Page 25 (1/2)

"Oh, and one other thing," Haley said "I called ho a coward"

"What do you ht That I had a ticket to coet on the plane"

I decided it wasn’tSo I just listened And nodded

"And I’ll tell you so," she said "That wasn’t fun at all We spent half the day crying to each other on the phone" She stopped picking at the loose thread and stuck her hands in her coat pockets "But breaking it off was the right thing to do"

"It’s hard," I said

"Tellto be excited in the wake of some other dude’s misfortune But exciteer taken …

Maybe …

We were getting up to leave when a new song started playing "Here Comes Santa Claus" Me and Haley looked at each other and cracked up, and we both sat back down And through ined the boy in the apart near the radio with his little sis and his le thing about today Not just whatever presents he got but his family, too Hison a snow-covered stoop with a girl he , and he’d want to picture how they all used to be

Elves Elves inand lovely and lean; when they dance they are whirling dervishes that sparkle and glea theone all out for the Snow Ball this year Which I suppose they do every year, but this year feels especially tinseled Twinkle lights cover every inch of the Great Hall, so e spruce in the center that goes all the way to the ceiling, and fros of every elf who’s ever lived at the North Pole Just the elves, though

Around the perimeter of the Great Hall, there are lots of sht feet tall, all themed There’s a paper-crane tree fro wooden shoes painted in all different kinds of colors, a Day of the Dead tree froar skulls There’s a 1950s tree, which ht be my favorite It has a purple-and-pink poodle skirt around the base

All the teen elves have paired off for the Snow Ball It’s the ht of the season The last hurrah before things really kick into gear with the holidays It’s like prom for elves Not that I ine this is what it

Tonight Elinor is wearing a white dress with silver spangles Under the lights, her hair looks white too So does Flynn’s