When Alyssa’s alarm went off bright and early the next morning, she groaned. Dasher stood up, stretched, and then lay back down. She looked at Alyssa as if to say, “It’s not time to get up yet.”

Alyssa smiled and gave Dasher a quick kiss on the head. “You stay in bed if you want to,” she told the cat. “I have to get up and work on my knitting.”

Alyssa had spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening working on her holiday-wish essay. It was all finished now, but she was glad she had a few days to let it sit and then edit it before it was due on Friday. After she’d finished her essay, her mom and brother had convinced her to spend the rest of the night watching Christmas movies with them.

“Your knitting can wait,” Cody had told her. “This is about quality time—not knitting time. Christmas only comes once a year!”

Alyssa had relented. The truth was, it didn’t take much convincing. After the rough morning she’d had with her friends, an evening spent hanging out with her mom and brother was just what she needed. She’d told them about what had happened. Her mom had hugged her and told her she was proud for telling Elle and Rachel how she felt, even if it meant disagreeing with them.

Later, Alyssa had told Cody what Rachel had said about Becca only wanting to be friends with her because of the knitting. Cody’s face had scrunched up in confusion. “No offense, Alyssa,” he’d said, “but knitting is not some impossible-to-learn skill. Becca can learn how to knit from a book or the internet. Why would she use you for that?”

Alyssa had laughed. “I’m only slightly offended,” she’d replied. “But do you really think Becca really likes me and wants to be my friend?”

“Yes, I think she does,” Cody had said. “But you know the best way to find out? Talk to her about it!”

When did Cody get so good at giving advice? Alyssa wondered now as she padded down the stairs with her knitting basket. She was about two-thirds of the way done with the red ombré scarf. She’d abandoned the idea of adding embroidered details when she was finished. There simply wasn’t enough time. It was a shame she hadn’t gotten to see Becca’s work yesterday, she thought as she settled on the couch, the Christmas tree in her field of vision. But she was hopeful that Becca really was some sort of knitting prodigy and had somehow completed four scarves already. I’ll be lucky if I finish two scarves by the deadline.

Before long, it was time to get ready for school. Alyssa’s mom had the week off from work and was going to call the vet first thing that morning to see about bringing Dasher in for her checkup. Every time Alyssa thought about it, she got nervous wondering if Dasher belonged to another family who was looking for her. But then she would remind herself of what her friends had all told her: Dasher belonged with her.

Alyssa was eager to talk to Becca at school but didn’t have a chance to see her until the very end of the day. She had looked for her at lunch, but the soccer table was empty. Then she remembered that Cody had mentioned something about a soccer team pizza party during lunchtime.

She was happy to see Becca waiting by her locker at the end of the day.

“Hey, Becca,” Alyssa said, waving. “I was looking for you all day!”

A relieved grin lit up Becca’s face. “Really? You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. Alyssa, I feel awful about yesterday. I am so sorry I lied to you and messed everything up.”

“You didn’t mess everything up,” Alyssa replied. She remembered saying almost the exact same thing to Elle the previous day. It really is crazy how similar they are, she thought. But then she forced the thought from her head. There was no sense in dwelling on what good friends she thought Rachel, Elle, and Becca should be.

Becca asked if they could talk and Alyssa agreed. They decided to take the bus back to Alyssa’s house together.

Once they were settled in their seats at the back of the bus, where they could have some privacy, Becca took a deep breath. “I only lied to you because I thought Elle and Rachel wouldn’t want me at the sleepover. I… I was a pretty bad friend to them last year, and I don’t blame them if they don’t like me.”

Alyssa looked out the window to gather her thoughts, as she wanted to choose her words carefully. She wanted to tell Becca that she knew otherwise—that Elle and Rachel did still care about her and did still want to be her friend—but she had also promised herself she wasn’t going to get involved anymore. “I understand why you lied,” she said finally. “For the record, I don’t think Elle and Rachel dislike you, but I also don’t think I should get in the middle of things anymore.” She took a deep breath and continued. “All three of you are my friends and really important to me, and I don’t want to get caught up in everything.”

“I get it!” Becca nodded. “I promise I won’t put you in the middle. I’m sorry about what happened at your house, and I’m just glad you’re my friend.”

Here goes nothing, Alyssa thought as Cody’s words echoed in her head. “Actually, Becca, can I ask you something?” When Becca nodded, Alyssa continued. She nervously picked at a hole in the seat of the bus. “Why do you want to be my friend?”

Becca looked confused for a moment. “Because you’re great,” she said, raising her eyebrows in emphasis. “You’re funny and cool and nice, and—”

“Okay, I get it,” Alyssa said, laughing. “You don’t have to tell me how amazing I am! I just wanted to make sure that it’s not…” She hesitated. “It’s not just because you wanted to learn to knit, right?”

Becca burst out laughing. “Of course not! Alyssa, knitting is not that big of a deal to me!”

“Ouch,” Alyssa teased.

“You know what I mean!” Becca exclaimed. “I mean, I like knitting, but I like it because you get so excited about it. Beyond that, I can take it or leave it.”

Alyssa grinned as the bus pulled up to her stop. The girls exited the bus together, and Alyssa asked Becca if she could come over. “Speaking of knitting, maybe we can have a knitting session right now?” Alyssa asked.

Becca shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have not even begun work on my holiday-wish essay, and I need to tackle that. I promised my parents no more knitting until I finished my assignment. But don’t worry, I finished three more scarves this weekend, so I have seven.”

“Seven?” Alyssa sputtered. “I’m just finishing up my first one!”

“Oh, really?” Becca shrugged. “But like I said, I guess I’m just fast.”

“Becca, for someone who doesn’t love knitting, you do realize that you’re some kind of prodigy, right? My friend Ryder can’t even knit that fast!”

Becca shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe the stitches I’m using are more basic?”

“Still…” Alyssa shook her head in amazement. “Anyway, good luck on your essay!”

Becca gave Alyssa a quick hug. “Thanks again for being such a good friend! And I almost forgot… can you sleep over at my house on Friday night? To make up for me missing your sleepover this past weekend?”

“I’ll need to check with my mom, but that should be okay,” Alyssa replied. “But not to make up for missing my sleepover—I told you, I forgive you. Friends can make mistakes.”

Becca grinned happily. “Got it! So this will be a knitting-slash-holiday celebration sleepover! We can watch movies, knit, eat tons of Christmas cookies.…”

“Perfect—as long as you didn’t bake the cookies!” Alyssa quipped.

“I deserve that.” Becca laughed. “See you tomorrow!”

As Alyssa walked up to her house, she saw that her mom had put up some Christmas decorations outside. A wreath was on the front door, single white candles were in each window, and lights dangled from the bushes. Alyssa grinned happily, realizing Christmas was just around the corner and, better yet, with not one but two holiday sleepovers planned. It finally felt like Christmas!