Precious Things || Jensoo

Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Jennie is true to her word.

From Monday onwards I'm treated like one of her best friends. If I don't sit with her and Jongin at lunch, or her when he has a basketball thing, then she finds me and asks me why. Homework isn't really a good excuse either, at least, not as far as Miss Kim is concerned.

If her friends have said anything, they said it to her ears and she took no notice. I don't know what she told them, but she's acting like nothing is different from the weekend.

And so my life has changed, at least insofar as school is concerned. And that, too, has somehow changed my life at home. And that, too, of course, is down to Jennie.

When she first asked me to come over after school to 'study', or as she then said, "study and by that I mean hang", I laughed and told her I'd ask my grandfather. Anything for her, of course.

He said no. Politely. Nicely. But still no. So I didn't argue and took the answer back to Jennie.

Suddenly her step-mother is finding ways to 'bump' into my grandfather and, lo and behold, I'm having 'study' sessions at Jennie's.

I have no idea how they accomplished this; I can only assume they're miracle workers, them Kim ladies.

I've been to Jennie's three times now, as the tally stands. Over a month and a half, but that's still pretty amazing. Fall has merged into winter, and suddenly Christmas is looming.

I get ready to watch it pass, with only one change from our normal Christmas routine. No, I lie, two changes. The first is that Uncle Jack doesn't come down to spend Christmas Day with us. He's still in his nursing home, just hanging on from his stroke.

The second is that usually the only person I have to find a Christmas present for is my grandfather. This year, I want to get Jennie something. Now, my parents left me all their money, and, once their house was sold off and the insurance came in, and everything evened out, it was put into trust for me. My grandfather refuses to touch it for my education or general life needs, because he sees that as his duty. Of course, I'm not allowed anywhere near it. It will pay for college, but even then I think he controls it. I get access when I graduate. Graduate from college, that is.

Normally, to get enough money to get my grandfather something small, I do chores for people from church. When Christmas creeps closer, I have a quiet word to the vicar and my grandfather, knowing full well what I'm doing, allows me two hours on a Sunday to complete whatever it is the vicar and parish members have found me to do. The pay isn't great – most of these people live in another time in their heads – but it's enough. This year, I start early and double my efforts.

I don't have a lot of money, but it should be enough to buy something small for her and something for my grandfather.

The only shopping I'm permitted to do each year is a short trip down the main street of our town. Now, unlike the mall that Jennie took me to, the main street of our town doesn't have a lot of variety.

It's kind of kitsch, actually, but it's the only place my grandfather will take me. At least this year he asks me if I'm ready, and I think he means financially, before he decides that we're going. Normally, he just picks a day.

I buy him a set of handkerchiefs. It seems like a brush of present but he'll like them. They have nice embroidery. I have no idea what to get Jennie. If I was at the mall, ironically, I could find a million things for her, like sunglasses or a hat or something. Okay, so it wouldn't be expensive but I could make her laugh.

I'm not buying her a statue of a deer. No way, no how. It was almost the most appropriate thing I'd found until I saw it.

Okay, so it's the dumbest thing ever, but it does pertain to something that happened a few weeks back on one of my few visits to Jennie's. She'd found out that I had never eaten a brownie. After declaring that she made the best brownies ever, and enduring jibes from Kyla about her 'special ingredient', she insisted on baking for me.

She also burnt her fingers getting the tin out of the oven.

I spent ten minutes with my fingers half-caressing, half-holding her wrist as we ran cold water over the burnt appendages. I almost wished it could never end, although I hated seeing her hurt.

So, when I saw the pot holders with the cow print pattern, exactly within my price range, I couldn't help myself; plus, I also bought a cheap two-dollar Santa hat that I think she'll look adorable in.

I'm terribly proud of my purchases.

When the last day before Christmas break rolls around, I head off to school with them neatly packaged and in my backpack. I almost can't wait to give them to her, but I don't want to do it with everyone else around.

That rules out all our classes and then, at lunchtime, she escapes before I can, and I find her sitting with everyone in the cafeteria.

I make my way there, and she hails me cheerfully. I'm quieter than usual, I guess, probably because I really, really want to give her the presents. I've never given anything to anyone before except my grandfather, and that almost doesn't count.

When I get up to get a drink of water, I jump at the fountain when she taps me on the shoulder. Leaning against the wall as I lean over to take a drink, after she chuckles at my leap of surprise, she asks me, "You okay, kiddo?"

I nod and stand up, wiping my mouth. "Yeah. Why?"

"You're quiet... even for you." She raises an eyebrow. "I didn't think I'd be able to tell, but I can."

"Um, no, I'm fine..." I glance over at my book bag. "Can you wait here for a sec?"

She looks confused, but agrees.

I grab my bag from the table, where I get a smile from Jongin and a dirty look from Krystal, pretty much standard fare, and then make my way back to Jennie. She follows me out of the cafeteria until I find somewhere relatively secluded.

"Er... Um..." I blush.

"What the heck is up with you?" she laughs.

I pull the two wrapped gifts out of my bag and hand them to her shyly. "Merry Christmas," I say quietly. "I didn't want to give them to you in front of the others cos they're pretty dumb..."

She takes them, rubbing her thumb across the top of the glossy paper.

"Jisoo..."

"Um, they're not much."

"They're... thank you."

"You haven't even opened them yet," I protest.

She looks up, her eyes shining, smiling. "Yeah, but you got me a Christmas present."

I shrug.

She puts her bag down and the larger of the gifts on top. Opening the smaller one, she finds the cheap-ass Santa hat. And plops it on her head.

I was right. She looks adorable.

She laughs. "This is so neat."

She picks up the other package.

The look on her face when she sees the pot holders is priceless. She kind of lights up while at the same time bubbling over with laughter.

What she does next, though, is the biggest surprise I have ever had.

And the nicest Christmas present.

She leans over and kisses me, right on the cheek.

It's all I can do not to faint.

* *©clomle44* *