I wish I could say that nearly revealing our secret was worth the extra rehearsal time we had, but I would be lying. The extra rehearsal time didn't stay as rehearsal time for very long, as much as I wished it had. When we stopped for lunch, the conversation immediately turned to me and what it was like living in the barren wastelands of the Canadian mountains. Yeah, considering I had never lived in Canada, it was difficult to make up lies that fitted the situation. Luckily, the whole constant snow and lack of people thing helped feed the lie and make them more convincing, well, I thought they were convincing.

Joel kept watching me out of the corner of his eye, like he was waiting for me to slip or something. Whether he had clocked on to the lies, or he just felt the need to stare at me, I don't know. What I do know, however, was that it was remarkably unnerving and creepy. Imagine just having a normal conversation -full of lies- and having someone stare at you from across the room. Honestly, it took every snowflake within me not to tell him to stop watching me. But I didn't. I let him stare. After all, I am a fabulous person to look at.

By the time Granny and Grandpa returned home, we had only blocked out three new scenes and they weren't even half decent. We were all too hyped up on sugar to give a snowballs about our failed rehearsal attempt. Well, they might have been hyped up on sure, but I was distracted by the cut on my hand and the fact that the plaster refused to stay stuck. It was definitely going to pose a problem for the rest of the day, and perhaps the future, but I doubted that very much. Ya know, North Pole magic and so forth.

By the time Monday rolled around, I was fed up with constantly changing the plaster and was tempted to go rogue, only I couldn't. If it suddenly decided to heal itself, I was going to have to explain how a deep cut on my hand had vanished like it was never there to begin with. That would cause some serious issues and probably lead to a thousand questions from Joel, who was already acting odd around me. I don't know whether I was just being paranoid, but I had a feeling Joel might have caught on to our little secret, but until he said something, I was keeping my mouth shut.

Even in Monday's Drama lesson, he was acting strange, well, stranger than normal. He had been so into our Drama project that it was the only lesson I heard him speak more than three words, but on that Monday he didn't even say two. Not even when we prompted him half a dozen times for his line. He just stood there and stared. Well, sat there and stared is more accurate. Without him moving, it was impossible for us to get anything done since we needed the floor. He was really threatening our chance of winning.

"What's going on with you Joel? Get out on the wrong side of the bed this morning or something?" Leo asked, running a hand through his hair in frustration. We were all mad at Joel, but Leo was angry beyond belief. I didn't think he cared much about Drama, to be honest. More of a baker, but perhaps I misjudged him.

"Nothin'. I just don't see the point in all this, none of us really wanna be 'ere, right? You only 'ave to look at the little we did on Saturday," Joel replied, his accent growing stronger with every passing word.

"If you have a problem, Joel, talk to Jason and see if you can trade groups, you're just being a grump by sticking around somewhere you don't want to be," Leo said.

"I asked this mornin', wouldn't let me change groups, reckons it's too late."

"Right now, Joel, you're the one stopping us from doing anything. Yeah, we might not have done very much on Saturday, but it was early and we all had a little too much sugar to concentrate on anything. If you'd get yourself in gear and maybe take control, we might make some progress. Stop complaining and try to do something about it," I eventually said, getting frustrated with his comments.

"Wha' me? Direct?"

"Yeah, if you're that bothered by our lack of anything, take control."

I had never told anyone what to do beyond the constant call for Nick to keep his mouth shut so speaking out of turn towards Joel was as shocking to me as it was to anyone else. I don't know if it was because of Joel's attitude or because he kept watching my every movement, nothing could fully explain why I acted the way I did. To be honest, I wish it was due to his actions, but in retrospect, it was more like a combination of both. His attitude was one thing, of course it was, but his constant need to observe was another, put them together and it was like being back at home.

After that, Joel pulled his socks up and began to negate what everyone was doing and how it was going to happen. It was nice to see him distracted from watching me, but it would have been nice to know why he was watching me for so long. I suppose, I should have asked, but where was the fun in that? Besides, it it was about my secret, I didn't feel like approaching him in public. It was just going to be a waiting game. A game of who breaks first. Would he come to me about it? Talk to me? Or leave it? Continue to watch me from a distance until I approach him about it? Who really knew, I certainly didn't.

Believe it or not, my ranting session towards Joel actually helped us to get ourselves in gear and begin the long process of figuring out how the snowman we were supposed to preform a scary Christmas piece and make it work in the correct way. It was remarkably difficult to make a Drama piece scary. It was easy to do in films, you could us creepy music or jump scares or whatever else you felt like using. In a Drama piece it was near impossible. Lighting was pretty much key, only we didn't have any access to that.

"I don't understand how it's supposed to be scary when we'll be preforming it in broad daylight, seems like it's going to be more of a bore," Sophie said, mid-yawn. It wasn't even first thing in the morning and she was still tired.

"Daylight's got nothing to do with it. If Kenzie can act creepy, we should be alright. It all depends on whether or not she can be a convincing doll spirit," Joel shrugged, stacking up the boxes we had been using as part of our staging.

"Great, my first ever acting role and the outcome of the piece relies on me. Why couldn't I have been a tree or something?" I joked.

"Because you're the only one who bears any resemblance to the doll, that's why. And there are no trees in this anyway," Niska said, bushing her fringe off her face.

"Right, I knew that."

I did know there were no trees in our piece, or course they weren't, it was set inside. What I really wanted was for Joel to smile, just once seeing as he had been grumpy all day. It didn't work. He remained as stoic as he had been since I walked into tutor that morning. Since meeting Joel, I knew he wasn't exactly a talkative guy, pretty much everyone knew that, but he had always been one to laugh along with a joke rather than remain silent. But that Monday he just stood there and stared -mainly at me- without smiling or saying a word. It was damn right creepy.

My attempt to make him smile failed. Epicly. He just stood there and stared at me like I have three heads, which was something I'm certain I didn't have. Unless he could see something I couldn't. To be honest, I knew my comment was going to make Joel laugh. He had the face I normally wore when Nick pelted me in the face with a snowball. It was a rather frosty expression. Only an explanation or an apology could solve that, only I didn't know why I would be doing either of those thing, hence the issue we faced.

The first hour of the lesson passed with nothing but Joel's stubbornness being the most eventful moment. Instead, we actually managed to make a small amount of progress with our piece now that Joel was practically screaming for us to get ourselves in gear. He made a great, and terrifying, director. Seriously, if he ever directed a film, he'd be able to get even the scariest of actors to perform like little monkeys. He even managed to get Sophie to focus and I don't think she even knew the meaning of the word.

In fact, we had just started blocking out a new scene when things started to go wrong. Well, for me rather than anyone else. Joel had begun forcing people into their positions by the shoulders, pushing others backwards or forwards depending on where he thought they fitted for the scene in question. I was not in the scene as it was to be the opening, when Niska receives the doll. So, I got to stand off to the side and watch Joel push everyone around and act all directory. I have to admit, it was rather enjoyable, especially as it took him away from staring at me and instead he was able to stare down everyone else.

I folded my arms over my chest and watched, listening to the little comments Joel made when he pushed someone backwards or pulled them forwards. As I watched, Joel pushed Niska back and down towards the floor so she was kneeling down. He spoke to her and the rest of the group, but it fell on deaf ears. I could see his lips moving, I knew he was speaking, but I couldn't hear. All I could hear was a high pitched ring that grew louder and louder with every passing second. It was like walking to close to a moth zapper only I could walk away and the ringing would still be there.

At first, I ignored it, I though it would pass, but when it didn't, I felt a little alarmed. I tried to get rid of the ringing by pressing the palm of my hand to my ear and moving it around slightly, but it didn't. It wasn't until I received a small tap on the shoulder by Niska that the ringing faded long enough for me to hear what she was trying to say. "Ken? You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy, it'll pass," I said, but I didn't think it would. The longer I stood, the more my head spun and hitting the group was beginning to feel like the better option, though I didn't feel like humiliating myself. Not yet anyway.

"It's probably because it's warm in here, you should go outside for a bit, cool down," Niska suggested.

"Nah, it's all good. It'll pass, I'm positive."

Positive I was not. Standing there talking, listening to the high pitched walling sound coupled with the voices of others, was making the whole situation that slightly bit worse. Had I thought I was capable of leaving the room without falling over, I would have done so.However, I didn't think I was capable of take one step without going over and that was not something I planned on doing, not in public anyway.

"Nope, I'm letting Jason know and then you and I are going to sit outside until this thing goes away," Niska said, "no arguments!" And with that, she turned on her heel and walked across the room to Jason, who was talking to Ant in the far corner of the room.Truthfully, I was glad she was practically forcing me from the room. If It had been left down to me, I would have stood there until I passed out.

After a short, but intense discussion with Jason, Niska returned, she didn't say anything but I figured she had been given permission to remove me from the room. How did I know? Well, after seeing the look on Jason's face and how it changed from amusement to almost concern, it was easy to see that he didn't want in the room any longer than I wanted to be there. Which was a good thing for both of us.

Niska grabbed my arm and steered me from the room, watching my step as I struggled to stand up straight with even her support. It was strange. I had never had a feeling like that before. Feeling so weak and vulnerable. Maybe heat was the cause of it, maybe it was dehydration. I didn't know. Papa always said Claus's don't get ill, that the Magic we hold protects us from any sort of illness. Maybe, just maybe, he was wrong. Maybe it was like our decrease in Magical ability. Magic decreases in strength if we are away from home, what if it can no longer protect me from illnesses outside of the North Pole? Made sense, plus I didn't have any other explanation.

Once outside the room, Niska steered me to one of the seats in the canteen which was just outside the Drama room. She sat me down, walked a few paces and poured a cup of water from one of the jugs they kept around the room. Personally, I thought it was disgusting to leave a jug of water unprotected, where anyone would do whatever they wanted, like spit in it. But at that moment, I would give anything for the dizziness to pass, even drink spit-filled water. When she handed me the cup, I gulped down a good half of the water before pausing to see if it had any affect on the dizziness. It didn't.

"So, ever felt like this before?" Niska asked, pulling out the chair across from me and taking a seat.

"During the Maths exam, I'm sure it's nothing, though," I shrugged. I knew it wasn't true. The last high-pitched wail and dizzy spell came with a blinding white light and the voice of an unknown man. So I was glad this one hadn't reached that point yet.

"That's why you were pale when you left the room. Maybe you're coming down with something."

"Maybe, but maybe not. You're probably right, though, I expect it was the heat, I haven't had much to drink today," I shrugged, taking a sip from the water. The high-pitched ringing had begun to pass and along with it, went the dizziness. I was grateful it was going, but still curious as to why it started in the first place.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll be able to go back in the room the get back to rehearsal, which is where you should be."

"Nah, I needed the break just as much as you did. Joel is really getting on my nerves today. I don't know what's gotten into him, I've never seen him so agitated before."

"Probably tired, I've been same."

We sat in silence for several more minutes. Niska, playing with the ends of her hair, me sipping on the cup of water until the dizzy spell passed and I was certain I was able to stand without falling over. I was glad it had just been a dizzy spell, had it been anything else I probably would have run a mile rather than taken a few minutes out for myself. It was bad enough the first time, I left that Maths room faster than you could say workshop.

Once I'd drained my cup completely, Niska and I headed back into the drama room where Joel and the rest of the group had continued to block scenes without Niska and I. They had, however, managed to work out where we were, what we were doing and how we were going to do it. It was like clockwork and was far better than any system we had in place before, not that we had much of a system to begin with. It was predominantly us fighting with each other rather than working out what move we were going to make next. Maybe Joel's mood was a good thing after all.

In the remaining time we had, Joel took Niska and I through the scenes we had blocked out and what our next step. Truthfully, I was paying little attention, but I wasn't going to let Joel know that. He would have me look him in the eye as he went through it all again and I would rather have listened to Papa explain the sleigh to me then listen to Joel. The dizzy spell had left me with a headache and the inability to focus on anything for than a couple of seconds. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep.

But I still had Mrs Reynolds Maths lesson.

I would have given my left arm for that Drama lesson to have been the last lesson of the day and for me to be able to pack up and go home. But it wasn't. I had to suffer through Mrs Reynolds lesson, and it is safe to say she was not particularly happy with me.

From the moment I walked into that room, she was breathing down my neck, watching my every movement. I seriously wanted to throw my textbook at her.

It had been over a week and she still had yet to reveal the results of my Maths exam, a good thing to some degree, but it wasn't providing me with a sense of relief. The longer it was dragged out, the worse it was making me feel and the dizzy spell really wasn't helping me deal with it. Returning to the North Pole was feeling more and more like a possibility, but it wasn't something I wanted to do. I needed the time away, but everything was just so complicated, just so overwhelming, that it started to feel like it wasn't worth it.

Was spite really worth all the hassle? I left to show Papa I didn't him and I didn't need to stay at home to get by in life, that I could do more than bake or hanging around like a wet blanket. But being away from home was causing way more drama then I thought it would, and I had only been gone for three weeks. I still had one week of October and then November and December to contend with and it was beginning to feel like I wouldn't make it that far. Then again, I promised myself I would push through whatever, to prove to myself that I didn't need Papa, and that's exactly why I decided to stay.

Besides, I had never experienced Halloween before, and I was thoroughly looking forward to the Halloween disco the school had planned, though I had no idea who I was dressing up as. All I needed was for one more week to go right, if I made it to Halloween then I had made it through a month and I could keep going until Christmas. That was my aim anyway and little did I know, that Maths lesson was going to be one step closer to succeeding in my goal.

Like I said, Mrs Reynolds spent the entire lesson staring me down, watching my every move, like she thought I was going to attack or something. Trust me, I was tempted, but I wasn't going to do it, it would be counter-productive. Besides, attacking her would be a waste of my energy and I didn't think Mrs Reynolds was worth the aggravation. Instead, I focused on the conversation Niska was having with Alya, something about a new TV show on Netflix, I dunno, I wasn't paying attention. It wasn't until I heard the annoying voice of Mrs Reynolds that I was able to pull myself out of my though bubble and into the real world.

"Miss Claus, will you stand for me?" she asked. I shot a glance at Niska, eyebrows furrowed, concerning thoughts racing through my head at whirlwind speeds. Niska nodded and used an eyebrow as a way to tell me to stand up, not that I was willing to do so, I didn't like the sound of what was likely to come next.

"Yes, Mrs Reynolds?" I said, clearing my throat slightly.

"I have the results of your Maths exam, stand if you please." She was being nice to me. I'm not saying I was alarmed, but I was alarmed. But I didn't want to make it worse than it probably already was, so I pushed my chair back and stood up, fear biting at my insides.

I watched from my seat as Mrs Reynolds produced a white envelope from her desk, why it was in an envelope I will never know. Slowly, she ripped the back of the envelope and pulled out a sheet of folded paper, the paper looked blank from behind, but I doubted that really mattered in the end. What mattered was the grade on the other side of the sheet. It was a matter of life or death in the end, well, not really, but you get the idea.

As she unfolded the piece of paper agonisingly slowly, I shut my eyes and tried to calm myself down. Nervous was an understatement. I was terrified. "Right, Mackenzie, as you know, grades C and above are pass marks, anything below is a fail. If you fail this exam, you will be asked to leave this school, do you understand?"

"Yes, Mrs Reynolds." That didn't sound good.

"Well, I am here to tell you that on the Ashbury Maths Entrance exam, Mackenzie Claus," she paused, "passed with a high-grade C."

I had actually passed a Maths exam. The subject I had been dreading since the moment I was told I was going to school, I had somehow managed to pass, and not just pass, but almost, almost get that B grade. Something that would have been the icing on the cake. Going from not knowing any Maths the week before, to getting that grade was astounding and, I can assure you that no Magic was used in the answering of that Maths paper, it was all down to me. Well, and Niska and Joel.

"I knew you could do it, Ken!" Niska said, smiling at me from her seat. Mrs Reynolds looked average at best. I didn't know if she was happy I was passed or not, but honestly, I didn't care. Passing that exam proved that I could do it. That maybe sticking around wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

Maybe, just maybe, I could survive in the real world on my own. Only time would tell. 

~~~

A/N - We are back! I am so excited to have more time to update and grace you guys with a Christmas book in Summer, seriously, it's going to fun!  I hope you didn't miss me too much and that you are ready for the chaos that is to come with the future of Last Christmas!

Also, you can see from the title that I have entered Last Christmas into the Wattys!!!! I am so excited for this opportunity and I hope you guys will support me in this :D

So, jam-packed chapter today :D Joel watching her, Kenzie feeling sick and passing the Maths exam! Big stuff. Why do you think Joel was watching Kenzie? I want to hear your theories on this interesting development! Does he know something? Hmmmmm....

Comment any theories you have to Joel's weird behaviour or Kenzie's illness! I can't wait to read them :) Don't forget to vote and add to your reading list so you never miss an update!

Dedication - Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to newsies- who created the AMAZING book jacket at the top of this chapter! Her graphics are seriously amazing!

First Published - July 30th, 2017