Noelle's Christmas Crush by Angela Darling Page A

Then her mom knocked on the door and came in, smiling when she saw Noelle.
    â€œAndrew took a walk and said everyone’s sledding over at the hill on Mill Street,” her mom reported. “Want to go?”
    Noelle shook her head. “No thanks.”
    Her mom didn’t push it. “Okay, then. We’ll be back soon. I don’t know how many times I can go up and down that hill.”
    Listless for the rest of the day, Noelle read a few chapters of a book she was in the middle of; played a few more games on her laptop; and rearranged her sweater drawer, organizing everything by color. She checked her e-mail a few times, but Jess never replied, and that just put her in a bad mood all over again.
    She didn’t join her parents and Andrew for cocoa when they got back from sledding. But when Mr. Winters called up that it was time to eat, Noelle’s empty stomach led her down the stairs.
    The kitchen table was laden with all kinds of food: veggies and dip, chips, deviled eggs, little cucumber sandwiches, and her dad’s famous cheese balls.
    â€œI made all this for your party yesterday,” Mr. Winters explained. “And I’d hate for it to go to waste. Besides, I thought it would be kind of fun, right?”
    â€œI guess so,” Noelle said. It definitely was more interesting than sitting down to a regular dinner. But at the same time, it made her a little sad, thinking about all her family and friends who weren’t going to get to eat it.
    Andrew piled a mound of cheese balls on his plate. “I could eat like this every day,” he remarked. “After this I want to head back to the hill. Josh is putting oil on the bottom of his sled and that thing’s going to go down that hill like crazy.”
    â€œWe might have something to do right after dinner,” Mrs. Winters said, with what she hoped was a secret nod toward Noelle, who was absently peeling apart the strands of a celery stalk and didn’t notice.
    Andrew rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Whatever.”
    As they were finishing, Noelle’s mom got up from the table. Suddenly, the lights went out and Mrs. Winters came in carrying a cake with twelve candles, one extra forgood luck, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOELLE written in violet icing.
    â€œHappy birthday to you . . . ” she began to sing, and Mr. Winters and Andrew joined in.
    That’s when it hit her. The river of tears she’d been holding back all day broke through, and she started to cry. As her family’s voices trailed off, she ran up to her room.
    She flopped down on the bed, sobbing. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be! She knew it was nobody’s fault, but still, why did it have to snow on her day? Her one special day?
    It was supposed to be perfect! Noelle thought, burying her head in her pillow.

chapter 14
    NOELLE CRIED UNTIL SHE HAD no more tears. Her face felt hot, and she lay on her back for a while, staring at the ceiling, until she heard a knock on the door.
    To her surprise, it was Andrew, carrying a big box wrapped in pink paper.
    â€œI was going to save this for your real birthday, but I’m thinking you might need something to cheer you up right now,” he said.
    Noelle sat up, surprised. “Really?”
    â€œYeah, why not?” Andrew replied with a shrug. Noelle had almost forgotten how nice her brother could be when he wanted to.
    She took the box from him. The wrapping was bunched in places, so she could tell that he had done it himself. He had even tied a lopsided purple ribbon around the box.
    â€œWhat is it?” she asked.
    Andrew grinned. “Open it and see.”
    Noelle carefully unwrapped the paper and then lifted the lid of the box to see a pair of pale pink ice skates inside.
    â€œOh my gosh! These are exactly the ones I wanted!” she cried, picking up one of the skates.
    â€œWell, I want to race you this year, and now that you have new skates there’s no excuse if