January 8th, 1990

The downside of having a cast was all the unwanted attention. On some level Nicola could understand the stares, he broke his arm over winter break after all, but it still made him uncomfortable. He tucked himself behind Tate as they walked to their seats.

The older boy chuckled. "You think this is bad? Just wait till they all ask to sign it."

"Sign it?"

"Yeah, usually when someone has a cast people around them will write their names on it."

"That sounds like vandalism."

Tate snorted. "Guess that's why they have to ask first. It's not graffiti if you have permission."

"Then will you sign my cast?"

"Lemme find a pen."

Mrs. Determined clapped her hands where she stood at the front of the classroom. "Alright class, everyone sit down. We have something special today."

"Is it Buddy's birthday already?" Nicola muttered to Tate as they sat at their desks.

Tate shook his head. "She wouldn't announce that."

The teacher gestured to the door. "We have a new student joining us all the way from New York! Isn't that exciting?"

The class was silent.

Mrs. Determined turned to the doorway. "Oh, don't worry, they're just shy. Come on in!"

A girl walked through the door, wearing the kind of pleated skirt and buttoned top that screamed fancy private school. Nicola could practically hear his dad sizing her up now.

"See the way she walks with her chin just slightly up? That's a sure sign of money, means she wants to be able to look down on you. Horrible company, but an excellent mark."

Back at the front of the class, the girl cleared her throat.

"My name is Priscilla Cynosure. I'm staying with the Northwests, so if you mess with me you mess with them."

Mrs. Determined chuckled nervously. "That's very nice Priscilla, but isn't there something else you'd like to say to the class? Maybe share a couple of your interests?"

"I'm interested in being left alone," Priscilla grumbled.

The teacher nudged her towards the back. "You just take your seat now."

"Her" seat turned out to be the one on the other side of Nicola, meaning that for the rest of the day he was stuck listening to Priscilla's running commentary on everything Quentin Elementary failed to do as well as her old school, which was apparently everything.

"What are these desks made of, cardboard? At my old school, we had polished mahogany."

"No historical reenactments? My old school didn't treat us like babies."

"What do you mean Physical Education's required? My old school never did that!"

"Oh, you haven't covered puberty yet? At my old school, we did that in 3rd Grade."

"My old school could afford to get a music teacher we actually wanted to look at."

That last one was the final straw.

"Mrs. Determined!" Nicola shouted as he raised his hand. "Isn't the school enforcing an anti-bullying policy?"

"Yes Nicola, is someone bothering you?"

He pointed at Priscilla. "She says our school's too poor to make sure everyone's someone she wants to look at."

He could tell from the way the teacher's eyes narrowed that she knew exactly who Priscilla had been referring to.

"Miss Cynosure, I'm afraid I must report you to the principal's office."

Nicola couldn't help but grin as the girl was led out of the classroom.

January 13th, 1990

Nicola dragged Tate into his room, gesturing dramatically at the item standing in the corner. "And this is my new keyboard!"

Tate experimentally tapped a key. "Wow, I think this one's nicer than the one the library was offering."

"I know, right? Dad usually never goes for anything that costs more, but he said it was a special occasion."

"Boys!" Emma-May called from down the hall. "If you're not out here in 5 minutes I'm leaving you with Stan for the day!"

Tate grimaced. "Come on, let's hurry before we're stuck restocking again."

They raced down the hall, pausing only briefly to wave goodbye to Stan before sliding into the back seat of the little yellow car.

"Are you going to let us use the boat today?" Nicola asked as Emma-May started the car.

"'Fraid not," she replied. "Most of the lake's still frozen, and some odd bubbling's been noticed on the parts that aren't." She smiled at the boys in the rearview mirror. "You can still fish off the docks though."

Nicola shrugged. "I guess."

"Could you turn on the radio?" Tate requested.

Once the sounds of Milli Vanilli had filled the car, Tate flashed Nicola a conspiratorial smile.

"Wanna find out what's causing that bubbling?"

Nicola grinned right back. "Do you even have to ask?"

Once they arrived, the pair dutifully followed Emma-May to the Bait and Tackle that doubled as the ranger station, gathering the supplies they'd need if they were actually fishing. Then they spent a solid fifteen minutes searching for what Tate called a "testing rock".

"What's the rock supposed to test?" Nicola questioned as he held up the umpteenth stone.

Tate looked at the rock and shook his head in rejection. "It's so we can avoid thin ice. Take a heavy rock with you, throw it where you're gonna go, and if it falls through, turn around."

Nicola selected a larger rock. "This one good?"

"That'll do. Race you to the dock!"

"Your legs are longer, you'll always win!"

"And with that attitude, you'll always lose!"

The two boys chased each other along the frosted shore, playfully shouting and shoving all the while. And if Tate went a little slower, neither of them bothered to mention it. But when they reached the dock, it wasn't empty.

Priscilla Cynosure was at the end of the dock, sitting on a stool in front of an easel. And, from the expression on her face, very annoyed.

She rolled her eyes, "Of course, you two would be the only ones weird enough to visit a lake in the winter. Why am I not surprised?"

"But you're here too," Nicola pointed out.

She gestured to the easel. "To paint. Not…" Her eyes flicked down to the fishing poles Emma-May had sent them with. "Fish."

Tate stepped forward. "We're actually planning to go out on the ice, so you'll still get the dock to yourself if that's what you're worried about."

She seemed confused. "But you don't have skates."

Tate set down everything but their testing rock. "We know, we're just gonna walk."

"But what's the point if you're not skating?"

Nicola set down what little he had of the fishing supplies. "Something's been causing weird bubbles; we plan to find out what."

Priscilla scoffed. "Well you're wasting your time, it's probably just air that was trapped under the ice before it started to melt."

Tate took a cautious step onto the ice. "Maybe, but we still wanna see."

Nicola followed after Tate, only for Priscilla to step down right behind him.

He looked at her in bewilderment. "What are you doing?"

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm coming with you, obviously."

"But why?"

"I want to see your faces when it turns out I'm right."

Thankfully, Priscilla kept quiet as they traversed the ice towards the spot where the bubbling had been seen, seemingly more occupied by observing their surroundings than noticing her company.

"I should totally bring my easel out here next year, make a painting of the shoreline from the ice," She commented.

Nicola looked back over his shoulder at her. "Or you could just bring a camera."

She scoffed. "If you want an inferior image, sure."

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Right, because anything not expensive is beneath you."

"It's not about the cost!" Pricilla retorted. "It's about the feeling."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"A picture can only capture what a moment looks like," She responded, the bite slowly fading from her words. "A painting can convey how that moment felt. Brushstrokes, careful color choice, composition, they all carry the emotion of the painter. Beneath a brush, anything can be beautiful."

Before Nicola had a chance to respond, Tate came to a sudden stop.

"Something's not right here."

Nicola tried to figure out what Tate was looking at. "What's wrong?"

Tate pointed ahead to where their testing rock sat a few feet away from a large hole in the ice with a small island in the center.

"A hole this time of year should be caused by the sun melting the ice," Tate explained. "Which means the ice around it should be thin and weak."

"But the testing rock didn't fall through," Nicola finished.

The older boy nodded. "The only way that's possible is if the hole was created by ice breaking, not melting."

Priscilla piped in. "Does that island look like it's slowly getting bigger to anyone else?"

The two boys snapped their attention from the rock to the island. Sure enough, it seemed to be gradually increasing in size, almost as if-

"It's moving towards us!" Tate hissed

Priscilla leaned closer. "Should we run?"

A large pair of eyes emerged from beneath the water.

"I'm gonna say yes!" Tate shouted as he grabbed Nicola by his good arm as he took off across the ice in an odd mix of sprinting and sliding.

Time seemed to stretch as the three dashed back to the shore, the island/head thing rising far enough to reveal a gaping mouth filled with enormous teeth. But just as the thing finished rising out of the lake, their feet touched the pebbled banks. They watched breathlessly as the thing sank back underwater with a dissatisfied grumble.

For a minute, all was silent. Then…

Priscilla let out a loud whoop. "WE'RE NOT DEAD!"

Nicola and Tate were quick to join in the cheering, all three of them eventually moving to sit on the dock as the adrenaline left their bodies.

Nicola laid back against the chilled boards. "Man, I wish I had a camera. That was insane."

Priscilla pulled a marker from her coat pocket. "I have something better." She gestured at his cast. "May I?"

He held out his arm. "Sure."

In minutes, a drawing of the thing chasing three small silhouettes took shape next to Tate's signature on his cast.

Tate peered over Nicola's shoulder at the drawing. "Not bad."

Priscilla smiled, a softer, warmer smile than the stretched polite ones she displayed at school. "Thanks." She slipped the marker back into her pocket. "You know, this was actually kind of fun. Maybe, if you guys are interested, we could try painting together sometime?"

Nicola shrugged. "Why not?"

Needless to say, Stan's spit-take when a limo arrived to bring the boys to Northwest Manor a week later was quite impressive.

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