Page 28 of Christmas Criminal

"What changed?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Nothing."

She purses her lips, letting out a long breath through her nose. "Okay."

We cross the street to the town square in silence and check in with the volunteers. They lead us down the row of huts that are now set up, to the very end, where there is only a pile of pieces waiting to be put together.

Robbie gets straight to work, opting to pull pieces out of the pile and boss us around rather than chatting.

I have a bad feeling we're going to get moody Robbie until we figure out a way to get him talking.

Fortunately–or unfortunately, depending on your view–for me, I have a feeling the change in mood has something to do with the date he was looking forward to.

"You excited for your date with Catherine?" I ask, praying I got her name right, as we begin arranging the boards around the designated space.

He scoffs, and it’s confirmation I hit the nail on the head.

Noelle raises an eyebrow at me when Robbie doesn't offer any further explanation.

"Who's Catherine?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Nobody."

"It sounded like you were pretty excited to go to the fair with her earlier," I say, doing my best to tread lightly.

Robbie lets out a quick puff of air, lifting a board in front of his face and gesturing for Noelle to come over with the drill. "Apparently she doesn't appreciate being called a chubby chaser."

Noelle pauses halfway there, her mouth hanging open as she looks at me. "Did she say that to you?"

"No," Robbie says. "Fucking Tommy Rothwell called her that in front of me and when he asked if she's still planning on going withthe chub, she said no and walked away."

I can hardly control the anger that bubbles up in my chest. Mostly because Robbie and Tommy are like two peas in a pod–until Robbie has something Tommy wants. Then suddenly Robbie exists to servehim. "I hope you know Tommy Rothwell is a two-faced jerk who couldn't tie his own shoes until fifth grade. He said that because he saw that Catherine likes you and wanted to one-up you. That has nothing to do with you, but him."

"Wow, fighting words from Mr. Monroe," Noelle says, her eyes flashing with delight. She aligns the drill with the pieces Robbie's waiting for her to screw together. "Honestly, it sounds like Tommy Rothwell is a piece of shit who needs a good egging and Catherine... well, to be honest, she sounds like a twat. Because if she really liked you, she wouldn't be convinced out of it by somebody calling her a chubby chaser. You're better off."

"Can we please stop with the egging stuff?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "I'm notsuggestingwe go egg Tommy Rothwell, but Iamsuggesting we clap when someone else does." She peeks over the board Robbie is holding and points at him with the drill. "Don't go egging. But he's going to get what's coming to him one day and I hope you extract every ounce of pleasure from it when that happens."

Robbie shrugs, looking away from her.

Her voice is lower when she speaks, and I notice she doesn't look away from Robbie in the same way that he's looking awayfrom her. "I hope you know that's seriously not cool for someone to comment on your body like that," she says. "It's out of line."

He shrugs, rolling his eyes. "Iamfat," he says. "No need to lie about it."

"Robbie," she scolds, "do you see what you're doing right now?" She takes a step back, gesturing to the boards he's holding together. "You are literally holding up, what, almost a hundred pounds of wood right now? And you're not even breaking a sweat. Robbie, you arestrong."

He shakes his head. "Doesn't mean I'm not fat."

Noelle takes a deep breath. "Nobody is happy with their bodies, Robbie. I mean, fuck, I've gonemonthsof my life covering up my skin because of severe eczema. I put my life on hold so many times because I didn't want to be seen, but one day I realized I was forgoing my own happiness in order to cover up something I was embarrassed about. And you know what? I focused on something else. I have a rash all over my thighs? Cool, cool. But god, my hair looks fantastic today. I have scarring over my elbows from years of scratching? So be it–my new glute workout is giving me an ass worth eating."

If I had a drink in my mouth, I would have spit it. Judging from the wide-eyed look Robbie is giving me, he feels the same way.

"All I'm saying is there comes a point in life where you have to accept your body as it is. There is nothing wrong with changing your body if that’s something thatyouwant, but don't do it because someone else called you a mean name. That has everything to do with who they are as a person on theinsideand very little to do with who you areat all."

Robbie glances at me, and I hesitantly nod. I'm not sure I have anything to add to that.

But I hope this can be another healing moment for Noelle. The fire in her eyes as she spoke gave me the impression that shefeelsRobbie’s struggle. In a way that I probably never could.

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