“You’re twenty-one, Joy,” her parents had told her. “Don’t you think it’s time you paid for Christmas presents on your own?”

That was unfair – it wasn’t as if Jolene had asked for them to fund all of her present buying, just a bit of a supplement. But she knew their minds weren’t going to be changed by such logic as that.

Five years had passed quietly, sneaking past Jolene with barely a warning. She’d finished high school, of course, but after that, there had been no big changes. Everything felt as if it were standing still, as if her life had frozen that day at camp. So it was hardly surprising that, even after all that time, she’d recognized Hope in a heartbeat.

Jobs hadn’t exactly become any more plentiful over the years – it had been the opposite, actually, even with her opportunities opening up as she got older. In all honesty, she hadn’t exactly minded. Her friends were all scrambling to find some great career so they could move out, or succeeding in doing so, but she was happy where she was. She felt safe there, stable… She supposed it could be said she was only stable because she was stuck in a rut, but it was a rut she was more than happy with, so she didn’t mind.

“You must be our new elf!” Hope greeted Jolene cheerfully as she anxiously entered the door marked “Employees Only”, walking over to her and shaking her hand boisterously. She must be sixteen or seventeen now, Jolene calculated, and a lot had happened to her over those five years. Much more than had happened to Jolene. She wasn’t a kid anymore, not by a long shot – looking at the two of them side by side, Hope might even have been mistaken as the older, helped by the few inches she had on Jolene. Her costume, a mid-thigh green dress trimmed with fur, tights, and a green Santa hat, looked better on her than it had any right to.

“Y-Yeah,” Jolene replied nervously, searching Hope’s eyes for any sign of recognition. She’d interviewed with someone who worked for the mall, and, with no little siblings or cousins, hadn’t had any reason to look at the elves. She never would have applied if she’d known this specter of her past would be waiting for her, even if the job seemed incredibly easy. “I’m Joy.”

Hope nodded, smiling indecipherably. “I’m Hope. Nice to meet you! Let’s get you all set up!”

Jolene nodded, following the younger girl obediently. There probably should have been a part of her that rankled a bit at working under someone five years her junior, but apparently that part was missing. The woman she’d interviewed with had mentioned the supervisor was pretty young, though never specified, just said she’d worked there the year before and done a great job. Jolene wondered if it was too late to switch, to work during the day, while Hope would be at school, instead of in the evenings, even if that might mean having to wake up earlier.

“There’s not a lot of costumes left,” Hope mused, looking Jolene over. “I hope we can find one that’ll fit you.” She pulled open a box, peering inside and digging through it before pulling out a dress identical to hers, except much smaller. “Why don’t you try this one?” She nodded towards a door, handed the dress over.

The door led to a small bathroom, which Jolene quickly locked, hanging the dress up on a hook on the back of the door and staring at herself in the mirror, a hand on either side of the sink as she bent in closer. Was she as recognizable as she thought? Maybe the years had changed her a bit… Or maybe that memory wasn’t as ingrained in Hope’s mind as deeply as in hers. After all, it hadn’t been a confession for her, just a weird little episode with a camp counselor she’d never seen again after just a few days. Or perhaps she’d tried to forget it, to erase all memories of that camp. She might have been young enough to succeed at it, even though Jolene hadn’t had any luck.

Maybe… Or maybe Hope just didn’t care.

Even with all the possibilities, Jolene found it difficult to re-open the bathroom door, once she’d stripped out of her sweater and pulled on the dress, and only partly because it was too short for her. It was only a bit longer than her sweater had been, prompting her to leave her jeans on as she stepped back out with a blush.

She saw Hope bite her bottom lip, probably trying not to laugh. “Okay, maybe that won’t work,” she said after a moment to regain her composure. But after a minute or two of digging, she looked back up at Jolene, worried. “Umm… That’s the biggest one we have left.” She shrugged, unable to hide the little smile that began to creep across her face. “I’m sure we’ll think of something…”