"I hate winter!" said Liam while rubbing his hands together. His green eyes shone brightly under the winter daylight, and I couldn't stop staring at them.

I slid over to him, who was standing on the other side of the frozen lake that separates our house, "winter is not always bad."

The sunlight rested on top of his head, and it illuminated Liam's golden wavy hair.

Liam smirked, "just so you know, your birthday is not going to be the reason I would change my mind about this dreadful season."

Liam and I have been best friends practically since we were still in the wombs, and he has always been my crush since I wasn't even old enough to understand love. We grew up in a well-respected family from the Royalist bloodline, and our parents work for the Monarch.

I slipped on the slippery ice and fell down, crashing my butt directly into the thick ice before my body glided away to the middle of the lake. I always have been so clumsy, and Liam sometimes would tease me by calling me Fumbly.

He held out his hand to help me up only just to fall back down.

"Hey, watch your step!" Liam shrieked when I dragged him down with me, and we crashed into each other. I fell on top of him, and it felt weird to be this close to his face. I was on the heels of kissing him, and I could feel that he was contemplating doing it too.

"Why are you so clumsy, Ava Fumbly?" Liam said from under me, and his warm breath brushed my cheeks. His gaze drifted down to my lips, and it lingered there before he averted his eyes back to mine.

I quickly pushed myself up into a sitting position, and I cleared my throat to hide the awkwardness in my voice.

"Stop calling me that!" I turned away from him so that he couldn't see my rosy cheeks.

I started to stand up, but he took my hands and pulled me closer to him. Even with gloves covering both of his hands, I still could feel them trembling. This is why he hates winter, every Obel hates snow and cold weather. They're not immune to the cold the way Rebel is.

He frowned at me when I clutched his hands tightly.

"What?" I furrowed my brows.

He shook his head like he was trying to wash off the crease in his forehead. "Nothing," and then he let go of my hands and stood up before helping me to my feet.

"It's almost dark, let's go home."

I was disappointed when he just shrugged me off and didn't share what was on his mind, but I pushed the thought away and trailed behind him to his house.

***

"How is Adam?" asked Liam's father during dessert.

I choked on my Coffee Cake before answering, "My father is alright, Sir. Thank you for asking," maybe I should remember to swallow before talking when the food was still in the middle of my throat.

"Just call me Ethan," he waved his fork at me.

A clump of whipped cream fell to the table and Maria, Liam's mother, yelled at him from across the table. Ethan was one of my father's colleagues in the Monarch, and they were once best friends in college before their friendship grew apart.

"Lucas, your teacher called me again today!" Maria said, cutting off the silence. Lucas is Liam's older brother. My brother, Aiden, and Lucas were classmates, but they were never really friends like Liam and me.

"What did you do again this time?" asked Ethan without glancing at his oldest son. Ethan was a cool father because he never really made a big deal out of anything, and he was definitely the polar opposite of my father. Obel was not supposed to create problems because that was what Rebel do. One time when I was in 4th grade, I went into a 2-week anger management program and was prescribed some pills to 'keep my chill' just because I raised my tone during an argument with my classmate. The funny thing is that we were doing a debate session in class about capitalism, it was not like I yelled at anyone just for fun.

Lucas just shrugged idly and didn't say anything as he kept chewing his sugar-free gum. He does not consume sweets because it makes his stomach hurt, he said to me one time, but I never believe it.

"Lucas, you're already 17 now! I hope you remember that we come from a respected Obel family. The council has started asking your father questions about you," I really wanted to get away from this conversation because I felt like I was interfering with someone else's business with my presence here.

Liam knew I wanted to make an excuse and leave, but his right leg stood in the way of my intention. Why is he acting so weird since we fell on top of each other in the lake?

"I'm sorry, Mother. I was just defending my Anaral friend who was being bullied by the Rebels."

Maria sighed, and she sounded exhausted.

"Why can't you just stay away from it? That was not your place to get involved!"

Lucas slammed his fists on the table, and it made all of us startled.

"Why? Is it because we Obel are not allowed to have emotions? We're useless, Mother! We can't even do anything to protect anybody!" Lucas stood up abruptly knocking his chair down to the floor. Lucas has a point there, Obels are weak in self-defense.

"What exactly can Obel do? Sitting in our little thrones while other people are suffering?" Lucas's face turned red and heat radiated from his body throughout the whole room. That power and anger scared me to the very core.

Obel was not supposed to be temperament, and we were also not supposed to radiate heat because of the cold blood that runs through our veins. We don't exactly do anything to deal with problems, and we don't fight, we dodge away.

Maria and Ethan glared at him in shock. I looked down at my shaky hands that I hid under the table. Liam saw me when my body started to quiver, so he held my hand and transferred cold whelm into my bloodstream. To be honest, that didn't help me calm at all.

Lucas suddenly realized what he just did, and he stormed out of the dining room. He slammed the front door, and I could hear the car engine start to rumble. Then several minutes later, he drove away.

Lucas never went back home after that night, and I have never heard from him again. Every time I tried to ask a question about him, Liam would just change the topic. Every time our conversation led to Lucas, Liam would keep his mouth shut. I knew something was wrong, but I never found out what it was.

Until Liam disappeared four months after Lucas did.