C1: Before Dusk
“Frost!” A voice called out, I heard huffing as a girl ran towards me. “There you are!”
“I’m not too hard to find, Laura.” I muttered, she rolled her eyes as I glanced around the mall. “What exactly are we doing here?”
“What? We’re going to grab clothes for school!” She said, as if that were obvious. I looked down for a moment, then nodded. “Why do you always have to be so dreary about that place?”
“I’m just worried.”
“Ugh. If anyone who went in is going to make it, I know he’ll be the first one out.”
“But if he can’t make it out, then how will I make it out? I learned everything I know based on what I saw from him.”
“Not just him.” She grumbled, putting her hands on her hips. “I helped a bit, so did your parents.”
“Yeah. But he’s the one I watched.”
“He’s going to be fine.” She put a hand on my shoulder, nodding. “And I hope I get to be placed into the same school as you.”
“My cryomancy is going to make being in school with me painful.”
“Uhm? You literally can remove cold from any room.”
“That’s not quite…”
“I know! I know. You call it spreading heat, I call it removing cold.” She put her hands up.
“I don’t know how you’re so relaxed about induction.”
“I’m horrified.” She murmured. “It’ll be a bone shattering cold. Darkness so impervious that light can’t banish it. And let’s not forget, all those bastards in there.”
“I doubt I’ll be able to keep up with how cold it is.”
“Any bit of heat is better than nothing.”
“I guess.”
“You just don’t know because you’ve never felt cold in your life.” She scoffed. She crossed her arms in a huff. “I envy your affinity.”
“Are you sure we can’t induct together?”
“I don’t think our parents want to deal with that together.” Laura replied.
“I guess that it could be harder to be sad in company.”
“And we don’t have to worry about it. We’ll be in there together. I know it.”
“You can’t know that for sure.” I said.
“I can pray and beg the universe for a tiny bit of luck.” She replied, she added a bit quieter. “We all know the universe has been holding the lucky cards back from us.”
“What do you think of this shirt?” I asked, holding up a woven silk shirt. She stared at it, scowling. “What? It looks nice.”
“Yeah, if we weren’t going into a blizzard.”
“I can’t feel cold.”
“This is cold like nothing we’ve ever felt. You might feel it.”
“Wool makes me too hot.”
“Why not this cotton-wool mix?” She suggested, I stared at it. It looked light enough that I wouldn’t overheat. But enough that people wouldn’t question me wearing a summer beach outfit in the dead of winter. I sighed, taking it. “That silk shirt will be waiting for you after we get out.”
“If we do.”
“Come on Frost! You gotta have a little bit of optimism! It won’t kill you.”
“I’m trying to be realistic.”
“That’s great and all, but you know that kind of thinking will make people avoid you.”
“I don’t care about people avoiding me. I just want to see my brother and sister in three years.”
“I get that… but what will you do for the three years she’s in the school? And potentially after that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly. You have to make people comfortable around you.”
“I’m not exactly a comfortable person.”
“I think they’ll find a way to get comfortable with you.” Laura said with a nod. “You’ll do fine if I’m in there with you.”
“I…I’ll try my best to be comfortable.”
“That’s all I can ask of you.” She nodded with a smile. Her smile waned slightly, then she grinned. “Cute boy alert.”
“I didn’t expect to see you again, Freak.” One of the boys said, looking right at me. The three boys stopped to look at the two of us. “Why are you even hanging out with this freakshow?”
“What do you mean? She’s not a freak.”
“She still needs someone to protect her from criticism.” The second boy laughed. I knew two of them. Finlay Davis, who was being quiet, and Patrick Bates, who was the obnoxious first boy. The second one I had no clue who he was. “I bet she’ll be kicked out day one!”
“They wouldn’t kick out anyone!” Laura scoffed. “You’d best get running! Or else…”
“Ugh! Fine.” Patrick cackled, starting to walk away. “I hope you’re not in my class, old lady, I don’t need one of my slots wasted on a monster.”
“What are you standing around for?” Laura growled at Finlay, who was standing there staring at me. Despite the words his friends gave, he was staring at me with an expression of guilt. The somberness eating through my skin as I stared at him.
“W…What is your name?”
“Frostine Snow.”
“Frostine Snow…” He muttered to himself, as if he’d never heard it before. As if we hadn’t been at the same schools. As if we hadn’t met before. Though with the way he was looking at me, I couldn’t be certain I’d met this Finlay Davis. “I…I’m sorry for them.”
“Nothing but idiots.” Laura muttered, glancing at me. I just stared at Finlay.
“I… I hope I get put into your class. You’d be one of the most important parts of that forty-two.”
“At least someone gets it!”
“At the very least ignoring the cold is very powerful there…” He started walking away, before stopping and looking back right at me. “Your brother was probably right.”
“Ugh. Horrible boys.” Laura murmured, she glanced at me, elbowing my side. “At least you got one cute boy vying for a spot in your school.”
“His affinity isn’t very useful.” I muttered.
“You actually know them?”
“His affinity is brewing poisons.”
“That’s useful.”
“Against a handful of demons.” I replied.
“Okay. He’s not great… but he’s cute… and seems to be over his bullying phase to you.”
“They are hardly bullies.” I turned to pay for my shirt, gripping it tightly as if I’d lose it. “I just have to pretend.”
