Page 92 of Falling Like Snow

Asher gestures at a hat sitting on the ground in front of them. “The polite thing is to tip the street performers for entertaining you,” he says.

My eyes jump to him, my mouth gaping. “Wait. Is this part three?”

He grabs my hand and sets change and dollar bills in it, then closes my fist around the money. “It is.”

I laugh. “You got me terrible street performers? Amazing.”

“Well, they were supposed to practice and be good, but yeah.”

I drop the money into the hat, but Asher bends down and scoops some of it back out.

“Hey!” Chloe yells as she accidentally bumps into Parker again.

“You can’t steal from them,” I say, laughing.

“You’re going to need some of it,” he tells me.

My eyes widen. “There are more of them?”

He grabs my arm and tugs me along the sidewalk. Two minutes later we come to Cooper, the streetlight glinting off the silver paint covering him from head to toe. He stands still as a statue, just like in the reels I’ve seen from NYC. If I were him, I’d have already broken down and smiled, so I’m pretty impressed.

I poke his cheek, but he doesn’t budge. I jab my finger at his hair, but it’s so stiff, not a strand moves out of place.

I hand Asher my phone. “Take our picture!”

Asher snaps a few shots while I stand grinning next to Coop. I turn back to face the statue. “Very impressive. You have earned yourself some money.”

I place a couple of dollars in Cooper’s unmoving extended palm, and as he changes his pose, my phone dings twice in succession. Asher glances at it in his hand before seeming to realize it wasn’t his phone that sounded. He hands it to me without meeting my gaze.

Micah: just sitting here thinking about how we could be hanging right now

Micah: you at least going to call me when you’re done?

I slide my phone into my back pocket. “Sorry.”

“No. I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t want to make you cancel your plans. This was just the only night we could do this.”

“I didn’t mind canceling. It’s winter break; I can hang with Micah anytime.” When he doesn’t seem convinced, I squeeze his hand. “Seriously. This is great.”

We continue on toward the town square, stopping to watch Hannah play her flute and putting money in her open case. When we reach downtown, I’m taken aback by how abnormally dark it is. But as Ellis waddles over dressed in the giant cookie costume she made for Cooper during the Falling Leaves Festival, I’m distracted from the bizarre sight of the usually-lit-up square being drenched in black. The bright orange dessert does a little jig in front of me—something my cousin would have never done a few months ago—then she says, “How are you liking New York City?”

I laugh. “I obviously can’t compare since I’ve never been there, but I think I might like it more than the actual city.”

“Their performers are more talented, but we definitely offer some amusement here in Bramble Falls,” she says with a little laugh. Just then, I startle as a loud bang sounds behind me. I turn to find Jake sitting next to a tree with buckets of different sizes in front of him. He skillfully twirls a drumstick between his fingers, then starts banging on the buckets.

He has absolutely no drumming ability.

“I’ll pay you if you stop,” I shout over the noise.

Jake pauses. “Deal. I told Asher I should have been one of the dancers.”

“And he should have listened to you,” I confirm, dropping the rest of my money onto the top of one of his buckets.

Asher leads me to the gazebo, and as we climb the steps, I glance at all the businesses, realizing their lights are off—despite many of them still being open for business.

Then he raises his arms. I narrow my eyes at him, about to ask what’s going on, when all of a sudden TV screens turn on in every window of every shop. Some play advertisements while others play movies and television shows. I gasp at how they light up the whole downtown.

When I look at him, Asher is wearing a face-splitting grin that matches mine.