New Boys Can't Date The Snow Queen, Part Two
Larisa was waiting in our usual pick-up spot. She waved eagerly as I drew the Porsche to a stop. Her frosted pink winter coat and white scarf and hat made her dark hair and exotic features stand out.
“Hi!” She shivered with delight as she sat down. “Oooh, that’s so cosy. I can feel it through my coat.”
“Heat charm. Works every time.” Keeping my car in the garage hadn’t been a bad idea either, as I didn’t need to scrape snow off it before I left, and our driveway was magically charmed so that snow, sleet and ice wouldn’t touch it.
“How’d the weekend go?” Larisa asked, brushing some stray snowflakes out of her hair.
It hadn’t been nearly productive enough. “Dad came home unexpectedly yesterday; he made his mushroom risotto as a treat. You?”
Larisa rolled her eyes. “My parents tried to introduce me to someone. Again.”
“Another one? Are you serious?”
Like my family, the Harcourts were practically Topaz Coast royalty. Larisa was pretty much the sixth form princess, and she knew it. Unfortunately, her parents kept on trying to set her up with suitable boyfriends, and by that I mean boys they thought were suitable. Larisa herself wasn’t interested in any of them; she either flat out turned them down or, if her parents insisted she go on a date with them, made it clear there wouldn’t be a second one.
The trouble was that the only boy she wanted to go out with had started dating someone else. Larisa had tried telling her parents that, but they just shrugged her feelings away.
“Yup, and I think they’ve got another one lined up.” She smiled impishly. “Doesn’t matter – I’ll get rid of him too. They’re bound to run out of boys sooner or later.”
Assuming they didn’t run out of patience first.
Larisa’s tone suddenly changed. “Speaking of boys, guess who’s joined the events committee.”
“No idea.”
She frowned. “Seriously? You can’t guess?”
“Nope.” And I honestly didn’t care.
“Oh well, you’ll find out. Want to meet up for lunch? We’ll have to eat quickly if we’re going to be on time.”
“On time for what?”
Larisa’s eyes widened. “For the committee meeting this lunchtime so we can discuss the Christmas ball! Don’t tell me you’d forgotten!”
I had. The Three Autumn Nights weren’t the responsibility of the events committee, but the Christmas ball was. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
I was seriously regretting joining the committee now. If I pulled out, people might start to wonder why I’d backed away from planning the second autumn party and the ball.
The college car park was already starting to fill up. I picked a spot close to the entrance, and Larisa and I sauntered towards the main building. Some of the boys on the football team were throwing snowballs at each other. Their coats were going to be soaked by the time they were done.
I loved snow too, but it had never meant fun for me. For me, it meant beauty and peace, walks in the nearby woodland and tiny ice crystals glinting in the sun before they vanished forever.
“Hi.”
It was Blake Starfyre. How had he managed to come up beside us without Larisa or me noticing? His dark hair was dotted with tiny white specks; clearly, he’d been involved in the snowball fight. His golden cheeks were a little flushed, either from cold or the excitement of the game, and his eyes sparkled as if lit from within.
“Hi, Blake. Catch you guys later!” Larisa made a beeline for the Ladies, leaving me alone with Blake. That wouldn’t have been so bad, except…well, it was him.
Blake had come to live with his relatives, the Reyes family, just after the Three Autumn Nights. People noticed him as soon as he walked into a room, just like they noticed Ethan and Brendan, his cousins. I’d known the Reyes family was popular and influential in Topaz Coast, but I hadn’t known that they were related to one of the most powerful magical families in the country or that Blake’s father worked alongside mine.
The first thing Blake said to me was: “You’re Claire de Winter? I think your dad works with mine!”
And that was just the start. He spoke to me almost every day at college since and for some reason, he never got the hint when I tried to ignore him or gave him curt answers. He kept trying to talk to me, to get to know me and he didn’t take my unfriendly replies in stride. It was both refreshing and completely infuriating.
Of course, he was new in town and didn’t know to give up on me yet. Everyone else had, apart from Larisa.
“So how was your weekend?” he asked.
I tried not to roll my eyes. “Nothing special.”
“Aunt Elena took all three of us out for pies at the garden centre. Do you like to visit the café there?”
“No.” I used to love that place. I hadn’t been for ages, but he didn’t need to know that.
Blake continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Those cherry pies are heavenly, especially with cinnamon hot chocolate. I think Ethan would have eaten three pies if Aunt Elena hadn’t stopped him. After that, we went sledding…”
I was about to say something like I’m not interested, and I don’t care, OK? but then I saw Craig Thorn standing uncomfortably close to a brown-haired girl in a baggy coat. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the corners of his mouth twisted mockingly as he loomed over her.
“Oh, that is it.” Blake stormed over and glared at Craig. “Hey. Leave her alone.”
“Or what, you’ll use your fire powers on me?” Craig smirked. “Good luck with that.” He turned back to the girl.
“I said, leave her…”
I calmly stepped up to them. “Isn’t there something you should be doing right about now, Craig?”
“Nope.”
I leaned a little closer, inserting just enough ice into my voice. “Find something.”
Craig wouldn’t be afraid of Blake and his fire magic – but me and my family’s influence? That was a different matter, especially after the scandal that had come out regarding how he and his mother had treated his stepsister like the help instead of family.
“Fine.” Craig stalked away, muttering snow queen under his breath.
“Are you OK?” Blake asked the girl. She nodded, mumbled “Thank you,” and scurried away.
Suddenly a sharp pain shot through my chest. I gasped, clutched at the front of my coat and stood there, breathing heavily.
“Claire?” Blake was clutching my shoulders. “Claire! Are you OK?”
I nodded, trying to get myself under control. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
“What just happened? You looked like you…do you want to go to the nurse’s office?”
I pushed his hands away sharply. “I said, I’m fine.”
I stalked away, my heart hammering. He called after me, but I didn’t respond.
Luckily, my form room was only a few metres away. I sat down in the nearest empty chair, took out my comb and ran it through my hair until it lay sleek and smooth on my shoulders. When that was done, I put the comb away and sat still and straight, in complete control of myself again.