In the picturesque town of Winter Grove, broken-hearted college student Celeste has to team up with lone wolf Sterling for a fake relationship in hopes of making her ex-boyfriend jealous and saving her Christmas.
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Overachieving college student Ce...
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Celeste
As Celeste dove into the crowd, she noticed that Mayor's house had gotten much busier since they had first started dancing. It seemed like the whole town was here, and now the place was packed to the brim with people.
Even in a pair of Alicia's sky-high heels, it was difficult for Celeste to see through the throng of people, let alone pass through it. It didn't help that she had exited right next to the bar, where there was a bottleneck of people trying to get drinks. But as far as she could tell, Sterling wasn't amongst them.
Where is he?
She squeezed through the crowd and made her way back to the dance floor, thinking he might've gone to find Olly and Alicia after Jared had stolen her away. But as she glanced over the dancing couples, he wasn't there either—and neither was Olly or Alicia.
Panic began to rise in her chest. The crowd seemed to press in, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. She turned away and pushed on, now heading across the hall, into the parlour where people were sitting and enjoying the full buffet of food and treats. The Mayor was holding court in a large easy chair by the fire, reading a Christmas story to a circle of little kids who watched rapturously. A few straggling adults were nearby enjoying the nostalgia of it all, but there was no Alicia, no Olly, and again... no Sterling.
Where could he have possibly gone?
Had she missed him in the crowd? She doubled back to the hall, looking back and forth. He couldn't have gone far.
He wouldn't have just left...
Not without saying goodbye.
Right?
"Cee!" called Alicia, her voice as clear as day over the noise of the crowd.
Relief washed over Celeste as she looked around, trying to locate the direction of her friend's voice. Then she spotted her, waving from halfway up the grand staircase, the only seemingly clear spot in the whole house. Celeste headed that way, squeezing past person after person.
When she finally made it to her friend's side, she was panting. The stairs were blissfully clear, and Celeste finally felt like she could breathe.
"Are you okay?" Alicia asked as Celeste half-collapsed on the stairs next to her. "You look—"
"Have you seen Sterling?" Celeste spat out between panting breaths.
"Sterling?" Alicia said, shaking her head. "No. Last I saw him, he was dancing with you before Jared came along... What happened with that, by the way?"
"It's... a long... story," Celeste gasped, turning around to use the new vantage point to search the crowd again. There was still no sign of Sterling. "But the short version is... Jared told me he wants me back."
