Take Me Home | ✔

Chapter Forty-Three

dedicated to DayDreamer4451 for being soo kind and lovely with all her comments xx

ELLIOT'S POV 

IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE WE HEARD Angie playing soft Christmas songs on the piano downstairs. She was currently playing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with effortless ease, and the notes filtered through the thin walls. The way she played it wasn't lively or over-excited, it was quiet and soft and calm. It almost made me want to fall asleep, but Vienna was still in my room tracing my bed sheets with her finger, like she was waiting expectantly, and I didn't feel like saying good night just yet.  

"So," I cleared my throat, looking at her. "How are you liking Texas so far?"

"It's not as cold as I wanted it to be," she gazed up at me.

"You wanted it to be cold?" She seemed more like a hot girl to me.

I mean, like, a girl who preferred the hot seasons.

"I've always wanted a white Christmas," Vienna smiled softly. "You know, like the ones they have in the movies, with the foggy skies and snowflakes, the whole shebang."

"Yeah. I guess California doesn't do snow," I noted.

"Neither does North Carolina," she said. "Well, barely. Whenever it does, I learned that it doesn't stick for a while."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "North Carolina?"

She started smiling really big. "You remember when I told you that Stanford was my dream college and I hated their guts for rejecting me? Well, I got over that pretty quickly because Duke offered me a partial scholarship."

"Duke?" I almost choked. "You mean Duke University?" 

She nodded eagerly, "That's the one. They have a really awesome volunteer service program and I guess fate wanted me back in North Carolina after all."

I whistled long and low. "I heard Duke is one of the colleges that are like impossible to get into. How'd you get in?" 

She shrugged, before laughing. "Aren't you the one who's always complimenting my brilliant plans?" 

"You know I didn't mean it like that, but huh, touche." 

Vienna and I exchange long glances before we both look away at something and clear our throats. Was my face getting hotter all of a sudden? Or was that just the thermostat? It was probably Uncle Terrence raising the heat again. He had an affinity for raising their electric bill. Yeah, that had to be it.

"And what about you, European boy?" I heard her soft voice slice through my thoughts. "Does Denmark have white Christmases? I bet they do, considering they're up North, norther than North Carolina."

"I don't think norther is a word," I pointed out.

"This is why I'm not an English major," she replied flippantly, before sitting on the edge of my mattress and pulling her legs underneath her, watching me.

I shrugged, "I've only been there long enough for one Christmas, and it mostly rained during Christmas Eve. But during the really late winter, there was a little flurry. I dunno why most people think Denmark gets a lot of snow, they really don't, not as much as Finland, or Sweden, or Norway..."

"Sounds like a lot of fun," Vienna remarked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Downstairs, Angie started to play "Little Drummer Boy," which was my all-time favorite Christmas song.

"It got a little lonely," I murmured.

"And your major?"

"Still deciding."