“Ha very ha.” I waited for my phone to hook up to the train Wi-Fi. “I more meant my ultimate Christmas Day in New York.” I waved my notebook at him. From the second we got into Twenty-Third Street Station, I had a minute-by-minute must-do of all the best Christmas things. “All three beautifully planned pages of it.” Nick looked like he might be working out how safe it was to jump off a moving train.

But I didn’t need to explain—he knew me by now. Anyway, I needed to ring Mum. Nick knew she’d been on my mind. I’d spoken to Nay last night, and she’d said Mum had sounded weird. Tbf, Naomi didn’t exactly sound super happy either. She’d run out of money, and all her friends had flown back, so she was being a “beach loner” until she caught her flight on the twenty-fifth. I pointed out it was quite hard to muster up any sympathy when the only beach I’d seen this year was in Wales, but she’d asked me what time my train was to Manhattan. Touché, schwester.

“Hello?” Mum answered like whoever was calling was a total mystery, not like there was a photo of me, with my actual name on it.

“Mother dearest!” I liked to mix up my greetings. “Guess where I am?”

“Well, if I’ve got the right day…” I loved seeing her happy face. “Hopefully on the train to Newwww Yoooiiirrkkkk.”

And that’s why I should have put my headphones in first. Mum on speaker + quiet train carriage + bad American accent = many, many dirty looks.

I clicked them in. “That’s better—and yup. Look!” I flipped the camera so she could see the snow. “Actual snow. I’M LIVING MY SNOW GLOBE DREAM.”

Mum grinned back at me—she knew what this meant. “Your plans sound incredible.” I’d read her the highlights on a quick call yesterday morning. “I can’t wait to hear ALL about it.”

I waved my book in front of the screen. “Trust me. I’m ready. I’m prepared. It’s going to be the best day EVEEEER!”

“Of course you are. Then it’s the parade, then the Snow Ball, right? What a week!” I beamed—I knew how lucky I was. “Oh, by the way.” She leaned back—revealing my penguin jumper with the snowball pom-poms.

“YESS, MOTHER!” Definitely too loud.

“Thought you’d like it. I gave Fred a lift this morning, and he was wearing his too.”

I closed my eyes, balled up my hand, and kissed my fist.

“No words.” My friends were ICONS.

“Sure we’ll get Elle in one too by the time she leaves.” I tried not to be disappointed that she hadn’t already. “Did you hear Ruby missed the train?”