10 : Phone Call

It was highly surprising that Ashley had felt no fear, no averse and no trouble whatsoever when she had been with him. I knew he wouldn't have hurt her, or he wouldn't have saved her when she had fainted. Still, she had wanted him to leave her. She had wanted to be alone for a few minutes and try to remember the details of what she had seen. But when he finally left, though, she couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. "Damn that man. I swear he himself is crazy and is trying to make me crazy, too" she whispered to herself later. Or maybe she was just feeling lonely...After all, it had been long ago, that she had last spoken to any of her school friends.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of him from her thoughts - that worthless git of a prince! She needed to remember... "Show me!" she whispered to herself. "Oh my extraordinary brain, try to remember!" Ashley thought she did remember something...a faint light hanging in mid-air. Couldn't be though...it felt so unreal. Gross! Her extraordinary brain was getting mouldy! She shivered. It was getting colder, too. She needed to get back home.

***

"You are terribly late, missus," her mother chastised her when she returned. Ashley brushed the snow off her shoulders and hair, then took off her brown boots. She went to her mother and slowly put her arms around her shoulder. "I love you, mom. So give it a rest, okay? I'm terribly hungry now."

She immediately melted. Nice bribing! Ashley smiled triumphantly. Arabella patted her back. "Of course, Ashley dear. Your dinner is ready in the kitchen. I'll go bring it."

Ashley sat down on the chair, brushing her strawberry-blonde hair. Her mother brought her some veg-sandwiches, then went back upstairs to help Cara with her homework. Ashley started eating them, while thinking about that very long day. Suddenly - Ring Ring!

She sighed before picking up the receiver. "Hello, Ashley Turner of Peterkin Street speaking on the line. Who is this?"

"Cut off the mature act, Ashley."

"Oh my gosh," she squeaked before she had even finished her sentence. "How are you, Liz? Long time no see! Or rather, long time no hear."

"Haha! I am great! We had gone to New York, and you know the connection to Harkenland from any other place is terrible. So I couldn't call you. Anyway, you're coming to school tomorrow, right? You know, classes are reopening."

"Of course," she muttered drily. "Is that why you had called your bestie? To spoil her mood by reminding her?"

"Uh...not exactly. I'd tried calling you earlier, you know. But you weren't at home," Liz replied with a little giggle.

"I was...um...at Lila's. Taking homework help." See what a genius liar she was?

"Of course you were, you dumb girl!" Liz laughed loudly. "Anyway, how was today's regulation tour experience?"

Ashley narrowed her eyes, though Liz couldn't see her. "What do you mean?"

"You know what. I'm talking about the prince. Wasn't he so...breathtakingly handsome?" she said with a small squeak of a fan-girl.

Ashley almost choked on her sandwich, and ended up coughing violently.

"Hey, are you okay?" Liz asked worriedly from the other end of the line.

"Gah! What happened to your sense of beauty, Liz?" she asked sarcastically. Liz giggled. "Oh come on, don't deny it. He was just flawless!"

As if!

"Physically he might be, but mentally he isn't. He is murderous, did you know?" Ashley asked in a serious tone. Jeez! She felt terrible, unfairly insulting him behind his back, since he certainly hadn't murdered her, but she had no choice. She had to insult him if she was to save Liz from falling for the monster that he was.

"Aw Ashley, you won't understand...sigh! Are you even a girl?! I doubt it!" Liz said with a whine.

"Yes of course I am!" Ashley shrieked, frowning.

"I don't know...if you really were, then you would've understood Drakon's hotness."

Yet again, she ended up choking on my sandwich, and this time it was not because Liz had called him 'hot'... "Wait a minute! Did you just call him Drakon?!" she asked her, shocked.

"Yeah, because that's his name. My father had told me. He works for the king, you know. Why is his name such a surprise?"

"Just...asking. Funny name, isn't it? Anyway, I've got to go now, Liz. See you tomorrow," she immediately cut the line.

You're not good at hiding, Drakon, though you might think you are.

It was just a weird dream, Ashley tried to convince herself. It was just a coincidence! It wasn't him she was dreaming of! There were so many other people in this world whose names were either Drakon or something similar. There were so many variations of the name, too. It couldn't be him. The probability for that was too small to even be considered.

Wasn't it?

No, it wasn't.

Yes, it was!

"Ugh!" she groaned. She was feeling ill all of a sudden, and legs were feeling weak. It was as if they had turned to jelly. "Who is this person I dream of, then? If only I could see his face."

"Ashley! What happened?" her mother, who had just entered the room, rushed towards her and asked in a worried tone. "Why are you on the floor? Had you fainted? Are you sick? Are you-"

"Mom, I am okay!" She hadn't even realized when she had slid onto the floor.

"You are cold!"

"It's okay, mother. It's a cold country, remember? Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to room. I need to go to bed early tonight. I have school tomorrow." She frowned at the thought of tomorrow. She hated going to school! She hated confined study! She hated it when the teachers scolded her for not finishing her homework! She hated exams! Okay, she should stop ranting, too.

Her mother looked at her suspiciously for a few seconds before returning back to her normal calm gaze. "Off you go, then. But make sure you pack your bag before going to sleep!"

Ashley nodded, then got up up from the floor. Clumsily, she made my way upstairs. Sleep was nowhere within her reach, yet she felt strangely drowsy. Maybe she was just tired. Ashley looked at her messy table. She had to pack her bag, too. Maybe later, she decided. She went over to her window and placed her forehead on a cold pane, watching it snow.

It was terribly beautiful outside. Almost, frighteningly beautiful. Why was she thinking that? She wasn't supposed to like either the snow or the cold. But somewhere deep within, she couldn't deny the fact that she enjoyed and loved snow-fall. Somewhere along the line, she had become quite attached to it. She watched as the tiny flakes fell and settled lightly on the ground, like beautiful white flower petals falling from the far-away heaven into the night. Ashley smiled sadly. This was her reality and how it always would be. Because no matter how much she loved snow, the bright and lovely sun was always in her heart. But Harkenland would never heal, would it? It couldn't return to how it was years ago, would it?

Then her mind drifted back to Drakon. Was he really the person from her dreams? If yes, then what did it signify? Did he dream the same thing, too, or was it just her?

Most importantly, why were there so many important but unanswered questions in her mind? Oh god, why her of all other people?