Chapter 15: Sugar Plums and Eggnog

She ran until she was within the safety of her room.

Yet, even as she had the thought Joanie-Ellen felt a fresh wave of anger wash over her. This wasn't her room. This wasn't her family and this wasn't her life. Closing her eyes whilst fighting down an unnamed fury she slammed the door shut and stood very still listening to the voices of Doubt, Hope and Reason fight within her.

She knew that it was time to leave. She should've left with the last group of students but she didn't.

A part of her knew why as clearly as another part of her screamed:

'Why the hell not?'

The truth was that Joanie didn't want to leave even though she refused to admit it. She told herself that it was because it was comfortable living here. She got three meals a day, a roof over her head by night and general comfort all around.

What she refused to acknowledge was that she had also grown to like the people. The kids were fun and Dame Skyla…

Well.

Joanie sighed and opened her eyes. She turned around to go to the bed only to find that she wasn't alone.

Dame Skyla stood in the doorway, staring at her with a calm, almost regal gaze.

The girl jerked startled and snapped her jaw shut. She regarded the woman with a cautious gaze.

Dame Skyla shifted and twisted her head to the side.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly.

Joanie sniffed and narrowed her eyes. "About what?" She snapped in effort to hide her sudden feeling of vulnerability.

The woman wasn't deterred by her tone.

"The scene you threw in there." She replied calmly. "You crying in your room…"

Joanie blinked and wiped at her cheeks. "I didn't cry!" She denied quickly. "There's something in my eye from that stupid tree…"

Oldest excuse known to man.

Dame Skyla sighed softly and entered the room fully. She closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed.

"Joanie," She began slowly, "if you didn't want to help you should've said so. They weren't forcing you to help them. They're only trying to make sure that you're not left out of the Christmas spirit. You should know that."

The girl sniffed and stuffed her hands into her pockets. She was surprised to find a small Christmas ball in one of them. She kept it there and unconsciously swayed from one foot to the other as she chewed over the woman's words.

"I know." She finally said with a soft sigh. Christmas spirit… "I was being stupid." Her tone was monotonous. "I'm just… Missing my family you know. Everybody in there is…"

Dame Skyla smiled slightly, but not with humor. "Not home for the holidays either, remember that." She finished for the girl. "Do you want to phone your mother?"

The question caught her so off guard that Joanie almost cried. "No." She managed to keep her tone calm. "She… I don't know the number."

The pity in the woman's eyes was almost unbearable.

Joanie squeezed her eyes shut and turned so that she couldn't see her.

There was a rustle from the bed as Dame Skyla stood up.

"I think you should apologize to Slam." She said in a soft tone. "It's only fair. Then, I want you to join us for dinner Joanie, because I can see that you weren't planning to. Forget about everything that's troubling you and what will happen now that you can leave the mountain again. We'll sort that out after tomorrow. For now, it's Christmas time love, you're mother wouldn't want you to be unhappy."

Joanie had to fight tears as she turned to glance at the woman. She was holding out her hand, waiting patiently for Joanie to take it.

The girl wanted to shake her head but rather found herself reaching out to touch Skyla's hand. Instead of slipping it into hers though she just lightly brushed over her palm, stared at her fingers and nodded.

She slipped her hands back into her pockets and followed the woman out of the room, her heart growing heavier with every step.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
Joanie did apologize to Slam. Thinking back Skyla decided that it was one of the more touching scenes that she had ever witnessed. The little girl was saying something just out of earshot, her shoulders hunched in a protective gesture as the taller boy towered above her. She dug into her pockets and drew out a small purple Christmas decoration offering it to Slam as a peace offering. The boy smiled as he took it, went on one knee and spoke to Joanie in low tones as he stared up at her.

The girl stiffened, but nodded tensely and went behind him. With her body tense, she hesitantly climbed onto Slam's shoulders and, with out him touching her, managed to keep her balance as he stood up. He passed her the Christmas decoration and stood very still as she hung it just below the angel.

Joanie got off very quickly after that and didn't go near Slam again but Skyla felt that a bridge had been build.

Dinner was a jolly affair, Christmas crackers were pulled, carols were sung and 'The first Noelle' was rapped by Slam and Camille. Despite her previous mood Joanie got into the swing of things just as quickly as everybody else. Yet, Skyla saw the odd moment when her expression would change and she'd study them with an expression of utter longing. She seemed to drink from the scenes before her, her dark eyes taking in every last scrap of detail.

Skyla allowed her to stay up late with the other students (with the silent hint that she was restricted to one glass of eggnog) to have their own private Christmas celebration after all the older people went to bed.

Joanie didn't stay long off course, she only drunk her eggnog, did a break dance with Slam on request and retired after that.

The children were nestled all

Snug in their beds,

While visions of sugarplums

danced in their heads.

Joanie-Ellen sighed as she closed the door behind her for the second time that night and looked around the room. She dropped down beside the bed and fished out her bag. Still crouched she turned on the bedside lamp and stood up with a sigh. She stripped down before she put on Jade's gray jersey and climbed into bed.

She tossed the contents of the bag out in front of her and studied it with a critical eye. The first thing she threw out was the gross remains of a sandwich she had salvaged almost two weeks before she came to the academy. She couldn't believe that it was still in the bag, by rights it had enough of its own DNA by now to get up and walk around… (AN: Doesn't this take you back to your first few years in school? Sandwiches left in your bag over weekends? Gotta love that mold.)

She fished through the bottle caps before dumping them, along with all her loose change, back into the bag. She had a fetish about things that clinked together in her bag. The torch, water bottle and baseball cap went back as well. She sorted through the pencils, threw away those who were on their last leg and kept those who could still pull their weight. That only left three more objects.
The script, which she had bound together with string to try and preserve it, went in immediately where as the other one found a place on the bedside table.

She steeled herself and finally turned her attention to the last object.

Joanie ran her fingers over the soft leather purse before she snapped open the clasp and peered inside. Her dark eyes danced over the contents. She raised an eyebrow and allowed her fingers to skim through the notes sheave. It was a bit more than she had expected. She sniffed and glanced at the closet where her own clothes were. She turned her attention back to the purse and noticed something else.

With an expressionless face Joanie pulled out a group photo of Dame Skyla's favorite five students. She wasn't sure why but Joanie knew that these five had more in common than just their talent. Images danced through her head but she shook them away and glanced back at the photo. She frowned and placed it on her book.

Sniffing, Joanie got up and went to the closet. She took out her pants and started searching through the pockets. A split second's panic flashed through her when she didn't find what she was looking for but then her fingers brushed it in the last pocket she checked.

Bringing her treasure closer to the light Joanie got back into bed and smoothed out the weathered, water stained fifty-dollar note.

&

AN: I'm having some problems uploading this chapter. If there are anycomputor erros let me know.

Joanie is terrified of heights, so it played a factor in why she didn't want slam to pick her up in teh beginning, but this is also more due to the fact that she is furious with herself for liking the Highhope Dance academy.

Little teasor. Action starts in about a chapter. You'll hopefully get it by the end of the week or beginning of next.

Take care,

Alys