Page 5 of A Curvy Carol

“Well, it’s this or our usual Christmas family plans,” Dad said. “Besides, I know this kid could really use a friend right now.”

I thought about it, really dreading the whole idea. But it had to be better than our crazy family Christmas marathon. And who knew? Maybe this kid, whoever he was, didn’t really want to do this either. We could pretend to meet up and go our separate ways.

In that case, it had to be a win-win, right?

“Fine,” I replied, taking a sip of my orange soda. “It’s a deal. But no crazy family photos this year.”

Now they looked at each other.

“Just one?” Mom asked.

I heaved a sigh. “One.”

“Deal,” Mom said with a small smile.

Scrooge came back, presumably to take our order.

“At least there are some good AI options these days,” Mom muttered to herself.

4

WHIT

There was a knock at my bedroom door so I set my comic book aside. “Come in.”

Dad popped his head in. “Whit, we have great news, buddy,” he said. Then Mom came in behind him.

Uh oh. Whenever Dad used the word “buddy,” it was his way of trying to soften me up before sharing some bad news. And both of them being here? It must be pretty bad.

I still remembered being ten and him using that word before letting me know that I had to go to band camp, even though I had no musical talents whatsoever. And any time I was going to get a no to hanging out with my friends, he used the word then too.

Exhibit C? When Mom and Dad had told me that we were going to be leaving everything behind to move to Garland because they’d bought the lodge.“Buddy, you know we’ve been needing a change...”

So of course, it made sense that now my stomach turned with familiar dread.

I sat up. “What great news?” I asked cautiously.

He came in and took a seat on my bed. The nice house we’d moved into wasn’t far from the lodge, but I was sure he had to be getting back soon. The holidays were a busy season in Garland, and it was a lot to manage. “I know it’s been hard on you, moving here and leaving behind all your friends.”

I gave a shrug. It had been, but I wasn’t sure there was anything I could do about it now.

His mouth turned up into a grin. “Well, we’ve been able to find a new friend for you here in Garland. There’s so much to do here in town, especially this time of year, and we hate for you to miss out because we’re busy running the lodge. So your mother and I thought it would be a great idea to have someone your age who can show you around. Not to mention having at least one friendly face when you start at the new school in January.”

“So this person appeared out of thin air?”

“We found you a new friend,” Mom said happily.

My mouth fell open. They had done what?

Dad waited expectantly for me to start jumping up and down or something. “So, what do you think?”

I sighed. “Dad… what do you mean you guys ‘found’ me a new friend? Like a play date? That’s so lame.”

I never said anything like that to them, but they’d also never set me up on a playdate since I was five years old. So what if I’d struggled to find new friends to hang out with here in Garland? That didn’t mean they needed to go out and find me a friend like I was some kind of charity case.

Dad patted my shoulder. “Just give it a try. They’ll be able to show you around town, do all the fun stuff the kids are doing these days. Besides, I hear this kid could use a friend too, and we’ll cover the cost of whatever activities you guys want to do.”

I groaned. I could already picture an awkward sleigh ride with another guy my age who also didn’t want to be there.

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