Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [9]

Chapter 9

Jae was practically giddy the whole afternoon. Sam pointed it out at lunch. They decided to eat at the cafeteria today because it drizzled outside for a while. "What's eating you?" Sam snapped.

Jae frowned. "What do you mean what's eating me?" She looked at the food on her tray. "Well, I'm definitely eating something, not the other way around," she said too quickly.

Sam gave her an unamused glance, not believing a word she said.

Jae said nothing else. Sam had no choice but to drop it.

She continued to fumble around with her food, her mind drifting back to the gray-haired man. She was daydreaming. In public.

Sam cringed but didn't call her out on it. While he continued to eat and ignore Jae at the same time, an unfamiliar girl walked to their table. Sam didn't even look at her. He figured it was one of those girls who would annoy the heck out of him.

"Camilla!" the girl said loudly to catch her attention.

Sam almost rolled his eyes. Camilla? It's one of those girls again, for sure.

Jae instantly snapped out of her daze and then glanced at the girl. She beamed brightly, something she doesn't do when she sees someone who annoys her. "Maggie!" she said. "Sit with us!"

Sam furrowed his brows instantly. Jae knew this girl and liked her enough that she'd invite them to their table? Well, that's a first. Usually, the girls would invite themselves since Jae wouldn't do that. Sam continued to appear uninterested.

"Sorry, my 'friends' were total assholes and I didn't want to hear them talk anymore. And then I saw you!"

"It's a good thing your friends were assholes or else I wouldn't have a chance to eat lunch with you," she said with a teasing grin. She stole a glance at Sam because Maggie eyed him suspiciously. "That's my best friend, Sam."

Best friend? Sam felt a little proud of himself when he heard her say that. He made friends with someone he doesn't want to punch every ten seconds. Gotta cross that off his bucket list. As a reward, Sam looked up and made eye contact with the two of them, a sign that he looked interested, even for a bit. And then he looked down again.

"He's a little quiet, isn't he?" Maggie said a bit weirded out with him.

"He's usually like that," Jae said. They dropped the topic about him and moved on to a different one. "So, mind telling me what your friends did?"

Maggie scoffed. "They were just arguing about this viral video on the internet. I thought it was dumb. And I told them that. One of them said, 'You just don't get it, Margaret.' And I explained why I thought it was dumb. And then one of them said, 'You're dumb.'" Maggie looked like she was fuming.

Jae raised one of her brows. "And?"

"And I said, 'Well you obviously like to hear your dumb self talk, so please call me when you're done.' And I walked out."

Jae laughed loudly. "Oh my god, Maggie."

Maggie couldn't help but laugh a little. "I know. They were the absolute worst. I don't know why I even hang out with them." Then she nudged Jae with her elbow. "I'd much prefer your quiet presence, Camilla."

Jae smiled. "That's cute. But we all know you wouldn't survive with me. Silence and you don't go hand-in-hand."

Maggie gave Sam a pointed look. "Yeah, I can see that you two are a perfect pair," she said flatly.