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“Yes, how were the lights?” his mom added.

“The lights?” Ryan asked.

I wanted to smack the back of his head to restart his brain, remind him who they were asking about, but I just clenched my fists.

“Oh!” Ryan said as if his brain had restarted without my help. “Phillip.”

“Yes,” his mom said. She sounded suspicious.

“It was fun. He brought his golf cart.”

His mom started talking about golf carts and golf courses. My nose itched. Oh no. There was dust in these drapes, and it was starting to get to me. Was I going to sneeze? How long were Mr. and Mrs. Moreno going to stay right here talking? Ryan needed to think of an excuse to get them upstairs so I could slip out the back door.

“We should get some hot chocolate,” Ryan said. “From that trailer across the street.”

“I can’t believe Mandy approved that cart in the neighborhood,” his mom said.

“I like it,” Ryan said. I wondered if he normally disagreed with his parents this much or if he was just doing it for my benefit. Whatever the case, his attempt to get them out of the house didn’t work.

The sound of the television turning on and a football game filled the room.

“Did you hear that?” Ryan asked.

“Hear what?” his mom asked.

“The front door.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I’ll go check,” Ryan said, and I held my breath because I could see the shadow of him walk away from me. Would his parents notice me now, standing there behind the curtain?

A couple moments passed, and my lungs were burning from holding my breath. I slowly let it out.

“Mom! Dad! Come look at this! Hurry!”

“What is he going on about?” his dad asked.

“Who knows,” his mom said, but they both followed. I listened as their feet shuffled out of the room.

I peeked out of my hiding spot. When I saw the coast was clear, I sprinted for the back doors, not sure how much time I had. I pulled one open.

It wasn’t until I was outside, running for the side gate in the cold, that I realized I’d forgotten to grab my coat. Hopefully Ryan could convince his mom it belonged to another friend because I wasn’t going back.

I passed the shed and, for one second, I thought about pausing in my escape, looking inside, seeing if there was any evidence of the stolen stick elf from all those years ago, or anything else, but my racing heart kept me moving.

I crept out of the side gate and peered toward the front door. There was no sign of Ryan or his parents. I took a deep breath and hurried to the sidewalk. There, I bent forward, hands on knees, gulping in air.

The night felt quiet around me. I checked my phone. Only a few minutes left until they opened the streets to cars. Suddenly I remembered Buddy and the hot cocoa trailer. Had he just seen my escape from Ryan’s backyard? I straightened up and tried to casually glance that way. Buddy’s trailer was still there, but the window was shut. He must’ve closed up for the night, but why was his car still there?

I shook off the question and walked to my front door. My brain tried to come up with excuses for the questions I was sure my moms were about to ask about why I was gone so long. I could just say I ran into some friends. We walked to the park. Fiona would cover for me if I gave her a heads-up.

I heard laughter as I walked inside, and one of those laughing voices was Marcus’s. I thought he’d left for his sock party.

I hesitantly walked toward our kitchen and living room, the area of the house where we spent the most time. Another burst of laughter rang out as I reached my family.

Everyone was there, sitting in the living room. My moms on the love seat. Harris sitting sideways in the recliner, his head on one armrest, his legs draped over the other one. He was half asleep. Marcus was on the long couch, which faced away from me, so I could only see the back of his head. And sitting next to him was an elf hat. Well, there was a person beneath that elf hat that I could only assume was Buddy. I was beyond shocked.

“Hello?” I said.