Page 11 of Falling Like Snow

“The twelve times you watched it last year weren’t enough?” Asher asks, even though we both know the answer.

“Of course not.”

“Well, Holidate is way worse than Die Hard, anyway,” he says.

“Disagree. What better way for the youth to learn about sex than from a cheesy rom-com?” I argue. “Plus, Mom might approve my suggestion just because of the hot Australian guy.”

“He’s not that hot,” Asher grumbles.

I lift my eyebrows. “Wrong.”

“Oh my god,” Hannah says, exasperated. “You two, stop your bickering.”

Asher sticks his tongue out at me, and I give him my middle finger. Hannah shakes her head, and we both laugh.

“It’s going to be fun regardless of what movie is playing,” Daphne says. “The whole month will.”

“I agree,” I reply truthfully. Everyone came up with some stellar ideas. “We still have to work out the festival day details, but Mom’s hoping with it being right after Christmas, we might get more tourists, since most people will have a long weekend off work.”

“Also smart,” Preeti says.

“You know the drill,” Sterling calls. They point to the other theater kids. “Just let us know what you need. We’ll be there.”

I nod. “Thanks, Sterling. Mom’s working on a volunteer sign-up sheet today, so I’ll pass that around as soon as I have it.”

“Perfect,” Daphne says as Sterling gives me a thumbs-up. “So, is everyone going to the tree-lighting ceremony tonight?”

“Of course,” Hannah says.

Preeti tucks her black hair behind her ears with a sigh. “No. I have to close tonight.”

“But I thought everyone was closing early for the ceremony,” Asher says.

“Not the library,” Preeti replies, her lips curling downward. “Fiona texted this morning and said we’re staying open late in case anyone needs a dry place to go since it’s supposed to be raining.”

“That sucks,” Hannah says.

“What about you, Asher?” Daphne asks. “Will you be there?”

He passes the list back to me. “Yeah.”

“Cool,” she says, her smile widening.

“We meeting afterward to work out some of these missing details?” Asher asks me.

I tuck the list into my pocket. “That’d be great. I have to coordinate some stuff with my mom, but I’d love to start getting things crossed off the ever-growing to-do list in my head.”

He grins. “Maybe we should put it on paper so we can keep track of what’s on it.”

“Brilliant idea,” I say, scarfing my sandwich before the bell rings.

“Please don’t choke. I really don’t want to plan this thing by myself.”

“As if you could,” I try to counter, but my mouth’s so full it comes out garbled, like a groaning monster.

“God, you’re gross,” he says. I kick him under the table and his laugh deepens into the warm, infectious sound that always makes me grin. We stand to throw away our trash. “I’ll start a to-do list in study hall.”

“That would be amazing,” I tell him, tossing my bag into the trash just as the bell rings. “Good luck in Spanish. The quiz was hard.”