Fenella wasted no time in getting to the park. She didn’t like how upset Nitro sounded over the phone. It took until the end of the call for Fenella to even process the hostility in Nitro's voice, but Nitro was always a little over the top. Was she legitimately angry or just annoyed? Was she mad at Fenella? No way. Getting her together with Winston was her idea. Why would she be mad at Fenella for it? Still, Fenella was frightened.
When Fenella arrived, she saw Nitro standing on a snowy hill with Polar and Dahlia by her side. Fenella's eyes narrowed, but it didn’t seem like Dahlia was causing any trouble. They had their backs to Fenella and didn’t respond when she ran up with the diamond encrusted coffee cup in her hands.
“Nitro?” Fenella asked. “I got the coffee.”
Nitro took it out of her hands and chugged it down in less than ten seconds. She threw the cup on the ground and pointed down the hill. Fenella followed her finger and saw Winston Winter talking to someone she had never seen before.
The new girl was tall and very pretty. She had a light blue heart on her cheek and a baby blue sun hat on her head. Her hair was long and she played with it flirtatiously as she spoke to Winston. Winston was smiling and laughing with her and didn’t move away when she got too close.
“Oh no,” Fenella whispered.
“You got that right,” Dahlia snarled. “That hussy thinks she can move in on my man?”
“Looks like she can,” Polar scoffed. “Look at them! They’ve only known each other for an hour!”
“What’s the story?” Fenella asked.
“New girl,” Nitro said. “Just moved here today from across the Winter Territory. She’s from the second richest family and she has a pet alpaca.”
“No, no this isn’t right at all!” Fenella said. “She’s not plain! She’s gorgeous! Gorgeous people aren’t supposed to be the heros of stories!”
Dahlia tossed her hair. “Unless they have tragic childhoods.”
“Which she doesn’t have!” Nitro said. “Her life is perfect! Loving family, lots of friends, upbeat personality! She already has it made. Why does she need Winston?”
The reality of the situation slowly dawned on Fenella. Without Winston asking his mother to put in a good word for her to the king, she’ll never get through First Round. She’ll flunk out of school and get sent back to the Autumn Territory. Her parents will be devastated and she’ll never see Polar or Nitro again! She’ll never get to see the snow ever again!
“We can’t let her get away with this!” Fenella cried. “I need Winston way more than she does!”
“You?” Dahlia said. “Who's the one with the tragic backstory here? How am I supposed to fill the empty hole in my heart without a perfect boyfriend?”
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Fenella let out an aggravated sigh. “Look, I only need him until the end of First Round. If you help us get him away from the new girl, I’ll break up with him when we're done with the tests and you can keep him. Deal?”
Dahlia gritted her teeth. “Deal.”
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Back at the Winter Academy high school, Principal Principal SnowHills was making his rounds around the campus to make sure everything was neat and orderly. The kids have gone home for the day and the teachers were sleeping peacefully under their desks. Everything was in perfect condition. There was only one place left to inspect and he groaned at the thought of seeing Fenella's shack.
She probably trashed it. Those Autumn Territory folks have no respect for their homes! Principal Principal SnowHills stormed up to Fenella's door and knocked. No response. He knocked again and still Fenella did not respond.
She must have snuck out! That’s grounds for immediate expulsion!
Principal Principal grabbed the doorknob and threw open the door. He frowned when he saw Fenella standing in the middle of the room. She looked a little thinner than normal and she wasn’t moving, but there was no doubt that it was her. He could tell by the hair.
“Why didn’t you answer me when I knocked?” he demanded.
Fenella didn’t say anything.
“Ignoring me won’t make me go away. When I ask a question, students need to answer!”
No reply. The principal groaned.
“Look, I know you probably think I’m the bad guy, but I’m doing what’s right for the Winter Territory. Exchanging students will lead to exchanging colors! And that will lead to free travel across the territories and that would lead to chaos! Can you imagine how terrifying it would be if all the seasons just combined and changed every few months? There would be pandemonium!”
No word came from Fenella.
“Fine, be like that. After First Round, you’ll be out of this school and out of the good people of Winter's lives forever!”
The principal left the shack and still Fenella didn’t say anything.
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Night was coming up fast, but Winston and the new girl were still talking, and Fenella's group was still spying. They discreetly made their way closer to the couple to try to hear what they were talking about. It wasn’t anything interesting. They were just telling stories about their lives and sharing their hobbies and interests.
“Boring,” Nitro hissed.
“Shh!” Dahlia peeked out from behind the bush they were hiding behind. “I need to know if his favorite color is blue or white. I need to know what our wedding decorations will look like.”
The new girl started talking and Fenella strained her ears to hear. She had learned her name was Kate and her voice was sweet and soft.
“I’m nervous about my first day at school tomorrow,” Kate said. “Going from homeschool to public school seems like a really big step.”
Fenella gasped. Homeschool? How was she supposed to compete with that? Being homeschooled and then going to a public school was like main character 101!
“And main characters always get the guy,” Fenella muttered.
“Maybe we can do something to make her less main,” Nitro said.
“Me and my girls can pick on her,” Dahlia said.
“No! That will make it worse!”
“I can try to date her,” Polar offered. “It’ll keep her away from Winston.”
“No!” Nitro cried. “That will just make her seem more desirable! This is a nightmare!” She paused. “I can set her on fire.”
“No!” the other three yelled.
“Well, do you have a better plan?”
“Maybe we can just ask her to stay away from Winston,” Fenella said.
“Maybe we can murder her,” Dahlia snarled.
“I’m down for the murdering,” Polar said.
Fenella gaped at them. “You guys!”
“What?” Polar shrugged. “We don’t want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose Winston!” Dahlia cried.
“Wait, you’re fine with murdering her, but not with me setting her on fire?”
“Guys, enough!” Fenella said. “I’m okay with a little competition. I’ll just win Winston the old fashioned way. By being sweet and cute and asking for help studying.”
The four stopped when they heard Kate giggling over something Winston said. Nitro frowned. “Okay, but if that doesn’t work, I’m getting the matches out.”