1 A Merry Failure

Another Christmas, another failure. Well, not another failure, more like first ever failure. Marcus never really hosted a Christmas party before. It's such a bore. After all, why would you host a party when you could be at home binge-watching long shows while eating Pop Tarts? Hm, never realised how depressing that sounded.

For some odd reason, Marcus decided that this was the year he would be popular. He was already pretty famous for being the weird kid. The kid no one talks to. The kid everyone knew but didn't associate with. The kid with the missing father. A label that reminded him of something he wanted to forget.

Marcus was no popular kid, he was an average, ordinary, loser who had been stuck with this terrible label, and surely someone with that reputation couldn't host a party. Luckily, he had a trump card, his best friend, Eric Palmer. He posted an invite on Instagram and asked his Eric, to advertise his post. Eric was the "Chad" of his grade, he could very much be the hero of a fantasy RPG game. Thanks to Eric's massive popularity, Marcus's post received lots of likes and a ton of comments, ranging from "AYO FR?" and "THERE BETTER BE PIZZA" and even a peculiar "I live three blocks down bro, mind if I make show up?" These came as a shock to Marcus. He was getting appreciation. Maybe this time he'd be known for something other than "the weird kid". "Weird", a strange word for Marcus, considering he's the most ordinary kid you'll ever come across.

Yes, he has a missing father, he's talked about behind his back, and he's a little bit of a socially awkward kid. That covers basically any teenager in this forsaken town. Marcus wanted to be unique, but in his own way. He was just another ordinary kid, and he didn't want to be defined by his missing dad. In a crowd of a thousand people, he wanted to be chosen, but he wouldn't, because nothing about him was out of the ordinary.

He shook his head out of the trance. Of course, Marcus invited everyone he could. He even had the liberty to arrange the ornaments for the Christmas tree. He stared into the box of ornaments. There were several ornaments, but in the very middle was Marcus's least favorite. The porcelain elf with a green suit was so creepy and gave Marcus a feeling that he was being watched. He threw it away. Good riddance.

Marcus wiped his forehead and let out a sigh of relief when he was done. He took out the bottles of soda from the fridge and arranged it on the dining table. He waited for a while and finally saw his mother walk to the living room with his sister Ellise. She was all dressed up, her auburn red hair arranged in curls, her face glowing with makeup. She was heading to the club. Marcus had always been worried about his mother's addiction since his father went missing. He hoped she was doing okay. And he hoped his father would come back. Or maybe rot in hell.

Ellise was in her pyjamas holding a sleeping bag and a pillow. She glared at Marcus, spotting that he was up to something.

"Why are there so many sodas?" she asked innocently.

"None of your business." Marcus said as he shooed her away. Ellise glared at him in suspicion.

Mrs. Rosario was on her phone, talking to the Uber driver. She put her phone down and kissed Marcus on the forehead before waving him goodbye. She then took Ellise to her friend's house for a sleep over. Marcus waited for a while alone in the living room. He could barely hold back his grin.

The doorbell rang as Marcus jumped like a rabbit to the door. He graciously opened his door, as if he was a butler welcoming rich folk to his esteemed mansion. First came Lucian Goldfried, an ordinary classmate of his. Little quiet, but quite intelligent when it comes to robotics. He was followed by Reita Akabane, and Scott Wyler, the other nerds of the class. They were pretty much expected to come, of all the shadows that would never speak to Marcus, these were the few that occasionally popped in to talk.

Within minutes, the guests started pouring in. Marcus knew Eric would come in handy. People of all sorts his age stumbled into the Rosario household ready to party. Everyone smiled at Marcus, and his world seemed to spin faster. So many smiles in a day? He must be dreaming! Marcus tried to spot Eric, but he couldn't find him. His heart dropped. It's fine. He'll beat him up afterwards. Of course, with gratitude. Everyone gathered in the small space and started stuffing themselves with food and soda. Marcus too stuffed himself with the amazing pizza Ashley Park had brought. It finally felt like a party.

The teens blasted hardcore metal music and jumped up and down repeatedly, as if the floor was hot, molten lava. Marcus scratched his head, not because he was confused, simply because it itched. But seriously, you call this dancing? There are kids bunny hopping and they're being rooted for? Teenagers are clearly a different breed. Whatever, Marcus joined in the big group of bouncing teenagers and jumped along. He was finally having fun, for the first time.

After a few hours of eating, Marcus stood up on the dining table to give a speech. He got up and opened his mouth, about to say something. A toast, maybe? But what would he say? Immediately, the stress got to him. Why did he do this? Why was he up here? The whole class was eyeing at him, he surely had to say something. Why did he think this was a good idea? And worst of all, how hard would his mother beat him if she discovered he had set foot on the dining table?

Time was ticking, but it felt like it had stopped simultaneously. He felt extreme unease. This single speech could determine his reputation, change it for the better or worsen it. He could barely think, until he saw the pair of eyes watching him in the dark through the window.

Woah wait, he thought. Marcus frowned. Pair of eyes? Was he being stalked? Surely he hadn't noticed them before…

"Hey, Marcus? You okay, buddy?"

Those eyes seemed to look into his soul. Something about them was incredibly unnerving. They had no color, but he could make out the pupils, they were just a lighter shade of black, but a kind that draws you in once stared at for a long time…

"Uh, is he okay?"

"Yeah someone get him down from there!"

The same question wavered in his mind, "Who is that?" The eyes seemed to linger, beckoning him to come forward. Marcus looked away and realized that everything was fading. What was going on? He looked back at the window to his horror, and saw a face smothered in black, same dark eyes, and a sinister grin that resembled a shining crescent of the moon. The face seemed to grow larger…wait this had to be a hallucination. These things just don't happen, and not to Marcus, the most ordinary human being you'll ever meet. This had to be an illusion, it wasn't possible…

The face's smile widened. It gritted its teeth and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"You are nothing, please die."

Choked. His body fell with a sickening thump to the hard wood floor. He gasped as everything went dark.