan gave me a curious look, his eyebrows furrowed at me, but I avoided his eyes, as I didn’t want to have to explain myself.

I envied John. He had the confidence to confess his feelings to Marcia, but I could never do that. If Marcia said she didn’t feel the same… I don’t know what I’d do. I wouldn’t be able to face her anymore.

I grabbed three cups of eggnog - two for me, one for Marcia - “C’mon, Marcy! Have some eggnog! I spiked it with extra scotch!”

“Woah, there, take it easy! What’s that, your fifteenth cup? You gotta calm down, Ly!” Tom exclaimed.

“Excuse me,” - I took a sip and let the foam bubble up against my top lip - “This is actually my first! I’m not an alcoholic, you know.”

Tom laughed his throaty laugh and took off his coat. “Seems pretty close though.”

I rolled my eyes and drank more as Marcia ran up to Tom and yelled, “Tommy! Come here and give me a hug!”

Their hug lasted about a minute and 50 seconds, as I counted in my head. I could see Marcia get uncomfortable in his grasp, but I said nothing. I wish I could.

“How’s lawyer stuff?” she asked.

“Ugh, hard,” Tom said. He let go of her and smacked John’s arm. Marcia turned to me and grabbed her cup of eggnog, just as I finished my second cup.

Tom tapped Marcia’s shoulder. “Hey, Marcia, can I talk to you?”

I sighed and shook my head. Why did Tom have to be so formal about his confession? It wasn’t like it would affect their lives that much. They would still be friends. But… if Marcia said yes…

She’d always spoken about how good-looking Tom was.

I reached for another cup of eggnog, and with nobody there to stop me, finished the third glass.

Marcia didn’t understand that Tom and John would never really be my friends. They didn’t care about me at all, and it wasn’t like I cared. The only thing they cared about was Marcia.

My mom beckoned me over and I walked over to where she sat on the couch. An enormous platter of cookies was on the table, and I took one. Mom smiled at me. The wrinkles and dips around her nose and mouth deepened. She still looked prettier than ever, even though her old age had caught up to her.

“What’s wrong?”

Mom pointed behind me, and I looked back to see Marcia standing with Adryan. He puckered his lips dramatically at her, and I snorted. Cookie crumbs and pieces of candy cane almost burst out of my mouth.

I set my cookie down. “Defend my cookie, Mom. Make sure none of these germs,” - I looked around the boys - “touch it, ‘kay?”

She bobbed her head up and down, her eyebrows furrowed. “Roger that.”

I laughed at her and ran to where Adryan stood. I lunged for his shoulders and dug my nails deep into them.

“Stop bothering her, boy!” I kicked his back, and he laughed.

Marcia smiled at me. That smile suddenly turned to a frown. “Ly, did you know that the boys were… in love with me?”

I avoided her eyes and bit my lip. “Y-yeah…”

“Well,” - she grinned and took a huge sip of eggnog - “I just gotta say thank you for not telling me ‘cause this night was horrible. Like, REALLY horrible.”

I smiled at her and slithered my arm around her shoulder. I could feel the dirty looks that John and Tom gave me, but I ignored them.

“I’m so happy that you’re not proposing. That’d be too much.”

I could feel the tears again. They burned the corners of my eyes, and I rushed up to my room before Marcia could say anything more.

She ran up the stairs behind me, and I jumped into my bed, grabbed the seam of my blanket, and pulled it over my head.

“Ly? You okay?”

I peeked through a hole in my blanket. Marcia stood awkwardly in the doorway, her hand wrapped around the frame.

“You could sit here,” I said and patted my bed.

She nodded and sat next to me.

“Marcy… I- I dunno how to tell you this....” I hesitated and took the blanket off my head.

“Let me guess, you wanna marry me, you’ve been madly in love with me, blah blah blah,” she said, her arms behind her on my bed.

My eyes narrowed at her and icy tears dripped from my chin onto my bed, opposing the burning temperature of my face.

The door to my room creaked open, and I raised my head to see Mom. “Girls, I propose we listen to something other than Mariah Carey? She gets enough money every Christmas anyway- oh, I’m sorry!”

She left the room and closed the door behind her.

“I- I’m really sorry, Ly.”

That was all she could say. Tears dripped faster onto my sheets and I tried to keep my cool because it wasn’t her fault. I knew that. But I also knew I could never compare to Tom or John.

“Lyra, I think I know what you were going to say,” Marcia said again.

I shook my head, wiping my eyes with my sheets. But I couldn’t contain the sobs that tumbled from my lips. Marcia held up a hand to stop me, her arms around my shoulders.

“I’m free on Thursday… wanna do it then??”

I gasped and looked up at her. “Do what?”

“Uh… go on a date with me!” Marcia exclaimed. “Duh, silly!”

I laughed too, hiccups from my shaking body mixed with them.




Dedicated to Luke/Litlover, who I collabbed with on this story! :D

December 18, 2020 20:30

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597 comments

Raquel Rodriguez
20:34 Dec 18, 2020

~ Luke (Litlover) worked with me for this one! He did Marcia's POV, so go check that out too! It's called 'The Love Quadrangle' ~ I actually submitted something on the first day of the contest OMGGGG! ~ This was so fun to work on, thanks Luke!

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. .
01:56 Dec 19, 2020

Np!!! I enjoyed this sooooooo much too!!! So happy it turned out great!!

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Raquel Rodriguez
01:58 Dec 19, 2020

:D Yeah, I really like it! I've been rereading both of our stories, lol

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. .
14:41 Dec 19, 2020

:D

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Raquel Rodriguez
15:53 Dec 19, 2020

I think this is my new favorite from myself :)

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. .
15:55 Dec 19, 2020

It was great!!!!!

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16:02 Jan 01, 2021

Oh, you collaborated with Litlover on this one? It was really great! I'm already following you but I'd follow you again this is so darn good. I like the characters-- they're so believable and human! Lyra's my favorite, fir some reason. I've seen lots of LGBTQ+ takes on this prompt, but it's my favorite so far, something about it makes it feel like this story could happen. My fave line: “Marcy… I- I dunno how to tell you this....” I hesitated and took the blanket off my head. “Let me guess, you wanna marry me, you’ve been madly in love ...

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Raquel Rodriguez
04:25 Jan 03, 2021

Yep, it was so fun! Thank you so much! Thanks for following me too! I'm glad to hear that, I definitely strive for realism in my characters! Same, but that's selfish because I created her, lol. Thank you! I think I specialize in that area, maybe not, but I really like writing LGBTQ+ stories! Ooh, those are my favorites too! Thanks! Lol, I feel you, I always had to get a thesaurus to find other words to use, but now, I've memorized them, so I'm good :) Sure, I'll check out your stories!

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16:42 Jan 03, 2021

Thank you for checking them out!

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Raquel Rodriguez
12:29 Jan 04, 2021

I forgot to like them, I'm sorry! Do you also want me to comment?

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13:46 Jan 04, 2021

That'd be nice, thanks! :)

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Raquel Rodriguez
14:13 Jan 04, 2021

Alright!

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Arham Ishraq
00:54 Dec 31, 2020

Hi hi hi hi hi I'm sorry for not being online just here to remind you to drink water and eat food and stuff like that keep breathing and being awesome and bye :)))

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Raquel Rodriguez
16:24 Dec 31, 2020

Lolllll thanks for my daily reminder! I almost stopped breathing for a second there... good thing you reminded me, you don't wanna KNOW what happens when I don't breathe for about a minute.

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Arham Ishraq
16:48 Dec 31, 2020

I know!! Thats why I'm here to remind you like the totally amazing person I am 😎

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Raquel Rodriguez
17:05 Dec 31, 2020

Totally! And... ohmigosh I haven't eaten in a week, I need to eat right now! Thank you so much for reminding me Arham I'm truly BLESSED to have you as a friend!

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Arham Ishraq
17:23 Dec 31, 2020

Yes ik ik your welcome

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Raquel Rodriguez
18:19 Dec 31, 2020

;D

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Laiba M
13:31 Dec 21, 2020

Hi, Raquel!~ How is everything going?

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Raquel Rodriguez
15:29 Dec 21, 2020

Hey! Things are meh for me, I'm still in school. How about you?

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Laiba M
15:35 Dec 21, 2020

Ah, okay, haha :) I'm good! Busy and excited for the holidays~ Curious question, are there any really underrated/not as well-known writers on Reedsy you'd recommend to me?

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Raquel Rodriguez
16:14 Dec 21, 2020

Lol, that's good! Same, I want to get to Christmas asap! Uh... I'd like to think that Wolfy, maybe Narnia Zelda (no, I'm just looking for people that seem like they have really writing from the first two paragraphs) Laura Clark, and Maya Zauberman.

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Laiba M
16:41 Dec 21, 2020

Oh, nice! I'll check them out :)~ Are there any people who might not write as much, but are friendly and fun to talk to?

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Raquel Rodriguez
16:44 Dec 21, 2020

Wolfy, Arham Ishraq, and Izzie Chan. Also Arynn Diaz :)

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Hello!!! I loved Part 2!! Such a great job you two! I can see the tremendous amount of hard work you both put into this! :)

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Raquel Rodriguez
23:54 Dec 20, 2020

Thank you! I feel like this is different from my usual style, but I really like it! I'm surprised we finished it so quickly!

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Amaya .
05:07 Jan 06, 2021

Raquel I'm so freaked out about the senate election please talk to meeeee i need someone

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Raquel Rodriguez
14:33 Jan 06, 2021

Okay okay okay talk to me right now spill everything! *sits down on therapist chair and crosses legs* So, what's going on with you today sweetie?

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Amaya .
17:51 Jan 06, 2021

thank you thank youuu i'm okay now tho, it's all gonna be okay bc they won at least one seat and that's all we need *deep breath* it's all okay.

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Raquel Rodriguez
18:22 Jan 06, 2021

you're welcomeee! Okay good! So what's up with you?

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Amaya .
20:00 Jan 06, 2021

not muchhh what about you? writing a bunch today

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Raquel Rodriguez
15:20 Jan 07, 2021

Uh... I don't think I'm writing for this contest either, my bad luck is catching up and these prompts aren't my thing, however... I'm actually working on my novel a lot more now, so I'm happy about that. My bond with my bff has also strengthened despite corona, and I'm also happy about that since she helps me :) Also, good for you! Keep writing and don't ever give up gurl! How many words today?

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. .
13:31 Jan 04, 2021

Raquel!! Remember me lol?? I posted a new collab!!

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Raquel Rodriguez
13:40 Jan 04, 2021

Course I remember you! Ooh, with who?

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. .
13:41 Jan 04, 2021

Isaac Aaron. Our collab will forever reign supreme tho XD

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Raquel Rodriguez
14:03 Jan 04, 2021

Ooh, nice, I'll check it out! Yes, definitely, our collab is worthy of everything, lol. :D

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. .
14:04 Jan 04, 2021

:D

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Raquel Rodriguez
14:27 Jan 04, 2021

:) Oh, btw, Happy (late) New Year!

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Radhika Diksha
03:16 Dec 29, 2020

are you writing a new novel. Great Can you give me just of the plot?

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Raquel Rodriguez
21:45 Dec 29, 2020

Yep, I'm writing a new novel! I dunno... I don't like giving parts of my story away (only to my parents and my BEST friends)

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Radhika Diksha
01:59 Dec 30, 2020

I don't want the plot I was saying like a small overview.

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Ariadne .
03:13 Dec 29, 2020

Lyra is my baby cousin's name. I love this almost as much as I love her. Except that this is a whole lot sweeter than her haha. ;)

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Raquel Rodriguez
19:23 Dec 29, 2020

Nice! That's so cute! Aww, thank you! Lol.

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✨Abby ✨
02:15 Dec 28, 2020

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

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Raquel Rodriguez
20:49 Dec 28, 2020

Thank you! :D It's nice to see that you guys remembered my birthday ;)

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Akshaya ✨
05:06 Dec 25, 2020

Hi Raquel! I loved reading this story! The descriptions were quite fantastic, and I enjoyed the dialogue in your story. I think it was a great idea to do a collab with Luke. I'll go and check out his story, too! Amazing work! Keep writing! :) (And Merry Christmas!!)

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Raquel Rodriguez
04:25 Dec 26, 2020

Hiii! Thank you! It was so much fun to do this. I think it's one of my best stories yet! Okay! Thank you so much and Merry Christmas to you too! :D

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Akshaya ✨
05:10 Dec 27, 2020

Of course! :D I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. And a very happy birthday, Raquel!! I hope you have a great day and a great year ahead! :)

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Raquel Rodriguez
16:43 Dec 27, 2020

Thank you! Omg, you remembered my birthday?! Thank you so much, I'm really excited about today! I forgot how nice it was to be the birthday girl, lol

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Akshaya ✨
06:37 Dec 29, 2020

Of course! I love remembering birthdays and I thought I'd wish you! I hope you had a great birthday, and yes, it is really nice to be a birthday girl!! :)

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Akshaya ✨
07:26 Dec 29, 2020

And I upvoted you yesterday, as a birthday gift, I hope you like it! :)

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Raquel Rodriguez
21:44 Dec 29, 2020

Thank you! When is your birthday, if I may ask? I'm going to try to remember. It really is, it's the one special day you get to yourself

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B. W.
02:23 Dec 24, 2020

Hola

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Raquel Rodriguez
04:28 Dec 26, 2020

Hola, como estas?

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B. W.
04:40 Dec 26, 2020

I barely understand spanish

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Raquel Rodriguez
04:42 Dec 26, 2020

Oh, well, maybe I can try to teach you, if you want?

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B. W.
04:43 Dec 26, 2020

I don't see why not

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Raquel Rodriguez
19:27 Dec 26, 2020

Alright!

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B. W.
17:50 Dec 23, 2020

Are you maybe on your break yet? I've been on mine for a couple of days already

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Raquel Rodriguez
18:53 Dec 23, 2020

Nope, my break starts today, and my mom is SO eager to get me off the computer, lol

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B. W.
19:18 Dec 23, 2020

Your break starts 2 days before christmas?

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Raquel Rodriguez
19:26 Dec 23, 2020

Yep, it sucks, but my teacher said it was because we got more time off at the beginning of the year, so we have to make up for it now :/

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B. W.
20:28 Dec 23, 2020

thats just kinda weird though :/

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Raquel Rodriguez
16:10 Jan 06, 2021

Yeah, I guess. I mean, of course, we have to make up the days we were gone, but it isn't our fault that we missed days of school. It just started late.

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Raquel Rodriguez
18:26 Dec 21, 2020

Hey, what's up? :)

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.H A P P Y nothing, just happy!

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Raquel Rodriguez
19:00 Dec 21, 2020

Lol, I'm just MEH Nothing... but meh.

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Raquel Rodriguez
21:30 Dec 21, 2020

Yeah, MEH

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B. W.
17:03 Dec 21, 2020

Have you maybe been getting spammed or downvoted recently?

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Raquel Rodriguez
17:23 Dec 21, 2020

I've only been getting downvoted, I haven't been spammed yet, I can just hope that I won't be spammed :P

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B. W.
19:19 Dec 21, 2020

you want me to maybe upvote ya or something?

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Raquel Rodriguez
21:30 Dec 21, 2020

No, it's alright! Oh, have you upvoted anyone lately for Operation Christmas Spirit?

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B. W.
22:27 Dec 21, 2020

I did upvote M Cookiie a bit ago, i dont know if ya know her or anything though.

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Raquel Rodriguez
22:33 Dec 21, 2020

I've been upvoting people. But you aren't supposed to make it known that you're upvoting them. It's a no credit thing.

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Radhika Diksha
01:41 Dec 21, 2020

Hey Raquel, I would love your feedback on my stories. You are such a wonderful writer so it would be amazing to have your POV towards my story.

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Raquel Rodriguez
12:46 Dec 21, 2020

Oh frick, I'm really sorry! I totally forgot yesterday! I'll check out your stories now, thanks!

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Radhika Diksha
13:51 Dec 21, 2020

thanks, i would love your feedback on my stories. It helps me a lot for writing future stories. Hey, would you agree upon a collab?

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Raquel Rodriguez
15:32 Dec 21, 2020

You're welcome! I hope I helped a bit! Oh, well, sure, but I have a bunch of people asking me for collabs. I feel famous, lol! :D

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Radhika Diksha
15:59 Dec 21, 2020

Ok, take your time and decide when and on what prompt you have to collab with me.

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Raquel Rodriguez
16:17 Dec 21, 2020

Maybe next next next contest, so yeah.

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Radhika Diksha
06:19 Dec 20, 2020

I love Conan gray as well as Melanie. Even I was the insecure girl who used to think that everybody was talking about her behind her back. But then I realized that people who will talk about me behind my back will always be behind. So I left my insecurity. By the way, even I have submitted some stories, would love your feedback on them.

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Raquel Rodriguez
23:32 Dec 20, 2020

Ooh, always nice to meet a fellow Conan Gray and Melanie fan! I'm very insecure, and it's really hard to get over that, but that's so true!

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Radhika Diksha
02:48 Dec 20, 2020

The LGBTQ+ representation was good. I loved Ly's Pov, the story was smooth and flowed out well. This part of the story had very strong emotions and here I could see that the boys are actually bad, because our boyfriends take care of our friends and respect them, giving dirty looks to ly was bad. Sorry, I got involved with the story to some great extent. In the long-short sentence, I loved it.

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Raquel Rodriguez
23:37 Dec 20, 2020

Thanks! I feel like my writing was different here too. Yeah, I think that's what Luke was going for! :) Honestly, I would've punched one of these boys if they looked at me weird and glared at me. Lol, I'm really glad you did, you don't have to apologize. Thank you! :)

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Radhika Diksha
01:37 Dec 21, 2020

Welcome

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Raquel Rodriguez
12:44 Dec 21, 2020

:)

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✨Abby ✨
20:49 Dec 18, 2020

Great writing. Loved all the describing words you put in it. Not too much more to say, but your writing was amazing in this!

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Raquel Rodriguez
20:51 Dec 18, 2020

Thank you so much! I'm really excited that you liked it! Do you think my writing was different in this too?

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✨Abby ✨
20:56 Dec 18, 2020

Of course. I think it was a little different, but I liked it.

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Raquel Rodriguez
23:57 Dec 18, 2020

Thanks! :D

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Radhika Diksha
11:51 Jan 29, 2021

Shout out writer Fearless Fox https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/fearless-fox/ Rachel Sundar https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/rachel-sundar/ Shout out story https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/contests/76/submissions/50251/ These are the shout out writers of the week. Please do give them feedback in your free time. They need exposure for their fine writing.

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Raquel Rodriguez
19:55 Feb 02, 2021

Oh sorry lol, I haven't been here in a while but I will definitely do it, thank you!

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