Author's Note: Hey you guys! I'm feeling a little better now that finals have passed and I have begun rereading the full Harry Potter series. Unfortunately, I might have lost my muse for this. I will probably be picking up a new story later today, but I am going to fight to get my muse for this back!
My head felt sluggish, as if it was trying to run with mud in its gears. Part of me felt like I was reaching into a void, searching for something that I knew was there, but I had no idea what it was. I just knew something was there.
"Summer James?" I repeated. It felt familiar on my tongue. Who was Summer? I felt compelled to spend a bit more time on this one. "Why do you ask?"
Jack rocked idly on his feet. His gaze was flicking between me and the sky.
"Well, she was an old friend of my group of friends." He gave a bit of a nervous smile. "We lost touch about twenty years ago, so it's fully possible she has a different name."
I pursed my lips and carefully thought about it. Still needed more time.
"Your group of friends?"
He rolled his eyes. "You're an inquisitive girl, aren't you?" His hand ruffled my hair in an affectionate way. I almost felt offended by how close he just assumed himself to me, but it didn't seem to bother me too much.
I crossed my arms. "Do you want to know if I know her or not?"
He gave me a raised eye brow. "Blackmail. Nice." He sighed and twirled his staff idly before returning it back to his shoulder. "Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and me, Jack Frost." He gave a slight bow.
I stared at him. Retaining some skepticism was not something hard to do.
"You think I am kidding?" He gave a devilish grin. I felt a knot in my gut.
"I think you have to prove yourself," I shot back coyly.
He took his hand out of his pocket for a moment before returning it to his pocket with a nervous look on his face. His hands did a bit of a momentary shuffle as he tried to figure out what to do. After a few tense moments, he slammed the end of his staff down on the ground. A wall of icy wind shoved me back a few inches from him, small ice fragments prickling at my skin. A flower of frost took up a six foot radius around him, complex patterns in the frozen water looking radiant in the waning day light.
"You just," I began. The words would not come.
We were the same sort of being. He just had a lasting impression on the world. He was Jack Frost. He was Jack Frost! And his friends-the other big myths-they had powers to!
So then was I a myth?
He watched me with a curiosity that I had seen awhile before. Like he was testing me to see how I would react. It made me feel embarrassed. I cleared my throat and tried to calm myself down. I was still a bit jittery, but I was at least able to control myself moderately.
"You just did something really awesome," I finally managed.
"Yes, I did." He got a cocky smirk, but there was a little twinge of sorrow in his eyes. "I also can make it snow and fly. All without aging a single day."
A growing hope formed in my heart. Maybe, just maybe I was what he was. Some being of similarity. The girl had seen me, so that meant I had existence in this world. I was not just a roaming existence. And I had no idea how I was supposed to act. There was so much to feel and think about that none of it happened. I simply couldn't begin to fathom all of they joy that was going to take me over.
I looked Jack over. He looked like he was only seventeen or so. I looked around that, I always had. But how old was he actually?
He cleared his throat. "So, back to Summer. Do you know her?"
I furrowed my eye brows. "One more question. To you, who was she?"
"She was a friend?"
I raised an eye brow. "A friend? How good of a friend?"
Jack puffed out his cheeks. There was a small touch of pink on his cheeks and his eyes shot to the side. "She was a friend. I suppose I wanted to try and see if there was anything more to it, or if there ever could be, but I was interrupted. I suppose the sudden end made it hard for me to forget about it."
He looked pretty heart broken now. A sad posture suddenly showed through his confident normal stature. Whatever it was, this story really meant a lot to him.
I cleared my throat, trying to get my courage to stick out. My hand extended out to him. "I'll see what I can do."
He looked at my hand before looking at me. "Why would I trust you with this object?"
I grinned. "I never said anything about the object, but you can trust me with it because you thought I might know."
He scowled at me, his hand fidgeting in his pocket nervously. A few times, it looked like he was about to take it out before he finally brought the object to my hand. I felt the chilly fingers release a cold metallic object in my hand, which I grasped myself after he finally removed his hand. His eyes went up and looked me dead in the eye. I stared right back into his eyes.
At this close of a range, I could see the crystalline snowflake pattern that circled his irises. I noticed a lot more, but all I feel justified in noticing was the eye thing. Other things I noticed-well-were a rather gratuitous in my eyes for observations.
"Don't lose this."
I gave him a small smile. "Like I would do that."
He shuffled in his spot for a second before looking around. "Well, I better go make it snow. You better get home so your parents don't worry about you."
With a sudden gust of wind, he was gone. I clamped my eyes shut as small fragments of eyes got kicked up.
Something dropped in my gut. I had wanted to tell him about what I was. I wanted to tell him the truth. But I had missed my chance and I kept letting him believe I was something I wasn't. Somehow, he would understand. Or, I would simply stop.
First things first, though. I had to find Summer James.
Author's Note: Please, pretty please with a cherry on top review! It would make me oh so very happy.