Home for Christmas Read online

  “I don’t know,” I said slowly. “Do you really think anyone will want to play a game?”

  “YES!” Khloe bounced off my bed, ran across the room to where I stood, skidded to a halt, and bounced up and down on her toes. “Yes, yes! They will totes want to! Please, LT!”

  “Hmmm. I guess . . . okay!” I grinned. “I already thought it was a fab idea five minutes ago. I couldn’t stop from letting you beg a little.”

  “Argh! I hate you!” Khloe said, throwing her arms around me.

  “Ouch!” we both screamed at the same time.

  “Khloe!” I jumped away from her.

  “What?! Lauren!” Khloe’s mouth hung open.

  “You shocked me!” I said. “Literally. Static electricity shocked me.”

  Khloe covered her mouth and looked down at her fuzzy leopard-print socks. “Omigod.”

  We both giggled. I put up a hand, gesturing for Khloe to stay away.

  “Don’t come any closer,” I said. “You might knock me out next time or something. Jeez.”

  Khloe grinned, proud of herself. “Well, I think you’re rocking the I-just-rubbed-a-balloon-against-my-hair look. You’re welcome.”

  “What?” I turned around to face my mirror. My long hair hung in its usual waves. I eyed Khloe in the mirror. “Get ready, Kinsella. Game. On.”

  A short (very short!) while later, Khloe had rounded up everyone and we were in the game room. It was a room that Becca, Charlotte, and I had always brought friends to. But once Mom and Dad heard of my plans for Christmas, they’d added a mini-fridge and snack bar. There was a pool table in the back, a dartboard on the far wall, a TV and couch and plenty of floor space.

  “Okay, everyone take some of these and a pen,” Khloe said. She held up the white index cards that she’d asked me for. The seven of us—Brielle, Ana, Carina, Lexa, Clare, Khloe, and I—sat in a circle on the carpet. We each had tea, soda, or hot chocolate beside us.

  We all took a few index cards and one of the blue gel pens. Khloe had insisted that all the pens had to be identical. Easy, since I had a million blue pens.

  “Anybody ever played Totes Honestly?” Khloe asked.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “I’ve never even heard of it,” I said.

  Khloe grinned, her lips shimmering with peachy gloss. “That makes it even better. It’s really easy. We’re all going to take turns ‘Hosting.’ If it’s cool, I’ll be the first Host to show you how it works.”

  “Cool by me,” Carina, who sat on my left, said.

  “If I’m the Host,” Khloe continued, “that makes the rest of you Bluffers. To start, I would take my index card, write ‘Totes honestly . . . ,’ and then finish the sentence with something that’s true. I wouldn’t show any of you my answer. You guys, the Bluffers, will write the same question and an answer you think is really true.”

  “Can you do an example?” Lexa asked. She sipped her hot chocolate. “Sorry! If I don’t ask, I’ll get confused.”

  “No problem!” Khloe said. “Of course. So, I’d do this. . . .”

  We watched while Khloe wrote: Totes honestly, my fave TV show is_____.

  “Now, you guys do the same and write what you think I’d say. But don’t let me see,” Khloe instructed.

  I wrote: Totes honestly, my fave TV show is Sing. I kept my hand over my card while everyone else finished.

  “Pass them to me, please,” Khloe said. We handed her the cards, and she shuffled them around très fast. “I’m doing this so you guys can’t tell my card from yours anymore. Okay, so now I’m going to read the cards aloud, and the Bluffers have to try and guess whether the card I read is true or not.”

  “Oh, cool!” Brielle said. She pulled her blond hair into a messy ponytail. “This game is going to be awesome.”

  Everyone else chimed in with the same responses.

  “Thanks, guys,” Khloe said. “We can keep score or not, really. Up to us. We’ll take turns playing Host, and every time make sure to start your card with ‘Totes honestly.’ Oh, also—if you really don’t know the answer, you don’t have to vote for your card. You can choose someone else’s answer as yours—no one will know.”

  “Ooh!” Ana squealed. She sat on Khloe’s right, with Clare next to her. “I have so many lines. I could play Host forever.”

  We laughed.

  “Me too!” Clare said.

  “So about scoring,” I said. I paused and let a few seconds pass as my friends looked at me. “I say we keep score. First person with ten points wins. How about the loser has to do a dare of our choice?”

  “OMG!” Carina said.

  “LT!” Khloe said, pretending to wipe away a tear. “I’m so proud.”

  “Whoa, Laur,” Bri said. “Brill idea! Maybe you should text Sasha and tell her that you’re channeling Heather.”

  “No, I’m not,” I said quickly. “I’m not saying we should do a mean or scary dare. Just something fun.”

  “Chill,” Bri said, shaking her head and smiling at me. “I was totally teasing you.”

  I stuck out my tongue at her. “Who can we trust to keep score?”

  “I vote for Carina,” Lexa said.

  Soon Carina had a legal pad and had written all of our names on a fresh sheet of paper.

  “I think Khlo should go first, since she thought of the game,” Lex said.

  “Go, Khloe!” I chanted.

  I looked around as my friends cheered on my bestie. Khloe sat directly across from me, then, in counterclockwise order, it went Ana, Clare, Bri, Lexa, Carina.

  “Let’s use these”—Khloe held up our cards—“as my first turn. Hope you guessed right, girls.”

  Khloe held up the first index card. “ ‘Totes honestly’,” she read, “ ‘my fave TV show is Reality Stars.’ ”

  We all started answering at once.

  “False,” I said.

  “False,” Clare answered.

  “True,” Lexa said.

  “True,” Carina said.

  “False,” Ana said.

  “False,” Bri said.

  “Under each person’s name, I’m going to write that answer, T or F, and then put a ‘one’ if that person guesses right,” Carina said. She carefully recorded all of our answers.

  “Next card,” Khloe said. “ ‘Totes honestly, my fave TV show is Sing.’ ”

  We shouted answers as Carina scribbled on her notepad. Soon we’d gone through all the cards.

  Khloe waved the index cards, smiling. “So . . . totes honestly, my fave TV show is . . . Sing!”

  Carina crossed out and circled a bunch of things on her paper. “We have two points awarded to Lauren and Clare!”

  “I almost answered wrong,” Clare said. “I thought you might have put that new prep school murder mystery show as your favorite.”

  Khloe laughed. “I almost said that too. But Sing is still my favorite. Who wants to Host next?”

  “You go,” I said to Clare. “You won a point.”

  The group agreed with me. “Mine is, ‘Totes honestly, I dreamed about blank last night,’ ” Clare said.

  I scrawled down Totes honestly, I dreamed about riding at the stable last night.

  We handed our cards to Clare, who shuffled them and read each one.

  “ ‘Totes honestly,’ ” Clare said, reading the last card, “ ‘I dreamed about kissing a boy last night.’ ”

  Khloe giggled. “Ooh, I hope for your sake that’s true!”

  Clare blushed and shook her head.

  Each of us answered true or false. I called out “False,” sticking to my answer.

  “So, last night,” Clare said, “I totes honestly dreamed about kissing a boy.”

  “Claaare Bryant!” Khloe said.

  “Details, please!” Lexa said, laughing.

  Brielle raised her mug. “To lucky Clare for dreaming about kissing last night.”

  Clare’s face almost matched the color of her curls. “Oh, I’m so going to regret
telling you guys that!”

  “We’re not playing another round until you spill, Clare-bear,” Khloe said. “Who was he?”

  Clare covered her face with her hands and groaned. “Garret.”

  “Omigod! I knew it!” I said. “You totally like him!”

  “Clare, good choice of boy to dream kiss,” Khloe said. She reached over to high-five her friend.

  “Your dream guy is best friends with KK’s boyfriend,” Lex said. “How perfect is that?”

  We forgot all about points, and the game changed from Totes Honestly to Garret and Clare.

  14

  DEFINITELY NOT REINDEER GAMES

  Sasha

  MOM KEPT HER PROMISE—TWENTY Minutes later I heard Dad snoring. Over the TV.

  “I think we can all get a little closer now,” I said. “My dad’s out.”

  Heather smiled. There was that look in her eye. I knew it well—it meant she had an idea. Likely one that could get us in trouble, or cause someone to be embarrassed or need to spend time in therapy. Just a regular night with Heather Fox.

  “Who wants to get a lot closer?” Heather asked.

  Alison and I traded quick looks. As Heather’s best friend, Alison knew what this could mean.

  “What are you thinking?” Alison asked.

  “I haven’t played ‘Guilty Party’ in forever,” Heather said. “You guys interested?”

  “I know that game,” Jacob said. “It’s really fun.”

  The rest of us shook our heads. I trusted Jacob’s endorsement. If he liked it, the game wasn’t something that would get us put under house arrest for the rest of break.

  “I haven’t heard of it, but I’m game,” Brit said. “Explain away, please.”

  “Each of us write a ‘crime’ we’ve committed,” Heather said. “You can put down something lame like wearing stripes and polka dots at the same time out in public, but you’re really playing the game when you write down something embarrassing or secret.”

  I swallowed. This was going to get interesting. Fast.

  “Don’t let anyone see what you write down,” Heather continued. “But put your name on your paper. You’ll hand them all to one person who’s like the judge. The judge picks a card and chooses three people, one who is guilty, and asks them to convince the rest of us that he or she committed the crime.”

  “So even if you didn’t do it, you want everyone to think you did?” Brit asked.

  “Yeah,” Heather said. “You want to be the best liar. Everyone but the judge gets to question the three suspects. After enough questions, they all write down their guesses. The judge collects those and the suspects are dismissed. The same judge starts the process all over again until every crime has been read.”

  “Then it’s the really fun part,” Jacob said, grinning. “The judge tallies up who guessed the right suspect the most amount of times. That person is the best ‘lie detector.’ ”

  “You guys in?” Heather asked. “Obvi, Jacob is.”

  Everyone nodded yes, and I grabbed pens and index cards from the kitchen.

  “Who wants to be the judge?” Heather asked. “That person gets the free pass of not having to spill a crime.”

  We all looked at each other. I didn’t want to be the judge—whoever volunteered was obvi going to get teased for wimping out and not wanting to share a crime.

  “Fine, I’ll be the judge,” Eric said. “But to keep it fair, I’ll tell you guys a crime I committed after everyone else has their turn.”

  “Nice, Rodriguez,” Heather said, nodding. “Start writing down your crimes, people. And don’t be ridic and write something dumb.”

  I pulled my knees to my chest and put the card on my knee. I uncapped a pen and let it hover above the paper. If Heather wanted to play, I was going to play.

  Brit, Alison, and I were the first three called up. We stood in front of the fireplace. Everyone else sat on the floor or the couch and faced us.

  “You are each charged with a very serious crime,” Eric said. “The charges are, and I quote, ‘I spoke to someone I shouldn’t have and didn’t tell my friends.’ ”

  Not my card.

  “Sasha, go ahead,” Eric said.

  I took a step forward. “What I did was wrong, but not telling my friends about it was even worse. This person reached out to me, and I should have hung up. But I didn’t. I’ve been keeping it a secret since.” I looked into each person’s eyes. “I’m sorry. Please let me explain more when the game is over.”

  I stepped back in line, keeping my face emotionless.

  “Alison, you’re up,” Eric said to her.

  Alison confessed to the crime; then Brit took her turn. I listened carefully to each of them speak and watched their backs. When Alison spoke, I caught her digging her thumbnail into her palm. Either she was doing it on purpose to fake a guilty tell or she really had committed the crime.

  The first three of us sat down and everyone wrote down their guesses. Alison, I scrawled.

  The game continued, and no one had taken the easy way out and written anything silly. Eric had read crimes such as I was in the headmistress’s office because I’d cut English. She was all serious, and for some reason, I started laughing and couldn’t stop!

  Another one of my faves was I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet and got it out. My phone rang and I forgot to wash my hands!

  “Heather, Sasha, Callie,” Eric said. “You’re up. Your crime is: ‘There are three words I want to tell someone but I haven’t.’ ”

  I was glad for the darkness of the room. My face got hot and it felt as though everyone was looking at me, though they were really looking at all of the suspects.

  Eric had just read my crime.

  Heather and Callie both lied brilliantly. Or the parts I managed to tune into were good. I felt like I was alone, standing in front of my friends. My gaze was fixed on the bowl of gold pinecones Mom had on the end table. Eric knew the card was mine. I looked quickly at him, and his face showed no signs of shock, anger, or hurt.

  “Sasha?” Eric asked. “You’re up.”

  I fumbled in my pocket and closed my fingers around a tube of Sugar Plum Fairy gloss. I applied it and gazed out at everyone.

  “I—I,” I started. I looked at Jacob. His kind green eyes met mine. All of my nerves vanished.

  “I committed this crime,” I said, starting again. “There is someone I love. I’ve felt that way for a while, but I’ve been too scared to tell that person. I was afraid he wouldn’t feel the same way. Or that I’d turned into one of those crazy girls who said those words to a guy a week after dating. But I don’t think I’m that girl.” I took a huge breath and stared into Jacob’s eyes. “Jacob, I’m guilty. I truly committed this crime. I should have told you before. I love you.”

  Immediately, he was on his feet. He reached me before I could even process what I’d just done. His hands were on the sides of my face and his lips almost brushing mine.

  “Sasha, I love you,” Jacob said, never breaking eye contact.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him that much closer. I kissed him and his smooth, warm lips felt good against mine. Jacob loved me. Jacob loved me!

  We pulled apart, our arms still around each other, and both of us grinned like idiots.

  “You totally ruined the game,” Heather said to me. “In the best possible way.”

  Brit, Alison, and Paige were clinging to each other. Almost teary.

  “Yay!” Callie whispered. She gave us a thumbs-up. “Finally!”

  Eric smiled at me, then Jacob. “Nice crime, Sasha,” Eric said. “I think you win.”

  “No,” Jacob said, shaking his head. “I definitely won.”

  15

  I’M DREAMING OF A KISS THIS CHRISTMAS

  Lauren

  A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER, Ana Pumped her fist in the air. “First to ten, baby!” she said. “Game over!”

  “Awesome job,” I said.

  Ana smiled at me. “Why, thank
you. I think I’m just a good guesser. That’s probably why I always do pretty well on those fill-in-the-right-circle tests at school.”

  My friends and I laughed. We had been playing Totes Honestly for what felt like minutes. But the refilled Cokes, second and third cups of Candy Cane Lane tea, and more hot chocolate signaled otherwise.

  “Props to KK for coming up with the best game ever,” I said. “I think she deserves to be crowned Official Game Chooser for all future parties.”

  “Agreed!” Lexa said.

  “Miss Scorekeeper?” Clare asked Carina. “Who has the lowest total?”

  “Wow,” Khloe said, uncurling her legs. “I was having so much fun—I kind of forgot about the score. But now I totally want to know.”

  Carina looked at the legal pad and glanced up a few seconds later. She shifted her eyes to me. No way. I didn’t do great, but I lost?!

  “Laur,” Carina said. “I’m sorry to say . . . you are not the loser.”

  “Mean!” I said.

  Carina looked at Clare. “Clare, I’m sorry, but you scored the lowest.”

  “What?! Argh!” Clare shook her head at herself. “I think we should stick with Khlo on this one and go with the fact that we’re having so much fun that who cares about a silly score?”

  Khloe reached over to hug Clare and rock her like a baby. “Oh, bestie. Did you not hear the second part of my response?”

  Clare tried to frown, but the sparkle in her blue eyes gave her away. “Okay, okay! I’m going to wash my mug. You guys come up with my dare.”

  She stood, smoothing her red cotton pj pants. They had silver glitter candy canes along the bottoms. Très holiday chic.

  I formed a huddle with Ana, KK, Carina, Lex, and Bri.

  “It’s obvi, right?” Khloe asked in a whisper.

  “Garret,” Ana said, tucking a loose light-brown wave behind her ear.

  I looked over to make sure Clare was still gone. “Definitely. I don’t want to do anything embarrassing, but what about a little push?”

  We stopped whispering when Clare padded into the room. The six of us broke our huddle and re-formed a circle. Clare, eyeing us warily, sat back down.