The Twelve Dates of Christmas Read Free Page B

matters. Love conquers all, right?”
    â€œDoes it?” I leaned forward, gazing at her across the table. “Seriously, Allie, think about it. After this year, I’ll be off to college at least, like, eight hundred miles away. Meanwhile Cam is probably going to wind up staying right here in Wisconsin.”
    â€œSo what?” Allie’s lower lip jutted out stubbornly. “Lots of people have made that kind of thing work.”
    I shrugged. “Okay, granted. But trying to keep up a long-distance relationship through four years of college is bad enough. What happens after that? Our goals and visions of life are just so different.”
    â€œRight, and that’s what I’ve always said makes you guys so perfect together,” Allie said. “Opposites Attract Theory, remember?”
    Fine. If she was going to start throwingher theories in my face, two could play that game.
    â€œOkay, then what about the Testing the Waters Theory?” I asked her. “You know, the one you came up with a while back that says nobody should just glom on to the first guy or girl who ever asks them out on a date. Neither Cam nor I have ever had any other serious relationships. How do we know the grass isn’t greener somewhere else?”
    â€œOh, please.” Allie rolled her eyes. “That theory doesn’t apply to you guys.”
    â€œWhy not? Besides, most relationships end at some point, especially for people our age. I’m sure there’s plenty of statistical evidence about that. Why should I expect to be the exception?”
    She frowned. “Why do you have to be so logical about everything?” she said. “Anyway, if you want to break up with Cam, just do it already. I can’t stop you.” She stuffed another fry in her mouth, then mumbled, “Even if I do know for a fact that it would be the hugest mistake of your life.”
    I didn’t bother to argue with her usage of the term
fact
. I already knew that would be pointless.
    â€œIt’s not that I
want
to break up with him,” I said instead. “I just think it’s probably inevitable, that’s all. Sad, but necessary.” With that, I decided to back off. It was obvious that Allie was getting kind of upset. She could be pretty sensitive about that sort of thing. “Anyway, give me another word, okay? The Simpson Scholarship won’t help much if I blow the verbal on the SAT.”
    That much was logical enough not to allow any argument. I knew I could ace the math part of the test even sound asleep and with one hand tied behind my back. However, I was a lot weaker on vocabulary. Luckily Allie is a word whiz. Must be from reading all those self-help books she loves so much. They probably have to get pretty creative to keep coming up with new ways to tell women how to land their dream guys.
    â€œFine.” Allie pulled the vocab list toward her again and scanned it. “Here are a few words for you. I offer you my sincerest adjuration to abrogate this abstruse and abhorrent aberration. Quit being so contumacious about it, or I shall have to berate you.”
    I was still puzzling through that one when the jingle bells hanging on the doorstarted jangling. Glancing that way, I saw Nick dragging himself into the diner. His face wore the hangdog, depressed look that had become all too familiar over the past week.
    â€œNick!” Allie waved at him. “Over here.”
    He blinked and then shambled over. “Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”
    â€œI’m just trying to talk Lexi out of doing something really stupid,” Allie informed him.
    Nick flopped into the booth beside me. “So what else is new?” he said with a shadow of his old humor.
    â€œDon’t listen to her.” I shot Allie a warning look. Now didn’t seem to be the time to involve Nick in a debate about me and Cam. He was depressed enough already. “We’re just running some