All I Want For Christmas is Stu by Lisa Henry

Author:Lisa Henry [Henry, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Street Books
Published: 2023-12-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

I wish I could say that amazing first kiss brought my muse to life, and that by morning I was surrounded by pages and pages of words that were so poetic they’d make a taciturn, grizzled steelworker weep gruff, manly tears for the transient beauty of the world. But I wasn’t. And not just because I didn’t have a printer, but also because when I opened my laptop, the document was still open on the same blank page it had been for weeks. It didn’t look as stark and terrible this morning as it usually did—it usually looked like an accusation—so I was taking that as a win.

I crawled out of bed at last, and bundled up into all my warmest gear for the trip across to the house. The worst part of garage living? When you had to pee in the middle of the night, and it was fucking freezing outside. I’d had some serious thoughts about using an empty Gatorade bottle, but frankly having to dispose of it later sounded a lot worse than dealing with the cold. Also, it would be just my luck for Mom or Dad to spot me sneaking to the trash can with a bottle of urine. I’d never hear the end of it.

I pulled the garage door on a brilliantly sunny morning. The light gleamed on the snow, blinding me, and I almost slid down the steps into the yard, but I caught myself on the rail in time. I crossed the narrow band of yard to the back door of the house, and let myself into the kitchen.

“Morning,” Mom trilled at me.

I mumbled a response, shrugging off my coat and dumping it over the back of a chair before heading for the bathroom.

When I came back to the kitchen, Mom said, “Bacon and eggs?”

Was it a trick question?

“Uh, yes, please.” I sat down at the wonky kitchen table.

Mom waggled her eyebrows in a wholly disturbing way. “So...”

Ugh. Here it comes.

“How was your date?”

“It was good,” I said, wishing I hadn’t left my phone in the garage. I would have loved something to look at right now. Something that wasn’t Mom, who was looking back at me with an expectant expression on her face that told me she wanted all the details. “Um... fine? We had coffee, and then we went to the bookstore.”

“The bookstore?” She didn’t seem anywhere near as impressed as I had been.

“It was nice,” I said. “It was actually really nice.”

“Well, good,” she said staunchly. “Good for you, Charlie.”

“Uh... thanks?”

Mom crossed the kitchen to tousle my hair, and I felt about eight years old again, but in a good way. Eight-year-olds don’t feel bad about being unemployed and having no money. It’s a good time in life. Like, if you’d asked me before last night, I would have said it was the high point. But after a perfect first date with Stu Harrison? Well, eight-year-old me couldn’t have imagined something so amazing. Except maybe getting the toy in the bottom of the cereal box.

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