Noelle's Christmas Crush

by Angela Darling

  “You have the poster board, right?” she asked. “I brought markers. And we might need to print stuff out.”

  “No problem,” Noelle said. “I’ll get what we need.”

  A few minutes later the girls sat down to work on their posters.

  “So it’s supposed to be a travel poster for ancient Babylon,” Noelle said. She had her hands on her hips and was staring at the blank page. “Let’s see . . . there’s the Hanging Gardens, and the Ishtar Gate, and the Euphrates River . . . I think you’re right. We should probably print out some pictures of this stuff. It’s not so easy to draw.”

  She started searching for images on her laptop. “We can print out whatever we want. The printer’s in my mom’s office.”

  The girls sent a bunch of images to the printer, and Noelle went to get them. On the way back, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She opened it to find a dozen photos from Alyson.

  “What are you looking at?” Jess asked, taking the printed pages from her.

  “Alyson is sending me pictures of dresses for my party,” Noelle said, sliding into her chair. “Some of them are so beautiful! Check out this pink one.”

  She held out the photo in front of Jess’s face.

  “I don’t know,” Jess said. “It looks kind of spring-like, you know?”

  Noelle scrolled through the photos. She stopped at a deep purple, shimmery dress and showed it to Jess.

  “The sleeves are kind of puffy,” Jess said, “and the color reminds me of grape juice. But it’s nice, I guess. So, do you want this picture of the gardens for your poster?”

  Noelle took the picture from Jess without taking her eyes off the phone. If Jess sounded annoyed, Noelle didn’t notice.

  “Oh my gosh! This one is perfect. It’s not a grapey purple at all. What color would you call this?” she asked, showing Jess the phone again.

  “I don’t know. Ask Alyson,” Jess said as she cut out a picture for her poster.

  “Good idea,” Noelle said. She started typing.

  What color is this?

  Violet, Alyson replied. Isn’t it gr8?

  Luv it! Noelle replied. But it’s like, $300!???!!

  Don’t worry. It’s a hot color this year. We can find one like it in the mall for a lot cheaper.

  Will you shop with me?

  Of course! Alyson texted back.

  Thank you! BBFN.

  TTYL!

  “This is great,” Noelle said, looking around the family room. “I think I finally know the color scheme for my party. I’ll use violet, with maybe a little pink thrown in. That would look awesome, and I can combine it with silver or black even.”

  “That does sound nice.” Jess said. She held up the poster she was working on. “What do you think? Are the letters big enough?”

  But Noelle had wandered off to the lamp next to the couch. “Maybe we could find a violet lightbulb, and then the whole room would glow purple!” she said excitedly. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

  Jess put down her poster. “It sounds amazing. But are we going to work on our posters, or are you going birthday crazy again?”

  “What? Oh yeah, sure,” Noelle said, hurrying back to the table. “Sorry.”

  She picked out a few of the pictures they had printed out, and then she went over to the laptop.

  “Are you printing out something else?” Jess asked.

  “I just want to check the invitation site again,” Noelle said, “to see if Noel replied.”

  Jess shook her head. “You are seriously deranged. You need to chill out about Noel. And this whole party thing. It’s just a party.”

  “It’s not just a party,” Noelle insisted. “It’s my first non-Christmas birthday-only party.”

  Jess held up her hands. “Okay, I get it,” she said. “But you should still chill out about Noel. Give him some time to reply. In fact, I dare you not to look at your replies for a whole day.”

  Noelle looked stricken. “You mean not until tomorrow afternoon? That’s impossible.”

  “It wouldn’t be a challenge if it wasn’t hard,” Jess pointed out. “How about until tomorrow morning then?”

  Noelle sighed. “All right, I’ll try.”

  “Good,” Jess said. “Hey, I know you’re, like, anti-Christmas and pro-birthday this year or whatever, but I started making your present. It’s going to be awesome.”

  “I’m not anti-Christmas, I swear,” Noelle said. “And um, that’s cool. I can’t wait to see it.”

  The girls had been exchanging gifts since the first year they met, but they had one rule: the gift had to be handmade. Last year Jess had made Noelle a pair of earrings with little pink stones, and Noelle had created a gingerbread basketball court for Jess, complete with gingerbread players. But this year Noelle hadn’t even thought of an idea yet. Her mind was too filled up with birthday party plans (and to be honest, a little bit of Noel as well).

  “I can’t wait to see mine either,” Jess said.

  Noelle quickly changed the subject. “Hey, I think your letters are the perfect size,” she said, and the girls got back to work on their posters.

  Noelle tried to keep from checking her invitation replies even when Jess wasn’t watching her. She didn’t check them after dinner, or after her shower, or even before bed.

  But she couldn’t go to sleep. She gave herself about five minutes, and then she got out of bed and turned on her laptop in the dark.

  1 New Reply.

  Feeling hopeful, she clicked . . . and saw it was from her aunt Jane. With a sigh, she closed her laptop.

  Jess was right. She needed to chill out about Noel. But that wasn’t going to be easy.

  chapter 5

  HEY, DID YOU GET MY INVITATION?

  Did you get my invite?

  Did you get that e-mail about my party?

  Noelle didn’t even open her laptop the next morning. But what if she ran into Noel in school? She’d have to say something about the party, right?

  On the bus ride to school, Noelle practiced what she would say if she ran into him. She didn’t usually get to see him, because they didn’t have any classes together except lunch. Noel was almost never at lunch, because the student council and some of the other groups he was in met during lunch, and when he was there, he was always surrounded by all of his guy friends. Noelle and the other girls usually steered clear of the boys’ lunch tables; they were way too rowdy.

  But she might bump into him in the hallway. You never knew, so it was good to be prepared.

  “So how’d you do?” Jess asked when she got on the bus and slid into the seat next to Noelle.

  Noelle knew what she meant. “I didn’t check it,” Noelle replied. But she avoided her friend’s eyes.

  “You checked it!” Jess said accusingly. “I knew you would.”

  Noelle sighed. “I couldn’t sleep. But I haven’t checked it since last night, I swear.”

  Jess shook her head. “You are hopeless.”

  Noelle felt bad about giving in, but she felt worse about the fact that Noel hadn’t responded. Maybe Jess sensed this, because she put her arm around Noelle. “It’s going to be an amazing party whether he comes or not,” she said. “And I still think he’s going to come. Just wait.”

  “Oh, I hope so,” said Noelle. She already felt so much better.

  “You are still pretty hopeless, though,” said Jess as the bus reached the next stop, and Hailey and Alyson got on.

  “What’s hopeless?” Hailey asked.

  “Nothing,” Noelle answered firmly, casting a warning look at Jess. “Alyson, thanks for sending me those pictures last night. I’ve decided to do a whole violet theme for my party.”

  “When are we going dress shopping?” Alyson asked.

  “I have to ask my mom,” Noelle replied. “I think we’re getting the party decorations tonight. I can’t wait!”

  “A violet dress? That sounds pretty,” Hailey remarked.

  “I’m so glad we’re talking about this
party again,” Jess mumbled, but Noelle didn’t hear her.

  The bus pulled up to Pine Valley School. The girls got off the bus and walked through the wide front entrance into the main hallway. The bus usually arrived ten minutes before the first bell, which gave them time to get to their lockers, talk, and check out the school notice board.

  “Hey, the Holiday Craft Bazaar is Thursday,” Hailey said, pointing.

  Jess nodded. “I made a bunch of bracelets for it.”

  “Like those ones you made last year? They sold out fast,” Alyson said.

  Once again Noelle remembered that she would have to think of an idea for Jess’s present soon. Then she noticed something on the board.

  “Oh, they’re looking for volunteers,” she said, reading a flyer with the title Holiday Heroes Program. “They match up a middle school student with a student with special needs to help them pick out presents at the craft bazaar. That sounds really nice.”

  She looked at the sign-up sheet, and saw a name that made her stomach do a little flip: Noel Shepherd. Of course it was like him to do something so nice!

  Noelle searched her backpack for a pen. “I’m going to sign up.”

  Jess stepped up to the list and raised an eyebrow. “Aha! It’s because Noel signed up, right?”

  “No, it’s because it’s a nice thing to do,” Noelle protested, which was true. It was also true that seeing Noel’s name on the list was an extra incentive. “I can’t help it if I’ve got extra Christmas cheer to spread around. What’s wrong with Christmas cheer?”

  “Yeah, what’s wrong with Christmas cheer?” Hailey repeated.

  “Or Hanukkah cheer?” Alyson added.

  “Nothing,” Jess said. “It’s just—oh, never mind.”

  Noelle signed her name on the list. “Good. Let’s get to class.”

  As Noelle suspected, she didn’t get a chance to talk to Noel about the party that day. He wasn’t at lunch, and she didn’t run into him in the hallway.

  After school she headed up to her room to get her homework done. She turned on her laptop so she could log on to the math practice site her teacher had set up.

  The invitation site popped up on her screen—she hadn’t checked it last night.

  “Might as well look,” she said. “It’s been almost a whole day.”

  1 New Reply.

  Noelle took a deep breath and clicked. There, under the “yes” column, was a new name: Noel Shepherd.

  Noelle let out a happy cheer, then quickly realized what she was doing and became quiet. She didn’t want her parents or Andrew to ask why she was doing a happy dance. So she logged on to the math site with a big smile on her face. Noel was coming to her party!

  As she studied, she started to sing. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly . . . ” She couldn’t help it. She felt like she had more Christmas cheer than ever!

  chapter 6

  AFTER DINNER THAT NIGHT NOELLE switched back into birthday mode.

  “I finished my homework,” she said to her mom. “Can we go to the party store? Please?”

  “Well, if you’re sure you’re finished, I don’t see why not,” Mrs. Winters replied. “No tests tomorrow?”

  Noelle shook her head. “Nope.”

  “Hey, how come I can’t shop for decorations?” Mr. Winters asked in a mock-hurt voice.

  “You can come if you want, Dad,” Noelle said, “but it’s not Christmas decorations. It’s birthday decorations. In violet.”

  “I like violet,” her dad said. “But this sounds like a two-person job. I’ll do the dishes.”

  “I’ve got homework,” Andrew said quickly, making it clear that he was not available for any kind of dish washing.

  Noelle ran and grabbed her coat. “I cut out the coupons from this weekend’s flyer so we can get some good deals.” She picked up a binder from the counter. “See? It’s all organized in here.”

  Mrs. Winters shook her head. “That’s wonderful. Maybe you could carry that organization over to your bedroom, too.”

  Noelle made a face. “Very funny. Come on, let’s go!”

  Party World was located just a short drive away, over on the highway. Noelle loved going there any time of year. When they pulled up, a giant inflatable Santa stood by the front entrance, waving at customers. Red and green floodlights bathed the whole storefront so that it could be seen from far away.

  Noelle grabbed a shopping cart, and they stepped inside. The first display they saw contained dozens of sparkling silver snowflakes. Mrs. Winters walked up and touched one.

  “These are so pretty!” she exclaimed. “Wouldn’t they look nice on the back porch?”

  Noelle grabbed her mother by the sleeve. “We are not here to look at Christmas decorations. We are here to get birthday supplies. Come on!”

  Mrs. Winters gave a funny little pout as Noelle led her down the first aisle past racks and racks of Christmas items. They turned the corner and wound up in the birthday aisle, which was smooshed in the back of the store during the month of December.

  Noelle opened her binder. “Okay, so we need to get some things from a few different places. The Mardi Gras section has purple streamers that are pretty close to violet. The Floral Collection has these small silver vases, and we can get violet flowers to put in them. In Sweet Sixteen they have those cool crepe paper balls that you can hang from the ceiling, in silver, pink, and violet. I’m still not sure about the plates, cups, and napkins, but I have a few choices that we can check out.”

  “I have never seen you so focused,” Mrs. Winters said, shaking her head again. “But I’m impressed. Lead the way!”

  They found the streamers first, and then the crepe paper balls. Noelle was starting to get excited. Everything looked so much cooler in person than it did in the flyer or in the pictures she had seen online.

  Then they found the vases, which were cube-shaped and only four inches high. “I think we should get six,” Noelle said, holding one up. “We can line them up along the food table.”

  Mrs. Winters raised an eyebrow. “You said you have a coupon, right?”

  “Thirty percent off the entire purchase,” Noelle reported.

  “Okay then,” Mrs. Winters said, and Noelle happily put the vases in her cart.

  “Now we need the flowers,” Noelle said. “They are the perfect shade of violet; I couldn’t believe it when I saw them online.”

  By the time they got to checkout, the cart was filled with everything Noelle had hoped for. She looked in the cart, pleased. “Flowers, decorations, napkins, plates, knives, forks, cups, favor bags, tablecloth . . . I think that’s everything.”

  “It better be,” Mrs. Winters said with a teasing grin.

  When they got home, Noelle piled every bag in her arms, carried them to the family room, and threw off her coat. Then she started opening the bags.

  “Noelle, what are you doing?” her mom asked.

  “I’m putting up the decorations,” Noelle replied.

  Her mom looked at the clock. “Your bedtime’s in an hour, and you still need to shower.” Then she laughed. “Hey, I just rhymed! But I’m serious. This is no time to decorate.”

  “Please?” Noelle begged. “Can I just get it started? I’ll do it all myself. And I’ll stop in a half hour and shower. See? I can rhyme too.”

  Mrs. Winters sighed. “Thirty minutes, and no more,” she said, leaving the family room.

  Noelle looked around the room. She could set up the table first, she thought, but then she noticed that it was strewn with video game discs and open game covers. She marched over to the stairs.

  “Andrew!” she yelled.

  “What? I’m in the kitchen!” Andrew yelled back, annoyed.

  She headed to the kitchen, where her brother was doing homework on the kitchen table.

  “Andrew, you need to clean up your video games from yesterday,” she said crossly. “I need to decorate for my party.”

  “Your party’s not for like, two weeks,” Andrew said. “
Besides, I’m doing homework.”

  “But I only have a half an hour to set up!” she wailed. “It’s not fair. Come on, please?”

  Andrew rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Sergeant Birthday.”

  He got up and started to walk to the family room.

  “What does that mean?” Noelle asked.

  “It means you are bossing everyone around about your stupid birthday,” he said.

  He scooped up the games, brought them over to the storage cube where they were kept, and dumped them in. Then he slammed the lid shut.

  “Happy, Sergeant Birthday?” he asked.

  “Yes. Thank you,” Noelle said stubbornly.

  Andrew stomped out of the family room, and Noelle began to unpack the bags of party supplies.

  Sergeant Birthday. Was she really that bossy? Her friends had teased her about being like those girls on that TV show. But those girls were horrible.

  Noelle kept looking at the clock as she frantically tried to set up the tablecloth and the silver vases. She would never finish tonight, but she wanted to get as much done as she could.

  It seemed like no time at all before her mom came into the room and said, “Okay, Noelle, time to shower.”

  “Please can I just finish the table?” Noelle asked.

  “We had a deal,” Mrs. Winters said. “You can do more tomorrow night when your homework’s done. This is not the party to end all parties, Noelle. You need to relax and enjoy yourself a little.”

  Noelle sighed. “Okay,” she said, reluctantly putting down the flowers she was holding.

  Her mom just didn’t understand. This was her first real, separate birthday ever. And on top of that, Noel was coming.

  How was she supposed to relax?

  chapter 7

  ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, NOELLE made sure to do her homework right after school so that she could decorate for the birthday party when she was done.

  “Almost perfect,” she said, examining the room on Wednesday night. Hanging the pink, silver, and violet crepe paper balls hadn’t been easy, but her dad had helped. They hung from the ceiling at different heights, making the room look really festive. The table was set with a violet tablecloth and the row of violet flowers in their silver vases. She had tried putting up the violet streamers in a bunch of different ways, but had settled for hanging them over the windows and the doorway.