Charlie had never been to the coal room before. He didn't like much at all. Although it was kept to some level of cheeriness, the bright red and yellow lights gave the illusion that one of the stoves had erupted in flames. Not to mention, elves scared him. Their pinstriped T-shirts and sweat pants covered in soot only made them look tougher. He looked around, with no idea of how to find who he was looking for.
"Can I help you?" The elf towered over him squinting at him.
"I-I'm looking for Fred?" Charlie answered it like it was a question, asking if the sentence would get his face blown off.
The elf leaned his head towards the red ceiling, "Freddie! Get down here! Some elf is asking for you!" he called.
The sound of squeaking metal ran in Charlie's ears before a black ladder thudded on the ground before him, a black haired elf came down with it. The elf leaned to the side and smiled at him. It was a girl. Her hair was shoulder-length, but it may have gone halfway down her back if it wasn't an array of bouncy curls, she had a large nose, dark brown eyes, her young face was covered with laugh lines, "Hi!" she said, "What's up?"
"I-uh-I was supposed to give this to you," he stammered, holding out the yellow slip of paper.
She took it, unfolded it, and laughed as she read it, deepening her dimples. "Thanks," she said as she folded it and leaned close to him to tuck it in his shirt pocket before patting it playfully and turning to a furnace and grabbing a shovel.
"A-Actually, I think you were supposed to keep that," he stuttered matter-of-factly.
She turned to him, a shovel full of coal in her gloved hands. An annoyed sarcastic glare played in her eyes, "Well, then I'll just say I lost if I ever need it," she said.
Charlie gulped, "O-Okay, I-I guess that works."
Fred smiled, "Good," she said.
Charlie stood there for a moment, too uncomfortable to move.
Fred noticed this, "This is the part where you turn around and l-"
"Shouldn't you be sewing dolls' dresses?" Charlie hadn't meant to say it, he just blurted it out.
Fred looked enraged, "Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I can't get sentenced to the coal room. Naughty kids get coal, and naughty elves make it. Girls can be naughty. I'm just the only one who has the guts. And this" she terrified him more than all the other elves in the room put together, "is when you leave!"
Charlie began to walk away from her deadly glare, "R-right," he turned around and immediately walked briskly out of the room. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned his back against it, collecting his breath.
"Noticed that Fred's a girl?"
Charlie spun around at the voice. Spencer was looking up at him.
"Y-yeah," Charlie stuttered.
"Yeah, she can be pretty edgy. I probably should have told you that," Curtis said.
"What did I just give her?" Charlie asked.
"A notice, telling her we found proof that she made the tinsel bombs," Curtis said, "And then set them of in the cookie dough room."
"She did that?!" Charlie exclaimed.
"Yep, although she not following in Bernard's footsteps, she's as good a troublemaker as her big brother is arc-elf, maybe better."