12 Days Till

Proglogue

Carlisle Thanksgiving Dinner

"Wait, what?"

I had never seen my family look so surprised. Not even after my little brother Parker had stuck a live bee up his nose and then laughed at all of their concerned faces.

Looks of disbelief came from the older family members while smirks and rolled eyes came from the younger ones.

"Did I hear you right?" my nana questioned. "You have a boyfriend?"

I tried to play it off cool and leaned back in my chair, arms crossed across my chest. "Yeah, I do, it's really not that big of a deal."

I looked down at my lap and shrugged my shoulders. Every holiday get-together they asked me the same joking question and every year I gave the same serious answer. No, I wasn't dating anyone and no, I wasn't planning on it anytime soon. The other ones my age are much more social than I am, so it was never a surprise when one brought up the topic of getting with a new partner.

As lighthearted as I knew the question to be, there always lingered the slightest bit of judgment from my aunt and uncles. I guess I thought that shaking up my answer would result in a circle of dropped jaws and silence before one of the younger kids did something cute or threw a big enough tantrum that everyone would forget about what I had said. Harlow and Sutton certainly had a way with tantrums.

Apparently not today, though.

Violet snickered. Being my best friend, she knew that what I had just declared was utter crap. If I was even talking to someone, she would know before I'd even be able to tell her.

My aunt Ruby was the one to break the silence with a shrill squeal. The noise stopped just as quickly as it had started. Her husband Wyatt had plastered his hand over her mouth.

"I know we're all surprised but there's no need to burst everyone's eardrums," my grandfather scolded, sticking his pinky in his ear

"I'm sorry, but you know how long we've been waiting for this!" she exclaimed. "Ok, how long I've been waiting for this. It's not every day we find out that our shy little Elle-Bell is dating someone. Finding your first love is a very important part of being a young adult."

I groaned. A part of me always dies when Aunt Ruby calls me that horrid nickname. Especially in public. "How many times have I asked you not to call me that? And when did I ever say I was in love?"

"Technically you just did," my uncle Oliver chuckled.

"He's right, you did! Oh, this is so exciting!" Ruby had a habit of exaggerating every small bit of good news, even if her version wasn't technically true.

My mother rolled her eyes. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, people." As the oldest of three, it was always my mom's job to disperse her younger sister's misinformation.

"And we can't be sure that this boy is even good for Eliza. We haven't even met the lad, yet," my father cautioned them. He eyed me suspiciously. "We are going to be meeting him, correct?"

"Eventually... I guess?" I squeaked out.

"Well, how about he comes over for Sunday dinner?" my nana suggested.

"No! Uh, he's busy on Sundays?"

She looked up and frowned, deep in thought. "Next Friday, perhaps?"

"He's busy then, too," I said.

I made eye contact with my brother. He had an evil look in his eye and smirked before saying, "I know why Eliza doesn't want us to meet her boyfriend."

"You do?" I gulped. He may be in advanced classes but he's never been the brightest star in the sky. There's no way he could have possibly known that I was lying. Right?

"Yeah, I do," he mocked. "She doesn't want us to meet him because he doesn't even exist!"

My nostrils flared in anger while my heart pounded out of fear. "Of course he exists, you dunderhead!"

"Well let's see a picture then," he fired back.

Shit. I really didn't think this through.

"Um. Well. Alright." I swiped my cell from the pocket of my dress and unlocked it. Thank goodness for the internet. I quickly found a random picture of a guy I thought they'd like and showed it to everyone. "I haven't had an opportunity to take a picture, but he looks something like this."

Parker rolled his eyes.

Aunt Ruby quickly removed the phone from my hand. Handing it to her brother next to her, she said, "Oh, he must be such a cutie! What's his name?"

I took a deep breath and blurted out the first name that came to the top of my head.

"Noah!"

As the picture got passed around the table, I could tell by their faces that they approved.

Nana's face suddenly lit up. It only happens when she believes that she's come up with a perfect idea. "How about Christmas Eve dinner? Dinner and carols and hot cocoa, that would be a perfect time for you to introduce us to him!"

I looked around the room. Eleven pairs of eyes stared back at me in anticipation, and I don't think I was being given a choice of answer.

"Christmas Eve it is!"

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Ok, I'm not gonna lie, it feels weird writing on Wattpad again after, like, three years. I'm excited to share this story with you all, and I hope you enjoy it!

Feel free to leave me feedback, questions, likes and dislikes, any of that stuff. I read it all.

Happy reading!

~Cameron

Published September 19, 2020