a jander christmas!

aHH lATe

Enjoy the friendships you have, and reach out to those loved ones that live far away, for distance doesn't make or break the relationship.

Christmas is just around the corner, and Jordyn is in the kitchen, helping her mother and her older brother putting the last finishing touch on the holiday cookies and Yule Log for tomorrow. It's one of their favorite holiday traditions and helps put their minds off of stress, considering that their dad is adjusting to his new job and the rest of the family members are keeping their busy lives together. But as much as Jordyn enjoys being back home and spending time with her loved ones, she misses her friends during the winter break and she wondered how they are doing so far considering with all the drama they have to deal with back at school.
Just as the dark haired woman transferred the last batch of cookies to the cooling racks and divided the cool ones between the family, her father called out from the living room, "Jordyn, I think your phone just beeped."
Jordyn's heart began to race and glanced at her mother, "Sorry mom! I have to take this!"
Her mother nodded in understanding and quickly kissed her daughter on the forehead, "Don't worry, dear. Your brother and I can handle the rest."
With that, Jordyn quickly grabbed a glass of milk and her plate of her shared cookies and head towards the living room where her phone is at. As soon as she sits down on a swivel chair, she booted up the video conference and then four window screen popped up; one with Gaven, one with Jessen, one with Sasha, and one with megan.
"Hey guys! Merry Christmas!"
"Hey there, BFF! Merry Christmas to you, too!" Megan replied.
"Glad you came to join the party, Jordyn!" Gaven added excitedly, "God I miss you guys. We didn't get to plan our own Christmas Party like we did last year."
"I know, but it can't be helped since we have our own things to deal with," Jessen pointed out, "But I do miss hanging out with you guys, especially since Trey and I have to leave for the Champion."
"I know. But speaking of that, I heard you guys won. Congratulations!" Jordyn told him, receiving his thanks before turning to the quiet girl on the screen, "And I'm glad that you can join us, Sasha! How's everything with...y'know, back at home."

Sasha shrugged, knowing what the stupid girl is implying. But when looked up, it's clear that she's trying to hide her smile on the screen at the sight of her new friends (she's still trying to get used to being in their group), "Meh. Everything's okay with my mother and sister and stuff. It could've been worse. At least with you guys, my winter break is bearable so far."
gaven let out a mischievous grin at the girls last comment, "So you do admit that you like hanging out with us, huh?"
"Don't make me regret saying it!"
Everybody laughed at her response until Jordyn noticed few other people missing. "So where's everybody else? I already know JJ is in a different time zone in Europe with his family, but..."
megan frowned, knowing where her best friend is getting at, "I did talk to Gracie earlier today, but it turns out she's not going to join us in the group chat today."
"Same with Michale," Gaven added, "I think with their relationships struggling, it's hard for either of them to join us."
Then, everything went into uncomfortable silence until gaven noticed something in their chat screen, "Hold on, guys. I think JJ is trying to get ahold of us!"
On cue, another window popped up, revealing the dark hair man and a younger girl who shared some resemblance with him. "Hey, everyone. Sorry it took me so long to open Skype. I'm still trying to get use to this thing."
"That's alright, Junior. We're just glad you can join us! Merry Christmas!" jordyn greeted.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," JJ replied with a smile.
"Say, who's that girl beside you? She's kinda cute!" gaven asked, indicating to the dark hair girl next to JJ on the screen.
"Oh, right. Everyone, this is Sophie. One of my younger sisters I've been talking about," JJ told them.
"Nice to meet you, Sophie. We're so glad we get to finally meet you," the young authoress said.
"S-Same here," the younger girl replied, shyly, "So you all must be JJ's friends. I can see why he likes you. And I want to say thank you for helping out my big brother back at School," Sophie added, most likely indicating to jessen and Sasha, "He deserves so much and he's lucky enough to have you guys as his friends."
"We did everything we can," Jessen replied modestly in which sasha nodded in agreement, "He's part of us now."
"Glad to hear that," Sophie replied.
Just then, another ring was heard on the chat screen and Jordyn quickly opened it up, revealing a familiar graduate student on the screen, which made her heart skipped a beat, "Zander! You're here!"
"And I'm glad that I am," Zander replied to his favorite person,
"I know it's early back in U.S. but Merry Christmas, love."
The dark/light hair woman laughed, "Merry Christmas to you too, Zandrr. I miss you."
She quickly blows a kiss on the screen in which Zander did the same in return. By then, they heard someone gagged on the screen.
"Ugh, if you two are gonna be lovey dovey on the screen, at least do it in your own private chat room!" Gaven groaned in disgust.
"Hey now! Don't rain down on one of my favorite OTPS!" sasha retorted to the snarky 90 hair styled guy, who only shrugged back in reply.
"It's fine, Sasha. Gaven didn't mean any of that," Jordyn  said reassuringly before winking at her boyfriend, indicating that they can do "this" later. Then, she sighed, "You know, a lot of things have change this year. Both good and bad. And with everything happening around us right now, I feel like everyone has already taken their own paths towards the future.
Then, she managed to mustered a warm smile to her beloved friends, "But I mean it in a good way because we manage to learn from our mistakes and grow to become the people we are right now. And the main thing is that we help each other thick and thin. And even though we're apart, I'm really happy to know that we're still looking out for each other. And that's one of the few things I never wanted to change."
"Well said, my love," zander told her, completely moved by her speech. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement, even Sasha.
"You know what?" Jessen said suddenly, "I think this calls for a toast to all of us who are in this chat room and wishing for a wonderful Christmas we're having this year. Who's in?"
"I know I am," Jordyn reply, raising her glass of milk in the air.
"...Oh what the heck? You only lived once," Megan said as she raised her glass of water to the screen. One by one, everyone else in the chat room did the same and held their own cups of own preferred beverages close to the screen, (But sasha came running back into the room with a real piece of toast,)  as if they were trying to clink their cups against each other for the toast.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"