Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [12]

Chapter 12

Jae stirred awake. Groaning, she rolled over to her side and fell off. She sat up, confused and bleary from her nap. Adjusting to the light, she realized she was under the tree. Wait, where did she fell off from? Her eyes turned slightly to the right and a light blush colored her cheeks.

Sam was leaning against the tree, his head leaning on the right. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open. It was obvious he had fallen asleep as well. Her gaze went to his lap where a handkerchief was laid over it. That's where her head was seconds ago. On his lap.

She cleared her throat and then rubbed the sleep from her eyes. No use, though. She still needed some more rest but she still has work to do. She found her brother's laptop beside the tree and she opened it. She waited a few seconds for it to power on and her attention shifted to the time it displayed.

Oh crap. It's already after lunch! She's supposed to be in Sir Wynter's class right now! As if listening to her thoughts, her stomach grumbled. It was definitely after lunch.

She glanced at the peaceful Sam sleeping and then to the time displayed on the laptop.

Sighing, she made up her mind. She'd just have to skip Sir Wynter's class. But this time, she was skipping for real, and not because Skye had dragged her to play somewhere.

A breath of wind passed by, rustling the leaves, some of them falling off and falling on top of Sam's head. Jae smirked in amusement but then immediately turned her attention to the laptop. It had already finished loading.

She found two documents opened. She clicked on one of them. It was the book report she was trying to do. Scrolling down, she realized that the one-page review she'd done has been lengthened to more than 5 pages. What? Impressed and overwhelmed at the same time, she opened the second document. To find that it was her research paper. And it looked like Sam has left some notes for her about how he understood her topic. He also added some information and some links that might help her understand her topic more. And it was more than enough help.

Her eyes glistened and she blinked them away. It was stupid. Crying over a little help. But she can't stop her mouth from forming into a smile. She shot him an appreciative look, but he was still asleep. She pursed her lips as she opened another document and wrote a short note.

Buying lunch. Be back later.

She left the laptop open beside him where he could see it as soon as he opened his eyes. Recalling that time when they misinterpreted each other because he was missing when she woke up in the nurse's office, she felt responsible to write him a note.

She grabbed her wallet and left her bag, just to remind him that she'll be back. She stretched her arms first and tied her hair up before heading towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was almost empty. There were several students who thought it best to study in the cafeteria and occupied one whole table filled with books and notebooks and possible reviewers for the upcoming finals week. Jae didn't mind them and just went straight to the cashier. She bought two servings of spaghetti, two sandwiches, and two Pepsis. After paying for the food, she went straight back to the tree.

She was almost to the parking lot, her stomach growling once again to remind her to feed it when a hand grabbed her left arm and stopped her. Her eyebrows rose and her eyes widened in surprise as she was forced to turn around to face whoever it was that had grabbed her.

His stunning sky-blue eyes pierced into her average, brown ones. His lips drew back in a snarl as he glowered. Jae took a step back as she winced but she couldn't go too far because he was holding her still.

Skye was here. And he was angry.

"W-what?" Jae stammered. She wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't. But his eyes were cold and terrifying, far from the ones she was used to. "What are you doing here?"

He took in the sight of her and was taking his damn time until he finally realized that Jae was not hurt or injured anywhere. He let go of her arm and then crossed his own arms together. His lips were pressed into a thin line as his forehead creased. "Where were you?" he asked, fully ignoring Jae's questions.

Jae gawked as she absently nibbled on her bottom lip. "I'm... here. I fell asleep under that tree." She pointed to the tree that was still far off but Skye could see there was someone else there.

Sighing, Skye uncrossed his arms and brushed a hand through his hair. He looked partly relieved. "Good, Wynter caused a huge fuss about you. Sorry if I scared you."

Jae's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Wynter thought something happened to you because you didn't attend his class," he said flatly. "So he called me out to ask for my help to find you and to make sure you weren't in some kind of trouble."

Jae was surprised. "Sir Wynter... did?" She didn't imagine that her teacher whom she thought didn't care about her was actually worried about her. "And you came here when he said that?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I did. And you f*****g scared me to death. He sounded so terrified on the phone and I thought that maybe something did happen to you..." He trailed off, his cheeks reddened.

The corners of Jae's mouth turned up. "You were worried about me. And Sir Wynter also worried about me." Then her smile faded as realization dawned in. "Oh no! We've got to tell him I'm fine! He might call my mom if he's that worried!"

Skye smirked. "Nah. Leave that old guy alone. Let him suffer for a while. I'll tell him later," he said with a wink.

"But—"

"Don't ruin my fun, Jae," he said with a pout.

Jae relented. "Fine. But I'll tell him this was all your idea."

"He'll believe whatever you say," Skye muttered. "Especially if it's against me."

She looked at him amusedly before remembering the lunch she bought for her and Sam. "Hey, I've got to go. Let's meet up after class so I could talk with Sir Wynter, ok?"

He raised one hand. "Sure, bye." And then he disappeared right in front of her.

Jae couldn't help but gape for a few seconds. She blinked several times and then shook her head. Skye never learned, does he? She'd already told him so many times not to do that in public. Someone might just accidentally see him!

She turned around and headed towards the tree. Sam was already awake, her laptop on his lap. His focus was stolen by her briefly before he returned it to the screen in front of him. Jae plopped down beside him. "I bought lunch. We overslept."

Sam smirked. "You mean 'overnapped'. And yeah, I read your note."

"Good. I didn't want to have that misunderstanding again," Jae said. She handed over styrofoam of pasta and a sandwich to him. She brought out her own pasta and began to stir her plastic fork to mix up the sauce.

"You were the one who mistrusted me," Sam said drily.

"Well, you left! What was I supposed to think?"

Sam didn't answer for a whole minute, until, "Trusted me enough to know that I'd come back."

Guilt settled in Jae's gut. "Ok. I'm sorry. I didn't know you liked me enough to be your friend. I just thought I intruded in your life and that you were just obligate—"

"Jae."

"What?"

"That's very stupid."

Jae frowned. "Asshole."

They skipped the whole day just so Sam could help Jae finish her requirements. By the time all their classes ended, Jae only had to do the rest of her research paper and then she could relax. Or not. She should study for the upcoming exam.

Clearing her throat, Jae asked, "Would you like to come by tonight?"

Sam didn't even lift his head up as he continued to read one of the books they were forced to read for the exam. "You want me to tutor you."

Jae couldn't mask the surprise on her face. And then it turned into an embarrassed one. "Yes. Please? It's not that I can't catch up with all the lessons. I just haven't been paying attention these past few days. And you're really smart!"

Sam shook his head as he pushed Jae's face away when she blocked the book he was reading. "You call that being a friend? You're just using me to your advantage."

"C'mon Sam!" Jae insisted.

"Whatever. I'm a very serious tutor."

"I know! And I'll try my best!" Jae gave him her biggest smile.

"Fine. Alright," Sam said. Jae silently celebrated in her head. "But that will cost you 5 bucks."

Jae's smile was wiped away and was replaced with a sneer. "You're expecting me to pay you?"

Sam shrugged innocently. "I can make you get high scores in your finals. Don't I deserve to get paid for that?" he said with a smug smile.

Jae crinkled her nose. But then remembered, "Mom's making her famous macaroni and cheese. Would that be enough payment?"

Sam pretended to think for a moment. "Deal."

***

Before they went to Jae's house, Jae said she was going to visit one of her teachers first. Sam waited by the parking lot while Jae ran back to the building and headed towards Sir Wynter's classroom.

She also tried to look for Skye on the way, but he was nowhere to be seen. Jae was positive he forgot all about this meeting. Well, even without Skye, Jae should still apologize for missing his class. He didn't want to make him worry.

She reached the classroom and peeked inside. It was empty, except for Sir Wynter's hunched figure in front. No sign of Skye. Oh well. She knocked three times before opening the door.

Wynter's head lifted off from his desk when he heard someone knocking. His gaze met with one of his students, one he particularly favored from the rest of the class. He tried to hide how relieved he was to find her safe and sound. "Do you need anything, Camilla Jae?"

Jae smiled when Sir Wynter remembered her name. "No. Just dropping by. Skye found me earlier and told me you were worried because I didn't come to your class." She awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "Truth is, I fell asleep and then when I woke up, I was already too late."

Sir Wynter nodded his head once, ignoring the fact that Skye told his student he was worried for her. "That's good. I mean it's not good that you skipped my class, but it's good that you're ok." He didn't speak after that.

Jae waited and then frowned when he looked like he was finished speaking. She cleared her throat, "I, uhm, shouldn't I get punished for it?"

Sir Wynter smiled genuinely. "You want to have detention?" he said in amusement.

Jae looked to the left and shifted her feet. "It's not that I want to have detention. I mean, if I deserved it, you shouldn't not give me one."

Wynter pretended to look back to the papers in his hand. "Well, Jae. I'm just being generous as of the moment because I know the finals week is coming and you've got a lot ahead of you. Giving you detention would be a waste of time. If the finals are over and you still want that detention, come and see me, alright?"

Jae tried not to smile. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Jae nodded and then left the room. Well, that's that. Sir Wynter was surprisingly kind. Far from that of his cousin, Skye.

She reached the parking lot and found Sam already inside the car. She slipped inside the shotgun seat and put on the seatbelt.

"You done?" Sam asked.

Jae nodded. "Yep, let's go home."

They reached Jae's house in a couple of minutes. Sam parked right in front of the house before killing off the engine. Jae was the first to come out of the car while Sam followed behind her. It was almost 6. Just in time for dinner. Jae rang the doorbell and it took her brother a couple of seconds before answering the door.

Adams showed up and he didn't look pleased. And his mood turned even sour when he saw who was behind Jae. "And why is this guy here?"

"Calm down, Adams. He's my tutor for today. If you want me to graduate, you'd back off," Jae said.

Sam didn't even look at Adams. Jae pushed her brother on the chest and went inside the house and Sam trailed. Adams shook his head and then headed towards the kitchen. "Anyway, Jae. One of your boyfriends is here."

Jae frowned. "What the hell are you talking about, Adams?" She followed him towards the kitchen and skidded to a stop once she saw who was seated in one of the seats. Her throat constricted.

Skye was talking to her mom and they were laughing. Then he noticed that Jae was standing at the kitchen doorway and waved. "Hey Jae." 

What. The. Hell.