The Holly and the Ivy

Make it Jingle

There were six days and twenty-two hours until the wedding.

Not that Holly was counting it down like a doomsday clock.

Her father had gone back to the North Pole to finish his work before Christmas. Holly's mother, on the other hand, had decided to stay in New York with Alvita - the two conspiring to throw together the most intense wedding they could in the amount of time they had. Every day, Holly got bombarded with texts about food, decor, music, and a bunch of other random, meaningless details she simply did not care about.

But at least they were keeping her informed, unlike Mistletoe. The mischievous elf was engrossed in planning Holly's bachelorette party, and instead of giving Holly updates, she would simply giggle and make some ominous comment about how Holly was going to be "so mad."

"Isn't the goal of the bachelorette party for me to have a good time?" Holly asked.

It was the night of the party, and Holly still hadn't received any information about what exactly they were going to be doing.

"Partly," Mistletoe answered. "But we also have to embarrass you."

"I don't think you do," Holly muttered.

"Hey, look at the bright side. At least you're getting married first. This way you'll know how much to pay me back when it's my turn."

Holly tried to turn her grimace into a smile, but Mistletoe was distracted by her phone anyway. With the wedding approaching so fast, her apprehension had started to grow at an exponential rate.

"Come on," Mistletoe said. "It's time to go."

"Go where?"

Mistletoe smiled evilly.

"You'll just have to see, won't you?"

Outside, Mistletoe hailed a taxi and gave the driver some cross streets downtown. Holly was impressed - her best friend had gone from poking garbage bags to hailing taxis like it was nothing. She was quickly turning into a New Yorker.

The taxi dropped them off in front of a massive hotel.

"There's a surprise for you in room 1423," Mistletoe said happily, presenting Holly with a key card.

Please not strippers.

"You know, why don't we do a nice night at home-"

"Holly Kringle," Mistletoe scolded. "Where is your sense of adventure?"

"I'm not sure I ever had one," Holly mumbled.

"Nonsense," Mistletoe replied. "This is the girl who went halfway across the world into a completely foreign environment for college. This is the girl who stood up to the elves bullying me in grade school. You are fearless. You can do this."

Holly had so many fears, but she was proud that she had apparently done a good job hiding them. Mustering up her courage, she headed into the hotel and took the elevator to the 14th floor.

Room 1423 was an enormous suite, with an ornately-decorated living room and several rooms attached to it. It was bigger than the apartment Holly and Mistletoe had been staying in, and Holly marveled at the grandness of it all.

"This is beautiful," Holly told her best friend. "This is the surprise?"

"Only part of it," Mistletoe answered, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.

"Surprise!"

A chorus of elves burst out of various hiding places around the room. Holly and Misletoe's whole North Pole friend group had apparently received an invitation to the bachelorette. Hope and Snowy had hidden behind the couch, Twinkle behind the door, and Cinnamon had wrapped herself in the room's curtains.