The Camp of Elements

Fighting In The Snow

"Well," Camila clicks her tongue, staring at the snow. "Any ideas?" Her long brown hair is freckled with snow bits, along with her eyelashes. I smile at her but quickly straighten myself, not wanting to get caught by Dinah, who is inside but is probably watching us from the small hole in the door.

"Nope." I shrug, pressing my palm against the snow. It doesn't seem firm but it definitely is compacted.

"I got one," Camila flicks her finger in the air. "We go back inside." She turns around on her heels, her finger held like a shotgun.

"No," I grin, stretching out the 'o' in 'no'. I grip her shoulder and spin her back around, she pouts and drops her arms. "Let's just try it."

"But I'm cold!" Camila complains, throwing her arms into the air in distress.

"Okay, that's fixable." I unzip my jacket and slide it over Camila's sweatshirt sleeves. She opens her mouth to counteract me, but I press my finger against it and she quickly closes her mouth. "I'll freeze for you."

"But, Lauren, I was k—!"

"Shush or else we might be late." I jab my bare elbow into the snow, cold rushes onto my skin. I slide my arm across the snow and some of it falls to the side. I go to do it again when an idea pops into my head. What if we just walk through it? I start to move my feet forward, into the snow.

It works. Well, if you enjoy being completely submerged in freezing cold snow, then yeah, it works perfectly. We walk all the way to the side of the forest, which isn't filled with snow thankfully, and slip inside. I've gotten used to the bare trees, yeah it's weird that at my home in Miami, the trees would be full and green, but it's enough to get over. I see my friends sitting in a semicircle near the small lake through the skinny branches. Camila sets her hand on my arm and it feels like fire has scorched my skin. Her hand is so warm compared to my arm, I glance at my skin; it is bright red and purplish in some places.

"Let's go." Camila says, grabbing my wrist causing more fire to erupt on my skin cells. She drags me to the semicircle, which Bea greets us with an eyebrow lift.

"Jauregui," Bea addresses me, nodding her head then looking to Camila. "Jauregui's girlfriend."

"For the last time, Bea, I'm not Lauren's girlfriend!" Camila sneers, scoffing as she speaks.

"Whatever you say, Karla." Bea rolls her eyes and starts to move over to the semicircle. I shake my head and reach out for Bea.

"Don't call her 'Karla', Bea, its obvious she didn't enjoy that name." I say, blinking slowly at the blonde in front of me.

Bea sighs, defeated. "Fine, Jauregui, I'll call her 'Camila'." Bea then turns to glare at Camila. "You're lucky your girlfriend is my friend, or else there would be hell to pay."

"I—." Camila gapes at the air, I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, but Bea just walks away without another word.

"I call meeting!" Bea claps her hands together. Camila and I sit by Shawn, who welcomes us with a toothy grin. Camila sits with her hands clasped on my knee, I smile to myself. "Ariana wanted to share something with us, so please do so."

Ariana grabs a book from her rucksack; it's a thick, hefty book with a hard cover. It looks ancient. She stands up and walks over to Bea while flipping through, what seems like, endless pages. Her face lights up and she stops her scrolling.

"I found this book in the library." Ariana states, pointing at the cover of the book. "It's called 'When Fire And Ice Combine', and it's about us."

I raise my hand and Ariana points to me as if she is the teacher and I'm the student. I lower my hand onto Camila's knee. "There really is a library here?" I ask, shock evident in my tone.