Orange December

Chapter 8

The next morning, we were all numb. An entire month of nonstop effort had gone down the drain. I'd dug myself into a complete ditch with Anne, too, and she wasn't even really talking to me. The thing that bothered me the most was that I didn't even know if she felt the same way, and Luke wouldn't tell me anything. He was comforting Lexie immensely, though, which just further confirmed my suspicions about them. How could he? How could he spend years telling me not to go after Anne and then turn around and do the exact same thing with my little sister? I was furious. About everything.

Around noon, I heard a knock on my door, and I knew it was Lex. We'd made up a secret knock ages ago when we were kids and she'd still use it sometimes when she knew I was upset at her. "Go away, Alexa," I said flatly.

"Come on, Robby, I'll tell you everything," she pleaded. I paused.

"...not the gross details, though."

She laughed. "There are no gross details," she said as she opened my door and sat next to me on my bed, "who do you think I am?" I gave her a small smile and scooted aside a little to make room.

"So, when exactly did you start commandeering my best friend?"

"I never commandeered him, Rob, geez," she replied. "I just... I don't know. We've all been spending time together so much, and he was just... there? If that makes sense. It's like, you've known someone your whole life and they're just your big brother's friend-"

"-Best friend," I interrupted.

"Right, of course," she continued, "and he's sort of your friend too, but suddenly now he's... not just your friend? I mean, he's, like, cool and stuff- okay, I'm sure you get it. I'm bad at this stuff. Tell me about Anne." I told her what happened and how she didn't respond to me and walked off.

"I don't even know how she felt about it, she just got mad at me for telling her," I said, worried.

"Well, then there's hope, isn't there?" Lexie said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You should give her some time, though. Maybe ask her on Christmas or something, yeah?"

I nodded. "I guess."

The rest of that day was very quiet. There was no little dog to clean up after or walk, we'd been disqualified from regionals, and I couldn't even talk to the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I didn't know what to do with myself. I just tried my best to function like a normal person and waited for the next day to come.

The Christmas Eve service at church was beautiful. We received a wonderful preaching about the nativity and sang our favorite Christmas songs, and I tried my best the whole service not to look over at Anne, because I was still giving her space. I'd ask her about it if I saw her tomorrow, for sure.

After the service, everyone was gathering in the church kitchen for some coffee and stuff, and I saw Luke, Lexie, Violet, and some of the church friend group huddled together, probably exchanging gifts with those who they wouldn't be seeing on Christmas. I walked over to say hi to all of them, feeling a little badly that I hadn't gotten gifts for any of them besides my little squad. I'd see them all the next day, though, so I didn't have them with me.

"Hey, guys, how are-" I was stopped short because just behind Violet was Anne, and I didn't know how to talk to her anymore. It was just like old times, before we were even really friends and I couldn't speak around her. I hated it. I made small talk for a few moments and then walked away, getting the keys from my dad and going to sit in the car alone for a while until my family was ready to leave and go home. I saw Luke follow me out of the corner of my eye, but Lexie stopped him, understanding that I needed to have some alone time. I made a mental note to thank her later.