Ana Sofia and the Search for Santa

🎄Chapter 7: A House Made of Gingerbread🎄

Ana Sofia and Albert sat at the kitchen table making a gingerbread house. The walls were set and the windows had been carefully formed with icing.

It was quiet in the house. Mom and Dad had gone somewhere top-secret, leaving only the two of them, and Ashley in the house.

A knock at the door surprised them both, and Albert rose to answer it. Telling her to keep working.

Ana Sofia opened a package of gum drops but kept her eyes turned towards the front door.

Albert opened it and saw a skinny teenager standing in the frame, practically shaking. He was dressed nicely, as if for a special occasion.

After wiping visible sweat from his forehead, he nervously spoke.

"Um. Is Ashley Wilson here? Please tell her it's Kyle. She'll know who I am."

I don't think Ashley even remembers her own name half the time. Ana Sofia thought.

Albert turned his head with a grin and called back into the house.

"Ashley!!!"

He hadn't realized she was at the bottom of the stairs with an annoyed look on her face.

"Somebody's here for you!" he yelled again. Not because he had to. But because he knew it would annoy her.

Ashley groaned and moved towards the door while Albert headed back to the gingerbread house construction site.

"How's it coming along?" he asked.

Ana Sofia suddenly realized she hadn't done a single thing without him and scrambled to place the gum drops on the roof but they didn't stick.

"More icing should do," he said, picking up the tube. "We also need to make a door. Maybe a gumdrop for the doorknob?"

They got back to work, both keeping an ear turned towards the door.

Kyle was stumbling over his words and sweating to the point it looked like he'd been stuck in the rain. He tried to ask Ashley something many times but always ended up either coughing or clearing his throat. Only managing "uhhh's" and "duhhh's."

He finally stepped forward, making Ashley step back like she was ready to slam the door in his face.

"Ashley Wilson... Will you be my Valentine?"

Ashley crossed her arms. "It's December."

"Yes it is! Good point!" said Kyle while literally pointing at her.

There was silence for a moment as Kyle tried to recover from his failure.

"Ashley Wilson, will you be my rock?"

"Your rock?"

"Um. Never mind! What I meant to say was, Ashley Wilson, will you be my number one?"

"Please. Speak. English!"

"Um, right. Ashley Wilson. Will you be my Mrs. Claus?"

Ashley uncrossed her arms and really took a long look at him. Flowers... a button down shirt... Cologne that smelled like bleach.

"Oh no. You're not here to ask me to the winter dance, are you? Um..."

She tried to remember his name, but couldn't, forcing him to tell her.

"Kyle."

"Right, Lyle."

"It's... uh, it's Kyle. And now that you mention it that is exactly why I'm here!"

Ashley let out a long exhale. "I'll think about it."

Kyle's face lit up like a Christmas tree, but then the lights went out when the Juliet to his Romeo started to close the door.

"I thought about it."

"Really? And your answer, my Queen?"

Ashley slammed the door and answered from the other side.

"No."

After breaking the poor boy's heart, Ashley walked over to the table without a care in the world and plucked a few gumdrops from the roof, and popped them in her mouth. They both yelled at her, which amused her.

"You two are both nuts!"

"Oh shut it and go take another selfie with cat ears!" Albert shot back. "News flash! You're not a cat and never will be no matter how many filters you use!"

Ana Sofia giggled into her hands and Ashley stomped off while Albert meowed like a cat.

Once she was gone and things settled down, they got back to work.

"Hey, Albert? Can I tell you something kinda weird?"

Albert nodded, giving her his full attention.

Ana Sofia remembered Percy had told her it wasn't a good idea to tell anyone about what she'd seen. But she trusted Albert more than anyone. He could keep a secret.

"A fairy came to my window last night."

"Oh yeah?" he said. Not seeming shocked at all.

Does Albert know Percy?

"Uh huh, from Polaris," she explained further.

Albert grinned from ear to ear. "What did he want?"

He? How did he know Percy was a he?

"Santa Claus is missing. He needs my help to find him."

"Well that sounds like a lot of pressure, but I think you're the right girl for the job. You won't let us all down."

"I won't, I swear," she said, suddenly getting the nervous feeling in her stomach she'd felt before.

He was right. It was a big important job, but it had been given to her, and she had to see it through.

"Good, because Christmas without Santa would be... I don't even wanna think about how bad that would be."

The smile on his face made the feeling in her stomach worse. Nobody knew just how serious things were.

Not even Albert.

She needed to get to work A.S.A.P.