Snow Princess

Chapter 13: "The Player"

So it wasn't really a problem that there was a player within the orphanage. Just like every school, there will have a guy that will be a player. In an orphanage though, there were only so many girls to pick and choose from. It made me uncomfortable to sit in front of "the player" because he wouldn't stop bothering me.

         Ryan had been touching my hair, which made me tense up, all throughout Mrs. Clabourg's lessons about the natural nature of woman. The whole class period, I tried to listen to what she had said, but failed. The only thing that I could remember from that lesson was her speaking about how woman have a balance system between physical attraction towards men and an emotional one.

         The rest of the time that she talked, I was too busy being uncomfortable with the fact that Ryan was behind me touching my hair, passing me weird notes, and whispering dirty things in my ear. I didn't understand how a guy did these things. Ryan could have had a chance to even talk to me when I showed up.

         The things that he wrote on the notes were like pick up lines that guys with no good intentions would say. I received and read one that said, "What does it feel like to be the most beautiful girl in this room?" and, "Hello, I'm a thief, and I'm here to steal your heart." The guy couldn't make up anything original. Pick up lines were so old and so over-used.

         Then there were the dirty things that he whispered into my ear. I wondered if he thought that actually did the trick on girls, but I knew it wasn't working on me. I couldn't stand to hear anything, and every time he got close to my ear, I cringed away. I was starting to wonder if he was even getting the hint.

         Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Roman glaring at Ryan. It made me feel a little better to see that he cared for me. Gabe, on the other-hand, wasn't doing anything but writing things down into his journal. It made me wonder what he was always writing because I was pretty sure that he wasn't taking notes.

         As soon as it was time to head out back for tactics class with Mr. Eros, I got out of my seat quicker than a bullet. Roman had fallen in step with me along the way.

         "Hey," he said looking over to me with soft eyes.

         "Hey," I gave him a small smile.

         "Are you okay?" he asked me.

         "Um...I'm alright," I said.

         He didn't really seem convinced with that. When we were outside, I inhaled the salty freshness of the snow. It must have snowed the previous night or something. I felt the slight breeze flow through my hair, and it felt nice. It wasn't as cold as I expected it to be. It was like the first time here. It wasn't cold for me.

         I wasn't sure why they did their tactics training outside when it was like a snow land outside. I would say Ice land, if it were icy, but nothing screamed crystallized water to me. I looked over to where Eros was, and he didn't have anything around him but himself and a big circle drawn in the snow.

          "Looks like we're doing hand to hand combat," Roman told me, staying by my side.

          I looked to him with curiosity. "Hand to hand combat?"

          He was about to explain when Ryan came out of nowhere with his front spiked hairstyle. Now that I got a better look at him, he looked a little bit like Andrew Garfield. He was on one of the girl's posters from my past orphanage.

          "So you want to get rough with me Luna?" Ryan asked, stepping a little closer than I wanted him to be. It made me very uneasy  

          "Leave her alone," Roman said in a threateningly low voice. I didn't even understand how his voice could get that low. For a second after he said it, I thought he growled a little bit. Ryan thought so too because the look he gave Roman was like a thug ready to jump someone.