The Huntress Book 1 Memories by Mihaela Gheorghe

touching
us both. I looked up. Large snowflakes, very large snowflakes,
began to drop on us. It was snowing.
    My hand was in his hand.
    My other hand was on his cheek.
    His yellow-orange eyes looked at my blue
ones.
    And standing so, we seemed frozen in the snow
that had just begun...

Chapter Seven
    It's Christmas Eve. It has no special
significance for me. On the contrary, it gives me a greater feeling
of bitterness. My experience has taught me that it's better you do
not want anything, but to desire and be disappointed. I gave up
with many years ago masking wishes. And Christmas is the time when
people make their wishes that supposedly come true. Well, magic
never worked for me.
    I love to see snow-covered town and glitters.
Everywhere there are colored lights. It seems to me that people are
even better, more sympathetic throughout the atmosphere.
    I get along with Sky quite well. With Dane,
almost the same. Why almost? For I do not know why, but around him,
I feel a sort of embarrassment which leads me to be prickly and
ironic. As if I should stay away from anything. For when the first
snow fell and I realized that somehow incomprehensible, he's as
lonely as me, our relations have improved.
    We cordially talk often in the schoolyard, or
in high school, or at the river. Sometimes we laugh together. We
come together at school and leave all together. Of course, not
quite home or from home. Most times Sky is us. However, as I
already said, I feel awkward in Dane’s presence.
    Because... He has moments when he looks at me
strange again, as then, by the river, when he mocked me. Of course
I have not forgotten it, and whenever I remember it, I get mad.
Therefore, I respond a little gruff when Sky catches me and asks
me:
    “Hey, have you thought about what you're
doing tomorrow, at the Christmas Ball?”
    “Oh, my God, you made me crazy with
this!”
    He looks a little blank of my a little edgy
reply.
    “Are you, at least, coming at the Ball?”
    The idea itself is very queer. /’No.’/ I want
to laugh.
    “Me? At the Ball? I think you're totally
scatty if you can imagine my presence at such an event.”
    He opens his mouth as if he wants to say
something, but he stops.
    “Anyway, I thought maybe you wanted to go
with me. Or with Dane or with both of us.”
    And then he launches himself into a verbose
that terrifies me.
    “Come on, you just think about it.” he
insists. ”Do not worry about the dress, corsage and shoes. We will
give them to you as a gift...”
    He suddenly stops when he sees my horrified
eyes.
    “What? I do not need anyone's pity and
charity; I thought you understood that much about me. Who needs
silk dresses and shoes, when people are starving? These are
garbage! Trash!”
    “Pat, do not misunderstand me...”
    “I do not interpret anything wrong.” I cut
him short. “And because I am not going to argue with you, I think
I'll go now.”
    I see my way, gnashing my jaws. However, I do
not feel quite so mad at him. Rather mad at myself, because
although it's not a practical thing, but on the contrary, useless,
I realize that I would have wanted to see how I look in a princess
dress. I hear behind me Dane's voice that speaks to Sky.
    “Who's the fool now?”
    I don’t look back. I keep going. If there's
anything I've learned in all these years is that the best thing you
can do is to not cry the spilled milk. Skip everything and then
move on. You might believe that I speak too much in stereotypes.
And you just may be right. But believe me when I say that our lives
are themselves some stereotypes.
    It started to snow again. I love it. Because
when it's snowing, it's warmer than when it's sunny during the
winter season. People are smiling more. That's clear. Even now they
get around. It's as if they’re too preoccupied to give more
attention to me.
    They flock in shops and boutiques to buy
gifts, at the last minute. To make pleasure to other people besides
themselves. Perhaps for real, Christmas is a