Creatures of Snow Read Free

uncle that you only admit relation to when
absolutely necessary), had warned him to consider his application
very carefully. But really, what choice did he have?
    He had been denied by
REALM, the only school he would have wanted to go to. He had almost
made it in too. He had passed the entrance exam and went through
all the interviews with confidence. It wasn’t until they did the
background check and discovered his ‘short temper’ and ‘tendency
towards violence’ and his ‘near expulsion from primary school’ that
they decided to pass on his application.
    “Stupid. You think I don’t
know you better than that?” Al stood up and began to pace in front
of the stop. “You’re just being a lazy coward, as usual.” Al
wouldn’t even look at him. “You could have appealed your rejection
from REALM, but you didn’t, so how bad did you really want to get
in?”
    Sky sank even lower into
himself with a scowl.
    “ Why did you even apply to
Arche if you didn’t want to go?” Al stopped and finally looked
straight at him.
    “ Whatever! I can’t wait to
go!” He yelled, surprised at how violently it came out.
    “Why were you fighting
with those guys then?” Al’s own voice began to rise.
    Sky shot up, stepping
towards Al. “They were bullies, they deserved it.”
    Al stared hard at him, his
green marble eyes growing even larger, “Don’t tell me you didn’t
know who that guy was?! You would rather go to the Center of
Detention then go to Arche tomorrow. You’re on a path of self
inflicted, self destruction!”
    “I didn’t know him! They
were picking on some kids, so I stopped them, that’s all it
was!”
    “ You’re scared Sky, and
you need to face it!” Al tried as hard as he could to be up in
Sky’s face.
    “Really,” he laughed, “I’m
scared? Scared of what? Being away from home? Following orders?
Homework?”
    “ Facing your brother.” Al
shoved him back.
    Al might have well just
stabbed him in the chest. Words and sense left his brain; something
that began as rage quickly twisted into a debilitating despair and
he found his butt back on the cold steel of the bench before he
realized he had sat down.
    “ Look, I’m sorry. Maybe
it’s not my place to say, but everyone’s just been skirting around
it.” Al already looked sorry. “It’s a big school, sure, but you’re
bound to run into him, right?”
    “It never crossed my
mind…” Sky’s voice rang hollow in his ears. That was probably the
biggest lie. Four years. Four years since he had seen Soulen’s
face. Four years since the letters stopped, since the summers on
Haigon came to an end, and since Zeph relayed the message that Soul
needed “space” and no longer wanted to see his own
brother.
    “ Just stop lying; you’re
just making it worse.” The harsh words were off-set by his gentle
tone. “Listen, everyone pretty much expected this reaction,” Al
plopped down next to him, “and I’m pretty sure that no one really
thought you would show up tonight anyway.”
    “I didn’t realize I was so
predictable.” His voice cracked a bit as he kept his eyes on the
dirt.
    “That’s not what I meant,
so shut your face, I’m trying to apologize. I was taking it out on
you when, really; it’s everyone else that I’m frustrated with.”
Pulling his feet up onto the bench, Al rested his chin on his
knees. “The moment you said you were applying to Arche someone
should have asked you how you planned to deal with being at the
same school as Soul, but no one ever said a thing, did they? And I
didn’t either. I’m sorry.” He honestly looked miserable, which made
Sky feel a little better.
    The whole situation was
messed up anyway; he didn’t really expect anyone to understand. Al
was just looking into it too much, like he did with everything. Sky
had thought about his brother almost everyday. He had been planning
what he would say to him for four years and he actually welcomed
the chance to see him again: After punching