I scrunched my toes together in my boots. They were going numb submerged in the snow like they were. The world around me appeared bright and beautiful, but when I looked up I saw nothing but a treacherous wasteland. I honestly don't know what had gotten into me when I signed up for the class field trip to Wonder Light. What could be bad about a five day trip over spring break to a picturesque town snuggled against the mountains? Well, I had clearly ignored the fact that Wonder Light was also famous for its cold temperatures and snow even during spring. I had managed to escape any hospital trips over the winter. The days had been warming and the danger had been passing, but now I had willingly tossed myself back into the conditions that were prime for my body throwing a fit. Despite it only being the third day of the trip, I just wanted to go home. I couldn't get warm no matter how much I tried standing there in the cold like I had no choice but to do.
Allium and Frost were nearby making fools of themselves as they kicked and threw snow while trying to make the other slip into the unending mound of flakes covering the landscape. I had declined joining them for obvious reasons. I suppose I would have been better off running around and warming myself up like that, but my body simply wasn't having it. Thankfully, Allium took pity on me a minute or so later when the two boys called a truce in their play fighting.
"Would you like a cuddle?" he asked with a laugh, only laughing harder when I instantly nodded and clung to him.
We grabbed a seat on one of the benches, cleaned off as much of the snow as possible, and snuggled together tightly. Well, I snuggled myself against Allium. I didn't get why boys were the lucky ones who were always warm. Perhaps that might not be true for every boy, but Allium and Frost certainly didn't seem anywhere as affected as I was from the frigid temperatures.
"Is it really that bad? I know it's cold, but it's not bothersome cold." Frost wondered, sharing similar confusion on the matter.
"It's because she's a stick. Just look at her! No meat anywhere," Allium said teasingly, lightly shaking my arm like it was a wet noodle, "Not even here."
At that, he placed his hand on my inner thigh. I flinched imperceptibly at the only slightly unexpected intrusion. Allium had grown more adventurous with his touching as the months had passed. I was still figuring out whether I liked it or not and whether it was harmless or if I should put an end to it before it became a problem. In that moment, I gave Allium a gentle "look" when his hand lingered too long. He retreated it with a smile, unfazed.
It was soon clear Allium needed a bit more forceful rejection than what I was giving him. The cuddling helped, but not enough as to make me stop shaking. I must have been cutting off the circulation in his arm as I was practically trying to shove myself into him. Only just having closed my eyes to hopefully block out the source of my problems, they were jolted back open when Allium hurriedly wrapped his arms around me in a weird way. I half-flailed pitifully while letting out a small cry as I realized he was picking me up and moving me around!
"What-!?"
"Chill out. Heh, 'chill' out," Allium chuckled at his own horrible pun, "I just figured this position would warm you up better."
I was given that goofy smile of his when he settled me in his lap. He pressed his hand against my cheek.
"Geez. You seriously are cold. How are you not a popsicle right now?" Allium wondered.
"I think this is a bit too much." I mumbled.
"Nonsense. Look at how well it's working. I think you cheeks are even turning red."
"I believe that's called a blush." Frost replied teasingly.
"What are you doing watching, ya weirdo?" Allium frowned at Frost sarcastically, "Go cuddle your own girlfriend or something."
"I'd love to, except I don't have one." Frost rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Well, keep your eyes off mine."
"Maybe I'm staring at you." Frost joked with a wicked grin.
"I mean, I can see why you would." Allium shrugged.
Not being able to help myself, I let my giggles get the best of me. I felt silly laughing so much, but it seemed better to be embarrassed about that than be embarrassed about Allium holding me like he was in a very public area. We were soon spotted, although by someone I didn't really mind.
"Seriously, I leave for a minute and you two are all over each other." Sap sighed lightheartedly.
Shortly after Eden and I had returned from our one afternoon vacation to Painted Plains, I had gone ahead and forgiven Sap. The scare I had had and the shock of it had me realizing how much I would hate myself if something had gone wrong and I had been taken without being able to make up with him. I understood very well Sap cared deeply about me despite his poor decision, and the thought of him being devastated by any sudden disappearance of mine had me scrambling to be his friend again. He thankfully remained just as eager to move past it all. The closeness of our relationship still wasn't anything like what it used to be, make no mistake about that, but I no longer felt awkward or uncomfortable about him anymore.
"I was just helping her get warm," Allium pouted, "And my hands are right here- clearly far away from any of her naughty bits."
Sap rolled his eyes much like Frost had done. Once he and I had made up, Eden had recruited Sap to be his little Eden 2.0. The idea was that Sap was Eden's eyes for him when he wasn't around. I doubted Eden would ever trust Allium not to be grabby or to pressure me, although I suppose I couldn't entirely fault him for that. Sap made sure whenever he was around to keep our actions PG-13, and he reported without hesitation any big moves Allium tried to make on me. With Eden steadily putting his foot down and convincing Ms. Charm to do the same, my boyfriend's advances were remaining timidly within line.
"Yes, I can see that. Good job," Sap teased before raising his mug slightly, "Anyway, I finally managed to snag us the table and some mugs of hot chocolate. You'll want to follow me unless you want to keep waiting out in the cold."
The lot we were on had a small lobby. Despite being still connected to the outside by arches, it was more closed to the world. There was also one table and a hot chocolate machine. I made Allium pout harder when I flew out of his grasp to take the mug Sap extended my way. I think Sap gave Allium a teasing smirk, which is why the tension between the two was worse than normal when we took our seats. Allium hadn't been quite so willing to overlook Sap's past actions. He tolerated him because I wanted him to, but that was about it. It didn't help that the two had never been that close to begin with or that their relationship was more complicated now what with Sap having been my almost-boyfriend and Allium being my real boyfriend. Part of me also feared Allium continued to see Sap as a rival for whatever reason. The evidence for that seemed to be that Allium remained hung on the fact that Sap, who had only ever liked me platonically, had gotten my first kiss that he, as the one who actually liked me, should have had- no matter how much he professed that Sap's kiss didn't count. Unfortunately, the two ended up sitting across from each other. No matter how much I tried to initiate conversation, that end of the table stayed rather quiet.
Although, it wasn't like our side was doing much better.
There was another reason besides the cold as to why I wanted to go home. In a cruel twist of fate, Purity had been attached to our group to make us the required number of five. The class trip to Wonder Light had been an optional one. Amaranth had wanted to come, but Blaze had refused to help chip in to pay the fees, which was pretty harsh even for his cheapskate ways. Amaranth had saved up as best he could, but it hadn't been enough. He had cheered up though when he realized how much time he had to spend with Cocoa though, for she wasn't going either. Sunset was going on vacation with her family instead. Sunflower was supposed to have been our fifth member, but a strong fever and illness had her backing out at the last second. Sickness was also why Flow couldn't come, and the absence of the two had rearranged the groups so that Purity was with us.
I had talked to the teachers and chaperones to see if some other arraignment could be made, for the majority of the teachers already knew that Purity and I did not get along. However, they were all adamant that they were not the ones in charge of making the groups and could thus do nothing to move anyone about. They hinted that it would have to take a big fight or situation to separate us for necessity's sake. I hadn't thought it would take too long before such a thing happened, but Purity was being surprisingly well-behaved. Logic had me reasoning that she was keeping herself under control due to being vastly outnumbered. I remembered how isolated I had felt from Purity, Flow, and Apricot at Purity's sleepover. I'm sure being constantly surrounded by my friends as well was putting pressure on her to behave. Normal little things like what happened at the table that would have bigger consequences being set into motion remained little things that we quickly moved past.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" Purity asked with soft accusation during a lull into my conversation with Frost.
"You're in my direct line of vision. I'm not trying to stare at you, but you just happen to be where my eyes naturally want to rest." I explained tartly.
Purity gave me a look, but said nothing further and went back to sipping her hot chocolate.
There was another reason why I suspected Purity was not up to her usual antics. Mr. Waters was one of the chaperones, and he was the one in charge of our group. Since Eden had refused to come, I was actually very glad we got Mr. Waters instead. He actually allowed us to have a bit of freedom and lots of fun, unlike the group that had gotten Mrs. Crackle. She was one of those people who loathed the idea of fun, making me wonder why she had bothered coming on the trip in the first place.
Mr. Waters greeted with with a smile, although it was a forced one, when it was the appropriate time for us to head back outside. I was highly surprised at how dark and cloudy the sky suddenly was. More snow was eminent, and I wasn't the happiest about that or the news we then received.
"Mr. Waffle and I have been talking to the staff here," Mr. Waters began as he motioned to our teacher behind us, "They caught word of some rougher weather heading this way. We were waiting to see how bad it would be. It's not as horrible as they were predicting, but as you can tell from this sky the conditions have declined too much. We're going to have to call off our balloon ride. We'll see if we can get you guys up tomorrow, but we can't make any promises."
My heart sunk. Getting to take a ride in a hot air balloon was one of the main reasons I was so excited to come on the trip. Being the last group to be rotated to the take off center meant that we could possibly be the lone ones to not have our promised ride. Where was the fairness in that?
With the cold only getting colder, I pouted and moped about while Mr. Waters and Mr. Waffle made plans for what our group would be doing instead of taking the ride. Frost and Sap's sarcastic recommendation of going to see a movie was actually persuading them away from their original idea of going to some boring museum when Allium slipped his hand in mine and led me away from the others. We walked here and there for a while talking about nonsense until we were out of sight. I didn't realize this until Allium wrapped his arms around me and once more pulled me close. He was in one of his moods again. I normally wouldn't mind, except Allium had been constantly on me so far that day. I knew his perpetual grabiness was mostly due to the fact that with all the teachers, chaperones, and then Sap we hadn't had any privacy for the past several days. Allium did generally behave himself well, but he gave in to his hormones from time to time like all teenage boys do. Hoping to appease him so he could be appeased and I could have a bit more peace, I let him pull me in even tighter and bring his head down close.
"You still cold?" he asked quietly.
"No." I said with a gentle shake of my head.
"Good."
I was given a small smile before Allium pressed his lips against mine. I wish I didn't mind kissing him so much in that moment. It was one of my favorite things to do when it was done at the appropriate time. That moment didn't feel like one of those. It didn't help that how I was being held was causing my mind and body to go crazy with all sorts of sensations I wasn't in the mood to be dealing with. The parts of me that rarely got close to anyone else much less contact anyone else were snuggled right up against Allium thanks to his tight hold. It certainly wasn't the first time I had experienced such swelling cravings, but having them when out in a public place where anyone could watch wasn't my preference. That was why I had to pull away when Allium's kissing grew more intense.
"Something wrong?" he asked when I slipped out of his grasp slightly.
"It just doesn't feel like we should be doing this right now. Not in a place like this."
"There's no one around. We can barely even hear the others."
"But that doesn't mean they can't or won't come find us, which you know they will sooner rather than later. And what if someone walking down the street sees us?"
"Who cares?" Allium shrugged, frowning lightly when he failed to pull me in again, "Almost no one will say anything if they see us. And if Mr. Waffle or Mr. Waters comes over and tells us to stop, we'll stop. No big deal."
"It's embarrassing."
"It's not."
"It is." I said more firmly.
Allium's frown grew at that. He stared past me, not looking me in the eye anymore, before sighing in mild annoyance.
"Fine. Let's just go back to the others then." he spoke, his irritation apparent in his voice.
I would have been more bothered when Allium began walking towards the group without waiting to see if I was following if I hadn't anticipated it. The truth was simply that this was how Allium got from time to time- even long before he hit puberty. He did still have that tendency to be very immature and not hide how he felt. I was actually rather glad he was honest like that. It made it easier for us to talk and move past the matter later rather than having to pull a secret issue out of hiding. I got a little bit of a cold shoulder from Allium when we did go see a movie before spending a half hour or so at the museum. However, I knew it wouldn't take much longer before he calmed down and was back to normal. I had spent most of my time with Frost in the meantime, and I wandered over to him again when I found him staring up at the mountains after we had been dropped off at another lot.
"I can't believe we're going to be hiking up there." I remarked in awe.
"Think you'll be able to make it?" Frost asked teasingly.
"I'm going to have to, aren't I? Can't let you win the race." I answered back likewise.
There was apparently a custom amongst the local population that first time hikers going up the mountain time their hike to see how fast one could reach the top. The mayor would even award anyone who beat the current record with a prize. I knew it would be impossible to achieve that due to the fact that we were going up when the trail was snowy, but at the very least I didn't want Frost to have the faster time. We were being sent up in pairs with intervals between us in order to make the whole thing more of a competition.
I understood, however, that I was at a great disadvantage. Because we were the only girls in the group, Purity and I had been paired up. Since it was Mr. Waffle and Mr. Waters who had made the pairs, I was surprised Mr. Waters hadn't done whatever he could to make sure we weren't together. He knew how horribly she and I got along after all. I couldn't imagine Mr. Waffle had had that much sway over him considering he too knew we didn't like the other. Unfortunately, despite some more quiet protesting on both mine and Purity's part the pairs remained set. I doubted that Purity would care about going up the trail fast or deciding to go fast for my sake. When I found her texting away like crazy, I wondered if Allium and Mr. Waters, the ones to be set up after us, wouldn't overtake us.
"Hey, Purity?" I started as politely as I could.
She briefly glanced up at me before returning her attention to her phone.
"What?" she asked shortly.
"Okay, I know neither of us are happy with the situation," I continued with determination, "The hike is probably going to suck for the both of us. I think we should come to an agreement now to just leave each other alone while we're heading up in order to not make things worse."
"Please, as if you even needed to say anything. Talking to you is a waste of my breath in the first place." Purity scoffed.
I couldn't stop myself from not biting my tongue and keeping silent at that.
"Do you really hate me that much?" I had to ask even if the answer was horribly obvious.
"Oh my god," Purity let out an angrily exasperated laugh, "You're the one who just said 'Let's not talk', and here you are still talking. Some genius girl you are."
I sighed inwardly myself and let the brief conversation drop. I was about to walk away when a tickling in my nose signaled a sneeze coming on. Hurriedly, I turned away and buried my face in the crook of my elbow so Purity couldn't accuse me for trying to enact revenge on her for that confrontation so long ago. My heart jolted in surprise when I looked up since Mr. Waters was suddenly there. He had been walking over already without me noticing.
"You alright there, Meadow? Not coming down with anything?" he asked kindly like he always did, wearing his smile.
"I'm fine. The cold merely got to me for a second."
"Alright, but don't be afraid to say anything if you start to feel unwell. I know that this kind of weather does affect you more than it affects others. The storm is mostly going to pass over us since it's heading north, but we'll still be looking at some light snowfall. It'll be better to say something beforehand if you don't feel up to the trek."
"Don't worry. I know my reputation for being healthy sucks, but I'm not that weak. I'll be fine." I reassured him again.
I received a different kind of smile from him. Purity and I were both in for a surprise when he spoke to her next.
"Make sure you watch over her, Pure. Don't let her overwork herself."
"Wha-!?" Purity sputtered, "I'm not her mother! She can watch over herself just fine!"
"There's no reason to be so callous, young lady. I expect the same from Meadow as well. The hike is going to be difficult with the snow. You both need to keep an eye on each other." Mr. Waters continued cheerfully but with a bit more force.
"Yes, sir." I conceded when he glanced my way.
"See? It's not that big of a deal." Mr. Waters chastised Purity lightly.
She frowned and folded her arms, but said nothing further.
I smartly took my chance to leave at the soonest opportunity I had. I chatted with Frost and Sap for a while until they were taken to the beginning of the trail and sent up their way. Allium was in a somewhat better mood, so I was able to get a few words out of him. I figured by the time we all reached the top the exhaustion of the hike would have killed off his irritation. That gave me the extra motivation I required to give my legs strength when enough time had passed and it was my and Purity's turn to begin walking. The snow was mildly cumbersome, and the trail would have been much harder to follow if we did have Frost and Sap's footsteps ahead of us. I wondered if that was part of the reason why they sent the two boys us first. What shocked me was how Purity was able to easily get ahead of me and stay there. Either she really wanted to get the hike over with or she was that desperate to get away from me. Whatever the case, our agreement to not talk was quickly broken.
"I don't get why he bothers with you." Purity suddenly said.
"What? Who?" I queried in confusion.
"My dad, you idiot. He thinks you're some blessed ray of sunshine or something. He won't shut up about you sometimes. 'Be more like Meadow. You should listen to what she says. She's setting a good example to follow.' I can't go a week without hearing your stupid name. It bugs the crap out of me." she whined bitterly.
That stunned me. Mr. Waters and I got along, but like I've mentioned before it's not like we had a real relationship or anything. It helped me make sense as to why Purity did dislike me so much. She obviously didn't like me to begin with, and with her dad going on about me all the time I could see why that would only make her hatred grow.
"He's my dad, not yours," Purity mirrored my thoughts, "But with the way he talks about you you'd think it was the other way around!"
"Well, I think he's just trying to help you. Don't even bother trying to deny that we all know how nasty you can be and how horrible you've been- particularly to me. Because your dad is your dad, he's simply doing what he can to guide you to be the best person you can be. He believes I'll be a good influence on you, which is why I assume he brings me up so often."
"Good influence." Purity scoffed again.
"He told me so himself on the night he drove me home from your sleepover. He wished you and I could be friends." I revealed.
Purity fell silent once more. It almost seemed like she was turning her head to glance back at me, but she faced forward with a huff and continued to plow her way onwards.
Ten or fifteen minutes passed and already my legs started to grow heavy from moving through the snow. The slope of the mountain was steadily growing, and the wind was picking up. Frost and Sap's footsteps were getting harder to spot, which worried me. The trail was truly hard to see. Part of me questioned the safety of sending us up when it was like this, and I didn't want to think about what would happen if we no longer had any signs to follow. However, for one brief moment I allowed myself to get swept away in wonder when something gently floated into my face.
"This must be the light snowfall your dad was talking about." I said.
"Oh, great," Purity complained, "Just what we need. More stupid snow."
"At least it's pretty."
That earned me another scowl from her.
"You're such a freak. One minute you're acting like you're dying from the cold, and the next you're on about the snow like it's manna from the heavens."
"All I said was that it's pretty. Besides, it's the cold I hate. Not so much the snow. The snow...it's like a miracle, isn't it?"
"Miracle? You're pathetic."
I let the comment roll off me. I knew it would be impossible for Purity to understand what being able to stare into the wide open sky and see the snow falling, which was a sight that had been denied to me in my first ten years, meant to me. There was no point in trying to explain it either.
"I simply appreciate the little wonders in life. You're right that more snow is really not what we need though. We should keep going before Frost and Sap get too far ahead." I submitted, taking the lead this time.
Whichever weatherman predicted that the snow would head north and pass us over was an absolute idiot. Another fifteen minutes later, Purity and I were running forward madly as fierce snow and roaring wind slammed into us. Frost, Sap, and their footprints were nowhere to be seen, and neither of us had any idea as to whether we were heading the right way or not. With every slope we covered it appeared like we were reaching the top. Unfortunately, each time we discovered we had more to go. My brain was screaming at me to turn us around, but Purity kept on running. The air was turning my lungs as dry as the desert. It took all my strength and energy to focus on keeping my breathing steady. There was no way for me to call out to tell her to stop or turn around, and I couldn't just abandon her and go my own way.
The whipping wind and slashing snow bludgeoned us worse. Maintaining our balance was next to impossible. Purity and I slipped and fell so often we were more crawling up the mountain than hiking up it. The trail was so steep and awkward in places that I doubted we were on the right path anymore. However, we had no way to tell where we were or how much more we had to go. The sky was almost black, and my heart began racing more from fear than the physical exertion. Purity and I were in a really bad situation! Despite doing everything I could to keep calm, the fear and the cold were wreaking their evil magic on me. I clutched myself tighter together than I had earlier, and I buried my face deeply in my arms as the first of the many coughing fits I would have that night began. The noise, however, did get Purity, who had blessedly been slowing down some, to turn around.
"Oh, great! Now you're coughing. Well, you'd better not pass out because I'm not carrying you!"
"W-which way should w-we go? U-up or down?" I forced my voice to cooperate even if my teeth did still chatter.
I ignored Purity's less than pleasant comment since I didn't have energy to waste fighting her. I barely had strength to lift my head up against the weather's wrath to look at Purity while she thought.
"We'll go up," she decided by herself, "We're definitely closer to the top than we are to the bottom. Since we haven't run into Sap or Frost, it must mean they found that building we were all supposed to meet at. It'll be easier trying to get there than trying to navigate down where we can't see the difference between the trail and a hundred foot drop."
I nodded. Her logic was pretty solid.
"O-okay. Just d-don't go too far ahead, o-or I'll lose you amongst t-the snow."
I think Purity rolled her eyes, but I couldn't be sure. That's how hard it was to see her through all the white snow even though she was only six or seven feet in front of me. She then surprised me by coming over to grab my hand and lead me forward, albeit more forcefully than desired. My amazement canceled out any annoyance though. Purity normally made herself out to be a delicate flower, but she was actually incredibly durable. Her confidence at leading us on was unwavering.
And, blessedly, she turned out to be mostly correct. It was only five minutes later when the slopes disappeared and the land flattened. Spotting the building through the fiercer snow screaming around at the top of the mountain was difficult, but we did find it. The two of us dashed through the door, and the wind slammed it close for us. My chest grew hollow when I hurriedly spotted that we were the only ones in the building though.
"Where are Frost and Sap?" I asked in worry.
The thought of them still possibly being stuck in the storm somewhere on the slopes terrified me. It almost drove me to turn right back around and go search for them. Purity grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
"You seriously are an idiot. You aren't going to help anyone going back out there. There could be more than one building up here. This doesn't sound like the one dad was telling me about at all. Frost and Sap could be there instead. Trust that they can take care of themselves instead of putting yourself in danger again." she rebuked.
That got me to calm almost instantly. Purity was still glaring at me like usual, but with the way she was almost...caring about me had me listening to everything she said.
A quick search revealed that there wasn't much to discover besides what could already be seen. The lone thing of note I found was several old matches in some buckets tucked in the corner. They were another blessing for they allowed me to start the tiniest of fires with the few sticks and leftover logs in the firepit. Even the tiny bit of warmth was most welcome, but I wasn't relieved. The fire wasn't going to last long at all. It was guaranteed Purity and I would be stuck where we were for the night, but unless we were able to get the fire to keep burning for more than half an hour it wouldn't make much of a difference. The building was old, and there was definitely a crack somewhere letting in the freezing cold. Searching my brains for ideas, my hand eventually ended up clutching the chair next to my left. There really was just one option open to us.
"What are you doing?!" Purity exclaimed in confusion and surprise when I suddenly lifted the chair above my head and brought it slamming hard into the ground twice.
The withered thing broke apart easily. I began wriggling the wooden planks free of their nails.
"We need more wood for the fire, and these are our only source of it." I explained as I tossed the new fuel into the pit.
"We can't destroy the chairs! They belong to someone else!"
"Better a chair than our hands or feet from frostbite. If the owner really gets that upset about their loss, then I'll pay them back." I comforted.
Purity didn't find anything to complain about after the fire grew and the room heated up almost sufficiently. There was too much cold seeping in for my liking, but we would be alright for a while. After that, we would just have to hope everything would turn out fine. Save for the crackling of the fire and the raging of the storm, it was total silence for the longest time. Purity sat staring dully into the flames while I stood and warmed my hands. My nerves were bouncing and jumping around too much to allow to me sit. I couldn't stop myself from worrying about Frost and Sap. Trying to text or call them had been useless since my phone had no signal. The only relief I had was that I knew Allium and Mr. Waters would be safe. They wouldn't have been too far up the mountain yet before the storm came on, and thus they definitely would have turned around.
I was silently praying that no one would call Eden and cause him to freak out when a massive sigh from Purity interrupted my thoughts. With the way she hung her head and hunched over, I could tell she was about to start her theatrics again.
"What a horrible day! I can't believe this happened! Why is it that all the worst possible things happen to me? My life is so tragic!" she cried out with exaggerated anguish.
That set me off. Her age old complaint that came out every time something slightly bad happened to her was the one thing I could never stand.
"Your life? You think your life is awful?! You experience one bad thing, and you think that gives you a reason to proclaim that you are the most miserable person on the planet?!"
"And there you go again- acting like you know everything about me!" Purity snapped back.
"I know that you don't have parents who don't give one crap about you! They haven't neglected you- turning your house into a prison because you were always alone and forgotten without a single friend but you had nowhere else to go! I bet they never punished you for being bothersome because you just wanted to hug them after they came back from a week-long business trip! I'm sure you've never heard them say that they regret having you! That you're hardly more than something that does nothing but get in their way!"
Purity's face crinkled as she stared intently at the corner of the room.
"Stop trying to make me pity you and your pathetic life." she demanded harshly.
"Then stop trying to make me pity you and your amazing life!" I growled.
The tension in the air grew as intense as the cold and the wind. Unexpected tears welled up in my eyes, causing me to sit on the floor with my back to the fire and Purity. There was something about her complaining about her good life that I seriously could just not stand. Boiling over and letting my fake, sad backstory lash out at her only barely let me control myself from saying what I couldn't say. It had to be because she was white too that it was so much more difficult to keep my secrets secret. I wanted to see her reaction to the truth more than I wanted to see anyone else's reaction. I needed to know if anything would change between us, if she could accept Ethereal whereas she couldn't accept Meadow, or if she would make up some ludicrous excuse about me faking being albino like her. The stupid part of me held onto the hope that she would come to like me. Purity and I did share a strange kind of kinship after all. She was what I could have been. Seeing her let me imagine a wholly different kind of Ethereal.
"I have wished from time to time that he was my dad too," I half whispered into the quiet, "Your dad, I mean."
My thoughts were going every which direction once more. Realizing that I had no idea how Purity would react to Ethereal also dawned upon me that I truly didn't know her- just like how she said I didn't. The idea that she was keeping secrets of her own hidden popped into my mind. Maybe that was why she clung to her impossible ideal of "perfection", because she couldn't stand to face the horrors that haunted her. Such thinking had me wanting to be more frank with her. To open up to her so that she might open up to me.
"He loves you. Really, really loves you," I continued when Purity didn't answer, "I'm sure he's freaking out right now. I'm sure if he knew it would help you that he wouldn't let anyone stop him from running out into the storm. Part of me wonders if my dad would have done the same, or if he would have secretly hoped that the storm would kill me so I wouldn't be in his way anymore. And I hate that."
That still didn't get me a response. However, when I turned to glance behind me I found that Purity had sat up. No doubt the reason she hurriedly shifted her gaze back to the corner was because I had just caught her staring my way. I took that as a good sign and moved to the second spare chair.
"What's your favorite color?" I asked.
"Excuse me?" Purity questioned back with a raised brow.
"You're right that I don't know anything about you, so I'm trying to change that." I clarified with a shrug.
"Well, I don't want to talk to you. I don't converse with liars."
"Liars?" I responded in confusion, not bothering with her hypocrisy.
Purity looked me right in the eye and frowned.
"You might have good memorization, but I'm not an idiot. Did you honestly not think I wouldn't figure out that you were making 'Snowbell' up? I know of that ghost story too, and I remember how you clammed up when we asked you for your 'white friend's' name. Besides, how can you claim you had her as friend when you seriously just told me yourself that you had no friends? You say I'm the terrible liar, but you're just as bad. You can't even keep your story straight."
I was taken aback. Purity was so much more perceptive than I was giving her credit. I had even almost forgotten about Snowbell!
"Can you blame me for making someone like her up?" I asked.
There was no point in continuing the ruse now.
"Do you not remember how you reacted when I explained albinism to Flow and Apricot? I hadn't meant any harm by it, but you acted as if I had stabbed you in the back. Lying that I knew a white girl seemed a better way to get you off my case than admitting I just knew the information. It's the same thing when you asked me why I'm not jealous of you."
Unfortunately for me, Purity's expression of suspicion only deepened.
"You're still lying to me, or at least leaving a whole chunk of the truth out. When you were telling me about how 'Snowbell' felt, your words were far too confident and certain for someone who merely did some research on albinism. You spoke as if you actually knew what it was like. But, if you haven't had so much as an albino friend, how could you have that confidence?"
Shoot! I wished Eden could be magicked into the room. Not only would it provide an ample distraction, but he was the one who came up with the best lies. I either sank or swim, and right now I was sinking fast.
"Does it have something to do with what you said about not having the freedom to be yourself?" Purity pressed on when I hesitated.
I was in danger! She had seriously remembered all the small things I had said that I had forgotten about, which were now coming back to bite me with fervor. I desperately tried not to panic, and the lone way I could think to change the course of the conversation was to tell the truth without actually revealing anything.
"There is something I'm not telling you, and I'm not telling you because I can't tell you. It could mean bad things for me, and you won't be doing yourself any favors coaxing the information out." I mumbled as I stared at the fire, hoping my slightly ominous words would be enough to persuade her away from the topic.
Luckily, it appeared to have worked. Purity stared at the fire and said nothing else. I breathed a sigh of relief when the minutes passed before returning to my original goal.
"So, what is your favorite color?" I asked again, laughing lightly when I got another frown, "C'mon, I'm not demanding your life story. I just want to know. It's fine if it's white, and, though I doubt it's green, I won't say anything to anyone if it is."
"It's pink." Purity muttered after a pause of hesitation.
I didn't press her any more after that admission, for the way she turned her head away and blocked me out made it seem like such a simple revelation embarrassed her greatly. I was simply thankful she answered me at all. Instead of asking more questions, I suggested we get as much rest as we could before we lost the heat of the fire. I went ahead and smashed up the remaining two chairs since I was going to have to do so later anyway, and Purity and I got as comfortable as we could on the floor. We were each able to doze off somewhat. I know at least I was woken up each time the fire began to die and the cold returned. When I sat up to toss another plank into the pit to find there were no more left, I prayed it was a dream. Sadly, it was reality. We were out of fuel.
I laid back on the ground and failed to get any more sleep for the longest time. How long had we been in the building? A few hours at most, I reasoned. Both mine and Purity's phone had died thanks to our remote location having them stuck in roaming mode, draining our batteries. We weren't able to check their clocks. Judging from when we started the hike it had to be around...10 o'clock? It was 11 at the latest. My worry steadily spread until it enveloped all of me. The storm hadn't lessened one bit, and it showed no signs of doing so in the near future. The hope that it would stop and a rescue team could find us soon was nonexistent. I was truly fearful that we wouldn't be able to hold out until morning without serious consequences.
The worry blossomed into full blown panic when the warmth from the fire faded. There was nothing to hold back the cold, and the results from that which I knew were coming did indeed come. Heavier and heavier my breathing grew. Quite huffs grew into ragged heaves. Little coughs morphed into thick hacks. My throat burned and my eyes watered. It got to the point where I couldn't lay curled up because I had to sit straight, heck, even half stand to let enough air into my lungs in order to stop myself from passing out.
"Are you seriously that bad?" Purity questioned, her irritation barely contained, when I quieted after a particularly bad fit.
"The doctors said there was some permanent damage done by the pneumonia, which is a rare thing to happen. Lucky me," I explained with a wheeze, "It's been made worse by other infections I've had over the years. A lot of times, it's my psychological fear of not being able to breathe that causes my lungs to not work properly, or so I've been told. This time though, it's definitely the cold that's to blame. Mostly."
Purity had to wait to respond because more of my coughing covered her up.
"You think if you get warmer you'll stop being so noisy?"
"It won't do any harm." I replied uncertainly.
"Then just come over here."
I stared at her as she opened her arms in invitation.
"I'm freezing too, and we both know this is the only way we're going to be able to keep slightly warm in any way."
I didn't hesitate a second longer. Purity leaned back against the pit, probably to catch whatever remnants of warmth was left, and I cuddled into her arms. Any sense of embarrassment was quickly abandoned. I didn't realize until I was against her how hard I was shaking, and I wasn't the only one having such issues. Purity's skin was as cold as ice, and her breathing was shaky as well. It wasn't even seconds later when we were tangled together in a way I hadn't even tangled up with Allium. The small relief that came from us sharing our body heat had the two of us ignoring all past distaste and our pride. We clutched each other as if letting go meant death, which really wasn't that far off the mark to be honest. I wanted to cry from joy when our proximity did calm me down and warm me up enough to the point where my coughs became miniscule once more.
And I was never aware that I fell back asleep. One minute I was staring dully at the wall, and the next I was untangling myself from Purity when loud bangs on the door and muffled cries snapped me to a dazed unconsciousness. I had only just made sense of what was going on when the door burst open and bright morning light blinded me. The snow was so deep that it had apparently buried most of the building. Mr. Waters and Allium had to slide in through the little opening available to them. No wonder it was so freezing! I didn't pay attention to the rescue team who began working on liberating the door, for Allium got a small laugh out of me when he bolted the several feet separating us to lift me up in the air before embracing me in a crushing hug. I didn't even get to see Mr. Waters do something similar to Purity.
"Are you alright?" Allium asked against my ear.
"Ridiculously cold, but I'll be fine. It certainly looks like I at least got more sleep than you did." I joked.
However, Allium wasn't in a joking mood for once. His eyes were bloodshot. Noticing that tears weren't out of the question for him, I wondered if those swollen eyes of his weren't due to solely staying up all night in worry. The tighter he held me, the more concerned and confused I became. I knew he would be fretting, but it took me some time to figure out why he was so shaken up. I totally forgot, mostly because I couldn't remember one moment of it, that it had been his house Mr. Glory had rushed me into when he found me in the snow. Allium had stood there and nearly watched me die as Mr. Glory and Ms. Charm just barely kept me alive after I stopped breathing. The threat of reliving that nightmare couldn't have been kind to him. In fact, it definitely hadn't been if his own shaking and hitched breathing was anything to go off of. It was clear to me he had been anticipating the worst as he apologized for getting annoyed yesterday like he was afraid I might suddenly vanish. I shook my head and reassured him, and was most grateful when he let me sneak my hands just under the back of his shirt to start warming them up. Though I thought I was doing better, my lungs fought against me again as I had another coughing fit on Allium's shoulder.
"We'll be taking you two to the hospital. You both are better off than we anticipated, but we can't take any chances." Mr. Waters explained after I reassured Allium yet another time when he asked once more if I was alright.
He finally smiled and laughed when I groaned at Mr. Waters' words.
I was given the relieving news about Frost and Sap on the way to the hospital. Purity and I had gone up the wrong path in the confusion of the storm. My friends had had the smarts to turn around the second the snow started, and we had ended up missing each other as we went in opposite directions. Frost and Sap were horrified to learn we hadn't done the same and were nowhere to be found. Allium revealed none of them slept last night, although they had thankfully not chosen to contact Eden until they were sure one way or the other of my fate. The blow of the worst kind of news would hit him hard no matter when it was told to him, so it made more sense to wait until they were entirely sure. However, having the other outcome of the situation explained when I was safely in front of him would be less alarming. The details of what happened wouldn't be revealed to anyone but the school until we returned in one more day.
Purity and I went through a lot of expected poking and prodding at the hospital, with me having the worst of it due to my previous medical history. Allium and Mr. Waters were allowed to stay with us through all of it, which helped. It was comforting to have Allium stand there and patiently listen to my complaining about my very well known hatred of hospitals. I cheered up when I watched Mr. Waters did the same with a whining Purity. His love for her then was as obvious as ever, and my heart craving a parental connection quietly wished again for someone like him to be my father. More than seeing how kind he could be though, I was happier at the fact that he seemed to be doing well. The fighting in Purity's house had died down suspiciously fast after I lashed out at Purity at homecoming about the noise, and Cocoa confirmed that everything had stabilized. I doubted that things were perfect between Mr. Waters and his wife, but the moment of intense friction appeared to have passed.
Most of the morning was spent at the hospital. Purity, everyone else, and I got some much deserved rest at the hotel before our group took the free hot air balloon ride offered to us by the town. Other than that, the rest of the trip was played incredibly safely. We didn't do much else of note until dinner until we taken to the lot by the hot springs where dinner would be cooked over grills. Mr. Waters kept a constant watch on Purity while Frost and Sap got along as they always did.
Allium and I stood closer to the water's edge. Predictably, he hadn't let me out of his sight once during the entire day. I didn't mind his clinginess this time around though, for I remained timid and scared by the previous evening's event. His presence had me feeling safe and secure. Besides, I adored his constant gentle and affectionate care whereas his lustful kissing could only be attractive for so long for any given period of time. I felt much more loved in the moments like in that moment where he had one arm wrapped around me and the other playing with my fingers as we stared out at the landscape. The atmosphere was calm and serene, and I thought everything was well until unanticipated words from Allium alerted me that his thinking was on a whole separate level from mine.
"You can't ever disappear, you know?" he said softly.
"Huh?"
"You can't be here one moment and then not be here in the next. I wouldn't be able to stand it, so you're not allowed to do that, okay?"
"Okay?" I promised hesitantly.
Allium was appeased enough with that and returned to being quiet, but of course my mind was whirring to find out where the sudden demand was coming from. It took me longer than it should have to remember that the fear of me being lost to the storm wasn't the first time Allium had dealt with losing someone. I completely forgot that his dad had been there one moment and then was gone in the next, and that made me guilty. I knew the fake backstory I had was to keep me safe, but how could I complain about a made up dad who had never hurt me when Allium did have to suffer through the fact that his real dad clearly couldn't care less about him? A large part of me doubted that Allium still believed his dad would come back and he and his mom would get the happy family they wished for. I couldn't stand to ask whether or not he had given up yet though.
As the minutes passed by, I felt worse and worse. I began regretting that it was Allium I had fallen for. I really couldn't have chosen a worse person as my boyfriend given the situation I was in. He and I weren't some random hookup bound to shrivel up and die as quickly as we had formed. We were the closest kind of friends who had known each other for years. We were the kind of high school couple that actually had a chance of lasting, and that terrified me. Despite Eden encouraging me that progress was slowly being made with exposing The Company, the truth of it all was that there did remain that high risk of me having to do what Allium was essentially begging me not to do. If it came down to it, I would have to disappear. I would have to leave one day without notice, not being able to contact him and him having no way to contact me anymore. He would be abandoned again. Everything would be perfect, and then everything would fall apart. I would devastate and ruin him as well as his trust in other people.
Allium held me tighter. He must have thought I was getting cold, but I was shaking because I was trying so hard not to cry. I blinked furiously, glad he wasn't paying particular attention to my face. I somehow managed to get my tears boxed in before I could do any damage. Mostly, my mind worked out a solution to temporarily comfort my guilt and fear. Eden might not want me to have anything to do with all the secrets he was involved with, but that didn't mean I couldn't bug him about it. I could press thing a bit more. Add more urgency to get results faster. It was all I could do, but I was going to do it.
The ratio of 60:40 was going to change to 100:0 if I had anything to say about it.
"What-!?"
"Chill out. Heh, 'chill' out," Allium chuckled at his own horrible pun, "I just figured this position would warm you up better."
I was given that goofy smile of his when he settled me in his lap. He pressed his hand against my cheek.
"Geez. You seriously are cold. How are you not a popsicle right now?" Allium wondered.
"I think this is a bit too much." I mumbled.
"Nonsense. Look at how well it's working. I think you cheeks are even turning red."
"I believe that's called a blush." Frost replied teasingly.
"What are you doing watching, ya weirdo?" Allium frowned at Frost sarcastically, "Go cuddle your own girlfriend or something."
"I'd love to, except I don't have one." Frost rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Well, keep your eyes off mine."
"Maybe I'm staring at you." Frost joked with a wicked grin.
"I mean, I can see why you would." Allium shrugged.
Not being able to help myself, I let my giggles get the best of me. I felt silly laughing so much, but it seemed better to be embarrassed about that than be embarrassed about Allium holding me like he was in a very public area. We were soon spotted, although by someone I didn't really mind.
"Seriously, I leave for a minute and you two are all over each other." Sap sighed lightheartedly.
Shortly after Eden and I had returned from our one afternoon vacation to Painted Plains, I had gone ahead and forgiven Sap. The scare I had had and the shock of it had me realizing how much I would hate myself if something had gone wrong and I had been taken without being able to make up with him. I understood very well Sap cared deeply about me despite his poor decision, and the thought of him being devastated by any sudden disappearance of mine had me scrambling to be his friend again. He thankfully remained just as eager to move past it all. The closeness of our relationship still wasn't anything like what it used to be, make no mistake about that, but I no longer felt awkward or uncomfortable about him anymore.
"I was just helping her get warm," Allium pouted, "And my hands are right here- clearly far away from any of her naughty bits."
Sap rolled his eyes much like Frost had done. Once he and I had made up, Eden had recruited Sap to be his little Eden 2.0. The idea was that Sap was Eden's eyes for him when he wasn't around. I doubted Eden would ever trust Allium not to be grabby or to pressure me, although I suppose I couldn't entirely fault him for that. Sap made sure whenever he was around to keep our actions PG-13, and he reported without hesitation any big moves Allium tried to make on me. With Eden steadily putting his foot down and convincing Ms. Charm to do the same, my boyfriend's advances were remaining timidly within line.
"Yes, I can see that. Good job," Sap teased before raising his mug slightly, "Anyway, I finally managed to snag us the table and some mugs of hot chocolate. You'll want to follow me unless you want to keep waiting out in the cold."
The lot we were on had a small lobby. Despite being still connected to the outside by arches, it was more closed to the world. There was also one table and a hot chocolate machine. I made Allium pout harder when I flew out of his grasp to take the mug Sap extended my way. I think Sap gave Allium a teasing smirk, which is why the tension between the two was worse than normal when we took our seats. Allium hadn't been quite so willing to overlook Sap's past actions. He tolerated him because I wanted him to, but that was about it. It didn't help that the two had never been that close to begin with or that their relationship was more complicated now what with Sap having been my almost-boyfriend and Allium being my real boyfriend. Part of me also feared Allium continued to see Sap as a rival for whatever reason. The evidence for that seemed to be that Allium remained hung on the fact that Sap, who had only ever liked me platonically, had gotten my first kiss that he, as the one who actually liked me, should have had- no matter how much he professed that Sap's kiss didn't count. Unfortunately, the two ended up sitting across from each other. No matter how much I tried to initiate conversation, that end of the table stayed rather quiet.
Although, it wasn't like our side was doing much better.
There was another reason besides the cold as to why I wanted to go home. In a cruel twist of fate, Purity had been attached to our group to make us the required number of five. The class trip to Wonder Light had been an optional one. Amaranth had wanted to come, but Blaze had refused to help chip in to pay the fees, which was pretty harsh even for his cheapskate ways. Amaranth had saved up as best he could, but it hadn't been enough. He had cheered up though when he realized how much time he had to spend with Cocoa though, for she wasn't going either. Sunset was going on vacation with her family instead. Sunflower was supposed to have been our fifth member, but a strong fever and illness had her backing out at the last second. Sickness was also why Flow couldn't come, and the absence of the two had rearranged the groups so that Purity was with us.
I had talked to the teachers and chaperones to see if some other arraignment could be made, for the majority of the teachers already knew that Purity and I did not get along. However, they were all adamant that they were not the ones in charge of making the groups and could thus do nothing to move anyone about. They hinted that it would have to take a big fight or situation to separate us for necessity's sake. I hadn't thought it would take too long before such a thing happened, but Purity was being surprisingly well-behaved. Logic had me reasoning that she was keeping herself under control due to being vastly outnumbered. I remembered how isolated I had felt from Purity, Flow, and Apricot at Purity's sleepover. I'm sure being constantly surrounded by my friends as well was putting pressure on her to behave. Normal little things like what happened at the table that would have bigger consequences being set into motion remained little things that we quickly moved past.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" Purity asked with soft accusation during a lull into my conversation with Frost.
"You're in my direct line of vision. I'm not trying to stare at you, but you just happen to be where my eyes naturally want to rest." I explained tartly.
Purity gave me a look, but said nothing further and went back to sipping her hot chocolate.
There was another reason why I suspected Purity was not up to her usual antics. Mr. Waters was one of the chaperones, and he was the one in charge of our group. Since Eden had refused to come, I was actually very glad we got Mr. Waters instead. He actually allowed us to have a bit of freedom and lots of fun, unlike the group that had gotten Mrs. Crackle. She was one of those people who loathed the idea of fun, making me wonder why she had bothered coming on the trip in the first place.
Mr. Waters greeted with with a smile, although it was a forced one, when it was the appropriate time for us to head back outside. I was highly surprised at how dark and cloudy the sky suddenly was. More snow was eminent, and I wasn't the happiest about that or the news we then received.
"Mr. Waffle and I have been talking to the staff here," Mr. Waters began as he motioned to our teacher behind us, "They caught word of some rougher weather heading this way. We were waiting to see how bad it would be. It's not as horrible as they were predicting, but as you can tell from this sky the conditions have declined too much. We're going to have to call off our balloon ride. We'll see if we can get you guys up tomorrow, but we can't make any promises."
My heart sunk. Getting to take a ride in a hot air balloon was one of the main reasons I was so excited to come on the trip. Being the last group to be rotated to the take off center meant that we could possibly be the lone ones to not have our promised ride. Where was the fairness in that?
With the cold only getting colder, I pouted and moped about while Mr. Waters and Mr. Waffle made plans for what our group would be doing instead of taking the ride. Frost and Sap's sarcastic recommendation of going to see a movie was actually persuading them away from their original idea of going to some boring museum when Allium slipped his hand in mine and led me away from the others. We walked here and there for a while talking about nonsense until we were out of sight. I didn't realize this until Allium wrapped his arms around me and once more pulled me close. He was in one of his moods again. I normally wouldn't mind, except Allium had been constantly on me so far that day. I knew his perpetual grabiness was mostly due to the fact that with all the teachers, chaperones, and then Sap we hadn't had any privacy for the past several days. Allium did generally behave himself well, but he gave in to his hormones from time to time like all teenage boys do. Hoping to appease him so he could be appeased and I could have a bit more peace, I let him pull me in even tighter and bring his head down close.
"You still cold?" he asked quietly.
"No." I said with a gentle shake of my head.
"Good."
I was given a small smile before Allium pressed his lips against mine. I wish I didn't mind kissing him so much in that moment. It was one of my favorite things to do when it was done at the appropriate time. That moment didn't feel like one of those. It didn't help that how I was being held was causing my mind and body to go crazy with all sorts of sensations I wasn't in the mood to be dealing with. The parts of me that rarely got close to anyone else much less contact anyone else were snuggled right up against Allium thanks to his tight hold. It certainly wasn't the first time I had experienced such swelling cravings, but having them when out in a public place where anyone could watch wasn't my preference. That was why I had to pull away when Allium's kissing grew more intense.
"Something wrong?" he asked when I slipped out of his grasp slightly.
"It just doesn't feel like we should be doing this right now. Not in a place like this."
"There's no one around. We can barely even hear the others."
"But that doesn't mean they can't or won't come find us, which you know they will sooner rather than later. And what if someone walking down the street sees us?"
"Who cares?" Allium shrugged, frowning lightly when he failed to pull me in again, "Almost no one will say anything if they see us. And if Mr. Waffle or Mr. Waters comes over and tells us to stop, we'll stop. No big deal."
"It's embarrassing."
"It's not."
"It is." I said more firmly.
Allium's frown grew at that. He stared past me, not looking me in the eye anymore, before sighing in mild annoyance.
"Fine. Let's just go back to the others then." he spoke, his irritation apparent in his voice.
I would have been more bothered when Allium began walking towards the group without waiting to see if I was following if I hadn't anticipated it. The truth was simply that this was how Allium got from time to time- even long before he hit puberty. He did still have that tendency to be very immature and not hide how he felt. I was actually rather glad he was honest like that. It made it easier for us to talk and move past the matter later rather than having to pull a secret issue out of hiding. I got a little bit of a cold shoulder from Allium when we did go see a movie before spending a half hour or so at the museum. However, I knew it wouldn't take much longer before he calmed down and was back to normal. I had spent most of my time with Frost in the meantime, and I wandered over to him again when I found him staring up at the mountains after we had been dropped off at another lot.
"I can't believe we're going to be hiking up there." I remarked in awe.
"Think you'll be able to make it?" Frost asked teasingly.
"I'm going to have to, aren't I? Can't let you win the race." I answered back likewise.
There was apparently a custom amongst the local population that first time hikers going up the mountain time their hike to see how fast one could reach the top. The mayor would even award anyone who beat the current record with a prize. I knew it would be impossible to achieve that due to the fact that we were going up when the trail was snowy, but at the very least I didn't want Frost to have the faster time. We were being sent up in pairs with intervals between us in order to make the whole thing more of a competition.
I understood, however, that I was at a great disadvantage. Because we were the only girls in the group, Purity and I had been paired up. Since it was Mr. Waffle and Mr. Waters who had made the pairs, I was surprised Mr. Waters hadn't done whatever he could to make sure we weren't together. He knew how horribly she and I got along after all. I couldn't imagine Mr. Waffle had had that much sway over him considering he too knew we didn't like the other. Unfortunately, despite some more quiet protesting on both mine and Purity's part the pairs remained set. I doubted that Purity would care about going up the trail fast or deciding to go fast for my sake. When I found her texting away like crazy, I wondered if Allium and Mr. Waters, the ones to be set up after us, wouldn't overtake us.
"Hey, Purity?" I started as politely as I could.
She briefly glanced up at me before returning her attention to her phone.
"What?" she asked shortly.
"Okay, I know neither of us are happy with the situation," I continued with determination, "The hike is probably going to suck for the both of us. I think we should come to an agreement now to just leave each other alone while we're heading up in order to not make things worse."
"Please, as if you even needed to say anything. Talking to you is a waste of my breath in the first place." Purity scoffed.
I couldn't stop myself from not biting my tongue and keeping silent at that.
"Do you really hate me that much?" I had to ask even if the answer was horribly obvious.
"Oh my god," Purity let out an angrily exasperated laugh, "You're the one who just said 'Let's not talk', and here you are still talking. Some genius girl you are."
I sighed inwardly myself and let the brief conversation drop. I was about to walk away when a tickling in my nose signaled a sneeze coming on. Hurriedly, I turned away and buried my face in the crook of my elbow so Purity couldn't accuse me for trying to enact revenge on her for that confrontation so long ago. My heart jolted in surprise when I looked up since Mr. Waters was suddenly there. He had been walking over already without me noticing.
"You alright there, Meadow? Not coming down with anything?" he asked kindly like he always did, wearing his smile.
"I'm fine. The cold merely got to me for a second."
"Alright, but don't be afraid to say anything if you start to feel unwell. I know that this kind of weather does affect you more than it affects others. The storm is mostly going to pass over us since it's heading north, but we'll still be looking at some light snowfall. It'll be better to say something beforehand if you don't feel up to the trek."
"Don't worry. I know my reputation for being healthy sucks, but I'm not that weak. I'll be fine." I reassured him again.
I received a different kind of smile from him. Purity and I were both in for a surprise when he spoke to her next.
"Make sure you watch over her, Pure. Don't let her overwork herself."
"Wha-!?" Purity sputtered, "I'm not her mother! She can watch over herself just fine!"
"There's no reason to be so callous, young lady. I expect the same from Meadow as well. The hike is going to be difficult with the snow. You both need to keep an eye on each other." Mr. Waters continued cheerfully but with a bit more force.
"Yes, sir." I conceded when he glanced my way.
"See? It's not that big of a deal." Mr. Waters chastised Purity lightly.
She frowned and folded her arms, but said nothing further.
I smartly took my chance to leave at the soonest opportunity I had. I chatted with Frost and Sap for a while until they were taken to the beginning of the trail and sent up their way. Allium was in a somewhat better mood, so I was able to get a few words out of him. I figured by the time we all reached the top the exhaustion of the hike would have killed off his irritation. That gave me the extra motivation I required to give my legs strength when enough time had passed and it was my and Purity's turn to begin walking. The snow was mildly cumbersome, and the trail would have been much harder to follow if we did have Frost and Sap's footsteps ahead of us. I wondered if that was part of the reason why they sent the two boys us first. What shocked me was how Purity was able to easily get ahead of me and stay there. Either she really wanted to get the hike over with or she was that desperate to get away from me. Whatever the case, our agreement to not talk was quickly broken.
"I don't get why he bothers with you." Purity suddenly said.
"What? Who?" I queried in confusion.
"My dad, you idiot. He thinks you're some blessed ray of sunshine or something. He won't shut up about you sometimes. 'Be more like Meadow. You should listen to what she says. She's setting a good example to follow.' I can't go a week without hearing your stupid name. It bugs the crap out of me." she whined bitterly.
That stunned me. Mr. Waters and I got along, but like I've mentioned before it's not like we had a real relationship or anything. It helped me make sense as to why Purity did dislike me so much. She obviously didn't like me to begin with, and with her dad going on about me all the time I could see why that would only make her hatred grow.
"He's my dad, not yours," Purity mirrored my thoughts, "But with the way he talks about you you'd think it was the other way around!"
"Well, I think he's just trying to help you. Don't even bother trying to deny that we all know how nasty you can be and how horrible you've been- particularly to me. Because your dad is your dad, he's simply doing what he can to guide you to be the best person you can be. He believes I'll be a good influence on you, which is why I assume he brings me up so often."
"Good influence." Purity scoffed again.
"He told me so himself on the night he drove me home from your sleepover. He wished you and I could be friends." I revealed.
Purity fell silent once more. It almost seemed like she was turning her head to glance back at me, but she faced forward with a huff and continued to plow her way onwards.
Ten or fifteen minutes passed and already my legs started to grow heavy from moving through the snow. The slope of the mountain was steadily growing, and the wind was picking up. Frost and Sap's footsteps were getting harder to spot, which worried me. The trail was truly hard to see. Part of me questioned the safety of sending us up when it was like this, and I didn't want to think about what would happen if we no longer had any signs to follow. However, for one brief moment I allowed myself to get swept away in wonder when something gently floated into my face.
"This must be the light snowfall your dad was talking about." I said.
"Oh, great," Purity complained, "Just what we need. More stupid snow."
"At least it's pretty."
That earned me another scowl from her.
"You're such a freak. One minute you're acting like you're dying from the cold, and the next you're on about the snow like it's manna from the heavens."
"All I said was that it's pretty. Besides, it's the cold I hate. Not so much the snow. The snow...it's like a miracle, isn't it?"
"Miracle? You're pathetic."
I let the comment roll off me. I knew it would be impossible for Purity to understand what being able to stare into the wide open sky and see the snow falling, which was a sight that had been denied to me in my first ten years, meant to me. There was no point in trying to explain it either.
"I simply appreciate the little wonders in life. You're right that more snow is really not what we need though. We should keep going before Frost and Sap get too far ahead." I submitted, taking the lead this time.
Whichever weatherman predicted that the snow would head north and pass us over was an absolute idiot. Another fifteen minutes later, Purity and I were running forward madly as fierce snow and roaring wind slammed into us. Frost, Sap, and their footprints were nowhere to be seen, and neither of us had any idea as to whether we were heading the right way or not. With every slope we covered it appeared like we were reaching the top. Unfortunately, each time we discovered we had more to go. My brain was screaming at me to turn us around, but Purity kept on running. The air was turning my lungs as dry as the desert. It took all my strength and energy to focus on keeping my breathing steady. There was no way for me to call out to tell her to stop or turn around, and I couldn't just abandon her and go my own way.
The whipping wind and slashing snow bludgeoned us worse. Maintaining our balance was next to impossible. Purity and I slipped and fell so often we were more crawling up the mountain than hiking up it. The trail was so steep and awkward in places that I doubted we were on the right path anymore. However, we had no way to tell where we were or how much more we had to go. The sky was almost black, and my heart began racing more from fear than the physical exertion. Purity and I were in a really bad situation! Despite doing everything I could to keep calm, the fear and the cold were wreaking their evil magic on me. I clutched myself tighter together than I had earlier, and I buried my face deeply in my arms as the first of the many coughing fits I would have that night began. The noise, however, did get Purity, who had blessedly been slowing down some, to turn around.
"Oh, great! Now you're coughing. Well, you'd better not pass out because I'm not carrying you!"
"W-which way should w-we go? U-up or down?" I forced my voice to cooperate even if my teeth did still chatter.
I ignored Purity's less than pleasant comment since I didn't have energy to waste fighting her. I barely had strength to lift my head up against the weather's wrath to look at Purity while she thought.
"We'll go up," she decided by herself, "We're definitely closer to the top than we are to the bottom. Since we haven't run into Sap or Frost, it must mean they found that building we were all supposed to meet at. It'll be easier trying to get there than trying to navigate down where we can't see the difference between the trail and a hundred foot drop."
I nodded. Her logic was pretty solid.
"O-okay. Just d-don't go too far ahead, o-or I'll lose you amongst t-the snow."
I think Purity rolled her eyes, but I couldn't be sure. That's how hard it was to see her through all the white snow even though she was only six or seven feet in front of me. She then surprised me by coming over to grab my hand and lead me forward, albeit more forcefully than desired. My amazement canceled out any annoyance though. Purity normally made herself out to be a delicate flower, but she was actually incredibly durable. Her confidence at leading us on was unwavering.
And, blessedly, she turned out to be mostly correct. It was only five minutes later when the slopes disappeared and the land flattened. Spotting the building through the fiercer snow screaming around at the top of the mountain was difficult, but we did find it. The two of us dashed through the door, and the wind slammed it close for us. My chest grew hollow when I hurriedly spotted that we were the only ones in the building though.
"Where are Frost and Sap?" I asked in worry.
The thought of them still possibly being stuck in the storm somewhere on the slopes terrified me. It almost drove me to turn right back around and go search for them. Purity grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
"You seriously are an idiot. You aren't going to help anyone going back out there. There could be more than one building up here. This doesn't sound like the one dad was telling me about at all. Frost and Sap could be there instead. Trust that they can take care of themselves instead of putting yourself in danger again." she rebuked.
That got me to calm almost instantly. Purity was still glaring at me like usual, but with the way she was almost...caring about me had me listening to everything she said.
A quick search revealed that there wasn't much to discover besides what could already be seen. The lone thing of note I found was several old matches in some buckets tucked in the corner. They were another blessing for they allowed me to start the tiniest of fires with the few sticks and leftover logs in the firepit. Even the tiny bit of warmth was most welcome, but I wasn't relieved. The fire wasn't going to last long at all. It was guaranteed Purity and I would be stuck where we were for the night, but unless we were able to get the fire to keep burning for more than half an hour it wouldn't make much of a difference. The building was old, and there was definitely a crack somewhere letting in the freezing cold. Searching my brains for ideas, my hand eventually ended up clutching the chair next to my left. There really was just one option open to us.
"What are you doing?!" Purity exclaimed in confusion and surprise when I suddenly lifted the chair above my head and brought it slamming hard into the ground twice.
The withered thing broke apart easily. I began wriggling the wooden planks free of their nails.
"We need more wood for the fire, and these are our only source of it." I explained as I tossed the new fuel into the pit.
"We can't destroy the chairs! They belong to someone else!"
"Better a chair than our hands or feet from frostbite. If the owner really gets that upset about their loss, then I'll pay them back." I comforted.
Purity didn't find anything to complain about after the fire grew and the room heated up almost sufficiently. There was too much cold seeping in for my liking, but we would be alright for a while. After that, we would just have to hope everything would turn out fine. Save for the crackling of the fire and the raging of the storm, it was total silence for the longest time. Purity sat staring dully into the flames while I stood and warmed my hands. My nerves were bouncing and jumping around too much to allow to me sit. I couldn't stop myself from worrying about Frost and Sap. Trying to text or call them had been useless since my phone had no signal. The only relief I had was that I knew Allium and Mr. Waters would be safe. They wouldn't have been too far up the mountain yet before the storm came on, and thus they definitely would have turned around.
I was silently praying that no one would call Eden and cause him to freak out when a massive sigh from Purity interrupted my thoughts. With the way she hung her head and hunched over, I could tell she was about to start her theatrics again.
"What a horrible day! I can't believe this happened! Why is it that all the worst possible things happen to me? My life is so tragic!" she cried out with exaggerated anguish.
That set me off. Her age old complaint that came out every time something slightly bad happened to her was the one thing I could never stand.
"Your life? You think your life is awful?! You experience one bad thing, and you think that gives you a reason to proclaim that you are the most miserable person on the planet?!"
"And there you go again- acting like you know everything about me!" Purity snapped back.
"I know that you don't have parents who don't give one crap about you! They haven't neglected you- turning your house into a prison because you were always alone and forgotten without a single friend but you had nowhere else to go! I bet they never punished you for being bothersome because you just wanted to hug them after they came back from a week-long business trip! I'm sure you've never heard them say that they regret having you! That you're hardly more than something that does nothing but get in their way!"
Purity's face crinkled as she stared intently at the corner of the room.
"Stop trying to make me pity you and your pathetic life." she demanded harshly.
"Then stop trying to make me pity you and your amazing life!" I growled.
The tension in the air grew as intense as the cold and the wind. Unexpected tears welled up in my eyes, causing me to sit on the floor with my back to the fire and Purity. There was something about her complaining about her good life that I seriously could just not stand. Boiling over and letting my fake, sad backstory lash out at her only barely let me control myself from saying what I couldn't say. It had to be because she was white too that it was so much more difficult to keep my secrets secret. I wanted to see her reaction to the truth more than I wanted to see anyone else's reaction. I needed to know if anything would change between us, if she could accept Ethereal whereas she couldn't accept Meadow, or if she would make up some ludicrous excuse about me faking being albino like her. The stupid part of me held onto the hope that she would come to like me. Purity and I did share a strange kind of kinship after all. She was what I could have been. Seeing her let me imagine a wholly different kind of Ethereal.
"I have wished from time to time that he was my dad too," I half whispered into the quiet, "Your dad, I mean."
My thoughts were going every which direction once more. Realizing that I had no idea how Purity would react to Ethereal also dawned upon me that I truly didn't know her- just like how she said I didn't. The idea that she was keeping secrets of her own hidden popped into my mind. Maybe that was why she clung to her impossible ideal of "perfection", because she couldn't stand to face the horrors that haunted her. Such thinking had me wanting to be more frank with her. To open up to her so that she might open up to me.
"He loves you. Really, really loves you," I continued when Purity didn't answer, "I'm sure he's freaking out right now. I'm sure if he knew it would help you that he wouldn't let anyone stop him from running out into the storm. Part of me wonders if my dad would have done the same, or if he would have secretly hoped that the storm would kill me so I wouldn't be in his way anymore. And I hate that."
That still didn't get me a response. However, when I turned to glance behind me I found that Purity had sat up. No doubt the reason she hurriedly shifted her gaze back to the corner was because I had just caught her staring my way. I took that as a good sign and moved to the second spare chair.
"What's your favorite color?" I asked.
"Excuse me?" Purity questioned back with a raised brow.
"You're right that I don't know anything about you, so I'm trying to change that." I clarified with a shrug.
"Well, I don't want to talk to you. I don't converse with liars."
"Liars?" I responded in confusion, not bothering with her hypocrisy.
Purity looked me right in the eye and frowned.
"You might have good memorization, but I'm not an idiot. Did you honestly not think I wouldn't figure out that you were making 'Snowbell' up? I know of that ghost story too, and I remember how you clammed up when we asked you for your 'white friend's' name. Besides, how can you claim you had her as friend when you seriously just told me yourself that you had no friends? You say I'm the terrible liar, but you're just as bad. You can't even keep your story straight."
I was taken aback. Purity was so much more perceptive than I was giving her credit. I had even almost forgotten about Snowbell!
"Can you blame me for making someone like her up?" I asked.
There was no point in continuing the ruse now.
"Do you not remember how you reacted when I explained albinism to Flow and Apricot? I hadn't meant any harm by it, but you acted as if I had stabbed you in the back. Lying that I knew a white girl seemed a better way to get you off my case than admitting I just knew the information. It's the same thing when you asked me why I'm not jealous of you."
Unfortunately for me, Purity's expression of suspicion only deepened.
"You're still lying to me, or at least leaving a whole chunk of the truth out. When you were telling me about how 'Snowbell' felt, your words were far too confident and certain for someone who merely did some research on albinism. You spoke as if you actually knew what it was like. But, if you haven't had so much as an albino friend, how could you have that confidence?"
Shoot! I wished Eden could be magicked into the room. Not only would it provide an ample distraction, but he was the one who came up with the best lies. I either sank or swim, and right now I was sinking fast.
"Does it have something to do with what you said about not having the freedom to be yourself?" Purity pressed on when I hesitated.
I was in danger! She had seriously remembered all the small things I had said that I had forgotten about, which were now coming back to bite me with fervor. I desperately tried not to panic, and the lone way I could think to change the course of the conversation was to tell the truth without actually revealing anything.
"There is something I'm not telling you, and I'm not telling you because I can't tell you. It could mean bad things for me, and you won't be doing yourself any favors coaxing the information out." I mumbled as I stared at the fire, hoping my slightly ominous words would be enough to persuade her away from the topic.
Luckily, it appeared to have worked. Purity stared at the fire and said nothing else. I breathed a sigh of relief when the minutes passed before returning to my original goal.
"So, what is your favorite color?" I asked again, laughing lightly when I got another frown, "C'mon, I'm not demanding your life story. I just want to know. It's fine if it's white, and, though I doubt it's green, I won't say anything to anyone if it is."
"It's pink." Purity muttered after a pause of hesitation.
I didn't press her any more after that admission, for the way she turned her head away and blocked me out made it seem like such a simple revelation embarrassed her greatly. I was simply thankful she answered me at all. Instead of asking more questions, I suggested we get as much rest as we could before we lost the heat of the fire. I went ahead and smashed up the remaining two chairs since I was going to have to do so later anyway, and Purity and I got as comfortable as we could on the floor. We were each able to doze off somewhat. I know at least I was woken up each time the fire began to die and the cold returned. When I sat up to toss another plank into the pit to find there were no more left, I prayed it was a dream. Sadly, it was reality. We were out of fuel.
I laid back on the ground and failed to get any more sleep for the longest time. How long had we been in the building? A few hours at most, I reasoned. Both mine and Purity's phone had died thanks to our remote location having them stuck in roaming mode, draining our batteries. We weren't able to check their clocks. Judging from when we started the hike it had to be around...10 o'clock? It was 11 at the latest. My worry steadily spread until it enveloped all of me. The storm hadn't lessened one bit, and it showed no signs of doing so in the near future. The hope that it would stop and a rescue team could find us soon was nonexistent. I was truly fearful that we wouldn't be able to hold out until morning without serious consequences.
The worry blossomed into full blown panic when the warmth from the fire faded. There was nothing to hold back the cold, and the results from that which I knew were coming did indeed come. Heavier and heavier my breathing grew. Quite huffs grew into ragged heaves. Little coughs morphed into thick hacks. My throat burned and my eyes watered. It got to the point where I couldn't lay curled up because I had to sit straight, heck, even half stand to let enough air into my lungs in order to stop myself from passing out.
"Are you seriously that bad?" Purity questioned, her irritation barely contained, when I quieted after a particularly bad fit.
"The doctors said there was some permanent damage done by the pneumonia, which is a rare thing to happen. Lucky me," I explained with a wheeze, "It's been made worse by other infections I've had over the years. A lot of times, it's my psychological fear of not being able to breathe that causes my lungs to not work properly, or so I've been told. This time though, it's definitely the cold that's to blame. Mostly."
Purity had to wait to respond because more of my coughing covered her up.
"You think if you get warmer you'll stop being so noisy?"
"It won't do any harm." I replied uncertainly.
"Then just come over here."
I stared at her as she opened her arms in invitation.
"I'm freezing too, and we both know this is the only way we're going to be able to keep slightly warm in any way."
I didn't hesitate a second longer. Purity leaned back against the pit, probably to catch whatever remnants of warmth was left, and I cuddled into her arms. Any sense of embarrassment was quickly abandoned. I didn't realize until I was against her how hard I was shaking, and I wasn't the only one having such issues. Purity's skin was as cold as ice, and her breathing was shaky as well. It wasn't even seconds later when we were tangled together in a way I hadn't even tangled up with Allium. The small relief that came from us sharing our body heat had the two of us ignoring all past distaste and our pride. We clutched each other as if letting go meant death, which really wasn't that far off the mark to be honest. I wanted to cry from joy when our proximity did calm me down and warm me up enough to the point where my coughs became miniscule once more.
And I was never aware that I fell back asleep. One minute I was staring dully at the wall, and the next I was untangling myself from Purity when loud bangs on the door and muffled cries snapped me to a dazed unconsciousness. I had only just made sense of what was going on when the door burst open and bright morning light blinded me. The snow was so deep that it had apparently buried most of the building. Mr. Waters and Allium had to slide in through the little opening available to them. No wonder it was so freezing! I didn't pay attention to the rescue team who began working on liberating the door, for Allium got a small laugh out of me when he bolted the several feet separating us to lift me up in the air before embracing me in a crushing hug. I didn't even get to see Mr. Waters do something similar to Purity.
"Are you alright?" Allium asked against my ear.
"Ridiculously cold, but I'll be fine. It certainly looks like I at least got more sleep than you did." I joked.
However, Allium wasn't in a joking mood for once. His eyes were bloodshot. Noticing that tears weren't out of the question for him, I wondered if those swollen eyes of his weren't due to solely staying up all night in worry. The tighter he held me, the more concerned and confused I became. I knew he would be fretting, but it took me some time to figure out why he was so shaken up. I totally forgot, mostly because I couldn't remember one moment of it, that it had been his house Mr. Glory had rushed me into when he found me in the snow. Allium had stood there and nearly watched me die as Mr. Glory and Ms. Charm just barely kept me alive after I stopped breathing. The threat of reliving that nightmare couldn't have been kind to him. In fact, it definitely hadn't been if his own shaking and hitched breathing was anything to go off of. It was clear to me he had been anticipating the worst as he apologized for getting annoyed yesterday like he was afraid I might suddenly vanish. I shook my head and reassured him, and was most grateful when he let me sneak my hands just under the back of his shirt to start warming them up. Though I thought I was doing better, my lungs fought against me again as I had another coughing fit on Allium's shoulder.
"We'll be taking you two to the hospital. You both are better off than we anticipated, but we can't take any chances." Mr. Waters explained after I reassured Allium yet another time when he asked once more if I was alright.
He finally smiled and laughed when I groaned at Mr. Waters' words.
I was given the relieving news about Frost and Sap on the way to the hospital. Purity and I had gone up the wrong path in the confusion of the storm. My friends had had the smarts to turn around the second the snow started, and we had ended up missing each other as we went in opposite directions. Frost and Sap were horrified to learn we hadn't done the same and were nowhere to be found. Allium revealed none of them slept last night, although they had thankfully not chosen to contact Eden until they were sure one way or the other of my fate. The blow of the worst kind of news would hit him hard no matter when it was told to him, so it made more sense to wait until they were entirely sure. However, having the other outcome of the situation explained when I was safely in front of him would be less alarming. The details of what happened wouldn't be revealed to anyone but the school until we returned in one more day.
Purity and I went through a lot of expected poking and prodding at the hospital, with me having the worst of it due to my previous medical history. Allium and Mr. Waters were allowed to stay with us through all of it, which helped. It was comforting to have Allium stand there and patiently listen to my complaining about my very well known hatred of hospitals. I cheered up when I watched Mr. Waters did the same with a whining Purity. His love for her then was as obvious as ever, and my heart craving a parental connection quietly wished again for someone like him to be my father. More than seeing how kind he could be though, I was happier at the fact that he seemed to be doing well. The fighting in Purity's house had died down suspiciously fast after I lashed out at Purity at homecoming about the noise, and Cocoa confirmed that everything had stabilized. I doubted that things were perfect between Mr. Waters and his wife, but the moment of intense friction appeared to have passed.
Most of the morning was spent at the hospital. Purity, everyone else, and I got some much deserved rest at the hotel before our group took the free hot air balloon ride offered to us by the town. Other than that, the rest of the trip was played incredibly safely. We didn't do much else of note until dinner until we taken to the lot by the hot springs where dinner would be cooked over grills. Mr. Waters kept a constant watch on Purity while Frost and Sap got along as they always did.
Allium and I stood closer to the water's edge. Predictably, he hadn't let me out of his sight once during the entire day. I didn't mind his clinginess this time around though, for I remained timid and scared by the previous evening's event. His presence had me feeling safe and secure. Besides, I adored his constant gentle and affectionate care whereas his lustful kissing could only be attractive for so long for any given period of time. I felt much more loved in the moments like in that moment where he had one arm wrapped around me and the other playing with my fingers as we stared out at the landscape. The atmosphere was calm and serene, and I thought everything was well until unanticipated words from Allium alerted me that his thinking was on a whole separate level from mine.
"You can't ever disappear, you know?" he said softly.
"Huh?"
"You can't be here one moment and then not be here in the next. I wouldn't be able to stand it, so you're not allowed to do that, okay?"
"Okay?" I promised hesitantly.
Allium was appeased enough with that and returned to being quiet, but of course my mind was whirring to find out where the sudden demand was coming from. It took me longer than it should have to remember that the fear of me being lost to the storm wasn't the first time Allium had dealt with losing someone. I completely forgot that his dad had been there one moment and then was gone in the next, and that made me guilty. I knew the fake backstory I had was to keep me safe, but how could I complain about a made up dad who had never hurt me when Allium did have to suffer through the fact that his real dad clearly couldn't care less about him? A large part of me doubted that Allium still believed his dad would come back and he and his mom would get the happy family they wished for. I couldn't stand to ask whether or not he had given up yet though.
As the minutes passed by, I felt worse and worse. I began regretting that it was Allium I had fallen for. I really couldn't have chosen a worse person as my boyfriend given the situation I was in. He and I weren't some random hookup bound to shrivel up and die as quickly as we had formed. We were the closest kind of friends who had known each other for years. We were the kind of high school couple that actually had a chance of lasting, and that terrified me. Despite Eden encouraging me that progress was slowly being made with exposing The Company, the truth of it all was that there did remain that high risk of me having to do what Allium was essentially begging me not to do. If it came down to it, I would have to disappear. I would have to leave one day without notice, not being able to contact him and him having no way to contact me anymore. He would be abandoned again. Everything would be perfect, and then everything would fall apart. I would devastate and ruin him as well as his trust in other people.
Allium held me tighter. He must have thought I was getting cold, but I was shaking because I was trying so hard not to cry. I blinked furiously, glad he wasn't paying particular attention to my face. I somehow managed to get my tears boxed in before I could do any damage. Mostly, my mind worked out a solution to temporarily comfort my guilt and fear. Eden might not want me to have anything to do with all the secrets he was involved with, but that didn't mean I couldn't bug him about it. I could press thing a bit more. Add more urgency to get results faster. It was all I could do, but I was going to do it.
The ratio of 60:40 was going to change to 100:0 if I had anything to say about it.
I wander if Purity and Meadow are going to 'get on' a little better from here. After their experience together you would think that it would bring then closer together - but we are talking about Purity - so I am doubting it. I love seeing mr Waters I think he is one of my favorite characters.
ReplyDeleteHi, I absolutely love this story! You are doing a fantastic job! But I was wondering, when is the next chapter coming out?
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