Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Holiday

Danny was weird after the kiss, even though she said she was fine. She was lying, but I didn’t know why. Was the second kiss bad? I’d never asked anyone I’d kissed if I was good at it, but I assumed that when they kept kissing you that was as good an endorsement as any.

What if it was bad and she just didn’t want to hurt my feelings? I’d kept my mouth closed and hadn’t used any tongue or too much pressure, but you never knew. I’d even gone to the bathroom and chugged some mouthwash just in case we might have to kiss again later, and I had bad breath. Maybe it was the rum? I wanted to ask her, but then I didn’t want to know the answer. So I kept a smile on my face and kept singing at the top of my lungs and sat next to Danny until I knew it was time to go home. My parents would be wanting to have a late-night talk with me. I’d inherited my night owl tendencies from both my parents. So many times I remembered when I was a kid they’d come into my room and surprise me with a late-night ice cream run or dessert at a local restaurant in my pajamas.

Danny had been smart to cut me off from the eggnog because I was sober enough for the short drive. She walked me to the door and there were quite a few eyes on us.

I leaned close and spoke in her ear. “We’re going to need to kiss goodbye.”

She reeled back from me, her eyes wide before she glanced back at everyone in the living room.

Turning back to me, she nodded and leaned forward, giving me a quick peck like our first kiss that we’d had earlier. Reaching my hand up, I grabbed the back of her neck to pull her closer and kissed her again. No one would believe that brief little kiss.

“See you tomorrow,” I said when I pulled back and stroked her neck once.

“Drive safe,” she said, watching me walk to my car.

I almost sent her a message asking if I was a bad kisser, but I deleted the message as soon as I typed it out. I sat in the driveway of my parents’ house and shook my head at myself. I was probably just paranoid. Danny was just weirded out by kissing me because we were friends. That had to be it. Kissing in theory was different than kissing in reality. Would she want to call things off now? We’d already told her family and mine was next.

My thoughts were jumbled as I walked into the house and found my parents sitting on the couch and talking. All of the other relatives had left, and the lights were low.

“How was it at the Romanos?” Mom asked as I shucked off my boots and my coat and hat.

“Loud,” I said, leaning my head on her shoulder.

Mom laughed. “Well, that’s just how it goes. You ready for tomorrow night?” I wasn’t, but that didn’t matter. It was happening anyway. I’d already decided to wear the dress that Danny had packed for me. It was blue velvet and was a little sexy for a family party, but I wanted to wear it.

The party would be a little more formal than our Christmas morning celebrations, when we’d mostly be in our matching silk pajamas that Mom made us wear every year. There were several sets in different colors and I wasn’t a big fan of them, but she wanted us to get pictures wearing them so I sucked it up. The three of us would spend a little time opening presents and then throw ourselves into making a huge brunch that everyone would kind of drop in on. The rest of the day was spent opening presents and eating in one long celebration. I’d dip out to go to Danny’s celebration in the afternoon and then come back for more. It was a marathon, not a sprint, and I was already tired.

That cabin I’d talked about with Danny was looking pretty good right now. I wanted to lay down and eat too much and listen to music and watch fun movies. There was just so much social pressure involved. So much talking. More than one year I’d actually lost my voice.

“Want to watch Rudolph?” Mom asked. I was tired, but I wasn’t going to turn down a classic.

“Sure,” I said, snuggling into the couch. Dad got us more hot chocolate and served it to us, including enough marshmallows for me.

The three of us watched the classic movie and quoted our favorite parts and it was nice to have it just be the three of us. Even if I couldn’t stop thinking about Danny and the kiss fiasco. Things were going to be weird tomorrow if we couldn’t get our act together under the mistletoe. I needed to talk to her tomorrow and figure this out. Even if it turned out I was a bad kisser. She could give me some pointers or something.

The next day I woke up late, as usual, but grumpy. I hadn’t talked or sent any messages to Danny and found a few waiting for me when I checked my phone.

I think we should talk before your party tonight. Mom wants me to go to the grocery store for five million things. I can pick you up and then we can have some privacy. Does that sound okay?

It would be nice to get out of the house, even though I’d barely been here for a day. Being in the car with just Danny would be nice.

Sounds good. Let me have some breakfast and get dressed. Come over whenever.

I yawned and stumbled to the shower and then to the kitchen where my dad was making eggs and bacon and had a cup of coffee mixed with hot chocolate for me. There was nothing more decadent and if I wasn’t careful, I was going to have too much and then be bouncing off the walls until it was out of my system.

I could hear Danny’s voice in my head telling me not to overdo it. She was always my voice of restraint and reason. Without her I would have gotten into a lot more situations.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said when he slid a plate of breakfast in front of me. Mom joined us, still in her robe. She was an elegant woman, but I liked seeing her like this. No makeup. Her hair still in rollers. When I was little, I’d loved watching her put on her makeup and do her hair. It seemed magical to me. How she’d used so many powders and potions to make herself look even more gorgeous. It was amazing to see her with my dad, who was handsome in a bookish way. He had glasses and thick dark hair that was always tousled. I’d gotten more of his looks than hers, but I had gotten her hair, which was nice. If only she’d leave me alone about my bangs.

We ate breakfast while Dad read the paper and Mom gazed out the window. The snow had stopped, and the weather had warmed up enough that what fell last night had melted. There was more precipitation in the weather forecast, so my hopes for a white Christmas were still on track. I wasn’t giving up hope.

Breakfast was quiet, but my ears perked up when there was a knock at the door.

Danny.

“Come in,” I called. She knew she didn’t have to knock. I never did at her house.

Danny came in and gave me a tight smile. Great. The weird vibes were still there from last night. That damn kiss. We shouldn’t have done it. Should have saved it for the mistletoe and then we could forget about it.

“Daniella, come sit down and have something to eat,” Mom said. She didn’t care if Danny saw her with her rollers in. Danny was almost another daughter.

“No, thank you. I’ve already eaten.” No doubt her mom had fed her until she’d begged her to stop. Carol didn’t listen to phrases like “no thanks, I’m full.”

“At least have a cup of hot chocolate and coffee,” I said. It was rich and indulgent.

Danny looked at me and sighed. “Fine.”

She sat down at the table with us and Dad made her a cup. She asked him what was new in town and he read some of the headlines in the paper, along with the letters to the editor. Some of them had us laughing as Danny finished her cup and I went to get dressed.

When I came out, I found my dad deep in discussion about financial stuff with Danny. If I didn’t interrupt, we were never getting out of here. Dad loved to pump Danny for investment tips.

“Love you, bye!” I called to my parents as I bundled Danny out the door and toward her car.

Once it was just the two of us and she was driving in the direction of the grocery store, silence fell between us and it made me twitchy. I hated this kind of silence.

Just before Danny pulled into the grocery store, I blurted out, “Am I a bad kisser?”