He had changed out of his uniform since I last saw him. Hair still a little damp from having recently showered, his fresh scent filled my nose as he stood a little too close. "We should probably put on a little bit of a couple act from the get go," he started.

Looking at his nose instead of his eyes, I said, "If you think that's a good idea."

In response, he held his hand out for me and, begrudgingly, I took it. Might as well get used to it now considering soon they'd be taped together... His hand was large around mine, but soft and warm. 

We walked up to the booth, handed over our entry slip to the fake Santa—all the while he glanced down at our entwined hands, gaze narrowing—and then joined the mass of people waiting for the competition to start.

As we waited and waited for time to tick closer, I became conscious of the fact my hand was starting to sweat. I started to pull it out from Jasper's grip but he held on.

"Jas..." I whispered, tugging my hand again.

He turned to me, evidently alarmed that I had used his nickname. To my luck, his grip relaxed.

I wiped my hand on my jeans and tried shaking it dry.

"Sorry... was I sweating? I'm a little nervous about this all," he mumbled, other hand anxiously coming up to rub the back of his neck.

"No, no... I was." I looked to the ground. "There's a lot of people here, watching..."

"I know," he said back softly, glancing around. "I still hate crowds."

"Me too."

He glanced my way, small smile slipping onto his face. "Glad we still have something in common."

"Yeah," I trailed off, feeling a tightness in my throat the more intently he stared into my eyes. When it seemed to drag on a little too long, I averted my gaze to the ground.

"How about we... I don't know... talk about something while we wait to distract ourselves," Jasper then offered after a while of me awkwardly shuffling on the spot, trying to keep warm.

"Um... what about?"

"What year are you in now?"

"About to start my final year in January."

"Wait... you start in January?"

"Yeah, why?"

A grin spread across his face as I curiously looked up at him. "I'll graduate before you."

Rolling my eyes, I bumped my shoulder into his and said, "Shut up. Show off."

"So they made the genius Zara repeat half a year of school?"

"Yup!"

"They should have just skipped you up."

"Would have been nice if they did. I would have been in the same year as everyone my age. Same year as my best friends. And I never would have met..." Rowan... But I bit my tongue before it was too late.

Yet Jasper was too quick for me. "Met who?"

"Nobody." I have to change the topic otherwise he will pester me. "So who dumped you? Do I know them?"

A commotion stirred at the front of the crowd as everyone with entry tickets formed a line in front of the obstacle course. It seemed they'd make us go through one couple at a time. We briefly paused our chat to listen to the rules and note that the twelve contestants with the fastest times move onto the next round.

"We will have to be quick," Jasper mumbled.

Eyes going through the crowd, I noted that we were one of the younger couples, with quite a few in the line... not seeming as fit as us. "We can do it," I said back, a small smile slipping onto my face as my competitive nature began to kick in.

Sharing my grin, Jasper's eyes twinkled with a competitive gleam, the very type he used to sport when we'd play Monopoly or Scrabble when we were kids. "Damn right we can."

The whistle blew at the front and we watched them struggle through the bends and curves of the maze until finally they had returned with Santa's present almost five minutes later. But after starting to watch the second couple work their way through, and surveying our position as the thirtieth couple in the line, I decided to resume our conversation.

"So who was she? Or he..."

"She," Jasper mumbled, his cheeks seeming to tinge pink as he avoided my curious stare. "She's just... no one for you to worry about. It's over."

I gasped. "Did I know them?"

"Maybe..." He was still looking anywhere but me.

"C'mon, Jas. Give me a name." I could feel the buzz glowing in me, remembering when we used to walk down the mall and point at strangers, calling them each other's girlfriend or boyfriend. Jas and I would always try to pick the ugliest person we could. It was honestly pretty mean looking back, but I guess we must have been mean kids.

"Just drop it, Zara," he said a little harshly this time.

Pursing my lips, I took a small step away from him.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to sound rude."

"Yes you did," I replied.

He sighed. "You'd be disappointed in me, is all."

"Disappointed? Why would I—" But then it dawned on me.

As Jasper warily met my gaze, guilt permeating from his stare, his expression confirmed the churning sensation in my stomach.

"No..." I whispered. "Please tell me it wasn't who I think."

He looked away towards the line. We were next up.

"Jasper?" I pressed, wanting to hear him say it.

The couple in front of us took off down the obstacle course and we were now standing next to Santa's helpers.

"Hands," one of them instructed.

Weaving our hands back through each others', we held them up for the elves to tape them. We didn't look at each other once as they taped us together. Instead, I kept my eyes fixated on the bin by the starting line, full of nine empty rolls of tape.

As the couple before us currently running the course neared in sight, Jasper finally whispered, "Yes. It was Penny."

Three minutes and two seconds flashed on the screen in front of us as the couple crossed the finish line with the present in hand.

"Alright, next up," fake Santa called out to us, eyes warily going between us, noticing something wasn't right.

"You're unbelievable," I said to Jasper just before the bell rang, signalling for us to start.

We ran down the first few steps of the track, jumping over the toys haphazardly thrown about until we reached our first hurdle: a candy cane that had fallen onto a workstation.

Jasper leading me, we moved to the ground in a crouching position, ducking our heads as we weaved through the bends. Navigating the bends and curves on all fours was difficult with our hands taped together. Nonetheless, we persisted as fast as we could, our competitive natures taking hold.

I could feel Jasper's hand clenching hard against mine—a force beyond what the tape called for.

For the next good chunk of time, we maneuvered under and over fallen candy canes, until finally the maze took a bend, allowing us to stand upright.

We were immersed now in towering walls of presents, toys, and blow-up santas. However there was a left and right way to turn.

"Let's go left," Jasper said, tugging me along with him.

Unable to help myself, I replied, "Let's go right."

"Zara! We don't have time to bicker over this," he said.

Not wavering, we both continued to glare at each other as the seconds ticked by, stubbornly holding our spots. Finally Jasper sighed and began walking with me to the right. Sure enough, an elf holding a present was waiting by a toy station.

"Thank heavens you're here!" she gushed, taking her role way too seriously. "Please get this to Santa in time!"

I yanked it out of the cheery woman's hand and we were running back towards the maze, crawling through the hurdle once more, until we were back with fake Santa.

We handed the present over to him then crossed the finish line.

Two minutes and fifty-nine seconds flashed on the screen.

∘◦ ❈ ◦∘

Having glanced multiple times at the timestamps of those who did the course before and after us, we knew we were safe as we pulled the tape off our hands. Nonetheless, we waited until the competition was finished to confirm our spot.

Once all couples had gone through, we assembled in front of the stage as fake Santa took the microphone. After reading out the names of the twelve contestants passing onto the next round, we shuffled over to the elves to grab our free Winter Wonderland passes for tomorrow.

Jasper and I walked side by side towards the exit, not saying a word to each other. He was mad at me for bickering with him in the maze. But I was seething at the fact he had dated Penny. Of all people... her.

I didn't know who Jasper was anymore, but my friend wouldn't have looked at Penny like that after everything she did to me. It was clear the Jasper I knew was long gone.

"See you tomorrow," I muttered his way, barely glancing at him before I turned on my heel and headed home.

______

Tomorrow's riddle: