Summer's Frost

Chapter 9

       By the time Mrs. Hopper is finished with me, I just want to go back to my room and relax. But no. Mrs. Hopper taught me how to act "correctly". How to walk, talk, and curtsy. Don't look at one person for too long, don't talk to anyone longer than absolutely necessary. I'm still new; don't draw attention to myself. And then Eric saves me from Mrs. Hopper, only to take me somewhere for "preparation". So I get to go to my room, but I don't get to relax.

       As we get to my room, he tells me "Good luck" with a mischievous grin before shutting me in. I turn to face the four ladies standing silently, looking me over. They murmur to each other, gesturing occasionally. I feel very uncomfortable, shifting my weight from foot to foot. I feel like a display. Finally, one of them speaks up. She has a ratty bun of blonde hair and a round body.

       "Hello, there, sweety," she says slowly. "We are going to make you pretty for tonight." What's going on tonight? I wonder. "Okay? You'll be very pretty."

       "Stop talking like that, she's not some startled animal," A thin lady says, with a matching blonde bun. She looks me in the eye. "We are here to make sure you look presentable and pretty. Tonight, you will be introduced, and you will be presented as a lady of high status."

       Her words shock me. "What? Why? Why would I have any status?"

       "Everyone expects a special girl, so we will make you look like a special girl." She avoids my question, and begins shifting through the contents of the wardrobe. I sigh. The other three join her, glancing back at me every so often. "Why don't you go wash up? There are clean towels and undergarments in the bathroom." I realize she means for me to go take a shower. I hesitate, but soon find myself shutting the door behind me in the bathroom.

       After I'm finished with my shower and I dry off, I try on the "undergarments" they mentioned. Surprisingly, they fit. I get back into my familiar clothing. I go back out to face the ladies. They immediately tell me to undress.

      "What?" I hate undressing in the locker room at school in front of classmates, let alone in front of these ladies I've never met.

       "Don't worry, you don't have anything we've never seen," the thin lady says. It takes them a full five minutes to convince me to take off my shirt. Their facial expressions switch from impatience to surprise as soon as I lift my top over my head. I hug the cloth close to my chest, wondering why they're looking at me like that.

       "What is it?"

      "Well, maybe you do have something we've never seen." I look down at my torso. At first, I see nothing -- then I notice the image on the right side of my abdomen, above my hip bone. I wipe at it with my hand, but it won't come off. I wipe frantically until I accept that it isn't going anywhere. I have no memory of getting this tattoo, so I am freaking out just a little. I walk over to the vanity table and I tilt the mirror down. It's the size of my fist; a snowflake inside of a sun. Around the sun is a circle of leaves, their short stems twisted around each other's tips. Half the leaves are fall leaves, shades of red and orange. The other half are healthy green leaves. The sun is a fiery orange, and the snowflake is a soft blue. I gawk at the sharp, delicate details. Where did it come from? What is it?

       The seasons. This understanding comes to me automatically, as if it's newly remembered knowledge. The sun is summer, the snowflake winter. The leaves represent fall and spring.

       "I'm sure it has something to do with her.... special-ness," a third woman speaks. The others nod in agreement. "Never mind it. For now, finish undressing."

       I don't want to move on, I want to know about this unwelcome tattoo, but these ladies seem stubborn. Still uncomfortable, I shimmy out of my bottoms. That's as far as I'm going. Undergarments stay. Thankfully, they don't suggest otherwise. "Now what?"