The Missing Mistletoe

Chapter 1

I smirk at the moment one of the men makes his move to attack me. I stand up straighter and lean forward a small bit, keeping my eyes glued on to his. It's a small but effective technique that I learned from an introduction course on Iaido a couple of years ago. The technique works as I see him falter slightly at my fake confidence. "Never show your opponents that you are afraid," the instructor had said back then. That is quite possibly the only lesson I took out from that class.

There are three of them, easy enough for me to finish off before the first bell rings, indicating the start of school. I don't recognize their faces but I do recognize their school uniform: grey pants and blue cotton polo shirts with the insignia of Lakeford Academy on the front pockets. So, it's these guys, huh? I think I know why they would target me. I search my skirt pocket for anything I could use as a weapon. I find nothing. By instinct, I curl my fist into a ball and punch one of them straight in the face when he is close enough for me to attack. His eyes grow bigger at the impact. He finds his balance by stepping back, preventing himself from completely falling to the ground. Too slow, I am already inches away from him, preparing a second punch. It does not happen because right before I could swing my right arm again, I hear an angry voice in the background.

"Miss Carvalho!" an infuriated voice calls out from behind me.

I hurriedly turn to face the source, standing by the entrance gate of our school. Kristoff Regianni is a fourth year high school student, the council president at Ravenwood Academy, my school bully, and my first love. No, I am not kidding. I, Andrea Marie Carvalho, the school delinquent, is in love with the student council president. I have the worst chance of finding romance with him, especially since he's graduating this year.

It takes me a moment to realize that the three Lakeford students have run off. Cowards.

I watch as Kristoff's perfectly shaped eyebrows crunch together while he lets out a frustrated groan. He stomps his feet as he quickly walks toward me, his stiff body makes me believe that he is trying very hard to contain his anger at me. Iaido class taught me to never show fear in front of my opponents by slightly moving forward, but Kristoff is more like a predator than an opponent. I find myself walking back as he continues toward me, delaying the inevitable lecture that awaits.

"Andrea," he begins, his tone colder than the North Pole. At least I think so, I've never been to the North Pole but I can believe that this is comparable to it. He puts his hands on his waist as he finds my eyes.

"Stop backing away," he says.

I stop and let my eyes wander to the ground, where I find ants hard at work before the winter season truly begins. Hello there little ants, would you like to trade spots with me for approximately thirty minutes? Of course that's wishful thinking and also very impossible.

"Andrea, look at me." I do not look at him. Sometimes I hate how much he loves his position as student council president. My life would be so much more glorious if he just care less about things, but then again, this is the only attention I get from him so I ought to be a little more grateful. I hear him sigh loudly and in a much calmer voice, he asks me to look at him once more. This time, I look straight into his eyes, only because his tone is now only as cold as Southern Canada, still pretty cold but better than North Pole. Trust me, his words are the world to me and in that world, I've only been on a vacation to Mexico for a little over an hour, the rest of the time is spent in Alaska.

"What were you doing?" He asks like a father asking his five year old daughter if she has stolen Santa's cookies.

"Walking to school," I answer in a hushed tone whilst playing with the hem of my skirt. I am totally rocking the five year old role.