Frostbitten (4 page)

Since one of the
assistants was on the telephone and the other was already helping a student,
Anastasia sat down near two girls, who were likely waiting to speak with an
assistant as well. Right away, she noticed the girls casting her curious
glances. Anastasia was going to introduce herself when they suddenly started to
whisper about her.

“She must be new
because I’ve never seen her before, and of course, I know everyone in this
school.”

“I saw her arrive this
morning with Mr. Lockhart. She’s probably his granddaughter.”

“No, she’s too old to
be his granddaughter. She must be his daughter.”

“Then where has she
been all these years?”

The girls’ gossiping
was cut short when the assistant called one of them to her desk. Although the
girls hadn’t been talking about Anastasia in a mean-spirited way, their
behavior was just plain rude. It was like she was there for their
entertainment, and that made her angry. However, she decided to let it go
because she didn’t want a confrontation on her first day at school, especially
since she sometimes had trouble controlling her anger.

Continuing to sit there
while now feeling annoyed, Anastasia had to wait twenty minutes before the
assistant was able to see her.

“How can I help you?”
inquired the assistant, whose nameplate upon her desk read,
Lisa
. She
was middle-aged, and from the expression on her face, completely overwhelmed,
as if uncertain about how to perform her clerical duties.

“I’m new here, and I
need my timetable,” Anastasia explained.

“Can I have your name?”

“Anastasia Lockhart.”

Biting her lip like she
was concentrating hard, Lisa turned to her computer, clicking the mouse every
few seconds or so. Obviously needing help, she looked at her co-worker, who was
still on the phone, chatting like it was a personal call. It was clear that
Lisa hadn’t been well-trained, if at all.

Anastasia repressed a
sigh, thinking about how her day wasn’t getting off to the greatest start. She
hated being late, even if it wasn’t her fault, and she knew that it wouldn’t
make a good impression on her first period teacher. Nevertheless, she waited
politely until Lisa managed to find and print her timetable several minutes
later.

With her timetable
finally in hand, Anastasia hurried along the empty hallway, her footsteps
echoing eerily as she went. It was disconcerting trying to navigate in an
unfamiliar place, especially with time not on her side. When she found her
chemistry class, which was on the second floor and at the end of a long
hallway, she was over half an hour late.

“May I help you?” the
chemistry teacher asked in an unfriendly tone as Anastasia entered the
classroom. She’d been writing on the whiteboard just moments ago and was
clearly unhappy with the interruption.

“Ms. Stevenson?”
Anastasia asked, reading the name on her timetable. As she stood at the front
of the classroom, she was fully aware that all eyes were on her.

“Yes?”

“My name’s Anastasia.
It’s my first day.”

“Very well,” Ms.
Stevenson replied, while returning her attention to the whiteboard and
continuing to write. “I’m almost done assigning the lab work for today. You’ll
need to find a partner.”

Anastasia looked around
the classroom, noticing how each long desk seated three students. All the seats
were taken, with the exception of one desk at the back. That’s where a boy and
girl sat, but they didn’t seem interested in offering her the third chair.
Instead, the girl cast Anastasia a challenging look, while the boy whispered
sensually in her ear. It was obvious that they were a couple.

“Will you be joining
our class or not?” Ms. Stevenson asked impatiently, upon seeing that Anastasia
was still standing there. “If you are, there’s an empty chair beside Jack and
Jill.” She pointed straight to the boy and girl at the back of the class.

The students lost
interest in Anastasia as they began working on the day’s experiment. For the
most part, they were noisy and handled the equipment and chemicals with little
care. Anastasia glanced at Ms. Stevenson to find her leaning against the wall
and texting on her cell phone. She was a young teacher who was obviously
interested in her paycheck above all else – including everyone’s safety.

Reluctantly, Anastasia
headed toward Jack and Jill, but they were too busy whispering sweet nothings
to notice her presence. Even their experiment remained untouched. It was easy
to see that they were in their own world with no outsiders allowed.

“Should I be expecting
Mother Goose anytime soon?” Anastasia joked in a friendly manner, hoping to
break the ice.

Jack and Jill stopped
whispering and looked up at Anastasia as if she was crazy. Apparently, they
didn’t like her sense of humor.

“You know, get the
whole nursery rhyme gang together,” Anastasia tried again.

“We get it,” Jill
snapped. Sighing loudly, she turned her attention to the experiment.

“Hey,” Jack finally
greeted Anastasia in a nonchalant tone.

In response, Anastasia
smiled at Jack. Unfortunately, this only caused Jill to narrow her eyes, as if
warning her to back off.

Reading this couple was
far too easy for Anastasia. Jill’s nastiness stemmed from her insecurities,
which was completely ironic since Jack was so in love with her that he couldn’t
see any of her flaws. She was pretty sure that this was the first serious
relationship for the both of them.

Finally sitting down,
Anastasia watched as Jill filled a glass beaker with distilled water before
placing it on the Bunsen burner and turning the flame to the highest setting.
She wanted to tell Jill that, according to the instructions on the whiteboard,
they should be using 150ml of water, not just 50ml. However, Anastasia couldn’t
handle any more icy stares, so she remained silent.

As the water began to
boil rapidly, Jack whispered something dirty to Jill. Although Anastasia
couldn’t hear everything that he was saying, it made Jill blush and push him playfully.

“You’re so silly,” Jill
cooed, while placing her hand flirtatiously on his thigh.

“And you’re so
beautiful,” Jack murmured, kissing her cheek and then her lips.

Feeling more than a
little awkward, Anastasia busied herself with reading the whiteboard. She
wanted to get this experiment done as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Anastasia reached for the chemical container and was about to pour a small
amount into an empty beaker when Jill suddenly stopped her.

“Don’t touch anything,”
she commanded. “This is
my
experiment.”

Reaching her breaking
point, Anastasia snapped back, “Fine. You do all the damn work.”

“Gladly,” Jill
retorted, while pouring an unmeasured amount of the chemical directly into the
boiling water.

Predicting a negative
consequence to Jill’s hasty actions, Anastasia quickly backed away. Jack and
Jill, on the other hand, merely stared with wide eyes as the mixture reacted
badly. Seconds later, the beaker broke in half, causing the liquid to spew all
over the desk. Several students gasped, and even Ms. Stevenson looked shocked,
although she took her time coming to see them.

“Are you guys okay?”
Anastasia asked Jack and Jill, noting how they still looked shaken-up.

“We’re fine,” Jill
replied, recovering quickly. “Why would you do that?” she asked loudly and
clearly.

“Excuse me?” Anastasia
was hardly able to choke out.

“I told you to follow
the instructions on the whiteboard,” Jill said.

Sternly, Ms. Stevenson
turned to face Anastasia. “Did you do this on purpose?”

“I didn’t do anything!”
Anastasia exclaimed. “Jill’s lying!”

“No, she’s not,” Jack
interjected. “Anastasia was being careless, and now she’s trying to blame
someone else for her mistake.”

As silence filled the
classroom, Anastasia realized that no one else had seen what really happened,
or if someone had, they weren’t going to speak up. Defending herself was
pointless; she knew that the more she talked, the guiltier she would appear.

“You’re no longer
allowed to participate in the lab experiments, which means you’ll lose marks,”
Ms. Stevenson informed Anastasia. “Now excuse me while I call the janitor. He
has a mess to clean up.”

As if timed perfectly,
the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Anastasia mustered all her
confidence as she walked out of the classroom with her head held high. However,
inside she felt like crying. She was undeniably angry at the false accusation,
but it was more than just that. Anastasia wanted Cedar Falls to be her fresh
start; instead, it was starting to feel exactly like Toronto.

The cafeteria was
bustling with upbeat, noisy students who were enjoying their sixty minutes of
mid-day freedom. It was exactly the type of environment Anastasia wanted to
avoid. Everyone seemed so happy and carefree, and that alienated her since she
wasn’t in the same state of mind. Unfortunately, she’d made plans to meet Chloe
in the cafeteria, and she knew that ditching her to eat alone in some hallway
corner wouldn’t help in her attempt to be perceived as normal.

In search of Chloe,
Anastasia scanned the crowd. She finally found her sitting at a prime location
table which had a great view of the trees outside and just the right amount of
sunlight streaming onto it. However, her heart sank when she saw who she was
sitting with – it was the queen bee she’d seen outside the school earlier that
day. There was another girl with them, and she too looked perfectly primped and
rich. Believing that befriending the popular crowd would only draw unwanted
attention and segregate her from the majority of students, Anastasia prepared to
leave. Whenever she saw Chloe next, she’d have to make up some excuse about
getting lost and being unable to find the cafeteria. After all, she didn’t want
to hurt her feelings.

“Anastasia!” Chloe
called, waving to her.

Cringing, Anastasia
waved back and slowly made her way toward the table. She could feel people
watching her as she went, probably wondering what she’d done to deserve such an
honor. Quickly, Chloe pulled out a chair and smiled widely, obviously delighted
to see Anastasia. She just couldn’t help but ponder why; surely she realized
that Anastasia didn’t belong there.

“Ladies, this is
Anastasia Lockhart,” Chloe introduced her. “She’s a childhood friend of mine.”

“Hey,” Anastasia
greeted, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

The two girls smiled at
Anastasia. One of them looked sincerely interested in meeting her, but there
was something about that queen bee which seemed rather cold; not that Anastasia
was surprised.

“This is Marissa
Brookes,” Chloe said, gesturing toward a girl with chin-length
strawberry-blonde hair, light freckles, sparkling blue eyes, and a tiny,
perfect nose. Marissa definitely had a unique look, but she was charmingly
beautiful.

“And this is Kate
McKinley,” Chloe continued, smiling at the queen bee. Kate looked even more
beautiful up-close. From her skin to her posture, everything about her
appearance seemed flawless. However, behind those pretty hazel eyes was a
challenging stare.

“Welcome to Cedar
Falls,” Kate said in a dignified tone, as if it was her right to decide who
enters the town.

“Anastasia is from
Toronto, but she’ll be staying here for a while,” Chloe informed them.

“I love Toronto!”
Marissa exclaimed. “My family and I go shopping there every spring. I’m
addicted to their clothing boutiques. They definitely have a better selection
than Cedar Falls.”

Not completely sure how
to respond, Anastasia merely smiled at Marissa. She knew little to nothing
about Toronto’s fashion scene, but she didn’t want to say so.

“Fashion’s my thing,”
Marissa continued with a sweet smile, almost as if she could sense Anastasia’s
slight unease. “I immediately noticed your outfit. It’s so chic and modern.”

Kate snorted and then
said bitchily, “In a gothic sort of way, I suppose.”

Anastasia looked down
at her clothes. She wore a black knitted cowl neck sweater, dark blue skinny
jeans, black boots, and some
jewelry
that consisted of an antique-looking key pendant necklace and a chunky charm
bracelet. Her outfit didn’t differ that much from what the other students were
wearing.

“Is black nail polish
fashionable in Toronto?” Kate asked with wide, not-so-innocent eyes. “I’d love
to know. It’s important for me to keep abreast of developing trends.”

Kate’s tone was filled
with sarcasm, but she smiled as she talked, making it seem like she was being
sincere. However, Anastasia knew better, and she wasn’t about to let Kate get
away with talking to her in that manner.

“Yes, everyone’s
wearing it,” Anastasia lied, while proudly showing off her nails.

“Black can be classic
or daring,” Marissa informed them. “One can never go wrong with it.”