Chapter Two:
Growing up, Rina's parents always told her stories about Santa Clause, the Tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and the like. Every night, when she was tucked into bed, her mother would ask her to pick a book out of their enormous bookshelf and she would read it to her until she fell asleep.
That was Rina's favorite part of the day. Being told stories about wonderful people who brought joy to children around the world. She loved how Santa Clause knew who was naughty and who was nice. She loved that he even delivered the presents himself, jumping into one chimney after another and had to be as quiet as a mouse in every house he visited.
The Tooth fairy was a personal favorite of Rina because she was amazed that she never woke up when the Tooth fairy would reach under her pillow and take her tooth. Rina would always try her best to stay up late, whether it was Christmas Eve or when she lost a tooth, in order to catch them in the act but sleep always hit her no matter how hard she tried.
That's how Rina knew the Sandman was real. How else would she have fallen asleep even after all the sugar she had eaten? Surely it was his doing.
Now the Easter Bunny was another story. Rina took pride in the fact that she would always be able to find something different in everything so whenever Easter came along, Rina believed she would be an expert in finding those eggs. After all, she would be able to see something different in the garden with colorful eggs lying around.
Unfortunately for her, the Easter Bunny was good at his job. Fortunately, when she found the eggs, they were worth the trouble.
Since Rina was never able to catch sight of any of the people in those storybooks, she would have thought she would stop believing long ago but no, Rina continued to believe in them. Why? Because it just made her that much happier to be able to believe in something that brought nothing but good. Why would she stop believing in someone who gave her gifts every year or rewarded her when she lost the tooth and made her run around in circles trying to find eggs or gave her the best dreams she ever had?
It just made sense to Rina to continue believing in them even with everyone telling her not to.
Rina sat quietly on Jamie's bedroom floor as she watched the boy color in between the lines of his latest artwork. Before Rina dropped by his house, she quickly passed by hers to pick up her trusty colored pencils and outlining pens. When she rang the doorbell of Jamie's house, the door immediately swung open and Jamie excitedly jumped into Rina's arms, greeting her with a bear hug before dragging her into his room. Sophie even joined them, doodling on her own sheet of paper, before the little tot drifted into a nap.
"Try shading that area a little darker, Jamie," Rina pointed at his paper, sending him a small smile. "You know, like a shadow."
"Right!" Jamie said, grinning before he focused his attention back to his work, tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration. Rina laughed under her breath, standing up from the floor, bringing Sophie up with her. The little girl immediately clung to Rina and the older of the two found it hard to pry the tot off when she reached Jamie's bed. Sophie had an iron grip.
"C – Come on, baby," Rina mumbled, putting Sophie on the bed only to have the girl grab hold of her once more. "The bed is much more comfortable than the floor."
"Maybe she finds you comfier than the bed," Jamie said, looking up from his paper to send Rina a smirk. Rina rolled her eyes.
"I'm just skin and bones – Oh and all jumper," She stated, putting Sophie back on the bed and quickly grabbed one of Jamie's pillows for Sophie to grab onto instead of her jumper. The tot brought the pillow into her arms and hugged it tightly to her chest. Rina let out a sigh of relief. "Must be nice being a kid," Rina smiled softly, watching the blanket rise and fall with every breath Sophie took.
"What are you talking about?" Jamie asked, standing up from the floor, artwork in hand. "You still are a kid."
"I'm older than you," Rina pointed out with a frown. She never liked admitting that she was older than someone. She was in fact the youngest in her class and in her family. Rina wasn't used to being older.
"So? That doesn't make you an adult," Jamie shrugged, not seeing Rina's frown, sitting down on his bed. "And you're not that much older than me," he added.
Rina mimicked Jamie's shrug and joined him on his bed, lying back to lie down beside Sophie. She combed her fingers through Sophie's messy blonde locks. "Still," Rina sighed, untangling the knots in Sophie's hair. "I don't even know why I'm talking about this."
"Yeah. You're as immature as me and the guys," Jamie grinned, dodging the rabbit plush toy Rina threw at him. He was lucky that Rina didn't pull Sophie's hair with how fast she moved. It would be hell for both of them if Sophie woke up due to her hair being yanked. "You never had a problem acting – well, being a kid before. Why think about aging? It's a horrible thought, really."
"I don't know. I guess it's because of what Lyndi said," Rina knitted her brows together, sitting back up to look Jamie in the eye. Jamie frowned.
"Lyndi? The Non-believer?" He asked, his expression matching Rina's.
"Do we call her that?" Rina asked, a small smile tugging on her lips.
"Sometimes," Jamie smirked, his cheeks turning red. "I don't really have a problem with people not believing in Santa Clause or whatever. It's their choice but with Lyndi. I mean… well… she… how do I put this? Lyndi is really determined to make everyone just stop believing. It gets really annoying sometimes. Why does she care if you get excited about getting presents under the Christmas tree or losing a tooth?"
"She's just one of those kids who can't wait to grow up," Rina said, trying to sound like she was defending Lyndi. She really had no problem with Lyndi wanting to grow up so bad, but she saw what Jamie was trying to say. Even she got annoyed with Lyndi sometimes. "And you should stop calling her that behind her back. Actually, don't call anyone names behind their back or in front of them when it's as mean as that. Santa might put you on his naughty list," She added, attempting to be a good influence on Jamie.
Jamie rolled his eyes playfully at Rina's attempt before saying, "What does growing up have to do with anything? My mother even believes in Jack Frost!"
Rina's brows shot up and she looked at Jamie curiously. "Jack Frost? Who's he?" The name was familiar but Rina couldn't place her finger on it. Was he mentioned in one of the books her parents used to read to her? Maybe he was some legendary superhero they discussed in class at one point.
"I'm not really sure, to be honest. Mom said it was just an expression, but still," Jamie looked out his window in thought before grinning when he saw the frost forming on the glass. He looked back at Rina and the girl's eyes widened when she saw the wide grin on his face. "Enough about Lyndi. Tell me, has he come back yet?"
"He?" Rina asked, her brows knitting together and a small frown formed on her lips. Who was Jamie talking about? Surely he knew the only boys she hung out with were he and his friends. She was too much of a "baby" for the boys her age to give her the time of day (not like she minded) and her father would kill absolutely any male species that came to their doorstep looking for her. Jamie and his friends were the only exception seeing as they were just kids and had no malicious intentions.
"You know… him…the one you talk to at night?"
"Oh! Him!" Rina exclaimed, snapping her fingers in realization. Sophie mumbled a soft "Quiet" before drifting back to sleep. Rina chuckled softly. "He came back last night," Rina continued in a hushed tone, scared that someone other than Jamie might hear what she was saying.
"He did?" Jamie asked, eyes twinkling with excitement. "What happened?"
"Nothing new. He came by and I was practically freezing to death!" Rina grinned, remembering that when she scrambled out of bed due to his arrival, she pulled on her favorite jumper and still had to wrap her blanket around herself. "But it was so worth it. I just sat by my window and we talked until morning. I got to say, not very good for me since I was drifting in and out of sleep in History class!"
"You guys actually talked?" Jamie's mouth dropped.
"You know what I mean, Jamie! He's invisible and I've never heard his voice before," Rina sighed, her shoulders dropping.
Jamie frowned. "I know that this has been going on a for a long time and I completely believe everything you're saying but… how do you know…?"
"How do I know if he's really there? If he's real?" Rina completed Jamie's sentence with a hopeful look in her eyes.
Jamie nodded.
"The window, Jamie. It's all on my window. When he comes, my window is decorated with this frost. I know it's his because the frost comes right from the middle and spreads out like vines. Regular frost doesn't do that. Nothing does that, in fact! It's an absolutely beautiful thing to watch and we write on the frost. Well, him more than me. I ask the questions and he answers them." Rina laughed softly under her breath, her features softening when she remembered all their conversations. "It's just short messages but I know it's real because the smudges are still there in the morning. I'm not imagining things, Jamie. It's real. He's real!"
Hello! Here's Chapter 2 of Frosted Glass!
I hope you enjoyed reading it and I would love to hear what you all thought of it :)
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