you could be happy and i won't know
Jazz is awake when nobody else is, not even Hamlet, and going for a walk out under the moon.
She's not afraid of the dark, because she knows better. The really scary things don't care what time of day it is, and the moon told her to wake up and go for a walk, so she did.
(Jess never understands; sometimes Jasmine just has to do things, it's not her fault, sometimes she needs to make circles of salt on the floor or go outside and sing at the sky. Jess doesn't hear all the things Jazz does, even when she should because they're right in front of her. So Jazz started being more careful, and more quiet, and nobody really knows everything she does.)
She's not exactly surprised to see a skinny thing leaving a package in the snow, though she still says "Oh" in a tiny little voice, and his head snaps up as he jumps back. He's really silly to be scared, whoever he is, because he's a lot bigger than her even if he doesn't have any meat on his bones. (That's what her daddy likes to say, that she needs more meat on her bones, and then he laughs. That's when it's a good day.)
"Hi," she says, quietly, waving with one hand in a new mitten.
"...hi," he says back, crouched in the snow with a raspy, shaking voice.
"...are you okay?" She asks, after a while of them not saying anything and just looking at each other. He nods, very quickly.
"Who's that for?" She asks, trying something else as she points at the package.
"My- my mom, um, she- you know her, I remember I saw you with her that one time, you live with her now, right? You're- the littler one." He stumbles over his words, straightening up and looking like he wants to run away.
"Lizbeth?"
He smiles, and it's kind of scary to see him smile. For the first time, it occurs to Jazz she's all alone with a Stranger, and she shivers and puts her hand back in her pocket, wishing Hamlet was there.
"Elizabeth." He looks her over, and walks right up to her, even though she twitches back a little. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. You seem like a nice little girl- I don't hurt people like you. Especially since my mom likes you so much. My name's Todd." He bends over in front of her, and he's all sharp and boney like a stick boy.
"I'm Jazz."
He bites his lip, cocking his head to the side as he thinks.
"Want to hear a story, Jazz?"
*
Jazz goes back to her room half an hour later, sneaking into bed next to Jess after warming her hands and feet up so she wouldn't wake her big sister, but she doesn't sleep.
Todd doesn't tell nice stories.