"Sounds fun. How do you play?" They all get in the water and show Snow the finer points of Marco Polo.
December 7, 2000
Orlando, Florida
Temp= 78 degrees F
JC is sitting on the roof next to Snow watching the stars in silence. They were both looking up. He had gone to the roof of Justin's house to watch the stars like he usually did earlier in the week when he had found Snow already there. They had been going back up there together ever since. Apparently they both liked to watch the stars. They were becoming fast friends. He looks over at her, remembering when he had asked her where home was…
"So you never really answered us to where you lived."
"You really want to know?" He looks at her and nods. "You see that star up there?"
"The north star?"
"Right. I live where if you were to stand in the middle of my home, you couldn't see it." She says smiling at him.
"But I thought you could see it every where?"
"Everywhere but one spot."
"So how do you like Orlando?" He says breaking the comfortable silence, looking at her.
"It's been fun. I like the warm weather and not seeing snow wherever I go. After 22, almost 23, straight years of this stuff it gets tiring." She says still looking up.
"Well that's good to hear. The fun part, I mean. So when do you have to leave?"
"The fourteenth, but knowing dad I'll probably have to go home sooner."
"Why?"
"He's too protective of me. Doesn't like it when I leave home for too long. But I guess what he doesn't realize is that however much I want to see the world I also want to stay home." She looks down and starts playing with something shiny around her neck.
"What's that?"
"This?" She holds up the silver chain with a blue sapphire and silver North Star pendant on it. He nods. "It's the North Star. Dad gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday. So let me ask you a question, what is your Christmas wish?"
"My Christmas wish? If I could only have one?"
"Yeah. I already asked your friends earlier this week. They all said that their girlfriends were too busy, that they were too busy, and they just wanted to see them for Christmas."
"I guess since I don't have a girlfriend, I would have to say snow."
"Snow?" She asks quizzically.
"Yeah. Before the phenom that is NSYNC came to be, I lived in Maryland. We always, maybe with the exception of one Christmas, had a white Christmas. I loved it. But here in Florida, it's too hot. No snow. It would take nothing short of a miracle to have snow here. I miss it." He looks her straight in the eyes sincerely answering her question.
"You know thinking about it, I guess I would probably miss the snow too." She smiles slightly. They stop talking and just stare at each other for a minute. He finally gives in to the silence, leans in and kisses he lightly. He pulls away for a second and she smiles. She leans in for another one and it lasts longer this time. Both are kind of hazy and are so wrapped up in the kiss, they don't notice when the rain starts to lightly pour. It starts pouring harder and they break apart, laughing. "I think we should go inside." He agrees and takes her hand as they head inside out of the rain.
December 9, 2000
Orlando, Florida
Temp= 72 degrees F
JC wakes up from his afternoon nap, hearing someone laughing and decides to investigate. He finds everyone gone except for Snow who is laughing furiously and talking on her cell phone, lying on the couch in the living room.
"You've got to be kidding! This happened when?"
"Yesterday, everyone was so worked up about it." JC approaches her, but stumps his toe on the recliner.
"OUCH!" Snow jumps startled.
"JC! Oh my gosh. You scared me."
"Snow?" Calls the voice on the phone.
"Uh, just a minute. Are you going to be okay?" JC nods and sits in the chair rubbing his throbbing toe. "Hey. I'm back."
"What happened?"
"JC stumped his toe."
"JC who? Are you cheating on me, Miss Snow?"
"Jack, how could I be cheating on you? I'm not your girlfriend. You're not my boyfriend, although you wish you were."
"True, but ya can't blame a guy for trying."
"You know, I still don't see why dad puts up with you."
"Neither do I sweet cheeks. Neither do I, but the benefits of this gig are great."
"I'm sure. I think JC actually hurt himself. Night Mr. Frost."
"Night Snowflake." She hangs up the phone and groans. "No offense JC, but guys suck."
"Okay, I think none taken. Who was he?"
"He was a non important prick who I really don't like, but every now and then he can be a nice, fun guy…So about you foot…"
December 11, 2000
Orlando, Florida
Temp= 63 degrees F
Chris, Justin, Joey and Lance are in the recording studio, waiting for JC.
"Guys, this isn't like JC. He's usually the first one here. I'm worried." Says Justin pacing around the room. Lance gets up and puts a hand on the younger one's shoulder to get him to stop pacing.
"Justin we all are. I'm sure JC has a good reason."
"Yeah. And it has four letters: S-N-O-W." Says Joey looking at the clock.
"Snow? What does she have to do with anything?" Asks Justin.
"You haven't seen the looks they've been giving each other over meals the past couple of days, then you must be blind. I would've sworn they were girlfriend/boyfriend, except JC hasn't said anything." Just then, Snow and JC come in laughing over something JC had said, holding hands.
"No, really?" She asks laughing.
"Really." They stop laughing, then look at each other only to start laughing again. JC takes a quick glance at where they are going and when he sees his group mates he stops. They drop hands. "Oh…um…morning?"
"Try again." Says Justin.
"Um…Sorry we're late?"
"That'll work. Where have you been? We've been waiting for twenty minutes."
"Sorry Justin. It was my fault. I couldn't find my sunglasses." She says pointing to the light blue tinted glasses she had been wearing everyday she had been there.
"Why didn't you just come on?"
"I have to have some sort of shield for my eyes. They're not used to the kind of sunlight Orlando gets."
"Oh."
"Okay then. I'm really sorry I'm late, but we do need to get to work." Says JC they all nod and start recording backups for a song. Snow just watches her new friends.
~~~~~
The guys are done with their recording and JC and Snow decided to have some fun and are recording one of *NSYNC's Christmas songs as a duet. They are in the booth singing and Lance, Chris, Joey and Justin are watching the two. Behind them, someone quietly opens the door and walks in. She is a brunette standing about four foot four, wearing light blue jeans and a red tee shirt with rose tinted sunglasses. She creeps up behind Justin and taps him on the shoulder. He ignores it at first, she taps him again and he turns around.
"Who are you?" he asks, trying not to sound rude.
"Sir, the name is Trixel. I'm looking for Ms. Snow Kringle." She says.
"Oh okay. I'm Justin. She's in there." He points to the couple in the recording booth. Snow looks out of the booth and sees Trixel. Her eyes light up, and then darken. Trixel only comes for one reason. They stop recording and Snow gets out and immediately hugs the short girl.
"Trixel. Not nice seeing you again."
"I'm loved." She says sarcastically.
"Well it's just that the only reason you're here is to bring me back cause dad needs me. Am I right?"
"As usual."
"See? I'm having a good time here. Happier than I've been in a long time."
"That's good to hear."
"So let me introduce you to everyone…Trix, these are the guys: Justin, Lance, Joey, Chris…And JC." She says. "Guys this is Trix or Trixel, my best friend from back home. With that said, she came to tell me I gotta go home. We're going to leave, get my stuff, and then head over to the airport. You can come if ya want." They all nod sadly before following her out the door. JC saddest of all. What would he do?
~~~~~Airport~~~~~
"So this is goodbye?" JC asks looking Snow in the face at her and Trixel's departure gate.
"Yeah." She smiles sadly.
"Will I see you again?"
"I don't know."
"Snow, hurry! We need to go!" Shouts Trixel from the entrance to the gate. Snow looks at her and nods. She looks behind JC and sees his friends waiting for him. "I guess this is it, huh?" She says, tears starting to come down her cheek. JC's eyes well up.
"Do you have to go?" She nods and wipes the tears from her eyes.
"I need to go. Let's try to not make this too hard. Bye JC." She smiles, gives him a quick hug, grabs her bag she left at her feet, and turns around. She takes a step, but then turns around abruptly. She walks back to him and gives him a kiss, a deep kiss. They break apart at the realization that she does have to go and she turns around and walks to the gate. She doesn't look back and heads out to the plane.
~~~~~On the ground w/ JC~~~~~
Once the plane has taken off and is out of site, he steps back from the window and sits down. He finally breaks down and cries. He lost her. The guys come over and try to console him. He eventually sobers up enough to walk out of the airport, his heart already more than a mile away.
~~~~~In the plane w/ Snow~~~~~
Once the airport is completely out of site, she stops looking out of the window and breaks down. Trixel tries to console her. She lost him. She eventually wears out and falls asleep, her heart more than a mile away.
December 24, 2000
Orlando, Florida
Temp= 41 degrees F
The guys are stirring around Justin's house doing nothing in particular. Justin, Joey, and Justin's step dad are watching a football game downstairs; Chris is trying to reach his girlfriend with no luck, then decides to help Justin's mom out in the kitchen; Lance is in the dining room sitting down at the table with his laptop in front of him, cell phone attached to his ear trying to get some misfilings in his company sorted out; JC is moping in his bedroom. He pretty much became a hermit since Snow left, barely talking to his friends. The guys were getting worried about him. Justin yells at one of the players on the TV when the doorbell rings. He yells some more at the TV then gets up and answers the door. He starts smiling at the four figures at the door step.
"CHRIS! JOEY! LANCE! GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE DOOR!…SORRY MOM." He yells noticing the scolding on his mom's face for yelling. She sees who is at the door and just smiles. Lance turns off his computer and cell; Chris shuts off his computer, and Joey stops watching the game. The three come to the door and give their girlfriends huge, enveloping hugs. They lead them into the living room. "So what happened? I thought you couldn't make it for Christmas?"
"Well we weren't going to. But yesterday when I woke up I found a ticket here with a note that said 'Tell Justin that Christmas wishes do come true, you just have to know the right people. Merry Christmas, Love Snow' and my schedule had been cleared till the 2nd." Says Leigh.
"Yeah. We all got the same messages, except mine was for you." Danielle says to Lance.
"Mine was for you." Says Rebecca to Joey.
"And mine for you. Who was she and what was she talking about?" Says Karen to Chris. The guys look at each other then simultaneously shout.
"JC!"
~~~~~
JC is looking at maps in his bedroom trying to figure out how to get in touch with her because he loved her. It took him a few days to realize it and the more he tried to find her, the more depressed he got. He was beginning to give up. The same words were running though his head over and over again as he kept looking over the maps.
"But I thought you could see it every where?"
"Everywhere but one spot."
Everywhere, but one spot. One spot. The only spot you couldn't see the star was if you were at the North Pole because you would be standing right underneath it and that didn't make sense. No one lived at the North Pole, well except for Santa and he was just a story to make kids happy. Wasn't he?
"JC!" He hears his friends yelling, looks down at his maps again, and then heads down to see what they want.
"You yelled?" He says once he has descended the stairs.
"Yeah." Says Justin. They tell him about what happened with the girls and about the Christmas wishes they made. The only one who had known was Snow. "Do you have any idea what they are talking about?"
"Not really but I have a theory. A totally unbelievable theory, but one none-the-less. I'm not ready to explain it, so, guys, just enjoy your girlfriends company." He says with a sad smile and then heads back up to his room.
"What's gotten into him? He seems depressed." Says Danielle once JC is out of sight. The guys look at each other. They knew. Justin speaks up.
"Simple. He met a girl, but she had to leave before he realized he had fallen for her."
Same day, Same time...
North Pole, North Pole
Temp= -21 degrees F
Snow wraps the furry, red with white trim coat around her tighter as she looks into the frozen over pond. The image in the ice fuzzy, yet clear. She can see the image of Justin, Lance, Chris, and Joey's surprised and happy faces as they greet their girlfriends at the front door. She smiles, but her heart is wrenched when the image in the ice goes to JC. The look of despair is evident in his eyes. She can tell he misses something or someone. I bet that someone is me because I miss him so much as well. She thinks to herself. Tears start falling down her cheek. Snow is startled when someone sits down beside her.
"Hey. What's wrong sweetie?" Says her dad when he notices her tears. He looks in the pond and sees a man about his daughter's age with the same look of despair in his eyes.
"Nothing dad, nothing at all." She says wiping the tears from her face and giving him a fake smile.
"I can tell. Something is wrong. You were never very good at lying."
"You know me too well." She says looking in the pond.
"It's this boy isn't it?" Snow nods.
"Joshua Chasez dad. I miss him."
"I can tell he misses you too." She nods and continues watching the image in the ice, occasionally wiping the tears from her eyes. "You love this boy don't you dear?" She looks at her dad, startled, but then thinks about the question.
"I do, dad. I do. I love him." She says, smiling slightly.
"He loves you too. I can tell. You grew up so fast my Snow. So fast. I cans still remember you saying your first word, playing with your first toy. To me, you've always been that little girl. But I guess you did have to grow up." He pauses. "You know, I was afraid of it, but I knew this day would come." She looks at her father with a quizzical look.
"What day?"
"When you wouldn't be here to see me off. Ma and I can handle it."
"Dad? What are you saying?"
"I want you to go to him. You need him and he needs you." She smiles.
"O my. Thank you so much dad. Thank you." Snow gives her father a hug, crying tears of joy.
"Yes, well your mom and I can handle things. Go. Besides you have to give him his Christmas wish." She hugs her father once more before running off to get her things and tell everyone 'bye'.
December 25, 2000
Orlando, Florida
Temp= 29 degrees F
JC yawns, gets out of bed, gets dressed, and heads down the stairs of Justin's house. He finds his friends, and Justin's little brother already attacking the presents. Rebecca, Karen, Leigh, and Danielle are trying to separate their boyfriends from the colored paper, having neatly opened their presents already. He can hear Justin's mom and step dad in the kitchen, talking. Justin looks out of the mess and sees JC.
"Morning JC. Mom figured you wouldn't be up till later so she placed your presents out of the way so they wouldn't get harmed." He says before diving back in to the mess. JC smiles and heads over to his presents. On the top is a white envelope with 'JC' written on it in fancy cursive letters. Curious, he opens it and reads the note inside.
~JC~
Look outside. Miracles do happen. Merry Christmas! Love,
~Snow Kringle~
He frowns in questioning and turns to Justin.
"Hey Justin. Have you looked outside this morning?"
"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing." He walks over to the window and looks outside. The sight makes him giddy and he starts smiling. "Guys! Everyone! Come here! Look outside. It's snowing."
"Snow?" Questions Lance as he gets up and looks out the window.
"Yeah, snow." He says, not quite believing it. My Christmas wish, she remembered. But it's not the thing I really want. He thinks to himself, sadly. He thinks some more and an idea pops in his head. "Hey, Mrs Harless?"
"How many times have I told you boys to call me mom?"
"Sorry, mom? Santa's name is Nicholas Kringle* isn't it?" She starts smiling.
"Yes JC. It always has been. Why do you ask?"
"No reason." He says wistfully staring out the window again, watching the snow. Justin's mom doesn't say anything, recognizing the look on her son's best friend's face. She smiles and holds her husband's hand tighter as they leave the room. As soon as JC notices the snow start to light up, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it." He walks to the door, opens it, and stops in his tracks.
"JC, who is it?" Shouts Justin from another room. When JC doesn't answer, they head to the front door and stop.
"Snow…you're…you're back." He stutters.
"Yeah." She says with a slight smile.
"I thought you had to do something."
"Dad let me go early. I missed you." She says moving closer to him.
"I missed you too." He says looking her in the eyes and moving closer to her so that only about a couple inches remain. "Your dad's name is Nicholas Kringle* isn't it?" She moves closer and nods, not breaking their eyes. "That's what I thought." He smiles and leans in to kiss her, lightly at first then it turns more passionate. A Christmas wish granted.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
We've been waiting all year for this night
And the snow is glistening on the trees outside
And all the stockings are hung by the firseide
Waitng for Santa to arrive
And all the love will show
'Cause everybody knows
It's Christmastime and
All the kids will see
The gifts under the tree
It's the best time of the year for the family
It's a wonderful feeling
Feel the love in the room
From the floor to the ceiling
It's that time of year
Christmastime is here
And with the blessings from above
God sends you his love
And everybody's okay
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Bells are ringing
It's time to scream and shout (scream and shout)
And everybody's playing cause school's out
Celebrating this special time we share
Happiness cause love is in the air
And all the love will show
'Cause everybody knows
It's Christmastime and
All the kids will see
The gifts under the tree
It's the best time of the year for the family
It's a wonderful feeling
Feel the love in the room
From the floor to the ceiling
It's that time of year
Christmastime is here
And with the blessings from above
God sends you his love
And everybody's okay
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
No matter what your holiday
It's a time to celebrate
And put your worries aside (worries aside)
And open up your mind (open up your mind)
See the world right by your side
It's Christmastime
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
It's a wonderful feeling
Feel the love in the room
From the floor to the ceiling
It's that time of year
Christmastime is here
And with the blessings from above
God sends you his love
And everything's okay
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays As sung by NSYNC
* ~ For this story, Santa Claus' name is Nicholas Kringle. I pretty sure it really is, but not certain.
