As November began to come to an end, the school had already begun to put up their Christmas decorations.

"What are you doing for Christmas this year, Heather?" I asked her, as the two of us came to stand in the hallway nearby each other.

"I'm not sure yet. I know Evie and I will probably spend most of the day with my mom. My dad's always been sort of a Scrooge," she told me.

I gave a thoughtful nod at that.

"You should come to my house sometime this holiday. I think you would like Christmas at the Pine residence," I suggested, with a kind smile.

Heather beamed back at me.

"That would be incredible. I already know that your family are so nice. Well, Riley is, anyway," she said, as the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

"Of course!" I said and heard the pitch of my voice rise slightly. I hadn't noticed how nervous I was until now.

Heather didn't seem to notice, as her eyes flickered with some happiness.

"Christmas is going to be so amazing! I'm going to be a part of the Christmas play, by the way. I play the third angel," she said.

"The third angel?" I asked her.

"And Mary, too," she said.

"Well, that's going to take a lot of work," I said.

Heather simply winked.

"I can handle this," she said.

I didn't doubt that. I already knew how incredibly hardworking Heather was.

It began to rain outside, so Heather and I made the good decision to make our way to the cafeteria to get some hot chocolates.

"I both love and hate winter. It's nice to be able to cuddle up indoors but...this rain is really gloomy," Heather said.

I nodded my head understandingly at that.

The two of us went to sit down at a table nearby and it wasn't long after that one of the sports' captains, Theo Richardson, began to make his way over to the two of us.

"Oh, here comes trouble," Heather whispered.

I raised an eyebrow at her, then.

Before I could ask her what she meant by that, Theo reached our table.

"Heather!" he said, as he sat down and wrapped an arm around Heather's shoulders.

I felt a knot twist in my stomach.

"I am so excited to star alongside you in the next show! Won't it be great?" he asked.

Theo was dressed in bright colours and I was fairly sure his outfit was one of the most unique ones I had seen in the school all day.

Heather seemed to smile, even though I could see the slight nervous tension evident in her eyes.

"It'll be amazing, Theo, I'm sure," she said kindly.

"We're going to have to go and pick our outfits out soon! We need to look better than anyone else!" he said.

"I mean..." Heather trailed off.

"Of course, you're beautiful as you are but there's always room for improvement," Theo stated, as he removed his arm from her shoulders and ran a hand through his thick brown hair.

The knot that had formed in my stomach began to loosen a little.

"It'll be great, Theo," Heather said.

"Certainly!" Theo said, before his eyes moved to me, "Hi Heather's friend!"

"Theo, this is Zoe," Heather told him.

"Ah, right! I remember when we used to have math class together...you know, before I was moved up a class. I'm just that good," Theo said.

"I thought you were moved down-" I began to say.

"We don't talk about it!" Theo said.

Heather released a soft laugh. I felt a smile work its way onto my own face, as I watched her.

"Now, I am going to go and help set up the, well, set for the play! I'll see you later, Heather," Theo told her, "And Zoe."

"Theo," I replied.

Theo soon left the two of us and I turned to observe that Heather had clear amusement in her eyes. Heather touched a hand to her chest, as the both of us released a gentle laugh.

"He can be a lot to handle," Heather told me.

"Just a tad," I replied.

Heather reached out to adjust the collar of my sweater, before she decided that the two of us should go to class. She probably did have a good point but I would have been perfectly content to sit there and talk to her all day long. I simply enjoyed my time with Heather far too much for it to end so quickly.

As Heather and I walked down the hall, I stepped a little too close to her, so our hands ended up brushing slightly.

Heather turned to me with a warm glint in her eyes, as she reached out to give my hand a gentle squeeze. She only did it very quickly, as if she was worried that someone would see her doing so.

"How are you doing, Heather?" I asked her, as we sat down in the class.

I had a feeling that there was a lot on her mind again. Each time there was, this slightly mystical look would appear in her eyes.

"I'm okay," Heather said.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

Before she could reply to that question, though, the teacher arrived and began to provide us with the tasks that they wanted us to complete.

While I focused on my work because Heather was doing the same, I still couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind. I knew that things weren't going to be easy, especially when I considered that she had only recently come out to me. It would be more than difficult to come out to other people, particularly when I knew that her father didn't support it. However, I wished that she knew that she would always have me. Sometimes we had to adapt to new situations and this was one of those. All of this was new to me, too. I hadn't ever really acknowledged the fact that I liked girls before Heather. It was something I was getting used to.

Nevertheless, I was glad that I knew now. Nothing made me happier than the ability to be myself. I only hoped that one day Heather would find the confidence to be herself, too.