Chapter 12 #2
Quizzically, I glance back at her, seeing she still has the look of Christmas morning. The tree is creating a sense of magic that I don’t understand, but for the first time, I want to.
Taking a deep breath, I face it again, trying to push aside any Scrooge-like bah humbugs that apparently fill my Christmas cheer.
Tilting my head, I look at it—really look at it.
The decorations don’t look as chaotic as I first thought.
A mix of gingerbread men, women, and houses are evenly spaced across the towering branches.
Red bows are accentuated by green and white curled ribbons, and a burlap garland.
The strands of lights are wound around the tree in even spaces, and they blink in a cheery pattern that matches in time with the music if I look hard enough.
It’s still more cartoon than classic, but it fits with the town.
“The topper is my favourite,” Avery says in awe, looking up. The knitted cap with antlers mixed with her nose reddened from the cold makes her look even more adorable. “I never thought about using a gingerbread man as the topper, but it’s so fitting.”
The decoration in question has to be at least five feet tall and is surrounded by an eruption of even more red and green curled ribbon that seems to stick outright, defying gravity.
“Oh look, there they are!” she exclaims, pointing just past the tree to the gazebo. A dozen red and dark green lanterns hang from the beams of the structure, all unlit.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us for the kickoff of the annual Gingerbread Grove Yuletide Games!” Cal exclaims from the platform that is constructed in front of the tree, microphone in hand.
My hands move on their own, clapping slowly while the rest of the town cheers and hollers. Cal continues on—something about the ‘revitalization of the town’ and the history of the games—all with McKenzie glued to his side with an overly-enthusiastic smile on her face.
I should be paying attention, or at least pretending to be, but seeing the tree through a Christmas lens has me interested in looking at the rest of the town, seeing if maybe there’s something I’ve been missing.
I haven’t been back since they had made the full change to Gingerbread Grove.
The last time I was here, there were still normal street signs and regular storefronts.
Now, the red-bricked stores on Main Street that I grew up on are adorned with white gingerbread trim along their awnings; their windows painted with colourful holiday reindeer, snowmen, and elves, much like the stores back home in Vancouver.
The street lights are wrapped in red and green ribbons—not to be confused with the red and white ones from Candy Cane Creek.
I still cringe thinking of the phone call from my mom months ago, letting me know every detail from the town hall meeting when there was a concern brought up that the particular decoration was too close to their rival town.
“Now, without further ado, let’s get the couples up here and get these lanterns lit!”
Cal’s voice and the excited energy bring my attention back.
With everything that’s happened in the last few days, I hadn’t thought through just how public these games are going to be.
I didn’t realize that the lantern lighting meant Avery and I literally getting up in front of the town and lighting our lantern with the other couples.
The pressing weight returns to my chest as I see everyone start to make their way to the front. Cold sweat breaks out across my forehead, and I swear I start to see black dots in front of my eyes.
“Hey, we’ve got this,” Avery whispers as she grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze.
Inhaling deeply, I let her scent of warm spices of apple cider and gingerbread soothe me. My shoulders drop and my muscles relax. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about her that makes me feel like maybe I do, in fact, have this.
She waits for a moment to make sure I’m okay—the black dots are retreating—and I nod, letting her lead me through the cheering crowd.
I avoid all eye contact as I walk the few steps up the gazebo, scanning the lanterns which have glittery ornaments hanging from the bottoms that match the lanterns themselves, each couple’s name written in an elegant gold cursive.
It didn’t take long to find ours. The bright red paint on the metal mixed with the shiny writing may as well have been a blinking beacon of ‘Matthew Roberts and Avery Geller’ the way that it glitters in light.
A single unlit candle sits inside the glass walls, waiting to be lit.
But knowing my luck, it won’t stay lit for very long.
And we’re right in front. For everyone to see.
Looking down at the crowd, I see McKenzie with her fake beaming smile. She had to have planned this. She knows how much I hate being in front of crowds and especially being the centre of attention.
“Hey, you okay?” Avery whispers, holding on to my hand even tighter.
“Just great,” I reply dryly, looking away from McKenzie’s smug look.
Yup, she definitely planned this.
“Let’s countdown the lighting of the lanterns!” It’s Trevor that announces it this time as Cal and McKenzie make their way up to the gazebo, standing on the other side of the stairs from us. Cal nods as they take their spot, and McKenzie has her smile frozen on her face.
“Is her face always like that?” Avery asks through her own polite—and less creepy—smile, never taking her eyes off the other woman.
“Pretty much,” I whisper back, needing to look away.
But I don’t have anywhere else to look. There are too many people in the crowd. I swear the whole town is here. I can turn my back and look behind us. So, I do the only thing I can—I look down at Avery.
She’s smiling up at me and all of a sudden, I don’t notice the crowd anymore. Well, not as much anyway. Even though we’re up on this gazebo, in full display of the town, it’s just us.
It’s just us as someone passes us a lighter.
Still just us, as Trevor starts to count down.
Something is different.
It’s the woman smiling up at me while counting down from ten.
By the time we hit five, I’m counting down with her, never taking my eyes from hers.
By three, I’m smiling.
By one, my heart wants to explode with a rush of emotions I’m feeling about Avery Geller.
Cheers erupt around us as everyone lights their lantern. I open the glass door and let Avery light the candle, but I still focus my attention on her.
I should be panicking. There should be a tightening feeling in my chest knowing that Avery and my names are on one of these ridiculous lanterns, even though we aren’t really a couple.
But there’s no panic. No pressure building inside of me.
Instead, all I can think about is Avery.
My beautiful elf, clad in an absurd reindeer toque, who’s looking up at me like maybe I’m not the only one feeling this way.
“Matthew?” she says, breathlessly.
“Yes, Avery?”
“I think I like it here.”
Before I know what’s happening, I say, “Me too.”