Frostbitten (9 page)

“I really like spending
time with you,” Frost said, as if he could sense her worries, “and I think you
won the ducks over, too.”

“Then we’ll have to do
it again,” Anastasia said.

“Definitely.”

When they reached the
school, Frost opened the door, allowing Anastasia to enter first. As soon as
she walked into the school, she collided with another student who’d been on her
way to exit. Although they’d hit into each other hard, Anastasia was more
concerned about who was standing in front of her rather than her pain.

“Chloe,” Anastasia
gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Chloe was silent as she
looked at Anastasia and Frost, her expression of surprise very much apparent.
“I was starting to worry about you,” she answered, regaining her composure. “I
hadn’t heard from you since the morning, and when I couldn’t find you at the assembly,
I thought maybe you’d gone outside to get away from everyone.”

“That’s so sweet, but
I’m fine.”

“I can see that,” Chloe
muttered, her eyes averting to Frost for a second. “Anyway, are you ready to go
home?”

“Yeah,” Anastasia
replied, before casting Frost a small smile as if to say goodbye.

As Anastasia and Chloe
walked away, the hallway began to fill with noisy students, who were eager to
leave school for the day. However, a silence hung over the two girls, neither
of them willing to discuss what had just happened. But even without words,
Chloe’s feelings were crystal clear – she wholeheartedly disapproved of
Anastasia’s new relationship.

* * *

It was six o’clock on
Friday night as Anastasia and Chloe drove to Kate’s house. They were going to
her sleepover, and Anastasia wasn’t dreading it as much as she would’ve
thought. In fact, she was looking forward to spending time with Marissa.
Although Anastasia had only seen Marissa once in the last three days, she’d
been very kind and told her not to worry about the rumors because they would
soon pass. As for Kate, Anastasia hadn’t seen her at all, and she was fine with
that. She’d pretend to like her for Chloe’s sake, but that would be the extent
of Anastasia’s relationship with Kate. She just didn’t want or need any more
fake friends.

“Kate’s house isn’t
much further,” Chloe said, coming to a stop at the street sign and then making
a left turn.

“Do you guys hang out
there a lot?” Anastasia asked, wondering just how close Chloe and Marissa were
to Kate.

“Whenever we have the
chance,” Chloe admitted. “I’m always hounding Kate to have more parties. You’ll
understand why when we get there.”

As they neared Kate’s
house, the roads began to look familiar. It didn’t take Anastasia long to
realize that these were the roads where she’d become lost. That meant Kate’s
house was close to Frost’s. However, it was hard to believe that any other
family lived nearby as Kate’s brightly-lit multi-million dollar house came into
view. Their immaculately kept property was likely several acres and there
wasn’t a single neighbor in sight. Anastasia’s suspicion that Kate came from
Cedar Falls’ wealthiest family was instantly confirmed.

“You can close your
mouth now,” Chloe joked as she stopped her car on the flagstone driveway that
was free of snow, probably due to the labor of a groundskeeper. “It’s a nice
place, huh? Just wait until you see inside.”

Anastasia tried to
suppress her jealousy as they walked toward Kate’s decorative glass front door.
She wasn’t usually obsessed with material items, but it was hard to see someone
she didn’t particularly like have so much, especially when her financial
situation had never been good.

Exactly three seconds
after ringing the whimsical-sounding bell, Kate opened the door. “Welcome to my
house,” she greeted with an air of superiority. “Come in.”

Unsurprisingly, the
interior of the house was as grand as the exterior, but Anastasia pretended not
to notice. “Thanks for inviting me,” she said diplomatically.

“It was her idea,” Kate
commented, while wrapping her arms around Chloe’s shoulders and giving her a
gentle squeeze. “Isn’t she the sweetest?”

“Totally,” Anastasia
replied sarcastically, analyzing how Kate appeared almost desperate to be in
control. It was like she viewed Anastasia as a threat, but that couldn’t
possibly be true. The only person Anastasia had ever been a threat to was
herself.

“Is Marissa here?”
Chloe asked as she awkwardly broke from Kate’s embrace.

“She’s picking up the
pizza,” Kate answered with a roll of her eyes. “I told her delivery is the only
way to order fast food, but she wouldn’t listen. She has a crush on one of the
pizza boys, though, so I guess she’s hoping he’ll ask her out. It’s kind of
pathetic, huh?” Quickly, Kate turned to Anastasia. “So, have
you
had any
luck with the Cedar Falls hotties?”

“Not at all,” Anastasia
lied. The truth was she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Frost. Every
day he would leave sweet notes in her locker to express his growing affection
for her. This had given Anastasia something to look forward to, making school a
much more pleasant experience.

“Odd,” Kate muttered in
a leading tone of voice. “Anyway, did you guys hear about the fiasco at Dale’s
Diner a few days ago? Supposedly, Frost totally lost it for no apparent reason
and began destroying the place.”

“That’s not what
happened,” Anastasia corrected Kate, deeply annoyed that yet another false
rumor was being spread. It was a perfect example of how easily a situation
could be misconstrued, and she was getting more than a little sick of this
reoccurrence.

“How would you know?”
Kate pried, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“We were getting
breakfast there and saw the whole thing,” Chloe intervened. “Honestly, it
wasn’t a big deal.”

Kate said nothing else
about the matter, but from the way she studied Anastasia, it was obvious that
her curiosity had been piqued. She stood a little taller and with her hands on
her hips, as if trying to put Anastasia in her place. Instinctively, Anastasia
straightened her posture and looked right back at her. It was definitely a
passive-aggressive staring contest, even though Anastasia had no idea what had
prompted it.

The doorbell rang
again, breaking the silence. Reluctantly, Kate shifted from her self-dignified
pose to answer the door. On the other side stood Marissa, who had a friendly
smile on her face and a large box of pizza in her hands.

“Let’s get this party
started,” Marissa said excitedly as she stepped inside.

Unintentionally,
Anastasia raised her eyebrows, hardly considering their small gathering to be a
party. If these girls could see some of the parties she’d been to in Toronto,
they’d be shocked. Not that she wanted to relive those nights. In fact,
Anastasia was more than happy with a quiet, uneventful sleepover.

For the next hour, the
girls sat in Kate’s luxurious living room, while chatting, eating pizza and
enjoying the upbeat music coming from the super expensive sound system.
Anastasia was having a great time catching up with Chloe and getting to know
Marissa. Chloe had so many funny stories to share, and Marissa’s sweet and
charming personality made it impossible not to like her. Unfortunately, Kate
was being more unfriendly than ever; she’d hardly said anything since Marissa
arrived, but no one seemed to notice far less care. Against her will, Anastasia
felt bad for Kate, sensing that she was being used for her money and
popularity.

“So, how about a round
of
never have I ever
, girls?” Marissa asked with a mischievous smile,
interrupting Anastasia’s thoughts.

“Never have I ever?”
Anastasia repeated, while furrowing her brow.

“Don’t make that
expression, honey,” Kate advised in a condescending manner. “You’ll get
premature wrinkles.” She paused slightly before adding, “Never have I ever is a
game. You say you’ve never done something even though it’s a lie.”

“I’ll go first,”
Marissa said eagerly. “Never have I ever been asked out by a hot pizza boy!”

“That’s great!”
Anastasia said, sincerely happy for her new friend. “What’s his name?”

“Mitch,” Marissa
replied with a wide smile. “While I was waiting for the pizza, we started to
talk and that’s when he asked me to go to a movie tomorrow night.”

“Great!” Kate said
mockingly. “Now you two can get matching initial accessories!”

“What are you talking
about?” Marissa demanded, obviously hurt.

“You can do so much
better than some pizza boy.”

“You don’t even know
him!”

“Let’s keep it that
way,” Kate snapped.

Any sympathy Anastasia
had felt for Kate instantly disappeared. She was rude, conceited and didn’t
care about other people’s feelings. It was no wonder that even her friends
didn’t like her – she was such a bitch.

“It’s my turn,” Kate
continued, staring straight at Anastasia. “Never have I ever seen Anastasia and
Frost meeting secretly behind the school and acting
very
friendly.”

Anastasia’s face flushed.
How the hell did Kate know about that? One look at Chloe’s surprised expression
assured her that she’d said nothing about the matter.

“Seriously?” Marissa
asked with wide eyes, apparently forgetting how upset she was with Kate.
“What’s it like to talk to him?”

“You’ve never talked to
Frost, like
ever
?” Anastasia asked in shock, realizing that the
segregation in Cedar Falls was worse than she’d initially thought.

“Of course not,” Kate
replied for Marissa, “but that doesn’t mean we’re not curious. After all, every
town needs a freak, and I’m starting to wonder just how weird Frost really is.”

“He may be different
but that doesn’t make him weird,” Anastasia argued, trying to control her
anger.

“I’ll believe that when
I see it,” Kate said in her signature leading tone of voice. “Perhaps we should
pay Frost a visit and see what he’s like when he thinks no one is watching.
It’s the only way to reveal someone’s true nature.”

“By spying on him?”
Anastasia was horrified by the idea.

“Consider it a field
experiment,” Kate said nonchalantly as she began to get ready.

“I heard Frost lives
deeper in the woods than anyone else in Cedar Falls,” Marissa commented with a
shiver.

“This doesn’t sound
like a good idea,” Chloe added.

“With my parents out of
town, I can’t leave you guys alone in my house. So, it looks like you’re coming
with me, bitches.” With that said, Kate grabbed her coat and then sauntered out
of her house, causing Chloe, Marissa and Anastasia to hurry after her.

As Kate drove down the
deserted road on route to Frost’s house, Anastasia began to feel uneasy. She’d
only come to keep Chloe and Marissa safe, but what protection could she really
offer them? Anastasia was a city girl who knew very little about the way of the
woods.

All too soon, Kate
pulled over at the side of the road and then instructed in a bossy tone,
“Everyone out!”

“Here?” Marissa asked,
her eyes wide with fear.

“It’s not like I can
park in his driveway,” Kate snapped, before getting out of the car.

Obediently, Chloe and
Marissa exited the car. Not wanting to be alone, Anastasia followed them just
in time to see Kate disappear into the woods. She gulped. It was a still,
cloudless night, and the full moon shone brightly, casting creepy shadows
everywhere. The air was frigid, and the sound of Kate treading quickly over the
snow seemed to echo eerily throughout the woods.

“We shouldn’t let her
go alone,” Marissa said, her voice almost shaking.

Anastasia nodded, while
quickly deciding that the best way to get out of this situation was by
convincing Kate to return home. With Chloe and Marissa by her side, she took a
deep breath and then entered the woods. Using the light from the moon,
Anastasia navigated in between the trees, following the sound of Kate’s
footsteps until she found her.

“This is stupid,”
Anastasia said, after the three of them had caught up to Kate. “Everyone is
saying there’s a potentially dangerous animal on the loose, and I swear I saw
something in the woods.” Hesitating, she finally added, “Frost was with me and
he claims it was a cougar.”

Kate’s speed increased,
but she seemed to be driven by anger instead of fear. She was like a girl
possessed, hell bent on getting to Frost’s house as quickly as possible.
Confused, Anastasia wondered what was wrong with Kate – and with all of them
for following her in the first place.

“Anastasia’s right,”
Chloe said firmly. “This isn’t safe.”

“There are no dangerous
animals in Cedar Falls,” Kate retorted. “It’s just a myth to keep kids out of
the woods.”

“Are you sure about
that?” Anastasia snapped, gesturing toward a large live-catch trap that was
positioned off to the side, less than twenty feet away. It was the smell of the
bait – a chunk of raw meat – that had allowed her to make the disconcerting
discovery. She could only guess that Mr. Stone had been the one to set the
trap.