The truth is, I don’t need to be able to tell them apart (though I can). It’s a feeling when Holly is nearby. From the moment I met her, I knew she was someone I wanted to get to know better.At first, it was because she was my best friend’s sister. Felix and I clicked right off the bat. Within days, he felt like family. So naturally, when his parents and sisters came to visit, I wanted to meet the people he talked about so much.
The Walters family is tight. Something my family used to be. I miss that.
But with every interaction with Holly, I was more intrigued. I like how she’s slow to speak, but eager to listen. She makes people feel seen and heard and important. She doesn’t offer up a lot of herself, but it just makes people all the more curious.
I like how she knows every word to the movieElf,and when she laughs, her entire body shakes with the movement.
It’s a hundred different things, and counting, that I like about Holly. I can’t wait to discover more.
As discreetly as possible, I grab the gift box from my desk drawer and shove it in my pocket. She crosses the small room in the house I share with Felix and Emmett, and I meet her halfway and wrap an arm around her waist. “Hey, sweetheart.”
She loves it when I call her that. Her cheeks flush and the flecks of green in her eyes are more prominent.
“Hi.” Her voice is breathy as she leans into me.
“Okay, well. I’m out of here,” Stella says. As she leaves, she calls, “You passed the test, Theodore.”
Laughing, Holly faces me and presses her body flush against mine. “I have something for you.”
“Oh yeah.” I run my hands along her back and dip my head down to kiss her.
“It’s in the kitchen.”
“So far away.” I press her tighter against me and kiss her again. Now that we’re both back at Valley, we’ve been spending days and nights together. I figure we have at least a year or two of making up for lost time.
“Come on,” she says, taking my hand and pulling me out to the party.
There are a lot of people crammed into our place. It’s an old three-bedroom house, two blocks from campus. The keg is out back on the patio and liquor bottles are lined up on the kitchen counter. The door to the backyard is propped open, and people filter in and out.
Holly walks into the kitchen and then turns around. She drops her hand to the counter. “I left it right here.”
“You left what here?” I ask, pouring myself a drink.
“A headband that matches mine. I thought tonight, you and I could be twins.”
I scan the counter and then beyond to the living room. My lips pull up into a smile when I spot Emmett.
“Found it,” I say and point to him. He has on the headband with a neon pink T-shirt that says, ‘Happy New Year,’ in messy Sharpie handwriting, and also about a dozen beaded necklaces. He is next-level festive and dancing in a group of girls.
“Emmett!” she yells, but he doesn’t hear her over the music.
“It’s all right. I swiped these from someone earlier.” I pull a pair of paper glasses with the new year in big font across the top and slide them on my face.
The smile she gives me makes the uncomfortable and silly thing worth it.
“Now let’s dance, sweetheart.”
We join the dozens of others crammed into the living room, dancing until we’re both exhausted. The night, and the year, is ticking by. The countdown is on. Five minutes left in the best year of my life.
Holly and I get drinks and then go outside to get some fresh air. She snuggles close to me to keep warm.
I slide the glasses onto the top of my head. “I have something for you.”
Her brows lift in intrigue. “Sparklers?”
“No.” I chuckle. “But that would have been a good idea.”
I pull the box from my pocket and hold it out to her.