Chapter Four:
"Rina, I'm sorry for exploding last night," Mrs. Snowe apologized to her daughter, setting down Rina's breakfast on her table before taking a seat herself. It was quite early in the morning and Rina had woken up to find out that her mother was still at home and took it upon herself to cook all of Rina's favorite for breakfast. Rina, though not really knowing why her mother took the trouble, didn't question it. She was just happy to have a decent breakfast.
"It's okay," Rina said, already digging in. "You're stressed. I understand."
"It's still not an excuse for my behavior," Mrs. Snow sighed, sitting down in front of Rina and folded her arms on the table. "It's just that I'm worried about you, Rina. You're always up so late and sometimes when I come check up on you, I hear you talking to yourself. At first I thought you were just mumbling in you sleep but when I come in, you're against your window obviously awake." The woman paused, trying to read her daughter's expression. Rina had put her spoon down on her plate and had her brows were knitted together. "Honey, who are you talking to?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Rina said quietly, pushing her plate away from her. She suddenly lost her appetite.
"Baby, you've never lied to me before, right?" Rina nodded her head. "Then why shouldn't I believe you?"
Rina bit her lip and tried to hold her mother's gaze. She immediately looked down on her hands, glancing at the charm bracelet on her wrist. "Well, it's not something easy to say or explain, really."
"I have time. Rina, please, tell me what's going on."
"You know how I still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth fairy?" Rina asked her mother, her voice quiet and unsure.
"Yes, used to stay up trying to catch them but the Sandman always gets to you first," Mrs. Snowe smiled at the memory of a young Rina trying her best to keep awake even though it was almost past midnight. "But what does that have to do with you being awake at odd hours? You no longer have baby teeth to hide under your pillow and Christmas is long over."
"Well, I believe a have a new friend," Rina said slowly, meeting her mother's gaze once again. "He's… well, he's invisible."
"Honey, are you sure you aren't imagining things?" Mrs. Snowe said after some time passed. She had waited for her daughter to tell her she was joking and to give her the real reason for her staying up so late but when Rina didn't make any move, she decided to ask the first thing that came to mind. "Maybe you're just dreaming?"
"You said it yourself, mom. I'm wide awake when you come into my room," Rina frowned, already expecting her mother to ask such a question. "I'm not imagining things. He's real."
"But how do you know?"
"It's the same way I know Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman are real," Rina picked up her spoon, her appetite returning. "I believe."
When Jack arrived home after his trip to Russia, he decided to give a gift to the town of Burgess. He remembered Rina's request for a Snow Day and felt like it was his responsibility to give in to her request. Spring was almost here but that didn't mean there wasn't any more time for a Snow Day.
"SNOW DAY!" Jack jumped off his windy ride and landed in the town's center. He didn't waste any time in zooming through the streets, forcing people to wrap themselves tighter in their jackets. He grinned at his work, surveying everyone in the town when he came across a girl with a head of carefully fixed ginger hair and a very expensive looking outfit.
A wicked grin formed on Jack's lips and he made it a point to send an extra strong gust of wind towards her. He laughed loudly when the owner of the ginger hair screeched in anger, holding her skirt down and at the same time flattening her hair. She glared at the sky and instead of gracefully walking down the street like she was previously doing; she ended up stomping, not caring if she was destroying her new high-heeled boots.
The Winter Spirit didn't feel too bad for embarrassing and annoying the girl because he knew it was Lyndi. Only Lyndi would spend hours pinning up her hair, applying make up and wearing unnecessarily stylish clothing on a Snow Day when she didn't even have anywhere special to go. Jack smirked when he saw Lyndi fuming as she turned a corner, after he heard the way she talked to Rina the day before, he felt like she deserved it. Then again, he would have done it even if he didn't have a reason.
Turning his attention away from Lyndi, Jack caught sight of Jamie and Rina walking home. Grinning, Jack directed his wind towards them and the wind ripped Jamie's book out of his hands, making it land several feet away from the two. Jack sped towards the book, catching sight of the title.
"They're Out There – Mysteries, Mythical Creatures, and Unexplained Phenomena"
Jamie and Rina ran after the book, Rina laughing because for some odd reason she found a book flying out of Jamie's hands to be very funny. It also helped that Jamie looked absolutely frazzled when the book leapt out of his hands. Jack zoomed to Jamie's side when the boy picked up his book.
"Huh, that looks interesting. Good book?" Jack asked but neither Jamie nor Rina could see or hear him so they continued walking. Jack frowned briefly, swiftly catching up to them. He floated beside Rina and when the girl ran her hand through her hair, he caught sight of the shimmering bracelet on her wrist.
It held four charms. The first was a red and white candy cane, next was a tooth, the third was a pastel green Easter egg and the final one was a golden cloud. A small smile formed on Jack's lips but he couldn't help but feel a twang of jealousy. It must've been nice being believed in.
Claude and Caleb, twin boys in Jamie's grade, came rushing by. They were pushing each other and laughing as they went. Jack even heard them cheering about the Snow Day.
Jack grinned and said, "You're welcome!" but once again, no one heard or saw him.
"Aren't those your friends, Jamie?" Rina asked, pointing to the twins.
Jamie looked up from his book. "Hey, guys, wait up!" Jamie ran after them, Rina quickly following him. "Are you coming to the egg hunt this Sunday?"
"Yeah, free candy," said Caleb.
"I hope we can find the eggs in all this snow!" added Claude, gesturing to everything around him. The roads, the trees, the bushes – everything was covered with snow!
"But Rina won't have any problem finding those eggs," Caleb continued, smirking at the girl. "She always finds the eggs before any of us!"
"It's crazy how good you are," Claude chuckled. "It's like you're in cahoots with the Easter Bunny."
Everyone laughed, even Jack. "Cahoots with Peter Cottontail? That's rich!"
"I'm just lucky," Rina stuck her tongue out at them, blushing.
After Rina's comment, the four friends made a silent agreement to head over to Jamie's house and Jack quietly followed them, listening in on their conversation. Jamie was showing them his book and was talking animatedly about Bigfoot. Caleb and Claude were quickly losing interest and Rina, having already heard about people finding Bigfoot's DNA in Michigan, went over to Sophie who was trying to ride the Bennett's greyhound. She was dressed like a fairy.
"You can't ride her, baby," Rina said quietly, using the nickname she gave Sophie. Her mother always called her that and she soon found herself referring to Sophie as such. "You're just going to fall off!"
"You saw the video too, Claude," Jamie's voice caught Rina's attention. She turned away from Sophie just long enough for the tot to run away from her. She glanced at Sophie's retreating form with a pout. "He's out there."
"That's what you said about aliens," Caleb chuckled.
"And the Easter Bunny," Claude added.
"Hey!" Rina laughed, placing her hands on her hips and attempted to look serious. Well, she was serious but she couldn't fight the grin that was forming on her lips. "The Easter Bunny is real. I'm in cahoots with him, remember?"
Jamie nodded his head in agreement, hiding his eye roll, and took his sled from the porch while Caleb and Claude laughed.
"You know we were joking about that, Rina," Claude said, grinning at Rina.
"Still. The Easter Bunny is real."
"Oh, the Easter Bunny is real, all right. Real annoying, real grumpy and really full of himself," Jack said, even though no one could hear him. He then grinned when he thought about the face Rina would give him if she ever heard what he had said. She would tell him that for that comment, she wouldn't be surprised if he was on the Naughty list. Then, he guessed, she would laugh.
It was Mrs. Bennett's voice that brought Jack back to the real world. Turning his attention back to Jamie and the rest, he saw that Sophie was now being held in her mother's arms and Mrs. Bennett was talking to Rina.
"Lyndi is looking for you," The woman told the girl. "I think she's waiting by the statue of Thaddeus Burgess."
Jack frowned at the mention of Lyndi's name and he was happy to see that he wasn't the only one displeased. Jamie, Claude and Caleb groaned and Rina shot them a small, sympathetic smile.
"It's probably not that important," Rina said, trying to cheer her friends up. She didn't even have to think twice about heading over to Lyndi. She didn't want to keep her waiting. "I promise I'll catch up with you guys later."
"It's not fair," Caleb furrowed his brows and folded his arms across his chest. Jack nodded his head in agreement and stuck one of his hands into his hoodie's pocket, the other holding onto his staff. "You were with us first!"
"Yeah, Lyndi has other friends she can complain about her broken nail to," Claude added, remembering the time Lyndi begged Rina to accompany her to the girl's bathroom because her nail chipped when she was looking for books in the library. Needless to say, he, his brother and their friends didn't like the interruption especially when Rina was in the middle of telling them a story.
"Just stay with us, Rina," Jamie said, not wanting to lose Rina to Lyndi – the Non believer. He never really knew why Rina would always go back to Lyndi. It wasn't like the girl was particularly nice to her. Every sugar coated thing she said had an underlying insult.
"Listen to them, Rina," Jack backed the boys up even though they would never know that. The Winter Spirit jumped down to Rina's side and she visibly shivered. "Leave Lyndi and come have fun with us instead!"
Rina bit her lip and her brows knitted together when she saw the pleading looks her friends were sending her. Beside her, she heard Mrs. Bennett chuckle.
"I'm sorry, guys," Rina apologized, watching their shoulders sink. "I can't abandon Lyndi. She's my friend and she'll throw a fit if I don't show up."
"So?" Jack muttered, kicking the snow beneath his bare feet.
"I'll hang out with you guys soon, I promise," Rina smiled. "I'm sure whatever Lyndi needs wouldn't take long and I'll make it up to you!"
"Sleepover! Sleepover!" Sophie cheered, making Rina jumped in her place. The little tot had been quiet up until that moment. She looked up at Sophie and the girl reached out to her, making her mother release her hold. Rina immediately took Sophie into her arms and raised her brow at her.
"What was that, baby?" Rina asked, though she heard what Sophie had requested.
"Sleepover!" Sophie repeated, grinning wildly, her messy hair covering most of her face.
"Oh, but I couldn't –"
"Nonsense," Mrs. Bennett interrupted Rina, sending her a smile. "You're always welcome at our place, Rina, you know that. Besides, Sophie really likes it when you tell her bedtime stories."
"Please, Rina?" Jamie pleaded, giving her his best puppy dog pout and eyes. "We'll let you go if you do!"
Rina looked over to Claude and Caleb and the two boys nodded their head, imitating Jamie's pleading look. She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, okay," She sighed, a grin on her lips. Rina stuck her tongue out at them when they cheered and she handed Sophie back to her mother. "Now I have to go! Lyndi's going to have my head if I let her wait any longer."
The girl bid her friends and Mrs. Bennett goodbye and turned, effectively running right through Jack and made her way out onto the streets and headed towards the center of town where the statue of their founder stood. Jack's brows furrowed and his frown deepened. Placing his hand on torso, he stared out towards the direction Rina ran. Sure, the Winter Spirit was used to people not seeing and hearing him and he did have his share of people running right through him but with Rina it was different.
She was different.
Rina was the only one he was able to talk to. Yes, she did all of the talking but she knew he existed.
But did that mean she believed in him?
Jack wasn't sure. After all, she couldn't even see him.
She didn't even know his name!
Jack turned around and looked at Jamie. He really liked the kid but he had to admit, though not out loud, that he was slightly envious of him. At least Jamie and Rina could communicate like normal people. All Jack had was a frosted window and when winter passes, he would be left with nothing but memories and anticipation for the next time he'll be allowed to bring snow to the world.
Collecting a ball of snow in his hand, he blew on it. It turned a magical shade of blue.
"Sorry, kiddo, but winter is ending and you just took one of my last few nights with Rina," Jack smirked, facing Jamie and aimed. "This has to be done." He then threw the snowball and it made a direct hit.
"Who threw that?"
And the snowball fight began.
Hello! Here's chapter four for you all! I hope you didn't wait too long :)
Thanks so much for all your lovely reviews and I will try to reply to them all when I find the time.
My exams start tomorrow and I have to start focussing on studying. Sad to say that didn't really work today since I was able to make this chapter and I have chapter five ready to be beta-ed before I can post it.
Procrastination at its best.
Anyway, enough about my life, please tell me what you thought about this chapter!
I would really love to hear from you all. It's your reviews that drive me to update!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Sorry for any typos and grammar mistakes.
Stay tuned for the next one
and
I only own what I own :)