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  “Thanks, May,” Greta muttered. She looked apologetically at Parker. “I don’t know why everyone is getting so worked up about the Formal already. It’s not until after the holidays, anyway.”

  Parker nodded and muttered, “Yeah I know right?”

  Greta sighed and looked between her mother’s expectant face and Parker who was studiously staring at his shoes.

  “Anyway, I’ll see you on Monday, Parker,” she said. “Have a good weekend.”

  “You too,” he said softly. Greta stepped through the threshold of her house. She looked back as if she was going to say something but before she could get a word out, her mother slammed the door shut. Parker stared at it in disbelief for a moment. “Good night.”

  He turned and walked sullenly home. The snow crunched under his heavy boots. He wondered how on earth he could have been stupid enough to believe that a girl like Greta was actually interested in a guy like him. Somehow, it had never even occurred to him that other boys were already asking people to the Winter Formal, let alone that any of them were asking Greta. But she was undoubtedly going to say yes to one of them. She had her pick of the whole senior class, after all. Why would she choose him?

  By the time he got home, Parker had convinced himself he had absolutely no shot with Greta and that he had clearly been mistaking anything he thought had been a sign that she liked him. Which only made it that much worse when he walked into his house and his family immediately started bombarding him with questions about Greta and their relationship.

  “We’re not dating!” He insisted for the fifth time. “She’s just a friend. She’s never looked at me like that.”

  “No offence, sweetie, but you’re not really the best judge of that,” Adrienne said. “I saw the way she was looking at you. I would bet money that she is just waiting for you to ask her on a date.”

  Parker shook his head. “No, you couldn’t be further off.”

  “Oh, just ask her out, Parker!” Ellie said. “What’s the worst that happens?”

  “She rejects me, I end up mortified, and I permanently ruin our friendship,” Parker said flatly.

  Jared rolled his eyes. “Even if she doesn’t like you, it won’t ruin your friendship. Just go for it.”

  “Aren’t you listening? I said I’m not asking her out. Just leave it alone.”

  “But Parker—” Ellie started.

  “No!” Parker snapped. He stormed out of the kitchen and went up to his bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind him. Fueled with anger, he grabbed his pillow and slammed it against the wall as many times as he could. Finally, breathing hard, he threw it back on his bed and sat down next to it, wondering when exactly everything had fallen apart.

  Parker hunted through his closet, looking for the perfect sweater. He had already picked his own out, and now he was looking for one to lend to Greta. She had texted him last night and asked for one — it seemed logical, she argued, since she didn’t own any and he had twenty-five just sitting around. He agreed, happy that buying the sweaters seemed like less of a waste if they were being used for more than one occasion. He finally settled on a sweater that had a Christmas elf with actual small bells sewn onto it, so she would jingle a bit as she walked down the hall. It was quite possibly the most embarrassing sweater he had bought. Parker had worn it on a Saturday so nobody would have to see him in it, but of course, both Tyler and Greta had decided to stop by, and Greta found the sweater hilarious.

  “She’s so going to regret asking for this,” he muttered. With the sweater in hand, he headed downstairs. His backpack was on the floor in the kitchen. As soon as he got there, he stuffed the sweater in it, but not fast enough to avoid anybody noticing.

  “Why do you have a second sweater, Parker?” Ellie asked. She was sitting at the island counter, eating cereal and watching him.

  “Oh, I just wanted to have a spare, just in case,” he stammered out.

  “Just in case what?”

  “I don’t know! It’s always good to have a spare.”

  “But you haven’t brought a spare any other days.”

  “Will you just leave it alone?”

  “Why are you being so weird?” She got up to put her dishes in the sink then walked over so she could get a glance at the sweater in the bag. “That’s the worst sweater you could have chosen as a spare, Parker. What’s really going on?”

  Parker zipped up the bag and threw it on his shoulder.

  “None of your business,” he said. He walked to the front door to get his boots and coat on. Ellie followed him.

  “Does this have something to do with Greta?” She asked innocently. He froze and turned around.

  “What makes you think it has something to do with her?”

  “Because you only ever act this weird when you’re talking about her. Also, that reaction just confirmed it.” She tilted her head. “So, what is it?”

  “Nothing! Leave me alone.” He pulled on his winter boots and coat.

  Ellie gasped. “Today’s ugly sweater day at school! You’re lending her your sweater, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not a big deal,” he muttered.

  “Yes, it is!” Ellie squealed. “Oh my gosh, you’re giving her a sweater! She’s so your girlfriend.”

  “No, she’s not!” He snapped. He picked up his backpack again. “She has never looked at me that way and never will. So, stop saying that.”

  He stormed out of the house before Ellie had the chance to respond and walked up the street to where Tyler was waiting for him.

  “You good man?” Tyler asked as they began to walk. Parker glared at him.

  “Fine,” he said coldly. Tyler held his hands up in surrender.

  “I was just asking. You look very pissed off, considering it’s only eight a.m. and today is the last day of school for two weeks.”

  Parker sighed and ran a hand over his face.

  “Sorry, Ty, it’s not you. Just Ellie being a pain in the ass.”

  “Ah, yes. The only thing younger sisters are good at.”

  Parker snorted. “You say as someone with no younger sisters.”

  “I sympathize with your pain even though I do not experience it myself.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” He glanced at his friend. “You’re wearing an ugly sweater, right?”

  “Uh… Yes. Of course, I am.”

  “Tyler…”

  “It’s not my fault, okay? I know we have a bunch of them somewhere, but I was running late this morning and couldn’t find them!”

  “I could have brought you one!”

  “Well… I didn’t think of that before I left the house. But it doesn’t matter anyway because the challenge was for you to wear an ugly Christmas sweater every day, not me.”

  “And I have worn one every day. But today was the one day you were supposed to wear one too. You couldn’t even manage that?”

  “Evidently not.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I said I was sorry! Most people aren’t going to participate, anyway.”

  “All the more reason that you should have.”

  “What do you want me to do? Walk home and find one?”

  Parker considered that for a moment. “Yeah, that could work.”

  “What? No!”

  “You’re the one who suggested it.”

  “I assumed you would say no and that it was fine.”

  “Well, you know what they say about assuming, Tyler.”

  They entered the school. The blast of hot air from inside hit them and both began taking off their coats. Parker glanced at Tyler’s shirt. Unlike him, in his rather ugly black and red sweater, Tyler was wearing a plain black T-shirt. Parker looked him in the eyes.

  “One of these days, I will get you back for this,” he said.

  Tyler nodded. “I have accepted that and look forward to seeing what you come up with.”

  “Don’t worry, it will be good. I don’t know what it is yet, but I promise you, it will be good. Better than this.” H
e looked around. As predicted, almost nobody was participating in the ugly Christmas sweater spirit day. “I told Greta I would meet her at her locker. Want to come?”

  “Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do.”

  They walked up to the third floor where all the senior’s lockers were located. Parker’s locker was on the way so he stopped to away his coat and books. As he did, the extra sweater fell out and he had to catch it quickly before it hit the wet floor.

  “You do have an extra sweater,” Tyler said. His voice was undeniably disappointed as he resigned himself to his fate.

  “Relax, it’s not for you. Greta asked to borrow one.”

  “Greta? Cool Greta that every boy in this school is pining over is going to wear an ugly Christmas sweater?”

  “Yeah,” Parker said. “What’s your point?”

  If he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t entirely understand why Greta was doing it either. Tyler was right that she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would choose to participate in school spirit week, but she had sounded very excited on the phone the night before. In fact, she had done every event that week.

  “She just doesn’t seem like the type to do that,” Tyler said. “But hey, what do I know?”

  They reached the hallway where Greta’s locker was situated, and Parker froze in his spot. There was Greta standing at her locker, surrounded by five guys dressed in their football jerseys. She was laughing along to something one of them was saying.

  “Of course,” he said under his breath. Greta caught sight of him and waved.

  “Hey Parker!” She called out. He forced a small smile and waved back but didn’t move. Tyler shoved his back and he stumbled forward.

  “Stop just staring at her,” he hissed. Blushing fiercely, Parker slowly walked forward until he was beside her. She happily hugged him while the football boys all glared at him from over her shoulder.

  “How are you?” She asked.

  “Me? I’m good. Great in fact. How are you?”

  She looked at him weirdly for a moment but just said, “I’m good, thanks. Did you bring the sweater?”

  “Yeah, I have it right here.” He pulled the sweater out and handed it to her. He was half expecting her to just put it in the locker for the time being, but she immediately pulled it on and laughed.

  “What do you think?” She asked. She spun around so they could all see it. “Does it look good?”

  “You make any sweater look good, Greta,” Parker said without thinking. He inwardly cringed at the remark as soon as he said it and kept his mouth shut in lieu of embarrassing himself further.

  “Aw, thank you, Parker.” She lightly brushed her hand against his arm and the butterflies in his stomach erupted again. “What do you guys think?”

  “You’re not really going to wear that, are you Greta?” One of the boys, Tom, asked.

  “Of course, I am,” she said. “It’s ugly sweater day!”

  “Yeah, but only losers actually participate in that,” Gaylen said. He looked at Parker. “I mean… no offence.”

  “Guess I’m a loser then.” She said it in the same perky voice but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes, just daring any of them to say something else. Uncomfortable silence reigned for a minute until the warning bell rang for first period. Greta grabbed her bag, slammed her locker door shut and said, “I’ll see you all later. Walk me to class, Parker?”

  “Huh? Oh yeah, sure.”

  They started off down the hall. Parker glanced behind him. All five football players had not moved from their position standing by Greta’s locker, and they were staring after the pair in shock.

  “What class do you have first?” Greta asked.

  “Bio,” Parker said. “Pretty sure we’re just going to end up watching a movie though. Or just have a free period.”

  “Want to skip?”

  “What?”

  “Half the school isn’t here today anyway, Parker. What does it matter if we miss a little class too?”

  “What would you rather do?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, we could hang out in the caf or on the field. Or if you really want to get crazy, we could go to the Tim Hortons down the street.”

  “Well, the caf is one of the worst spots in the school, in my humble opinion, and I think it’s a bit too cold to sit outside so I guess Tim’s it is. I need coffee anyway.”

  “Alright sounds good.” She paused. “Neither of us are wearing jackets.”

  “You mean you don’t think the sweaters are enough to keep us warm?”

  “Mm, I’m going with no. Let’s both grab our jackets and meet back here in a minute?”

  “Sounds good.”

  When Parker reached his locker, he found Tyler there waiting for him.

  “I was wondering if you were going to stop by here again before class,” Tyler said.

  “Speaking of class, don’t you have one to go to?” Parker opened his locker and pulled out his jacket. After a moment’s consideration, he also threw his bag inside, figuring he wouldn’t need it until he went back to class.

  “Don’t you? Where are you going?”

  “Greta and I are skipping first period and going to Tim’s.”

  “You have not skipped a single class in your entire high school career.”

  “She made a good case for it.”

  “Which is?”

  “It’s the last day of class before Christmas break and nothing is going to happen in class anyway.”

  “Yeah, I guess she’s not wrong.”

  “By the way, where’d you go earlier? I thought you were going to come with me to talk to Greta.”

  “Yeah, that was the plan until I saw who she was with.”

  “What?”

  “You really thought I was going to go near those jocks? No way.”

  “So you just let me go into the lion’s den alone.”

  “Hey, you survived. And clearly it paid off, since you’re going out with her now.” The final bell rang. “And now I’m late for class. I’ll see you later, have a good time!”

  “Thanks, I’ll see you at lunch.” They both hurried in their respective directions. When he caught up to Greta, he said, “You know it occurred to me that since we’re not going to class anyway, I had no reason to get up this early.”

  “You mean, except to see me,” Greta said with a smile. “And, of course, to give me this awesome sweater.”

  “Oh, you’re right, that alone made it worth it.” He held open the door for her and they went outside.

  “Is it me or did it get colder in the last ten minutes?” She looked up. “Also, it’s snowing now.”

  “So it is,” Parker agreed. “Have you ever tried catching snowflakes on your tongue?”

  “Is that an actual thing people do? I always just assumed it was just something they did in movies.”

  “I can’t speak for most people, but I do it very often. However, it is a bit weird to do in front of other people so forget I suggested it.”

  “Why is it weird to do it in front of other people?”

  “Mainly because you’re sticking your tongue out.”

  “It’s only weird if you make it weird.”

  “Then I’m making it weird,” he said. He mock glared at her. “Don’t do it.”

  “You’re the one who brought it up!”

  “I regret that now. Man, it’s freezing out here. Race you to the Tim Hortons. Loser pays.”

  “You’re on,” Greta said. “On your mark, get set, go!”

  They both took off running down the sidewalk. Fortunately, there were no other pedestrians nor any ice patches along the path so neither of them fell along the way. They reached the Tim Hortons door at nearly the same time, but Greta managed to slam her hand down on the door handle a second before Parker did.

  “I believe that means you’re buying me breakfast,” Greta said, swinging open the door and walking inside.

  “Breakfast? I thought we were
just getting coffee!”

  “I changed my mind. In fact, I think I’ll get coffee, a breakfast sandwich, a muffin, a couple donuts—”

  “Why don’t I just buy you one of everything, eh? It will save you the time of listing it all.”

  “What a fantastic idea, Parker!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Go get us a table and I’ll order the food.”

  “Wow, we’ve known each other for not even three weeks yet and you already think you know my order?”

  “We’ve gotten food together enough times that I’m sure I can guess it with at least 90% accuracy.”

  “I will take you up on that challenge. Let’s see how you do.”

  “I’m just saying, I think the hash brown is the best part of the meal,” Greta said as they walked back to school.

  “Again, I’m sorry they forgot your hash brown, Greta,” Parker said. “Would you like me to go back and ask them to make you another one?”

  Greta rolled her eyes. “It’s been over an hour since you ordered the food and now, you’re offering to go back and ask?”

  “If I’d known before that you cared this deeply about it then I would have ensured they included it in the first place!”

  “Well now you know for next time. For this time, it’s fine. I’m over it.”

  “Are you sure?” Parker asked, amused.

  “Yes! I’m over it. It’s fine. What time is it?”

  “I don’t know, 10:00 or so? I think we’re in time for second period.” He held open the front door of the school and gestured for her to go in first then followed behind. Once inside, he actually looked at his watch. “Okay I was completely wrong about the time.”

  “What do you mean?” Greta asked. Just then, the lunch bell rang. “Ah. There goes any chance of us getting to our second period classes.”

  “Such a shame,” Parker said, shaking his head. “But as good students of this school, we should follow the schedule and that means it’s lunchtime.”

  “Very good point, Parker. Lead the way to the cafeteria.”

  Both cracking up, they headed down the hall to the cafeteria. Although neither of them was particularly hungry, they each got food from the counter and sat down at their usual table with Tyler.