On Wednesday after school a big group of Ashland Middle schoolers met up outside the school and walked to Carolee’s Consignment store in search of ugly Christmas sweaters. Emily had called ahead to let Carolee know that they were coming.
“She says she looks forward to this every Christmas,” said Emily, as the group approached the store. “All year long, she collects and sets aside a huge bunch of sweaters just for us!”
“I’ve never been to a thrift store,” Charlotte admitted.
“I’m pretty sure none of the boys have either,” said Emily.
“Now that’s just not true,” said Corey, pretending to sound offended. “Jack and I come here at least once a week, don’t we, Jack?”
“Oh, sure, O’Sullivan, sure,” said Jack with exaggerated enthusiasm. “How else do you think I always find that ‘perfect accessory’?” He crooked his fingers into air quotes.
Alex laughed. This was such a fun, rare opportunity to hang out outside of school with their guy friends! Even Ava seemed excited about it, and Alex couldn’t remember the last time Ava had looked enthusiastic about shopping.
She stole a glance at Lindsey. Was she upset that Johnny Morton wasn’t with them? He’d had a dentist appointment or something. Alex wondered if Lindsey was intentionally walking near Corey and Jack, or if that was just a coincidence of walking in a big clump. She couldn’t stop analyzing every little thing that Lindsey did.
Carolee greeted them warmly as they filed in. Although she was an older woman, Alex liked her style: upswept reddish hair, lots of necklaces, a plain but well-tailored black dress.
“There’s a whole collection of Christmas cheer on that circular rack over there,” she said. “Have fun!”
Alex found the perfect sweater almost immediately. It was bright pink with green accents and big white snowflakes on the front. And the best thing was there were actual twinkling lights at the end of each snowflake. A tiny wire was stitched into the side seam and was attached to a small on-off switch that you could keep in your pocket. The lights didn’t work, but Alex wondered if her mother could replace the bulbs or something. “Please let this fit!” she whispered, heading for the dressing room.
The changing rooms were small, with even smaller mirrors. Alex could barely turn around to see what her sweater looked like from the back. She’d seen a large, three-way mirror in the corridor of the changing area, so she stepped out to have a look—
—and almost collided with Corey, who was coming out of the changing room across the corridor.
He was wearing a ridiculously bright purple sweater vest with two big snowmen on the front. The garish color clashed hideously with his usually gorgeous red hair.
Alex forgot to be nervous. She guffawed with laughter at the sight of him.
He grinned. “Guess that’s the response I’m going for,” he said. “You look pretty awesome yourself. Do those lights work?”
Alex turned to survey herself in the mirror. Of course it was an ugly sweater, but the bright-green trim actually complemented her green eyes, and the overall effect was, well, kind of snappy. Plus, she’d found a sparkly green hair clip that almost perfectly matched her sweater—and it looked really nice in her hair. It wasn’t ugly, either. It was versatile enough to look good with anything. She wasn’t planning to actually buy it, but she always tried to accessorize when she tried something on, just to see the potential. Her mother had told her she had good instincts when it came to fashion.
The sweater was a little big for her, but that just made it look even funnier. “The lights don’t work, but I’m going to try to get them fixed,” she said. “What do you think? How do I look?”
Corey flushed so much that his cheeks matched her pink sweater. “It would be hard for you not to look awesome,” he said in a quiet voice.
Alex felt an electric thrill zoom up and down her entire body. She didn’t dare say anything, which was probably a good thing because at that moment, Lindsey swung open the door of her own changing room and stood right between them. They both jumped back a step as though they’d been stung.
“Great sweaters,” said Lindsey, smiling sweetly at them. She was holding a small armful of sweaters.
“Thanks,” said Alex and Corey at the same moment.
“I love that hair clip, Alex,” said Lindsey. “It almost looks like it came with the sweater!”
“Ha-ha!” said Alex. She whipped it out of her hair. “I don’t have enough money for the sweater and the hair thing, but I just figured I’d try it on.” She and Corey each ducked inside their changing rooms.
Alex leaned against the wall, gathering her wits. This was all so confusing!
Most of her friends managed to find a sweater they liked—or thought was appropriately ugly. Ava’s was huge and baggy—almost like a sweaterdress. Kylie found a sweater with a cowboy Santa. Logan’s was a pretty ordinary Christmas sweater, but it was clearly meant for a girl, which made it look really funny on him. Charlotte took the longest to pick one. In the end she bought several sweaters so she’d be able to decide the day of the party.
Mrs. Sackett came to pick up Ava and Alex, as well as Emily, Lindsey, and Charlotte, all of whom lived along the route home.
“Did you find your sweaters?” asked Mrs. Sackett as they pulled away.
“Did I!” squealed Charlotte. “I couldn’t decide among four different sweaters, so I bought them all!”
“This is going to be the best party ever,” said Emily.
“Thanks so much for agreeing to host it, Mrs. Sackett,” added Lindsey.
Mrs. Sackett suddenly coughed, but managed to recover her breath.
“Oh, and Mrs. Sackett, my mom said to tell you that she knows an awesome caterer,” added Charlotte. “He makes the best passed hors d’oeuvres.”
Alex, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, saw the smile evaporate from her mother’s face. Luckily, the other girls were busy chatting away in the back and didn’t appear to notice.
A thought occurred to Alex. Had she forgotten to mention to her mother that the Sacketts were going to be hosting the party? Surely not. She was 90 percent, well, maybe 78 percent sure she’d mentioned that detail at dinner the night she told her parents about the party. Maybe 60 percent . . .
As soon as they’d deposited Charlotte at her house, and it was just Alex, Ava, and Mrs. Sackett, their mother cleared her throat.
“So. I understand you said we would host the party, Alex?” she asked.
Alex swallowed hard. “Right. About that. Didn’t I mention it?”
“No, as a matter of fact, you didn’t.”
“I thought I had.”
“You hadn’t.”
“Oops, ha-ha,” said Alex. In the backseat, directly behind Alex, Ava was being zero help. She was probably staring morosely out the window, lost in thought. Alex didn’t dare turn and look at her.
“I know it’s the day we get back from Boston,” Alex said. Her words tumbled out quickly so her mother couldn’t interrupt. “But, see, I was thinking we could do all the cooking before we leave—I’ll help a ton, of course—and you could make your famous turkey chili and—”
“Alex.”
“—and Daddy could bake some Christmas cookies, and of course I’d help with those, too, because I know the decorating can be pretty time-consuming, and—”
“Alex!”
“—and it’s a great group of kids, not too many, well, at least not that many, and—”
“Alexandra!”
Her mother’s voice was sharp. Alex stopped talking.
They were pulling into their driveway. Mrs. Sackett parked and turned off the engine. Then she turned to face Alex.
“Alex, we cannot host this Christmas party,” she said.
“But I already told—”
Mrs. Sackett held up a hand to silence her. “We don’t have the money to spend on throwing a party for your friends right now,” she said. “What with the holidays, and the expenses I’m incurring with this big pottery order, and—well, and lots of other things, we just can’t manage it right now. You ought to have asked me, and you didn’t. I’m sorry you’re now in this predicament, but you have only yourself to blame.”
Alex thought her mother sounded more upset than mad. That was weird.
Mrs. Sackett’s phone rang, and she frowned at the caller’s number. She answered without even saying hello. “One second, I can’t talk right now,” she said with a quick glance back at the girls. She collected her purse and exited the car before she resumed the conversation.
“Awesome,” said Ava dully.
“This is an unmitigated disaster,” said Alex.
“I thought you’d asked Mom’s permission, Alex. How could you have neglected to mention the little detail that we were having the party at our house?”
Alex sighed heavily. “I thought I had mentioned it.”
“Mom sounded upset,” observed Ava. “Like there’s something bigger going on and she doesn’t want to tell us. Did you notice how she just answered that call? Like it’s some mysterious person she doesn’t want us to know about?”
“Maybe it’s a loan shark,” said Alex worriedly.
“A what shark?”
“You know, one of those mean guys who lends you money and then kills you if you don’t pay them back.”
“I highly doubt that,” Ava scoffed. “But do you think they’re having money troubles?”
“How could they? Daddy’s job can’t be in trouble. He won State!”
Ava shrugged. “Something definitely seems to be up.”
Alex was too immersed in her own problems to hazard any guesses. Her mind was working overtime.
“So what are you going to say to everyone?”
Alex furrowed her brow. This called for some strategic planning, and strategic planning was one of her strengths. “I won’t say anything,” she said simply.
Ava gave her a confused look.
“I’ll just have to get Mom to change her mind.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” said Ava gloomily. “Let’s hope you have more success than I’m having convincing her to let me play basketball.”