Summer Frost

The most life-changing events can sometimes happen when we aren't even looking for them. This is what happened to me during what would have been an uneventful summer.

Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Weiss Schnee and I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I know. It's an impressive title, and it alone was enough to give me privileges that others would never attain in their entire lifespan. I could demand expensive clothes and I'd have them without any effort. People would step aside in long lines just so I could get in first. It was a great life and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't abused that power every once in a while.

However, one person stands out among the many I've met in my lifetime. She was my own teammate: Yang Xiao Long. Yang was a bubbly girl with long, blond hair and a fiery personality. Everybody adored Yang and she seemed to be aware of it. I remember meeting her for the first time at Beacon Academy. There was something about the way she carried herself. I had been upset at her younger sister for idiotically sneezing in my face and almost blowing me to bits.

Most people would have apologized profusely after seeing me angry or checked to see if my father was anywhere near me. Not Yang. She shoved her face in mine and demanded to know why I had such a problem with her sister. I acted tough then, but I was taken back by how assertive she was. How dare this girl yell in my face? I remember going back to my room and perseverating on what she'd said to me.

"She probably didn't know who I was," I said out loud to myself that night. "But everybody knows who I am. She's probably just jealous. That's it. She just wanted to feel tough by talking down to the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

I refused to let myself be humiliated like that and planned an entire speech to fire back with. I would approach Yang and tell her that she was a stupid girl who had no idea who she was talking to. I imagined her gasping in shock and begging me to forgive her. Most people did something like that after learning who I was. I walked with my head high that day, trying to keep myself from smiling as I thought of just how embarrassed she would be.

The next day went like every other, only this time I had every word and movement planned out. I smiled maniacally to myself as I replayed the imagined worry of Yang after hearing my identity. It would be so great. Everybody would be on my side and-

"Hey!" Yang shouted. I bumped right into her and fell backwards, knocking all of my books on the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" I shouted, picking up my books while brushing off any dirt that got on my skirt.

"You bumped into me!" Yang shot back.

I finally stood up and opened my mouth, only to close it again after seeing who was in front of me.

"Oh," said Yang. "It's you again. You weren't satisfied with bullying my sister and now you have to go after me too, huh?"

I felt my cheeks begin to blush as I clenched both of my fists.

"Who do you think you are!" I shouted loudly, causing people walking by to stop and stare. "Do you have any idea who I am? I am Weiss Schnee! Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company!"

"And I'm Yang Xiao Long, kicker of your ass if you don't shut up."

I felt my jaw drop when she said that. The grand speech I had prepared wouldn't come out. I could only make stammering noises as people around Yang bean to laugh at me. They were cheering for her and waiting for anything else I had to say. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to just disappear, but I couldn't let Yang have the last word like that.

"A-At least I'll actually amount to something in my lifetime!" was all I could say before storming off. I could still hear the sounds of everybody's laughter as I walked away. How could I have been so humiliated?

"Why did they laugh?" I asked myself as I sat back in my bed, staring up at the ceiling. "And why did that girl speak to me like that?"

There was a knock on my door. I stood right up from my slouched position and quickly fixed my hair.

"Come in!" I shouted.

The door open and none other than Yang stepped in.

"Oh," I mumbled. "It's you. Here to humiliate me some more?"

"No…." said Yang. "I just came to drop off this." She held up a dust vial with my name engraved on it.

"Oh," I said softly. "Thanks."

"Can I ask you something?" asked Yang.

I lowered my head a little. "What is it?"

"Why do you act the way you do?"

My eye twitched when she said that. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean...the attitude and your bossy behavior. What's up with that?"

"You know I could ask the same of you!" I snapped.

"Whatever," said Yang. "Just be thankful I even came back to give you your dust."

I clenched my teeth and glared at Yang as she walked away, observing the confident strut she had when going from place to place.

"What a stupid girl," I muttered to myself as I looked at the vial of dust that she brought. My fingertips gently brushed across the glass containers as I thought about Yang. She reminded me a little of my older sister. I know it sounds funny to say that about a person you've just met, but the way she spoke and carried herself did bare some resemblance to Winter.

"Yang Xiao Long," I said to myself as I stared at the dust vial. A small smile crept from the corners of my mouth as I said her name.

"She's something else," I laughed to myself. I looked around at my empty dormitory as I said this. There were no people around to hear my thoughts or even acknowledge me. Here I was all by myself with only my vials of dust. I mean, most of my life was spent around people who acknowledged me without ever getting that close to me. It was just much more apparent when not even my usual entourage were around to praise me. Who was I really? Would anybody know me more than just the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company? I shook my head and began to leave my room. There was something about Yang that intrigued me. I was determined to find out more about her.