“I just don’t understand why she’s so convinced that Becca was being a bad friend to me. I mean, I don’t love that she lied to me, but I think it’s pretty obvious she thought she was doing the right thing because you guys aren’t friends anymore.…”
Rachel bit her lip and looked like she wanted to say something but was holding back.
“What?” Alyssa asked. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“It’s just…” Rachel shifted uncomfortably. “What if Becca doesn’t really want to be friends with you and she’s just… using you?”
“Using me for what?” Alyssa exclaimed.
“The knitting stuff,” Rachel replied. “She had you teach her how to knit, right? Maybe she wants to learn to knit so she can make stuff to sell, too. She came over this morning to knit with you, after she told you she couldn’t come to a sleepover last night.…”
Alyssa shook her head. “No way. That’s not it. She’s my friend.” But as she said it, a tiny doubt crept into her mind. Maybe Becca doesn’t really want to be my friend. Why would she want to be my friend when she has all those friends from the soccer team?
Alyssa sat in silence with Rachel until Elle came back into the kitchen holding her overnight bag and Rachel’s. “My mom is on her way,” she said quietly.
Alyssa nodded. She picked up her fork and began poking at the hardened maple syrup on her plate.
“Alyssa, I’m really sorry,” Elle said, sitting down next to her. “I’m sorry I lost it and yelled at Becca… and you. It just really hurt when she ditched Rachel and me last year. I don’t want you to be hurt like that.” Elle reached out and put her hand on Alyssa’s arm. “I’m really glad we’re friends, and I hope I didn’t mess that up,” she added.
Alyssa sighed softly. “You didn’t mess it up. You messed up.…” She laughed as Elle’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “But you didn’t mess up our friendship. Friends are allowed to make mistakes.”
When Alyssa’s alarm went off bright and early the next morning, she groaned. Dasher stood up, stretched, and then lay back down. She looked at Alyssa as if to say, “It’s not time to get up yet.”
Alyssa smiled and gave Dasher a quick kiss on the head. “You stay in bed if you want to,” she told the cat. “I have to get up and work on my knitting.”
Alyssa had spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening working on her holiday-wish essay. It was all finished now, but she was glad she had a few days to let it sit and then edit it before it was due on Friday. After she’d finished her essay, her mom and brother had convinced her to spend the rest of the night watching Christmas movies with them.
“Your knitting can wait,” Cody had told her. “This is about quality time—not knitting time. Christmas only comes once a year!”
Alyssa had relented. The truth was, it didn’t take much convincing. After the rough morning she’d had with her friends, an evening spent hanging out with her mom and brother was just what she needed. She’d told them about what had happened. Her mom had hugged her and told her she was proud for telling Elle and Rachel how she felt, even if it meant disagreeing with them.
Later, Alyssa had told Cody what Rachel had said about Becca only wanting to be friends with her because of the knitting. Cody’s face had scrunched up in confusion. “No offense, Alyssa,” he’d said, “but knitting is not some impossible-to-learn skill. Becca can learn how to knit from a book or the internet. Why would she use you for that?”
Alyssa had laughed. “I’m only slightly offended,” she’d replied. “But do you really think Becca really likes me and wants to be my friend?”
“Yes, I think she does,” Cody had said. “But you know the best way to find out? Talk to her about it!”
When did Cody get so good at giving advice? Alyssa wondered now as she padded down the stairs with her knitting basket. She was about two-thirds of the way done with the red ombré scarf. She’d abandoned the idea of adding embroidered details when she was finished. There simply wasn’t enough time. It was a shame she hadn’t gotten to see Becca’s work yesterday, she thought as she settled on the couch, the Christmas tree in her field of vision. But she was hopeful that Becca really was some sort of knitting prodigy and had somehow completed four scarves already. I’ll be lucky if I finish two scarves by the deadline.
Before long, it was time to get ready for school. Alyssa’s mom had the week off from work and was going to call the vet first thing that morning to see about bringing Dasher in for her checkup. Every time Alyssa thought about it, she got nervous wondering if Dasher belonged to another family who was looking for her. But then she would remind herself of what her friends had all told her: Dasher belonged with her.
Alyssa was eager to talk to Becca at school but didn’t have a chance to see her until the very end of the day. She had looked for her at lunch, but the soccer table was empty. Then she remembered that Cody had mentioned something about a soccer team pizza party during lunchtime.
She was happy to see Becca waiting by her locker at the end of the day.
“Hey, Becca,” Alyssa said, waving. “I was looking for you all day!”
A relieved grin lit up Becca’s face. “Really? You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. Alyssa, I feel awful about yesterday. I am so sorry I lied to you and messed everything up.”
“You didn’t mess everything up,” Alyssa replied. She remembered saying almost the exact same thing to Elle the previous day. It really is crazy how similar they are, she thought. But then she forced the thought from her head. There was no sense in dwelling on what good friends she thought Rachel, Elle, and Becca should be.
Becca asked if they could talk and Alyssa agreed. They decided to take the bus back to Alyssa’s house together.
Once they were settled in their seats at the back of the bus, where they could have some privacy, Becca took a deep breath. “I only lied to you because I thought Elle and Rachel wouldn’t want me at the sleepover. I… I was a pretty bad friend to them last year, and I don’t blame them if they don’t like me.”
Alyssa looked out the window to gather her thoughts, as she wanted to choose her words carefully. She wanted to tell Becca that she knew otherwise—that Elle and Rachel did still care about her and did still want to be her friend—but she had also promised herself she wasn’t going to get involved anymore. “I understand why you lied,” she said finally. “For the record, I don’t think Elle and Rachel dislike you, but I also don’t think I should get in the middle of things anymore.” She took a deep breath and continued. “All three of you are my friends and really important to me, and I don’t want to get caught up in everything.”
“I get it!” Becca nodded. “I promise I won’t put you in the middle. I’m sorry about what happened at your house, and I’m just glad you’re my friend.”
Here goes nothing, Alyssa thought as Cody’s words echoed in her head. “Actually, Becca, can I ask you something?” When Becca nodded, Alyssa continued. She nervously picked at a hole in the seat of the bus. “Why do you want to be my friend?”
Becca looked confused for a moment. “Because you’re great,” she said, raising her eyebrows in emphasis. “You’re funny and cool and nice, and—”
“Okay, I get it,” Alyssa said, laughing. “You don’t have to tell me how amazing I am! I just wanted to make sure that it’s not…” She hesitated. “It’s not just because you wanted to learn to knit, right?”
Becca burst out laughing. “Of course not! Alyssa, knitting is not that big of a deal to me!”
“Ouch,” Alyssa teased.
“You know what I mean!” Becca exclaimed. “I mean, I like knitting, but I like it because you get so excited about it. Beyond that, I can take it or leave it.”
Alyssa grinned as the bus pulled up to her stop. The girls exited the bus together, and Alyssa asked Becca if she could come over. “Speaking of knitting, maybe we can have a knitting session right now?” Alyssa asked.
Becca shook her head. “I’m sorry, I ca
n’t. I have not even begun work on my holiday-wish essay, and I need to tackle that. I promised my parents no more knitting until I finished my assignment. But don’t worry, I finished three more scarves this weekend, so I have seven.”
“Seven?” Alyssa sputtered. “I’m just finishing up my first one!”
“Oh, really?” Becca shrugged. “But like I said, I guess I’m just fast.”
“Becca, for someone who doesn’t love knitting, you do realize that you’re some kind of prodigy, right? My friend Ryder can’t even knit that fast!”
Becca shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe the stitches I’m using are more basic?”
“Still…” Alyssa shook her head in amazement. “Anyway, good luck on your essay!”
Becca gave Alyssa a quick hug. “Thanks again for being such a good friend! And I almost forgot… can you sleep over at my house on Friday night? To make up for me missing your sleepover this past weekend?”
“I’ll need to check with my mom, but that should be okay,” Alyssa replied. “But not to make up for missing my sleepover—I told you, I forgive you. Friends can make mistakes.”
Becca grinned happily. “Got it! So this will be a knitting-slash-holiday celebration sleepover! We can watch movies, knit, eat tons of Christmas cookies.…”
“Perfect—as long as you didn’t bake the cookies!” Alyssa quipped.
“I deserve that.” Becca laughed. “See you tomorrow!”
As Alyssa walked up to her house, she saw that her mom had put up some Christmas decorations outside. A wreath was on the front door, single white candles were in each window, and lights dangled from the bushes. Alyssa grinned happily, realizing Christmas was just around the corner and, better yet, with not one but two holiday sleepovers planned. It finally felt like Christmas!
The next day at school flew by. During lunch, Alyssa discussed with Elle and Rachel ideas for their holiday-wish essays. Alyssa couldn’t believe she was the only one who had completed hers already. But then again, she’d been really inspired!
“So what’s yours about?” Elle asked for the fifth time as she peeled an orange. “Are you going to keep us in suspense or what?”
Alyssa laughed. “I will tell you, I promise! I’m still fine-tuning it. And it’s kind of hard to explain.”
Elle wrinkled her nose. “What did you wish for that’s so complicated? World peace?”
“Nothing that complicated. Let’s just say it’s nothing super exciting, but it came from my heart,” Alyssa said finally.
“Hmmm…” Elle said, comically stroking her chin like a cartoon villain. “I will find out. I have my ways.…”
“Ignore her,” Rachel whispered to Alyssa, and they both giggled. “Hey, has Dasher been to the vet yet?”
Alyssa shook her head. “She’s actually going this afternoon. I’ll find out after school how it went.” She exhaled nervously.
“It’s going to be fine,” Elle said encouragingly. “That cat chose you. I’m positive you will get to keep her.”
“I sure hope so.” Alyssa bit her lip. She knew there was no use in dwelling on what might happen, but even still she couldn’t help but worry. She’d become so attached to Dasher, she couldn’t imagine having to give her up.
“How’s the knitting coming along?” Rachel asked.
Alyssa appreciated the change of subject, even if the thought of knitting was stressful for her, too, though in a different way. “Very slowly. I finished the first scarf—the red ombré one—last night. Dasher fell asleep on it while I was working on it!” She took a sip of her chocolate milk. “I started on the second one. It will have a chevron pattern, so it’s a little more complicated but I think it will be really pretty when it’s done. I FaceTimed with Ryder last night, and he helped me figure out the pattern.”
“Is Becca still helping you?”
Alyssa swallowed, unsure of how to respond. She didn’t want to talk too much about Becca, but since Elle had asked she figured it was okay to answer. “Yeah, she is. She’s been doing a lot. But she had to take a break to work on her essay.”
Alyssa wasn’t sure if she imagined it or not, but she felt like an awkward silence fell over the table. Finally, Elle broke the silence. “So, yeah, speaking of our holiday essays, let’s go back to that. What on earth am I wishing for?”
Alyssa practically ran home from the bus stop after school. She couldn’t wait to hear how Dasher had made out at the vet.
“Mom, I’m home!” she called as she rushed into the kitchen. She saw Dasher’s food bowl on the mat in the corner of the room and figured that was a good sign. “Mom? How did it go?”
“I’m in the den,” Mrs. Sing replied.
Alyssa scooped up Dasher, who had ambled into the kitchen at the sound of Alyssa’s voice, and gave her a kiss on her head. “What did the vet say?” she asked as she walked into the den. She placed Dasher on the ground. “I wonder if we’ve been overfeeding her.…” she murmured. “Did the vet think she was too fat?”
“About that…” Mrs. Sing patted the couch cushion next to her. “Sit, Alyssa. I have some news.”
Alyssa felt a wave of panic but then realized her mom didn’t look upset. She was smiling… sort of. “What? Is Dasher okay?” she wailed. “Do we have to give her back to someone? Tell me!”
“One question at a time,” Mrs. Sing said. “First and foremost—she is fine. She’s a healthy young cat. The vet thinks she’s about three years old.” Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief. “However, the vet had a pretty big surprise for us.…” Her mom paused dramatically. “Dasher is pregnant! The vet thinks she’s due to have her kittens in a week or two, though it can be hard to pinpoint an exact date.”
“Pregnant?” Alyssa cried. “I can’t believe it!”
“There’s more,” her mom continued. “She did have a microchip. They pulled up the information from the database for the owners she was registered to and tried contacting them, but the phone number was no longer in service.”
“So that means she’s ours!” Alyssa cheered.
“We’ll see, sweetie,” her mom said, placing her hand on Alyssa’s arm. “They also have an email address and were going to reach out via email to see if the owners can be found. They have to try, Alyssa,” she added when Alyssa began to protest. “I don’t want to give you false hope, but the doctor did say that a lot of the time in these situations, the emails go unanswered. And there were no reports at the Palm Meadows animal shelter that she was missing, so it may be that her owners were ready to give her up.”
“Mom, this is great news,” Alyssa cried. She felt like her head was spinning. “We have so much to figure out about the kittens! Did you find out what we need to do? We can still keep her, right?” Alyssa had so many questions. “I know kittens are a big responsibility, but I already know a little bit about the local animal shelter and I think they can help us out if we can’t find homes for all her kittens, but I’m sure we can. I bet my friends would take some, and maybe Mrs. Amir would want one.…”
Mrs. Sing laughed. “Yes, I got some pamphlets with all the information. And the vet was sure we have at least another week or two so we can bring her back right before Christmas for another checkup to see how she’s coming along. That gives us some time to prepare for the kittens.”
Alyssa felt a huge rush of love for her mom. She’s going to let me keep her!
“Mom, I know this is going to be a lot of work, and more than you signed up for when you let me get a cat. I promise you, I will take such good care of Dasher and her kittens and I will find a great home for every single one of them!”
“I know you will, sweetie,” her mom said. She smiled ruefully. “It’s definitely not what I expected when we took her in, but if she’s going to be our cat, we have to make sure to do right by her. She’s our family now.” She kissed Alyssa’s head as she stood up. “It looks like this Christmas is going to be one to remember for sure!”
Later that evening, Alyssa, Cody, and Mrs. Sing sat ar
ound the kitchen table constructing a gingerbread house. This was one of Alyssa’s favorite Christmas traditions, and with everything going on this year, she had almost forgotten all about it! Luckily, her mom hadn’t forgotten and brought home a gingerbread house kit for them to use. Cody was an expert at applying the “glue,” which was really icing, to hold the pieces together.
“I’m thinking a border of cinnamon candies along the edges of the roof,” she murmured as she carefully applied the last bit of icing. “What do you think, Cody?”
“That works,” he agreed. “I’m going to see if I can make some Christmas lights using the licorice strings and fruit DOTS.”
“Ooh, good idea!”
As they worked, Mrs. Sing asked Alyssa if she had finished her holiday-wish essay. Alyssa said that she had, and Mrs. Sing asked her if she could tell them her wish.
“I wrote about wanting our first Christmas in Florida to be really special,” Alyssa explained. “I talked about how, just a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t feel comfortable here yet because I didn’t really have any friends and I wasn’t used to the weather being so warm for Christmas and how strange it all seemed. How homesick I was.” She paused to count out another row of cinnamon candies. “But so much happened in such a short time—it really started to feel like Christmas, and I made friends, and found Dasher.…”
Alyssa looked up at her mother and brother. “I said in my essay that my wish had already come true and how grateful I am for everything. This is our home, and I’m glad we’re here.” She felt her cheeks burn a little as she talked about it, wondering if it sounded dumb. “It’s not the most exciting essay in the world, but it came from my heart and that’s what Mrs. Ramirez wanted, so I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.”
“Alyssa, honey, that sounds wonderful,” her mom said, a smile lighting up her face. “I am glad you’re so happy. You deserve it!”
“Yeah.” Cody nodded. “That actually sounds like a really good essay.”
Celebrate the Season--Home for the Holidays Page 7
