𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒, diego hargreeves

THE WHITE VIOLIN.

AMBER HARGREEVES                                                                                                                               winter, 2005.

"nothing about the way you were treated seemed especially alarming until now."

BARELY SIXTEEN and my head is full of a new world. Powers and an academy I've been living in for the past three or four years.

I sit by the window ledge, watching the snowflakes fall in gentle drops, coating the ground in a thick layer of snow.

"It's pretty, right?" Ben's voice breaks me out of my trance, and my concentration slips as I glance over to him, a small smile taking over my features instantly.

"Yeah. I never saw snow back home." I admit, tucking my hair behind my ears to keep it in place as I fiddle with the earmuffs I'm holding, debating on going outside.

"It barely ever snows here, either. You wanna go out in it?" He questions, eyeing the earmuffs I'm holding.

I look at his hands, covered in stripy, knitted fingerless gloves and wonder if Grace has made some for me, too.

"I'll probably go out later." I finally respond, deciding against going out in the snow for the moment, enjoying it from behind the glass.

"Your loss." He grins at me. "Klaus and I just made a bobsled to take out into the garden."

"Let me know how that goes." I let out a short laugh, looking back outside and watching the snow fall.

"Will do, join us if you get bored, Ambs!"

That was the first time that anybody in the academy ever gave me a nickname. Anyone who isn't Diego, that is.

I place the earmuffs down on the window ledge, pushing myself off and landing on the heated wooden panels on the ground, walking around the academy in my fluffy Christmas socks.

When I reach the kitchen, Grace is in there making a batch of hot chocolate.

"Hi." I speak out first, trying not to sound awkward despite how out of place I feel as I sit down by the counter.

"Hello, dear." She smiles warmly at me, handing me a mug of hot chocolate before walking around the counter.

I watch as she tends to chores, cooking things that'll likely never be eaten and cleaning areas that have never before been touched.

"Do you ever get bored?" I ask her.

She turns to face me, placing her oven mitts down on the counter in front of me. "How do you mean, Amber?"

"Bored of doing all this work." I explain.

She pauses, her smile never faltering. "Well, think of it like this. Do you ever get bored of your powers?"

I think about it for a second or two, but how could I ever be bored of having superpowers?

"No?" I respond.

"Well, neither do I, except my superpower," She leans over, patting the top of my head. "Is being your mother."

A smile breaks out on my face, and I take a sip of the hot drink.

Sure, she's not my real mother, but I was adopted right after my birth and sold when I was twelve, so what difference does it make?

I focus my hearing to hear footsteps tracing towards the kitchen, and I turn to see Diego walking into the room.