Free Noelle's Christmas Crush by Angela Darling

to say yes when she suddenly remembered something—Jess! Frantically she looked behind at the runners coming up to the line, but didn’t see her.
    â€œI’m so sorry, I need to find Jess,” Noelle said. “I guess I . . . I must have lost her. . . . I’ll see you later!”
    She hurried off, leaving Noel looking a little baffled. A huge rush of runners came through the finish line, and Noelle pushed through them until she spotted Jess.
    â€œJess! Jess!” Noelle yelled, waving her hand.
    Jess walked up to her.
    â€œI’m soooo sorry,” Noelle said. “There’s this big crowd, and . . .”
    â€œ. . . and you had no problem finding Noel in it,” Jess snapped. “I saw you.”
    Noelle felt terrible. “I just wanted to say hi. And then we were running, and . . . ”
    Jess rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s get cocoa.”
    â€œAnd then let me buy you a cupcake,” Noelle said. “I owe you.”
    â€œYes, you do,” Jess agreed.
    As they sipped their cups of hot cocoa, Noelle couldn’t help glancing around to see if she could find Noel. Jess had every reason to be mad, but Noelle had been rude to Noel, also. What if he was mad at her too?
    I probably blew it, Noelle thought. There’s no way that he’ll come to my party now.
    Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.
    â€œNice run,” her dad said. “I saw you moving fast.”
    Noelle gave Jess a pleading look, hoping her friend wouldn’t say anything about why she was running fast. But Jess just smiled. “Hi, Mr. Winters. Noelle was just about to get me a cupcake.”
    â€œI’ll get both of you a cupcake,” Noelle’s dad said. “My treat.”
    Tamika’s snowball cupcakes were perfect little treats,white cupcakes with rounded tops covered in fluffy white frosting, shredded coconut, and edible sparkles. Noelle bit into hers, but the sweetness took a backseat to her worries.
    She felt bad for how she had treated Jess. She felt bad for how she handled Noel. It was a relief when her dad said it was time to go, and she bundled into the warm car.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, hon?” Mr. Winters asked as they drove home. “Tired?”
    â€œNo,” Noelle said glumly. “It’s just . . . I’m running out of holiday cheer, I guess.”
    Mr. Winters nodded. “The holiday season is wonderful, but it can also be stressful. Maybe the day after your party we’ll just take some chill time, you know?”
    Noelle nodded and stared at the window. Her holidays were starting to get stressful, for sure . . . but not for the usual reasons.

chapter 12
    THE NEXT DAY, FRIDAY, WAS just one day before her party. Noelle was dying to talk about the party at lunch with her friends, but she noticed that Jess seemed quieter than usual.
    She’s probably mad about last night, Noelle guessed, but she didn’t bring it up. Hailey and Alyson did most of the talking at lunch.
    As soon as Noelle got home, she got right back into birthday mode.
    â€œOkay,” she announced at dinner, “I made a chart of everything that needs to get done tonight for the party.”
    â€œI have to go out for a bit after dinner, but I won’t be long,” Mr. Winters said.
    â€œBut my party is tomorrow ,” Noelle said. “As in, tonight is the last night we have to get ready for it. There’s tons to do.”
    â€œI can help with whatever needs to be done,” her mom said. “I’ve just got to bake some brownies for church Sunday morning, since I won’t be able to do it tomorrow night. And Andrew can help too.”
    Andrew put down his fork. “Why do I have to help? It’s her party.”
    Mrs. Winters gave him a don’t-mess-with-me look. “Because we’re a family and we help each other, that’s why.”
    Noelle took her