I am so happy because we hit 400 reviews! Thank you all so much!
Sifting Through Cinder: Part Five
Commonwealth, The Earthen Union
Kai managed to drive out of the cemetery since he remembers the way out. He even listened to Thorne's request and took the bridge route so he could see the area. It was the same as any other part of the cemetery except it had a river cutting through it. Beautiful and relaxing, but it's still a cemetery. Kai continues driving through and turns onto the main road, joining the usual traffic.
Kai can do this. He can drive them all home or to The Rampion, wherever they decide to go next. Kai dragged them here so the least he could do is take them where they want to do next. He can do this. He can keep his eyes on the road. He can live without his parents. He can continue raising himself until he doesn't need it anymore. He can handle his. He can handle himself.
"Kai!"
He can drive. He can focus. His head's not in space. It's right here. It's not resting in the stars.
"Aces, Kai!"
"What?!" Kai yells as tears fall from his eyes.
Kai's mind suddenly drifts and slows. He hears screams from the backseat and flashes of red in his peripheral vision. The red comes over to him and pushes his leg down. The car stops and the world speeds back up. Kai shoots forwards a little before sitting back, slamming against his seat. He looks down and sees Scarlet lying across his lap, seatbelt unbuckled and hand on his leg. She must have pushed his leg down to hit the brakes.
Everyone pauses. Cars behind them honk but go around seconds later once Scarlet puts the car in neutral. She huffs, holding on to Kai's seat as she pushes herself up and runs her hand through her curls. Scarlet turns around to check on Thorne and Winter. Winter is gasping for air and Thorne has slid down into his seat.
"Stars, my life flashed before my eyes!" Thorne yells.
"I'm so sorry…" Kai mutters, rolling his head back. He wipes his eyes. "I thought I could do this."
"It's fine," Scarlet says, patting his shoulder. "You were good for a while."
"Can we not die today?" Winter begs. "Today marks the anniversary of Cinder's mom's death."
The tension in the car grows thick. As if today wasn't scarring enough. Nobody knows how to respond to that because what was there to say? Cinder wasn't here but even if she was, what would they say? They would likely still be sitting here in tense silence, waiting for any of them to say or do something.
Kai unbuckles his seatbelt. "Scarlet, take over."
Scarlet nods as she unbuckles her seatbelt.
-o-
Artemisia, Luna
"I would've gone to this school if we didn't move," Cinder says as they pull up to Andromeda Academy.
Cinder, Wolf, and Cress peek out the window of their car as Cress parks. They step out and Cinder pays for parking before they walk into the school. She called Jacin's dad, the dean, ahead of time to let him know they would stop by so they didn't have to worry about security. Wolf and Cress couldn't believe all the glamorous people here. They were roughly their age but looked like models or even deities. Spades, even Cinder looks like she belongs here. Despite them being from Luna, they weren't from Artemisia.
Everyone's military-esque uniforms were firmly pressed. There wasn't one stain on any collar or pleated skirt. Boots were polished so much that the sun reflects off the surface intensely. This school makes Lunar Academy look like a fast-food joint.
"I probably would've too," Cress says.
"Same," Wolf adds. He continues to look around at the students who pass them. "I can't believe Thorne went here."
"I can," Cress says. Her voice goes whimsical as she stares at all the boys. She's only picturing Thorne in those sharp uniforms.
"Hey, girl," Iko says as she marches through the courtyard to greet them. "How are you doing?"
Cinder shrugs, taking a wild breath as she shoves her hands in her pockets. "It's wild that I had to come now."
Iko's face softens as she nods. "I know but that's the magic of the stars. So, this is our campus. I know you got a tour back when you thought you were coming here but what do you think?"
"Thank the stars I didn't come here," Cinder says gratefully. "I hate Lunar Academy's uniform but those skirts look comfier than yours."
"And I'm not wearing a suit," Wolf says, eyeing some boys and their blazers.
He thought his collared polos were annoying but those? Those would knock his spades out of order. But imagining Scarlet in that uniform would be quite the sight. Wolf has to give Cress credit for that idea.
"But get this," Cress tells Jacin, "Cinder is ambidextrous which means she has a bigger corpus callous."
Jacin nods. "That means more information is being brought back and forth between brain hemispheres. I don't think Cinder's a good example since she's not that good at processing information, but you're right."
Cinder looks at them, not even sure what they're talking about. Given the information she heard, they were either gossiping about her or Jacin was cramming for exams. Knowing her friends, specifically Jacin, it's both.
"Stop studying," Cinder tells them. "We're on vacation!"
"I'm not," Jacin says. He looks over at Wolf and points at him. "He is."
Everyone looks over and sees Wolf chatting with some Andromeda Academy girl. Wolf is standing with his hands in his pocket, nodding at whatever she's saying. Spades, he might not even be listening and only wants the conversation to end. However, this girl, a very cute one, is smiling wildly and twirling her hair as she looks at Wolf. Her laughing sounds fake, forced, rehearsed. It's like she wanted it to sound cute but it comes out as irritating. It's bad flirting.
"A classic Artemisia girl, if you ask me," Jacin says like the narrator of a nature documentary. "Such a common specimen on these grounds, enough to make a sample for an academic research study. They can always spot the new people and try to get to know them."
Cinder resists a smile before clearing her throat. "Yo, he has a girlfriend."
The girl looks past Wolf and annoyed at them. Wolf turns around and mouths a thank you to Cinder. Cinder smirks to herself. She knew Wolf wanted to get out of there. She didn't bring him to a different country just for him to get hit on and especially not by a girl who thinks faking a squeaky laugh would get her laid.
"Where?" The girl asks, crossing one arm and standing with her weight on one hip.
Cinder blinks. Thank the stars she left Artemisia and didn't go to this school. Cinder glances at Jacin and she feels bad for leaving him … not really. Now knowing that he has to suffer with classmates like this just made her trip better.
"Turn around."
The girl turns around and sees Iko standing behind her, waving flirtatiously and pretending to be the girlfriend. She links arms with Wolf, cocking a hip against his. Wolf's face turns as red as Scarlet's hair as Cinder looks beside her, wondering when and how Iko got over there so fast. Iko looks happy to be playing the role and Jacin bursts out laughing. Cinder is still confused, Wolf wants to leave this conversation even more, and Cress's jaw drops in shock.
Just another day at Andromeda Academy.
-o-
Commonwealth, The Earthen Union
Winter wasn't paying attention to the car ride back. She was busy texting Jacin back about it being the anniversary of President Blackburn's, Cinder's mom's, death. Winter isn't sure why it never occurred to her that it was this weekend. Maybe it was the news about Cinder's father or the excitement of Cinder getting to visit Artemisia. She wishes she could've gone but going back on this weekend might've driven her mad. If only she could've been by Cinder's side through all this. It must've been difficult to live through one of those days, or celebrations, as Luna plays it out to be.
She was texting Jacin, making sure he was checking up on Cinder. While typing at top speed, she heard Scarlet and Thorne screaming as she made a mental reminder to call Cinder later. Then, Scarlet slammed the brakes and her phone flew out of her hands as she shot forwards. Her seatbelt held her back as her hair flopped around her head. She sat up, gasping for air as she tried to figure out what happened.
Can we not die today? Not the best choice of words but she wasn't sure what to say. Winter's mind was always in several places at once, but today was different. Being at the cemetery by Kai's side as he looked down at his parents' tombstones made her wonder about her parents. She lost her father four years ago and her mother since she was born, but she isn't sure when she last visited their plots. Winter can't recall ever seeing her mother's and Levana never wanted to visit Evret's and relive those memories.
Or maybe she has visited them and the memories were blurred by her tears.
Winter walks through the front door. She locks it behind her and groans tiredly. All she wants to do is go to sleep or maybe take a bath and then sleep. Oh, she still has to call Cinder. New plan: bathe, call Cinder, and hopefully not fall asleep during those steps.
Winter steps into the kitchen and surprisingly sees Levana sitting at the island with an opened bottle of wine and a glass with lipstick smears on the rim. Winter walks towards her stepmother, standing beside her and watches as Levana's tired eyes look at her. She knows it's her sister's death anniversary. Levana always knows.
"This is the first year I can rejoice in this day and not look at Channary's face through Cinder," Levana mutters, raising her glass to Winter before taking a sip.
Winter doesn't react. Her body tenses because she knows Levana is drunk (although she would say this while sober and to Cinder's face). Winter reminds herself that this is all liquid courage. People say how they really feel about anything while intoxicated.
"I have been bitter for over forty years and desperate to pretend that I never worked for Channary," Levana admits. "To tell you the truth, Winter, when Channary died, it wasn't much of a shock. I didn't cry at all because, for a moment, I was free. I was free from her but got Cinder which, honestly, it could be worse. When Evert died, I didn't feel any despair or anger. I felt helpless."
Winter sucks in a breath as quietly as she can and forces a nod. She wonders if her father and Levana were ever happy. They must have been if they never divorced. Winter can barely remember a fight if they ever did fight. Maybe her tears blurred those memories as well.
"If only Evret was still here…" Levana mutter, staring at her wine glass as she traces the rim with her finger.
Winter glances back at her and opens her mouth but nothing comes out. She wants to tell Levana that she misses her father, that she wants him here, that she wants him, but something stops her. She isn't sure what took her breath away but it's probably a sign from the stars not to make this moment hurt more than it already does. Winter's already holding back tears and doesn't want to be a silently sobbing mess in front of Levana, drunk or not.
"I'm surprised that you never forced me to call you mom," Winter says.
When Levana looks over at her, Winter forces a small smile. It's an attempt to lighten the mood and something Winter's always wondered. She's known Levana her whole life. Despite being her stepmother, Levana's the only mother she's ever known. Her first maternal memories have Levana even if Levana wasn't a maternal person. And even with that, Levana has never wanted to be called mom or mother or mommy. It was always Levana or even stepmother.
"I never wanted to replace Solstice," Levana admits. "I never could."
"I'm sorry she had to die so I could live," Winter says as she feels a single tear roll down her cheek.
Levana shrugs. "I wasn't there for your birth but Evret told me about it. Both you and Solstice were in critical condition and the doctors were scrambling in the delivery room. Your father froze and your mother was wailing for them to save you, wailing for Evret to make them save you, but you know that doctors always prioritize the mother. Well, the stars picked their survivor so cheers to them."
Another tear rolls down Winter's cheek, gliding on her scars as Levana raises another glass to her.
"Would your father be proud of who I've become?" Levana asks her.
Without thinking, Winter nods. "You still feed and take care of me and Cinder. He definitely would."
"Even if I've been so cruel to you."
"You're cold but not cruel. In truth, I wasn't being a good child out of love or respect for your parenting. I was scared. And after my father died, I felt as if I owed it to him to be obedient, especially since I was losing my mind, you were so sad, and Cinder was being distant."
Levana nods, putting a hand on Winter's face and cupping underneath the scars. Her hands are cold as Winter looks over at it. "Don't ever be sad, Winter, your parents wouldn't want to see you like that."
Winter meets Levana's eyes again. "The more people I meet, the happier I become. Even from the meanest person, I can come out wiser, richer, and more conscious of my blessings."
Winter takes a breath as she steps away from Levana. She takes Levana's glass and the remainder of the bottle. To her surprise, Levana didn't argue, even with Winter dumped the bottle in the sink.