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Several seconds later, I’m slamming the front door behind me.  Lyric is halfway down the sidewalk moving towards our driveway.  I see him stop short as the door slams shut.  Then he pivots, a hopeful expression in his eyes.  That’s when I realize he’s upset.  He recognizes me.  Instantly, the optimism in his face dies.  

Quite clearly, he and Janna have had a fight.  But the question is…about what?

“Lyric?” I call.  

“Yes, Mrs. Franklin?”  The boy is always so polite.

I furrow my brow.  “Where are you going?”

He shrugs.  “I’m headed home.”

“I thought you were joining us tonight.  For dinner.  Cookie decorating.  Tree trimming.”

“I thought I was too.”

I sigh and move towards him.  “So, why aren’t you?”

He shrugs, shoves his hands into his pockets, and scuffs the toe of his right shoe along the ground.  “Nana’s mad at me.”

“How can that be?”  I know my daughter adores this boy.

“I disagreed with her about something.”

“Oh?”

He just looks at me.  He doesn’t want to tell me.  I sigh.  It’s hard to fix something when you don’t know what’s broken.

“Do you think that you two can talk through it before dinner?  I hate to see you miss tonight.”

“She’s mad at me because I’m not taking her to the Snow Ball.”

“What?  Why not?”

“Melody isn’t going because the guy that invited her just uninvited her.  She’s heartbroken.”

Wow.  She got over Kookie fast.

“She asked me if I’d stay home with her so she won’t be alone.  I felt really bad for her, so I said I would.  Now Nana is upset with me.”

I’m thinking that Melody was just super unfair to her brother.  Playing the I’m-miserable-please-be miserable-with-me card.  I’m also extremely thankful that Kookie left her for Emmie.

“You’d already asked Nana to the dance, right?”

He winces.  “Yeah.”

“I can understand why she’s mad at you.  You broke your word to her.  That’s a big deal.”

His lifts his eyes slowly to meet mine.  He swallows.  I can see his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.  He nods his head.

“Lyric.  Do you have any idea how much my daughter likes you?”

He bites his lip.  Then he shrugs.  “I don’t know.  I mean, we’ve hung out together several times.  We went to the homecoming dance together.”

I stare at him incredulously.  “She’s gone to every single one of your basketball games.  Unless they directly interfered with her play practices.  She even got out of a couple of those to attend your games.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“I’m going to give you my two cents.  I know it’s none of my business – except that Nana’s heart is my business.  I think it was totally unfair of your sister to ask you to break your promise to Nana just because some boy broke his promise to her.  You do realize that you basically did the same thing to my daughter that Melody’s boyfriend did to her, right?”

He has the grace to meet my eyes again.  “I didn’t see it that way.  I mean, he told my sister he doesn’t want anything to do with her.  I just told Nana I can’t go that night.  I still want to be with her.  I just have to miss the dance.”

“Do you really?” I ask.  This whole thing seems extraordinarily stupid to me.  “Is Harmony going?”

“What?”

“To the dance?  Why didn’t Melody ask her sister to stay home with her?”

He frowns.  “I don’t know.  I don’t think Harmony is even going to the dance.  If she is, she didn’t say anything about it.”

I’m finding Melody’s behavior to be very bizarre.  Is she mad at Kookie for deserting her at the last dance?  Is she trying to wreak some bizarre form of vengeance on Kookie by hurting his sister?

“So, couldn’t Harmony commiserate with her instead?”

I’m beyond frustrated.  I don’t like seeing my daughter hurt.  I realize life is going to happen, and I can’t prevent every attack, but this one is just plain stupid!

“I hope that you change your mind and fix things with Nana.  Right now, she’s probably in her room crying instead of sitting at the table enjoying one of our family traditions.  Tonight is one of her favorite evenings of the whole year.  And I think it’s ruined for her now.”

I turn towards the door.  

“Mrs. Franklin?”

I stop, but I don’t turn back to look at him.  “Hmm?”

“Can I come in and talk to Nana in a few moments?”

Now I do pivot towards him.  He’s pulled his phone out of his pocket.  He holds it up.  “I’m gonna call Melody first.  Then I’d like to see Nana.”

“That’s fine.  Come in whenever you’re ready.  The door is unlocked.”  

I step forward and close it behind me.  Then I lean up against it for a moment and pray that this young man will make the right decision and treat my daughter kindly.  I feel really bad for Melody, but did she really need to allow her misery to destroy my daughter’s evening too?

Sighing, I head for the dining room.  Then I give the kids a few instructions before we begin our Christmas cookie decorating.  Finally, I slip down the hall towards Janna’s room.

“Honey?  Are you okay?” I call through the closed door as my knuckles rap lightly on it.

“No!” she responds with a raised voice.  But it’s still quiet.  

“Can I come in?”

She allows it.  I slip into her room.  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Lyric just broke up with me,” she sniffles into her pillow.  Her voice is muffled.

“So, you two were an official couple?” I ask.

“No,” she sighs.  “But I thought he really liked me.  He drove me around.  He talked to me.  He held my hand.  He took me to the homecoming dance.  I thought he was taking me to the Snow Ball too.  But he just said he’s not going to.  Because some guy dumped his boring sister!”

“Janna!” I rebuke her softly.

“What?  Mom, you know she’s boring.  She never laughs at anything.”

“Maybe something’s wrong,” I whisper.

“What?”  Janna’s head pops up.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, Lyric clearly has a great sense of humor.  Maybe Melody is really hurting over something.  It’s like someone stole her sense of humor.  Perhaps she’s in pain.”

“Well, apparently, she doesn’t mind spreading it around!  She asked him to stay home from the dance with her.  And he agreed!  Clearly, he loves his sister more than he loves me!”

“Well, Nana,” I soften my tone, “in all fairness, he’s known his sister a lot longer.  Would you choose Lyric over Kookie if it came down to it?”

“In a heartbeat!”

“Would you really?  If you knew something had hurt your brother badly?  You’d just ditch him to hang out with Lyric?”

She just stares at me.

“I realize he broke his word to you.  And that it hurts that he would choose to spend the evening with his sister instead of with you.  But maybe there’s more to the story than you know.  Maybe he’s just a really sweet guy who feels torn between two girls that he loves.  His sister and you.”

Her face falls flat.  She’s staring at me with that glaze covering her eyes.  The one that says, “I know you may be right, but I don’t want to admit it.  Can’t you just leave me alone?”

I shrug.  “Maybe you’re right.  Maybe Lyric just isn’t worth your time.  Who wants a guy who breaks his promise?”  I clear my throat.  “I just hope you don’t let him ruin this entire evening for you.  It’s usually one of your favorites.  And Emmie’s still here.”

“Mooning over Kookie,” she mumbles.

“What’s new?” I ask, chuckling.

The corners of her lips twitch. 

“Hey.  Emmie’s not going to the Snow Ball, is she?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Maybe you two can hang out together that night and eat lots of egg nog ice cream and watch Korean dramas together.”

“Mahhhm.  You know I don’t like egg nog ice cream.  Neither does Emmie.”

“I know.  I was just trying to make sure you were still alive.  Can I give you one pointer?”

“What’s that?”

“If it hurts, you’re still alive.”  I smile at her. “And I, for one, am quite happy you’re still here.  I would choose you over Melody any day.”

“Mom!” she laughs.  “Of course, you would!  You’re my mom!”

“Darn right, I am.  Now and forever.  And I don’t like to see you hurting.  Would you please come decorate some cookies with us?  I’m missing whatever drama Kookie and Emmie are enacting right now!  Aren’t you the least little bit curious?  I mean,” I lean towards her bed and whisper, “they rode to the store alone together in my van this afternoon.  What was that about?  What happened?”

“Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.”

“What?” I ask, surprise dragging my eyebrows skyward.

“Emmie said that nothing happened.  Kookie didn’t talk to her at all during the car ride.  They walked into the store.  He asked her if she knew where to find cream of tartar.  They spent several minutes searching for it, found it, and went to check out without speaking to each other again.”

“Yikes.  Those two are quite the couple,” I murmur.

“I thought you’d be relieved,” she admits.

“What?”

“Well.  They’ve grown up together.  She stays the night with me all the time.  I thought you’d be relieved that they’re not acting interested in each other.  You know, they won’t be tempted to get into any trouble together.”

I start laughing.  “They are totally acting interested in each other.  They’re just still at the awkward we’ve-just-figured-out-we-both-like-each-other stage.  And you’re right.  As soon as they share their first kiss, your sleepovers are over.”

“What?!”  Janna sits straight up now.  

I’m about to continue when a knock sounds on the door frame.

“Nana?” comes a soft, deep voice that would give me chills if I were sixteen and single.

My eyes fly to Janna’s face, but she’s staring at Lyric.  Her heart in her eyes.  Although, her face is impassive.

“What?” she asks stonily.

“Can I talk to you for a few minutes in the living room?”

“No,” she responds, surprising me.  “Everyone and their brother will hear us.”

I bite back a giggle at the literal truthfulness of that statement.  

“Mom, can we talk in here?”

“If I can stand in the hallway and listen in,” I respond cheerfully, figuring they’ll decline my offer.

“Okay,” they both murmur.

Surprised, I glance from one to the other.  I quirk my right eyebrow.  “Really?  You don’t care if I hear what you have to say to each other?”

Lyric shrugs.  Janna shakes her head.

“All right.  I’ll leave you two not-really-alone,” I quip as I step past Lyric into the hallway.  “She’s all yours,” I whisper to him on my way out the door.  “Take good care of her heart please.”

He bobs his head.  “Thanks, Mrs. Franklin.”

He steps into her bedroom and walks over to her bed, which is six feet off the ground.  He peers up at her.  I can hear his low rumble.

“I’m sorry, Nana.  I shouldn’t have broken my promise to you.”

I can tell that she wants to look my way.  She’s that surprised by his apology.  But she keeps her eyes trained on his sweet face.  Mine shift that way again.

She sighs.  “I shouldn’t have gotten so mad.  I was just disappointed.  I’ve been looking forward to the Snow Ball all semester.  And to going to it with you for over a month now.”

“You have?” He looks like he feels even worse now.

She nods.  “Very few girls have a friend as handsome as you to dance with.”

“Is that what I am, Nana?  Just your friend?”

Their eyes lock.  I’m holding my breath.  I can hardly believe they’re having this conversation in front of me.  But I’m glad I’m privy to it.

“No.”  

It’s just a breath.  I’m wondering if Lyric will even realize she’s spoken.  But I heard it.  And I saw it.  More importantly, I felt it.  My daughter is head over heels for this guy.  Does he realize it?

“So, what am I to you, Nana?”