Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [10]

Chapter 10

One and a half-hour passed. Jae didn't so much as notice how fast time passed by while she and Skye were throwing questions at each other.

"Favorite color?" he had asked.

Jae had given him a lopsided grin, "White."

Skye had rolled his eyes. "White is not a color. And stop with this obsession with my white hair."

She had defended, "But I really loved your white hair! You look great in it!" She clamped her mouth shut when she realized what she said.

Skye had raised one of his eyebrows as a smile crept onto his face. "No matter what you say won't bring back my hair. It only turns white on Christmas."

Jae tried not to look disappointed. "Magic?"

He nodded once in confirmation. "Okay, your turn."

"Where do you live again?" Jae asked, completely moving on from the last question. She pushed her shoes against the ground, slightly swinging. A cool breeze made her hair flutter softly.

"Definitely not in the North Pole," he said flatly.

"Answer the question, Santa Claus!" she said a bit giddily.

He shuddered a little. "Ugh, I hate that name. We live about 2 cities away from here. It's only a 2-hour drive."

Jae's jaw fell. "What? You live that close?" she said, surprised.

"Yes. And it's supposed to be a secret, so shush! My turn." He didn't give Jae a chance to process his answer. "Would you learn Mrs. Smith's cookie recipe for me? It'd be so convenient to just ask you when I am in need of those cookies."

Jae scrunched up her nose. "That's not a question."

"It's a favor, yes," he said with a slight smile.

"Mrs. Smith does make the best cookies, doesn't she? That would explain how you easily got caught," Jae teased. "Cookies are the perfect trap."

"Hey, don't you even dare use that information against me."

Jae shrugged innocently. "Ask me a proper question, Santa."

"Well, what's your family like?" he asked. If she didn't know better, Jae would've assumed he looked a bit sentimental.

"They're... not perfect but I love them anyway. My dad's gone. Mom said he died in an accident before I was born. Mom is the most perfect mom I could ever ask for. I have a brother named Adams. He annoys me most of the time. And that's it." Jae swore he remained blank while listening. When she was done speaking, light flashed in his eyes again.

"They sound lovely," he said softly.

Smiling, Jae said, "They are." Her watch suddenly caught her gaze and she stood up so suddenly, she almost tripped. "The class is almost over!"

Skye checked his watch as well, which was the watch Jae gave him and she tried to ignore this. "Oh crap, you're right," he said. And the conversation was cut just like that.

Skye started running back to the school. Jae followed behind him. He stopped and Jae almost crashed into his back. "What, what?" she said, panicking.

"Well, I mean... I have enough powers to—" His eyes darted everywhere but her eyes, "—teleport. With you."

Jae almost felt sick even though they haven't even teleported. "Do you still have that drink you made me drink?" she asked.

"Yep. Wynter calls it the 'teleport-hangover' drink. It's mostly made up of magic," he explained. Jae finally understood why it was fast to kick in.

She inhaled a large amount of air. "Well, if you've got that thing then I'll be fine. Oh god, this is seriously the last time I will agree to this."

Smirking, Skye held out his hand. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You're safe with me."

Jae warily looked at his hand. She remembered the moment Skye touched her hand, they both traveled to one place to another. And how sick she got from the travel.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as the first one," Skye said more softly, "I promise."

Jae gathered enough courage and closed her eyes before slipping her hand inside Skye's warm, waiting palm. They didn't teleport right away, she noticed. Skye pulled her closer to his chest, maybe so he would have more control and he wouldn't accidentally let go of her hand.

Jae didn't even want to imagine what would happen if she suddenly got stuck in the moments between traveling between two points.

And the familiar feeling struck her again. But this time, she was prepared for it. The ground disappeared and her senses were completely deprived. And before panic would sink in, the ground was beneath her again. Her stomach twisted and she felt like throwing up. But she held it.

She almost stumbled, but she realized Skye was still tightly holding her upright. He pushed a bottle onto her lips and she gratefully accepted the drink. A few seconds later, the headache subsided and she opened her eyes. They were out in the hallway.

Still half-dazed, she turned to Skye. "Are you stupid!? Why would you teleport us here when somebody could've walked right in and saw us!" Her voice slurred, but it was controlled enough.

"Don't worry, I've been doing this for years, Jae. Calm down," he said with a roll of his eyes. He still didn't let go of her, worried that she still might not be capable of walking.

When a full five minutes passed, Jae stepped away from his hold. She almost stumbled but she caught herself. She was still dizzy, but it was mostly gone. "This is a hallway. We could've gotten caught!" she hissed.

"Caught doing what? It's either anyone who saw would think they're on drugs or hallucinating. So, calm down, Jae," he said again. He put a hand on her head. "Wynter should be alone right now if he ended class 5 minutes ago. Let's go." He started walking and withdrew his hand from her head.

Grumbling, Jae followed him. She wondered what Maggie would say when they see each other. She'd probably question why she disappeared in thin air. Either that or she'd ask how she sneaked out without her noticing.

They reached the room and Skye peeked inside. "He's alone. Ok, the coast is clear." He swung the door open and trudged his way in. Jae followed, quite timidly. She found her teacher a bit intimidating, even if he appeared friendly.

Wynter shot a glare to his younger cousin the moment he entered the door. He stood up, "Skye Claus! What the heck did you do?" He realized he wasn't alone, and one of his students followed behind him. He knew her. She sat beside Skye. And her curly, fuzzy hair was enough to make her easy to remember.

"Calm down, old man. I'm fine, she's fine. Nobody's hurt," Skye said, leaning against the back wall. Jae walked silently across the room, headed towards her seat. She looked confused as she tried to search for whatever she was looking for.

"If you're looking for your things, your friend took it with her when she left," Wynter said.

Jae jumped slightly and then gave him a sheepish grin. "Thanks, Sir."

Skye snickered. "Oh, c'mon Jae. Don't need to be shy around the old man. He doesn't bite."

Jae glared at Skye, silently shaking her head. "Do I get in trouble?" Her voice turned soft when she asked her teacher. Wynter's eyes widened a little.

"For what?"

"For skipping class."

Clearing his throat, Wynter fixed his glasses. "No worries. It wasn't your fault." He, once again, frowned at his younger cousin. "Apparently, someone doesn't learn and always breaks the rules." He clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Grandpa would know of this."

Skye suddenly shot up, his eyes wide. "What!? No! Don't tell Grandpa! C'mon Wynter! Don't tell him!"

It looked weird, watching Skye, a person of arrogance, pleading like his life was on the line. Jae watched in amusement. Wynter, too, mirrored her expression but tried to hide it. "Oh, I don't know, Skye. This was your third offense. And you haven't done your job perfectly. You always found a way to mess it up."

Jae felt a bit guilty for that. The first time she met Skye, she stole a few minutes from him. Considering what his job was, every second counted. And that messed up his schedule. The second time she met Skye, he was too drained to even travel because of a thief that broke into their home, just because she forgot to lock the windows. Surprisingly, she found herself defending him, "It was partly my fault, too."

Wynter blinked a few times. He looked at her doubtfully. "What's your name?" he asked carefully.

"Camilla Jae," she answered.

"What do you know about Skye?" he asked firmly.

Gulping, Jae met Skye's gaze. He was shaking his head in a not-so-obvious way. Clearly that meant, don't tell his older cousin the truth. But Jae couldn't help but tell the truth anyway. "That he's Santa Claus... and he has magic."

Wynter sighed loudly through his nose as he massaged his forehead with one hand. "Skye... you managed to get caught. Twice. And then was comfortable enough to teleport? You broke all the rules."

Skye shrugged. "She's my friend."

Jae tried her hardest not to smile.

Skye added, "Also, she won't tell anyone. Right, Jae?"

Jae nodded quietly.

"Still, Skye! Think about the repercussions of your actions sometimes! You could have been caught in a very big mess." Sighing once again, he said, "If you broke another one of the rules again, I will have no choice but to tell Grandpa."

Sneering, Skye muttered, "What a tattle-tale."

"Grow up, Skye," Wynter growled.

Skye lifted his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. I won't break any of the rules again. I promise." Then his eyes met Jae's. "Jae is exempted from the rules, right? No use hiding it from her if she already knows."

"Fine, she is," Wynter answered.

Jae silently made her way to the door. She should leave. She has no business here. Also, she still has the next class to go to. She was near the door when she stopped.

"Have you found the Grinch yet?" Wynter asked.

"Not a clue," Skye answered.

Jae couldn't help but be curious. "The Grinch?" she asked loudly. Wasn't the Grinch that story about this green-ish monster that stole gifts and food on Christmas day? "Wait, is he real as well?" she asked, surprised.

The two Claus' found themselves unable to speak. They just revealed the reason why they were there in the first place. Fortunately, Jae didn't catch onto that. Skye was the first to clear his throat and then glowered at his cousin before saying, "Yes, the Grinch is real."

Jae pondered for a moment. "You're looking for him," she said.

"We are," Wynter answered, snapping out from his reverie.

"You mean, he's here. In this city. In this school," she said, once again a statement rather than a question.

Skye nodded. No use hiding it from her now. She could even be of help to them. "Yes, he is. Actually, we just heard rumors. The Grinch hasn't shown up in years, hasn't messed with anyone for a long time."

Wynter said as a warning, "Skye."

"Oh calm down, old geezer! She basically knows already. No harm telling her. What's the worst that could happen?" Skye said sarcastically.

"The Grinch might hear and escape if he found out we're looking for him," he answered seriously.

"Then we'd have to chase him down! God, was that not obvious enough?" he said. He turned to Jae again, "Grandpa just woke up one day feeling the Grinch's presence. And it led us here. To this city, this school."

Jae finally caught on. "You're only here because you're looking for him," she said towards Skye. Then to her teacher, "You're only our teacher so you could have a reason to stay here while you look for him."

The two cousins were quiet. Jae nodded in confirmation. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

With a smirk, Skye said, "I told you she'll keep her mouth shut."