I pulled into the parking lot of the school fifteen minutes before seven. I had stopped to get a coffee for both myself and Elise. It was a cool morning, and it was supposed to be cloudy with a chance of rain all day. I parked far away from the building again. Our projects were in my backseat, and the notebook was sitting in the passenger's seat, under my backpack.
I had started to write the letter before I accidentally turned her into a snake, which she was still apparently unaware of. She had asked me about my pagan beliefs, so I had started to tell her about my childhood. It only felt right to start at my beginning. But after Saturday night, nothing mattered more than telling her the truth. I knew the Elders planned to tell her, but I didn't want her to find out from them. Maybe I could convince her to come over after school, but she also might be too overwhelmed.
Elise pulled into the parking spot next to me at 7:04. I got out, with the notebook tucked under my arm and our coffees, then I sat in her passenger seat.
"Good morning. I got you a coffee." I said, handing her the warm drink. She took it, but she looked fatigued and moved slow.
"Thanks," she said, "Sorry, I guess I didn't sleep well. I slept all day yesterday after I got home. I probably shouldn't have done that." She took a sip of her coffee.
She was so cute, all bundled up in her coat and jeans, and I could see the bottom hem of a sweater peeking out under her coat. She even had gloves on. I became a little worried about her, though, because it wasn't really cold enough outside for all of that.
"Are you feeling ok, today," I asked. She opened her eyes and looked at me, but her face was still pressed against her drink.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she said, taking another sip.
"It's just that it's not really that cold outside. It's probably like 67 degrees. You look like you're dressed for a snowy day." She lowered her coffee and held it against the bottom of her steering wheel, looking down at it, then out the window.
"Are you sure it's only 67 degrees outside? It felt so cold this morning." She was watching other students arrive and walk up to stand around the flagpole before the bell rang. They were all wearing either light jackets or thin long-sleeved shirts. She looked back at me. "I don't feel sick, just cold. But maybe I am coming down with something."
I reached my hand out and pressed my wrist to her forehead. She was cool to the touch, even with all her clothing on and the hot coffee. My eyes widened in realization.
"What?" she said, on the verge of panicking.
"No, uh, nothing. I just realized something. Hang on," I told her and got out of the car. I tossed the notebook back in my car. We wouldn't have enough time to discuss before school, so I decided she would have to wait until closer to the end of the day. I went to my trunk and opened it up. I always kept an emergency supply bag with anything I might need in case I was ever stranded in my car in bad weather, or something like that. I updated it every winter, but I left in in there all year long. I opened up the bag and found what I was looking for in an inside pocket. I got back in the passenger's side of her car. "Here," I said as I handed her the plastic pouches.
She set her coffee in the cupholder and turned them over in her hand. "HotHands?" she read the label.
"Yeah, may I?" I held out my hand for her to hand them back to me. She did, and I opened them both for her, shaking the little white pouches in the air. After a few minutes, they started getting warm. I took her hand and removed a glove, then I pressed the warm pouch against her skin.
"Oooh! Thank you. These are great. Where do you buy them?" she asked, enjoying the warmth.
"Oh, most places have them when it gets closer to winter. I'll show you when I start seeing them again." I smiled at her. "If you put them under your clothes, you probably won't need to wear the coat." I hoped I wouldn't have to try to explain more. I suspected that she was cold because of her snake side being cold-blooded. I was worried if she got sent to the nurse and they took her temperature that they would be concerned that her body temp was lower than an average human temperature. Thankfully, she agreed. We got out of the car, and she took off her coat to put it in the backseat of her car, then put on her backpack. I went to mu car and got my bag, hastily stuffing the notebook back inside it. Then I grabbed a little bag that contained the two jars from our salad dressing project, and the mobile we made of the water molecule. When I met Elise on the other side of her car, I handed her the bag of jars, since the mobile was bulkier. I took her hand, she still had her gloves on, and we walked up to the building. We still had about fifteen minutes until the bell, but we had to go by the Science room first.
"Oh," Elise said as we approached the flagpole, "Didn't you want me to read the note this morning?"
"I know you'll have questions after reading it, so I'm going to wait until after lunch to give it to you, or closer to the last bell."
"Ok." She looked like she wanted to complain, but she also looked tired. We dropped our projects off in the Science classroom, then I walked her to her locker. She didn't say anything until we got to her first class. Before I left her to go to my own class, she said, "Finn, you're acting different today. What's wrong?"
I tensed. "I promise I'll explain everything after school. Let's just get through the day. I'm sorry. That's all I can say for now. Will you trust me?"
She was silent for a moment, then she nodded. "Ok. I trust you."
She went into her classroom, and I went to class. I saw her between class, but she was quiet then too. At lunch, she didn't eat any of her food. She just sipped at her milk, but it was still half full by the time we went to recess.
While we were outside, she laid on the grass in the sun. It was hot by that time, and she had taken off her gloves, but she still had her sweater sleeves down. I was getting a little sweaty even sitting in the shade. Weston went to play hacky sack with some other guys on the sidewalk. Elise sat up and looked around. Though her tongue wasn't forked or long, she still flicked it out as she sniffed at the air. She jerked her head upward looking in the branches of the tree I sat under. I looked to see what had caught her attention. There was a squirrel poised on it's way down the tree trunk. I watched Elise. She started slowly crawling on all fours toward the tree, still flicking her tongue out. I scanned the school yard to see if anyone else had noticed this strange behavior. Fortunately, no one was paying attention to us. I put a hand on her shoulder when she started to try climbing the tree. She looked at me confused.
"Elise, no." Her eyes had changed. The white of her eye was gone. They were now light brown all over with a black vertical slit for a pupil. She blinked at me and her eyes went back to their normal brown with a round pupil.
"What?" she asked, as if I had said something, but she hadn't heard me.
"Uh," I didn't really know what to say to her. "I think the bell is about to ring."
"Oh," she said. She dusted her hands off on her jeans.
When the bell rang, I gathered up her bag with mine and we walked to her next class.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself in the sun. Do you still feel cold?" I said to her.
"It's cold inside, but these hot pad things you gave me help. The sun feels amazing. By the way, can I read the note now? I've been waiting patiently all morning." She pouted and I smiled at her. She just keeps getting cuter. How had I never noticed her before?
"Ok, I'll give it to you now." We stopped in front of her next class, and I fished the notebook out of my bag. When I handed it to her, she hugged it close to her chest. "It was a long note, so it might take you a while to read it."
"Ok, I'll see you later, Mo Cuishle." She walked with more of a sway to her now. I went to class feeling concerned that she was already starting to change back, but there was nothing I could do while we were at school. I wasn't even sure there was anything I could do if we weren't.
I tried to find her between class, but she had left her classroom before I got there and she wasn't at her locker. I didn't have time to check her last class because I would have been late to my own. I couldn't concentrate on anything the teacher said. I just made little snake doodles down the side of my notebook. I wondered if she had finished the note.
I went straight to her locker after class, but she wasn't there. I had to go to my locker before I went to the parking lot. A little slip of paper fell out when I opened my locker door. It was from Elise. All it said was, "I'll be at my car waiting." I hurried to grab my books and shove them into my bag. I didn't want to run, but I walked as quickly as I could manage until I got out of the building, then I jogged, taking large bounds, across the grounds and the parking lot to where we had parked. She was sitting in her driver's seat, but when she saw me, she got out and leaned against her car until I got to her.
I was a little breathless when I reached her, since my bag was extra heavy from the weight of my books. I adjusted the straps on my shoulders and stood before her. She had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
"Where do I even begin." she said angrily.
I started to say something, but she continued. "First of all, the whole paganism thing is a lot to process on top of my new job, having a boyfriend, and my birthday. I love the idea of magic being real, but this! This is far-fetched even for you. Why don't I remember any of this? For all I know, you could have knocked me out and made all this up. I can't believe you, Finn." She stood with her hands out, waiting for me to say something.
I sighed, not knowing where to begin. "Elise, I wouldn't make something like this up. I'm so sorry, it was an accident. I'm surprised it worked at all, and from what I can tell, the Elders also..." She held her hand up to me.
"I've heard enough. Look, I don't know what to think right now. Just..." she dropped her hands to her sides. "Just leave me alone tomorrow. I'm gonna start working on Wednesday, and I don't need this right now." She got in her car and started the engine.
I put my hands on her window and tried to get her to roll down the window so I could explain, but she just drove away, nearly driving over my toes. I jumped out of the way and stood looking after. Crap. This is not how I hoped it would go.