Snow Angel

by CeruleanSmile

Thalia has special eyes. She can see into other people's souls, which acts as a curse to her. When Thalia meets the legendary Jack Frost, she realizes that he is the first person that she is able to be around with ease. After partaking in a few fun, exciting experiences together, each friend discovers that the other has exactly what they need most.

Chapter 1

As I gazed silently across the shimmering frozen lake, I admired the beauty of December. It was snowing gently, the snowflakes falling in graceful, uneven spirals, touching the ice below with scarcely a tiny whisper. It was the only sound I could hear, beside the occasional sighs of winter wind. The white and green pine trees in the distance shivered every once in a while.

I looked down at the solid ice I was sitting on, and saw my blurry reflection. My shoulder-length black hair was lank, and my freckled nose was beginning to flush. The rest of my skin was rather pale, as it always was in cold weather. I returned my eyes to the frosted landscape and quickly became lost in it.

I was awoken from my trance when I heard animated laughter behind me. I turned my head and saw a boy and a girl strolling toward me on the walking path. I recognized them as kids from my high school, and I turned away calmly The boy often gave me weird looks in class.

The girl laughed again. "Ooh, it looks pretty."

I heard their crisp footsteps grow louder.

"Oh," said the boy, "Hey there."

I turned around again and cautiously moved my attention to the boy's face. I could just see the brightness of his eyes and I averted my own eyes nervously. I could tell that he was judgmental.

"Hi," I said softly.

The girl snickered quietly. "You're pretty brave, sitting on the ice. Hey, I know you from my school."

I smiled stiffly and nodded. I caught a glimpse of her dark eyes and shivered; she had an intimidating personality.

The couple stepped back onto the trail that they had come from.

"Ehm, do you wanna join us?" the girl asked forcedly.

I managed to focus on her shoulder, and replied, "No thanks."

"You know, my eyes are right here," she said, grinning falsely, pointing beneath her eyebrows.

I forced eye contact and the intensity of her soul seized me. I flinched and looked down.

"Well . . . okay," said the boy, obviously trying not to laugh. He resumed marching briskly on the path, and the girl followed him. Once she caught up to him, they exchanged smug glances.

I grimaced and noted my reflection again. My cheeks now matched my nose. All I wanted was for someone to understand.

After a while, when the wind was stronger and had started whistling, I stood up and observed the scenery once more. For a fleeting instant, I swore I saw a tiny spiral of snowflakes spin around and rapidly burst apart. A group of them floated toward my arm, which I extended on impulse, and they landed on my hand. It was only a few seconds that I saw a little white smiley-face, before it faded into cold water on the center of my palm.

Chapter 2

The following day, I returned to the same place on top of the snowy hill. The lake was smoother, so the reflections in it were sharper and clearer. The ice was slightly thinner than before, because the temperature had risen a bit, but it was still quite cold outside. Instead of sitting down, I followed the path, heading toward the pine forest. The glittering frost on the trees was also fading, and the icicles were dripping slowly.

As I wandered through the dark green trees, I started feeling depressed. Despite the alluring nature surrounding me, I had a sinking feeling. I was thinking about my mother's sickness and my worsening grades. When I eventually reminisced about my lost brother, I cringed.

But my spirit suddenly lightened, like a heavy bag on my back had been removed. I was now thinking of a legend that was the one inspiring connection to my childhood. It was someone who gave me a different view on the world, and filled me with optimism. My brother had always told me about him. He was called-

"Oh," I gasped quietly.

"Where's all the winter?" said a young man that appeared to be my age, whom I had just noticed, sitting on a rock with his elbow on his right. He was looking upward thoughtfully. He was very thin and had unique, slightly untidy, silvery white hair that seemed to glow. The boy was quite pale, a healthy sort of light complexion. He was wearing a bright blue hoodie with frosty designs on it and thin, faded brown pants that were tattered at the ends. He was barefoot, which I found quite amusing. Wasn't he cold? I noticed he was gripping a long wooden staff curved in a hook at the end. It glowed icy blue around where his hand was holding it. There was something about this peculiar person that made me feel secure. I found that was gradually developing a feeling of unexpected wonder.

I stepped forward timidly. "Hey."

He jumped up, and I noticed he was rather tall, at least compared to me. Around five and a half feet was my guess. He looked toward me with playful, crystalline, blue eyes. His dark eyebrows raised curiously, in a friendly way. "Ah . . . hi!"

I marveled at the fact that I could actually make eye contact with this guy, and tried to contain my excitement. "Where'd you come from?" I asked politely.

He was gaping at me and his eyebrows shot up beneath his luminous hair. "Ah, . . . you can . . . see me?" He stepped toward me hesitantly.

"Oh, um, yes," I replied slowly, already smiling. Could, he possibly be . . ?

He stared mystically into the distance with his lips parted, like in a state of shock. Apparently, realization hit him and he grinned. His eyes flew back toward me and he yelled, "You know I'm real! You can see me!" He laughed incredulously, beaming with such great joy elation it was contagious. He grasped my wrists, which made me start, for his hands were like ice.

With widened eyes, I looked up at him and said, "Ehm . . . okay."

"Wow, this is, amazing!" the wintry-looking boy said, still grinning with very white teeth, "What's your name?"

"I'm Thalia, and you?"

"Jack."

I blinked and said nothing as tingling shock zapped through me. It was really . . . him?

"I'm Jack Frost!" he said, removing his hands from my arms, his deep blue eyes shining victoriously. "You know, 'Father Winter'?"

This was actually happening. "Wait . . . seriously?"

"Well, yeah! Surely you believe in me, if you can talk to me!"

"Of course I do," I said dazedly, "But I never imagined you to be . . . so young!"

"Oh," he said, entertained, "Well actually I'm . . . uh, never mind. But I'm just so glad I have

someone to talk to now!"

I smiled thoughtfully. "Me too!"

Jack has begun pacing and bouncing on his feet excitedly. "Yes!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, looking up at the sky. "I knew there was still someone who still believed in me!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh," he laughed. "Well, only people who know that I exist can see and hear me. They've gradually stopped believing over time. It's been so long . . . " he trailed off.

I folded my hands together. "Well then, Jack, how about we do something?"

"Okay!" He lifted his staff and began running. "Come on!"

He was very fast, his long legs were sending up snow with every step. I raced after him, still

astonished. He was heading for the lake, and he slowed down once he was a few feet away from the ice. Once I caught up to him, I asked breathlessly, "So what are we doing?" I edged toward the lake but he protectively put his staff out in front of me so I couldn't pass.

"Wait," he said, staring with concern at the thin ice. He pulled his staff back toward himself and held it with both hands. He pointed it at the lake and tapped the surface. From the point of contact, there rippled layers of intricate ice patterns, and I heard little crackling noises. As the newly created ice crawled and stretched elegantly across the lake, I felt my knees giving away. Eventually I was kneeling in the snow in awe, with an expression that matched my amazement. He just did that.

Jack nodded, looking reassured as he studied the lake. He glanced down at me (still staring like a fool), and he smirked. "What?"

"You froze the lake!"

He laughed and gently pulled me up by the elbow "I know! I just like things to be . . . safe!"

I turned to him again and asked, "So, what other things can you do?"

He tilted his head happily. "Well, you'll find out as you get to know me."

I smiled at that.

"So anyway," he said, "we're going to play freeze tag."

"I love that game! But wait, there are only two of us."

He grinned. "But this is my version of freeze tag."

"Oh," I replied. "Do explain!"

"Okay. First of all, there is no actual "tagging" involved. Instead, we use snowballs.

I smiled again. "I'm liking this idea."

"So I'm gonna close my eyes and count thirty seconds. Meanwhile, you find a place to hide. Anywhere is allowed. Once I find you, I'll try to hit you with a snowball. Once you're hit, you stay frozen with your eyes closed, for thirty seconds, and start the cycle again. It ends when both of us have been hit.

"Cool!" I beamed. "Let's do it!"

"Who's gonna hide?"

"I'll go first."

"Alright," Jack approved, looking sly. "You have thirty seconds."

He set down his enchanted staff and closed his friendly blue eyes before I darted away. I could hardly believe I was playing a game with Jack Frost. I frantically searched for a good place to disappear, and spotted one at last. In the woods, I saw a big old tree that was partially hollow on the inside. I hurried toward it and clambered inside. I crouched down and peered out of a gap in the bark, hoping that my location wasn't too predictable. Soon, I saw Jack turn around and start looking for me, heading to the right of my tree. It was funny watching him poke his head around trees and climb up rocks to get a better view. He progressively checked all the potential hiding spots, until he was a few yards away from me. In effort to make more room to conceal myself, I moved my foot back, but accidentally stepped on a little pinecone in the tree. I heard Jack's soft footsteps pause, but they resumed shortly. I held my breath when I heard them cease again, followed by a faint whoosh. For a moment, there was silence. But I shouted out when Jack's hooded head suddenly appeared, upside-down in front of me, and he said, "Found you!"

"How are you doing that?" I asked breathlessly, scrambling out of the tree. I fell backward into the snow and gasped when I saw that Jack was floating, with his bare feet bouncing in the air. He laughed and flipped over to his feet smoothly, and raised a perfect snowball in his long-fingered hand.

"Run!"

"Oh . . . my gosh!" I muttered as I jumped up and sprinted away. I bolted through the snow, and I noticed that more of the tiny crystals had started fluttering to the ground. I occasionally threw a backward glance at my pursuer, who was grinning craftily, holding frozen ammunition in each hand.

I gasped when the first snowball flew just round my left shoulder. I veered to the right and laughed. A second projectile soared directly passed my right leg. I looked behind me, still running, and saw that Jack was now only a few yards behind me.

"Hi!" He beamed. I ducked as he threw another snowball over my head. How was he making them so fast?

I suddenly halted, smiling, and let Jack pass me. I jumped behind a nearby tree and peeked around and saw that Jack has slowed down, and he was looking behind him. I stayed rigid, panting, and waited for sound. I started when I heard a powdery burston the other side of the tree, and leaped away from it. The boy and I were gazing at each other, me with alarm, and him with triumph. My eyes wandered to his hands, which were empty. I lowered my eyebrows and smirked, but stopped as Jack reached into his pocket and raised an immaculate snowball to his chin. I hardly had began to move away when- WHAP!

I was hit just below the collarbone, and I glanced down at the point of impact. I clutched my jacket dramatically and looked up at Jack, with an exaggeratedly horrified face. I fell backward and laughed.

"Ha ha! That was fun!" Jack exclaimed.

"It was!" I stood up and brushed the snow off my coat. "But technically, you didn't play fair."

He tilted his head and said in defense, "But It's more fun that way!"

I smiled crookedly. "Yeah . . . it really is."

Jack shot his hand up in the air with his fingers leaned back. I raised an eyebrow. I focused on a big swirling cloud of glittery snow rapidly coming toward us from behind Jack's head. It rose right above him, and he grabbed something from it. The cloud exploded and drifted as snowflakes to the ground. Jack brought it downward, and I saw that he was happily holding his wooden staff again.

"Cool," was all I could say.

"Hey, you're frozen now! So, your turn to count?" he asked.

"Oh . . ." I frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't want to leave, but I really have to get home to finish my chores." I looked down. "If my dad come home before I shovel the driveway and clean the floor . . . It'd be bad news for me."

"Ah, Okay then." He easily swung his staff over his shoulder and involuntarily tugged at the branch of a pine tree with the hooked part, causing a fresh shower of snow. "You need help?"

"Oh, no thank you. There's only one shovel anyway."

"Alright. Well, we'll meet again soon, okay?"

"Of course! I'll return tomorrow around noon."

"Okay," he nodded, looking slightly relieved. "See you, Thalia." He made a quick movement, as if he were about to hug me, but he swiftly turned it into a cute handshake. When his fingers touched mine, I jumped slightly again. His smooth hand was frigid enough to make me shiver.

"Bye Jack."

He smiled and lifted his staff. After waving in farewell, He shot into the air and landed on a branch in the top of an oak tree.

I shook my head lightly, still questioning whether this brilliant encounter had actually happened. I set forward to the path that would lead me back home, still picturing the first pair of eyes that hadn't troubled me even for a moment.

Chapter 3

I only realized I was humming the melodies of holiday songs when I reached the second verse of "Merry Christmas to You".

"'Jack Frost nipping at your nose'?" I laughed and at how weird that sounded to me now. I wondered if it sounded weird to him. Had Jack even heard of that song? I smiled as I marched up the big snowy hill just as I had the day before. I had tucked my gloved hands between my arms and sides, due to the coldness. Yesterday It had been rather warm for the season, but now it was freezing. And it strangely seemed that the temperature was dropping still, I could feel my nose growing more and more numb by the minute.

Once I was nearing the top of the hill, I was positive that it had grown colder. I covered my face with my hands and shivered. I was nervous for two reasons; one was that Jack wouldn't be there, and the other was that he never had been there, and that I had imagined the whole occasion.

But I sighed with a fleeting moment of joyful relief and I beamed when I found myself in the wake of a familiar tall, lean figure, raising an oversized cane in the distance.

I quickened my pace, still smiling broadly. I wanted to know what Jack was doing, for he had begun wandering around, waving his staff in a series of slow loops. I looked around and appreciated that it was snowing more densely, and the snowflakes were positively dancing in the small swirls of crisp, frosty breeze.

I was marveling in awe and delight at what Jack was generating, but I didn't stop to stare at it. I was about to approach him, and I hesitated when he lowered his staff and sat down in the center of the blizzard. The wind settled down and the flurries reduced to subtle puffs of cool breeze. The temperature had gone back up a bit.

I tentatively edged toward Jack, coming toward his right side, and he glanced up. When our eyes met, he grinned and sprang to his feet.

"You're here!" he shouted.

"Yeah, so are you!"

He grinned, displaying his bright white teeth, and said, "Did you see what I did?"

"Yeah, it was very beautiful."

"Thanks! I was practicing."

I tilted my head. "For what?"

He widened his eyes. "What? Nothing. Hey let's go on a walk!"

Smiling distractedly, I said "Alright! Where to?"

He shot his head back at me and made the straightest, most serious face he could. "ANYWHERE."

I froze, kind of freaked out, but I started giggling when Jack's intense expression twitched. He began cracking up too, and soon I was holding my sides in laughter.

"What was that?" I choked funnily.

"I don't know!" Jack beamed, rubbing the back of his white head.

"Wait though," I smiled breathlessly, "where are we going?"

"Just the forest. I like wandering around, don't you?"

"Actually it's like all ever I do!" I replied.

"Cool, me too!"

We started strolling toward the trees, talking about random things like our favorite colors. I said mine was blue and Jack said his was silver. It was nice talking to him. As we entered the forest, He asked me what it was like to be cold.

"You don't get cold?" I questioned. I realized it was a dumb thing to say, seeing as he had snow and ice powers, and wore no shoes. "Of course you don't. Well, it's difficult to describe, but I guess it's like . . . the opposite of being hot. It feels as if your skin is excited, and there's a constant breeze blowing on you, but it's textureless. Well, maybe not textureless, it's sort of smooth but prickly at the same time. Wait, that doesn't make sense. Cold is like you're tingly all over and your face feels weird, but in a nice way, and-"

"Ha ha ha! Okay! You're so funny. Actually, I do feel sort of chilly sometimes."

"Oh." I smirked. "Nice."

"Heh heh, yeah. The question I should have asked, is what it's like to be warm."

I looked up askingly.

He shook his head, smiling. "You don't need to."

I observed our surroundings, seeing cute animals such as squirrels and rabbits. They had left little trails of footprints in the thick snow. I even noticed a deer in the distance.

"So, do you have a family?" Jack wondered.

My pace briefly stuttered but I kept walking with determination. "Yes. My parents are . . . okay. They're actually neutral toward me. I don't know why.

"Oh," Jack responded. "That's kinda sad. Do you have siblings?"

I halted in the snow, with a vacant gaze. I had never talked about my brother. "I don't know where he is," I murmured slowly.

He looked down and glanced sideways at me. "Did he . . . run away? We could go find him together."

I cringed when I felt warm tears cloud my eyes and I slowly turned away from Jack so my back was to him. He didn't need to see in this state.

I heard him slowly step closer. "Is something wrong?"

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Yes," I breathed shakily, a tear escaping from my eye.

He sighed and I could imagine he was surveying me sadly. "I . . . think I know how you feel."

I raised my head and looked out into the woods. "Do you have a brother?"

He hesitated. "Maybe. I feel like she was . . . a sister . . ." He sighed again. "I can't remember. But I think maybe I had a sister . . . and I miss her." His voice faltered.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could help you remember her."

"I wish we could help your brother."

More of my tears fell. I covered my closed eyes with my hands, wanting to be somewhere else, where I couldn't bother Jack with my pathetic despair.

But I opened my eyelids again and I halted in surprise when I felt Jack hug me gently from behind, and it was surprisingly not cold.

"Hey," he said in an undertone. "Let's go make snow angels or something."

My eyes were still widened when Jack unfolded his arms and stepped back from me. He moved around me so we were facing each other, and he gently lowered my own hands with his, which were freezing. I blinked as he touched his fingers below my eyes, watching. A cold prickling sensation froze my face and I gave him a confused expression. He laughed lightly put his arms back down. He clasped his hands together shortly and parted his fingers, revealing a small disc of mirror-like ice. He handed it to me and I took it, raising it unsurely to my face. I laughed with him as I noted the reflection of the newly frozen tears on my cheeks, and I blushed.

When I stopped laughing, I asked softly, "What are snow angels?"

"You've never made one before? Come on, I'll show you."

I followed Jack, rubbing the ice off my face. That was unusual, I thought, but adorable.

Jack was standing in the open, looking downward in front of his feet. He turned around and fell backward, landing flat in the snow.

"Um . . ." I said questioningly.

"Do this!" he said, waiting.

I smiled and lay down in the snow with him.

"Then pretend like you're doing jumping-jacks," he instructed.

I laughed internally, childishly imagining Jack jumping, and replied, "Okay."

We both moved our limbs, me feeling silly, and then Jack got up and leaped away from the imprint he left in the snow. I did the same. We both looked down at our angel-shaped figures and I whispered, "Ohh, I see."

"Cool, right?"

I nodded, noticing how his snow angel was longer than mine, due to his height. I shook my head to remove the winter from my hair and I brushed the snow off my clothes. I looked up at Jack, who was not doing what I was, for he had no snow on him at all; he never did. It made sense, I supposed.

He was swinging his wooden staff around absentmindedly, but he gripped it with both hands and opened his mouth with the look of someone who just had an idea.

"Hey! How do you feel about flying"?

I said nothing, taken aback by the question.

"Have you flown before?" He asked in excitement.

"Um, not . . . really."

He grinned. "Do you want to?"

The pitch of my voice raised when I said, "No, thank you."

"What?" He wore an expression of incredulity. "Why wouldn't you want to ride the wind?"

I wrung my hands. "Well, is that even . . . safe?"

"You think I would do something unsafe?"

I gave him a skeptical look.

"Okay, maybe I would. But yeah! Of course it's safe."

I furrowed my brow and responded, "But, I can't fly."

"You can if I can." He smiled furtively and edged toward me.

"Wha- no, no!" I gasped, for he was reaching for my arm. "Why?"

"Calm down, Thal. It's gonna be fun!"

"I'd rather not, thanks."

"You'll love it. I'm sure!"

"Eh, no."

"Yeah! Come on!"

"No way, man."

"Please?"

"I appreciate the offer but- AH!"

He had grabbed my forearm and lifted me by the waist, up into the air.

"It's fine-"

"No, Jack!"

"Thalia you're two feet from the ground!" He laughed.

I looked down and saw that we were indeed floating just above the snow, and I stopped panicking.

"Oh," I sighed.

"You're hilarious. Now hold on, okay?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Just stay calm. And remember to breath."

I gasped and gripped his arm as we rose gradually, leaving the ground. My stomach felt fluttery and my hair started gliding around my face. Our speed increased and I remained rigid, praying we wouldn't go too high.

"It's awesome, right?" he beamed.

"You jerk," I said uneasily.

He laughed darkly and I wondered about what he was going to do next.

I screamed sharply when he shot forward and I clutched his arm, not daring to look down.

"Why?"

"'Cause it's fun!"

My silver eyes could not have been broader. My hair was now whipping behind me and I had a thousand butterflies inside. The cold, wintry air was freezing my lungs as we elevated shakily. I could tell Jack was enjoying this and I scowled. I thought he was so polite!

"Okay, I'll slow down," He said, sensing my disapproving attitude.

I relaxed when we slowed to a wobbly glide, drifting through the wind.

"How high are we?"

Jack smirked. "Very."

I stopped frowning. It was actually no longer terrifying. My rapid heart beat softened and I loosened my fierce grip on Jack.

"You should look down," He suggested.

I grimaced and obliged, flinching slightly, and I watched the frosted pine trees below pass by. The deer I saw before was looking upward at us. We were not as high as I expected, but it was a bit unnerving to see how seemingly small everything was from this view. I breathed deeply and welcomed the exhilarating feeling of moving freely without the ground.

"Are you alive?" he checked amusedly.

"Quite, actually."

We eventually angled downward and I felt my heart seem to lighten. As we gracefully descended, I braced myself. Our feet swept lightly across the snow, and I sighed in relief when Jack released me and I sunk back to the ground. My legs were shaking but he was completely unaffected, of course.

"Ha ha! You all right?"

"I nodded, but my knees buckled and I stumbled into the snow, laughing breathlessly.

"Sorry, I had to do that," He said matter-of-factly.

I narrowed my eyes, but cracked a smile.

"Did you like it?"

I exhaled irritably. "Yes, actually. And, thank you."

"You're welcome. You can't live life without riding the wind at least once."

I was about to retort that many people lived life without being taken off guard like that, but I sighed and smiled again instead.

"Are you mad?"

"I guess not."

"Really, I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have taken you from the ground until you were prepared." He offered his hand to me, and I let him pull me up. I rubbed my left palm, the one he had just touched.

He quickly withdrew his hand and frowned slightly. "Am I really that cold?"

"Sort of, but it's cool."

Jack laughed apologetically and raised his thin arm in the air like he had done the previous day. A moment later, his staff appeared in a twinkling flurry and he snatched it. He knelt beside a nearby tree and swiftly collected about two dozen pine needles off the ground. He examined them and moved to a log on the ground. He spread out the needles on the log and raised his cane. Pointing the curved end at the first one, he moved his staff across the pine needles and the tip of the staff began to glow blue. He picked up the needles and showed them to me. They were individually frozen in smooth, shining ice.

"Wow," I commented. "What are you doing with them?"

"Hang on," he said happily. He aimed the staff back at the needles and a soft, white wisp of swirling light appeared in his hand. It faded and I saw that each pine needle was now connected somehow by tiny, clear, crystal beads. It was now a beautiful, frozen thread. Jack lifted it with his other hand and set down his cane. He used his finger to bloom an intricate snowflake, the size of a penny. He carefully encased it in a thin layer of ice, then connected it lightly to both ends of the thread so it hung in a loop.

"Here," he said, placing it in my palm. "I don't really know what it is but I thought it would be a cool idea. It's ice that doesn't melt."

I gazed at the sparkling, glassy creation. "You have amazing powers! Thank you so much Jack, it's lovely. I'll keep it safe."

"No problem. So now what do you wanna do?"

"Oh, um . . . hey! We never ended our game of freeze tag!"

He gasped. "You're right! I believe it's my turn to hide."

"Alright cool," I replied, carefully securing Jack's creation in my coat pocket.. "I'll start counting."

"You'll never catch me, just saying" Jack whispered before racing away. I happily closed my eyes and counted in my head. When I reached thirty, I twirled around and scanned my surroundings. I wasn't very familiar with this new area, but I had a good sense of direction. I decided to search in a circle.

I navigated through the trees and bushes, looking for teenage boy-sized hiding spots. Knowing that my friend could fly, I tried looking upward for him. He could be be up on a tree branch again! So I walked slowly, seeking a hint of bright blue or silvery white. I wasn't finding anything and was about to focus on the ground again when I felt my hair rise up in a gust of icy wind. I jumped and shot my head around. Jack was nowhere to be seen, unless he was invisible, which was an alarming possibility. My eyes flicked in every direction, and no Jack. But suddenly, there was a tiny movement in a short mound of snow close to my feet. My eyes widened in triumph and I slowly bent down to uncover the Jack was inside it, when he bursted out of the snow in a shower of powdery white.

"Geez!" I panted, staggering away, holding my sides.

"Have to hit me!" he shouted before dashing away.

"Oh!" I flew to the ground and gathered two messy snowballs, clutching one in each hand. I sprinted after Jack, chasing his bare footprints. I felt so full of life and energy, something I rarely ever felt. I slowed down when I saw that Jack's footprints had come to a halt; they simply cut off and there were no more of them. In realization, I smiled and muttered, "Frost!"

I scanned the sky again, and found nothing again, of course, but I did hear Jack call out from somewhere distant, "Does this count as cheating?"

I spotted him lingering antigravitationally just behind the tip of a tall pinetree. I gawked at him, nodding my head to signal Of course it does, you crazy flying person!

"It does?" he said as if he were surprised. "Well, just try to get me anyway!"

I laughed and raised an eyebrow. How was I supposed to hit him if he was way up there? I shrugged and hesitantly propelled the first snowball toward Jack, and I missed him by like four feet, which was better than I had expected.

"Pretty good!" He yelled down to me, casually folding his arms behind his head. "Try again!"

I smirked with my jaw set. I stepped back, aiming as best I could. I took a few clumsy steps, trying to look unconfident. Then I flung the snowball with as much force as I could manage. To my surprise, and Jack's too, the projectile had collided right into his chest and jolted him so he stumbled in mid-air.

After we finished simultaneously gaping at each other, we started cracking up. Jack flew down to me and looked at me as he laughed incredulously. "How-did you hit me?"

Ha ha ha! I have no idea! I'm usually awful at throwing."

"Well," he grinned, "Congratulations, Thalia. You're the first person to nail me with a snowball since . . . who knows how long."

"Cool."

I looked down at his feet and noticed that he was still floating a few inches off the sparkling white ground. He was innocently gazing at my face in a distant sort of fashion, and he was close enough to me that for the first time I realized that he smelled subtly like an evergreen tree dusted with peppermint. I could feel the coldness from his light skin on my nose. His crystal-blue eyes were narrowed calmly, focused on mine, and his smooth white hair was shivering from the breeze.

"I love that I finally have someone to spend time with," He said quietly, smiling.

"I feel exactly the same way."

He closed his kind eyes and moved his face toward my own. My eyes also began to seal and I felt Jack's soft hair tickle my forehead. His nose touched the tip of mine, and it stayed like that. It was like a dream in a way. My face grew colder as our skin remained in suspended contact, with no thoughts, just this. I don't know how long it lasted, but it didn't matter because it was the nicest moment I'd ever experienced.

Chapter 4

***One week later***

Christmas Eve!

It was the evening of the day before Christmas, and I was so joyous I couldn't help but sing. And I never sung. Not out loud. But as soon as I left the door on my way toward the hill for about the tenth time, I was singing Jingle Bells at the top of my lungs. The neighbors probably thought I'd gone insane, but it was Christmas Eve, I had a friend, Jack had a friend, and the spirit of holiday cheer had been waiting to escape from inside me. And so I let it free.

As I approached the summit of the hill, I found myself singing "Merry Christmas to You" again.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire," I voiced, seeing my frosty friend excitedly hurrying toward me, waving.

"Jack Frost nipping at your nose." I laughed hysterically, beaming.

"Excuse me?" Jack raised an eyebrow humorously, chuckling.

"Ha ha! It's a song!" I said happily, waving "hello".

"Oh," he grinned. "Weird! Well I'm so glad to see you! Merry Christmas Eve!"

"Same to you, man! I feel so happy today!"

"That's awesome! Great. You know, me too! Let's go sledding!

I giggled. "Really?"

"Yeah, why not? It'll be a blast. I even found the perfect thing for it, too!"

"Great! Lead the way, Frost."

Jack spread out his arms, jumped up, and rode the wind, twirling around and doing airborne flips as he lead me to wherever we were headed, Apparently holiday spirit was everywhere that day.

"Right here!" He shouted, diving down toward the frozen lake. I caught up to him and he put one fist on his hip while extending his other arm out to what I identified as a big, mostly-hollowed out log with the top half of it taken off.

"Isn't it great?" Jack said proudly. "I even tested it to make sure it's sturdy enough."

"Nice," I responded. "It's the perfect size, too."

"So what are we waiting for?" He exclaimed, taking hold of one end of the sled. "I found the best hill ever, it's this way."

"Wonderful!" I reached to lift the other end of the log, but Jack smiled and said, "I got it!" He held it to his side and we began marching toward the ideal hill he had mentioned, talking as we went. About halfway there, we noticed a person emerging from a path in the woods. Jack froze and quickly dropped the sled. He looked back at me and explained, "You don't often see floating logs."

"Oh, yeah." It was kinda cool, that only I could see , I really wished more people would believe in the guy.

The person came closer and I realized that he was the same boy that I had seen with the girl a while ago. The judgmental boy from my school.

"Oh, it's you again," he said to me, pretending to be delighted. "What are ya doing with that big log?"

"Sledding," I replied, hoping he wouldn't notice the two pairs of footprints.

"I thought I heard you talking to someone a second ago. But . . . I didn't hear a second person. Talking to yourself, I presume?"

Jack clenched his jaw and lowered his eyebrows at the boy.

"No," I said quietly.

"Then, who?" The boy pressed.

I glanced at Jack, who was folding his arms in a challenging way, watching us.

"Just my snow angel," I smiled.

"Aw, that's nice," Jack said, his expression lifting.

The boy gaped at me and started chortling. "Your snow angel? Wow. Someone needs some friends . . . "

Jack snapped back into his angry expression and he flew to the ground to gather a snowball. He held it to his face and blew on it with his frosty breath and it glowed freezing blue. Deviously, Jack stepped behind the snickering boy. He threw it at the back of the boy's hooded head with a thwap!

"Ah! Who did that?" The kid demanded, looking around. Jack waved casually, leaning on his staff and I laughed.

"Was that you?" the kid asked me, brushing off his hood.

"Well, I'm right here, so no."

The boy turned pink. "Whatever. Get a life, weirdo," he muttered, storming in the other direction.

"Hey!" Jack shouted defensively for me. He flew over to the boy's left side and pelted another two snowballs at his shoulder, grinning. The kid covered his head with his hands and started running away.

"Happy holidays!" Jack yelled, laughing .

I jogged up to him and gave him a high-five. "You're the best!"

He shrugged, satisfied. "Well, I think he needed that."

"Let's go sledding now!"

"Good idea!"

Once we got to the hill, I knew why Jack called it 'the best hill ever.' It was pretty steep, very smooth with a few small bumps, and it sloped very gradually at the end. Also, we were the only sledders around.

"This, is truly magnificent." I commented.

"It's gonna be so much FUN!" Jack beamed, throwing his fists in the air.

"Who goes in the front?"

"You. So I'll know if you fall off."

"Ha ha, okay." We pulled the hollowed log to the edge of the hill and sat down in it. Jack held onto my shoulder with one hand and he gripped his staff with the other. I noticed it had begun to snow lightly, which emphasized my excited feeling.

"You ready?" Jack asked cheerfully from behind me.

"Yep! Let's do this!"

"Yeah!" Jack yelled as he pushed the sled forward. Slowly, it began to slide smoothly over the edge and my heart rate increased as I smiled and braced myself. Before I knew it, we were flying down the hill and the frigid wind was roaring through my hair and freezing my skin. Jack kept whooping enthusiastically at top volume and I was cracking up. I screamed as we hit a bump and left the slope for a second, giving my stomach about a hundred butterflies. Jack laughed and put his arm around me so I wouldn't fly off. The coldness and the speed was very thrilling, and all the shapes and colors zooming past us made it all the more awesome. As we speedily neared the end of the slope, our sled started turning to the right. I tried to help Jack steer it back the other way but it veered sharply as we hit another bump and suddenly we were not touching the sled, but soaring quickly toward the snowy ground.

"AAGH!" Jack shouted as I myself shrieked again and Jack secured me tighter. Without warning, we were shooting upward, away from where we would have collided in the snow, whipping around through the frozen wind, toward the snow-covered trees.

"ARE WE FLYING?" I screamed.

"NO, RIDING THE WIND!"

I squeezed my eyes shut as we ascended at frightening speed and my stomach fought to stay in place. I felt that we were slowing down and I peeked my eyes open a tiny bit. Jack was approaching a very tall tree with huge branches. He brought us to one of the highest branches and he swiftly landed on it so we were standing.

"Are you insane?" I breathed, shaking.

"A little." he replied. "I wasn't gonna let you fly into the ground!"

"But you had to bring us all the way up here?"

"Yeah! You trust me, don't you?"

I hesitated, then nodded.

"Okay, that's good. So you can let go of my shirt then."

I looked at my hands and realized they were attached to his hoodie. I let go and he supported my arm as we lowered ourselves on the massive, snowy branch.

"Well," Jack sighed merrily, "That was something."

I laughed shakily. "Thanks for saving us. And yeah, It was fun."

We looked out at the tops of the white trees and the hills in the distance. I didn't have the courage to look down, for we were very high indeed. It was snowing more densely now.

"It's beautiful up here," Jack voiced quietly. "I can't believe you aren't begging to go back down."

I smiled at him. "It is nice. Who needs the ground?"

He grinned. "I'm glad you agree. Hey, it's Christmas Eve."

"I thought we've established this."

"But, I mean, you're probably gonna be spending the holiday with your parents tomorrow."

"Of course. But I'd never forget to visit you!"

"Oh." His eyes lit up. "Well it's still Christmas Eve, and I have something for you."

"Oh, okay."

"Alright, so, don't look then"

I closed my eyes and turned my head, wondering what he had planned. I felt the temperature drop slowly and I shivered. There was a gentle whooshing sound all around us and I wanted to see what it was but I didn't look. I listened to the little whispers and sighs of the cold breeze and waited.

"Okay, look now."

I shot open my eyes and observed everything around me. I gasped and straightened up when I noticed that Jack had made the snow dance around our tree in magnificent, elegant, blue-white swirls that curled in and out of the branches. He even somehow created strings of beaded ice that hung twinkling like diamonds from the tree limbs. He turned almost every section of the tree glowing white with sparkling snow. I loved the way the stars in the medium-blue sky were starting to come out and add to the effect. It was basically the most beautiful place I'd ever been in.

"This is so . . ." I faltered, lacking a word gratifying enough for him.

"I'm glad you enjoy it! I've been practicing this for you. Oh, and one more thing," he added, reaching for my coat pocket. He took out the string of frozen pine needles he had created for me previously and he put it over my head like a necklace. "Now it's complete."

I stared in awe at the wonderful display of pure winter, and I looked at Jack. His gleaming, layered, white hair went perfectly with our surroundings, as well as his smooth light skin and wintry blue hooded sweater. His bright, lively, cerulean eyes brought out every color around us. He looked quite angelic in the dim light, and I felt like his peppermint-evergreen scent was pulling me toward him.

"Thank you so much," I whispered.

He had a relaxed expression on his face and he smiled crookedly. "The snowflakes look nice in your hair."

I laughed softly. "Thanks Jack. You say cute things."

"You know," he sighed, "you helped me have the most fun I've ever had in a long time."

"Really? You're the most fun person I know."

"That may be so, but what I mean is, I just wanted so, so badly for someone to believe in me. For someone to be my friend. You did. And now I know what a gift it is to have fun with someone. I fully appreciate it now. You showed me what it's like to be warm. So, thank you. You're a gift to me."

I smiled and took his chilled hand, sending tickling goosebumps up my arm. "You helped me realize that there are good people in the world. I can finally look deeper and give everyone a chance. I couldn't thank you enough for that."

We sat studying each other on the shimmering, peaceful branch with our fingers entwined and eventually I felt my eyelids drooping calmly and saw that Jack's were as well. He was tilting his head to the left, and again, I could feel his icy coldness on my face. His other hand carefully met the side of my neck, just above my ice pendant, and made frosty tingles spread through my spine. Eventually, his lips touched mine with an arctic blast of wind that swirled all around us, uniting us with winter itself. There were ten thousand snowy butterflies inside me. Once I thought I couldn't possibly get any more goosebumps, we parted and Jack, looking at me with brilliant eyes, murmured "Merry Christmas Eve, Thal."