With a cute little "fwoosh" sound, a perfect dollop of whipped cream spritzed out of the can. Chloe smiled, and held her mug of hot cocoa in both hands as she stepped back into the living room to join her friends. The holiday hangout was casual, but she had dressed nicely, in a cozy, silvery white top with long sleeves and green pants.

"Mm!" she closed her eyes as she took her first sip. "Ellie, this is the perfect treat right now."

"I made it from the mix myself!" smiled Ellie. She sat cross-legged on the floor in an oversized red sweater and black tights, holding a gift box wrapped in shiny gold paper and a red ribbon.

"All right!" Heather leaned forward from the couch to put her own mug of cocoa down on the end table. She had dressed up too, uncharacteristically, but exuded her usual full-figured confidence in a bold purple floral-print wrap dress. She swiped a strand of her wavy dark hair out of her face, and with a few taps pulled up a chill holiday playlist on her phone. "Let's do the gifts now!"

"Open yours first, Ellie," said Kelly, who was curled up on the couch next to Heather in a sparkly black mini dress, tights, and heels. She brought her lips down to her own mug of cocoa, a bit of her soft blond hair falling over her face.

"Sure," said Ellie, turning the gift around and examining it. "Which of you is this from?"

Ellie gave the ribbon a tug, but finding it tricky started to pick at the knot. "That's from me," said Heather." Ellie still hadn't had much luck with the ribbon. "Do you need help with that?"

"I'm good," said Ellie with a tight smile. She was now pinning the gift between her knees and tugging at the ribbon with both hands, in a cute but still futile effort. Chloe and Kelly watched, giggling.

"No, I've got you," said Heather, and she hopped off the couch to squat next to Ellie on the floor. "You have to pull on this part, see?"

"That's just making it tighter," pouted Ellie, continuing to tug.

"That's because you're -- no," returned Heather -- "Not that way, it's just sticking even tighter when you do that." Chloe sat down primly on the edge of the couch next to Kelly, and the two exchanged an even more amused glance.

"It's not working!" Ellie exclaimed, her cheeks turning red with frustration. "I think this knot is possessed or something."

"Here we go," Heather grunted as she strained, changing tactics, to work the ribbon around the edge of the package. "Rrr! It's getting closer now."

"Oh, let me try!" Kelly offered, putting down her mug and standing up from the couch.

At that moment, Heather managed to break the ribbon off the package, with a sudden snap that made her lose her balance. Tumbling back, she rolled into Kelly's legs. One of Kelly's heels slipped out from under her, and waving her arms she fully fell over backwards onto Chloe, who gave a startled "Eek!" as she dropped her cocoa. The mug plopped into her lap as the creamy, thick chocolate splashed all over her front.

"Oh, no! Chloe!" Kelly yelped as she started to pick herself up and saw what happened.

"I'm so sorry!" Heather exclaimed, struggling to get up from the floor. Chloe was still assessing the mess, holding her hands out gingerly and unsure how to clean herself up. The chocolate had glooped over a surprising amount of her formerly lovely white top, and pooled a little in her lap.

Ellie couldn't help a tiny burst of laughter as she saw Chloe covered in cocoa, but knit her eyebrows with sympathy. "I'll get paper towels. Oh gosh. Do you think it'll leave a stain?"

"I don't know," said Chloe with concern as she gently picked the dripping mug up off of her pants. "I think if I ..."

But a curtain of green slime blasted down on her as she spoke those words, and she screamed as her cocoa mess was obliterated by the second, even more unexpected disaster. Huge splashes of the heavy goop slammed into her hair and fountained out around her. She became one dripping, formless piece with the sofa as the slime kept pumping down, her clothes plastered tight to her body and everything puddled with the same ruthless, splattering stuff. Green slime seemed to fall endlessly, but at last it tapered off into a last pattering stream. Chloe held completely still in silent shock as the slime dripped down her face, her eyes shut tight but her mouth gaping.

Kelly had retreated and hugged tight to Heather for safety, both of them frozen speechless. Chloe's corner of the couch and the floor around her were a glistening, bright green disaster. The playlist changed over to a laid-back jazz instrumental of "Holly Jolly Christmas."

Ellie, unsure what to do, found she had absently unwrapped the gift, and looking down found a plush white bath towel in the box. She lifted it out and then, considering it a moment, offered it out to Chloe. "Oh it's a lovely bath towel. Why don't you have this?"

Chloe closed and opened her mouth, and at last brought her hands to her face. "That would be nice," she said gamely, as she wiped the slime away from her eyes. "I feel like I could use a shower."