As soon as they got to the tall, stone wall that marked winter’s seasonal border, Fenella’s driver was taken away in handcuffs and replaced with another limo driver. Fenella stared at him with wide eyes. He had light blue hair that faded into white at the tips. His clothes were dark blue. Fenella had never seen so much blue before in her life. The driver gave her a knowing smile.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he said.

The driver eased the limo through the border’s gate and Fenella’s jaw dropped. Everything was covered in snow. Evergreen trees covered in white dotted the landscape. The houses had icicles hanging from the roofs. Igloos and snowmen were in every yard and blue and white haired people were shoveling their driveways. Fenella drank it all in and suddenly she felt cold. She shivered and rubbed her arms. She had never been so cold! The air in the autumn territory was always pleasantly chill. How can people stand to be this cold? She took another look at the driver. He had a jacket on, but it wasn’t much thicker than the ones she wore at home. Maybe they were just used to it.

The driver pointed out all the interesting things the town had to offer while they drove down the street. He showed her the library, some popular cafes, and a bunch of parks.

“That’s the aquarium, that’s the ice skating rink, and that,” the driver pointed to a building that was at least four stories high, “is the Art Museum of Art.” On one side of the museum was a giant mural of a woman dressed in luxurious clothes holding a baby. “That lady on the side right there is the lost queen of the winter territory. Legend has it that she fell in love with someone from a different season and ran away to live with him in secret. She was never found.”

Fenella gazed up at the mural. “She looks like a younger version of my mom,” she whispered, “and the baby looks a little like me.”

The driver shrugged. “I’m sure that's purely coincidental and will never come up again. Anyways, we're almost at Winter Academy. That’s your new school.”

The limo pulled into a long driveway leading up to the high school. The school wasn’t really fancy or prestigious. It looked like a normal public school. The walls were white and the roofs were blue. Students played in the snow and some were even building ice sculptures. The driver parked the limo in a fire zone and opened Fenella's door for her. She took her suitcase and followed him around the edge of the school to a small shack nestled in the far back corner of the property.

The driver gently pushed the shack’s door open and motioned for Fenella to take a look inside. “This is where you'll be staying.”

Fenella peeked her head through the doorway and gasped dramatically. The room was much smaller than Fenella's room back home. The walls were painted an icy blue and white curtains were draped over the windows. A daybed with comforters covered in snowflake designs stood against the left side wall. A white dresser with a snowflake shaped mirror had been pushed against the opposite wall. There was a door beyond it leading to a bathroom and a door by the daybed leading to a closet.

“Oh,” Fenella said. “This is nice. Definitely cozy.”

“Do you like it?”

“Well…Give me a little bit of time to mourn my past reality and grow an attachment to this new one." Fenella paused for ten seconds. “I love it! Winter is amazing!”

“Perfect! Class starts promptly at seven and you’re free to explore the school grounds until then. Also, since your parents aren’t here, you’re legally the responsibility of the school, so you’re not allowed the leave campus for any reason whatsoever.”

“Wait, really? Then why did you show me around town before bringing me here?”

“So you’ll always know that there’s a winter wonderland right outside the school gates that you will never get to experience. You should have stayed in the autumn territory where you belong.”

The last sentence was full of such vitriol that it took a minute for Fenella to process it. She felt like she had been slapped. She didn’t have a response to his sudden hostility, but the limo driver didn’t give her any time to answer anyway. He thrust a piece of paper into her hands and Fenella looked it over. It was her class schedule.

“My name is Principal SnowHills. You may refer to me as Principal Principal SnowHills. That’s right, I was secretly the principal the entire time! I’ve been the principal of this school since before you were born. The Seasons Council may have forced me to allow you entry, but mark my words if your grades slip even one point below a C, I will send you packing back to the autumn territory!”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“You're the principal?” Fenella sputtered. “And you were posing as a limo driver to see what I was like before taking me to Winter Academy?”

“No, limo driving is just a side job. Remember to rate five stars.” He kicked over her suitcase, like any professional principal would, and all her belongings fell out onto the floor. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

Fenella watched him go and flinched when he slammed the door shut. She sat in silence, too afraid to leave the shack. If that’s how the principal was going to treat her, she could only imagine what the students would do. Still, her parents presumably worked hard to get her here and she wasn’t just going to throw away their efforts. There was nothing she could do about her brown hair, but she might be able to get a hold of some winter territory clothing. She gathered her stuff from the floor, and then gathered her courage and set out to find some new clothes.

Fenella went into the school through the back entrance. The halls were empty, but Fenella could see through the windows on the doors that the classrooms were full. She looked down at her schedule. The bell for recess (because what high school doesn’t have recess?) would ring in about ten minutes. She bit her lip and thought. Schools didn’t have clothing stores and she couldn’t risk leaving school grounds with the crazy principal looking for any excuse to get rid of her. The only place she could find winter clothes would be in the locker rooms, and they’d already be owned. Fenella couldn’t risk losing her sweet and relatable depiction by stealing, but maybe if she went and looked pathetic enough, someone would take pity on her and give her their clothes.

Despite this being the first time she’s set foot in this school, Fenella knew exactly where to go. She snuck around the halls, careful to dodge any hall monitors running around, and ducked into the girl’s locker room. She wandered the empty room for a few minutes until she found a locker that was slightly ajar.

“I’m not stealing. I’m just looking,” she muttered to herself.

Inside the locker were clothes that were exactly her size. They were also the same cut as the ones she was wearing now. They were just in winter colors instead of fall. The leggings had snowflakes on them, the shirt was light blue, and the skirt was blue and white. They were perfect.

A voice behind her startled Fenella. “You look lost and pathetic and like you’re about to do something bad that would ruin your sweet, but relatable depiction.”

“It’s sweet and relatable,” Fenella said. “And no I wasn’t! Didn’t you hear my external monologue about not stealing just looking?”

“You know darn well we're legally forbidden to hear other people's asides,” the girl said. “Anyway, my name is Nitro and why are you snooping through my locker? And where did you get those clothes? I’ve only ever seen clothes like that on TV.”

“I-”

“They look so cool, but weird, too. I like the colors.”

“Well-”

“Though, I like blue much better. It’s my favorite. I like really dark blue and you can tell because that’s all I wear. Lots of people wear different shades of blue and white, but I’m all about dark blue.”

“Um.”

“I love it so much. Do you like dark blue? Anyway, where did you get those clothes? And why is your hair brown? I’ve never seen brown hair except on TV, which is also where I see clothes like that, too.”

Fenella stayed quiet and waited for Nitro to interrupt again. It seemed Nitro ran out of things to say because she stayed completely silent. Fenella studied Nitro, trying to decide if she was worth trusting or not. Nitro was shorter than her and when she spoke, her voice was high and innocent sounding. Logically, that meant she was nice and trustworthy.

“I… I’m a transfer student from the autumn territory.”

“Really?” Nitro gasped. “That’s so cool! What’s it like there? Is it true there’s no snow? What do you guys do without snow? Do you actually have leaves all over the ground? All we have are pine trees! Do you celebrate Christmas? Do-"

“Nitro, take a breath!” Fenella said. “It’s great there, but I can’t go back. My parents will be so upset. I have to make my stay here as easy as possible and to start, I need to find some winter clothes.”

“You’ll never fit in with brown hair. No one has brown hair here. It’s all blue, light blue, and white. Hair dye doesn’t exist for some reason.”

Fenella reached into her pocket and pulled out a wad of twenty-dollar bills to casually remind you that she was from the richest family in the autumn territory. “Here. I’ll give you this if you let me take your extra clothes.”

“They won’t fit you. I’m way shorter than you.”

“No, they fit perfectly. This is high-school-friends logic.”

“Oh, okay. But no, you can’t take them.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to learn how to love yourself for who you are! Clothes won’t make you happy! Standing up for yourself in the face of mockery will make you stronger and it builds character! Besides, you are a representative of the autumn territory. If people see you walking around in winter clothes, they’ll think the autumn territory is so bad that its inhabitants will take any other season they can get.”

“I guess I never thought of it that way,” Fenella said. “I would never do something that would make my season look bad.”

“Tomorrow’s your first day of school, right?” Nitro said.

“Of course. All new students start their first day in the middle of the school week,” Fenella said.

“And I’m sure we coincidentally have all the same classes, right?”

“Sounds right to me.”

“Then I’ll show you around and introduce you to all my friends! And if anyone tries to pick on you, I’ll be right by your side, being picked on, too! Tomorrow is the first day of your new life!”