Villains wear Masks *sequel to Heroes Wear Capes

Chapter 16 - Frozen in the Ashes

"Have you ever seen a flower die? Watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within?"

~ Victor Fries (Mr. Freeze)

Celeste wasn't sure how things ended up the way they did. If you asked her where she thought she'd be at this point in her life three months ago her answer certainly wouldn't have been where she was now.

And where was she now exactly?

She was hanging out at Ross Gustin's house not just to study, but just to hang out. There was no other reason for the meeting and that meant Celeste had to stop pretending that Ross meant nothing to her when he obviously didn't mean nothing anymore.

She would find herself actually enjoying herself during the school day with him. Arctic Frost, the super villain, was actually having fun in school without causing chaos. It was unheard of.

If Wild Fire saw her now, he wouldn't be able to place her as the heartless villain she really was inside. She was different because of Ross.

Oh, and don't think Celeste wasn't aware of how cliché and awful that sounded. A boy was all she needed to be happy and carefree? Ugh, that sounded like the plot to a badly written fanfiction. The old her would've laughed in the face of romance and affairs of the heart. In fact, she should've been terrified at her sudden change of heart, but she wasn't.

It was strange to suddenly realize all of your assumptions about the world were wrong.

Ross's little sister was still always the highlight of her visits. She went out of her way to display all of her pretty drawings to Ross's friend. Angela was, as Celeste soon found out, completely obsessed with Arctic Frost. It was hilarious. If only she knew the villain was in the flesh right in front of her, complementing the stick figure crayon smudges on cardboard paper.

For the first time in Celeste's life, she was happy.

"Did she put the test grades in yet?" Ross asked, peering over Celeste's shoulder at her phone.

"No, stop smothering me or I won't be able to see." The latest test grade in their history class, a huge one, was supposed to be up on the district's website at any minute. They were both anxiously waiting to see hers.

Her phone pinged and Celeste pushed Ross away before he could steal her phone. It was her grade, she wanted to see it first.

"Well, what did you get?"

Ross was painstakingly nervous. After all, he didn't just want her to get a good grade to claim testament to his tutoring abilities, he wanted her to get a good grade because he thought she truly deserved it.

Celeste stayed silent, not letting any emotion pass through her face.

Ross's own face fell, despair clearly written across it in full view. "Oh, I'm sorry. Hopefully next time we can-"

"I got an A."

She said it so quietly Ross had to ask her to repeat it.

"An A?

Celeste nodded, suddenly flooded with joyousness. "I got an A!"

She jumped in Ross's arms. It was unbelievable. She was horrible at history, but with Ross's help she not only passed the test, but passed it with flying colors. It was a few moments before she realized exactly what position they were in. Celeste pulled her head back and met Ross's gaze.

"I'm so proud of you."

The next minute was a blur in her mind. All she knew was that they ended up falling on his bed, laughing in a tight embrace at the awkward positions in which they'd fallen. It didn't take long for things to get serious again. His lips on hers again.