On Christmas, My Family Handed Me a Gift-Wrapped Mirror – Cracked, Dirty, and Covered in Words…
On Christmas, my family handed me a gift wrapped mirror, cracked, dirty, and covered in words like failure. Useless, disappointment, and freak, all scrolled in marker. My uncle shoved it into my hands and said, “No point pretending anymore. This is who you really are.” My cousins recorded my face for their group chat.
My mother laughed and said, “Maybe now you’ll finally change.” My father just shook his head in disgust. At dinner, they toasted to finally saying what everyone’s been thinking. May he disappear like he should have years ago. I swallowed my pride, my rage, and I waited. This morning, they begged me to stop. You can’t this. We’re family.
Last year’s Christmas was already weird, like I could feel it before I was even out of bed. Idk how to explain it. But you know when people are acting different but trying to be normal. My cousin Ellis kept texting me the dumbest memes. Like loweffort even for him. My mom was being all helpful with breakfast but not looking at me.
And my dad kept checking his phone every 2 seconds. The group chat was dead. No one said a word about secret Santa. Not even Lola, who literally lives to flex on Insta about her thoughtful gifts. So, I’m thinking, okay, maybe they’re finally over the annual roast Roy routine. Or maybe they’re just tired. Idk. I’m not new to being the odd one out, but this was like extra.
I caught Ellis whispering something to my uncle William in the kitchen. Both of them glancing at me and then acting like they didn’t. It was just off. We always do presents after breakfast and usually it’s chaotic like paper everywhere. Everyone trying to out loud the other. This time it went quiet. My mom basically choreographed the whole thing telling everyone to sit in a circle which we’ve never done.
Like are we in a cult now? I sat next to Hope. She’s the only one who doesn’t totally hate me. Or maybe she’s just good at pretending. And she nudged me with her knee but wouldn’t look at me either. So I’m already on Ed. I opened my gift last because of course it’s all eyes on me. It’s this box but heavy. awkward.
I’m expecting IDK, a joke, or some kind of half-assed apology for what happened at Thanksgiving. Long story. Basically, Dad blew up about nothing. Blamed me for the turkey being dry. I didn’t even cook it. But nah, I opened the wrapping and it’s just a mirror. Not even a new mirror. Like, it’s cracked.
There’s fingerprints and dust. And all over it, someone’s gone wild with a marker. Words everywhere. And not cute ones. Failure, useless, freak, disappointment. You get the idea. It’s not even clever. It’s just straight up mean. Uncle William stands up and shoves it toward me like hard. Almost like he wanted it to break more.
He’s got this look like, “Finally, we can stop pretending.” He says, not word for word, but close. “No point pretending anymore. This is who you really are.” Meanwhile, Ellis and Lola are both holding their phones up, not even hiding it. And I know exactly what’s going on. They’re recording my face for their group chat, probably with their friends from uni.
My mom, she laughs. She’s not even hiding it. Says, “Maybe now you’ll finally change.” My dad just shakes his head, mutters something about being embarrassed to even look at me. Hope tries to say something, but my mom just stares her down and she goes quiet. I put the mirror down like gently and stand up, but my uncle blocks the way, says, “Sit down. Don’t ruin it for everyone.
” I swear if I’d been a little younger, I probably would have started swinging, but I’m not stupid. So, I sit, hands in my lap, just gripping the chair. I already know there’s no point arguing. They’ll just turn it back on me like always. It’s always been this way ever since I was a kid. I’m the one who gets blamed for everything.
The one who doesn’t fit. Not sporty enough like Ellis. Not pretty enough like Lola. Too quiet. Too weird. Too soft. My mom’s always been pissed. I wouldn’t just act nor whatever that means. My dad’s just tired. I guess he used to try, but after grandma died, he just gave up on me after that. Christmas dinner was a joke.
They all did this fake toast like to finally saying what everyone’s been thinking. May he disappear like he should have years ago. William laughed. Ellis tried to high-five him. My mom just smiled. I didn’t eat. Hope was picking at her food, looking at me like she wanted to say sorry, but she didn’t. No one did.
I just sat there staring at my phone. Like if I looked hard enough, maybe I’d disappear for real after dinner. I went upstairs, tried calling a friend, but he was busy with his own family. I could hear them downstairs laughing about something. Probably me. I just sat on my bed staring at that dumb mirror.
Tried wiping off the marker, but it just smeared the thing that gets me. Is this isn’t even new. Like, they’ve always made me the target. Every family event, it’s the same thing. Roiy’s too sensitive. Royy’s not trying hard enough. Roiy’s a burden. When I got into a fight at school, it was my fault for not fitting in.
When I quit soccer, I was wasting dad’s money. When I got sick last year, they barely visited. My mom’s said it before that I was the problem child. The reason she and dad fight, the reason she can’t relax. Uncle William’s always been the worst, acting like he’s some big authority on what a real man should be. But he’s just loud.
Ellis and Lola follow his lead because it’s easier to pile on than to get picked on. So yeah, I was angry. Like not just mad, but this deep crawling feeling that I wanted to break something, but I didn’t. I just sat there thinking. I kept replaying it in my head. The way they all looked at me, waiting for me to cry or flip out so they could call me unstable. I swear I almost did.
Hope came up after a while. Tried to knock, but I told her to leave me alone. I didn’t want her pity. Not now. I thought about just leaving, walking out and not coming back, but that’s what they want. They want me gone so they can blame me for ruining Christmas and not feel bad about it. I’m not giving them that.
I went downstairs late after everyone had crashed. Mirror was still there, right where I left it like a threat. I grabbed a Sharpie from the kitchen drawer and just wrote on the back. Nice try. Then I put it in the bathroom right where everyone would see it in the morning. Couldn’t sleep.
Just lay there scrolling Tik Tok, watching dumb videos, trying not to think. Around 3, I heard my parents arguing in their room. Voices low but intense. Caught my name a few times. Nothing new next morning. Breakfast was tense. Lola wouldn’t look at me. Ellis was bragging about some bet he won. Acting like nothing happened. Mom made eggs, but only enough for herself and dad.
I made toast and sat at the table just staring at them. No one said anything about the mirror. Not at first. Then Uncle William comes in, sees it, and slams the bathroom. Everyone jumps. He comes back, tells my dad he’s not letting me ruin another holiday. Dad just shrugs. Mom rolls her eyes. Hope looks mad, but she doesn’t say any.
So yeah, that’s Christmas. Not even surprised at this point. But I’m not just taking it. I’m done being the target. I’m not waiting for them to change because they won’t. I’m going to make them regret it. And I don’t mean some half-assed payback. If they want to see what I’m really capable of, fine. I’ll show them I don’t even care if they call me a freak. Better than a doormat.
Next update coming soon. FR. You’re not ready for what I’ve got planned. Update one. So, here we go. Part two. I said I wouldn’t just sit there and take it. And yeah, some of y’all DM’d me like, “Bro, just go no contact, lol.” But I’m not making it that easy for Not after the mirror.
Not after watching my mom smirk at me across the table like she finally won. It’s not even about one bad day. It’s the years of this crap that built up. Anyway, if you missed part one, go check it cuz this is not a healing arc, lol. After exmace, the house felt weird. Not just the regular awkward, but like every room was tense.
Hope kept avoiding eye contact, which sucked cuz she’s the only one who ever kind of had my back. My mom was extra loud, slamming cabinet doors, talking to Lola in that fake sweet voice she uses when she’s trying to make a point. My dad started hiding out in the garage, acting busy with some old toolbox, not even pretending to want to eat dinner with us.
Ellis bounced between his room and the living room, always with his phone out, showing videos to anyone who’d listen. William, my uncle, kept making himself the center of every convo, talking about real men and tough love. If I rolled my eyes any harder, I’d need surgery. Here’s the thing.
My family didn’t just wake up one day and decide I was the problem. It’s been like this forever, but it ramped up after my grandma died a couple years ago. She was the only one who actually liked me. TBH. After that, my mom got meaner. My dad just stopped trying and everyone else fell in line. I’m not into sports or whatever, so Ellis and my uncle always said I was soft.
Lola is all about her appearance, and since I don’t care about that, she says I’m embarrassing to be around. My mom just wants a normal son, aka someone who doesn’t call her out for being fake to everyone outside the house. Oh yeah, I was done. I started planning. Nothing illegal, nothing that could get me arrested, but stuff to actually make them uncomfortable.
I didn’t want revenge like in a movie. I wanted them to feel what it’s like to be the outsider, to have their little world shaken up. I started with stuff I knew would get under their skin first. I started digging into the family group chats. Not the main one. I’m barely in there anyway, but the smaller ones that Ellis and Lola used to talk about family drama. I found a way in.
not hacking her. Just remembered Lola’s old phone passcode. She never changes it. She’s lazy like that. And her phone was on the kitchen counter while she was in the shower. I scrolled through her group, saw the video of me opening the mirror. Yep, it was in there with all their little comments underneath.
Ella sent it to at least three friends, plus one of Lola’s friends from her summer thing in Europe. They were all laughing it up, dropping the usual, “I can’t believe your family did that comments.” But none of her friends were actually defending me. Just gossip. I screenshotted everything. Not to post online. I’m not stupid. I know how that goes.
But to have receipts. I started dropping hints at breakfast. Nothing obvious, just stuff like, “Funny how people show their real faces in private chats.” Ellis went pale. Lola tried to play it cool. But she started clutching her phone like I might grab it. My mom noticed and gave me that look.
The one that says, “Stop making waves.” I ignored her. I started replying to every dumb thing they said with stuff I knew would get under their skin. Ellis bragged about some fantasy football win. So, I reminded him loud enough for dad and uncle to hear that he lost money last year betting with his friend Marley and still owes him like 50 bucks.
Lola started talking about her future plans with her boyfriend. So, I asked if she was going to tell mom about her secret credit card. She froze, went bright red, and stormed upstairs, slamming the door. My dad yelled after her to be more respectful, but she ignored him. I could tell the vibe was shifting. It wasn’t just me getting singled out anymore.
Hope started hanging around me more, but she was quiet, asking stuff like what was really going on. I just told her, “I’m done being the punching bag.” She nodded and didn’t push it. The next move was at dinner. Uncle William started on one of his rants about how people need to toughen up. And back in my day, no one got special treatment.
I just laughed, said, “It must be nice to live in the past when people like him could get away with anything.” He got mad, slammed his fist on the table, told me to show some respect. I said, “Respect is earned, not just given because you yell louder than everyone else.” My mom told me to apologize.
I told her maybe she should apologize for letting her brother treat everyone like garbage. She slapped the table hard and told me to shut up. I just sat there not moving. Ellis tried to push my chair back like I was supposed to get up and leave. I stood up, told him to try it again. He didn’t. Things escalated after that. My mom started going through my stuff, looking for evidence of me being up to something.
I caught her rifling through my desk drawer. And when I asked what she was doing, she said she was looking for contraband, right? Like I’m hiding a whole drug ring in a pile of high school notebook. She slammed my door and told me to get out of her sight, so I started hitting them where it hurts most, money. Not in an illegal way, but by exposing stuff they hoped would stay hidden.
Lola’s been using Dad’s card for her online shopping. I left her browser history open on the family laptop right before dad went to check his email. He found out about 300 bucks in charges he didn’t recogn yelling. Lola tried to blame me, but I told dad, “Check the shipping addresses.” He did, and yeah, all of it went to her.
Ellis has been borrowing money from Uncle William, but telling everyone else he’s saving up for a new phone. I let that slip during lunch, made sure Aunt Noel, who actually has money and is always judging everyone, was there. She started grilling Ellis about financial responsibility. He got mad, threw his fork at his plate, and stomped off.
Uncle William blamed me, but I just shrugged. Told him maybe he should pay more attention to his own kid. My mom started freaking out. She’s obsessed with how people see us. So, when Hope, who’s usually quiet, started pushing back a asking why everyone acts like I’m invisible, why it’s always my fault. Mom lost it.
She grabbed Hope’s arm, dragged her into the hallway, and started yelling. Hope pulled away, told her to stop, treating her like a kid. Mom slammed the door. I started noticing little things changing. Dad started taking calls in the driveway like he didn’t want anyone to hear him. Lola was blowing up her group chat, probably trying to figure out how much I knew.
Ellis was quieter, not cocky anymore, just sulking in his room. Uncle William was around less, making excuses to run errands whenever things got tense. Aunt Noel was suddenly watching everyone like she was waiting for someone to screw up. I was just getting started. TBH, if they wanted to play games, fine.
But I was done being the only one taking hits. I kept receipts, kept notes, started figuring out who was really in charge of what in the house. Not dramatic, just watching and waiting. Then 2 days after Christmas, my mom called a family meeting. She tried to make it sound all official, but it was just her way of yelling at everyone at once.
She started grilling me about respect and family loyalty, but I cut her off, told her maybe she should look in the mirror for once. She slapped my arm hard and told me to get out. I stood up, looked at everyone, and said if they want to keep playing, I’ll play harder. Then I left the room that night. I started making real moves, not petty stuff, actual pressure.
I started poking at the stuff they care about most. Their social standing, their money, their secrets. I wasn’t going to let up. I wanted them to feel what it’s like to be on edge all the time. To never know what’s coming next, next update soon. Angel, it’s about to get a lot messier. Update two. So, this is where stuff really started to shift.
Like, you ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re overreacting or if everyone else is just wild? That was basically every hour at my parents after XMAS. I was keeping my head down but watching. and Nugle. The more I saw, the more I wanted to mess with them. Not like pranks or whatever, but real pressure.
Stuff that hits where it hurts. I was done being the joke. First thing that tipped me off, something was up. Lola kept changing her phone’s lock screen like every day. Not her usual hot girl selfies, but weird generic pics. I’d catch her glancing at me, then at her phone, then at mom. I realized she was getting paranoid. I’d found more than just her secret credit card stuff.
She was right, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. Ellis, meanwhile, had stopped bragging and was just lurking around picking fights with hope over nothing. My uncle started being busy whenever money came up, like he knew his own mess was about to go public. I started pushing more, like, if they wanted to play dirty, fine. I started with Lola because she’s obsessed with looking perfect.
I sent her a text from a random number, nothing traceable, saying, “Hey, maybe you should check who’s looking at your stories. Not everyone’s a fan.” She freaked. started locking down her socials, unfollowing people, texting her friends in all caps. Mom started getting weirdly involved, asking who she was talking to if I was harassing her. I didn’t even answer.
I just told Lola maybe she should focus less on her phone and more on who’s paying her bills. She threw her charger at the wall, then stomped upstairs, called me a psycho. After that, I started poking at Ellis. He’s always flexed about being dad’s mini me, but the dude can’t handle pressure. I started dropping hints at dinner like, “Oh, hope you paid your friend back.
Would hate for dad to find out.” He started snapping at me, telling me to mind my business. Dad asked what was going on. Ellis said I was trying to start drama. I just shrugged, said maybe he should check Venmo notifications. Ellis sulked, then later tried to shove me when I passed him in the hallway. I pushed back, told him to get his hands off me. He called me a freak.
I laughed in his face. The real fun started when I realized mom was still trying to control the narrative. She called another family meeting, this time with Aunt Noel on FaceTime so she could witness how difficult I am. Mom started with her usual stuff, saying how family is about respect and how I was ruining everything.
I cut her off, said, “If family is so important, maybe she should stop talking about me behind my back.” She went quiet, then told me to apologize. I said, “For what? For not being the family punching bag anymore?” Uncle William tried to talk over me, so I told him, “Maybe you should focus on your own finances before giving advice.
” Aunt Noel just stared at her screen, not saying a word. Dad got up and left the room. Later, I started doing stuff that would make them uncomfortable in front of others, not just at home. Lola was planning this big hangout with her friends at the house, and I knew she was desperate to look perfect.
I told mom I’d invite a couple of my friends over that same night. She freaked, said it would ruin the vibe, told me no. I said fine, but then I left a note for Lola’s friend Marley. Something like, “You should ask Lola about her other socials. Bet she hasn’t told you everything.” Lola found out, screamed at me in the hallway, tried to slap me.
I dodged and she almost tripped over her own shoes. Mom lost it, told me to get out. I said, “Kick me out then. See how you explain that to everyone.” Meanwhile, I started digging into the money stuff more. Dad was already on edge about the charges Lola made, but he didn’t know about Ellis borrowing from Uncle William and also from Mom.
I wrote down a list of all the money I knew they owed people. Just facts, no drama, and left it on the kitchen table. Next morning, dad found it, started grilling everyone. Mom tried to blame me for spying, but I just told her, “Maybe if you actually talk to each other, you’d know what’s going on.” Dad slammed his mug on the counter.
Lola started crying. Ellis stormed out. Uncle William texted Dad some long rant. Dad just turned off his phone. Hope got involved at this point. She’s always been the quiet one, but she started sticking up for herself more, asking mom why it’s always me getting yelled at when everyone else is lying. Mom told her to stay out of it.
Hope said she’s tired of the drama. Mom tried to ground her. Hope laughed and said, “You can’t ground me for telling the truth.” Mom slammed her door. Dad started sleeping on the couch after that. I saw the cracks forming. Aunt Noel texted me asking if everything was okay. I said, “Yeah, just family stuff, nothing new.” She kept pressing, so I told her, “Maybe you should ask mom about the family savings.
Next thing I know, mom’s yelling at Dad about who told Noel. Dad’s yelling at me.” I just shrugged and went for a walk. The final straw was New Year’s. Everyone was supposed to meet up for dinner at this boring restaurant, but dad bailed last minute. Said he had other plans. Mom blamed me. Said I was tearing the family apart. I laughed.
Told her maybe she should thank me for showing everyone the truth. Lola refused to leave her room. Ellis was hiding in the basement. Uncle William was on speaker trying to convince everyone he was the victim. Next morning, I woke up to mom sitting on the edge of my bed. She looked tired, like really tired. She said, “Can’t we just go back to normal?” I told her, “There’s no normal after what you did.
” She slapped my arm, told me to get over myself. I stood up, told her, “You wanted me to disappear? Maybe I should.” She stormed out, slammed the door so hard the frame shook. Since then, it’s been chaos. Lola’s friends are asking question. Ellis is freaking out about money. Dad is barely speaking to anyone. Hope started spending more time at her friend’s place.
Aunt Noel is suddenly reviewing the family finances. Uncle William is basically persona non grata. Mom’s still trying to keep up appearances, but now she’s the one getting sideyed at family stuff. I’m not done yet. They wanted me to be the freak, the disappointment, the failure. Fine. Let’s see how they handle being in the hot seat for once.
Next update coming. And trust it’s only getting heavier. Final update. Honestly, I didn’t even notice at first how quiet the house got. Like, not the regular awkward, but that heavy something’s broken and we can’t fix it quiet. Every door sounded louder. People started texting instead of actually talking. If you’re wondering, yeah, I was still living there.
Couldn’t afford my own place yet. And after all this, I kind of liked being in their face. So, right after New Year’s, it’s like everyone’s on edge. Dad’s barely home. And when he is, he’s got headphones in, scrolling through his phone, pretending he’s watching sports, but not even reacting to the screen. Lola keeps locking herself in the bathroom with her phone and crying, but then post stupid aesthetic stories like her life is perfect.
Ellis is just gone most days, guessing he’s hiding at Marley’s place again, maybe gaming all night or whatever. Mom’s in fullon damage cleaning stuff that doesn’t need making group chats with Aunt Noel and hope like anyone wants to actually talk. Everybody’s skittish but not sorry. Not a single apology has come from any of them. So, here’s where it gets wild.
Aunt Noel suddenly started checking in a lot, like texting me and hope, asking if everything’s okay, but also texting mom and dad and even Lola. I could tell she was sniffing for gossip, but also making sure her money was safe. She’s always been the one who helps in the family, but never for free.
I started feeding her hints. Nothing fake, just stuff like, “Maybe you should check the family savings.” or I wonder if Lola’s credit card is maxed out again. She’d reply with a million question marks, then call mom and kick up drama. I just sat back and watched them all scramble. Mom accused me of stirring things up, tried to get Dad to back her up, but he just shrugged and said, “Maybe if you all stopped lying to each other, we wouldn’t be here.
” Lola freaked out at mom, said she never asked for this, and slammed her door so hard a picture frame fell down. Ellis came home and started yelling at me about ruining everything, but I just laughed and told him to pay back what he owes before talking. He tried to shove me. I stood my ground, told him I’m not scared of him anymore. He backed off, muttering that I’m a snake.
What really made it spiral was the money. Aunt Noel started demanding to see where things went. Mom kept trying to hide stuff, but no one trusted anyone now. Dad wouldn’t even give her his phone to check the banking app. Lola tried to blame me for hacking her stuff, but everyone knew she just reused password. Hope started staying out late.
She’d text me like, “Not coming home. Too much drama.” I told her, “I get it.” Even Uncle William stopped showing up. His texts went from bragging to begging people to be reasonable. I didn’t answer. The family group chat blew up. Aunt Noel accused mom of mismanaging family money.
Dad told her to chill, but then she started threatening to pull her support from the house, and mom completely lost it. She was yelling at Dad, at me, at Lola, even at Hope when she finally came home. Hope snapped, told mom to stop acting like she was the only victim, and slammed her own door. Mom tried to slap her, but Hope dodged and left the house again, not coming back till late.
Meanwhile, Lola’s whole friend group started splintering. I guess word got out about her spending and double life stuff. A few of them unfollowed her. She started freaking out, saying I was ruining her social life. I told her, “You did that yourself.” She threw her water bottle at the wall and it cracked. Mom yelled at her for making a mess.
Lola screamed back, then locked herself in her room crying. Ellis tried to act like he was above it, but then Aunt Noel called him out for the money he owed. He said he’d pay. She said she’d tell Uncle William. He just walked out and didn’t come back for hours. Dad finally cracked and told mom he’s done cleaning up her messes.
He started sleeping at a friend’s place, and when he was home, he’d barely say a word. Mom kept trying to guilt trip me, saying I was breaking the family. I told her, “You guys did that yourselves years ago.” She tried to slap me. I caught her wrist and told her to stop touching me. She started crying, but I just walked out and went to the backyard.
I just kept pressing. I started moving some of my stuff into the garage, made it obvious I was looking at rooms to rent, texting people about it in front of mom. She started panicking, telling me I couldn’t just leave, that were family, that I was ungrateful. I told her, “You gave me a mirror and called me a freak.
What did you think would happen?” She slammed the fridge door and walked away. Then came the begging, not from Lola or Ellis, but from Mom and even Aunt Noel. Mom started texting me non-stop, saying things like, “You can’t do this. We’re family. You have to stop. You’re ruining everything.
” I told her, “I’m not doing anything you didn’t start.” Aunt Noel tried her voice of reason act, asking me to help smooth things over. I said, “Maybe you all should sit down and actually talk to each other for once instead of blaming me.” She got mad. Said I was being cruel. Funny thing is, none of this felt satisfying. Not really.
Like, yeah, they were all finally dealing with their own crap, but it didn’t make me feel better. It just felt necessary. I didn’t want to fix it. I wanted them to feel what they put me through, and they were. Mom was a mess. Dad was checked out. Lola was losing her social life. Ellis was broke and embarrassed, and Aunt Noel was on damage control with her money.
Uncle William was ghosting everyone. And Hope stopped pretending there was any point in making peace. People ask if I regret it. I don’t. I wasn’t about to let them get away with making me the villain for existing. They wanted a scapegoat and I gave them a war. I made sure every secret, every lie, every fake smile they used against me turned right back on them.
I didn’t break the law, didn’t trash their stuff, didn’t do anything they could pin on me. I just stopped playing nice and started using what I knew. The last time mom tried to pull the we family card, I told her family doesn’t do what you did. She tried to hug me. I stepped back and left the house. I went to the park, just sat and watched videos on my phone, and didn’t come back till after midnight.
When I finally walked in, the house was dead silent. Nobody even looked at me. So, yeah, I’m still here for now, but I’m not part of their story anymore. They get to live with what they did, and I get to decide what comes next. No need endings, no fixing what’s broken. I just made sure they can’t pretend anymore.
