The Girl Who Wrote The Dating Manual

chapter ten

 

The lead-up to Christmas passed uneventfully. Everyone went about their daily lives, swimming at the lake, and going into town to check out the markets and boutiques (mostly for Christmas presents and girlie curiosity.)

            I got through my winter reading on layout and design, and also two recreational novels, and even managed to finish one of my advanced projects, and I also spent a lot of time with Julie and Lauren, both of whom I got along really well with. I watched a football game with Chance’s dad, Matthew, and Grandpa Donoghue, and also discussed anime with Max, Payton’s little brother. I almost felt like part of the family, which was better than the alternative—being left to have a cold Christmas at the Sinclair house filled with eggnog and stale Christmas cookies.

             I couldn’t help but wonder what my mom was doing right now. It probably involved tequila and a box of tissues. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t be quite as cheery as the Donoghue house was at Christmas.

            Christmas Eve, I stood on a small silver stepladder, a glass bauble dangling precariously in my hand as I searched for the perfect branch to hang it on.

            “Just put it anywhere, Candi!” Ava cried, dusting her hands on her jeans. Plumes of mothballs flew into the air like confetti, and she sneezed. It seemed the Christmas decorations hadn’t seen use in a few years, and the effects on allergy-prone Ava were hilarious. “It doesn’t matter.”

            “Yes, it does,” I argued. “It has to be perfect.”

            Ava rolled her eyes and crouched down, riffling through one of the cardboard boxes for more decorations. She held up a cylindrical bauble with a monkey on the front. “Hey, look, Candi. It’s you.”

            I threw a feather duster at her, and she elicited a giggle. “Ha ha, Ave. Very funny.”

            She dropped the plastic bauble back into the box. “I’m going back into the attic to look for more. Be right back.”

            “Ooh, I’ll join,” Payton said, standing up from her position in the armchair, where she had been sipping eggnog. I had a feeling she’d snuck in a little vodka, but I wasn’t about to call her on it. If she could get it past her parents, kudos to her. They’d been watching her like a hawk around the alcohol all afternoon. If she managed a gulp of the bitter liquid, good for her.

            Alone in the living room, I turned back to the tree, adjusting one of the purple baubles so that it reflected the fireplace. I’d never had a Christmas tree growing up as a child, so I wanted to make sure this one was absolutely perfect.

            “Dude, I’ll be right back!” I heard Chance call, as the front door slammed behind him. “Just let me get the wire-cutters!”

            My relationship with Chance had improved phenomenally the last few days, to the point where we could actually hold up an adult conversation without launching at each other’s throats. It was also nice to be able to sleep in the same room as somebody and not feel like I was suffocating from the tension.