frigid {jack frost}

t h r e e

Instead of the distanced glint in her eyes, there were happy shimmers and dancing emotion, right there in her deep brown peepers. Jack knew why, but he didn't understand. He admitted that to himself.

Jamie Bennett was sitting in school, doodling on his notebook, sniffling from the cold. He always wondered why his teacher liked to keep the classroom freezing when it was already the same way outside, but so did his class mates. They all just brushed it off and brought heavy jackets to the less than attractive room they spend hours in. His mind was jumping to get the 10-year old out of the math lesson, so he kept himself busy by drawing pictures of him and Jack, him and Elsie, Jack and Elsie. Jack and Elsie? Jamie wondered curiously, peering down at the sketch he had so effortlessly created. He didn't even think about what the picture meant, it just seemed natural to think the two of them were already best friends. The brown-headed artist hoped they were, at least.

Now, Elsie's nerves were pricking her skin as she sat on the bed with Sophie. She had to do this before the blondie would bounce off and get horribly distracted. It was just so hard. How could she approach this correctly?

An idea popped into her mind, pushing its way past all the nagging thoughts and to the front of her conscious. Are you stupid? It seemed to whisper, How did you get Jamie to believe?

"Right," El mumbled, adjusting herself so she was facing her small cousin, brewing up a couple clever snip-its from Jamie's adventurous story. "Soph, I think you deserve a story from all that fairy work. Must be tiring!"

That comment got Sophie's attention, causing her body to twist towards the tall red-head. She nodded vigorously, giggling slightly at the giddiness bubbling up inside of her, but also glad that someone understands how tough it is to be a fairy princess. She thought no one would get it!

Jack was making his way down the narrow hallway, wondering what was taking the girls so long. He was getting bored- that much was true. His feet created frost on the wooden flooring with every step, but it melted away quickly after his foot was lifted. The sudden sound of Elsie's smooth and intriguing voice caught his ear, making him lean over to press the side of his head to the door. What he heard made the edges of his lips stretch into a small, genuine smile.

She was explaining simple things, using her famous hand motions and sound effects. She told Sophie how Jack threw a snowball in the boogeyman's face to save Jamie, how he helped Jamie maneuver through traffic with ice, how he made it snow in Jamie's room to make him believe again. Everything seemed to relate to Jamie, but only because Sophie would understand better. Elsie was realizing, while telling these short tales, that Jack didn't just make it snow every winter. He saved children. He saved Jamie.

For that, she was thankful.

In the end, El was worried Soph might not believe. That those stories wouldn't change anything. And truthfully, it looked that way until a toothless grin spread across the little girl's face. Giggles erupted and a happy, bouncing, and very much excited Sophie proved that she started to believe. And to think, all it took was a few short stories.

So, after introducing the purple clad girl to Jack (which included even more giggles and his new nickname), the three of them- two bundled up in sweaters, mittens, and earmuffs while the other one was in his signature outfit- strode out the back door of the Bennett's house with a sled and skates in tote. Jack had to actually convince Elsie that: one, he wouldn't ever, ever, ever let them fall in the pond, and two, that Sophie wouldn't possibly get hurt during anything he had planned. Truthfully, he didn't have anything planned. He was going to wing it, like he usually does.

The trek to the frozen-over pond was a little longer than the one Jamie had made that past January morning. It was only because Jack Frost was constantly trying to hit Elsie in the face with a snowball, soon getting Soph into thinking it was okay to do the same, so basically the two had teamed up on the poor 17-year old. It turned into an ever-lasting snowball fight full of laughing and victory dances, but also sweet revenge when someone boasted too much. Jack managed to make it snow in this one area, and that itself flickered El's amazement, but she took no mind to it all. He was the winter spirit- of course he could do that.