Long Lost Elf

Chapter 9- You Don't

There was a knock at the door as Charlie and I silently ate dinner. Neil got up and answered the door.

"Hey, Neil," Dad's voice said.

"Scott. You're not supposed to be here," Neil sighed.

"Don't make me beat you up, Neil," Dad said as we got up from the table.

"Oh, would Santa really beat someone up?" Neil taunted.

"I'm this close," Dad held up a gloved mitten.

"So you still believe you're Santa," Neil blocked the doorway with his arm.

"I don't know," Dad shrugged.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Of course you are, Dad! How could you say that?" Charlie questioned.

Dad looked at me. "She took away your bracelet?"

"She took away my necklace and the bracelet, I stole them back, then she took away only the bracelet," I explained.

Dad smiled. "Go get your bracelet."

I beamed as I ran up the stairs to Mom and Neil's bedroom. I grabbed it off of Mom's nightstand and slipped it on. I sighed in relief.

"Crystal, go put that back right now! You have no control over what she gets back and gets taken away," Mom looked at me, then Dad. "That bracelet is the only thing plaguing her mind of this whole thing! She hasn't said anything about being an elf in weeks."

"That bracelet is important to her, so I think she should keep it," Dad said simply.

"What's so special about that bracelet then? Huh?" Mom looked at me.

I sighed. "Because it helps me with my elf appearance and my human appearance. You want to see my elf appearance?"

"Please," Mom said sarcastically.

I pulled out my ponytail and pressed the button on my bracelet. My hair and eyes changed back to their natural colors. I fixed my hair as Mom and Neil stared at me in shock.

"See? She is an elf, and Dad is Santa!" Charlie piped in.

"Charlie, listen-" Neil started.

"You listen! You think you know who he is? You don't!" Charlie yelled.

"Charlie! Honey, listen. You're confused-"

"I know exactly who he is!" Charlie argued.

"Charlie. He's not Santa, and Crystal is not an elf. Go take off that costume, Crystal," Neil said firmly.

"It's not a costume, it's the real me!" I yelled.

"He is to Santa! And Crystal is an elf!" Charlie yelled. "We went to the North Pole together, I saw it! And Crystal talked to reindeer! Crystal's boyfriend, Bernard, called me sport, because he knew everything."

Mom's eyes bulged. "Boyfriend?" she glared at me.

"I've had a boyfriend for the past nine hundred years. The hoodie and the necklace, plus the sweater that I got for Christmas last year, are from him. Moving on," I explained.

"Remember!" Charlie threw Dad the snow globe.

"Charlie!" I looked at him in shock.

"Sorry, Crystal. I wasn't thinking," Charlie apologized.

Dad looked at the snow globe, then at me and Charlie. Charlie ran up to him and gave him a hug. I smiled, hugging him around the waist.

"Thank you, Charlie, thank you," Dad thanked him.

"I love you, Dad," Charlie whispered.

"Could you guys leave us alone for a minute? You know, so I could say goodbye to them properly?" Dad asked.

Neil and Mom walked off after a moment.

I smiled tearfully at him. Charlie leaned up and tried to wipe the glitter off my cheek. It didn't work. Dad smiled as he looked at me for a moment. "I think you look cooler like this."

"Really? A lot of the time, I think it's freakish," I wiped my tears away.

"I don't know if you know about this, but in America, we have this thing called hair dye. Even though you didn't dye it, it still looks pretty cool," Dad explained sarcastically.

I laughed. "Thanks, Dad."

"You saw! You saw the ball come to life!" Charlie whisper-yelled.

"You bet I did," Dad replied. "Now, Charlie, Crystal, I guess I better go."

"We'll go get our stuff," Charlie started to walk up the stairs.

Dad stopped him. "I think it's a much better idea for you to stay here with your Mom."

"We wanna be with you, Dad," Charlie looked at me and I nodded.

"Boy, I love hearing you say that," Dad smiled at him.

"You mean we could go?" Charlie asked with hope.

I heard a twinkling sound and looked at Charlie in confusion.

"Boy, that bird is dry. Haven't you people heard about basting?"