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Winter glided around her bedroom, waltzing with an imaginary prince in a beautiful dress. In her mind's eye, she could see the whole scene: the simple but beautiful white gown she was wearing, her hair left in natural, loose curls, a bright full moon gleaming through the dark windows of the menagerie - yes, that was where she imagined the romantic scene taking place - after all, it was her favorite place in Commonwealth. Everything was gorgeous and perfect but the one thing Winter couldn't keep her eyes off was the man in her arms. Sharp jawline accentuating lips quirking in that familiar amused smile. Long-lashed blue eyes that twinkled when he laughed. Pale blond hair that glowed with an icy light as it caught the moonlight, making Winter's skin and hair seem darker than night in comparison.

That was who they were. The Princess and the Guard. Night and Day. Winter and Summer. Insane and Sane. Mischievous and Loyal. Winter, trapped by the darkness within, Jacin's light the only thing keeping her in this world.

She sighed. Jacin. Beautiful, smart, insufferably loyal Jacin. Why did the universe have to be so unfair? Giving her the friendship of the most loyal, kind, smart boy alive, but not letting her have anything more than that. Winter had thought, a while back, that their close friendship might finally be developing into something more. Good friends, however close, didn't just move to a whole other city to stay with their friend. Jacin did. Your friends didn't spend every waking moment with you. Jacin did. Your friends will try to put up with every bit of crap and craziness you throw at them but eventually, they won't be able to take it. Jacin never lost patience with her for a second. All these, Winter had seen as signs.

But those had been false pretenses. Winter had accepted by now that Jacin had never seen her as any more than a beloved friend he had to protect and help through her attacks. Nothing more, nothing less.

Still, Winter would never deny Jacin's loyalty to her for a second. She still remembered that day after the murder of her brother, Evret Hayle. Winter had been in that period that comes after a great tragedy where you don't know what to feel or think or do. You can't do anything. You're just numb. For Winter, it was even worse because of her condition. She got trapped in her mind enough on a regular day, it was even worse when all she could see behind the blackness of her closed eyelids were images of blood and tragedy and more blood and loneliness and hopelessness and her brain was screaming EvretEvretEvret! Nothing could compare to that type of pain. It had been hard enough to lose her parents, and now her brother was gone too.

Then Levana had come to her, found her crying in the room the social worker had left her in. Winter had never thought much of Levana. She was nice in front of Winter, but she heard the couple having screaming fights behind locked doors. But the second Evret was gone, she and her sister swooped in like Cinderella's fairy godmother, kind and sweet once again, and offered to take up temporary guardianship of Winter. "Just until they can find a better place for you," they had reassured her. "We're moving to Commonwealth City!" "We're going to take our acting and modeling careers to the next level, you'll be living with superstars!" Winter hadn't been sure what to do. This was a better offer than the prospect of living in an orphanage the social worker had told her about, but she didn't know Levana and Channary very well. And Jacin...she couldn't leave him. But then she had thought of Evret. Regardless of their fights, she was sure that her big brother had loved Levana - even though he had never told her so - and she guessed that he would've wanted Winter to stay with Levana.

The second she broke the news tentatively to Jacin, he had leaped up and started pacing around the room. Winter could see the gears churning in his brain. He wanted to stay with her. But she needed to go. The only option was for him to go too.

Jacin was only two years older than Winter - he was the same age as Levana - but he was so smart he had already taken his SATs and been accepted into several colleges. For him to give up his dreams to stay with her was so heart-breakingly loyal and kind of him. Winter had spent weeks trying to convince him not to go, to stay in Artemisia and pursue his dream of becoming a doctor, but it was no good. In fact, it was hard to say who could be more stubborn, Winter or Jacin. But somehow, Jacin had ended up in Commonwealth with her, renting his own apartment, attending a dirty public high school much below the level of prestigious education he was used to. At first, Winter had tried to distance herself from him, thinking that if she pushed him out of her life he would go back. However, when the nightmares and visions started coming, and Levana got less nice, she realized that she really did need him.

Winter shuddered. Those past few years were an expanse of time she did not want to think about ever again. Visions raced through her head. Levana and a knife and the mean teachers and nightmares and blood dripping down the walls -

The door banged open just as she shut those images out of her head. "Winter!" a voice snapped. She looked up dutifully, still standing in the middle of the room after the imaginary waltz with an imaginary Jacin. Levana's sharp black eyes looked back at her, not a hint of emotion in them. Winter noticed that her long auburn hair was set in ringlets and her makeup was done even though they were at home. Lipstick glossed her lips in a bloodred color and blush gave her normally pale cheeks a hint of color. It was funny how much a makeover could change a person. The normal Levana, although beautiful, came across stiff and cold to Winter, with her sharp face and dark, empty eyes. Now, in a shimmery turquoise dress and a made-up face hiding the flaws Winter knew were under the mask, Levana was almost kind. Even welcoming.

"It's all about the looks," Winter remembered Levana telling her back when Evret was still alive. Winter had been eleven, maybe twelve. The older girl had caressed her face with a soft white hand. "Now, you, little girl, have been blessed with natural beauty, but not everyone is. And in an appearance-based society, sometimes you have to make changes in order to get the right results." Winter hadn't understood what that meant back then, but she thought she did now.

"I'm having a party - celebrating the theater program starting, of course - and you will stay in here." Levana tilted her head up gracefully as she told her this, giving the impression of a queen ordering her subjects around. "You are not allowed to come out. Do not bother my guests. Do not talk to anyone. Just be the good little girl I know you are." She seemed to sneer at the last words, making Winter shiver. Levana had been harsher when talking to her lately. Winter guessed that she was taking out her anger about something on Winter, although she wasn't sure what. Boyfriend troubles? She considered for a moment. The last time Kai had come over, he had looked more anxious and less sure than usual. Yes, that was probably it.

Winter slumped back onto her bed as she heard Levana scrape a key in the lock. Time for another night of boredom.

Only a year ago, she had been allowed to mingle among the guests at Levana's parties, on the conditions that she never made a scene and didn't drink any of the alcohol. The first time she had dared to emerge from her bedroom, nervously walking through the crowds of people, heads had turned. Winter had assumed it was because she was younger and not familiar to them. But later on, sitting quietly at a table in the midst of the people, she had definitely seen several people turn to stare and then snap their heads back when they realized she was watching. A lot of boys, in particular, stared at her, their eyes scanning her face and coming to rest on her body. Winter had shivered and left the party, keeping these chilling moments to herself even when Jacin asked what was wrong the next day.

It got worse as she got older. Immersed in polite conversation one day, Winter had turned when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It had been a boy she faintly recognized as one of the boys on the football team, and she had reluctantly allowed him to lead her into a quiet hallway. He proceeded to flirt with her until Winter managed to slip away by telling him she had to go to the bathroom. This happened several times over the course of a few months, each experience leaving Winter nervous and uncomfortable. One day Winter was wearing a new dress and she decided to put on a little makeup and do her hair to be a little dressier. Back then, she wanted Levana to approve of her. The effect was instantaneous. Boys openly stared at her and girls glared at her in envy. Strangest of all was Levana, who dropped a fancy wineglass on the floor, whether in shock or fury, Winter wasn't sure. Levana could no longer pretend she didn't exist and proceeded to introduce Winter to everyone through gritted teeth.

Winter had never gone to another party again.

It was enough to have to deal with boys' stares and Levana's glares at school, she didn't want to endure them if she didn't have to. Winter knew that she was pretty and she liked it, but in the end, it didn't matter or help her much in life.

Every comment over the years, jealous or admiring, judgemental or complimentary, had an impact. Other people would forget. But Winter didn't. Every glare from Levana. Every laugh at the strange way she talked or her odd antics. At some point, when coupled with the haunting memories of Evret and her parents, it got to be too much.

First the nightmares.

Then the visions had started.

It was a wonder that she hadn't shattered yet. I might be a girl, but I am the girl of ice and snow, and I am ready to shatter. Jacin would only be able to hold her together for so long. Every vision she had seemed to break her down even farther, eroding the small bit of her mind that hadn't already succumbed to the darkness.

Winter was still standing stiff in the middle of the room. She hadn't moved a muscle since Levana had left. The walls, painted pale blue - Winter's favorite color - blurred and spun. Light glinted off decorative crystals hanging from the ceiling that stabbed into her eyes and glittered confusingly around the room. Everything was twisting and changing in ways it shouldn't and the world was turning upside down -

Winter tried to open her mouth to scream. Tried to move away from the walls that were closing in on her, trapping her in her palace. Levana's palace. Evret and Winter had gotten everything when Levana and Evret started dating. Beautiful presents and expensive gifts. But to Winter, this new house was nothing more than a prison.

I am frozen. I am ice. I am cold, so, so cold. She couldn't move and was forced to stand there, immobilized, as the walls crashed down around her and the crystals shattered -

It's all in your head.

Her eyes shut tight, a layer of frost now creeping up her face. The walls would start bleeding at any moment. She could not stand to look any longer. Winter heard Jacin's voice in her head, comforting her the way he did whenever this happened. It's all in your head. It's all in your head.

"It's all right, princess."

The frost thawed. Winter's body unfroze, and she collapsed into the shadow now making his way into the room. His arms were warm and strong as he scooped up her crumpled form, holding her tight to keep the bleeding, stabbing ice away.

"Jacin," she breathed, looping her arms around his neck to get even closer, to lose herself in his comforting presence. "I thought I was alone."

"You'll never be alone," she heard him murmur back, now gliding over to her bed and laying her down gently. "I'll always be here for you." Everything was normal again. Winter was unfrozen, and the walls were just walls. Jacin being there, filling the room with his comfort and care, caused Winter's chest to warm with a glowing feeling. Her eyes drooped closed and a sense of content tingled through her body as Jacin settled down next to her, tucking her safely into his arms.

And because Winter was feeling happier and more confident than ever, the way she did whenever Jacin was around, caused her to say one last sentence before they ebbed into sleep. "I love you, Jacin."

He didn't hesitate with his response. "I love you too, Winter." And her heart soared, filling her whole body with ecstasy and lightness that burned away the last of the frost. Those were the very words she had been waiting for for years.

But in the small part of Winter's mind that wasn't crazy, she knew that Jacin was back in his apartment a mile away, safe at home with no idea what Winter was going through. The vision of Jacin faded away and she was left lying there in a cold bed with no one to tell her that they loved her.

It's all in my head.