Silver Bell Wish 5
by Peregrine

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Copyright © 2023 Peregrine
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Chapter 5

Discoveries

‘‘Now that I know what’s going on, maybe I can get through this.”

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Driving home, Rian began wondering about her home life. She was curious about her parents. Her mother seemed like her normal self. She wondered if her room was decorated in a very feminine way. ‘I hope there is not too much pink,’ she thought. Pink was Renee’s color. She wondered about Renee. Her mother didn’t seem worried about her and apparently, Renee wasn’t taking any medications. That must mean Renee was in good health. She suddenly thought of Alex. Rian thought they must be best friends. After all, they were boyfriend and girlfriend before her recent changes. Rian realized she was about a block from the coffee shop and decided to make a stop and visit Alex.

The café appeared the same, but seemed more crowded than Rian had expected. People there were enjoying the atmosphere. It was a good sign the café was doing well. It was good to know some things were still the same. She looked around and didn’t see Alex at the counter. Maybe that was a good thing. What was she going to say to Alex? Something like, ‘hi, I used to be your boyfriend, but now I’m a girl. I hope you don’t mind.’ That didn’t seem right or believable. Rian decided she would order a latte while she was here.

The Barista behind the counter was taller than Rian. He appeared to be athletic and in good shape. His hair was trimmed on the sides of his head and he sported a closely trimmed beard. He was wearing a green tee shirt under a brown apron with the café logo. Rian felt an attraction to him, which startled her. She realized she was a girl now, and it was fine to be attracted to men.

“Excuse me. Can I get a vanilla latte, please?” she said. Rian opened her bag to get her card to pay. She looked up and saw him staring at her.

“What are you doing here?”

The comment startled Rian. “I came in looking for Alex, who apparently isn’t here, so I’ll take a vanilla latte.”

“Are you trying to be funny, Rian?”

“I don’t know what…”

“I am Alex. My beard can’t have made me look so different that you can’t recognize me. I mean, we dated throughout most of college.” Rian had a startled look on her face. In this life, Alex was a guy, and they had dated! Apparently, they had broken up, and judging Alex’s reaction to her, the breakup must have been her fault.

“I’m sorry, Alex. It’s been a long day with volunteering at the hospital and then opening night for the play.”

“You volunteered at the hospital?”

“All the elves visited the inpatient children at the hospital. The kids liked our visit so much that they asked us to do it again today. Then at the cast party, the hospital Activities Director asked us if we could continue to visit the children.”

“So you walk around in your elf costume and give the kids presents?”

Rian frowned. “We give them mini candy canes and stay and talk with them. You make it sound like we were in and out.”

There was silence for an agonizing five seconds.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Let me make you that latte.”

“You don’t have to. I can leave.”

“No, you ordered it, so let me make it for you. You will have to pay for it, though.”

Rian waved her card over the reader and waited for the beep. Alex gave her the receipt and started making the latte, talking with her while making it.

“I never knew you liked to volunteer there,” said Alex as he steamed the milk.

“I never thought about it until they asked us to go around and visit the kids. The look on the faces of the kids was precious. I decided to do it again tomorrow, even if I’m the only one.”

Alex put the latte on the counter. “There you go.”

Rian picked it up and turned to leave. “Thanks, Alex. See you around.”

“My pleasure, and Rian… it was great seeing you again. Good night.”

While Rian felt good after speaking with Alex, she wondered why they had broken up. She couldn’t ask Alex. That would be weird. Especially if she was right, and she had broken up with him. Then she realized she knew exactly who to talk to about it. She hoped she was as close or closer to this person in this life as her previous one.

~~0~~

The house looked exactly as Rian remembered it. She parked the car and went inside.
“I’m home,” Rian called out as she hung up her coat.

“There’s my favorite actress,” said her father. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. “You were fantastic tonight. I don’t think I have ever seen you act better.” Rian’s mother came out with a small bouquet.

“Here you go, honey. I wanted to give these to you at the theater. I was so focused on getting you your dress that I left them in the car.”

Rian took the flowers. “They’re lovely, Mom.” She kissed her mother. “Everyone loved the dress. Thanks for getting it to me.”

“You were great tonight, Rian,” said Renee as she entered the room. She walked over and hugged her big sister. It surprised Rian to see a healthy Renee.

“Thanks, um, how are you feeling?”

“How am I feeling? I’m fine. Why are you asking?”

“Mom said you, um, needed to take some painkillers.”

“Just my time of month. I’m fine. So you like the dress?”

“I do. So did everyone else.”

“I hope you’re not mad, but I had to have Mom return the one you bought and get you this one. You would go to a party in a potato sack if it weren’t for me.”

“Well, I appreciate you looking out for me. Thanks.” Rian knew she could talk with Renee about Alex.

“Let’s go to the kitchen. I baked some cupcakes and we have ice cream to celebrate your opening night.”

The celebration brought back memories of happy family times for Rian, before Renee’s illness. Everyone was smiling and laughing. She didn’t realize how much she had missed it. After the celebration, Rian went to her room. She was relieved to see it was much better than she had expected. The walls were a nice lavender color with her drapes being a pale blush pink. Her bed was made with white sheets, with a blue flowered print, and covered with a Christmas-themed blanket. Her bathroom walls were light green, and the towels were pale pink. While there was more pink than she would have liked. She found she liked the room.

Rian took off the theater makeup and washed and moisturized her face. She did it without thinking about what she should do. It seemed whatever magic was working on her helped her instinctively to know what to do. She changed into a pair of Christmas-themed pajama pants and a matching tee-shirt top. She was brushing her hair when Renee walked in.

“What took you so long? I didn’t think we were ever going to eat the cupcakes.”

“I stopped at the café to get a latte. Alex was there.”

“Uh-oh, um… how did it go?”

“It went good. He’s grown a beard. Did you know that?”

“No! How does he look with it?”

“If he doesn’t keep it trimmed, he’s going to look like a lumberjack.” Both sisters laughed. They settled down, and Rian continued. “He said it was nice to see me.”

“He’s nice. I don’t know why you broke up with him.”

“Why do you think I did?”

“I think you were nervous. You thought he was getting too serious and thought he was going to ask you to marry him when he graduated. You want to finish school and get your master’s degree. I think you didn’t know how to handle it.”

“So we had a big fight?”

“No, you told him what you wanted to do. He said he would wait until you graduated. You told him it wasn’t fair to him, and you two broke up.” Renee gave Rian a quizzical look. “Why are you asking me? It’s not that long ago that you could forget.”

“I’m making sure my memory is still good and to see how much you know.”

“Well, you are old.”

“Hey,” said Rian. “I’m not that much older. Don’t you start college next year?”

“If I get in. I haven’t heard yet.”

“Your grades are better than mine were. You are a shoo-in to get accepted.”

“So Alex said it was nice to see you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you still like him?”

“I think I do.”

“Then there is only one thing for you to do,” Renee said excitedly.

“What’s that?”

“Get him back, of course. Sometimes I wonder what you would do without me.”

“I never want to find out.” They hugged. “Go get some sleep. Love ya. Sis.”

“Love you more!”

Rian lay in bed with the lights out. She began thinking about this different life. Here, her parents were happy and her sister was healthy and happy. ‘So why don’t I feel happy?’ she thought. ‘It must be because Alex and I broke up. Before this life, I was happy with Alex being my girlfriend. Could Renee be right? Do I need to get Alex back as a boyfriend? That must be it.’ She turned over and got comfortable, and closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them wide. ‘What am I going to do? I don’t know how to get a boy to like me?’ she thought.

~~0~~

Rian came down to get breakfast and found Renee eating a bowl of cereal. “Hey, squirt. You should stop eating all that sugary stuff. It’ll make you fat.”

“Stop calling me squirt. I’m almost as tall as you are. I like this cereal. It tastes good,” she said as she shoved another spoonful into her mouth.

“You’re right, I’ll quit calling you squirt.” Rian smiled at her sister. “You know, you will stop eating that stuff when you get a boyfriend.”

“All the reason to enjoy it now. But I already have one.” Renee ate another spoonful.

“One what?”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“You do?” said a startled Rian. “Anyone I know?”

“Don’t think so. He’s in my class. His name is Grady Lasota.”

“How long has he been your boyfriend?”

“He doesn’t know he is yet. We’ve just talked a few times. I like him and I know he likes me.”

“Then why do you say he’s your boyfriend?”

“Because I have a plan. When it works, we’ll be going to prom together.”

“I see. Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Dad left for work already. He said something about a meeting. Mom had some training thing to go to.”

“Mom’s not taking night shifts?”

“Night shifts? Why would she do that?”

“So she could…” Rian realized with Renee being healthy, her mother wouldn't have to take night shifts.

“I thought I heard her say something about it. What are you going to do today?”

“I’m not sure. Play video games, I guess.”

“No friends around?”

“Leeann and Maria are both visiting their grandparents for the holidays. It’s you and me today.”

“I’m going to the hospital to visit more of the inpatient children.”

“Sounds like fun. Can I come?”

“I guess you can. I’m going to be in my costume, though. It’s too bad there’s not another elf costume at the theater.”

“I have an idea,” said Renee, as she brought her bowl to the sink. “Don’t leave without me.”

~~0~~

Wearing the costume had almost become second nature for Rian. It felt like she had been wearing it non-stop for three days. She did not have a problem going out in public wearing it. It seemed the most natural thing to do. She finished her makeup, put on the Santa hat, and took a last look in the mirror. She packed a change of clothes in the garment bag and went downstairs.

“Get down here, Renee, if you want to come with me,” Rian called.

“I’m coming,” said Renee, as she started down the steps.

Rian smiled as she saw her sister. Renee had done her hair in two shoulder-length braids. Each braid was tied at the end with a ribbon; Red on one side, green on the other. She wore a red miniskirt and white tights with a white printed tee-shirt that said Santa’s Helper, and on her feet were a pair of red flats.

“What do you think?” asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs and did a spin for her sister.
“You look adorable. Just like an elf in training,” said Rian. “Where did you find this outfit?”

“I threw it together. Mom bought me the shirt. I think she saw it online and thought it was cute. She wanted me to wear it at the opening, but I told her I was too old to do that. I had everything else.”

“With the way you put things together, I’m sure you’re going to be a fashion designer someday. Let’s get going.”

As Rian drove to the hospital, she began thinking about what Renee said about getting Grady to be her boyfriend. “Do you think your plan to get Grady as your boyfriend will work?”

“I’m pretty sure. I’ve asked around and it seems he doesn’t have a girlfriend. It looks good on paper. I need the nerve to fully put it into action.”

Rian hesitated, bit her lower lip, and said, “Do you think your plan will work for me to get Alex back?”

Renee sat up straighter and her eyes got big. “Really? You want to use my plan? Yes, yes, I think it will work!”

“Then let’s hear your plan.”

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Thanks for reading. Comments welcome.

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Cover picture Credits:
Photo Created with AI using Gencraft (after many tries)
Photo Composite by Peregrine