Chapter IV

All of Charlie's classes at university were held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Tuesday morning after their meeting with Queen Mab, Charlie went to class determined to discover this girl who had magically evaded his senses.

Three classes down, and still no luck. Either she wasn't there today, she had managed to slip under his radar, or she was in his last class. He didn't want to think about the other very real possibility – that he didn't have any classes with her this semester. If she'd known him in high school, she could still know him now, and go to school with him now, without them ever crossing paths.

He spent his last class period studying every single student, and every single empty desk and nook and cranny he could find in the classroom. But there was nothing different, no one he didn't know. He was still searching as he walked backward out of the door, last to leave.

"Charlie?"

He turned quickly to the girl who'd spoken, she leaned up against the wall across from the classroom, her hands in the pockets of her university hoodie.

She looked like her mother. She had the same black hair (though he couldn't tell how long it was, as it was pulled up in a messy bun), the same fair complexion but with a few freckles, and the same wide, almond-shaped eyes, emerald green rather than silver-grey. The two could have passed for twins.

"It's you."

She sighed, frowning. "I suppose you were looking for me."

"Can you blame me?"

"Of course not. Do you have anything to hurry to?"

"Not really."

"Walk with me?"

He nodded and they headed down the hallway, side by side. She was silent for a few minutes, but when they got outside, she took a deep breath.

"I just wanted to apologize. My mother had no right to ask of you what she did. Or to tell you what she did," she said bitterly.

He thought for a moment.

"You don't have anything to apologize for. Except . . . Did you know who I was?"

She turned her wide eyes to him, cocking her head slightly.

"What do you mean? We went to high school together, Charlie."

"I know, but . . . Do you know about . . ." He trailed off, watching her. She just kept gazing up at him with those huge eyes of hers, and he realized that she had no idea that his father was Santa Claus, or that his stepmother, their former principal, was the new Mrs. Claus. He sighed. "Nevermind. So . . . all that stuff about . . . finding a husband-"

"Oh, geez. She really told you everything, didn't she? Forget it, Charlie, okay? There's no reason for you to have to get mixed up in all this craziness. You have a nice, normal life right now; I can't mess that up."

He stopped walking completely so that he could laugh. A nice, normal life? He hadn't had one of those since . . . well, since he was six, at least. Fia raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

Sensing her frustration, he sobered up as quickly as he could. "Sorry, it's just . . . Normal. I haven't been called that in a while."

Her face softened. "I find that hard to believe. Of course, people probably still think I'm normal too. What's your weird thing?"

"Ha. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Charlie," she said admonishingly, sending him the kind of look Bernard would. "You realize who you're talking to, right?"

"Oh." He chuckled. "Well . . . It's a long story. Let's just say that my dad knows your mom personally."

She stopped walking and stared at him.

"But . . . You aren't . . . one of us."

"No, I'm not."

"Then . . . How?"

"The legendary figures."

"Holy shit. Your dad really is Santa Claus, isn't he? I knew you weren't lying!"

"What?"

"In first grade, at career day, you said your dad was Santa Claus. He is, isn't he?"

"We went to first grade together?"

She blushed. "Yes."

"But. . . Why don't I remember you? Were you . . . Were you hiding from me then, too?"

"Your dad didn't look like Santa Claus."

"He does now. How long have you liked me?"

"Since Kindergarten. Why didn't he look like Santa then?"

"Kindergarten?"

Fia blinked at him, obviously annoyed that he'd been able to continue the other line of conversation.

"Does it matter, Charlie?"

"Well, yeah, it does."

"Why?"

"Because . . . It just does."

She growled her frustration before sitting down on a bench.

"I never really meant to hide from you. It just happened; I'm not always in control over the magic that I have, and when I met you, I had no idea that was even possible. I only recently found out . . . I just sort of always thought you just . . ." Fia let out a mirthless laugh. "Didn't know I existed."

He sat down beside her, both of them staring into the distance. Finally, he said, "I would have. I mean, if I'd been able to, I . . . I would've."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a few more moments before she sighed.

"I better go. I'm sorry about all this."

She walked away without waiting for an answer. When he looked up, a few seconds later, though he should have been able to see her all the way across the quiet campus, she'd vanished.