Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [6]

Chapter 6

He was wearing a red hooded jacket and his right hand was inside one of the pockets. His left hand was still wrapped around the arm of Jae, who looked at him in surprise. His eyes still remained the same, which was why Jae recognized him in the first place. It was the color of the sky. And his facial features were the same as well. The only thing different about him was his hair.

It wasn't the silver-white hair she was used to seeing him with. It was instead somewhat ash gray. It lost its vibrancy. This made Jae wonder if he bleaches his hair only on Christmas day.

A smirk appeared on Santa Claus' face. "It's me?" he asked.

Jae gulped as she tried to take in the person in front of her. He was here. Santa Claus was standing right in front of her. Jae blinked a few more times to see if she was hallucinating. She wasn't. Her eyes clumsily glanced at the hand still wrapped around her arm.

Santa let her go and tried to ease off the awkwardness. "So, I'm gonna go," he said.

Jae shook her head as an attempt to avoid getting fazed and stopped him. "You're here. I thought you didn't live here?"

He raised one of his eyebrows. "Who said I did?"

Oh. That's right. He didn't say anything about living here at all. Jae's hands were fumbling about behind her back. "What are you doing here?"

Santa shrugged in dismissal. "None of your business."

Hurt flashed across Jae's face but instantly faded. "Right... So I should be going," she trailed off to look in another direction. Fortunately, she found Sam walking right to them. She waved enthusiastically. A bit too much. "Hey Sam!" she said and then walked towards him.

But Sam walked towards Santa and Jae wanted to pull him away from the guy who hurt her feelings a couple of seconds ago but still looked completely beautiful even with the ash gray hair.

Santa and Sam locked eyes for a moment, a heated battle happening underneath their expressionless mask. Santa spoke first, "You must be Jae's friend. I'm Skye." He held out a hand for a handshake.

Sam's eyes flicked to his outstretched hand. And almost didn't say anything for a whole 30 seconds before Jae elbowed him on the ribs. He took the hand, almost gripping it as hard as he can. "I'm Sam."

"Well, ok, that's settled! We have to get to class! Bye Skye!" Jae said too quickly and pushed Sam away from Santa. Or, Skye. That must be his real name, Jae thought.

Jae's heart was pounding in her chest after they finally reached a distance away from the Santa Claus. She almost sagged to the ground, her knees suddenly losing its ability to make her stand straight. She clutched a hand to her chest and then caught sight of the bracelet on her hand. Flustered, she clumsily took off the bracelet and the watch and stashed them inside her bag. He must not see that. Ever.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked in a not-concerned-at-all tone. He bent a little to watch Jae lose all her composure.

Jae inhaled too much and practically choked. After coughing for a couple of times, she barely said, "I'm fine."

Sam hesitated, but then offered his hand to help her stand. Jae took it without hesitation and pushed herself up. And then she felt lightheaded and almost fainted at the spot. "Jesus Christ!" Sam said in surprise as he managed to catch her before she fell and cracked her head on the concrete. Sighing, he adjusted her arms and then readied himself to carry her. He counted first, before he quickly raised her up and tried to shift in a comfortable position for both her and himself.