Chapter 1
Holly
I stood still and looked up at the eccentric gates of my new college. The wind and snow whipped around me, and I pulled my massive blue coat tighter. Luckily, I was covered from top to toe. I sighed. I still can’t believe Mum dumped me here.
This was the last place I wanted to go to school, but unfortunately, I couldn’t stay at my old school as my mum decided to have a midlife crisis and travel the world for the next year. So she packed me up and left me here with my Dad at the freaking North Pole.
“Yep, you heard right at the North Pole,” I say into my phone, shivering. My best friend Margaret, or Mags as I call her, is on the other end, trying not to have a panic attack.
“ What!” she stuttered “ You are taking the piss, right?”
I heard the panic in her voice and thought she would never believe me if I told her the truth; they never do.
” Of course, I’m joking, hon; it is so cold here it feels like the North Pole!” I laugh.
She goes quiet, then starts laughing as well.
“ I bet. I can’t believe your Mum shipped you off to your Dad’s, and I mean rude, huh?”
I went quiet. It hurt that mum had abandoned me, but me and my mother never had the greatest of relationships.
When she and my Dad broke up all those years ago and moved us away, she changed from a cool, funny mum to an insecure, always wanting everyone’s praise mum.
She has gone to find herself, and as I am officially an adult now at eighteen, nearly nineteen, she can now be free—her words, not mine.
I come out of my thoughts to find Mags still talking. I haven’t heard a word she has said.
“ Are you coming back at some point?” she asks.
“ I hope so. I want to see Blake soon, so fingers crossed, my Dad will help me with the cost of the flight. If not, I will have to find myself a job and save,” my voice was sad.
” Well, don’t worry; I can keep Blake company while you are gone,” Mags purred.
I thought sarcastically, ” I am sure he will love that.”
He can’t stand Mags. Whenever we hang out together, he makes an excuse not to be near her; lately, he has been worse. As soon as he hears her voice, he looks irritated and leaves alone.
“ Okay, well, be gentle with him” I laugh. Suddenly, I can hear Mags start coughing like she was choking,
“Hell bells, Margaret, are you okay?” I can hear her coughing, and then it slows down and finally stops.
She said, “ Sorry, Hols. My drink went down the wrong way.” I nodded even though she couldn’t see it.
Suddenly, the gates started moving, and the gates swung slowly open.
“ I’ve got to go and meet my new headteacher now, Mags; I will call you soon. Love you,” I say
“ Love you too, Hols and Hols?”
“ Yes?”
“ I am sorry this has happened to you,” Mags says sadly. That’s weird, I thought. It’s not like I won’t be back.
” It’s okay, Mags. I will be back soon, and this will be a distant memory.”
I end the call and look at the gates.
They were beautiful. They were silver with intricate carvings of holly and ivy, and on the top stood a crest with a reindeer and a heart, the school symbol. I admired the work and magic it took to create these.
The snow didn’t even touch the gates; it was like an invisible barrier that stopped any dirt, snow, or anything else from tarnishing the beautiful gates. As I gazed up at the name, which was next to the crest, St Nicolas, my stomach dropped. I can do this.
I grabbed my case and dragged it behind me. Dad had promised to meet me at school but couldn’t meet me at the airport because of a work issue.
My Dad is the head engineer at his work. I told my friends that his job required him to travel a lot, which is why Mum and he broke up. I didn’t tell them that my Dad was the head elf for the Claus corporation, which Santa Claus himself headed up.
Yep, Santa is real, and so are elves. My Dad is one, and so I am. I am half-elf and half-human. My parents met when my Dad went to a human college for a year to study technology and ended up falling hard for my mum. They loved each other deeply once.
When I spoke to my Dad, he said the sleigh wasn’t working properly again, and they had to ship some parts from abroad. It was very last minute, and no one else could deal with it.
As per usual, work came before family. That was one of the reasons Mum left this place; that and the polar bears scared the crap out of her.
I remember the first time I asked my Dad what he did, and he told me he was Santa Claus’s right-hand man.
I remember being in awe at this place and everything it stands for, but now it makes me sad. I have a lot of good memories and sad ones as well.
I walk up the drive towards the school. The snow didn’t touch the driveway, which I was grateful for; it made dragging my case easier.
As I approached the college, I saw that it looked more like a castle than any college I had ever seen. It looked like a gingerbread castle. It was white and had tall towers, and it had to have at least five floors. The roof was dark grey, and I could see trimming all around its edge; it looked like Ivy, but it was so high up I couldn’t tell from down here.
I once saw inside the college a long time ago, and it was beautiful, just like the village behind it. It’s completely unique.
I panicked when Mum told me about her new adventure and plan.
I hadn’t lived with my Dad for over ten years, but he gave me the option to board at the college if I wanted to, so I chose to do that this time.
I didn’t want to get too used to being with my Dad and then feel bad about leaving when my mum returned. Horrible, I know.
I asked for a single room so I could relax in my own space and not socialise. I don’t have to worry about roommates and small talk, especially when they bring back partners.
I can decorate the room as I want, and as much as I am half elf, I don’t love Christmas; I tolerate it. It was the centre of my universe for nearly nine years, and I’m happy it didn’t take over my life.
The massive dark blue doors open as I reach the steps leading up to them.
A short lady comes walking down to meet me. She has long black hair tied up in a bun, exposing her pointed ears. She is wearing a red trouser suit with a white shirt underneath. She looks stylish.
Her face is welcoming and pretty. Her grey eyes sparkle as they meet mine.
“ Hello, Miss Snow, my name is Principal Bell, and I am here to welcome you to St Nicolas College” She gives me the brightest smile, and I can’t help but smile back.
“ Hello, thank you for meeting me,” I say.
“ Let me get your case taken up to your room, and we can get you settled, okay?” she says. I nod, and she snaps her fingers.
A giant polar bear walking on two legs comes. It is striding up towards us; they have always given me the chills. Polar bears are massive, and even though I know they won’t hurt me, I can’t help but get the chills when they look at me. I imagine they want to eat me,
“ This is Neville. He looks after us here at the college. If there is any heavy lifting or trouble, he will be there in a jiffy,” Principal Bell says.
“ Hi, Neville,” I wave awkwardly at him. He stops, nods at me, and grabs my case.
“ Which room? Principal Bell?” Neville says. My mouth drops open. I had never heard a polar bear speak, and I didn’t know they could.
“ Room 201 Neville.” Neville walks away carrying my case like it weighs nothing.
My mouth was still open, and I turned to Principal Bell.
“ Am I going crazy, but did he speak, Principal Bell?” She smiled a small smile at me and then answered.
“First, please call me Jules, and yes, Neville can speak; he is quite fluent in many different languages. I am surprised you didn’t know that polar bears can speak. You are an elf, after all, and elves can hear all the animals communicating if they want,” she gives me a questioning look and raises her eyebrow.
I didn’t know what to say about that. I have never heard any animals speak, so I must ask Dad.
We started walking up the stairs and entered the college lobby. It was so warm as we crossed over the threshold, and I had to take my coat off before I got too hot.
Jules waited for me and told me to bring along my coat. I took off my coat and hat and shook out my hair.
My long golden blonde hair was tangled from being under the hat, I pulled my fingers through it to try to get some of the tangles out as Jules led me down the hall to her office.
I should have gotten it cut before I came but I love my hair long, it finishes in the middle of my back and is easy to tie up and wave if I wanted to.
As Jules led me down to her office I was amazed at how much it had changed since I had seen this place.
It was a lot more modern than I expected, the walls were painted white with screens all long showcasing student work and also notices.
A big sign flashes up on one of the screens advertising the college christmas ball which is coming up in a month.
I will be missing that, I thought to myself.
As we walked I could see different doors leading to different classrooms, there were windows but you couldn’t see inside, it was frosted over, I tried to peer in but even with my face pressed up I couldn’t make out what was inside.
Then I had a thought, what if they could see me but I couldn’t see them. I had the awful feeling that I had just done my first of many embarrassing things.
I closed my eyes and went to catch up to Jules. She stopped at a big wooden door, she pressed her thumb into a panel on the side and the door opened. They definitely have made improvements, I thought.
She led me into a beautiful office, it was round and had the most stunning view of the village below. I could make out all the houses and shops and wait..
I moved closer to the window to get a better view. The village has changed, it is massive now. More shops and bigger houses and I could see in the center a massive structure which must be the Claus corporation workshop. Wow I thought, time has changed this place.
I turn back to Jules, and she takes a seat behind her desk. I sit opposite her and we go through my schedule.
I am taking art and writing classes so I have time to study and work if I want to. They have a lot of different classes to do with the Claus family business but I am not interested in that.
Jules gives me all the information I need plus my room key and finally gives me the timetable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My dad had paid for everything so I didn’t need to worry about anything.
I said my thanks and opened the door that led out into the hallway. I was studying my map when I wasn’t watching where I was going and suddenly bumped into something. I looked up annoyed but I realised I didn’t bump into something, it was someone.
I was looking at a muscled chest which was covered in a pale blue shirt, my gaze traveled up until my gaze landed on his face, his eyes were bright blue, darker than mine, mine were the palest blue.
He had tan skin and short shaggy brown hair, he had pierced the top of one of his pointed ears with a ring.
The combination of his skin and eyes was stunning and I stood there just staring at him, he looked familiar somehow. He also had the most intoxicating scent, he smelt like cookies and fire. I realised I was staring and pulled myself together, I had a boyfriend.
“ Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” I said. He just stares at me. Okay I think, I smile at him and walk around him. I can feel him watching me as I walk away.
The halls start to fill with people and I feel people watching me as I make my way to my room. They didn’t feel like friendly stare’s. Well fuck them. I stick my nose up in the air and carry on walking.
I get to the stairs which lead to the bedrooms when I feel someone grab my arm.
I swing back to glare at whoever grabbed me and see another stunning boy looking back at me. He has messy blonde hair and has the same skin tone and bright blue eyes as the boy who I just bumped into.
I can see he is well built, his muscles straining in his top. I can tell he is tall as he is the same height as me even though I am on the step. He smiles a genuine smile at me.
That smile would make any girl drop her panties I thought.
“ Holly is that you?” he asks.
How did he know my name? I think. Then I look at him again and it dawns on me.
“ Wyatt?” I say. He smiles brighter and goes to hug me. He engulfs me with his arms and he smells delicious like cotton candy.
“ I can’t believe it’s you!” he says “ your Dad said you would be coming but I didn’t believe him. You haven’t been back since we were kids. How long has it been?”
I think about it.
“ Ten years” I say. He starts to look me up and down and I can see there is nothing but hunger in that look.
” Man you look great, I mean wow you have grown into one stunning woman” I laugh at his compliment. He has always been forward.
“ How’s the family?” I ask
“ Well you know dad, he is a workaholic and mum spends most of her time trying to get me and Dash married off so they are okay” I nod. That doesn’t surprise me, I remember Wyatt’s mum very well.
” Okay, say hi to everyone and I guess I will see you around?” I said to him,
“ Wait, have you seen Dash yet?” Wyatt asks. “ He won’t believe it when he sees you,” Wyatt says.
“ Ahh, no I don’t think so” I say. I kind of don’t want to either. The last time I saw Dash I had a crush on him and ended up asking him to take pity on me and be my first kiss.
It was embarrassing but he didn’t say no. I left the day after that and never got to say goodbye. I pull myself out of my flashback.
“ Look there he is,” Wyatt says, pointing at a figure coming our way.
My eyes widen, the boy who I bumped into earlier strides towards us, he isn’t alone. A beautiful redhead is attached to his arm, as they approach she looks me up and down and scowls at me.
“ Dash, look who it is,” Wyatt said excitedly. “ It’s Holly, you know Dads head engineer’s daughter, we used to play together when we were younger.”
He elbows Dash in the ribs and raises his eyebrows.
“ Hi Dash” I mumble. He doesn’t say anything back and that causes the redhead to laugh.
Okay I have had enough for one day.
“ Okaay then, nice to see you. See you around” I say. I go and turn to make my way up the stairs when I feel someone climbing next to me. I turn to see Wyatt. He carrys on walking with me.
“ Sorry about him, he can be a jerk sometimes” Wyatt says.
“ It’s okay, I’m not bothered” I shrug.
“ What room are you in?” Wyatt asks. I pause, I suppose it can’t hurt letting him know.
“ Room 201” I replied. His eyes widened.
“ Great you are not far away from mine, you have a big room with your own bathroom then. Your dad must have pulled some strings to get you on that floor. Mine is 210, just down the hall to the left”
He takes me to the right floor and walks me to my door. I open the door to find a stunning room, I walk in shocked by how nice it is. It has large windows looking over the grounds, a stunning four poster bed which is covered in dark grey sheets and lots of fluffy pillows.
There are two doors which lead to a massive bathroom with a shower and large bath. The other door leads into a walk-in wardrobe. The wardrobe has to be the biggest one I have ever had, I don’t have enough clothes to fill it, I think.
I can see on the other side of the room where the big windows are, is a large desk which will be perfect to write at and a bookcase to store my books. There is also space for me to draw as well if I want.
I am suddenly emotional, my Dad really thought about what I needed. I can feel a tear slip down my face. When I see him later I will have to say thank you.
I hear a sound behind me and realise that Wyatt was still there. I wipe my eyes and walk over to him.
“ Sorry Wyatt, I am just surprised and touched that my dad did this for me.” I say. Wyatt smiles at me.
“It’s okay, maybe we can meet up and catch up later on?” he asks hopefully.
“ I have to meet my dad but sure afterwards that would be great” I reply
“ Brill, just knock on my door when you get back, if I am not there I will be in the dining hall or the snug”
Wyatt gives me the brightest smile and turns and leaves. I close the door behind him and look at my new home.
I wander over to my bed and lay down on it. The sheets feel amazing under my hands. Suddenly my thoughts change, I find myself thinking of a dark haired boy with bright blue eyes, Dash’s face suddenly appears in my mind and my stomach feels like it has butterflies.
Holly
