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It was hard to swallow past the lump in my throat.

Inside, the party seemed to be winding down. Momma was the first to approach us. “We almost left without you,” she said.

“Sorry,” I said. “We all wanted different things.” The lie felt bitter in my mouth. I was tired of lying to my moms. It didn’t feel good.

“And we had to rescue Fiona from another party,” Marcus said, lightly punching her arm.

It felt even worse to make Marcus cover for me.

Especially because Momma was so kind in return. “It means the world to Mom that you all came tonight,” she said to me and Marcus. “Thank you.”

I was getting coal for Christmas and I deserved it.

I awoke the next morning to the sounds of yelling downstairs. My eyes felt swollen and tired. I climbed out of bed and walked to the top of the stairs to see if I could hear what was going on.

Had I been discovered? Had Mrs. O’Leary shown up on our porch and told my moms everything? Or maybe Ryan’s parents had. Or Phillip. But I quickly realized the yelling wasn’t about me and Ryan. It was about our decorations.

I rushed downstairs and out the front door to join my family on the porch. I could now see what everyone was upset about.

The snow globe was gone. Only a ripped piece of plastic, a couple PVC pipes, and a pile of Styrofoam balls remained in the space where it once was. My heart seemed to stop in my chest.

My bare feet were cold on the wooden planks of the porch, but I stood my ground. “What’s going on? What happened to the snow globe?” I yelled.

I was hoping they’d tell me there was bad weather last night. That it got blown away, or maybe an animal had come and ripped it apart. But I knew deep down that wasn’t the case, and seeing what was left of it destroyed on our lawn was devastating.

“It was that Ryan kid,” Mom said.

“What?” I bit out. “You saw him?”

“No,” she said, and I tried to hide my breath of relief. “But Marcus saw a piece of PVC pipe in the Morenos’ yard.”

My eyes shot to Marcus, and he gave me an apologetic nod.

“And the drag marks,” Momma said. “Don’t forget the drag marks.”

“There are drag marks?” I asked.

“Going straight to their side fence and all the way to the shed.”

“Like last time,” Mom said. “With the elf.”

“Like last time?” I said. “Ryan was six last time, so…”

“Are you defending him?” Mom asked.

“No! I mean, yes.” Because I was. He didn’t do this. He couldn’t have. “Yes, I am.”

Everyone was looking at me now. “Maybe it was his dad again,” I said. “Or the Scrooge who’s trying to sue the city.” Maybe they were targeting me because I was trying to discover who they were. Because I’d asked one too many questions last night.

“Someone is trying to sue the city?” Momma asked. “How do you know that?”

I shifted on my cold feet. “I heard from … around…”

“It’s probably just a rumor,” Mom said.

“No, it’s not,” I said.

“And you’re just telling us this now?” Mom asked.