Alicia

To make dozens of snowmen, you needed lots of space and lots of snow. Winter Grove's town square had neither. The festival grounds still dominated the space, and the thousands of tourists had stomped down and muddied the snow.

So, the Winter Grove Games committee herded the contestants toward the Grove University campus. The campus had gone quiet for the holiday break, the freshly fallen snow undisturbed, making it an ideal location. The town had strung lights between the posts and in the trees to provide enough light for the activity, and the fresh snow sparkled in the low light.

Alicia smiled as she walked across campus alongside the Brightons and Sterling. She was feeling much more optimistic about tonight. Though she only had Zeke's word, she had high hopes that he would stick to it and behave. It appeared the issue had just been motivation. She should have offered him a way out instead of dragging him into all the festivities.

And now that Zeke had one, he seemed happy to comply.

Even now, as he tramped through the fresh snow alongside his mom and dad, he looked distinctly less sullen.

Celeste came up from behind, linking her arm with Alicia's.

"Are you ready to win, partner?" she giggled.

"Of course," Alicia said. "I have high hopes for tonight."

"Same," Celeste agreed, but her bright smile faltered as she looked at her brother. "But maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up too much..."

"I don't know," Alicia said, a knowing smile tugging at her lips. "I have a feeling that things will go a lot better tonight."

As she said it, Zeke looked over at them. He even grinned, and his emerald eyes sparkled with his promise. Alicia's smile widened, but she hid it beneath her scarf.

Celeste looked between them, and her brow tensed in confusion. "A feeling, huh? What kind of feeling?"

Alicia just shrugged. "I dunno. It's just a feeling."

By then, they had reached the spot. The town had set up little flags to mark each team's designated place, and little lanterns were stuck into the snow to provide even more light.

"Oh this is going to be fun!" Lydia cheered, clapping her gloved hands. They had all dressed in their warmest in preparation for handling the snow.

"It sure is," Herb agreed. "Now remember, boys. Behave yourselves, or you'll get disqualified again."

"What about the girls?" Zeke asked his dad, eyebrows raised. But his tone was playful.

"Oh, the girls can misbehave as much as they want," Herb said with a mischievous chuckle, shooting a wink at Alicia and Celeste.

A volunteer appeared then and directed them to their spots. They were all together: Alicia and Celeste at one end, Herb and Lydia at the other, with Zeke and Sterling in the middle. Alicia couldn't help but wonder if this was on purpose so they could keep an eye on the boys.

Fortunately, it didn't seem they would need it. Zeke and Sterling took their spot without much fuss. They were even making small talk, though Sterling kept a shrewd eye on Zeke.

The Mayor marched into view, megaphone in hand, as if on cue.

"Good evening, snowmen, snowladies, and snowpeople!" he cheered into the crackling megaphone. "We're about to begin the Snowman Pageant, so get ready. A reminder of how this works... Your team of two has 90 minutes to build your best snowman! Now, this competition isn't just about building, this is a pageant, so it's about beauty! That means there will be a panel of judges deciding on the winning entries. There are several categories you can win in, so be creative!"

He took a pause to let it all sink in, then looked to one of the volunteers. The volunteer gave a signal, so the Mayor took up the megaphone again.

"Ready... Begin!"

Everyone dove down and began gathering up the snow. Alicia made a dense ball and began rolling it alongside Celeste.

Celeste gave a big sigh. Worry brewed in Alicia's stomach as she turned to look at her friend.

But to her surprise, Celeste was smiling, her eyes dreamy as she took in the whole scene: the lights, the gently falling snow, the happy families all working together. Seeing her friend finally relax warmed Alicia's heart.

"You sure look happy," Alicia said, pushing the snowball along. It was big enough that it was starting to get hard to push.

"I am," Celeste said with a giggle as she gave one last push to the ball. "It finally feels like Christmas. Things feel right like they're falling into place..." She leaned against the ball, and her gaze darted over Alicia's shoulder.

Alicia looked back. Sterling and Zeke were still chatting. They were gesturing and posing as though they were trying to plan what their snowman would look like. Zeke even laughed at something Sterling said, which surprised Sterling for a moment... but he cracked a tentative grin.

She chuckled to herself.

Falling into place, Celeste had said.

Yeah, not quite.

Celeste had no idea that things 'falling into place' hadn't been quite so easy or serendipitous.

Each thing had really been forced into place... by Alicia. It started as a crazy idea, but it worked. Zeke had promised to behave, and Celeste's Christmas had been saved, which meant...

She could finally tell Celeste about the Euro Exchange.

"Hey Cee," Alicia began, making a new ball of snow to make the middle piece. "I have something to tell you."

Celeste tilted her head, ready to listen...

A snowball came sailing overhead and smacked right into Alicia's back. Celeste let out a shocked gasp as Alicia spun around to see who'd thrown it.

She found Zeke snickering, dusting snow off his gloves.

Really? Alicia thought. Worst timing ever, dude!

But for some reason, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oooh," Celeste grumbled. "That Zeke! I am not going to let that stand!"

Alicia turned in time to see Celeste hurriedly gathering snow before she leaped up and lobbed it her brother's way. But Celeste was still a terrible shot. Her throw went wide... and got Sterling in the leg.

Sterling looked down at the snow mark on his jeans. He shook his head, then stooped to gather his own snowball. He quickly formed the perfect ball, then stood, staring Celeste and Alicia down.

"Oh no!" Celeste giggled, diving behind Alicia. "Protect me!"

"You got yourself into this!" Alicia said, sidestepping her.

But Celeste followed, clinging to her sleeves.

Sterling just laughed at them. He tossed the snowball into the air, caught it, and then flung it...

At Zeke.

The snowball splattered on Zeke's chest. Zeke leapt back, surprised.

"Hey, I didn't throw that snowball at you!"

"I know," Sterling said.

Zeke frowned. "So why did you throw your snowball at me?"

"Because I'm not going to throw a snowball at my girlfriend," Sterling said with a shrug like it was obvious.

Zeke narrowed his eyes.

Oh no. A breath caught in Alicia's throat. Don't ruin this! You promised, Zeke!

As if he heard her call his name, his green eyes flashed to hers. They were crackling with annoyance, but as he focussed on her... they softened. He inhaled, then turned back to Sterling.

"That's the gentlemanly thing to do, I suppose," Zeke said, but he bent down and started gathering his own fistful of snow.

"I'm glad you agree," Sterling said, cautious. He took a step back.

Zeke stood up, packing down the snow into another perfect sphere.

"Fortunately," Zeke continued, "as her older brother, I'm not bound by such practice."

He threw his snowball right at them. Alicia froze. Celeste was still cowering behind her—

But the snowball whistled right past her head and managed to smack Celeste in the shoulder, the only part of her that was visible. Celeste squealed and toppled back.

"I told you I was a good shot," Zeke said, smirking.

"Oh!" Celeste shrieked, leaping up again. "It is so on!"

She grabbed fistfuls of snow and began hurling them wildly. Zeke and Sterling started doing the same, while Alicia had no choice but to join in or be caught in the crossfire.

As she dodged the snowballs coming from every direction, her gaze briefly touched on Zeke. His eyes met hers, and he smiled. She smiled back and couldn't help but think Celeste had been a little bit right.

It did finally feel like Christmas...

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