01 | WINTERFELL
FOR once in her life, Winterfell was not paying attention. Normally, when she was out of the private safety of her dormitory room, she was extremely aware of her surroundings. The last thing Winter wanted nor needed to happen was an incident.
Seeing as Auradon Prep was against the use of all magic, it put her in a rather tight situation considering everything about her was magical. From the way the wind would listen to her every command to being able to cover anything with frost should she touch it, Winter was certainly the most magical person on campus.
Well, perhaps not anymore, Mal seemed rather proficient with her own spells and such, not to mention the little spellbook she always carried around with her.
Now, Winter had never actually had an accident pop up concerning her abilities, but she did not want to chance it. In fact, if she thought about it, she had never actually used her abilities on school grounds.
Apart from her time spent at home on Ahtohallan and Arendelle, Winter made it a point to never so much as even change the direction of the wind.
Her mother and father were incredibly against the term 'conceal don't feel' an apparent saying her mother had grown up upon and regretted heavily. Therefore, Winter came up with her own clever saying: beware and never release.
She was smart enough to not mention her little saying to either of her parents as she knew they would both go psycho if they knew what she was doing to herself.
She did not care though, that saying helped conceal her powers and pushed her to take her frustrations out on her homework. She was one of the top students, just below Doug actually.
The Fairy Godmother was certainly grateful that Winter has never dared use her powers as she first believed Winter would. Back when Winter first arrived, the Fairy Godmother was nervous that the mischievous nature that her father, Jack Frost, was so known for would be passed down to his child.
However, everyone was astonished when Winter showed up as one of the most well-behaved students' to ever grace the halls of Auradon Prep. The Fairy Godmother figured it must have come from her mother, as Elsa had always been the epitome of calm and composed.
Above this, the Fairy Godmother was even more relieved that Winter was not reliant on her powers. Even more so, the Fairy Godmother was proud as she herself knew just how hard not using one's natural gifted abilities could be.
Winter absent-mindedly twisted a piece of brown hair within her gloved fingers. She had just recently dyed her hair for the week, it was every Sunday night that she re-did it as her hair tended to go back to its natural icy appearance quickly.
Winter liked that the brown hair made her blend in easier, before the VKs, she would have stuck out alike to sore thumb with her hair being such a bright color.
Winter was glad when Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay showed up as those four made her feel not so alone with her differences. Not only that but their differences from the rest of the student population (especially when they first arrived) far surpassed her own.
Even the soft silken blue gloves Winter always wore was not so odd in comparison to the usual fashion of the VKs. Plus, since they arrived, everyone else had begun to be more open and creative with their own outfits.
Beyond that, before Evie and Mal had arrived, Winter only had one friend, Jonah Flynn. Everyone else she only ever pushed away.
However, on that day four months ago when Evie spoke to her in class, Winter could not quite find it in herself to push her away as she did with everyone else.
That was not to say Winter was ever rude to anyone, but most of the time she was reserved and gave short answers that often ended any hopes of a conversation. Not Evie though, and neither Mal when Evie eventually introduced them.
She had a few short conversations with Carlos and Jay, but she was not nearly close enough to them to truly consider them friends. Jonah, of course, would probably slap her if he ever heard her claim they were not friends.
Speaking of the devil...
"What can you possibly be reading now?" Jonah's voice came from behind Winter causing her to jump.
However, she quickly got ahold of herself before she could even dare spread frost or ice anywhere.
Winter turned around to face Jonah and that stupid mullet hairstyle of his. Most of the girls; however, went crazy for it. Well, Jonah was a sight for sore eyes, before the VKs he was the closest thing to a bad boy the school had been exposed to.
What, with Jonah always choosing to wear his denim jacket, black-belt clad jeans, and heavy boots. Not to mention, along with that mullet hairstyle he had this messy mustache that he simply refused to shave off.
Winter suspected it was the city-boy in him, he certainly came off that way with how he acted and held himself. Alike to the VKs, Jonah was not unaccustomed to skipping classes, schoolwork, and he was quite the ladies man.
If she was being honest, Winter had no clue how she and Jonah came to be friends, it just sort of happened one day.
Actually that was a lie. She knew exactly why and how they became friends, but that was a very long story for another day.
"The book we're supposed to have finished by next hour?" Winter smartly answered causing Jonah to pale and curse.
"Oh..." he said sheepishly causing Winter to raise an unimpressed brow. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I have been doing very important things..."
"Yeah," Winter deadpanned, "I'm sure Cassie Conwell in that closet was really important."
"What the—?" Jonah held a confused expression on his face. "How do you even know about that?"
For a girl who talked to practically no one, Winter somehow managed to know just about everything. Winter only hummed, finishing the last sentence of the book before closing it. She would not admit it to Jonah... ever, but this was actually her second time reading it through. Winter wanted to make sure she was perfectly brushed up on everything with the book.
"That is your second time reading it, isn't it?" Jonah narrowed his eyes, his tone accusing.
Jonah knew Winter well enough to realize she would not wait until the last minute, A.K.A five minutes before class started to finish the book.
"Or is it your third?"
Winter cleared her throat, not looking at Jonah as she quickly changed the topic.
"How do you think Mal is doing?" Winter already knew the answer to her own question.
Mal had just been getting swarmed by reporters but Ben and the Headmistress had come to her rescue. Over the last few months, Mal had seriously been feeling the strain and tension of the pressure she was under.
With being Ben's girlfriend and now officially about to become a Lady of the Court, Winter understood just why Mal was feeling so stressed. Winter was not nearly as close to Mal as Evie, but Winter was a good listener and Mal took advantage of that.
It was often that Mal ranted to the girl, something which brought her a sort of solace.
Jonah mockingly placed one foot on the bench next to where Winter was sitting, tilting his head while looking to Mal.
"She seems like she's doing pretty sucky..." he said honestly, looking back to Winter. "But hey, her and Ben seem to be going strong."
"Yeah," She sighed, smiling at how cute Ben and Mal were.
Winter really did think they had the cutest relationship.
"You're such a hopeless romantic," Jonah snickered causing Winter to roll her eyes as she knew the comment coming next, "you, my friend, need a boyfriend."
"And you," Winter stood up, "need a relationship that lasts more than five minutes."
"Five minutes, I last at least twenty..." Winter snorted against her will at his words, her gaze traveling back to where Evie was now on Mal about her dress-fitting for the cotillion.
Winter slowly moved her backpack over her shoulder, placing her book inside. Jonah took his knee off the bench, standing next to her ideally.
He was a few inches taller than her, something that he often liked to tease her about. It was interesting seeing the pair standing next to each other and they could not appear more different. While Jonah was rugged in appearance, Winter looked like some sort of doll carefully put together.
Winter wore nearly the same outfit every day. A simple plaid skirt with black stockings, a smart sweater-vest, and delicate black flats. She also always wore a sophisticated tie and her blue gloves, she had never not worn her blue gloves while on campus.
Though her hair was usually pinned in a tight bun, today she had accidentally slept in and had little time to do anything other than brush it out.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the cotillion? You could always go with me, I'm sure Evie can still make you a gown." Jonah grinned, Winter not even looking at him while replying.
"Thanks but no, I would rather stay in my dorm and study." And maybe watch a rom-com or two, but she would never say that.
"I literally can't with you," Jonah breathed, knowing there was nothing he could do to convince her.
Winter never went to any social gatherings above study hall (if that even counted). Both of them watched Evie pull Mal away and the reporters once again swarm Ben.
"How bad do you think the Isle really is?" Jonah randomly questioned, their gaze now turned to where they could see the Isle across the ocean.
Winter truly thought it was idiotic to have the school built so close to the Isle. Apparently, the administration wanted the students (and themselves) to have easy access to the ocean. Winter did not think the ocean was worth the school being so close to Isle, like seriously if something ever happened to that barrier, the first freaking place to be hit would be Auradon Prep.
Crossing her legs, Winter gazed at the Isle, the dark prison seeming daunting. Though her father was perfectly capable of slipping through the barrier (as he was the spirit of Winter) and theoretically she herself could too (she was the Princess of Winter), her father never delivered winter there.
He never bestowed upon them the fun of snow, and he claimed it was simply because villains such as those on the Isle did not deserve it. After Evie had told her she had never experienced snow in the Isle, Winter truly felt bad.
However, there was nothing she could do about it as her father refused to bring winter to the Isle and Winter herself currently was not helping her father in bringing winter across the globe. Even if she was, she highly doubted her parents would allow her to go to the Isle, Wenlock had been bad enough.
"Pretty bad, Jonah," Winter answered just as the bell signaling for everyone to get to class sounded.
"Let's get to class."
They turned around, walking toward the inside.
"So, can you tell me what happens in that book?"
"Ugh, Jonah," Winter groaned, before beginning to tell him all that happened in the book as fast as she could.
——————
Winter was splayed across her bed in her dorm room, her door securely shut and locked. Her blinds were drawn as they always were, the only light coming from her lights up above.
Her gloves were forgotten on her desk, her pale hands moving carelessly through the air. Small sparks of ice and blue magic flew through the air, her walls slightly covered with frost. Her room was chillier than normal and yet Winter did not care.
All her homework was finished, the next book she was meant to read was still on hold at the library, and honestly, there were no good shows on television. All in all, Winter was hopelessly bored.
Usually, she would try to refrain from using her powers even in the safety of her own dorm room, but seeing as there was nothing else to do, she decided a little fun could not hurt. Pulling herself up from her bed, Winter began making her way to her bathroom with the idea of a warm shower in mind.
However, she paused as she passed her full-length mirror. Pursing her lips, Winter moved towards her own reflection, her eyes darting to her brown hair. Hidden beneath the thick tresses, a single piece of hair in the back had already broken through the hair dye, the natural frosty color sticking out.
She frowned, her hair was beginning to go through the dye quicker than normal. If that strand already broke through she had no doubt that within the next day or two her entire head would once again be white.
Her shoulders slumped, all of this hair-dye was beginning to get expensive. Even as she had begun buying the cheaper stuff, buying multiple bottles once or twice a week was adding up. Though, she did not really have a choice.
Yes, she could always stop dying her hair and simply allow the natural white to be free. But at this point, every student at Auradon Prep had grown used to seeing her with plain brown hair, it would no doubt make her stick out and be ogled if she showed up with white hair randomly.
She did not want to stick out, even if Mal and Evie would no doubt encourage it seeing as they themselves had rather spunky colors for hair. Well, actually Mal had dyed her hair blond, a few shades darker than Winter's natural white.
Nevertheless, Winter had no intention of having white hair at Auradon Prep anytime soon. When she went home for breaks and such, that was where she allowed her dye to fade away and wore her natural white color, but never at school.
Shaking her head, Winter decided she would take a quick shower before re-dying her hair for the second time that week. Water and cold always had made her hair fade to white quicker, then again, it was beginning to cool down, perhaps that was the reason behind her quickly fading hair dye.
Shrugging it off, Winter grabbed a towel and threw it over her shoulder while sauntering toward her bathroom.