"Oh! That one, Jeremy."
The blond nodded, smiling, and felt a gentle tug on his hand as Aelita increased her pace in the direction of another shop.
Anything faster than walking is kind of useless, Jeremy thought. The snow was more powdered than crunchy, so their boots sank through at least two inches of snow like sand. Each breath was a white cloud in the air.
Not many others were out, as the cold was sharp and penetrating even the thickest and warmest of fleece. In fact, the thought that any sane person would be sipping a cup of hot chocolate under a comfy and certainly warm bundle of covers at home had crossed Jeremy's mind more than once.
So far Aelita and Jeremy had been to two shops—one of them for mostly jewelry, and the other a shop with, as Jeremy so delicately put it, "girl clothes". He had immediately darted out after going in, face flushed, while Aelita elected to remain inside and browse.
Jeremy shifted at the memory and turned his hand inside Aelita's, not so much for discomfort as for cold. Aelita looked back at him, the eager look on her face turning into a frown. Jeremy blinked back for a second.
"Oh, no, it's not that I don't like it, but my hand is cold." He wiggled his fingers. It seemed like that hand was jealous of the other, which was burrowed into his pocket and considerably warmer.
"Here, then." Aelita put his hand between both of hers and started to rub, then sandwiched it between her cheek and a hand. "Warmer?"
The cold did have one use, Jeremy reflected as he gave a jerky nod. It gave his cheeks an excuse to be flushed. "Uh, that's okay. Thanks."
Aelita smiled and dropped her hand.
"Hey! Peppermint Belpois; is that you?" a voice said suddenly from behind them. Aelita and Jeremy both whirled around, the look of confusion changing to recognition for the latter.
"Cindy," he said, a sudden grin springing onto his face.
A short, Odd-sized girl stood before them with a similar grin, pushing up tiny circular glasses that Aelita could not help but relate to Harry Potter's. Her eyes traveled over Aelita, an almost mischievous glint in her eyes. The glint suddenly faltered, and she darted forward to pull one of the strings on Aelita's heavy jacket so that both of them were even. She stepped back and before Aelita could say anything, nodded.
"My apologies, but they were uneven. Belpois, your glasses are crooked."
Jeremy straightened his glasses, and upon Aelita's confused look explained, "Things that are asymmetrical on people, especially clothes and jewelry, bother her."
"Alright," Aelita said, a note of suspicion in her voice.
"Peppermint Belpois, it's been so long! I think you became scrawnier. Is that boarding school not feeding you? I find that unlikely. Still good with computers? Mine was recently infected by a nasty virus. Think you could fix it? Oh, who's your friend? Odd hair." Cindy blinked at Aelita, acknowledging her for the first time for something besides symmetry issues with her clothes.
"Please don't call me that. Yes; it has been a long time. No; I haven't. Of course they are, mom; and no, I'm better. Depending on the virus. Her name is Aelita. The hair is natural," Jeremy said calmly.
"The Aelita! How interesting. I've heard a lot about you," she said curiously, reaching for Aelita's hair.
The Aelita? She blinked.
Jeremy shook his head, putting his hand out, and Cindy dropped hers. "Right, sorry. Would you like a little background information?" she asked, referring to Aelita's now completely lost expression.
"Please," she said.
Jeremy nodded. "This is my friend Cindy. She's not at all shy, can talk forever, and has a habit for invading personal space—"
"Do not," Cindy said, but the fact that her nose was less than a foot from Jeremy's or Aelita's didn't help her argument. She noticed their discomfort and took a step back. "Okay, I do, but not all the time."
"We've been together since we were about nine—she was the first person my age to beat me at chess."
"He wins most of the time," Cindy cut in, shrugging her shoulders. "But, mind you, I can still beat him."
"You wish," Jeremy said, grinning. "As I was saying, we've been friends since but became separated once I went to Kadic. I only recently caught up with her."
"Mhmm." Cindy had stepped closer again, and Jeremy and Aelita were trying to edge backwards without seeming too obvious. "It's so good to see you again."
"Same for you," Jeremy said, smiling warmly. For some reason, Aelita felt her stomach make a small knot.
"So, she's not your girlfriend?" The question was blurted, out before Aelita had consciously thought to ask.
"No. But he is, ah, a great guy," Cindy said, quickly looking at the ground, then back up with a shy smile.
Jeremy glanced at Aelita with more curiousness than embarrassment, as if to say, what was that for?
Aelita could only blink back, embarrassed for asking such a question.
"Jeremy mostly tells me about you. It sounded like he had a girlfriend, but he said you weren't, so I assume you two aren't on a date. Shame," Cindy said, frowning to herself as she rearranged her scarf so both ends were even.
"Right," Jeremy said uncomfortably, avoiding Aelita's gaze. She tried not to frown.
"Would you mind if I accompanied you two to Sil's shop? After that, I must be on my way."
Actually, I do mind, Jeremy thought. He could already see that look in Aelita's eyes and wished desperately for it to disappear—the last thing he needed was a misunderstanding.
But it seemed terribly rude to dismiss his friend after being separated for so long. "Not at all," Jeremy said. They were only going into one store. Then she would be gone.
"Lovely!" Cindy stepped back and hustled towards the store, a bright look on her face. Jeremy glanced hesitantly at Aelita, as if pointlessly to check if it would be okay with her, but she was staring ahead with an expression not exactly of anger but devoid of the happiness she had been showing earlier. That was enough to pull a small sigh out of him.
But Aelita's face once again lit up when inside the store. Stands of various jewelry, from the cutesy trinkets to full-fledged (and fully expensive) gemstones were staggered so that a person of considerable size could move between them without disrupting the stands with ease.
Jeremy and Aelita were much smaller than considerable size. Nonetheless, Jeremy managed to bump his elbow—his funny bone, of course—on the corner of one of the stands.
He hissed with pain, glaring at the stand as if it held the blame. It's not very funny when you hit it, he thought, rubbing his elbow.
Jeremy wandered around the store aimlessly, careful not to hit his elbows on any more stands. The store was big enough to get separated from someone in but not to get lost, so Aelita was quickly darting off to inspect various necklaces and earrings that Jeremy didn't give more than a glance, and that glance was just for Aelita's sake, to see if it would make a good present.
He was mostly kidding himself, he knew. Jeremy already had in mind what he'd buy: a set of earrings and a necklace that matched, something Aelita had stopped to look at in the last store they'd been in.
He'd caught her staring at them—a cluster of semi-expensive, marble-sized red gems in a dangling earring, the same gem strung on a necklace, this time alternating with tiny strawberry charms.
"They're cute," she'd said simply upon his asking. She said it with a dismissive tone, but Jeremy didn't miss the way her eyes had lingered on them on the way out.
He wondered now if this store also sold them. Less than two minutes later, he spotted Aelita staring at the set with the same look in her eye.
He smiled to himself. Perfect gift.
"Definitely," someone whispered in his ear. Jeremy jerked to the side, elbow slamming into another stand. He hissed, rubbing his elbow, and turned to see Cindy blinking innocently at him.
"Didn't I tell you not to do that?" he asked.
Cindy ignored the question. "You're thinking of that as a gift," she murmured, pointing toward Aelita. The pink-haired girl hadn't noticed them, and now she drifted toward another stand.
Jeremy smiled as he nodded, his annoyed expression melting away.
"Good. It's perfect," she said. "It certainly seems like her taste. I think you picked a good girl, Belpois." Cindy winked. "But, then again, Aelita picked a great guy."
"Thanks," Jeremy said honestly. Cindy ducked her head in response, then looked back up.
"Well, if you're going to get those, you might want to do it now while you can slip them inside your jacket without her noticing."
"Ah! Right," Jeremy said as he gently took the earrings and necklace. They hurriedly made their way to the counter, Cindy stopping once to swoop down on a necklace that matched her attire.
"Could you help me with this?" she said once both items had been bought, displaying the simple but pretty necklace. "Make sure the clasps have an even number of openings, please."
"Alright," Jeremy said, feeling slightly awkward. For some reason, he felt like there would have been less or no awkwardness helping Aelita with this. Cindy slid the bag onto Jeremy's arm as she lifted her curtain of black hair in the back. Jeremy fumbled with the clasp.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, he suddenly noticed Aelita staring at both of them with a strange look on her face. She shook her head once and quickly whirled around. A small ding sounded, alerting anyone inside that cared that the door was being opened.
Jeremy blinked for a second, confused, then realized the situation he was in. There was a bag on his arm, and he was putting a necklace on a beaming and blushing—why was Cindy blushing?—girl.
Immediately understanding, Jeremy knocked a fist against his head.
"Not good," Cindy said as she let her hair fall, voicing his thoughts. "You going to go after her, romeo?"
Before Cindy had finished her sentence, Jeremy was already heading toward the door, unaware of the quiet sigh she released as he turned his back.
To Jeremy, at first thought, helping Cindy with her necklace was completely harmless. Aelita's first thought hadn't come until several seconds after she had left the store.
He bought her a necklace.
The thought caused more than a little discomfort and a sort of dread.
I can't believe...
It had begun to snow again. Aelita re-positioned her scarf—the one that Jeremy gave her, just like he was giving another necklace to another girl—so that it was tighter and covered her mouth and most of her cheeks.
She stomped through the snow, mood obvious to any onlooker. Her scarf rubbed her cheeks, so much so that the thought of how Jeremy had given her the scarf simply refused to go away. Because of this, when said blond had found her pacing back and forth (it was too cold to sit on a bench) a block form the store and tried to explain himself, she couldn't contain herself and quickly cut him off.
"Why don't you get her a scarf, too?" she snapped.
"Excuse me?" Jeremy asked, a confused look on his face.
Aelita averted her gaze, suddenly wondering if she was making too big of a deal out of this. Jeremy could buy jewelery for any girl he wanted to. Technically, officially, they weren't "together together", as Yumi had put it in one of their girl talks. But how together was "together together"?
"I just wanted to tell you that you've misunderstood," Jeremy continued. "I was just helping Cindy put on her necklace—I didn't give it to her. She bought it herself, just now."
"Really?" Aelita asked curiously.
Jeremy nodded, and if one could nod with great sincerity, he did so.
"Ah, well." Her cheeks felt warm. Aelita suddenly felt silly, getting worked up over nothing.
Is this how Yumi and Ulrich feel? she wondered, recalling the many incidents where they had overreacted do to a misunderstanding, a situation that usually involved Sissi and/or William.
"Oh, shoot! I still have her bag. I'll be right back, Aelita," Jeremy said, gesturing to the bag on his arm with an apologetic smile and quickly heading back towards the shop. Just a few moments later, Cindy walked up to Aelita from another direction.
"Is everything okay? Where's Jeremy? Did he explain what happened?" she asked, quickly stepping closer.
Aelita took a step back and nodded. "Yes, but he went back to the store just now to give you your bag back."
"Oh, that's too bad; I guess I'll just wait here then. He'll come back to you when he can't find me," Cindy said. Her smile faltered.
"Is there something the matter?" Aelita asked.
"Kind of. Just..." Cindy sighed heavily and forced a smile at her. "I know I have no chance, competing with you."
"Pardon?" Aelita sounded completely confused.
"With Jeremy," Cindy explained, blushing slightly. She kicked up a small puff of snow. "I have no chance."
"You and Jeremy... you... Oh! Ah," she said awkwardly. "You like him."
"I have for a while," Cindy admitted. She reached down and opened fists Aelita didn't know she was curling, smiling gently. "But whenever we talk, it's almost always about you. There's no way I can go for him when he's already going for you."
"Ah? Really?" Now it was Aelita's turn to be embarrassed.
"Really. It's kind of disappointing, but Jeremy's happy, so I am." Cindy smiled. "And don't worry, I'm not one of those leech types that plot evil schemes at night to get rid of anyone who stands in my way."
"Glad to hear," Aelita said, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Yes. I do my evil plotting during the day."
"Ah... what?" Before Aelita had time to look disturbed, Jeremy returned, face flushed and out of breath.
"What did you do, turn invisible?" he asked, looking incredulous.
"Maybe. I'm magical," Cindy said, giggling. She glanced behind Aelita, a look of curiousness on her face.
"What is it?" Behind her, Aelita saw nothing more than snow.
"Nothing, I guess," Cindy said. She shook her head. "Well, I guess I'll be going then. It was great to see you, Jeremy." She stepped forward, hesitating slightly, and hugged him. Her eyes seemed to tell Aelita, just this one last time.
Aelita smiled in understanding.
"Same to you," Jeremy said, unaffected by the hug. He was mostly glancing at Aelita, trying to tell what she would think of it. When he saw her smile, he relaxed.
"Have a good time, you two." She threw one last smile in their direction before going off, leaving Jeremy and Aelita in awkward silence.
Jeremy glanced sideways at Aelita and quickly looked away when their gazes met. A second later, he chided himself. Aelita didn't want to go out and be ignored.
"Hey, Jeremy!" He looked back at her excited expression, head tilted up. "It's snowing!"
Jeremy looked up in time to see a white flake drift down and land on his glasses, melting into a droplet of water.
He made a noise of annoyance and wiped it off, only to have a wall of cold slam into the side of his face with a psh.
Yelping, he brushed the snow off and became even more annoyed. When he saw Aelita's bright, teasing expression, the annoyance turned into a desire for revenge.
Aelita was already scooping another ball of snow out of the ground. Jeremy quickly grabbed his own and jumped to the side, stumbling slightly. It was moments like these that he wished he'd had more coordination, and despite it, knew he wouldn't trade skills like Ulrich's for his smarts.
Cold zipped up his spine, starting at the shoulder. By this time Jeremy had gotten Aelita in the neck, and she squealed, trying to brush it off before it went down her shirt. They threw several more, careful to avoid anyone else that was passing. The number of people steadily dwindled as the snow came down harder, and Jeremy noticed that they were the only ones on the sidewalk. Cars too had stopped coming.
"Could we get something warm?" Aelita asked in a half-gasp, breath hanging visibly in the air before her. Despite the sweat on her brow and color in her cheeks, she was shivering. "I'm cold."
"An understatement, it seems. Absolutely; I know a cafe about three blocks from here. It shouldn't take long to get there." Jeremy rubbed his own hands in an attempt to coax feeling back into them, then stuck them in his pockets. "Come on."
Aelita nodded, smiling, and followed.
That was close.
Jenny pressed her back against the corner and tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear, puffing out breaths. She listened to the conversation, paying just enough attention to listen to what they were saying. Realizing that any one of them could come around the corner at any time, Jenny rushed into the nearest shop and behind a clothes rack. Less than a minute later, someone went in, and Jenny moved farther into the clothes.
"Are that cold? If you are, you can borrow my scarf."
Jenny felt cold fabric press against her. She yelped, gripping one of the shirts on the rack and fell. A wave of fabric fluttered down, covering Jenny's head. She struggled for a moment, feeling herself blush as someone pulled the shirts off of her. Cindy stood doubled over, her nose less than a foot from Jenny's.
"Get up. Sorry about my sister," she said, looking at someone Jenny couldn't see and offering a hand. She took it and stood, putting the shirt back. The middle aged man behind the counter nodded.
"Thank you," Jenny said once she had composed herself, and pulled Cindy out of his view. "Why did you lie?"
"You're eight, if you haven't forgotten. You'll be looked at as a lost child."
"I'm eight and eleven twelfths, and I'm not lost. How do you know me, anyway?"
"I've heard about you through Jeremy. And, no one else knows that you aren't lost." Cindy blinked for a moment, then frowned. "I do not approve."
"What?"
"I don't approve of what your spying on them."
"I'm not spying. I was sent for milk."
At this, Cindy actually giggled. "Sure. An eight year-old that's currently in a clothing store was sent out, alone, for milk right before a huge snowstorm."
Jenny shrugged and brushed nonexistent dirt off of her pants. "I just want to make sure it goes okay so he's happy. You nearly ruined it," she said.
Cindy shook her head. "It's not my fault if Aelita misunderstood. I'm not going to tell them," she added suddenly in a firm tone, "but I really wish you'd stop spying on them."
"I have to," she said simply, and peered through the glass at the front of the store. Cindy didn't argue and stood, watching the snow outside for several seconds. They could hear the wind howling as it whipped against the glass, seemingly in attempt to penetrate it. Someone hurried by, face partly covered by a thick coat and hat. Otherwise, the snow-covered sidewalks were barren of people.
When Cindy's watch made a beeping noise a minute later, she readjusted her scarf and headed toward the door.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll be heading to the nearby cafe. I want to get trapped by the storm in a place with food, drinks, and a bathroom," she said.
"Why not go home?"
Cindy pointed at the door with an expression that said the answer to her question should've been obvious. "That won't take more than ten minutes, if even, to get dangerous. I won't make it in time. You should come with me."
"I'd rather not. I'll be fine in here," Jenny said.
"I don't like the idea of leaving an eight year—eight and eleven twelfths year-old by herself in a store, even if she is not lost."
"I'll be fine," Jenny said again.
Cindy frowned but was silent. After a few moments, she turned toward the door, braced herself for the cold, and went out. Jenny felt the sharp, icy breeze buffet her face before the door swung closed. Cindy gave her a last look through the glass, which Jenny returned stoically.
Then Cindy was gone.
That took too long.
Sorry about that, school started up and brought writing to a stop.