Chapter Ten: The Early Winter
Aesha's POV
Three things I love about Autumn:
1. My powers get stronger and I get to be really cheery.
2. It is a season before Winter.
3. Early Winter.
For me, Early Winter is the best. It's like this: we find some abandoned place or building with a large space. I'll freeze the place, put snow and all that cold things. And there, my friends and siblings get to enjoy that Winter Wonderland. We do this every year, weeks before December or Winter. With my powers, the winter comes earlier.
I wonder if Cole does the same.
Nah.
Actually, we scheduled to have the Early Winter, today, Saturday. So as soon as I got up, stretched and yawned-it was already noon-I brought out my laptop to chat with my friends.
TheBFGuy, KKKNerd, Seanie1, Shaesalon and PurpleGuitarist are online.
ElsatheIceQueen: Sup, guys!
KKKNerd: Hey, Elsa
ElsatheIceQueen: Cylene? Where are you? Are you still mad?
PurpleGuitarist: I'm here, Aesha. I'm cooled off, don't worry.
Shaesalon: What? What happened?
Seanie1: ?
PurpleGuitarist: No, nevermind, it's no big deal.
TheBFGuy: So what about Early Winter?
Seanie1: So I have an idea...what about a different setting? Huh?
Shaesalon: Hey! That's my idea!
Seanie1: :p
ElsatheIceQueen: Guys, enough!
KKKNerd: But they're still right, you should make up a different setting, go a bit artsy on your ice.
ElsatheIceQueen: ;) It's fine, I already have an idea.
TheBFGuy: So what time is this, anyway?
PurpleGuitarist: About...4 pm. How's that?
TheBFGuy: K, I have to go now.
Shaesalon: Me too.
Seanie1: Me Three.
KKKNerd: Bye, guys!
KKKNerd, Seanie1, Shaesalon and TheBFGuy logged out.
PurpleGuitarist is requesting a private chat.
I accepted the request instantly.
ElsatheIceQueen: What's the matter Cylene?
PurpleGuitarist: Nothing. I'm just....still freaking out about the whole thing
ElsatheIceQueen: Just relax. It's fine okay?
PurpleGuitarist: I know, Aesha. I just can't risk it if one of you gets hurt.
ElsatheIceQueen: We won't get hurt. Promise.
PurpleGuitarist: You don't know how dangerous it is, do you?
I stopped and stared at her message. The hottest I've experienced is that one horrible time during summer....Can Cole be worse? I don't really know. I replied with full honesty.
ElsatheIceQueen: I don't know.
PurpleGuitarist: You know what? I'll see you later during early winter, k? I'll try to be cool about it.
ElsatheIceQueen: Thanks, Cy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After I ate and changed into a checkered shirt and jean shorts, I went out of the house. I guess I just got out to enjoy the fresh almost-winter air and walk around the streets. I told the twins (who were still grounded) that I'll just text them the address where we'll hold the Early Winter. I'll be fecthing my friends.
As usual, I went to the cave to cool myself off. I decided to give it a new look after Cole ruined it. I stepped inside, admiring the mirror-like ice walls I put up before. I pressed my palm against the smooth ice and looked at my reflection. Straight light brown hair and hazel brown eyes, my normal appearance. Though, I could see a hint of ice blue in my irises.
After the incident here, the only thing I managed to change was, of course, the ice walls. But I released my power to make my cave stronger and better.
First, I stuck solid ice snowflakes on the ice wall, creating a pattern of them. Next, I coated the ground with a thick and smooth layer of snow. And I layered, on top of it, a see through carpet-like ice. Then, proceeded making a brand new sparkling water canal. The two little streams stayed on the sides of the cave, flowing into the center then forming an ice fountain. Finally, around the fountain, I built comfy lumps of snow to serve as chairs.
Yeah, this was the perfect.
But I didn't enjoy much of my new creation. After I made the whole thing, I glanced at my phone and saw that it was already 3:02 p.m.
I quickly went out of the cave and headed to my friends' houses.
~~~~~~~~~
Cole's POV
"Cy, where the heck are you going?" I asked, seeing Cylene fully clothed with a winter coat and other thick clothes.
"Nothing important." she said.
"What are you going to do?" I said, full of curiosity.
"Just don't mind it, Cole. Look, just cook yourself something, but don't start another fire. I'll be home before seven."
I pouted. "You sound like Mom."
But Cylene didn't mind me. "Dang, I forgot something." she said, heading upstairs. Seconds after she left, I heard a knock on the door.
I felt my heart leap to my throat when I Aesha standing there as I opened the door. She looked pretty with her hair down and those warm brown eyes.
"Hey, Cole. Is Cylene here?" she snapped me out of my thoughts. "She said she was going to get something. She'll be down in a minute." I replied, "Come in."
We sat in the living room, waiting for Cylene to come down. "So, uh," I tried to start a conversation, "where exactly are you taking Cylene?"
"Don't you know? We're celebrating Early Winter." she said.
"Early what?" I asked.
"Early Winter. I guess Cylene never told you about it. It's a long story, though."
"Can I come?" I questioned.
I swear she almost laughed. "Cole, by the name, 'Early winter' I'm guessing you'll never want to come."
I mentally facepalmed myself. How can I be so stupid? Early Winter...they're obviously going somewhere cold.
"She's right," Cylene said, appearing from the stairs, "You can't come."
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever." I can sense Aesha smiling beside me.
"Come on, ice girl, we still need to get Kennedy and Brent, right?" Cylene said while they both walked towards the door. Aesha nodded in response and they went out, leaving me alone in the house.
What's the best thing to do? Follow them, of course.
~~~~~~~~
Ever since I knew about Aesha's ice powers-which was just that other day-my hatred for her never increased. In fact, I began to like her little by little because of her being her, not her powers. But I figured that someday, both of us would hurt each other, and in one way or another, one of us would really be defeated by the other element.
So yeah, whether we like or hate each other, we would still get hurt.
I know I'm putting myself into trouble if I follow them. But I felt like I need to follow them, just like what I felt during that party.
I followed them to what seems like an abandoned warehouse. I parked my motorcyle nowhere near them, and hid. The group was made up of Aesha, Cylene, their friends (named Brent and Kennedy, I guess) and the twins, Sean and Shaelon themselves. They all wore winter clothing, just like Cylene, except for Aesha. The group went inside the warehouse.
What are they going to do?
~~~~~~~~~
Aesha's POV
"You picked a warehouset o be the venue of Early Winter?!" Shaelon asked in disbelief.
I shrugged. "Please, guys. It's not that bad. Trust me, I'll make this place nicer than before."
"Better make it quick ice queen. Even if it's Autumn, I'm sweating here." Brent complained.
Kennedy nudged him. "That's because you're wearing winter clothes, idiot."
Cylene smirked at the sight of them fighting. "Okay, Aesha, do your thing."
They all stood near the doorway while I built the perfect Early Winter Wonderland. I coated the dusty floor with snow and then ice., like the one in the cave only the ice this time wasn't see through. I made sure the ice was thick and smooth. I made the ice creep up to the walls, and then to the ceiling. A glowing blue ice chandelier hung above and to make sure the warehouse was illuminated when it gets dark, I added more blue light in a vertical ice tube and put them in each corner of the area. This was the skating rink.
I had a space somewhere beside the rink filled with fluffy snow and created snow sculptures for snow fights later. And for the third part of the wonderland, I made an ice slide for them to have fun on and turned the air real cold. Lastly, I opened the little closets where I placed the prepared ice skates and sleds beforehand.
I also promised myself to keep my eyes blue every Early Winter.
"This is really awesome, Aesha! You've outdone yourself this time." Sean complimented, his eyes gazing around in wonder.
"Go on, guys, get your sleds and skates. Have fun." I said.
And so they did.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Cole's POV
I watched them through one of the windows. They played and skated, they were enjoying Early Winter.
Yeah, I thought, but I'm not. I hate this.
As I felt the cold, I got weaker and weaker every minute. Because of the cold, my bike's engine or whatever was frozen. Now, I had no way to go back home. I was stuck outside an abandoned warehouse, freezing cold.
I tried to create a small flame, but when my hand did light the fire, it would go out instantly. I groaned in frustration.
Cylene and Aesha were right, I shouldn't have gone here. Now, this is my punishment.
"Curiosity got on you, did it?" Aesha popped up behind me. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Aesha? How did you know I was here?"
She explained, "You know, interesting with our powers, we can sense each other if it's our season. I mean, since it's Autumn and everything is cold, I can spot one thing that doesn't belong. The warmth, that's you, Cole. The same way with you Cole, you can sense me during summer and spring."
"Oh," I said, "So, shouldn't you be going back? They'll be waiting for you."
Aesha shrugged. "I'd prefer to talk to you for a while. Plus, I can't leave you here alone."
She led me to Cylene's car and we sat on the hood of it. I felt my heart thumping as she was sitting next to me, just us alone together, under the stars.
I cleared my throat and looked down. Her thigh was brushing against mine. "So, um, you said there was a story behind Early Winter."
Her eyes lit up as she turned to face me. "Are you sure you want to hear the story?" I nodded.
She took a deep breath and started. "A couple years ago, I was really pissed off even if it was autumn. It was because it was hotter than the usual season. The air conditioner at our house was broken and the ice and snow in my room was beginning to melt." She stopped and pursed her lips. I'm assuming she was recalling the distant memory.
"I was really really mad. I expected that season to be a good one but some...bad things happened to me. It was out of bad luck, I guess. Then I discovered an abandoned lot somewhere far from the city one day. My friends were with me, including Cylene, and so were the twins. The car broke down at the lot and our phones were either had a low battery, they left it. It was still useless bringing one because there was no signal at all. We were stranded there..."
"But since we were alone, I had an idea. Early Winter. I spread snow everywhere and we played and had snowball fights until we got help." She chuckled a little. "It was really fun. From then on, we had Early Winter before winter came."
She was now staring at me. I stared back. Our eyes locked until she cleared her throat and looked away. "You should better get home." she said.
We started to part ways then I suddenly remembered the reason I couldn't get out of here. "Aesha, hold on." I chased after her.
She turned to me. "What is it?" she asked. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Do you mind if, you un-freeze my bike?"
"Oh, of course." was her reply.
When we reached my motorcylce, she easily absorbed the frost off my bike. "So, I guess I'll see you." she said.
I stared at her eyes-which were blue. I guess they were like that when she used her powers, like what happens to me when I use mine.
I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Thank you." I said.
As I got on my bike, I saw her looking at the ground, her cheeks reddening.
"Good night, Aesha." I said, speeding off.
~~~~~~~~~
Awww...love this chapter. More Ale chapters coming your way. I'm so proud! 2 updates in one weekend, yay!!!!
-Vireen
P.S. I just finished a very emotional chapter!