The rest of the week flew by for Alyssa in a blur of knitting, researching how to care for kittens, and putting the finishing touches on her holiday-wish essay. When Alyssa finally handed the essay in on Friday morning, she did so with a lot of pride. She had lingered behind all the other kids, wanting to be the last one to hand in her essay so she could say something to her teacher.

“Thank you, Alyssa,” Mrs. Ramirez said as she accepted the paper from Alyssa. “I hope you have a wonderful holiday.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Ramirez,” Alyssa replied. “I really enjoyed writing my essay.…” She looked at the ground. She wasn’t used to talking to her teachers unless she was called on, but she wanted Mrs. Ramirez to know how much she had enjoyed the assignment. “It was nice to stop and think about what’s really important during the holidays. It helped make Christmas extra special for me. I hope you like my essay.”

Mrs. Ramirez beamed. “I’m sure I will love it, Alyssa. And thank you for letting me know you enjoyed the assignment. That’s always wonderful to hear.”

I can’t believe it’s finally holiday break! Alyssa thought later that day as she walked home from the bus stop. Given the situation with Dasher, Becca had agreed to move their sleepover to Alyssa’s house that night so Alyssa wouldn’t have to be away from her pregnant cat for the whole night, especially since she was having a sleepover at Elle’s the following evening. “No problem at all,” Becca had said when Alyssa had asked her about it.

“Just remember to bring your knitting with you so I can finally see all these scarves you’ve made!” Alyssa reminded her.

Alyssa was so excited about being off from school and Christmas being just around the corner that when she walked into her house it took her a moment to register that her mom looked very, very upset.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Alyssa asked.

“Sit down, sweetie,” Mrs. Sing said, motioning to a kitchen chair.

“Is it Dasher?”

Mrs. Sing nodded. “She’s okay, Alyssa—nothing bad has happened to her. But her owners showed up. They got the email from the vet and drove all the way to the vet’s office today to claim Dasher. They had moved out of Palm Meadows about six months ago, and Dasher got loose during their move. They had reported her missing, but it somehow never went into the database at the animal shelter. They thought they had lost her forever.”

“I—I don’t understand,” Alyssa said, looking around the kitchen and noticing Dasher’s food bowl was gone. “Where is she?”

“Honey, the vet called this morning not long after you left for school and told me her owners had shown up. I had to bring her to give her back.”

“She’s gone?” Alyssa cried. “And I didn’t even get to say goodbye?”

Mrs. Sing’s eyes filled with tears as Alyssa’s face crumbled. “I know, Alyssa. I’m so sorry. I asked them if they could wait and let you say goodbye, but they had driven a few hours to get here and they just really wanted to take her home. For what it’s worth, they were really nice people and they seemed so happy to be reunited with her. I gave them my phone number and asked if we could keep in touch.”

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Alyssa said. She fell into her mom’s arms and sobbed like her heart was breaking. And it really felt to her like it was.

A little while later, Mrs. Sing knocked on Alyssa’s door. She’d gone to lie down after crying her eyes out about Dasher.

“Alyssa, Elle is on the phone. Are you up to speaking with her?”

“Yeah,” Alyssa replied, getting out of bed and taking the phone from her mom.

“Alyssa, change of plans!” Elle was saying as Alyssa put the phone to her ear. “Rachel’s parents forgot that our sleepover was tomorrow night and invited her cousins over. She wouldn’t be able to make it tomorrow night, so we have to switch our sleepover to tonight. Can you be here in an hour?”

“Wait, what?” Alyssa felt like her head was still fuzzy from all the crying. “Elle, I can’t tonight. I… I…” Alyssa was about to tell her about Dasher but couldn’t bring herself to. She was afraid she’d start crying again.

“Why can’t you?” Elle demanded. “What’s wrong? Please come—you have to come! Do you need me to explain to your mom—”

“No, it’s not that,” Alyssa said. “I already made plans with Becca. She’s coming over tonight.”

Elle was silent on the other end of the phone, and Alyssa knew she’d upset her. “I’m sorry, Elle, but I can’t change my plans.”

“Why not?” Elle asked. “I mean, we had this sleepover planned since last week, and you know how important it is to us. We really want you here, Alyssa. Please?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Alyssa repeated.

“Fine. I see,” Elle said.

“Please don’t be mad,” Alyssa added, taking a shaky breath. “It’s been a really bad day for me, and—”

“And you’d rather be cheered up by Becca than Rachel and me. I get it.”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” Alyssa exclaimed.

“Look, Alyssa, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Elle’s voice cracked a little, and Alyssa could hear how upset she was. “Have fun tonight with Becca.”

With that, Elle hung up the phone, and Alyssa started to cry all over again.

When Alyssa’s mom poked her head in Alyssa’s room a little while later and saw Alyssa crying on her bed, she sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

Alyssa rolled over to face her mom and tried to explain her argument with Elle, but it didn’t even make sense to her. “How can she expect me to cancel my plans with Becca just because their plans changed? Can you believe she’s mad at me now?” Alyssa asked.

Her mom tucked a strand of hair behind Alyssa’s ear. “I bet she’s not really angry, Alyssa. You didn’t do anything wrong, and deep down, Elle knows that.”

Alyssa sniffled. “I know what a big deal this sleepover was to her and Rachel, and I really wanted to go. This is the sleepover that Becca canceled on them last year at the last minute, so I know how sensitive they are about it. I maybe would have asked Becca to switch nights, but I was just so upset about everything with Dasher that I didn’t even think of it at the time.” She sat up in bed. “Mom, this is my fault. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You are not blaming yourself for this, Alyssa,” Mrs. Sing said firmly. Her voice softened as she squeezed Alyssa’s hand. “Like we talked about last weekend, you can’t get stuck in the middle of whatever is going on between these girls. And later, after you feel better, I hope you’ll talk to Elle about all of this and let her know she has to choose her words more carefully in the future. Don’t be afraid to tell her how you feel, sweetie.”

Alyssa nodded. She knew her mom was right, but it wasn’t that easy. She didn’t want to lose Elle’s friendship.

“Becca is supposed to arrive soon. Are you up for having her over tonight? It might help to have a friend to lean on, sweetie, but if you’re not up to it, I can let Becca know. Plus, Cody and I will be here for you.”

Alyssa wiped her eyes. “I’m going to think about it. I’ll let you know, okay?”

As Mrs. Sing left her room, Alyssa walked over to the mirror that was above her dresser. She almost didn’t recognize herself. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her face was all flushed from crying. Her eyes wandered over to her desk, where she saw the extra printout of her holiday-wish essay. Picking it up, she scanned the page and felt her eyes fill up with tears again.

So, in all these ways, I feel that my holiday wish has already come true. My new house in Florida really feels like a home for the holidays because of all the wonderful memories we have made here. I’ve made three amazing new friends, and I’ve even gotten the cat I always wanted. This is shaping up to be the perfect Christmas, even better than anything I could have wished for, and I am so grateful!

Alyssa couldn’t believe that just twenty-four hours ago those words had been true. And now she felt so far away from almost everything she had written.

Just then, Alyssa heard a gentle knock at her door.

“Hey, can I come in?” Becca asked.

Alyssa nodded.

“Your mom told me what happened with Dasher. I am so, so sorry.” Becca’s face was filled with concern. “What can I do, Alyssa?”

Alyssa sighed and sat on the bed, her essay still in her hand. “I don’t know what anyone can do,” she replied. She folded her essay in half and tossed it on her nightstand. “I don’t think I will be very good company tonight, Becca. Would you mind if we rescheduled?”

“Of course not,” Becca said, sitting down on the bed next to Alyssa. “Do you want me to tell your mom to call Rachel and Elle and let them know about Dasher so you don’t have to? I’m sure they would want to know.”

“That’s really sweet,” Alyssa replied. “But they’re mad at me. Well, Elle is anyway.” She told Becca about her phone call with Elle.

“That’s terrible,” Becca cried. “But, Alyssa, I know Elle didn’t mean it. She just has a bit of a temper and says things she doesn’t mean. That’s one of the reasons I have been so scared to try to make up with her!” Becca patted Alyssa’s arm. “But I’m sure that if she knew about Dasher she’d feel absolutely terrible.…”

Alyssa shook her head. “No, I don’t want her to feel terrible. I just… I just don’t want to think about it right now. I’m too upset about Dasher. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course,” Becca repeated. She gave Alyssa a gentle hug. “Call me later if you need to talk, okay?”

Alyssa said goodbye to her friend and lay back down on her bed. She knew that lying around wallowing wasn’t going to help matters, but right now that was all she really felt like doing.