The Twelve Dates of Christmas Read Online Free Page B

you, you.”
    His expression was so caring and happy that I didn’t have the heart to go on. I did my best to tamp down my own frustration, but it wasn’t easy. If he really
did
understand, wouldn’t he be a little more worried that our futures were so completely mismatched?

“So when do you find out about the scholarship?” Nick asked, carefully threading a cranberry onto a piece of fishing line.
    â€œWeren’t you listening? She already said she doesn’t know.” Allie grabbed a pair of scissors from the floor and snipped off the end of the cranberry garland she’d just finished. “But it doesn’t matter, anyway. It sounds like she totally blew them away at the interview. That scholarship is so hers.”
    â€œDon’t jinx me,” I warned her. “Yeah, I think I did pretty well in that interview. Still, Andrew might’ve done even better. You never know.”
    But my focus wasn’t really on the Simpson Scholarship anymore. I’d done allI could; from now on it was up to the committee, and I was trying not to stress over it too much. Besides, I had other things on my mind.
    I grabbed another handful of cranberries. The three of us were sitting on the floor of Nick’s roomy, yellow-walled basement rec room, stringing garlands. Nick’s mom, my aunt, was head of decorations for the Ball that year, and even though it was still September, she already had us hard at work. There was a ton to do before December
24. At least she’d left us with plenty of soda and popcorn to help us through the day’s task. Then again, maybe we were supposed to turn the popcorn into more garlands. If that was true, she was going to be sorely disappointed when she returned home from that day’s round of committee meetings.
    â€œListen, guys,” I said to my friends, grabbing another handful of popcorn out of the almost-empty bowl. “I want to talk to you about something. About Cam, actually.”
    Allie’s head shot up, and she almost cut her own finger off with the scissors. “What?” she demanded. “You’re not still actually thinking about ending things with Cam?”
    â€œSort of,” I admitted. “I just keep goingback and forth on it, you know? It’s driving me nuts. On the one hand, Cam is great.”
    â€œAs I’ve been telling you all along,” Allie put in with a frown.
    â€œI know. And you’re right.” I shook my head. “But on the other hand, where are Cam and I headed, realistically speaking?”
    â€œHomecoming,” Allie put in. “The Ball. The prom.”
    â€œRight. But then what?”
    Nick looked a little confused. He’d been so deep into his own heartache that I guess he wasn’t fully up to speed on my love life issues. “Wait,” he said. “You’re not thinking of stringing Cam along until you’re ready to leave for college and then ripping his heart out with your bare hands, are you?”
    He sounded a little suspicious. And a lot bitter. Who could blame him?
    â€œDefinitely not,” I assured him. “That’s why I’m thinking about this now instead of putting it off. If Cam and I are going to end up going our separate ways next summer, why prolong the inevitable?”
    â€œBecause you guys are in love, that’s why!” Allie exclaimed.
    I barely heard her. All this time, I’dbeen moving inexorably toward the only logical conclusion. No matter how many times I went over the facts, checked the variables, ran the numbers, the result was always the same.
    â€œThere’s only one answer.” I took a deep breath, ignoring the floppy-fish feeling in the pit of my stomach. That feeling was irrelevant to the facts. “Cam and I need to break up.”
    Allie gasped, her scissors clattering to the floor. Even Nick looked kind of shocked.
    â€œDude,” he said. “Are you sure? Seriously, it’ll