I stop, momentarily shocked.
Of course, I know that Jack has been alive for a long time. Like, a really long time. And, of course, I know that he knew people before me. However, I honestly believed that I was his first girlfriend.
How stupid is that!
"Oh, my G—" I stop myself. "You know what? I'm not gonna waste His name over this."
Jack looks at me incredulously. "What? You actually believe in God?"
"Oh, my God!" I shout, not believing that he just said that. I was raised in a Christian household, and then in a Christian orphanage. You do not say that to someone like me.
"What? The notion of 'God' is just ridiculous. How could you—"
"Shut up," I tell him, my features probably immersed in shock and anger. My words catch him off guard, the taunting light in his eyes fading. "Quit insulting me. Okay?"
"Sorry," he mumbles, shuffling away from me.
What a great way to start off my fifteenth year, I think as I enter the Forest of Doom.
As soon as we get home, I lock myself in my room like a child. Which I am, I suppose, and will be forever.
I sort out all my teaching material and start setting up my agenda for the first week. If I'm going to teach a class that I just took a year ago myself, I need to put all my effort into it.
I wake up with a piece of paper stuck to my face. After I take it off, there're pen marks left behind.
I check the clock to find that it's five in the morning. I know that I have no hope of falling back asleep, so I grab a change of clothes and take an ice cold shower.
Then I realize what day it is.
Today, Jack and I are supposed to teach Jack's niece, Naomi, how to ice skate. She'll be here in five hours, so I should probably take this time to make up with Jack. Again.
I am always having to apologize to that guy! I've done it, like, five times! I don't understand why we can't just settle our differences and get along. It would make my never-ending life so much easier.
Therefore, after I finish drying my hair (which is super hard when you can't use heat), I go to his room and knock on the door . . .
And it opens . . .
By itself.
I peer into his room tentatively.
He's nowhere to be found.
So, me being the stupid person I am, I walk inside.
The room doesn't look well cared for, as most boys' bedrooms don't. The shelves on the wall are dusty. There're piles of—no doubt, dirty—clothes on the ground. There's a giant mound of random items on one side of the room that seems to be floating, so I'm sure there's a desk somewhere buried under it. And to top it all off, the bed is unmade.
Oh, I am dating such a boy.
My eyes go wide.
I'm dating a boy!
Of course, I knew it beforehand, but I never really knew it, you know?
I momentarily go into shock, so I don't register the sound of footsteps before I hear, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?"
I turn around, probably looking guiltier than a four-year-old with chocolate all over her face.
"What's up?"
Jack's eyebrows are (I'm not exaggerating) halfway up his forehead and he's staring daggers at me. "Get out!"
"Right. Sorry," I blurt. I quickly dodge around him and into the hall. Then, the door slams shut in my face. For a moment, I'm relieved, but soon, I remember that I have to make up with him.
And I just made it a lot worse.
"Wait," I mumble, knocking on the door again. However, this time, it doesn't open.
"You cannot come in," I hear.
"Jack," I start, trying to reason. "I'm sorry I came in your room. The door just . . . opened! By itself, but I shouldn't have gone inside. Um," I continue to ramble on, "I just wanting to make up with you for yesterday, since your niece is coming and all, and—"
The door whips open. "Fine. We're made up," Jack says, still looking and sounding pretty mad. The door closes.
"Okay," I say awkwardly, "see you later," and then, I walk away.
Christian randomly pops into the living room, causing me to scream and fall off the sofa.
"Hello, Ana," he says cheerily.
"Hi," I reply, picking myself off the floor. I notice that Naomi is sitting on his shoulder, smiling as though she hasn't just startled me beyond belief.
She is truly just like her father.
"So, where's Jack?" Christian asks.
Just as I'm about to reply, I hear, "I'm right here," behind me. Jack walks up beside me and takes Naomi into his arms. It feels really warm next to him, and, being a Glacivira, the warm feeling is now awful.
It was all perfect two days ago. What happened?
"So, how long do you two think this will take?" Christian asks, already sounding like he has something else to do.
"Two hours," Jack blurts, not even bothering to glance at me for confirmation. Christian flashes a thumbs up, kisses his daughter and then he's gone.
"So," I ask once we had arrive at the frozen pond 30 minutes from Jack's house. "Where're the skates?"
Jack condescendingly answers, "Only humans need skates. We use our bare feet." He makes it sound like humans are pathetic and weak; like the Glaciviri are better. No arguments.
This is awful. I'm not even talking about the fight anymore (though, it is awful; don't get me wrong). The fact that he's doing this in front of a three-year-old that looks up to him is what's truly appalling. I can take being yelled at and insulted, but can Naomi?
When I finally come back to the present, I notice that Jack has already pulled Naomi onto the ice, slowly, holding her hands. I would think it sweet if I weren't so angry.
Being defiant and stupid, I step onto the glassy surface, not really knowing what I'm doing. For a while, I sort of glide around the rim of the pond, staying away from the two of them, not wanting to break whatever trance Jack has stumbled in.
I remember being afraid to drown when I was young. That fear seemed to vanish when my parents died in a car crash, but being on the frozen pond, that old feeling is coming back to me after all this time. It still haunts me. Suddenly, I'm paranoid that the ice is too thin, or that there's something under there, waiting to break the surface and pull me down.
Without really thinking, I push of the ice, sliding to the middle of the pond. It feels exhilarating to actually skate. The ice is slippery beneath my feet, like it is bleeding water.
Like it is melting.
I look behind me to see cracks where I once stood and I realize that I wasn't paranoid; I was right. The ice is too thin. I'm afraid to look down, afraid that the ice beneath me is about to give way.
And then I hear the ice crack.
"Jack!" I yell, biting back the words: "I'm scared." I stare up at him, my eyes wide, my breathing heavy. I know that this is ridiculous, that I won't die, but I'm scared.
He turns around, still mad, but I see the anger fall from his face when he sees me. "Okay," he says, holding out his arms as though to calm me down.
"Naomi." He turns to his niece. "Hand me my staff." Naomi gives him the curved tree limb that I've never thought very much of before now. He shifts back to me. "Alright, one," he says to himself, extending his staff towards me.
The ice cracks again. My knees begin to wobble. "Two."
I feel the staff slip around my waist as Jack exclaims, "Three!" and I'm thrown across the pond. I stand up, and both of us are laughing out of relief.
But then the ice cracks again, and Jack falls in.