Snow (A Snow White Remix)

chapter thirteen

Eli's notes on his next piece were literally all over the place. A notebook here, a napkin there, his lunch receipt. He had a portion of it recorded and waiting for him on his computer at home. He could kick himself for not putting it all in one spot, but over the last day or so, his creative mind was an unstoppable force. And he, worried he'd lose any precious bit of it, had written it all down on anything he had in front of him.

And this time, praise Creator, he even had the makings of lyrics.

His muse truly was magical. He couldn't remember being this excited to get his work down since he started making music. It always surprised him—how something so central to who he was had somehow become more of a daunting task than fun.

"Eli!"

"Hey, Eli!"

"Dude!"

Eli strolled the hallway after fourth period. His next period was a free period, so he wasn't in a rush. Professor Valenti wasn't strict about kids being exactly on time. Which was good because he was hoping to stop down at his locker all the way on the other side of the academy. He had a desperate urge to work on his song, and his laptop in his locker would be the best tool.

Halfway there, a soft hand wrapped around his arm. "Eli, do you have a second?"

Eli blinked out of his daze and glanced down slightly at Felicity. "Oh, hey."

Felicity had her hair artfully arranged in a messy bun. At his greeting, she smiled. "Hey there. You still with us?"

"The aliens haven't tried to kidnap me yet, so I think we're good."

Felicity's eyebrow twitched as the joke rolled right off her. A pity. Nora would have at least given him a snort for his effort. And, if he was lucky, an eye roll.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I wanted to check in and see how everything was going," Felicity said. At his confused expression, she added. "With Nora."

"Ah," Eli scratched the back of his head. He wasn't able to wear his beanies or hats during school hours, and without them, he felt a little naked. His hair wasn't curly, but it had a tendency to be all over the place, which is why he always kept it short. "Things are good."

"Good." Felicity's shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry, I know she can be a little much."

Now he was really confused. "She's great, actually."

Felicity put a hand on her chest. "Thank Creator. She told me she went to your house the other day, and I know your family's big. I worried she might embarrass herself in front of them."

Embarrass herself? He couldn't imagine Nora embarrassing herself. She was one of the most put-together people he knew. Other than his brother Jackson. He couldn't imagine her freaking out over anything. At least not externally. She must keep everything trapped inside.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't know a lot about Nora. Not enough to make a full judgment on who she was. He didn't know what she liked and what she didn't. He could count on one hand all the things he knew about her.

She was a mystery. One he was ready to investigate further.

"I don't think Nora could ever be an embarrassment," he told her.

Felicity glanced around the packed hallway, noted the heavy amount of students as if this was the first time she realized where she was and gestured at the empty classroom a few feet from them.

Curious and maybe a little perturbed, Eli gestured for her to go in front of him.

Felicity was a popular girl. She had a good head on her shoulders. She would have to to be as successful on Musetunes as she was. Producing music wasn't as simple as posting a song and calling it a day. If someone wanted to grow their profile, they had to put marketing behind it and develop a platform. Eli had gotten all his tips from learning from the top artists around him. If he didn't have people around him with a heavy understanding of the site and the trends, he'd be lost among the sea of other artists.

They were in the history hallway so the classroom they stepped into was awash with bright colored educational posters of the Sarias kingdom's government, maps of the terrain along with timelines of the major technological and political advancements of the kingdom.

"I don't want to make a big deal of anything," Felicity told him, "but there's something I have to tell you about Nora."

He wasn't sure what Felicity could have to say about Nora. Unless she had some type of crazy past.

When Jackson found out Eli was bringing her to the palace, he'd done a background check on her. It was a requirement for anyone who visited the palace outside of the tours. There wasn't anything alarming in the report Jackson mentioned. Nora laid low. She had no criminal record. Other than the tragic loss of her mother to cancer and her father to a heart attack, she had an almost boring life.

Felicity curled a small blondish strand escaping from her bun behind her ear. "I didn't want to say anything, but the two of you seem to be getting close so I thought I should warn you."

Eli's eyes narrowed, "Warn me about what?"

Felicity bit her lip and hesitated. "Nora can be..."

He raised an eyebrow and waited.

"She has a tendency to lie. I don't think she can help it, to be honest. It's compulsive, really. But it's like the words just come out of her mouth and she does nothing to stop them."

"Like how?"

Felicity shrugged. "I think she has a desperate want to be a part of things. I've had her tell people she writes my music sometimes. And even with my friends, she'll say she runs their Musetunes pages. Some really ridiculous things."

Eli frowned. He didn't quite get that vibe from Nora. But maybe he either caught nothing, or she hadn't lied to him yet. He knew Felicity a little better than he knew Nora, and they'd always got along well.

"Thanks for the heads up," he said. "I'm sure we'll be okay."

Felicity nodded and stepped back towards the doorway. "Just, don't count it against her, okay? She's been through a lot and I don't want it to impact any friendship you two might have."

Eli put a comforting hand on her elbow. "It won't," he confirmed. "Thank you for the warning."