Noelle's Christmas Crush (10 page)

As they were finishing, Noelle's mom got up from the table. Suddenly, the lights went out and Mrs. Winters came in carrying a cake with twelve candles, one extra for
good luck, and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOELLE
written in violet icing.

“Happy birthday to you . . . ”
she began to sing, and Mr. Winters and Andrew joined in.

That's when it hit her. The river of tears she'd been holding back all day broke through, and she started to cry. As her family's voices trailed off, she ran up to her room.

She flopped down on the bed, sobbing. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! She knew it was nobody's fault, but still, why did it have to snow on
her
day? Her one special day?

It was supposed to be perfect!
Noelle thought, burying her head in her pillow.

NOELLE CRIED UNTIL SHE HAD
no more tears. Her face felt hot, and she lay on her back for a while, staring at the ceiling, until she heard a knock on the door.

To her surprise, it was Andrew, carrying a big box wrapped in pink paper.

“I was going to save this for your real birthday, but I'm thinking you might need something to cheer you up right now,” he said.

Noelle sat up, surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah, why not?” Andrew replied with a shrug. Noelle had almost forgotten how nice her brother could be when he wanted to.

She took the box from him. The wrapping was bunched in places, so she could tell that he had done it himself. He had even tied a lopsided purple ribbon around the box.

“What is it?” she asked.

Andrew grinned. “Open it and see.”

Noelle carefully unwrapped the paper and then lifted the lid of the box to see a pair of pale pink ice skates inside.

“Oh my gosh! These are exactly the ones I wanted!” she cried, picking up one of the skates.

“Well, I want to race you this year, and now that you have new skates there's no excuse if you lose,” Andrew teased.

Noelle laughed. Every year, the Winters went ice skating on Christmas Day. She had outgrown her skates from last year, and had been looking at new ones for the last few months. And of course the fact that they were pink was just . . . perfect.

She pushed the box aside and jumped up to hug Andrew. “Thank you! This is awesome. But why didn't you wait until my birthday?”

“I guess I just was thinking that it must kind of stink to open birthday presents and Christmas presents on the same day,” her brother replied. “You probably never even remember which are the birthday ones and which are the Christmas ones. But maybe you'll remember this time.
And it stinks that your party was canceled.”

“Yeah, it does stink,” Noelle agreed. “So I guess I will definitely race you on Christmas then. And these skates look pretty fast.”

“Yeah, well, good luck,” Andrew said with a grin.

He left the room, leaving the door open. Noelle could hear music playing downstairs. She felt pretty bad about running out on her birthday cake, so she wiped the last stray tear from her eye and made her way downstairs.

She found everyone in the family room, which was still decorated for the party. A cozy fire crackled in the fireplace.

“Hey,” Noelle said. Her parents looked relieved to see her.

“You okay, honey?” her mom asked, putting an arm around her.

Noelle nodded. “Yeah. I didn't mean to freak out like that, it's just . . . ”

“It's okay, we know,” her mom assured her.

“Does this mean we can hit the rewind button?” Mr. Winters asked.

Noelle nodded. “Sure.”

Her dad left the room, Andrew hit the lights, and
Mr. Winters came back in with the birthday cake.

“Happy birthday, birthday girl!” her parents shouted, and they were so dorky that Noelle couldn't help laughing. Then Andrew joined in as they sang the birthday song.

“Okay, make a wish!” Mr. Winters cried.

Noelle closed her eyes.
Since there was no party, please let me see Noel again, somewhere else, soon,
she thought.

It was kind of an odd wish, she knew, but she opened her eyes and blew out the candles all at once.

“Hooray!” her mom cried. “That means your wish will come true.”

“I hope so,” Noelle said.

“Hey, anybody want to play Monopoly?” her dad asked.

“Sure,” Andrew said.

“I thought you were going sledding?” Noelle asked.

Andrew shrugged. “Josh's mom won't let him oil the sled. She says it's too dangerous.”

“Well, it is,” Mrs. Winters agreed.

“Are we going to play Monopoly or what?” Andrew asked.

“Yes!” Noelle said, heading to the table. She picked
up her carefully placed table decorations and moved them out of the way.

They played the game, laughing, and Andrew kept getting up to go outside and take pictures of the snow with his phone.

“It's really cool with the moon shining on it and stuff,” he reported. “And it's, like, more snow than I've ever seen in my life.”

Mrs. Winters won the game (
as usual,
Noelle thought), and then Noelle put on the Holiday Channel just as
A Christmas Story
was coming on.

“Are you sure you want to watch a Christmas movie tonight?” her mom asked. “It's still your birthday-only celebration, if you want it to be.”

“It's okay. It seems like the right thing to do, with all the snow outside,” Noelle said.

“Plus it's an awesome movie,” Andrew added.

“You know what else is awesome?” Mr. Winters asked. “S'mores!”

“S'mores in winter?” Noelle wondered.

“Why not?” her dad replied. “We've got marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers. And fire.” He waved his arm at the fireplace.

“What'll we use for sticks?” Noelle asked.

“I was thinking my long barbecue fork,” he answered. “We'd have to do one marshmallow at a time, but that's okay.”

Noelle nodded. “Let's do it!”

Her dad's plan actually worked out perfectly. Noelle snuggled on the couch next to her mom and watched the movie, while Andrew sprawled out on the loveseat and her dad pulled a chair up to the fireplace, making s'mores one by one and delivering them.

“First one goes to the birthday girl,” he said with a grin.

Noelle bit into the warm, gooey treat, and some of the melted marshmallow squeezed out of the side, but that's what always happened when she ate a s'more. She caught the stray marshmallow with her tongue.

“Yum! Dad, this is awesome,” Noelle said.

At that moment she realized that it was a pretty good night, after all. She looked up at her mom.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said. “This is really nice.”

Her mother stroked her hair. “Nothing ever goes perfectly as planned, sweetie,” she said. “But usually things end up working out.”

“They do,” Noelle agreed. Tonight wasn't the perfect
party she had planned, but it was perfect in its own way.

When the movie finished, Noelle headed to bed. She checked her e-mail and phone one last time, but there was still nothing from Jess. She started to feel a little sad again, so she looked at the message from Noel.

You must be so disappointed. But hope you enjoy the snow day and have a great birthday.

“Thanks, Noel,” she whispered. “I had a terrible birthday party, but I did have a great snow day.”

THE NEXT MORNING DAWNED COLD
and sunny. Outside the window, Noelle could see the snow piled up in mounds on the street. The snowplows hadn't even reached them yet.

Now that the disappointment of the canceled party had faded a little, Noelle started to feel appreciation for the day ahead. It was kind of nice not to be able to go anywhere; she could relax and finish up her Christmas stuff, and even stay in her pj's all day if she wanted.

The night before, Noelle had put on a pair of pink flannel pajamas with snowflakes, and she thought they were the most comfortable thing in the world. She put on her slippers and went downstairs for breakfast.

Her mom and dad were at the table, drinking coffee.

“Dad's going to make omelets this morning,” Mrs. Winters reported. “What do you want in yours?”

“I found mushrooms, green peppers, and some Swiss cheese in the fridge,” her dad said.

Noelle grinned. “Yes!”

She went to the refrigerator to get the orange juice, when the front doorbell rang.

“Who's that?” she wondered out loud. “Did Andrew go out this morning?”

Her mom shook her head. “No, he's still sleeping. Why don't you see who it is?”

Curious, Noelle went to the door and looked through the little window there.

“Jess!” she shrieked.

She quickly unlocked the door and pulled Jess inside. Her friend was bundled up in a parka and striped scarf, and her cheeks were red.

“What are you doing here? Why didn't you call me?” Noelle asked.

Jess stomped her boots on the floor mat to get the snow off. “We don't have power,” she said. “Dad put the woodstove on, so we've been warm, and if it's not fixed today we're going to my aunt's house. So I didn't get your message about the party. Hailey walked over yesterday and told me. I felt so bad for you!”

“Thanks,” Noelle said. “I texted you and you didn't text back, so I thought you were mad at me. For the Snowflake Run.”

“I was kind of mad,” Jess admitted. “But not enough to quit talking to you or anything. Especially since your party got canceled. I know you were probably so upset, especially after all that planning.”

“I was, but I still feel bad about the run the other night,” Noelle said. “I totally ignored you, and I'm really sorry.”

“It's okay,” Jess replied. Then she grinned. “I'm sure Noel's dazzling smile is just too hard to resist.”

Noelle giggled. “It's true. When I'm around him it's like I'm in a stupid trance or something.”

“Is that Jess?” Mrs. Winters called from the kitchen. “Bring her in here. Dad's making her an omelet.”

“Awesome!” Jess said. “Walking in the snow made me superhungry.”

Jess took off her coat, slipping a small package wrapped in purple paper out of her pocket.

“Happy birthday,” she said.

Noelle hugged her. “Thanks! Come on, let's eat and I'll open it.”

“Jess, how nice of you to walk all the way here,”
Mrs. Winters said. “Did I hear you say there's no power at your house?”

“It's supposed to come back on this morning,” Jess reported.

“Jess, do you want mushrooms, peppers, and cheese in your omelet?” Mr. Winters asked over his shoulder.

“Just cheese, please,” Jess said.

“You got it!”

Noelle unwrapped the little purple box Jess had given her and opened the lid. Inside was a pair of earrings with dangling purple and pink glass stones.

“Jess, these are perfect!” Noelle said, taking one out of the box.

“I looked really hard to find violet beads that would go with your dress,” Jess explained. “I'm sorry you didn't get to wear it.”

“It's okay,” Noelle said. “These are my favorite colors. I can wear them anytime.”

“You can still wear your dress on Christmas Eve,” Mrs. Winters pointed out. “It will be lovely.”

“Hey, I never thought of that,” Noelle realized.

Mr. Winters slid a plate in front of each girl. “Dig in!”

The girls hungrily ate their omelets, not saying much
while they ate. When they finished, they went up to Noelle's room.

“Can you stay awhile?” Noelle asked.

“I have to be home by lunch,” Jess replied. “But I can hang out until then.”

Noelle looked down at her pj's.

“Um, let me go change.”

She put on jeans and a purple shirt to match the earrings, and then came back to the room and put them in. The shiny glass gems sparkled in her dark curls.

“These are so beautiful,” Noelle said. “You should become a jewelry designer.”

“Wait till you see what I made you for Christmas,” Jess said, her eyes shining, and Noelle felt a sudden pang. She still hadn't made Jess's present!

“I can't wait,” Noelle said. “Hey, you have to see this video of kittens I found yesterday!”

“Yay! Technology!” Jess said. “I can't wait until my power comes back on.”

They settled on the rug and watched funny videos for a while, laughing like crazy, just like they always did when they got together. Before they knew it, it was time for Jess to leave.

Noelle hugged her when she was all bundled up and ready to go.

“I can't believe you have to walk all the way home again in the snow,” she said.

“It's all right,” Jess said, clutching a big thermos of soup that Mrs. Winters sent with her for the rest of her family. “It's good training for track practice. See you tomorrow. If we have school that is.”

“See you,” Noelle replied.

As soon as Jess left, Noelle ran upstairs. She had to make that present! She opened up her closet and pulled out the plastic bin with her sewing stuff. Grandma Ruth had taught her how to sew by hand when she was eight, and one of their favorite things to do was make little stuffed monsters and creatures out of felt. After pulling out the sewing box the other day, Noelle had been thinking about maybe making a special monster for Jess. She opened the lid of the box, hoping she had everything she needed.

She pulled out several sheets of felt in a bunch of colors, and there were scraps of material from some other projects she had made, and the little jar of buttons her grandmother had given her. And of course she had a tomato-shaped pincushion with needles and pins stuck in
it, and a few different colors of thread.