Approximately Yours (North Pole, Minnesota #3)(16)

And Holly would not make the same mistake with Danny Garland.

“Can we start walking?” Holly took off down Main Street, toward their grandma’s house. The air smelled like cinnamon, and every shop window glowed with lights and tinsel. North Pole at night was exquisite. Nothing else in the world could compare. Holly drew in a long, deep breath, taking in the cold air and the sooty smell of smoke from a hundred different fireplaces.

Elda ran to catch up with Holly, her platform shoes clomping against the cobblestone sidewalk. “You sure you don’t like Danny? We never discussed it. I don’t want to call dibs.”

Holly’s breath caught for a moment as she imagined what would happen if she did the unthinkable and told Elda she liked Danny. In her head, she saw herself dancing with Danny and kissing him and hoisting the gingerbread trophy over her head as he clapped with pride. But that wasn’t reality. Reality was him telling Elda that he didn’t like Holly “like that,” and he never would. “No way,” Holly said. “He’s not my type.”

“Really?” Elda said.

“Definitely. I’m a nerd girl, obviously.”

“Okay…” The two of them walked in silence for about half a block, then Elda said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Can I tell you something?” Elda, who’d been dancing through the streets earlier, seemingly unaffected by the cold, pulled her cape tighter around her arms. “You have to promise not to tell anyone, though.”

They passed someone’s front lawn, which had been decorated with a gang of motorcycle-riding blowup characters—Santa and Snoopy and Frosty and a whole bunch of others. “I promise. Of course I won’t tell.”

Elda linked her arm in Holly’s. “It’s not just the guy stuff that’s got me down. I’m dropping out of school.”

Holly’s feet stopped moving, yanking Elda to a stop. “What?” Holly said.

The cousins faced each other on the sidewalk. “College isn’t for me. I got there and was just like, ‘I don’t want this. I’m not meant to sit in a classroom.’ Is that ridiculous?”

This conversation gave Holly whiplash. They’d gone from Danny Garland to school in a matter of seconds. “I…I don’t know what to say.” Everyone went to college. At least everyone Holly knew. Her parents expected her to go, and same with all her friends’ parents. That was non-negotiable. And Elda was giving up after only one semester. “What do you plan on doing instead?”

Elda frowned. “I don’t know. I’ve been waiting to tell my parents until after this trip, because they have so much on their minds, but they’re going to murder me. I thought I’d have everything figured out by now, so I could go to Mom and Dad and be like, ‘Here’s what I want to do with my life. Here’s my plan,’ but I’ve got nothing.” She held out her empty hands.

“Wow.” This wasn’t completely off-brand for her. When they were kids, Elda was always jumping from potential career to potential career—a police officer, a cosmetologist, a dermatologist, a circus performer. Even in the short time since the two of them had gotten closer, Holly had witnessed some of this flightiness. She constantly changed her mind about things—about where to go on spring break or whether or not to dye her hair or what to have for dinner. But leaving college without a plan—that had more repercussions than whether to order Mexican or Chinese.

“You think it’s a bad idea,” Elda said.

“No…”

“Yes, you do.” Elda dropped her head to her hands.

Holly rubbed her cousin’s back. “I’m only wondering whether or not you’ve thought this through.”

“I don’t know.” She lifted her head. “But I know college is what I don’t want, so isn’t that enough?”

“Maybe…” Holly was usually so focused on being responsible and doing the right, safe, consequence-free thing that “want” or “not want” never entered the equation.

Elda put an arm around Holly, wrapping her in velvet and their grandmother’s old lady perfume. “But let’s not think about that now. Let’s talk about how the two of us are going to use our superpowers of seduction on Danny Garland.”

This felt like a “want” or “not want” situation all of a sudden. Holly wanted Danny, that was for sure. But he kept checking out Elda, and he’d directed his invitation to hang out right at her.

The thing was, the Danny of Holly’s imagination couldn’t hold a candle to Danny in real life. He was whatever the opposite of a Monet was. Danny was lovely from afar, but exquisite up close. His skin looked like it had been airbrushed. His lips revealed not even a hint of dryness. And he was nice, too. And funny, damn it. And smart. He’d had the world “philtrum” on the tip of his tongue.

When it came right down to it, what Holly really wanted was to be able to see Danny and talk to him. Helping Elda would achieve that. Holly would get to chat with him a bit and hang out. She’d be able to leave North Pole with some great, fun memories. She was only going to be here for two more weeks. It wasn’t like she and Danny were ever, in any universe, going to end up together.

She rested her head on Elda’s shoulders. “First of all, my sweet coz, less is more. If you feel the need to say something, say nothing. I’ll fill in the conversation gaps. You create mystery. Trust me. You and Danny will be madly in love by Christmas Eve.” Holly smiled, though that thought had left a sour pit in her stomach.