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“She sort of saw me while I was at the Hastings. Apparently, she’s friends with one of Savannah’s siblings. She didn’t know it was me. Well, not for sure. I had only just gotten all my memories back when I ran into her. She told me how bad Katie was still and, being that no one knew I wasn’t Theo, I had to keep pretending even around her. I knew she wasn’t buying it, but, shit, you don’t think she would have told Katie that she saw me, do you?”
I hadn’t even thought about that. If she had told Katie that I was back, maybe that was why Katie no longer wanted to come home for the winter break. I couldn’t imagine a different reason for her wanting to skip Christmas with her family.
“No. It didn’t sound like she told her. She said she mentioned to Katie she could come visit her during break and Katie wanted to skip coming home all together. Ryder will tell her to go home. It will be okay, I think.”
Driving home felt surreal. Cramming my body into the back seat, Bridget and Asher bickered about how they would split up the holiday in the front. This was their first year celebrating together. They were excited to be a couple instead of just friends like they were last year. So many things changed in the last year. It felt like someone had flipped my entire world around like a snow globe before being dropped on the floor. Now I spent most of my time picking up the pieces and trying to make everything okay again without getting cut by the jagged shards of glass.
*****
Katie
Christmas morning felt just the same as every other day I had woken up for the last few months. Today I would really have to plaster my smile on and keep my mind distracted. There was a small level of regret I had from kissing Max at the party. After successfully avoiding him before I left, I hoped that by the time we got back from break, we could just move on and chalk it up to a drunken mistake. It was still eating away at me the way Ryder reacted to it. It was almost like she knew something that I didn’t.
Maybe Max had mentioned having feelings for me to Paul or something, but she was refusing to tell me anything. She just said I needed to put it behind me and move on. I was upset that I couldn’t spend my entire break at her house, but my parents insisted I needed to come home for at least a few days. Ryder agreed I should at least pacify them for the few days and then I was welcome to come visit her for the rest of the time. I was counting down the days.
Stepping off the bottom step, I could hear a commotion from the kitchen. As I entered the room, I could see Asher and Bridget were already making breakfast for everyone.
“Hey, Merry Christmas.”
Bridget ran over to me, hugging me tightly. I still couldn’t understand what she saw in my brother, but they were happy together and that’s all that mattered. Opening the cabinet where the coffee mugs were, I helped myself to a cup.
“So, Katie, I didn't get you a traditional present this year. It’s sort of like a surprise gift for you.”
Turning around, I cradled the cup in my hands. The warmth between my hands slowly growing.
“What does that even mean? And since when do you cook pancakes? Where’s mom?”
Pointing the spatula at me, he spoke.
“For your information, I am a master chef now. Just ask Bridget.”
She nodded.
“He’s actually pretty good when he wants to be.”
Looking down at the stack of pancakes, I grabbed one.
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Taking a bite, it surprised me. It tasted pretty good.
“Okay, so where is mom and what is this surprise gift?”
Smiling, he seemed very proud of whatever this gift was.
“I set up a scavenger hunt for you. After breakfast, you can get the first clue. Mom and dad already said it’s okay to do this present now and the rest later when Mrs. King comes over.”
Drawing my lower lip between my teeth, I wasn’t sure how prepared I was to see her again. At least being away at school, I had avoided her. She had asked a few times to grab lunch. I always used studying or a paper as an excuse to not be able to make it.
After we finished eating, Asher handed me the first envelope, a giant number one scribbled on the front. Turning it over, I ran my finger under the seal, popping open the flap and sliding the card out. Looking up at Asher, he waited patiently for me to read it.
Swings and slides and monkey bars figure it out because we have to go by car.
Taking only a few minutes, I knew this clue was for the park down the street. We spent almost every day as kids going there. It’s where we had learned to ride our bikes and spent time as a family on the weekend.
“It’s the park, right?”
Silently he grabbed his keys from his pocket and followed me to the door.
