Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [13]

Chapter 13

Jae's jaw fell. Skye kept acting oblivious and smiled. "Your mom was just telling me about your embarrassing moment in grade school."

Pauline, Jae's mom, clapped her hands excitedly as she turned towards Jae, her eyes brightly beaming. "Jae! You didn't tell me you met Skye again!"

The smell of macaroni and cheese wafted inside the dining room, but Jae was too focused on her mother. "Skye? Again?" she repeated.

Her mom must've noticed the confused and surprised expression on her face, because she stood up and explained, "Jae, you forgot? You used to play with Skye when you were kids!"

Jae didn't know it was possible for her eyes to widen even more so than before. Skye looked as surprised as her. Pauline crossed her arms when she saw the expressions on both of the kids' faces. Rolling her eyes, she strode to the living room, "You guys already forgot? Geez. And I'm the old one."

Jae met Skye's gaze and they silently asked each other what was going on. Both of them didn't know. When Skye passed by to follow Pauline to the living room, Jae inched closer to whisper, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I did say I'll see you later, right?" he whispered back, mischief flashed in his eyes.

Jae huffed. "What did you tell mom?"

"I just told her I'm one of your old friends! I didn't know we were childhood buddies!" he said defensively.

"Well, good because same." Jae shook her head as she stood behind her mom who was leafing through old photographs and albums under the television. "Mom, are you sure it was Skye?"

Pauline didn't even turn around to answer. "Of course I was sure it was Skye. He still looks the same! He's still white as snow. Although his hair changed slightly darker. But I'm sure it's Skye!"

The two of them exchanged glances once again. They eagerly but patiently waited for Pauline to find that photograph she was looking for. Even if they didn't say it out loud, they were pretty curious about all this.

Adams and Sam stood far back. They haven't spoken to each other. But Sam's expression turned dull and gloomy every second. Adams seemed to notice this but didn't speak up.

"Aha! I found it!" Pauline exclaimed after minutes of searching. She took the photo from the album and wiped off the dust with the edge of her shirt. Jae tiptoed to look over her mom's shoulder because Pauline took a moment to appreciate the photo before showing it to them. Skye still patiently waited with his arms crossed. "You met Skye on Christmas morning," she began her story as she finally showed the photo to them.

Jae put a hand to her mouth as she stared at the picture. There was a lively, little girl on the left side. She wore layers upon layers of sweater and a hand-knitted scarf enclosed her little neck and also the lower part of her face. Even when she was a kid, Jae's brown hair was frizzy and fuzzy. She wore her hair up in pigtails which just accentuated how wild her hair was.

They were out in the backyard. Jae didn't know if it was their backyard because the whole ground was covered with thick, white snow. Her boots were half-sunk in the snow. In the middle of the picture was a grotesque, little snowman. Its head was too big for the body and its eyes were not equally spaced. They had no carrot for the nose, so a rock filled its place. And a big leaf for the mouth. Their snowman was nude and had no arms.

And on the right side of the picture stood Skye. It was Skye alright. He still looked the same, only cuter. Her mom was right. Skye looked terribly white. If he hadn't been wearing clothes, he might as well camouflage in the snow. He wore a big and thick red jacket, which awfully reminded her of Santa's suit. His hair was shorter here but like his skin, his hair was silvery-white. It was Jae's favorite hair color for Skye. His nose was scrunched up and his mouth was in a pout. He was upset about something. Probably the failed attempt for a snowman.