The Unsophisticated Veteran

"Jack Frost is definitely here!" I exclaimed. My small cousin, Liza, ran over to the window beside me as I looked out the window. We watched as the snow fell, slowly through the air and resting softly to the white of the ground. As soon as I said that the snowflakes began to fall harder, and I swear they looked like bubbles. They got to be nearly two inches in diameter and fell to the ground faster. "Jack Frost is here!" I exclaimed, "He has to be!" My cousin laughed along with me and we looked out the window and watched the snow fall for a bit longer. Then I yelled over to my brother, Trevor, who suggested we go outside; and we all dashed down the stairs to get our winter gear on.

I looked at my blue eyes in the mirror and stared at my reflection. My golden hair would soon be covered in snow and that much I knew. But I also knew that my brother and cousin would be more covered with snow than I by the end of the day.

I looked at myself in the mirror and raced out of my room and up the stairs. I was so excited and I could tell that Liza and Trevor were too. Liza's 8 years old and Trevor's 12. They're annoying, fighting all the time. I can't stand it. That's probably why I try to believe in the happy things. To forget about all of the grievances in life, to always have hope and light in my life. I believe in things like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Sandman. But most of all, Jack Frost. I like how he brings fun to children and likes to have fun. We're very similar, in a way.

And, this is a secret between most of my friends, but I get cold. Not like, "Ooh I'm cold" but when you touch someone they say you're warm; but cold like sneak up on your friends and make them freak out because your hands are so cold and blue. Yep. BLUE. My best friend has known me since kindergarten. And always- I have always been cold. On some days my hands get so cold that they turn numb- in 80 degree weather- sometimes 90. The more scientific term to explain my condition would be bad circulation; but I still like to believe that there's more to it than that.

It freaks people out- and that's probably one of the reasons why I don't have many friends. (But I promise you, there are many more!) I don't know how to explain it- I wish that I could. But some people just don't talk to me, and ignore me. Sometimes they act like they don't see me. Seriously, I've tried entering conversations PLENTY of times… But people just don't see me. Then when they do finally decide to talk to me, well, they don't treat me well.

I tried to fit in my middle school years… That didn't go so well. I lent a popular girl my pencil once, and when I asked for it back she called me a word that I definitely don't want to say. I choose not to curse, because it just doesn't sound right. My parents weren't exactly the best example to me, smoking, cursing and drinking. My mom's better now that she stopped smoking, but I promised myself a long time ago that I would not follow in their footsteps. I want to be good and clean. I want to be longed for. I want to be beautiful. I hope that someday I will. Today I am an example to the kids. I want to be the light in their lives, and I have no trouble making sure that they have fun. I probably belong with smaller kids because I get along with them a lot better than I do with kids my own age. I probably belong with people that aren't my age. Older, younger, anyone not my age I get along with fine. I have one best friend, her name is Annabelle. Her little sister, Gwen, counts as a best friend, too. Her little sister is only a year younger, but she's super mature. And there's a good guy friend of mine.

Now let me tell you, before I knew he was such a good friend I had a crush on someone else. And when that went bad, well, I decided that no one could have me. Now, the new boy's name is James. And maybe if he wants me he can have me. But, last time I checked, he likes someone else. We're just great friends. Now the boy that made me decide that no one can have me, was a jerk. I don't know how I fell for him in the first place. His name is Xander. He acted like a gentleman and turned out to be a monster. He told me he was interested, but then he disappeared. And when he finally asked to hang out again, he had a girlfriend. He was just trying to drag me along like a sad puppy. I don't know what his problem was. He would come over to my house and we'd hang out at the park. And one of the last times he came over we went to the park…

We tromped through the bushes as we got ready to go on the swings. We both laughed at our corny jokes as the wind ruffled our hair, taking our breath away. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked me as he walked over to a tall rock that he leaned against casually, but nervously. I joined him and it took him a while to ask, but I let him take his time, patiently waiting. "Wanna make out?" he asked me, and I looked at him and laughed giddily. He probably thought that I was laughing at him, but I was laughing with joy. But the moment I realized that he didn't know that, I also knew that I had to turn him down. I apologized to him but declined. We walked back over to the field of grass and sat down. He set his hand down on my leg above my knee. I took his hand off once, but he returned it to its place. I slowly took his hand in mine and asked quietly, "Can I hold your hand?" I held his hand in mine, enjoying the warmth. I felt like my chest would burst-

Trevor yelled impatiently, dragging me back to reality. I smiled. When Xander disappeared… Well, the truth will always be found out. The truth was, when he came back, he was trying to cheat on his girlfriend… With me. That's when I decided that I wouldn't let anyone have me. No one could if… Well, no one can.

We walked out into the back yard and I saw Liza shiver at the cold breeze. I looked around and I heard a voice. "Took you long enough." Trevor didn't budge as if he didn't hear it, neither did Liza. I looked around and didn't see anyone and I heard a musical laugh like bells, and the wind picked up. There was a drop in the snow next to me and I looked over and was met by a pair of blue eyes. The figure blinked twice, but he looked away like all the other people do to me because as quickly as I looked at him I looked away. "She's cute." I heard him mutter, stuffing a hand deep into his hoodie's pocket, almost as if he was looking for the hope that I could see him. "Too bad she's the same as all the rest." I looked at Liza and Trevor again as they went on like everything was normal, like it was just the three of us. I looked over at the figure once more and knew exactly who he was. His silver hair and piercing, ice cold eyes were a great indication. Jack Frost. I knew he would come.

My hands were ice cold, like normal. They weren't blue, but they were so cold. They could've been colder than the snow.

A smile crept onto my face as I got an idea but wiped it off quickly. I didn't want Jack to see. He thought that I couldn't see him. He thought that we all couldn't see him. He started mumbling to himself clutching his staff about how cute ones could never see him. I fought myself, fighting to keep a smile off my face as I felt all the blood rush to it.

I took a step forward and took his free hand in mine, feeling that he was the same temperature as me. Something must be wrong with me if my hands were as cold as Jack Frost. I heard him take a sharp breath in surprise as I linked his fingers in mine, for the first time feeling someone the same temperature as me. He looked over at me as if he couldn't find words to speak and let his breath out.

I looked into his magical, glowing blue eyes and started to draw my focus elsewhere. I made sure he was following my eyes silently as I looked to Trevor and Liza making ammo for a snowball stayed standing there, and when I plopped beside Trevor they thought that I was going to help make ammo.

I started building a wall of snow in front of me and Jack stayed watching me until I hid behind the wall and counted down on my fingers silently. Three. . . Two. . . One. . . Jack threw two cold snowballs at their faces, meeting his targets. The little ones didn't know that when I built my wall of snow that I took their ammo with me. I motioned to Jack and he joined me behind the wall throwing snowballs at the two as they frantically scrambled around to see who was helping me, trying to hit me back. We both laughed. For a moment, everything seemed perfect.

"Aria, if Xander came over again and he's helping you I'm so telling mom!" Trevor yelled. Jack looked over at me and my eyes were tearing up. He stopped for a split second and I blinked my eyes to avoid a tear from rolling down my cheek.

I stood up and walked out to the two of them, with Jack close behind. I knelt down to Liza and whispered something in her ear. "Jack Frost!" she yelled as she ran up to hug the winter spirit, being able to see him. She recoiled back, though, because of his cold. He laughed and looked over at Trevor who had a confused look on his face. I took Trevor by the hand and dragged him over to Jack.

Liza whispered into his ear and Jack put his face just inches away from Trevor's. As soon as she pulled away from his ear Trevor yelped having the blue icy eyes staring at his face. I began to laugh, and Jack waved his staff being pleased that we could all see him- because of me. He waved his staff and there was a wind and a blinding amount of snow. When it cleared, there was practically a mansion of a snow house in our back yard. He laughed and the kids went inside obviously excited to explore the cold castle.

Then, without a word, he did something that surprised me even more. He took my hand and flew me up to the roof of my house, gently placing me down and landing next to me. I was breathless as he sat down casually.

"I've never met anyone quite like you…" He said this while examining his staff, both of us listening to the muffled laughter through the snow. I sat down beside him, a smile on my face as I looked at the fort of snow. He took my hand in a surprising way. . . He took it and looked at it, examining it like I was some sort of alien. He looked up at me again and finally asked, "Why aren't you wearing any gloves? It's freezing." He really looked concerned. Probably by the fact that I was the same temperature as him but my hands looked perfectly fine.

"I'm not wearing any gloves because the snow is one of the only things that are ever the same temperature as me." He looked up at me, about to ask another question before I cut him off. "It's normal for me. I've always been pale-skinned and cold. Not just in the winter, but also in all the other seasons."

He looked at me again. "How old are you?" I look exactly my age, but maybe a little younger because I don't wear make-up.

"I'm seventeen." I answered flatly, but his eyes widened at the sound of that.

"You're seventeen? That's not possible! How could you believe in me if you're seventeen? That's my age! I've never met anyone my age who believes in me!" He obviously forgot that I could still hear him because when he looked over I was looking straight at him.

He blushed, adding some color to his pale face. Oddly, my face was almost as pale as his and it wasn't because of the cold. It was just that way. To my surprise, he got up and held his hand out to mine and pulled me up as well. Once I was up, he put his arm around my waist and pulled me close. I was so surprised, especially when he nipped my nose. He laughed at the look of surprise on my face and we both giggled, taking each other in.

"Who's Xander?" he finally asked, letting me go again. I looked down, unable to stop a silent tear from rolling down my cheek.

"He's a boy that I used to like. He told me that he liked me but treated me badly. He…" I stammered, "He broke my heart. My family still doesn't believe me that I'm over him. It's not fair. They don't know what I went through. I turned down having my first kiss with a boy that I liked . . . at the time. I still haven't had my first kiss. I turned everyone down, trying to be good."

I fumbled with my ring in the shape of a shield with the letters CTR on the front of it (Choose the Right). "That was months ago." I looked up at him, tears stinging my cheeks. He pulled his hand up and wiped a tear off my cheek.

I looked into his magical blue ice eyes as he gently held my chin and leaned closer. I began to close my eyes, feeling like my chest would burst.

"Aria! Where'd you go?" Trevor and Liza yelled, pulling me and Jack out of our trance. They went inside before I got to answer.

"Sorry… I got a little carried away…" Jack said. "Have you ever had your first kiss?" I asked him. He looked up and shook his head but then said, "I need to go."

"Will you be back? Will you come tomorrow?" I asked. He nodded and took his arm around my waist, pulling me close. I looked at the blue jacket that he was wearing and looked at the beautiful frost patterns. It was fern frost. That's my favorite. I watched him take his staff and I put my arms around him tightly and he held me close. He lowered me onto the snow and before I let him go I asked, "You promise that you'll come back tomorrow?" He looked at me and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"I promise." He said. I held him tight for a moment, then let him go, knowing that he would come back.

This is my first story, and this first chapter is really sucky, but give me a chance! I promise I'll make it a little more worth it! :3

Disclaimer: I do not own characters (example: Jack Frost) that are owned by other people (example: Dreamworks). Glad we got that sorted out. :3