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.