Mackenzie hadn't seen Bernard since January, and it was halfway through February, sure that wasn't a long time, but she kind of wanted to see him, could it have something to do with the sparkle? But she didn't have time to think about it, because she had other things to deal with like her uncle's appearance changing into Santa.
"Maybe it did happen." She said to him one morning, when he came downstairs wearing a sweatsuit.
"No, it didn't." He denied.
"But Uncle Scott just-"
"Mack, I don't have time for this! I'm late for a meeting! So, I'll need you to pick Charlie up from school." His niece nodded.
"Great thanks!" then he rushed out the door.
Mackenzie finished her breakfast; she grabbed her backpack then headed for the door. "Bad timing, huh?" a voice came from behind her. She almost leapt for joy, but she tried to stay calm.
"For a matter of fact, Elf, I'm going to school. So, you'll have to come back later."
She turned to Bernard, he had his arms crossed and a blank look on his face. "Don't flatter yourself Human, I'm here to check up on Santa."
"Well, he's at work." She answered, "But are you sure that you didn't want to see me?" she joked, Bernard couldn't stop himself from turning red. "N-no! I need to check on your uncle." He looked down. She giggled there was something about making him flustered that was cute. Just then they heard the sound of a bus driving away.
Mackenzie sighed. "And... I missed the bus." She muttered. "Guess I'm walking." She walked over to the door, "See you later." She put her hand on the doorknob. "You know I could teleport you." Bernard said out of the blue. She turned to him, "Won't that cause a scene, if we just appear in front of the school or inside?" the elf shook his head. "You trust me, don't you?" He held out his hand, Mackenzie stared at him, because that sounded familiar, but she pushed that thought away.
"Of course, I do." She answered, not sure why this was a familiar feeling. She walked back over and took his hand, only to be pulled closer to him, she blushed as his arms went around her waist. He blushed as well.
"Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Before she knew it, they were standing in the middle of the school's hallway, just as the bell rang.
"Right on time." He smiled letting go of her. She was a little disappointed that she felt his arms release their grip on her.
"Thank you." She said with a bit of grimace in her voice.
"Hey Buddy!" A boy called walking over to Bernard.
"It's Bernard."
"Yeah whatever, a circus clown called, and he wants his clothes back." The boy and his friends laughed as they walked away.
Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "Don't mind them they're jerks."
"I won't." Bernard replied with a crooked smile.
"Besides I like your clothes...you look...uh really nice." She looked down, so they didn't see the other blush again.
"Well, I should go to class, before-"
"Miss Wolfe!" The Vice Principal shouted storming up to the two.
"Before that." She mumbled to the elf. He looked at the vice principal, she was a tall woman with her blonde hair up in a bun, wearing a light blue suit jacket and pants to match, her shoes were black.
"You're late for class."
"Sorry Miss Newman. But I missed the bus, so I had to walk." Mackenzie lied; well, the first part was true.
"No excuses, now off to class!" Carol said. Then turned to the elf, who was quietly standing next to the human.
"And as for you, hats are not allowed in school, take it off at once and go to class." Her eyes looked him up and down. "What's with the clothes?" she added. Bernard let out a sigh. "Again, with the clothes?" he muttered looking up at her. "My father gave this hat to me, and I don't go here. I was just dropping Mackenzie off." The elf explained turning to the teen next to him. "See you after school." He turned away and walked down the hall, looking back down the hall to make certain he was out of sight before teleporting.
"To class!" Miss Newman ordered. Mackenzie nodded not wanting to have to look into those cold dark eyes.
She sat in the back of history, thinking how nice it was of Bernard to bring her to school, when he could have just gone home and let her walk which would have made her late. But he didn't, he went out of his way to make sure that she got there in time. "He's only being nice, because Poinsettia told him to." She thought to herself, again pushing away any notion that he could actually like her. Mackenzie blushed every time she thought about him, "Just because he did one nice thing, doesn't mean that he'll do it again" and she needed to stop thinking about him.
"So, was that Bernard in the hall with you?" Amber whispered.
"Yeah, he walked me to school." Mackenzie whispered back. So much for not thinking about him.
Curtis helped Bernard and Poinsettia pack up the list. "Are you sure that you want me to send the list?" Poinsettia asked her brother, but he didn't answer. He was focused on his job and thinking why he was so nice to Mackenzie, and why did he purposely go to the Calvin's house when Scott wasn't there? Sure, the first time he went Krampus sent him, but today Bernard went himself.
"Bernard?" Curtis asked tapping the taller elf on the shoulder. He turned and looked down at him.
"What?" he was annoyed that Curtis interrupted his work.
"Poinsettia asked you a question."
"I know, but I have a lot of work to do, so I don't have time to ship the list." Bernard said looking back at the boxes.
Mackenzie waited outside of Charlie's school, wondering if Bernard would be at the house, because he said that he would see her after school.
"Hi Mack!" Charlie called running up to his cousin and gave her a big hug. "Hey Charlie." She smiled hugging him back, then he took her hand, once they broke the hug. "Do you think Bernard will come over again?" Charlie asked as they walked home. "I don't know." She shrugged. He looked up at her. "Do you like him?"
Mackenzie blushed, "I wouldn't say that I hate him." she looked down at her cousin., who looked sad, because he liked Bernard and wanted Mackenzie too as well. "Oh." Charlie looked forward; Mackenzie could see that she upset him.
When they got back to the house, they saw Scott's car in the driveway. So, he must have come home early, Mackenzie opened the door, and was about to call to her uncle, but before she could, she heard the familiar sound of a particular elf's voice. It was Scott and Bernard arguing in the living room.
"I put the coat on, to make my son happy!" Scott yelled.
"It doesn't matter why you put it on, you're Santa now!" The Head Elf yelled back. Mackenzie took Charlie upstairs, so he wouldn't be around the two fighting.
"Stay here, I'll see if I can calm them down." He nodded. Mackenzie ran back down the stairs and into the living room.
"Knock it off!" she shouted, they turned to her, "You're acting like children! And you're upsetting Charlie!"
Bernard and Scott looked at each other, neither of them wanted to do that.
"Look, we're sorry. But Bert won't stop it with the Santa thing!"
"Maybe you should just believe it!" Mackenzie shouted; Scott looked at her.
"Do you believe in this stupid Santa Claus thing?" his niece thought for a bit. A few days ago she would have said no, but after learning everything about elves, from Poinsettia and being teleported to school this morning, she herself was starting to believe.
"Yes." She answered. Scott groaned then went to his room.
"You alright?" she turned to the elf, who had his arms crossed and an annoyed look plastered his face. "Yeah." He answered reluctantly.
"Don't worry, my uncle will come around." She promised, knowing that would take a while, but she had faith in him. "So, uh. Are you hungry?"
"A little, thank you." A small smile crept across his face, as he followed her to the kitchen.
She made them fruit salads. "Do you think we can be friends; you know for Charlie's sake?" Mackenzie asked handing him a bowl of apples, bananas, and blueberries. "Yeah." Bernard reached for the bowl, accidentally touching her fingers with his. The two stopped in their tracks and stared at each other. Who knows how long they stood there like that before Charlie's voice entering the room broke their attention. "Were you two going to kiss?"
Bernard and Mackenzie blushed. "NO!" She shouted.
"Yeah, we're just friends Sport." The elf added. The small boy smiled; he was glad that they were friends now, not knowing that they were only being friends for his sake.