“Aww, Cody, look at you being all sweet!” Alyssa teased, tossing a cinnamon candy at her brother.
Cody caught the candy in his mouth. “Not really,” he replied. “You didn’t let me finish. I was just about to say that it’s a Christmas miracle you made friends so quickly!”
“Ha-ha,” Alyssa said, pretending to be upset. But she knew her brother was only joking. She also knew how lucky she was to have him for a brother.
The rest of the week flew by for Alyssa in a blur of knitting, researching how to care for kittens, and putting the finishing touches on her holiday-wish essay. When Alyssa finally handed the essay in on Friday morning, she did so with a lot of pride. She had lingered behind all the other kids, wanting to be the last one to hand in her essay so she could say something to her teacher.
“Thank you, Alyssa,” Mrs. Ramirez said as she accepted the paper from Alyssa. “I hope you have a wonderful holiday.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Ramirez,” Alyssa replied. “I really enjoyed writing my essay.…” She looked at the ground. She wasn’t used to talking to her teachers unless she was called on, but she wanted Mrs. Ramirez to know how much she had enjoyed the assignment. “It was nice to stop and think about what’s really important during the holidays. It helped make Christmas extra special for me. I hope you like my essay.”
Mrs. Ramirez beamed. “I’m sure I will love it, Alyssa. And thank you for letting me know you enjoyed the assignment. That’s always wonderful to hear.”
I can’t believe it’s finally holiday break! Alyssa thought later that day as she walked home from the bus stop. Given the situation with Dasher, Becca had agreed to move their sleepover to Alyssa’s house that night so Alyssa wouldn’t have to be away from her pregnant cat for the whole night, especially since she was having a sleepover at Elle’s the following evening. “No problem at all,” Becca had said when Alyssa had asked her about it.
“Just remember to bring your knitting with you so I can finally see all these scarves you’ve made!” Alyssa reminded her.
Alyssa was so excited about being off from school and Christmas being just around the corner that when she walked into her house it took her a moment to register that her mom looked very, very upset.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Alyssa asked.
“Sit down, sweetie,” Mrs. Sing said, motioning to a kitchen chair.
“Is it Dasher?”
Mrs. Sing nodded. “She’s okay, Alyssa—nothing bad has happened to her. But her owners showed up. They got the email from the vet and drove all the way to the vet’s office today to claim Dasher. They had moved out of Palm Meadows about six months ago, and Dasher got loose during their move. They had reported her missing, but it somehow never went into the database at the animal shelter. They thought they had lost her forever.”
“I—I don’t understand,” Alyssa said, looking around the kitchen and noticing Dasher’s food bowl was gone. “Where is she?”
“Honey, the vet called this morning not long after you left for school and told me her owners had shown up. I had to bring her to give her back.”
“She’s gone?” Alyssa cried. “And I didn’t even get to say goodbye?”
Mrs. Sing’s eyes filled with tears as Alyssa’s face crumbled. “I know, Alyssa. I’m so sorry. I asked them if they could wait and let you say goodbye, but they had driven a few hours to get here and they just really wanted to take her home. For what it’s worth, they were really nice people and they seemed so happy to be reunited with her. I gave them my phone number and asked if we could keep in touch.”
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Alyssa said. She fell into her mom’s arms and sobbed like her heart was breaking. And it really felt to her like it was.
A little while later, Mrs. Sing knocked on Alyssa’s door. She’d gone to lie down after crying her eyes out about Dasher.
“Alyssa, Elle is on the phone. Are you up to speaking with her?”
“Yeah,” Alyssa replied, getting out of bed and taking the phone from her mom.
“Alyssa, change of plans!” Elle was saying as Alyssa put the phone to her ear. “Rachel’s parents forgot that our sleepover was tomorrow night and invited her cousins over. She wouldn’t be able to make it tomorrow night, so we have to switch our sleepover to tonight. Can you be here in an hour?”
“Wait, what?” Alyssa felt like her head was still fuzzy from all the crying. “Elle, I can’t tonight. I… I…” Alyssa was about to tell her about Dasher but couldn’t bring herself to. She was afraid she’d start crying again.
“Why can’t you?” Elle demanded. “What’s wrong? Please come—you have to come! Do you need me to explain to your mom—”
“No, it’s not that,” Alyssa said. “I already made plans with Becca. She’s coming over tonight.”
Elle was silent on the other end of the phone, and Alyssa knew she’d upset her. “I’m sorry, Elle, but I can’t change my plans.”
“Why not?” Elle asked. “I mean, we had this sleepover planned since last week, and you know how important it is to us. We really want you here, Alyssa. Please?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Alyssa repeated.
“Fine. I see,” Elle said.
“Please don’t be mad,” Alyssa added, taking a shaky breath. “It’s been a really bad day for me, and—”
“And you’d rather be cheered up by Becca than Rachel and me. I get it.”
“No, that’s not what I meant!” Alyssa exclaimed.
“Look, Alyssa, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Elle’s voice cracked a little, and Alyssa could hear how upset she was. “Have fun tonight with Becca.”
With that, Elle hung up the phone, and Alyssa started to cry all over again.
When Alyssa’s mom poked her head in Alyssa’s room a little while later and saw Alyssa crying on her bed, she sat down next to her and rubbed her back.
Alyssa rolled over to face her mom and tried to explain her argument with Elle, but it didn’t even make sense to her. “How can she expect me to cancel my plans with Becca just because their plans changed? Can you believe she’s mad at me now?” Alyssa asked.
Her mom tucked a strand of hair behind Alyssa’s ear. “I bet she’s not really angry, Alyssa. You didn’t do anything wrong, and deep down, Elle knows that.”
Alyssa sniffled. “I know what a big deal this sleepover was to her and Rachel, and I really wanted to go. This is the sleepover that Becca canceled on them last year at the last minute, so I know how sensitive they are about it. I maybe would have asked Becca to switch nights, but I was just so upset about everything with Dasher that I didn’t even think of it at the time.” She sat up in bed. “Mom, this is my fault. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“You are not blaming yourself for this, Alyssa,” Mrs. Sing said firmly. Her voice softened as she squeezed Alyssa’s hand. “Like we talked about last weekend, you can’t get stuck in the middle of whatever is going on between these girls. And later, after you feel better, I hope you’ll talk to Elle about all of this and let her know she has to choose her words more carefully in the future. Don’t be afraid to tell her how you feel, sweetie.”
Alyssa nodded. She knew her mom was right, but it wasn’t that easy. She didn’t want to lose Elle’s friendship.
“Becca is supposed to arrive soon. Are you up for having her over tonight? It might help to have a friend to lean on, sweetie, but if you’re not up to it, I can let Becca know. Plus, Cody and I will be here for you.”
Alyssa wiped her eyes. “I’m going to think about it. I’ll let you know, okay?”
As Mrs. Sing left her room, Alyssa walked over to the mirror that was above her dresser. She almost didn’t recognize herself. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her face was all flushed from crying. Her eyes wandered over to her desk, where she saw the extra printout of her holiday-wish essay. Picking it up, she scanned the page and felt her eyes fill up with tears again.
So, in all these ways, I feel that my holiday wish has
already come true. My new house in Florida really feels like a home for the holidays because of all the wonderful memories we have made here. I’ve made three amazing new friends, and I’ve even gotten the cat I always wanted. This is shaping up to be the perfect Christmas, even better than anything I could have wished for, and I am so grateful!
Alyssa couldn’t believe that just twenty-four hours ago those words had been true. And now she felt so far away from almost everything she had written.
Just then, Alyssa heard a gentle knock at her door.
“Hey, can I come in?” Becca asked.
Alyssa nodded.
“Your mom told me what happened with Dasher. I am so, so sorry.” Becca’s face was filled with concern. “What can I do, Alyssa?”
Alyssa sighed and sat on the bed, her essay still in her hand. “I don’t know what anyone can do,” she replied. She folded her essay in half and tossed it on her nightstand. “I don’t think I will be very good company tonight, Becca. Would you mind if we rescheduled?”
“Of course not,” Becca said, sitting down on the bed next to Alyssa. “Do you want me to tell your mom to call Rachel and Elle and let them know about Dasher so you don’t have to? I’m sure they would want to know.”
“That’s really sweet,” Alyssa replied. “But they’re mad at me. Well, Elle is anyway.” She told Becca about her phone call with Elle.
“That’s terrible,” Becca cried. “But, Alyssa, I know Elle didn’t mean it. She just has a bit of a temper and says things she doesn’t mean. That’s one of the reasons I have been so scared to try to make up with her!” Becca patted Alyssa’s arm. “But I’m sure that if she knew about Dasher she’d feel absolutely terrible.…”
Alyssa shook her head. “No, I don’t want her to feel terrible. I just… I just don’t want to think about it right now. I’m too upset about Dasher. Is that okay with you?”
“Of course,” Becca repeated. She gave Alyssa a gentle hug. “Call me later if you need to talk, okay?”
Alyssa said goodbye to her friend and lay back down on her bed. She knew that lying around wallowing wasn’t going to help matters, but right now that was all she really felt like doing.
Less than an hour later, Alyssa was in the kitchen with Cody, helping their mom prepare dinner. They were making homemade pizza.
“Allow me,” Cody said, gently elbowing Alyssa out of the way. He rearranged the pieces of green pepper on top of the pizza so they resembled a Christmas tree.
“Voilà,” he said.
Alyssa smiled a little. She appreciated that her brother was trying to cheer her up.
“Is someone at the door?” Mrs. Sing said from the counter where she was cleaning mushrooms. “Will one of you kids go get that?”
Alyssa opened the front door and was surprised to see Elle standing there.
“I heard what happened to Dasher,” Elle explained. Her next words came out in a rush, classic Elle style. “I am so, so sorry. And I am so sorry I was so rude on the phone before. I had no idea about Dasher obviously, but still, I shouldn’t have asked you to cancel your plans. I was just hurt, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Can you forgive me?”
Alyssa leaned against the doorframe and took a deep breath. Mom was right. I need to tell her how I feel. “I can forgive you, Elle, but this is the second time in a week that you got really upset with me and said something unfair. It’s nice that you apologized after, but if we’re going to be friends, I really need for you to not do that to me. When we don’t agree on stuff, I need to be able to say something without you getting mad at me.”
I can’t believe I just said that, Alyssa thought. But it felt good. It needed to be said.
Elle nodded and looked down at her shoes. “You are absolutely right, Alyssa,” she added quickly. “I know I need to slow down and calm down, especially when it comes to you. In fact, that’s what I wrote my holiday-wish essay about.…” She looked up, and Alyssa saw that her friend was blushing. “I wished I could learn to not fly off the handle when I get upset. I said I was afraid I was going to lose a really good friend over it. But please don’t tell anyone that. It’s kind of majorly embarrassing.”
Alyssa smiled and moved away from the door, gesturing for Elle to come in. “That sounds like an awesome essay,” she replied. It felt good to know she was so important to Elle that she had written her holiday-wish essay about being a better friend to her. She grinned a genuine grin for the first time since hearing the news about Dasher. “Do you want to come in? We’re making pizza.”
“OMG, I almost forgot!” Elle exclaimed. “Can you come over? I—” She held up a hand as a shocked look crossed Alyssa’s face. “Becca is over. Actually, she’s in the car, with my mom and Rachel.” She moved to the side, and Alyssa noticed Elle’s mom’s car in the driveway with Becca and Rachel in the back seat. They all waved to Alyssa. “Becca literally ran over to my house to tell us what happened, and we want you to come over so your three best friends can cheer you up. I mean, she sprinted the whole way there because she was so worried about you. So, what do you say? Can we have a holiday sleepover together? I promise we will cheer you up! Rachel and I will even learn how to knit and we can spend the whole night knitting if that’s what you want to do.…”
“I—I—” Alyssa didn’t know what to say.
“They came with me just in case you said no because they are not taking no for an answer and if you won’t come then we’re coming in,” Elle added breathlessly. “And trust me, you do not want to mess with Becca when she has her mind set on something!”
Alyssa burst out laughing. “I guess that leaves me no choice! Let me get my stuff together and ask my mom. Why don’t you guys all come inside while I’m packing?”
A few hours later, just before nine o’clock, Alyssa, Elle, Rachel, and Becca were arranging their sleeping bags on the floor of Elle’s rec room. Her house had a finished basement with the coolest rec room Alyssa had ever seen. There was a huge TV, an air hockey table, beanbag chairs, and even a second Christmas tree. The girls had stuffed themselves on Christmas cookies—that Becca had been banned from participating in the baking of—and were settling down to knit.
Alyssa pulled out the red ombré scarf from her bag just as Becca was reaching into her backpack for her completed scarves. “This is the one I finished. I don’t expect you guys to do anything this fancy initially, but…”
When Becca saw Alyssa’s scarf, she burst out laughing.
“What?” Alyssa exclaimed, feeling her cheeks burn. “Is something wrong with my scarf?”
“No, it’s gorgeous,” Becca replied between giggles. “It’s just—huge!”
“What?” Alyssa was confused. “It’s standard size.”
“No, look,” Becca said, laughing even harder as she pulled a teeny, tiny little knit scarf out to show Alyssa. As Becca held up her tiny little scarf, Rachel and Elle burst into giggles, too.
“That’s like two inches long and a quarter of an inch thick!” Alyssa cried.
“Yes, the perfect size for the dolls my aunt sells in her doll store,” Becca said. “Wait, did you think my aunt’s store was a boutique for people? That I was asking you to make fifteen people scarves?”
“Alyssa, Becca’s aunt’s store is that big doll store on Ocean Drive,” Rachel added. She was laughing so hard she was practically gasping for air. Elle was doubled over.
“I can’t believe it,” Alyssa replied. “How did I not know that? Did you tell me?”
“I’m sure I did,” Becca said. “Didn’t I? Did I not tell you her store was a doll store? I know I told you about the little umbrellas she sold last year, right?” She pulled out all the tiny little scarves she’d knit and spread them on the floor. “Now we know how I made so many scarves and you only made one.”
The girls were all laughing so hard that when Elle’s mom appeared in the room a moment later Alyssa assumed it was to ask them to keep it down. But instead she extended the phone to Alyssa. “It’s your mom,
sweetie. It’s not an emergency, but she has to tell you something.”
Alyssa accepted the phone and spoke quietly to her mom. Her friends could hear her excitedly saying things like “That’s amazing!” and “How many?” and “How long?” so they knew it was good news.
When Alyssa sat back down on her sleeping bag, her face was shining with excitement. “Dasher had her kittens already!” she exclaimed. “She had five, and they are all doing well. Her owners called my mom to tell her. And the best part is… they want me to come over when the kittens are a little older so I can choose one to keep!”
“Aw, Alyssa, that’s wonderful!” Rachel exclaimed.
“Maybe it’s time for me to get my next cat, too!” Becca said.
“You totally should—but know that the cat will like me better!” Elle joked.
Alyssa laughed along with her friends. I can’t believe Dasher had her kittens already, she thought. It kind of feels like this was meant to be. I think Dasher will be happy knowing one of her babies will be coming to live with me. And I’m happy for Dasher that she’s back home in time for Christmas.
“This might be a good time to give you your Christmas gift,” Becca said suddenly. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a simple knitted blanket in shades of pink, purple, and yellow. “I made this for you, for Dasher,” she said shyly. “I know you can make one that’s a thousand times better, but I wanted to make you something to say thank you for being such a good friend. Now you can use it for your new kitty.”
Alyssa didn’t know what to say. Before she could respond, Elle cleared her throat and handed Alyssa a gift bag that had been sitting on the coffee table. “And this is from Rachel and me. It’s just not homemade because, well, we are not talented.” She giggled.
Alyssa opened the bag and saw that it was filled with cat toys. Stuffed mice, little balls, crinkly fish… it looked like they had bought out the cat toy section of the pet store.
Celebrate the Season--Home for the Holidays Page 8
