Christmas is the most joyous time of the year. It's like there is magic everywhere. Lights, decorations, and families all gather together. The one problem is that college students officially have three weeks to turn our grades around. Three weeks to cram a semester's worth of knowledge just to take a two-hour long exam that will make or break our semester. Lots of homework, studying, eating, crying, stressing, and just hating life. On top of that, we still have to buy presents for our families. It is mentally draining, and no human should have to go through it, but yet we do. If only there were some sort of Christmas miracle that would let me survive the end of the semester.

"Hey, I'm back," I shouted as I entered my apartment. I had no idea if any of my roommates were back yet. Honestly, I didn't care. I was already exhausted from carrying my backpack and hamper from my car to my apartment and still had more stuff to grab. Why was it every time I went home, I brought back more stuff then what I brought in the first place? I could only go up and downstairs so many times before my legs hated me.

I quickly unlocked my bedroom door and shoved my stuff in there. I would deal with it later. I had Thanksgiving leftovers in my car, and I wasn't going to let my next couple of meals go bad. Free food got you so far in college, and you needed to take every opportunity that you could to get some.

Once I got all my stuff unloaded from my car, I shoved any food that needed to be refrigerated in the fridge along with my soda. I made sure to take as little space as possible so my three roomies would have room for their stuff as well. I tried not to start any disagreements in the apartment, not that we had any. With all of us stressing over finals, it was best to keep my head down low until I went home again. These three weeks would go by quickly, but it had a lot of tension, especially with roommates.

In the apartment, there were four of us that lived in peace with one another. Despite that, we were all completely different from one another; we all got along exceptionally well. We all joked around, had movie nights, and would go on late-night adventures. We tried to support one another even if it was being proud that they got out of bed or that they went to one of their classes. College was a tough time, so try to do what we could for another even if it was letting them sleep the day away because their depression was taking a toll on them.

My first roommate was Layla. She was a huge broadway fanatic that was studying accounting. I never understood why because that was too much math and hating my life for me. If she liked it, then who was I to judge. Like any other college student, she spent her free time watching Netflix and Hulu. When she wasn't in class, she was in the apartment or working.

Next was Alice. She was the one that had her shit together while studying psychology. She hardly skipped classes, had a full class load, and was able to work a part-time job on top of it. Not only did she do this while keeping all A's and B's, but she was also always on the phone talking to someone, whether it was her boyfriend or her family. Usually, she would meal prep and would be studying days before her exams. She was a procrastinator's goal in life that they knew they would never reach.

After that, we had Veronica, aka Ronnie. She was our extrovert studying anthropology. She was very much a people person. She was extremely involved with being in a sorority, clubs, and hanging out with her other friends. She was always texting on her phone or making TikToks. She was technically a VSCO girl before VSCO was a thing, but don't ever call her that. She absolutely hated it.

Finally, we had me, Hailey. I was just your average dysfunctional college student. I was just an average biology major with mediocre grades. There wasn't anything special about me. The only thing that made me different was my love for the Jonas Brothers and Disney. Then again, everyone loved Disney, so maybe just the Jonas Brothers were what made me different.

Since I determined that I was the only one in the apartment, I turned on some Christmas music and started dancing around my room. I unpacked my clothes and shoved them into my drawers, not caring if they actually fit. Once all my clothes were put away, I started to unpack my backpack that was full of school stuff I swore I was going to do. I obviously never worked on it. The break was for catching up with friends and oversleeping, not stressing about school. However, being a STEM major, my professors always seemed to have a different idea than their students. Since I didn't get it down over break, I was going to spend the rest of my Sunday evening doing homework.

"Santa, tell me if you're really there. Don't make me fall in love again if he won't be here next year. Santa, tell me if he really cares. 'Cause I can give it all away if he won't be here next year," I sang horribly off-key, and I am pretty sure the people in the apartments around me could hear my singing. Those poor people have to suffer listening to my singing.

In the middle of singing along with Ariana Grande, I heard one of my roommates enter the apartment. I paused my music and popped my head out of my room to see which one had returned. It seemed like the polite thing to do, considering she just walked in on me, attempting to avoid my responsibilities.

"Hey," I said when I saw Layla as she went to walk into her room. She smiled at me before entering her room to drop the stuff she was carrying before coming back out to talk. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

"It was good. I spent my break catching up with family and friends. What about you?" She asked.

"I did the same. Hung out with friends, watched my high school show choir's rehearsal, babysat some of my demon cousins, and annoyed my mom."

"Well, I still have more stuff in my car to grab and homework to do. I'll see you sometime later?"

I nodded as I watched Layla exit the apartment. After she was gone, I made my way to my desk, so I could pretend I was doing homework. In all reality, my homework was pulled up on my laptop screen, and I was scrolling through social media on my phone. Homework and I didn't get along. Actually, school and my attention span didn't get along.

After a couple of hours of actually doing homework and playing on my phone, I went out to the kitchen to reheat some of my Thanksgiving leftovers. While I was stuffing my face full of the leftover, Alice walked in. She was talking on her phone, probably to her boyfriend she just saw, and her hands were full. We gave each other a quick nod of acknowledgment before she disappeared into her room.

Not much later, Ronnie walked in, pulling two suitcases behind her. She was also on the phone, talking to her mom, letting her know Ronnie made it back to school. She gave me a quick smile as she struggled to roll her suitcases into her room. I offered to help, but she told me she got it. The gang was all back in the apartment, ready to cause chaos.

Welcome to 31 Days of December, I hope you enjoy it. With the help of one of my friends, I created this story to be fun, relatable, and hopefully cute. The beginning is a little slow and full of backstory, I know. It does pick up eventually. Hope you guys enjoy it.