Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Twenty-Two: Winter Icestorm

A/N: Yay! I'm on the second round of perspectives. I don't think I'm going to do everyone again before I do repeats, because I simply don't have the patience for that, and some characters will see more plot than others, so I'll end up doing those characters more often.

Okay, so you know how I said a while ago that starting now I would be trying to put more voice into the characters? Well, that's not happening. I've written ten chapters ahead, and none of them have any more voice than the ones I've already released. Sorry! (But I'm also assuming that everyone's forgotten about that, so it probably doesn't matter).

I'm going to start putting a picture of each character's school schedule at the top of their chapter, just to help you orient yourself. These are kind of my notes to myself, but I figured you could use it too.

Yay!!!!! 2169 reads, 51 votes, 53 comments, 39 engaged readers, and 10 followers (only four of whom are my friends in real life!) at the second round of perspectives! I have readers in seven countries (US, Canada, Australia, Poland, India, Malaysia, and Japan) and on four continents (North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia). I have readers from all age brackets (though mostly on the younger side; under 25), and 52% of my readers are female, 32% male, and 16% private. Thank you all so, so, so much!

- apandask8r

"You're my roommate?"

Winter Icestorm couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Qibli Roadrunner lay across the top bunk of their bunk bed at Jade Preparatory Academy, looking quite pleased with himself.

Qibli sat up and peered at Winter. "You can try to move," he pointed out. "Ask the others."

Winter huffed and stomped out of the room. If he had to spend the rest of the year with Qibli in his room . . . He was going to claw someone's face off.

"Hey!" Winter yelled, slamming the door and storming out of the boys' small private common room and into the larger one they shared with the girls in their Winglet. "Blue! Turtle! Umber!"

"What are you so angry at?" Kinkajou's bouncy, teeth-grit inducing voice penetrated his consciousness and turned. She backed up a step.

"Qibli claimed the bed above me," Winter hissed. He plopped down on the sofa as far away from her as he could get, which wasn't all that far, considering there was only one sofa.

"Oh. And?"

"And I would rather share a room with a diseased wildebeest."

Kinkajou giggled, again setting Winter's teeth on edge. "Oh, Qibli isn't that bad," she said.

"'That bad'?" Qibli asked, striding into the room. "Kinkajou, I'm offended. I'm not bad at all!"

Winter snorted. "Really? You're the literal definition of 'that bad'."

Qibli rolled his eyes. He dashed back into the boys' common room, and a minute later, Winter heard a door open and his voice calling, "Guys! Winter wants to ask you something!" He came out of the common room followed by three boys: a Shavar, a Resham, and a Segara. "Ask them," Qibli told Winter, a hint of mischief in his voice.

Winter sighed. "Can I switch with one of you? I really, really, really don't want to share a room with Qibli."

"No," Blue and Turtle chorused in unison as Umber said, "Yes."

Blue and Turtle exchanged a glance.

"What?" Umber asked.

Turtle sighed and pulled Umber off to the side, Blue following. Qibli looked at Winter and grinned. Winter rubbed his temple. "Is this your way of trying to disguise your ways of annoying me into ways of helping me?" he asked Qibli.

His friend shrugged. "Maybe I just know that when I help you, you get annoyed."

"Okay, none of us are going to switch," Blue said to Winter and Qibli. Umber stared at his feet, looking slightly annoyed.

Winter harrumphed, getting to his feet and facing the three boys standing in the doorway. "But I'm - "

"Lady Glacier's nephew," Qibli cut in, putting on a high voice that Winter supposed was supposed to be an impression of him. "We know."

Winter ignored him. " - Lady Glacier's nephew, and I'm a higher status than all of you, so you have to do what I say!"

The room fell silent, and Winter realized he'd shouted the words. The looks on his friends' faces - hurt, betrayal, and annoyance. They seemed . . . sincerely angry. All of them - even Kinkajou, who Winter had never seen angry before.

Qibli and Kinkajou both crossed the room to stand with Blue, Turtle, and Umber. "That was . . . uncalled for, Winter," Qibli said, his voice hard.

Winter flinched, a feeling of dread filling his stomach. "I-I'm . . ." The word sorry was on the tip of his tongue. But for some reason, he couldn't force it out of his mouth. He was Lady Glacier's nephew. He was a Glacee, and Glacees didn't apologize! Especially to those at lower ranks!

"You're what?" Kinkajou said, her voice hard, almost accusatory.

Winter didn't answer. Space. He needed space. He turned and fled the room, heading out of their dorm and down the hallway.

The realization struck him at the bottom of the stairs. He collapsed against the wall, burying his head in his hands.

Winter might have just ruined the one thing that was keeping him alive.