Stubborn Love

Elf In The Making

Allie had become a slightly jittery mess.

She had seen Bernard a couple of more times in the past few months, though every time she tried to find him, or take a second look, he was gone. It was really starting to get to her, and she kept waiting for him to pop out and take her back to the North Pole.

She was walking through the park when she glanced over and saw Bernard leaning against a tree. She stumbled, trying to catch a second look, only to trip and fall on her face.

"How graceful," said the familiar voice, his New York accent standing out against the Illinois accents she was used to hearing. "Though, you might want to flip your skirt down."

Scrambling up, Allie's face was dark red as she smoothed her skirt down. She glared at Bernard, crossing her arms. "Can I help you with something? Or did you just come to make me fall?"

"That was an added bonus." Bernard said. "But I figured I'd come and tell you that your training will start soon."

"How soon?"

"Couple of weeks."

Allie's brows furrowed. "Couple of weeks? Like one week, five weeks, how many weeks is weeks?"

Bernard only shrugged again. He glanced around the park, and Allie was wondering how no one was noticing him. He stuck out quite a bit, especially in his elf clothes. Allie huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She crossed her arms, tapping her foot in annoyance. "Was that all?"

The elf seemed to think for a second, before nodding his head. "For now, yes."

"Good," Allie said.

She began walking away, and when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Bernard was gone.

{}~{}~{}~{}

Allie stretched herself, letting out a small groan as she did so.

She stood up, grabbing her clothes, and heading into the bathroom. Once she was changed, she started on her hair, pulling it back into one braid. She looked at her reflection, trying to find something wrong with her appearance, and boy did she find something. She let out a scream, covering her mouth in shock.

There were thundering footsteps, and then frantic knocking on the door. "Allie?"

The girl didn't answer right away, to busy staring at her ears, which had become pointed. Another knock scared her out of her thoughts, and she slowly opened the door. Her Dad walked in, concerned confusion running through him until he saw her ears. His eyes went wide, and he reached forward, tugging on them a bit.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," Scott was quick to say. "Sorry, I just...are those elf ears?"

"What do you think, Dad?" Was Allie's freaked out response. "Of course they are!"

It took the girl a couple minutes before she could get her thoughts together. "What am I gonna do? People are gonna notice that my ears are suddenly pointy."

"At least you can hide them," Scott said. "Try having a gut that everyone can see."

The girl didn't answer, only continuing to stare at her ears. Finally, after another minute, she began trying to hide her ears with her hair. She successfully did so, but she couldn't help the nasty feeling in her stomach. If she was already getting her elf ears, it wouldn't be long before Bernard came for elf training.

Allie groaned angrily. Why did she have to put that stupid hat on? If she had just left it alone, she wouldn't be in this mess? And why did Santa have to fall off her roof? Why couldn't he have been on someone else roof?

The girl sighed again, staring at herself in the mirror, unable to look away from where her ears were hidden.

{}~{}~{}~{}

Allie sat with her head propped on her hands as she watched the end of her brothers soccor game.

She clapped as his team scored, and she glanced at her Dad, who was scooting away from a little girl uncomfortably. She finally caught up to him, and sat on his lap. Allie's eyes widened, and she watched as the little girl asked Scott for ballet slippers.

Allie felt a tug on her sleeve, and she glanced down. There was a small line of children, as if they were waiting for something. "Yes?"

"Can you tell Santa I'd like a video camera?" the boy asked.

"Why would I do that?" Allie questioned.

The boy tilted his head. "Because you're an elf."

Allie had to keep her hands from flying up to her ears. Instead, she acted as if she were messing with her hair. "I'm not an elf."

"Yeah, you are!" Charlie said, running over. "See!"

Charlie reached up, moving her hair, showing off her pointy ears. Allie shoved his hand away, covering her ears. She heard her mom scoff, and she rolled her eyes, knowing her Mom had seen.

"And now you have Allie in on this," Laura snapped, a laugh of disbelief bubbling out of her.

The Calvin kids walked over to the adults, and Laura walked over, pushing the girls hair out of the way. Allie took a step back, flinching away from her mom. She stood next to her Dad, and Neil tilted his head.

"Now Scott," Neil began, meaning to ask genuinely, but came out snobby instead. "Why would you force your daughter into doing something like this?"

Unable to help herself, Allie snapped, "He's not forcing me to do anything. You don't know what you're talking about, so why don't you take your fake doctor excuse and shove it up your—"

"Allison." Her mom hissed. "Don't talk to your—"

"My what?" Allie asked, her tone cold. "He doesn't have a title to me. He's your husband, and Charlie's stepdad. He's nothing to me."

Silence struck, and Allie felt her words hanging in the air, and the only thing she felt was guilt. Neil had closed his mouth, and he nodded a bit. Laura looked shock, and Charlie was staring up at her with wide eyes. Instead of saying anything else, Allie walked to the car, her heart inside her throat. Why did she always do this? She always took things too far, and hurt people no matter how many times she tried to be better.

"You really know how to end a conversation, don't you?"

"Screw off, Bernard."

The elf only smiled a bit, clearly having fun with riling her up. He watched as she stopped at the car, waiting beside it. He walked forward, his arms behind his back. "Better be up bright and early tomorrow. We start tomorrow."

Allie huffed. Two weeks was not long enough. She was not excited for any of this. It only reminded her that her life was to be ruined in only a few more months.