It’s universally known that Christmas in itself is a season. Yes, winter, spring, summer, and autumn are seasons, but Christmas is a season, too. Everyone in Winterberry Hollow acknowledges this fact, and for that, I’m eternally grateful that my parents raised me here.

The sound of skates and laughter around me fills the air, and even though it’s so cold I can feel my eyelashes freezing as snowflakes float through the air, I giggle as Elisa makes a funny face across the rink at me. She’s madly pointing to her best friend, Jacob, as he unstraps her laces, and I know that even if she weren’t a terrible skater, he would still tie her laces.

Just last week, the town council decided it was time to fill the local soccer field with water to make our ice rink, and today, they announced that it was open to the public. More and more people slip onto the ice as the evening grows darker, and there’s a sense of anticipation around us. Tonight, since it’s the first night of December, the large tree in the town square will be lit.

“Hey, Magnolia!” Lennox calls from across the rink as he shows off his terrible twirl. I almost double over from laughing at my friend’s humor, but I stop as I continue to watch his performance.

Thump.

A shoulder crashes directly into mine, and I topple right on top of the person who knocked into me.

“Hey!” I yelp, pushing off the hard chest beneath the puffy jacket I’m currently lying on top of. The boy beneath me looks bewildered for a moment before he meets my gaze with some sort of question in his eyes. My movements still for a second before I remember where I am, and I quickly remove my body from his. “What gives?”

“Sorry, some of us know not to stop in the middle of the rink.” The boy says with a slight accent. I can’t quite place it, but the sound of it is actually quite beautiful. My cheeks flush even more as I search his face and realize that not only is his voice beautiful, but he is, too.

“Wait, what?” I say, snapping out of whatever trance he just placed me under, quickly standing from the ice. “I wasn’t stopped in the middle of the rink.” I huff, crossing my arms defensively.

“You most definitely were,” He quips, crossing his arms the same as I am. He’s much taller than I am, and when I meet his eyes, the devastating darkness of them consumes me.

“I wasn’t.”

“Was.” He says with a smirk.

“I wasn’t, and since you obviously aren’t from around here, it’s apparent you don’t know basic manners.” His eyebrows flicker, but his smirk remains.

“You’re right about me not being from around here, but you’re wrong about the manners part. I definitely know not to stop in the middle of the rink. It appears as though you don’t, though.” He says, reaching out to brush a clump of wintery mix off my shoulder before skating off. I stand in disbelief for a moment before realizing that I’m doing exactly what I said I wasn’t doing, and I move in the direction of Elisa and Jacob on one of the benches right outside of the rink.

“Magnolia, who was that?” Elisa says excitedly, giving me a wink.

“Hush. You didn’t even hear what he said to me.” I say, plopping down next to her. Jacob watches both of us silently as he waits for an answer from me. While Elisa is my best friend, she’s also best friends with Jacob, meaning he and I cross paths pretty often when we’re associating with Elisa. Same with Lennox. Since he’s close with Jacob, in turn, he and I spend time together when the four of us go out.

“Well? I saw the part where you were splayed across his chest and totally feeling his muscles.” Elisa says with a giggle, arousing a cough from me.

“Absolutely not. He bumped into me and then said it was my fault. Can you believe the nerve?” I say frustratedly.

“He’s not from here, right?” Jacob pipes up, narrowing his eyes at the boy as he continues to skate without so much as glancing at us.

“Definitely not.” Elisa and I say at the same time.

“Maybe he’s here for all of the festivities? He looks like he’s our age, so probably not traveling alone?” Elisa muses, looking him over one more time before turning back to me. “Either way, you should totally talk to him.”

“I already talked to him!” I say, covering my mouth with a mitten before realizing just how loud I spoke.

“Talk to him as in get his number, talk to him.” Elisa says with a nudge of her shoulder into my arm. “Who knows. Maybe that was love at first collision?” I barely keep my tongue closed and refrain from shouting no, since I’m not going to be drawing any more attention to myself.

“We’ll see about that. Chances are, I won’t see him ever again.” I say with a shrug, standing from the bench. “I’m going to go find hot chocolate and find a spot near the tree. Tell Lennox whenever he stops acting like an idiot on ice. See you two later.” Watching the tree lighting has always been one of my favorite things, and since Poppy and Charlie haven’t arrived yet, I’ll be watching it alone.

Poppy is the best sister ever—my only sibling—but with her busy schedule in New York, I can’t help but feel frustrated that she’s not here in Winterberry Hollow. I mean, she and Charlie are getting married in twenty-four days, and they’re not here yet. Mom and Dad keep insisting that they’ll be here on time, but the worrier in me can’t help but feel like they’re cutting it close.

“Thank you,” I say to Mr. McKenzie as he passes me a cup of hot chocolate in exchange for a few dollar bills. The top is fluffy with whipped cream, and two candy canes peak through the mountain of sprinkles.

“It appears we meet again,” The boy from earlier says near my ear as he steps in place next to me. I snatch my eyes from the dark tree in front of us and meet his teasing gaze. He looks less like the rude stranger who knocked me over, and more like a boy just enjoying the Christmas spirit.

“It appears we met again.” I echo, taking a mouthful of whipped cream in my mouth before smirking. “At least you didn’t make me fall on you this time.” I’m not sure why I’m teasing him, but he immediately smirks back.

“Oh, that won’t be an issue. Girls always fall all over me.” My jaw drops at his response, and while I can tell it’s just a joke in reply to what I said, I can’t help but believe him. He’s insanely good-looking, even if he made me look like a fool at the ice rink.

“Excuse me,” I gasp, taking a sip of cocoa before realizing that I still don’t know his name.

“Carlos.” He says, extending his hand out. While he’s also wearing gloves, I make an effort to shake it.

“Magnolia.” I reply, meeting his eyes once more before turning back to the small stand in front of the gigantic tree. It must be at least fifty feet tall.

“Thank you, lovely people of Winterberry Hollow. As your mayor, I couldn’t be more excited to commemorate the one hundredth tree lighting. In just a moment, we’ll all witness the hard work of our amazing volunteer team, and I hope that as we enter the season of giving, you remember to give to the community around you.” Mayor Blake says, reaching down to show off both ends of the electrical cord. When the ends meet, the thousands of lights brighten the tree, and everyone cheers. Everyone except for Carlos. He glances around as though this is too much excitement for the simple lighting of a tree.

“I guess you’re just too cool to clap or something?” I say, turning to face him as Mayor Blake speaks over the microphone.

“I think I’m just astounded by the amount of cheering going on. It’s nice and all, but it’s a tree.” He says, as though this makes perfect sense.

“It’s not just a tree. It’s the town square tree. This is a big deal here,” I huff, taking a sip of my near-cold cocoa. The temperatures are practically sub-zero.

“So I gathered,” Carlos responds, stuffing his hands into his jacket.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I gathered it’s a big deal here,” Carlos says with a chuckle. Children rush to the base of the tree and pick up some of the candy that’s being tossed out by a few of the volunteers. A candy cane drops at my feet, and I quickly reach down to pick it up and stuff it in my pocket. Carlos picks one up, too, but instead of opening it or saving it for later, he drops it in my jacket pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“It appears that you need it more than I do, Lia.” He says, tapping the other candy cane in my pocket, and motioning to the two in my cup. And with that, he turns and walks through the crowd of people, leaving me both speechless and frustrated at the same time.