"Teach me how to dreidel?"

"It's kind of a kids thing, but alright."

"You're not gonna play then?"

"If you are, then I will."

After an amazingly done meal by Levi's mother Sandra, the night continued as Skye, Levi, and Lenny sat around the coffee table, beginning a not so friendly game of dreidel as Skye was prepared to play dirty despite having never played a game of dreidel in her life. Thankfully, she had Levi to show her the ropes, so Skye would have some assistance when kicking everyone's asses, including Levi even though he would be the one to show her how the game is played.

Skye took a spin at the dreidel, watching it spin at lightning speed while everyone (including herself) waited for it to stop and fall over. Once it did, Skye looked over to Levi in confusion, unsure of what the Hebrew text on the side the dreidel landed on meant. "Uh, what does that mean?"

"You take all of the coins from the bowl," Levi said. Everyone in the game had their own supply of chocolate coins, and then there were coins in a bowl that sat in the middle of the coffee table. The goal was to gain everyone's coins, including the coins in the bowl, so whoever got to that goal first was the winner. It seemed pretty simple, but anything can happen.

"Okay, so did I win?" She asked. The answer was a hard no, which Skye would be disappointed to hear as she wanted to win already.

"Not yet. We all have to put one coin in the bowl cause you emptied it." He replied. "The game ends when someone has all of the coins or only one person is left."

"So, if I had both you and Lenny's coins as well, then I'd win?" Skye questioned. Now she got the gist of the game, but she would definitely need help with the Hebrew to English translation.

"Yup." Levi nodded.

"Bet." She grinned, turning to Lenny to do some in-game trash talk. "Game on, bestie. I'm gonna kick your butt in dreidel."

"Don't get too competitive, you three." Levi's mom warned. Little did she know about all of the bets her son and Skye partook in.

"Mom, come on," Levi whined. "Skye and I are insanely competitive."

"It's true," Skye chimed in, then nudged Levi's side so he could hurry up and do his turn. "So do your turn already, dude."

"Fine, jeez." He rolled his eyes, then went to spin the dreidel, which landed on Shin, meaning he had to add one of his coins to the bowl. "Dang it."

"What?" Skye furrowed her eyebrows, having no idea what was wrong.

"I got Shin," Levi said.

"And?" She questioned.

"I lose a coin." He replied.

"Oh," Skye said with a blank face before a smile crept up. "Good."

"It's your turn, Lenny." Levi directed, then Lenny reached over for the dreidel, spinning the dreidel for his turn.

"Nun." Lenny sighed, meaning nothing happened for his turn.

"My turn!" Skye exclaimed, doing her turn, then looked over to Levi in confusion once more. "Um..."

"Also Nun, so nothing changes," Levi said, making Skye let out a sigh.

The game went on and on with the three growing more and more frustrated as the game got longer and longer. If someone spun Nun one more time, Lenny was probably going to scream, which wouldn't be pretty considering he's five and could screech his head off. At this point, Skye had learned the meaning of each side of the dreidel, so she no longer needed Levi to help translate anymore, and now only needed to rely on herself to win this thing.

It was currently Levi's turn, and the one side he didn't want to land on just so happened to be what the dreidel landed on, so he was officially in danger. "Oh no."

"What?" Skye asked.

"It's my last coin." He said. He hadn't been so lucky during this game, so he would be the first to go unless he could get someone to loan him some coins to stay in the game.

"Okay, and?"

"I spun Shin again. I have to give up my last coin then I'm out." Levi replied, then turned to Levi, begging for a loan. "Uh, Lenny, loan me something."

"No way, loser." Lenny scoffed in classic childish five-year-old fashion.

He then looked over to Skye, hoping she could save him just this once. "Skye, come on."

"I'm on Lenny with this one." She said. "Give up the coin."

"Dang it," Levi whined, throwing his last coin in the bowl then sat back up on the couch, accepting his poor defeat. Nowadays he didn't really care about the game as he grew older, but Skye brought back the odd excitement from playing dreidel.

"It's just me and you now, Lenny." Skye grinned, facing him from across the coffee table as Lenny looked at her like he wanted to kill. Rightfully so though because who doesn't want a bunch of chocolate coins?

"I'm gonna win so bad." He said.

"Oh yeah?" She raised an eyebrow. "Let the power of the dreidel decide that one."

Skye and Lenny went back and forth as everyone in the living room watched, oddly engrossed in the game as it had been going on for so long already. While Lenny's amount of coins became less and less, Skye's amount became more, which shocked her, but she wouldn't complain about it as she scored more coins.

"I got Hey!" Skye exclaimed, taking out coins from the bowl. "Half of the bowl for me."

"Don't get too excited." Lenny rolled his eyes.

"Someone's getting real salty over there, huh?" She laughed.

"I'm five. I just want to win." He sassed. One time Lenny flipped the board after losing in Clue, so he definitely wanted to win as all children do, but the younger Daniels had no idea that Skye was always one to be competitive, just as much as his older brother who was the first one out earlier.

"Well, so do I, buddy, so do I," Skye said, continuing with the game as tension grew.

Lenny spun the dreidel, announcing what he got then put another one of his coins in the bowl, watching the bowl get fuller and fuller with each turn. "Shin."

"The chocolate bank is looking real little over there." Skye teased, which made Lenny get a little mad as she was totally kicking his ass right now.

"Just spin already." He scoffed, and she did just exactly that after muttering some words about Lenny under her breath.

"Ah, Shin for me too." She sighed. "Luckily for me, I'm loaded in chocolate."

Lenny spun again, groaning as he had to put yet another coin in the bowl. He was running insanely low just like his brother was before running out completely, so there seemed to be a pattern between the Daniels brothers. "Again?"

"One more and you're out," Skye said, beginning her turn while Lenny pouted from the other side of the coffee table.

"Gimel!" She exclaimed, taking in her newly gained coins. "Man, I'm getting so lucky tonight."

"Nun." Lenny sighed. He merely got lucky with that one, so he was on insanely thin ice now.

"Pft, Nun for me too." Skye rolled her eyes. She just wanted to win already, and that wish would come true in just a moment.

"Shin."

Skye stood the moment she heard that word came out of Lenny's mouth, basking in her win in her first-ever game of dreidel. "Oh! You lost! I win! Skye Simmons is victorious!"

"Um-" Levi began, trying to stop her from rubbing her victory in Lenny's face.

"And the crowd goes wild!" She exclaimed, jogging around the living room with her arms out and imitating cheers while everyone watched.

As Skye calmed down, she plopped back down on the couch, sharing a laugh with Levi. "Not bad for your first game of dreidel."

"Not bad?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "I won!"

"I like this one, Levi. I wouldn't mind if she came over again." Levi's dad, Barry, chimed in.

"Me too." His mom, Sandra, added, which insanely pleased Skye and eased her nerves from earlier completely.

"Can we open presents now?" Lenny whined, making everyone burst into laughter.

"Yes, dear, we can." Sandra giggled, then got up to grab gifts from the present table.

"Ooo, I can't wait for you to see what I got you," Skye said to Levi, who also shared his excitement.

Sandra came back with a small box, handing it over to Skye, which was unexpected for Skye and Levi. "Skye, we got you an honorary Hanukkah gift."

"We did?"

"You did?"

"Mhm." She nodded, then Skye took the gift in her hands. "Open it."

Skye unwrapped the little box, taking off the lid, which revealed two matching bracelets donning black and gray beads, which had a bit of a holographic vibe going on for them. Her jaw dropped as she laid eyes on them, then she looked up and around at everyone who watched her open the gift. "Woah! Thank you so much! These are gorgeous."

"They're matching bracelets," Barry said.

"Are they?" Skye questioned.

"Yeah, so if you wanted to give the other so someone else-"

"Hey, Levi?" She interrupted, turning to Levi who looked in confusion. "Let's match."

"Uh, okay." He replied, not even putting up a fight as he had no issue with the idea. It would be a nice symbol of their friendship (more like could be relationship).

"Put your wrist out," Skye demanded, and Levi immediately obeyed, blushing as Skye put one of the bracelets around his wrist. Once she was done, she put out her wrist, ordering that Levi puts on hers as well. "And now put mine on for me."

With their bracelets now worn on their wrists, the two "clinked" their bracelets like clinking wine glasses. "Clink."

"Let's open my present for you now!" Skye said, then turned to Sandra for approval. "Is that cool?"

"Of course!" She replied. "I'll go grab it for you."

Once Sandra came back with the gift labeled from Skye to Levi, she quietly thanked her before handing the gift to Levi, nervous but also excited about him opening it in fear that he won't like it. "I hope you like it."

Levi shakes the box, trying to figure out what was in it, not having a clue what was inside. He then unwrapped the wrapping paper, opening the box to reveal a box full of art supplies. Skye couldn't quite read his face, so she just went on about the specifics of her gift as they weren't just your average art supplies.

"I got you art supplies!" She exclaimed. "And not like that Crayola crap, I got you the legit stuff."

"Oh my god, Skye, thank you," Levi said.

"Do you like it?" Skye asked.

"Like it?" He questioned. "I love it! I'm gonna try this stuff out later for sure."

"Yay, I'm so happy!" Skye says excitedly, wrapping her arms around Levi for a moment before going back to her seat. Levi wished the moment lasted a little longer, but he cherished the brief hug anyway.

"By the way, the present that I owe you is still a work in progress," Levi mentioned, referring to the gift he owed her from their snowball fight earlier in the month. Skye surely didn't forget, but she was glad Levi didn't either.

"You must really be putting a lot of thought into this, huh?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I guess you could put it like that." He said.

"Interesting," Skye said, trying to list all of the possibilities of what Levi could be planning in her head.

They all continued with the gift opening, sharing laughs, and not forgetting to tease Levi which never got old. But once all the presents were open and dessert was fed to everyone, it was time for Skye to go home after an interesting and entertaining night at the Daniels residence. This would definitely be something to write for her future self, and she wouldn't hesitate to write how her night went once she got home.

Levi stood in the driveway with Skye as she waited for her dad to pull upfront of Levi's house. Like it would be on any winter night, it was freezing cold, but Skye noticed how Levi seemed to be warm, radiating heat, which reminded her of when she was around her dad as he was always warm no matter what. It must've been a universal male thing, but she didn't mind it in this case.

"Dude, I had the time of my life." Skye grinned, standing as close to Levi as possible without it being weird, although he wouldn't mind it. "Tonight was amazing."

"Well, like my parents said, you're definitely welcome back." He said.

"We'll see about that. You better let me know how those art supplies work out." She replied, expecting a spam of texts containing pictures of his drawings attempts in the upcoming days.

"I will."

"Maybe you can try drawing me or something." Skye shrugged, which made Levi's eyes widen as he thought she knew about his drawings, but she still didn't have a clue. "I don't know, just an idea."

"Uh, yeah! Totally." Levi nervously replied.

A few moments later, Skye's dad's car pulled up by the sidewalk, meaning it was time for Skye and Levi to say their goodbyes. "There's my dad's car. Want me to say anything for you?"

"Just that I said hey," Levi said.

"Well, goodnight." She said, looking up at him with a soft smile then began walking over to her dad's car.

"Goodnight."

"Tell Lenny I miss him already!" Skye yelled out before getting into her dad's car.

"I will!" Levi yelled back.

Skye hopped into the passenger seat and slammed the car door, peering her head out the window to say goodbye to Levi while her dad drove away. "See you Monday! Bye, Levi!"

"Bye!" He waved, then let out a sigh as her car disappeared into the night. "My time will come eventually."

•••

Dear Future Me,

Hanukkah was a success! Levi's parents really seemed to like me despite them wishing I was dating their son, but I overall had a good time. I totally beat everyone's ass in the dreidel game, so whoever wants to attempt playing me better watch out. Hmm, I wonder if they just went easy on me though. Nah, there's no way. It's all about the luck of the spin, and I just got lucky.

I still have no idea what this present Levi's planning is all about, but it better be good. Well, I'll still be grateful he got me something, but like, it can't just be a shitty gift, ya know? I shall sit here and wait patiently though. The wait better be worth it. I'm sure he has something good up his sleeve though, or should I say his shoulder brace? Hmm, that makes me wonder when he can finally stop using that thing though. I know he hates it.

I don't know about you, Future Me, but I wouldn't mind partaking in more Hanukkah festivities. Minus the girlfriend and boyfriend talk though. Just saying. The matching bracelets his parents got us are cute though. Damn, we do look like a couple, huh? Shit.

Sincerely,

Past Me.

•••

MARIA TALKS!

derek chauvin guilty on all counts as he should 😌 was very pleased to hear that yesterday

but that's the end of the hanukkah chapters! i hope i did hanukkah justice for my jewish peeps 😩 (i did research prior to writing these chapters so please appreciate the effort, my safari list full of links regarding what goes down during a hanukkah party and how to play dreidel need this)

i should also mention this is how i imagined skyevi's matching bracelets would look like 🙈 if anyone is curious as to where to buy those, they're on distancebracelets.com. you're welcome!

these next few chapters are what i've been looking forward the most since the very beginning (more than the homecoming chapters, insanity), so i can't wait for you guys to see what i have planned!

as always don't forget to vote 🥰 see y'all next time MWAH