Sunshine for Christmas

Regina was spending a lot of time studying for her final exams. Back in Kentucky, they'd never had finals and only rarely had they been given tests. Sometimes Miss Smith would call them to the front of the class to recite their lessons, but here at Miss Porter's they wrote papers, had exams, stood at the front of the class to recite their lessons and all sorts of other tortures. After she studied for her History test, she had a paper to do for English. And there was still Latin and sometime she had to find time to practice her music lessons.

Faith, Regina's wealthy and spoiled roommate, continued her campaign to get a new room, preferably one she didn't have to share. The two girls had nothing in common and spent almost no time together. Even now, Regina was studying in the school's small library to stay out of the way of Faith and her wrath. Faith had continued to ridicule Regina's accent, even though nearly everyone else found it charming and barely noticeable.

According the communications Miss Porter had had with her Grandfather, Regina would be spending the Christmas holidays with Elena and her family at their rancho. While Regina loved her visits with Elena's family, she missed her Pappy. Especially now that it was getting closer to Christmas, her heart ached more frequently as her thoughts turned more frequently to Pappy and the holidays they'd shared in Kentucky. She hadn't had a letter from Pappy in almost a month and if she'd had more time to think about it, she'd have been worried. As it was, Regina was concerned, but she was snowed under with schoolwork. She was doing well in her classes, but she was also working nonstop. To be fair, almost all the girls at Miss Porter's were working just as hard or harder so Regina didn't feel put-upon.

Faith didn't feel the same. She griped and moaned and sometimes paid other students to do her work for her. Once, Mr. Tufts, their English teacher had caught Faith turning in a paper that had several phrases that were identical to another girl's paper from the previous year. Mr Tufts ordered Faith to serve a month's detention as well as Saturday study hall. By rights, Faith should have been expelled for cheating, but apparently her father had made a hefty donation to the school's scholarship fund and the girl was allowed to remain. The other girls who knew the situation grumbled about a double standard but no one wanted to confront Faith about her behavior.

Elena found Regina sitting at one of the tables near the window at the back of the library. Surrounded by stacks of books, Regina was in her element.

"Hey, chica," Elena whispered, and smiled. "Almost done here?"

"Yeah, I guess. This term paper's nearly done," Regina said. "I've got the notes to finish it later. What's up?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Christmas," Elena replied. "I'm excited that you're coming home with me. Aren't you excited?"

Regina sighed and closed her book and shuffled her papers into some sort of order. "I'm really looking forward to it. But I miss my Pappy, Elena. I really miss him," she said sadly. "Don't be mad, but this is my first time to have a Christmas apart from everyone in my family. It's hard."

Elena nodded, lips pressed tightly together. "I know, chica. But this won't be like your Christmas at home. In California, it's sunny for Christmas. We'll eat pollo asado and churros and chile rellenos. It won't seem like Christmas, I promise. Besides, the presents arrive on Dia de Los Tres Reyes. On Christmas Eve, there'll be La Posada. It's a reenactment of Mary and Joseph's search for a place to spend the night when they arrived in Bethlehem. We get to carry candles and sing songs."

"La Posada means 'the inn' doesn't it?" Regina asked.

"It sure does," Elena responded with a grin. "You're going to be speaking Spanish in no time."

"I don't know about that, but do you really have sunshine on Christmas?"

"Usually."

"I've seen sun on Christmas Day but usually it's pretty cold and sometimes there's snow," Regina said. "I bet you never get snow here, do you?"

"Nope, never," Elena said thoughtfully. "That would be fun though. I like snow. My Padre took us to the mountains to visit the snow once. It's a long journey though."

Regina gathered up her books and papers and smiled as the librarian, a plump older woman who also served as the house mother for the younger girls' dormitory, came by to make her presence known and, possibly, to shush them. Elena and Regina were silent as she walked past them slowly.

"Come on," Elena hissed. "Let's get out of here!"