Frost on the Green (The Green Girl sequel) ✓

Chapter 6

Alice's POV

"This place is huge," Beth marveled as we stood before the University of Aberville. "Sky is going to get lost here so many times."

"Hey, I'm standing right next to you, you know," her twin resented. "Besides, I got a map of this place. See?" He showed us an already dog-eared large piece of paper.

"It's upside down," Keegan noted after barely glancing at the map.

"What? No! What makes you say that?"

"The letters are upside down."

"Oh... Yeah..." Sky turned the paper. "So now we are..." His gaze raked over the map and he furrowed his brows. "We are..."

"Here," Asher pointed out.

"Right where it says "entrance"," Keegan added.

"Yep! We won't be seeing my brother for the next few days," Beth shook her head with a sigh.

"Don't worry," Kee grabbed Sky by the hand. "We are in the same faculty building so I'll keep an eye on him, Beth."

The two boys headed left.

"And I'm over there," Asher pointed out to one of the nearest premises which was to our right. "What about you girls?"

"We are all the way to the back," his girlfriend replied, studying a map identical to that of her brother. "Right next to the Chemistry faculty and the labs."

We walked Asher to his destination, mindful not to bump into anyone from the large swarm of students hurrying to their first classes for the year.

"See you in about an hour," the boy said as he kissed Beth, making her giggle.

"Three minutes and counting," I pointed out a little later.

"Huh?"

"That is how long it's been since you and Ash kissed goodbye and yet you're still grinning."

"Oh, Alice, I can't control it! We've been dating for months but I can't help but feel giddy each time we kiss. It's like an eternal honeymoon without the marriage part of course," she added, the smile finally leaving her face. "And speaking of marriage: have Will and Flora chosen a date yet?"

"No, they aren't in a hurry. Besides, both of them want a small gathering for the ceremony so it wouldn't need too much preparation. Their wedding is not going to be like any of Elanor's."

"Speaking of your mother: how are things between you?" My best friend inquired cautiously, just as we'd reached our building.

I puffed.

"Weird. She's actually trying to bond with me but after so many years of keeping her distance... Whenever we attempt a conversation we end up in this really awkward silence. We just don't know how to talk to each other."

"Oh, Alice..." Bethany wrapped her arm around my shoulders in a sideways hug. "The important thing is that you are both trying."

"Yeah, I guess..."

The two of us entered the classroom and a boy about our age immediately straitened up, giving Beth a charming smile. She returned it with a polite one but made sure to pick us a couple of seats as far away as possible from that guy. As soon as we took our places, my friend opened one of her study books and started to browse through it.

"Oh, this might be a fun lesson," she commented, showing me the title. "But the next few seem complicated..."

She kept on talking until our teacher came in but I wasn't really listening to her. Once the thought of Elanor got into my head, it was difficult to chase it out.