Enchanted

Chapter 12

Nicolette

Saturday (12/13)

The weather was surprisingly cold today so I have to wear an extra layer of clothing. 12 days till Christmas and I am so excited! Mads found a gingerbread cookie recipe online and we made those in the afternoon. Since we don't have the mould, Mads drew the outline of a gingerbread man and Christmas tree on paper and we cut out the shape by placing it on the dough. It was chaotic and I swear mum would kill us if she saw the state of the kitchen. Luckily, mum went out with her friends and we managed to clean up before she returns. Anyway, the cookies are delicious! Dad told us to pack some and give them to the neighbours. Guess we'll be baking more tmr and Mads have to do more of the work because I suck at it.

Monday (12/15)

10 days till Christmas! Yesterday, I went over to Danielle's for a sleepover after church. It's been a hot minute since we have a slumber party. Gigi brought different types of chips and Sam just basically moved her entire house into another house- skincare products, comics, board games and her teddy bear. Seriously, all of these just for one night. We watched Netflix, played dress up, did manicures and pedicures, played tons of games and yes, pulled an all-nighter. I thought today could not get any better but I was wrong. When I reached home, there were a few presents added under the tree and Mads was making hot chocolate with marshmallows. She even bought croissants from the bakery! Tasty :)

Monday (12/22)

3 days till Christmas!!! Oh my gosh, I still cannot process what I saw today- SNOW. Like, white powdery fluttering down from the sky. (which rarely happens in this area) It was definitely one of the best days in December. Mads woke me up early in the morning and I don't regret listening to her. We laid down on the white soft fluffy blanket covering the ground and made snow angels. We also built a snowman and named it Frosty. Classic. Then, in a blink of an eye, we were having a snowball fight until we were so tired and went in for breakfast. Waffles with jam!

Ever since I touched my old diary and flipped through the foxing-stained pages, I had no intention of keeping it back in the box. It somewhat felt like reading fiction rather than my own life and I enjoyed it.

Tears from the last time dried up, leaving slight creases and wrinkles on the page. This time, I was reminiscing about the days long gone and how the winter breaks used to be.

I missed the camaraderie I had with my old friends back in Crest Hill. We chatted during the first few months after I moved but both parties got busy and I guessed we must have grown apart. Social media gave us a glimpse of each other's lives and I learnt that a new girl named Ariel has taken over my place. From the latest feeds, Danielle took a selfie with her at the school's dance club and a short video of the choreography. It's easier to get along when you have the same interests as another person.

Friends come and go, so don't worry, mum's words echoed in my head.

Two Christmas without Madeleine, this year will be the third.

It's funny how I told Sabrina I had an elder sister who passed away but I never got to the point of how she passed away. The story is just like a smooth surface red apple which you think is crunchy, a little mix between sweet and tart but in reality rotten on the inside.

I don't think I could spit out the truth at this stage because Sabrina has a crush on Cedric. I don't want her to lose that last pinch of hope in love by feeding her mind something that happened 3 years ago.

"Colette!" Sabrina came out of the changing room wearing a T-shirt with black shorts. "Can you stop grinning? You look like some sort of villain scheming against his enemies," I laughed.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I know my face says it all but I can't help it."

"I know who or what can help." I said with a smirk, "Jimmy is going to ask us to run 3 miles at the court, how about that?" "No, that's torture!" she exclaimed.

I was right when I didn't want to be. "You're a jinx, Colette," Sabrina whispered into my ears. I mouthed back sorry before returning my attention to Jimmy.

Sabrina hates running but she loves ball sports. I'm the complete opposite. However, I could tell Sabrina was doing her very best by following my pace, probably to impress Cedric Orlando. I sniggered at the thought.

"Can you please slow down next time? I don't think my legs can survive that speed," she complained between pants. "That's weird, you never followed my pace, not until today," I squinted my eyes at her.

"Stop teasing me!" she said playfully.

We played basketball after a short rest and Sabrina was put on the same team as Cedric. I gave her a layman's term sign language, indicating her to grab the chance to talk to Cedric.

Everyone was dying internally, the way we walked like zombies trying to chase after an orange ball was hilarious. Cedric on the other hand was still full of power, making multiple slam dunks and scoring points for his team.

"So... ?" I searched Sabrina's face for an answer. "Come on, don't keep your mentor waiting," I pleaded.

"Alright, alright." Sabrina calmed me down. "I asked Cedric during time-out. Actually, there's no time-out since this is not a competition. Anyway, he agreed!" Sabrina did a mini jump.

Plan #2- Invite Cedric Orlando to chess club: check

"I'm so proud of your audacity, Sab," I squeezed her.