Revamped!

[It's almost 1 AM but I'm bored and in a good mood]. [2020: It's a little after 9 PM and I'm doing homework].

Winter's Melting: Part Six

The next morning, Cinder stands in the bathroom multitasking. She's brushing her teeth with an excessive amount of toothpaste and making her hair into a ponytail with a rubber band since she can't find a legitimate hair tie. Her toothbrush sits in her foamy mouth, being held in place by her teeth as she ties her hair. Her eyebrows shoot up when she hears a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," Cinder says with the toothbrush in her mouth. It falls into and leaves a white toothpaste stain on her dark uniform shirt (which will never come out but she tries to rub it away). She lightly curses as the elastic band in her hand snaps against her skull when she lets go.

Winter pops in, wearing one of her overly fluffy bathrobes. She turns on the bathtub and as it fills up, she sits on the countertop. Cinder tries to deal with the toothpaste stain on her shirt by rubbing the fabric together which does nothing but make it worse. Winter takes Cinder's messy ponytail into her hands. She takes out the elastic which makes Cinder scream in pain and grip the roots of her hair to lessen the pain. Winter shushes her soothingly as she proceeds to comb through her knotted brown hair with her fingers and reties it nicely with a hairband from her wrist.

"Thanks," Cinder says.

"I heard you got a job," Winter says. She would've found out last night but Winter was napping when Cinder got home and they didn't see each other till now.

Cinder smiles to herself, not only proud for getting the job but that Winter was making an effort to start a conversation with someone that wasn't in her head.

"I did," Cinder replies, still smiling. "I got my dream job. I'm literally the only female mechanic in that whole place. The other women are the secretaries or handle cleanings and interior fix-ups. I had to do my training by fixing someone's car and the funny thing it, it was a boy who goes to our school."

"Who?" Winter asks only to keep the conversation going. She wouldn't know who it is since she still hasn't gone to school yet.

"Someone named Kai."

Winter's mouth forms a circle which weirds Cinder out since Winter had a reaction to his name. Ever since they moved to Commonwealth, Winter's only been in one place: their mansion. And Cinder could vouch that Winter's only seen her face and Levana's, and maybe a few nameless people from Levana's party.

"Kai," Winter repeats. "Cute Asian boy about our age with longish black hair."

Cinder nods suspiciously, not seeing the point or how the hell Winter knows this. Winter smiles a little, nudging Cinder by the shoulders.

"Kai's the mayor's son!" Winter exclaims excitedly.

Cinder shrugs. "No wonder the owner said I shouldn't mess up. Mayor's son? Such status."

Winter laughs a little. "You're one to talk."

"Shut your spades."

-o-

Winter sits in the bathtub, staring right into the tiled wall as she pops all the mimosa scented bubbles and hums a song in tune with her action. If the water was any hotter, she could melt. Her mind wanders off into the land of illusions that's in her mind, seeing herself jumping from one bubble-shaped musical note to the next. Then her notes all pop on their own when she hears someone enter the bathroom. Feeling vulnerable, she turns around and is relieved that it's Levana.

"I'm heading to work," Levana tells her. "If you have an emergency then call me but please don't have one."

Winter nods. Levana leaves without saying another word.

Winter waits in anticipation for the front door to close and lock, along with the sound of Levana's car driving way. Once that happens, Winter hops out of the tub. She drains the tub and throws her bathrobe back on. When she catches her reflection in the mirror, she finds herself humming again as sees the three scars just beneath her eye. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"You look beautiful, my Winter, just like your mother."

"Thank you, Dad," Winter replies softly.

She skips downstairs, still wearing her bathrobe. On the dining room table, she sees a set of various clothing items all the same. The closer she looks, she sees that it's her school uniform with a note on top.

"Fold and iron your uniform but DO NOT leave this house" - Levana

Winter takes the uniform and puts it on her bed. She holds the skirt in her hands and looks at it for longer than she should. Winter's fond of the skirt so she tries it on. Looking in the mirror, Winter moves her hips from side-to-side, amazed by how the skirt flows at her knees. She puts on matching uniform polo just to complete the set and she's in love with how it all looks on her. There was something about being professional that amazed Winter.

She sits back down on her bed and starts to take off her uniform but her head starts to echo with Levana's words of unemotional pride towards Cinder for getting a job and her not being useless. It felt like a direct jab at her since all she does around here is nothing notable.

Playing with the hem of her school uniform skirt, Winter figures why not put this outfit to the use it was made for.

-o-

Winter's glad Cinder got a ride to school because it gave her the car. With her school timetable folded neatly in her hands, Winter steps out of the main office. She quiets the voices in her head and it fills with voices from everybody else. Feeling panic coming, she starts humming which can't be heard over the outstanding noise. Winter regrets coming to show Levana off but it's too late to back down, especially since she forgets the door she came from.

Winter turns around and what gets her heart racing is that all eyes are on her. She instantly hears them talking: about her and the scars running down her face. She starts trembling. Winter turns around and starts running until she loses focus and crashes into a pack of boys.

Once on the ground, Winter looks up and sees three incredibly tall and muscular boys staring down at her with pointed eyes and malicious grins. In her mind, she sees red flags being waved spastically - red flags stained with blood.

"Hello there, cutie," one of them snarls at her, possibly the leader, "welcome to Lunar Academy."

Winter trembles too much to respond because it didn't sound accommodating. She wounds up her limbs as she remains on the ground. From the few seconds she's been here, she can already tell that these are boys nobody messes with. She should've stayed home. There are no wolves at home. These boys are the top of the food chain and nobody dares to change it.

"Look at the scars on her face," another wolf points out, bending down to get a closer look. "They somehow make her face look prettier."

"Fresh meat that fought back."

"Oh! I see we have a fighter on our territory."

To Winter's surprise, the wolf that was close into her face suddenly gets pushed aggressively against the lockers. Winter looks up and sees a girl covered in red - she isn't sure if it's blood or just how she is, but Winter still freaks out. The wolf holds his fist out towards the red girl and the red girl does nothing but cross her arms and narrow her eyebrows at him.

"Beat it before I pull out my gun and call out 'Hunting season!'" The red girl orders. "You heard me, Wolf."

"You don't scare us, Benoit!" Wolf yells back.

"Try me."

Her sharp eyes dare them. Under the direction of the pack leader, Wolf, he holds back his henchmen. He eyes the red girl for seconds longer before dismissing himself and his pack. The red girl then turns around and faces the rest of the student body who has only surrounded with no reaction.

"Is there something wrong with you?!" She exclaims at them. "Quit staring!"

As the other students slowly disperse, Winter cautiously sits up as the red girl kneels beside her. Winter tenses a little but then realizes that the red girl is simply a girl with red curls and a red hoodie over her school uniform. Then she realizes that the red girl has been saying something to her.

"Are you alright?" She repeats for possibly the tenth time.

Winter nods.

"I'm Scarlet, by the way," the red girl introduces. "Scarlet Benoit."

"Winter," she mumbles back. "Winter Hayle-Blackburn."

Scarlet smiles a little as she pulls Winter back up on her feet, thinking a little about how that name sounds so familiar but can't figure out why. Winter brushes off her clothes and her hair, trying to look as though that attack didn't affect her at all. That mask is easy for Scarlet to see through. Scarlet opens her mouth to say something but her eyes immediately land on something behind Winter. Winter doesn't even have to turn around to know what's there since she could recognize those clicking heels anywhere.

Winter starts shivering as she turns around to look at Levana staring down at her with her utmost perfect posture and boiling blood.

-o-

After a silent car ride, Levana throws Winter back into their house and locks the door. She sits on the bottom stair as Levana stands above her with her perfect poise. Winter looks back at Levana and although she knows what will come, she's still petrified.

"I told you to do something simple," Levana says calmly with angry undertones in her voice, "fold and iron your uniform but stay home!"

Her voice escalates by the last two words. Winter could feel Levana's steam making her sweat.

"I can't stand being here," Winter finally admits, choking back a small sob.

"Where?" Levana questions. "In this house or in Commonwealth? Saying either won't make a difference since you said the same thing about Artemisia!"

Winter can't respond because Levana is right. Before they all moved to Commonwealth located in the country, The Earthen Union, they lived in Artemisia, the capital of a country overseas, Luna. Winter was happy in Artemisia but then a series of unfortunate events escalated for the family which deteriorated Winter, further prompting Levana to pack up everything and ship them all here under a short notice. There were other reasons too but that was certainly one of them.

"I could've saved her, Levana," Winter says before sobbing into her knees.

Levana takes a deep breath, her face still showing no pity for her stepdaughter. Instead, she brings a hand to her temple and forces herself to say something that she has told Winter for years.

"There was nothing you could've done. You and Cinder could've died as well. Consider yourself lucky that the worst you got were those scars that vandalized your face."

Winter musters enough courage to stand from her crying and look Levana in the eyes. Her eyes are still full of tears and the ones that have fallen trace her scars, glistening them.

"I couldn't have done anything then," Winter states, "and I still can't do anything, so what is the point in all this, Stepmother? Tell me."

Levana, for once, is speechless.