BONUS CHAPTER! :)
This is a bit of a holiday present for my lovely readers—a random little scene of middle!school!age Jenny and Julian having some winter fun. Has nothing to do with the plot of the fic, and takes place about a year before. Enjoy and review!
OoO
Crunch, crunch, crunch
Jenny Thornton's pristine, barely-used snow boots crimp across the coating of freshly-fallen snow. She wishes school was called, so she could make snowmen and drink hot cocoa and watch the Grinch with Julian. Snow is so rare in Vista Grand, so snowy days should be cherished. Jenny is just thinking this, turning the corner of her block, when—
Whump
Soft coldness explodes against the chest of Jenny's down coat like white blood blossoming from a bullet wound. In the icy air, Julian's eyes and smile glitter like frost. Jenny can't resist smiling back; Julian has always loved snow.
"Hey," Jenny shouts, feigning annoyance.
"Hey," Julian mimics childishly. His beatific face is ever-so-slightly flushed.
Jenny sticks out her tongue—incidentally catching a falling flake—and grabs a glove full of snow from a potted palm tree.
Plshh,
Julian almost dodges, but the projectile strikes his pant-leg, leaving a wet spot on the thigh. Gleefully, he laughs, spins on his boot heel, and takes off running down a side street. Jenny doesn't think; she just chases.
Puff, puff, puff
Ghost-clouds of breath tumble from Jenny's parted lips. Julian is nowhere in sight, and she wonders if he isn't using that dreadful disappearing trick to cheat.
Crrsh!
A lithe body flies at Jenny from behind a sycamore tree. She reacts instantly, using the momentum to land on top of her familiar assailant, but the two hit the ground rolling, and they tumble over each other like wolf cubs wrestling in the snow. When they come to a stop on someone's front lawn, Julian has Jenny pinned. The girl's blonde hair fans out against the snow like a halo.
Pine needles, cloves, and winter air at night—that's what Julian smells like. His bangs brush Jenny's forehead, white and gleaming like icicles hanging from eaves. Now, Jenny's ghost-breaths tangle and melt with Julian's own as their faces hover inches apart. It is perfectly still, but the air is charged. Julian's eyes are sparks of live blue electricity. Jenny knows, she just knows that something incredible is on the verge of happening.
Any. Second. Now...
But the lightening goes out of Julian's eyes, and he flashes Jenny and easy grin. "Let's go ice-skating after school."
"Okay," Jenny says, breathlessly because she forgot to breathe.
Normally as clockwork, but a good deal later thereof, Jenny and Julian arrive to class, grinning and dripping chilled diamond-drops of melted snow that shatter on the linoleum floor.
It was worth it.