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Chapter 27: Christmas Break

27

Christmas Break

It was Christmas’s eve, like every Christmas’ eve, Nicky and her family went to church that night for Misa De Gallo. The church was jam-packed, Nicky had already been feeling a bit stuffy. It didn’t help that she was wearing a black and gray striped long-sleeve blouse-shirt. It didn’t help that the electric fan was too far from the pew they were sitting, either. And her three-year old sister, Jenny, kept on complaining how she felt hot all over. Nicky wished they had brought any paper fan.

It was in the middle of the homily that their mother finally told Nicky to bring Jenny outside for a few minutes to get some air. Nicky did not want to, even if she too, had already been feeling a lot stuffy with every minute. She had to listen to the homily.

“You can still hear it from outside,” Her mother insisted.

She finally obliged and went outside with her little sister. People still thronged the place outside, standing and crowding the door in order to get to hear the mass. They squeezed through the crowd, careful not to step on anyone’s foot. Jenny was prancing as finally they were out of the stuffy church. She was jumping up and down and was looking at a few kids her age who were standing outside, held by their mothers’ hands. Nicky tried to pay attention to her sister as she still had her ears on the homily. She felt a lot relieved as the cold December air hit her. Holding Jenny’s hand, Nicky took a few steps farther from the crowd, found a spot with lesser people and stayed there. It was when she glanced sideways that she saw him. Or what seemed like someone who looked like him. She immediately looked away. The last thing she needed was seeing Red at Christmas Eve.

“Jenny, I think we better get back inside,” Nicky then whispered to her sister.

“No, I don’t want to,” replied Jenny almost grumpily.

“But we have to or else—”

“Hey, Nicky!” A voice erupted from behind her. Her heart stopped. It was a moment before she turned.

“Oh, hey,” she muttered, hating the sound of her nervous voice.

“I thought that was you,” Red said, smiling. He was wearing a dark blue hooded sweater opened up to reveal a gray shirt. Nicky nearly froze as she noticed Iggy, in a red plaid button-up shirt rolled on the sleeves, right beside Red, smiling at her, too.

Nicky returned their smiles. She felt awkward. She wished there was something she could do to get rid of those butterflies in her stomach.

“Merry Christmas, Nicky,” Iggy then said.

“Merry Christmas, too,” she replied, her voice a whisper.

“Who you got here? Your little sister?” Red then asked.

“Oh, I remember her,” Iggy said. “What’s her name, again?”

“Jenny,” Nicky replied.

“Hello, Jenny,” Red said, sounding like he could just be talking to someone his age.

Nicky was getting uncomfortable with each passing second. She could hear June’s voice if she was there. She’d probably say something like, “Avoidance, Nicky, remember? Now, get out of there, fast!” But she would know how to excuse herself. “It’s not New Year yet, so I don’t have to follow my new year’s resolution right now,” she would tell June if she was there.

Jenny looked up at the boys. Then she balled her small hand into a fist and tried to hurl it at them.

“Jenny!” Nicky hissed at her sister. “Don’t do that.”