Through The Ice

Through The Ice ch2

             Through The Ice

CHAPTER TWO: Shimmer

Stephanie intertwined her long, pale fingers with mine. "You look shaken up," She said to me in her calm, soothing voice. Like a light breeze on a Saturday night. Before I could answer, Tawny got right to the point, "Well, yes, you see, Steph, we need to talk about something strange we encountered in the forest."

Stephanie and Rosalie nodded and smiled, these two come close second when it comes to new stories and gossip. And Tawny, of course, takes the lead.

I pushed through the nectar café's thin, cotton curtain and breathed in the sweet smell of fresh nectar in the air. Tiny bells sounded every time the entrance curtain was moved or blown by the wind. "Can I help you?" A young looking girl behind the counter asked.

"Give us five snail shells of rose nectar, and make it the warm kind." Stephanie ordered. She's the most demanding in our group, and you learn after a while that it's senseless to argue with her.

"Are you sure, snail shells are enormous, and rose nectar isn't too cheap either." The girl protested.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, I know! I want five snail shells of rose nectar!" The girl seemed startled by Stephanie's stubborn attitude and hurried off to go make out drinks.

"I don't have enough coins for rose nectar, Stephanie, so I'm just going to order something else..." I stopped talking and held out my hand filled with four wooden coins out to Stephanie. "Relax Tori, I'm treating you all for a free snail shell!"

We group hugged Stephanie. "Eh, here is your nectar." A little voice came from behind the counter. The girl seemed a bit frightened of Stephanie and clearly didn't want to upset her again. I giggled and took a shell from the tray in her arms. "Thank you." I said and waited for the others to take their drinks too.

Stephanie paid for our nectar and we went to sit in the corner booth. We told them about the weird fish in the ice- to be quite frank, Tawny did most of the talking- and then Stephanie said, "We can go camp out there Friday night under the full moon, and then maybe we'll see some sugarflies and ladyslugs and maybe we can figure this out on our own." It sounded bizarre. Our parents would murder us and toast us when we're still alive if they even knew we even going into the forest, never mind going there almost every day and going right through it to the Everlands. So why would they give us permission to go camp out under a giant frozen fish?

Tawny pointed that out to Stephanie and she sighed. Crystal widened her blue eyes and I thought I had seen a spark skittering deep within them. "I know what to do!" She claimed and sipped her rose nectar. Her lips were already a soft pink. "We just tell our parents we're at each others' houses! For example, you all say you're at mine and I say I'm at Rosalie's." A naughty smile played around the corner of her lips. "Okay," We agreed simultaneously, and sipped our rose nectar.

Light flashed and I wondered again what it is. It happens when it shimmers, and that's what we all know and the smartest of scientists can't even explain why.

"Tori, would you mind bringing me my shimmer comb?" Mom called from the bathroom, I know this because her voice sounds loud and lonely- a sound only a bathroom can create. I stood up from the couch at the window and searched through mom's drawers. "I can't find it!" I shouted to mom from where I was standing in her room.

"It's in the bottom drawer of my dresser, and change that tone in your voice Tori!"

She's right- I am grumpy, but in my defense I wanted to look at the shimmer. I found the comb and went through the bathroom curtain. "Oh gosh!" I yelled slashing both my hands (still clutching the shimmer comb) in front of my eyes. Mom was already undressed and in the shower! "Now, now. Don't make a fuss, just give me the comb!" She said sternly.

"You could've at least warned me." I complained while I walked to the shower with one hand clutching the comb before me and the other still over my eyes. I heard the shower door opening and felt the comb gently being taken from my awaiting hand. I exited the bathroom and made myself comfortable on the oak couch. I watched through the window. Little fairy girls were playing a strange game in the street, and even a couple that looked a year or two older than me danced in the soft shimmer. They all had on their bathing suits and hats, enjoying the fine weather.

I smiled by myself, probably every house's showers were shocked up with fairies like mom. Only two years back some guy invented this thing called the 'shower'- it's a square with some crystal walls and one of them slides open so you can enter (He calls that a 'door'). When it shimmers, you go stand in the middle of your floor to ceiling shower and enjoy the smooth tickling sensation as the shimmer falls directly onto your naked, bare skin and no one will see you. It basically helps you absorb the maximum shimmer into your skin to stay powerful and energized.

All of these talking of shimmer made my body ache of lust. It longs for that touch...The warmth...The gentle tickling...The sweetness that you only get from eating a really delicious and ripe strawberry.

I stood up and went to sit on the porch's steps. The shimmer falls right onto me and decorates my skin with sprinkles of gold. I don't really need shimmer since I don't have special abilities and all, but I still like the feeling it gives me.

"Hey sweetie pie." A voice interrupted my thoughts. I'll know his voice anywhere because it's Evan's. I've had a crush on him since ever, but he doesn't seem to notice.

We go way back to second grade, when I was so fragile and self-conscious and bullied that I sat at the top of the highest blumbleberry tree every break and stroked Lee- who was my pet ladybug at the time, but unfortunately she died a year ago.

One break time I was up there again when Evan joined me. We sat in silence and he shared his flapplepie. He walked me home and told me the exact words that he told me now. He said, "I like you Tori, you're special."

I half smiled but still looked in front of me and into drizzle of shimmer with glazed eyes.

"Not in the mood, hey?"

I still didn't answer him. He sat down next to me on the steps and held out a blumbleberry sprinkled with gold thanks to the shimmer. "Thanks." I said very softly and took it. We chewed in silence and my thoughts raced back to that first break with him.

"You're my best friend Tori." Evan said between bites. I focused on the delicious half eaten blumbleberry...But I could not ignore Evan. He laughed at my silence and ruffled my hair, "Love you Tori." He said and chuckled more.

"Love you too." I replied, but I wish he knew I truly meant it.