Read Online The Holiday Hoax by Skylar M. Cates - Free Book Online Page A

a moment, afraid everything I was feeling might suddenly vanish. I glanced at the kitchen door.
    I reluctantly stepped away. “My mom could return any second.”
    When the cookies were done, we devoured the warm, gooey, chocolate chip treats so that when my mom finally came into the kitchen to check on our progress, she had to bake a whole other batch of sugar ones.
    “You could have left some of the chocolate chip ones for the rest of us,” Courtney complained.
     
     
    A T SUNSET , the entire family had gathered to light the menorah.
    “I love chocolate,” Courtney said. Then she scowled. “Why are you two laughing at that?”
    “No reason,” I said, not daring to look over at JD. “Mom did make the sugar ones. We’re saving you from having to diet after New Year’s.”
    “You’re the one on the stage, weirdo. You should worry about your waistline as much as me.”
    “I have an idea.” My mom interrupted our fighting. “Why not skip dreidel tonight and play a game of charades? After all, we have two actors here; it should be a great game if we divide up Tyler on one team and Evan on the other.”
    “No, Tyler likes dreidel, Mom. Charades is for little kids anyhow.”
    “We play dreidel all the time. If your mom wants to mix it up, let’s do it.” Dad smiled at JD. “You can be on my team.”
    Without a doubt, JD stunk at charades. He didn’t even know the sign for movie camera, or to offer “sounds like” clues. My team with Ann and Mom demolished Dad, Courtney, and JD in every round. I didn’t know how to rescue JD at all. The only round he didn’t totally bomb in was from Charlotte’s Web .
    “Good job!” Courtney gave JD an encouraging high five.
    “Well, the farm part was easy for me to act out,” JD said, smiling for the first time that hour, instead of looking as if his head were in a guillotine.
    “Why would the farm parts be easy?” Ann asked innocently.
    Oh hell !
    Tyler, of course, wouldn’t know squat about farming having lived only at prep schools and embassies. JD, realizing his mistake, floundered to answer. His face turned bright red.
    “Our team’s turn! All of you hush up!” I marched to the center of the rug. I made a square shape with my hands.
    “Television show!” Courtney shouted.
    I continued to act out Teen Wolf and prayed the game would end soon.
    During a quick break, however, Mom called me into the kitchen to help with some refreshments. I hated to leave JD at the mercy of the others, but I couldn’t refuse. My mom poured some Coke into glasses, filled them with ice, and then turned to me, pursing her lips a moment before she spoke. “Look, sweetie, I can see you’re happy being here with Tyler, but—”
    “What? You don’t like him?”
    “No! No, I do. But you’re new to all this relationship stuff, and maybe your dad and I should have talked with you more—”
    “God, Mom, please! I don’t need a sex talk. I get how it all works.” My face heated.
    “Good, I’m glad.” My mom’s face flushed too. “And since you know about sex, and more importantly, you know our rules about having boyfriends—the same rules we have for Courtney and Ann, to be clear—it wasn’t what I was going to say. I do like Tyler, quite a lot, but there is something… off about him. I don’t know how to put this gently, sweetie, but I get the distinct feeling Tyler might be hiding something from us. From you.”
    “Jesus, Mom.”
    “Evan, listen—”
    “No. I’m not going to listen to some bullcrap about Tyler and me.”
    “When I was young, before I met Dad, I had my heart broken by guys who were less than honest with me. And you are just like me, Evan. You’re so easy to give your heart to things. People. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
    “Mom, just stop talking. I’m too old for you to fix everything. I let you do that way too much when I was a kid.” I drew in a deep breath. “I like Tyler. No matter what you think is off about him, I really like