Page 1 of How to Lose an Omega in Twelve Days
Chapter One
“Jake Winter”
Our laughter turned into horrified gasps as the giant candy cane began to fall the wrong way.
“Oh, no. No, no, no…” Theo moaned.
I held my breath as the massive hunk of sugar crashed down onto the runway. It shattered into a billion shards of red and white. As the peppermint scented dust cleared I heard a sound. I knew what it was immediately. In fact, it was one of my least favorite sounds: cracking ice.
Sure enough, a large crack suddenly cut through the ice of the runway. And kept going. It took an eternity, or maybe just a few seconds, for the perfectly smooth runway to turn into a jagged pile of ice. The thing looked like a giant ice maker had just dumped out tons of ice into a pile.
“Well, well, well,” boomed a voice from behind us.
Maybe if I didn’t turn around…
“Theobroma Jingle,” the voice continued. “And…”
“Jake Winter?” I offered pitifully, turning around.
Santa narrowed his eyes at me and I knew that he knew. He was Santa, after all. He always knew.
“Santa,” Theo cried. “I’m so sorry! It was an accident! We were just… just…”
“I’m sure you didn’t mean it,” Santa said gently. “But, unless we can fix this runway before Christmas Eve… I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the sleigh off the ground.”
“I’ll fix it, sir,” I said quickly, rolling up my sleeves. I loved a good prank, but I wasn’t above cleaning up my messes either. But, as I surveyed the damage, trying to figure out where to start, I knew the shattered runway wasn’t going to be easy to fix.
Santa shook his head. “I’m afraid this is too much ice, even for you.”
“Are we going to be expelled?” Theo asked.
“Not today,” said Santa slowly. “But, I cannot simply let this go without addressing it either. Play time is over this semester,” he added firmly to me. “I suggest that you stay out of the way until Christmas.”
“Yes, sir. Yes. I should uh… go decorate some windows or… something.” I spun in a tight circle and vanished in a puff of snowflakes before he could change his mind.
I didn’t go far, however. I materialized in a tree nearby and leaned down to see what happened to Theo. He was a good kid, I didn’t want to get him in trouble.
“Where did he go?” Theo cried. “How did he do that?!”
Santa laughed. It wasn’t quite his usual jolly belly laugh, but I figured if he was laughing, then he must not have been too upset about the ruined runway. And, hopefully, was optimistic about Christmas. “Ah Theo, you’ve just met the North Pole’s most infamous prankster. And a good thing too. If Jack hadn’t been with you, youwouldbe expelled now. But, seeing as he was involved, I can’t be too upset with you.”
“Jack? You mean Jake?”
“I mean Jack,” Santa corrected. “Frost.”
Theo let out an audible gasp and looked around as if he expected to see me. “Jack Frost?TheJack Frost?” he said.
I couldn’t stop a smile at his excitement. When things calmed down, I’d have to go reintroduce myself.
Theo was one of a handful of students enjoying a coveted, highly competitive winter internship in Santa’s Village. I sometimes liked to disguise myself as one of them and cause mischief. It usually didn’t end up with anythingthisbad happening though.
“That’s right,” Santa replied. “TheJack Frost. Now… what do we do with you?”
Theo cleared his throat nervously, but said nothing.
“Let’s do this the old-fashioned way, Theobroma. Enjoy the rest of your evening and get ready. Tomorrow you’re going down south.”
“Down… south?” Theo echoed in dismay. I winced. When St. Nick said “down south” he meantwaydown.
