XXVII
On the day of the Christmas gift exchange at school, Eleven receives nothing.
"Uh, sorry," says the girl who was supposed to be her 'secret Santa'. "I forgot to ask my mom for money and…"
Eleven—who did ask Henry for money to buy a gift for the classmate whose name she drew in the class lottery—just nods.
Eleven understands that it's not personal, that she cannot really complain.
It's just that no one cares about her.
Once she gets home, she drops her backpack in the hall and goes to sit in front of the grandfather clock. She isn't worried about Henry's absence: looking at the hour, she assumes that he will still be in the attic, meditating, as is part of his daily routine.
Besides, she needs this right now: for some reason, fixing her gaze on the pendulum and letting her eyes follow it by inertia relaxes her. As if she could forget herself for a moment.
About Eleven, about Jane.
About the pariah she is.
This is how Henry finds her half an hour later, when he finally descends the stairs.
"Hey," he greets her; though she doesn't meet his face, Eleven hears the smile in his voice. "Are you observing the clock again?"
She nods. She is aware that, although her gaze is fixed to the front, he is indeed watching her.
"Did something happen?" he asks in a deliberately neutral tone.
She shakes her head: "No, nothing."
Nothing I didn't expect.
"Hmm." Henry thinks for a moment before speaking again: "Well, if you're not busy, would you like to watch a Christmas movie with me?"
Eleven frowns and finally turns her face to see him: "A… Christmas movie?"
Henry shrugs: "I wanted to buy a couple of lightbulbs for your training tomorrow, so I went to Melvald's a few hours ago. As I was paying, Mrs. Byers told me about a movie she watched yesterday with her youngest son."
"Which movie?" she asks. "If it was yesterday, I don't think it will be on again anytime soon…"
"Oh, they didn't watch it on TV, but at the movies. Would you like to go?"
Eleven and Henry arrive fifteen minutes before the movie is set to start, ensuring they have enough time for him to buy her a bag of popcorn and a soda. When they are already seated, she tries to offer him some, but he refuses, claiming that he'd rather wait for dinner. Eleven doesn't protest: that means more for her, after all.
It's an animated movie about a bear and his friends who go to a mountain to spend Christmas there. Eleven watches everything fascinated: she has never been to the movies before. She didn't know such big screens existed…! And while the way the audio booms across the room makes her a bit dizzy at first, it doesn't take long for her to get used to it.
Once the movie is over, the two of them wait for the rest of the people to empty the room before getting up from their places. "This way you avoid colliding with them," Henry had explained before.
During the ride back, Eleven comments on the entire movie: "My favorite part was when, even though they were really mean to all of them, they finally invited Herman and Snively to celebrate Christmas together."
Henry raises his eyebrows, holding back a laugh, but he doesn't take his eyes off the road: "Is that so? Don't you think it would have been better if they got punished?"
Eleven considers his words for a moment before answering: "Maybe"—she resolves—"there are better solutions than punishment…"
"I wonder what would Papa say if he could hear you…" Henry says sourly.
But Eleven is silent. After seeing her so loquacious, this new silence doesn't sit well with him.
However, she soon speaks again: "I think… they just needed to be forgiven. To be given a chance."
Henry grimaces and turns his head slightly to the opposite side from the passenger seat—not enough to impair his view of the street, but enough to make it difficult for the girl to see his face. Eleven is right, of course: it's sound logic for two characters whose crimes consist of trying to ruin Christmas.
That reasoning cannot be expected to apply to reality.
He must admit, however, that the heaviness he feels in his chest isn't entirely uncomfortable.
"Uh, I think… I think I want a cup of hot chocolate," Eleven suddenly blurts out.
Taking advantage of the fact that the car is currently stopped at a red light, Henry turns his face for a moment to look at her: resting her hands and nose against the window glass, her gaze remains fixed on a cafeteria on the side of the street.
"Oh, no," Henry laughs, shaking his head and waiting for the light to turn green. "For your own good, no more sugar today."
The movie is Yogi's First Christmas and was actually released straight-to-video, but literary license amirite (?)