Frozen Flames

Chapter Three

Jack and I head towards the docks. It’s at this moment when I realize what I must look like to others. My dress is torn in a few places and wrinkled to no end. Glitter is rubbed off my face and mixed in with a few pieces of gravel as well as grass. 

The pins that held my hair up into place had fallen out of my hair into a frizzy mess over my shoulders. 

      Jack pushed me gently towards a stack of crates that were waiting to be put onto the nearest boat as he walked over to talk to one of the men. 

I did just that and watched him from a distance. He pulled something out of his pocket, gold I think, and handed it to the man. The man nodded his head and gestured towards the small boat. 

Jack turned to me and grinned. He jerked his head towards the small boat and held out his arm for me to come along. 

I came out from behind the crates and walked towards him. 

      “We should get you a change of clothes.” He said, lowering his eyes to my dress. 

I fisted my hand and punched his arm, hard. 

A little bit of pride swelled up in my chest as he flinched away and rubbed his arm. 

        “We don’t have time to go shopping.” I said. I turned my head and narrowed my eyes at one of the shop windows. Some sort of glittering outfit gleamed through the window. “Besides, you couldn’t pay me enough to get into another one of these outfits.” 

To make my point, I tugged at the fabric of my dress, tearing off another piece of gritty, sparkling fabric. 

     Jack pressed his lips together and looked away. “Come on. Let’s just go.” 

I nodded my head and started walking towards the boat. I didn’t bother responding to his comment; instead I climbed into the boat and waited for him to climb in across from me. 

       “Aren’t your parents going to miss you?” I ask him as I untie the boat from the docks. 

Jack shrugs his shoulders and reaches for one of the two paddles sitting on floor of the boat. 

      “They probably hadn’t even noticed I left last night.” He mumbled, sticking the paddle in the water. 

I grabbed the second one and started to paddle the boat in sync with him. “Why do you say that?”

He didn’t answer for the longest time. Not until we were a decent ways away from the docks. 

His blue eyed gaze looked at me. “Your hair looks ridiculous.” 

     I scowled at him. “Not everyone is as put together as you want them to be.” I snapped. I stopped paddling and put the wooden board down in my lap. 

Burying my fingers in my hair, I start pulling out pins and letting the rest of my blonde hair fall over my shoulders in frizzy waves. 

I started to bundle the hair pins together. Jack’s eyes were on me the whole time. 

      “What are you doing?” He asked. 

I looked up at him, “Nothing.” I answer. I dropped the pins in my lap. Instead, I ripped off another strip of fabric from my dress and started to part my knotted up hair in attempt to keep it away from my face. 

I braided it back and tied the end off, dropping the braid on my left shoulder. 

     Jack’s eyes were still on me when I finished. 

        “Stare much?” I say while putting the paddle back into the water. 

The boat’s speed increases a little, now that both of us are paddling again.