Home for Christmas Read online

  11

  ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU

  Lauren

  “AHHH!” KHLOE SAID, GRABBING MY arm. She had the famous Khloe look—like she had to talk or she would burst. “I was dying to talk to you guys, but I couldn’t say what I wanted to in front of the boys.”

  Carina giggled. “Dying, huh? I had an idea that something was going on when you looked at me and kept blinking—like you were trying to send me a message in Morse code or something.”

  Khloe nodded, her blond hair flying. “I was! Well, not in Morse code because I don’t know how, but I was trying to tell you that we needed girl time. I couldn’t say anything especially because of Zack.”

  We wandered out of the arena and into a side yard. People and horses were everywhere. Volunteers were leading Thoroughbreds to and from the stable, catching and releasing them into paddocks, or grooming horses standing at tie rings. At least a dozen riders were exercising horses.

  “Let’s go sit on the fence and watch the horses being exercised in that arena,” Brielle said. She tipped her chin toward a giant rectangle-shaped arena not too far away. “The boys aren’t there, and neither are Sasha and her friends.”

  We walked to the arena, climbed the wooden fence, and settled ourselves on the top rail. I sat next to Khloe, with Ana on my other side. Four horses worked in the arena. A gray that reminded me of Whisper trotted in large circles in front of us. Two bays walked along the fence at the opposite end of the arena. In the center, a chestnut gelding fought his rider. The rider, an athletic-looking girl in a black wool coat, white helmet with visible scrapes, and worn-in paddock boots, struggled to hold the horse at a trot. The chestnut tossed his head and crow hopped, yanking the reins in the girl’s hands. The girl’s attention never wavered. The horse’s antics had captured the attention of all of us—no one said a word as we watched.

  The rider, who looked about Charlotte’s age, refused to give in to the horse. She pushed her heels down and sat deep in the saddle. The gelding tossed his head again, seesawing the reins against his neck.

  “Think we’ll get any horses like that to exercise?” Carina said quietly.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe only the volunteers who have been here for a long time get the really green horses. Or maybe our experience levels will be enough for us to be assigned a horse that isn’t quiet to work with.”

  I hoped I’d get to ride a horse that needed some retraining. It would be a challenge and something that I could learn from. Khloe’s knee bumped into mine, and I remembered why we had chosen to separate ourselves from the guys.

  “Spill,” I said, elbowing Khloe lightly. Each girl sitting on the fence turned her gaze from the unruly chestnut to Khloe.

  “I couldn’t wait until we got back to your place, Laur, to talk about Sasha and Co.,” Khlo said, using the group’s nickname.

  “Omigod! So crazy, right?!” Clare said.

  “Seriously!” Ana added, shaking her head. “What are the odds that Sasha Silver ended up volunteering here too?”

  “It really is like Sasha and her friends planned the same Christmas vacay we did,” I said. “We’ll probably see them again at Briar Creek, we know we’ll see them here, and Union isn’t very big. If we go out for dinner or grab coffee in the morning, we could run into them.”

  “We, like, never see them at school, but we’ve run into Sasha so many times already since we’ve been in Union,” Bri said. “So weird.”

  The other girls nodded. Hoofbeats approached us, and we fell silent as a tall, lanky bay walked past us. I didn’t want to talk until the horse was out of earshot, in case my voice spooked him.

  “I’m so lucky to be dating Zack,” Khloe said once the bay and his rider were a safe distance away from us. “And no guy is cuter than him, but I have to say it: Sasha’s ex and her current BF are so cute!”

  We giggled and nodded.

  “I feel the same way about Drew,” I said. “But I agree with you, KK. Sasha’s so lucky! Jacob and Eric are the hottest guys in her grade. Does anyone know why Sasha and Eric broke up?”

  I looked at Khloe, Clare, and Lexa, since they’d been at Canterwood longer than Brielle, Carina, and me.

  The three girls shook their heads.

  “I heard rumors,” Clare said. She brushed a red lock of hair out of her blue eyes. “Somebody in my art class told me that Sasha dated Jacob first, and then they broke up and she went out with Eric. Then they split, and Sasha went back to Jacob.”

  Lexa nodded, leaning forward so I could see her from her spot farthest from me. “Jacob’s supposedly Sasha’s first love. It’s so romantic! Like a movie. I heard Sasha and Eric were really great together, but Jacob was always ‘the one.’ ” A dreamy smile came over Lexa’s face. “They were meant to be together.”

  I sighed, loving Lexa’s story, and Ana made the same noise. I bumped my shoulder against hers and we both laughed.

  “I don’t even go to Canterwood, but now I want to just for the gossip and stories like this!” Ana said. She played with the ends of her light-brown hair. “If I went, though, Jeremy would have to come with me.”

  “Oh, Ana-Banana,” I said. “Remember the days when you were Miss Anti-Romance and all about your artwork?”

  Ana shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Lauren. You must be thinking of someone else.”

  “Funny,” Bri said, tilting her head. “I seem to have the same memories that LT does. There was an Ana who swore off boys until this totally hot guy came up to her at the end-of-year dance.”

  “Please keep talking about this cute guy,” Lexa said. “This is a good story!”

  Ana, Brielle, and I laughed. It felt like old times—the three of us together and having fun.

  “There were two best friends who practically dragged this girl to the dance,” I said. “Shocker—not—when the girl was asked to dance by one of the cuties, that made a lot of other girls crazy jealous.”

  Ana, smiling, hung her head then lifted it. “You two are starting to jog my memory a little. This girl—who’s supposedly me—was maybe uninterested in boys. Or maybe the right guy hadn’t appeared until the dance.”

  “Aww!” Carina said. “I’m guessing this guy is Jeremy, right? The one you would want to come with you to Canterwood?”

  Ana did a little dance on the fence. “Okay, okay! You broke me.” She laughed. “Yes, the guy who asked me to dance was Jeremy. We’ve been dating ever since.”

  “C’mon,” I said. “You can be more specific than that. How long exactly?”

  “Seven months, two weeks, and one day!” Ana answered immediately.

  Everyone laughed, including Ana.

  “You’re so lucky,” Carina said. “You’ve got a boyfriend, Lauren has Drew, and Khloe’s with Zack. I’ve never had a BF before.”

  “Welcome to the club,” Lexa said. She extended a hand to Carina, and they shook hands.

  “Maybe we should wish for boys to appear under the Christmas tree this year,” Clare said.

  “Not the tree,” Khloe said. “Wish for under the mistletoe!”

  We stayed on the fence, laughing quietly and chatting about boys. My mind drifted to Brielle’s own boy-related past: a string of one-time dates at Yates Prepatory followed by a few dates with her longtime crush, Will, and finally, Brielle and Taylor. I waited to feel anger in the pit of my stomach about Bri’s betrayal, but it didn’t come. Instead, I kept giggling and talking with my friends, not one thought of Brielle and Taylor together coming to mind and dimming my happy mood.

  12

  NAUGHTY OR NICE?

  Sasha

  “I COULDN’T THINK OF A better way to end the day,” Brit said. She looked supercute in lounge-y clothes—a hot-pink velour tracksuit with a long-sleeve white tee that said WHERE’S THE MISTLETOE? in rhinestones.

  “Totally agree,” I said. “If you grab that tray, I’ve got this one.”

  “Got it.” Brit picked up the green-and-red tray ful
l of snacks. We had Chex Mix and bowls of caramel, cheese, and butter popcorn.

  Brit and I had finished filling bowls with munchies for everyone. Paige, Eric, and Alison had already carried steaming mugs of hot chocolate into the other room.

  We’d all agreed to do our own thing once we had gotten back to my house around lunchtime. Each of us had taken quick showers and changed out of our stable clothes. Mom had grilled cheese sandwiches for us and we’d chowed down. Eventually, we’d all wound up chatting in the den. I’d been flopped on the couch reading celeb gossip on my BlackBerry. Then Heather and Alison had joined me. We’d gotten into a long talk about how amazing all of the horses were and how much we wished we could take all of them home with us. Mid-convo, the rest of my friends had wandered into the den.

  “What’re you guys up to, hon?” I looked up, almost bumping into my dad.

  I motioned to the tray in my hand. “We’re having snacks and hot chocolate in the den.” I smiled and sidestepped him, with Brit behind me.

  I entered the den, passed the tray to Jacob, and surveyed the space.

  Everyone was sprawled on the floor. The Christmas tree lights were on—the only light needed in the room—and the colored bulbs cast a soft light over everything. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and there were enough throw blankets for everyone.

  I sat next to Jacob, our backs resting against the couch. Across from us, Heather and Alison shared a fleece throw.

  “This popcorn is delish,” Paige said. “Thanks, Sash.”

  Dad walked in, stopping in the middle of our ragged circle. “Is there enough light on in here?” he asked. “I can’t see a thing. Can you all see?”

  I looked at everyone. They all nodded at Dad. “We’re good, Dad,” I said. “I can turn on a light if we need it.”

  “Okay,” Dad said. He put his hands in the pockets of his gray sweatpants and left the den.

  “Sorry, Paige,” I said. “The popcorn totally came from the store. You know what happens if I even try to make regular microwave popcorn.”

  Paige giggled and everyone else joined in.

  “Sasha set the microwave on fire,” Paige said through her giggles. “She didn’t press the popcorn button and just guessed on the timer.”

  Footsteps shuffled down the two steps into our sunken den, and, still laughing, I looked up to see Dad.

  Again.

  “Sorry,” Dad said. He held his reading glasses in one hand. “I forgot my book.”

  We all munched on food while Dad walked to one of the recliners near the fireplace. He shuffled through a few books, took one, and finally left.

  I shook my head. “Sorry again,” I said, whispering. I didn’t want to hurt Dad’s feelings if he was close enough to hear. “He’s being weird. I have no clue why.”

  “Back to the story,” Callie said. She stretched out on her stomach and rested her chin on her hands. “I need to hear the end of this popcorn saga!”

  “Yes!” Alison said. “How long did you set the timer for?”

  I sniffed, raising my chin in the air. “I don’t know. As long as popcorn should take. Like fifteen minutes.”

  That caused another round of laughter.

  “I bet that nearly made Livvie combust,” Eric said.

  I nodded, thinking of my dorm hall monitor when I’d lived in Winchester. “Yeeeaaaah. She might have banned me from the microwave.”

  Jacob put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. “Thankfully, I’m not dating you for your cooking skills.”

  “You’d starve,” I said. “And—”

  Dad walked past us and peered hard at the fireplace mantel.

  “Dad?” I asked. “What are you doing? If you forgot something else, do I need to start worrying about your memory loss?”

  My dad ran a hand over his light-brown hair, shaking his head. “You have a few more years before it’s time to worry about that. I’m just . . .”

  Dad trailed off as he kept looking at the mantel. Slowly, I felt Jacob’s arm shift until it was back at his side. I frowned, looking at him. He shifted his green eyes between us and then at my dad. What? I mouthed. Jacob did the same gesture.

  “Oh!” I said aloud.

  Everyone turned their head to me, including my dad.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Totally did not mean to say that out loud. I was just thinking about tomorrow.”

  Dad picked up the set of glass reindeer on the mantel, examined them, and put them down.

  “Dad?” I asked. “Can I help you find something?”

  “No, no,” Dad said. “You kids go right ahead and keep having fun. Pretend I’m not even here.”

  Um, impossible.

  “Hey, Eric,” Jacob said. “Want to see this new phone app I got today?”

  Eric paused for a half second, flicking his eyes to my dad and then Jacob. “Yeah, definitely.”

  Jacob got up from beside me, walked over to where Eric sat against a recliner, and pulled up who knows what on his phone. Now the guys were semi-separated from the girls.

  “Ah,” Dad said. “I think I’m looking for a decoration that your mom turned into an ornament. Let me check this tree, then I’ll be out of here.”

  I wanted to throw popcorn at Dad! He was seriously going to go through every ornament on our tree until he found the one he was “looking” for?

  I leaned over to Heather. “I’m going to talk to my mom,” I said in a whisper. “Be right back.”

  “Going to invite her to join the search party?” Heather whispered back. She smirked as I stood up. I grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and lightly bonked the top of her head.

  “Silver! Dead!” Heather whisper-shouted at me.

  I grinned, my back to her as I hurried out of the den. I turned down the hallway and almost jogged to my parents’ room.

  “Mom,” I said the second I reached the doorway.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Mom asked. She waved a hand at me, motioning for me to come inside. She was lying in bed under a knitted red blanket with her feet peeking out. Her golden-brown hair, the same color as mine, was loose around her shoulders. She was in yoga pants, a Canterwood sweatshirt washed so many times the colors had faded, and her fave holiday socks—woolly white ones with red-and-green reindeer.

  “Dad has to be stopped,” I said. I stood at the foot of the bed. “He kept coming into the den, and I thought he really just forgot something or was making sure we were all comfortable. But then I realized—it’s because of Eric and Jacob! Dad’s freaking out that I’m hanging in the ‘dark’ den with boys.”

  Mom laughed quietly and shook her head. “Your father told me that he was making us tea. I’ve had this holiday movie on Hallmark paused for fifteen minutes waiting for him. Let me go drag him in here and tell him to leave you and your friends alone.”

  “Thank you, Mom,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Doesn’t Dad realize that I could be alone with boys any day I wanted when I’m at school? I haven’t done anything crazy yet!”

  Mom cocked her head at me. “Yet?”

  “Strike that,” I said. “Ever.”

  “Much better. Good cover-up, Sash.” Winking at me, Mom tossed off the throw blanket and followed me to the den.

  I sat back down and looked toward the tree. Dad was only a few inches down from the top—he really was going over every ornament!

  “Hey, guys,” Mom said, smiling at my friends. She stepped around our spot and walked up to Dad. “Jim?”

  “Hon, oh, right.” Dad’s face turned red. “The tea. It’s, uh, boiling. I was looking for your favorite ornament in here. I wanted to display it in the bedroom.”

  “Uh-huh,” Mom said, taking his arm. Looking over her shoulder at us, she mouthed, Sorry, before focusing on Dad again. “Let’s look for that tomorrow when the kids are at the stable. I’ll help you with the tea, and we can start the movie before it gets too late.”

  “You sure?” Dad asked Mom. “It’s barely nine.”

  Mom nodded.
“I’m already getting sleepy. I’m sure Sasha and her friends are too. They’ll probably be heading to bed soon.”

  “Definitely,” Brit said immediately. “I’m so sleepy.”

  “Me too,” Alison added.

  Dad eyed us, and I let my eyelids droop a little so I looked tired. Finally Dad nodded, and Mom followed him up the den steps. Dad shuffled off into the kitchen and Mom turned back to us.

  “Stay up as late as you like,” Mom said, her voice low. “Mr. Silver will be asleep in minutes, so you don’t have to worry about any more interruptions.”

  We all smiled.

  “Thank you, Mom,” I said. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too. ’Night, guys.”

  My friends chorused “Good night” to Mom, and she left to help Dad in the kitchen.

  “Just in case your dad becomes an insomniac, I think it’s better if we stay over here,” Jacob said, nodding at himself and Eric.

  “Aw, you’re scared of Sasha’s dad! So cute!” Heather said.

  “Would you want a guy messing with your dad if you brought him home for the holidays?” Jacob fired back.

  His jab silenced Heather. I shot Jacob a what are you doing? look. Jacob knew that Mr. Fox was a sore spot for Heather. I’d witnessed some ugly exchanges between Heather and her dad. Mr. Fox was all business and didn’t care what Heather had to do to be the number one rider at Canterwood. It was that cutthroat ruthlessness that had made us instant enemies. But Heather had changed. She wasn’t Mr. Fox’s puppet anymore.

  “Let’s stop talking about our dads,” I said. “Anyone want to play a game?”

  13

  TOTES HONESTLY

  Lauren

  “OH, C’MON!” KHLOE STUCK OUT her lower lip and made giant sad eyes at me. “It’s not late, we don’t have to be at the stable until eleven thirty tomorrow, and how many chances does a girl get to have a giant sleepover like this?”

  I kept a straight face, trying to make her think I was still considering her idea. But I’d already said yes in my mind. Khloe and I were alone in my bedroom. The guys were at Taylor’s house and the other girls were checking in with their parents, laying out clothes for tomorrow, and doing whatever they wanted around my house.