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I avoided her for the rest of Christmas. It was a feat of tactical engineering.
I volunteered to do all the washing up. I took the dog for a walk in the dark that lasted ninety minutes. I hid in the downstairs loo during charades. When Gemma made us all play Monopoly, I bankrupted myself on purpose in eleven minutes so I could go to bed.
Tess, to be fair, was doing the same. Every time I walked into a room she walked out of it. At one point we both tried to leave the kitchen through the same door at the same time and did a little dance for about ten seconds while my mum watched with narrowed eyes.
My Secret Santa present to her, which I’d bought in a panic, was a scented candle. Hers to me was a mug that said WORLD’S OKAYEST BROTHER. I didn’t know whether that was a dig.
On Boxing Day morning, as I was loading my bag into the car, Mum came out in her slippers.
“What did you do to that poor girl?” she said.
“Nothing!”
“She’s been looking at you all Christmas like a lost puppy, and you’ve been running away from her like she’s got the plague.” She folded her arms. “Your father and I met at his sister’s wedding, you know. She was my best friend.”
She went back inside.
I sat in the car for a long time.
Ending 13 of 16: Silent Night. Go back and try a different choice for the full happy ending.