“No. I get that. You deserve to have someone make the move.”
The sound of the garage door opening cause both of us to freeze. I glance out the front window in time to see Felix’s orange car pulling up.
I move into the kitchen to greet him as he comes inside through the mudroom. I wait, heart rate picking up speed, for another person to step in behind him, but the door swings closed.
“Hey,” Felix says when he sees me. He drops his bag to the floor and his mouth pulls into a tight smile.
Slowly, Stella gets up and comes to join us. They stare at each other. I can almost see a giant cartoon bubble above my sister’s head, waiting for Felix to apologize or say something. He doesn’t.
She sighs, loudly. “I’m going to shower.”
When she’s gone, Felix says, “You pissed at me too?”
I think for a second. “No, but you two should talk.”
“Yeah.” He comes over and hugs me. I want to ask him about Teddy, but Mom and Dad pull up before I can get the words out. With Stella in the shower, Felix and I are held captive to stories from their vacation.
They’re tan and smiling. I can’t remember the last time my mother didn’t rush off to unpack, but she leans against the kitchen island and stares at Dad with this big cheesy grin.
Eventually, though, Dad’s impatience and excitement break up story time and Felix and I are dragged outside to the storage shed. Dad rummages for everything he needs, handing off items and instructions for where to put the lights. He has a whole system that is not to be messed with.
“You and Teddy, huh?”
I blush. “Yeah. I mean, maybe. I’m not really sure where we left things.”
Felix nods slowly.
“Is it weird?”
He thinks for a couple of seconds. “Not really. A little, maybe, but I can see it. Teddy is the best guy I know.”
“Who knows if anything will happen when we get back to school,” I say. I wait for him to offer up some form of reassurance. Usually I’d get that from Stella, but I haven’t wanted to pile on to her Beau drama.
Felix gives a half-hearted shrug that is the furthest thing from reassuring.
Later, when all the lights are up, I leave Dad and Felix to admire our handiwork and wander back inside. Mom and Stella are in the living room, putting up an artificial tree.
My heart sinks. “I miss having a real tree.”
“A real tree doesn’t make sense this year. And the lots are probably picked over at this point.”
Stella holds out the star for the top. “Want to do the honors?”
I brush off my disappointment and step forward. “Absolutely.”
Mom gets takeout for dinner and then she and Dad head off to bed early, exhausted from their trip. Felix, Stella, and I move into the living room. The tree is lit up and I put onChristmas Vacation. It’s awkward, since they’re barely speaking, but at least they’re not completely ignoring each other.
My brother’s phone buzzes, and he pulls it from his pocket and then stands. “I think I’m going to head up to bed, too.”
“Already?” I whine.
“I’m beat.” He starts up the stairs, already tapping away on his phone.
“Did I miss something?” Stella asks. “Did he meet someone or is he just avoiding me?”
“Not that I know about, but you know Felix, he always has girls blowing up his phone.”
We watch the movie for a few minutes in silence.