On my way to my room, I was followed by one angry dwarf, one dissatisfied fairy and one worried elf.

"You have to tell us something!" Opal was persistent. "We're your friends!"

She gasped after noticing something that was slipping her attention until then. She halted right on the spot, compelling the rest of us to stop walking too.

"What's this?" Opal asked, pulling the sleeve of Mathias' hoodie I still had on. "Is he suddenly your best friend? Because I heard that it's customary among humans to swap clothes with their best friends. You never swapped any clothes with me, and now you're wearing something of his!"

Nia laughed, earning herself a smirk from Opal.

"Don't look at me like that Opal," she said obviously amused. "Your clothes don't fit her anyway."

Playing the 'short' card was never a good thing when it came to Opal. I wondered how long it would take for her to snap, but such questions didn't seem to bother Nia. If you asked me, that fairy had a few loose screws inside her head.

"He's not suddenly my best friend," I tried to calm the situation before it escalates. "He just lent me his hoodie because I was cold."

Opal's eyebrows lowered, she placed her hands on her hips and let out a loud breath before saying in disbelief, "Really? You were cold? In a heated school?"

"He had to open the window," I said.

"Why?" Opal's elbows were still spread out like airplane wings. "Did one of you pass gas?"

"Opal!!" My voice merged with Ardea's. Nia laughed so hard that she snorted.

"What?" Opal opened her palms. "Why else would he open the window."

I looked at Nia. She was still trying to compose herself. Then I shifted my eyes to Ardea. The way she observed me made me assume that she knew the real reason why Mathias had to open the window. Her father was a doctor, I reminded myself.

Ardea's scrutinizing stare rested on me for several long moments, but I didn't back away. If she did know about the aversion werewolves felt towards the water races, she might be a valuable source of information. If she agreed to share them with me, that is.

"Fine, don't tell me!" Opal angrily threw her hands in the air. "Just leave me in the dark! Dwarves are used to dark, anyway!"

"Opal," I tried to calm her down once more, "I'm just not allowed to share some things with you. But you're still my best friend. You'll always be my friend, and if it makes you feel better, I'll take the hoodie off."

"Good! Because black is not your colour. Besides, it's too big for you anyway."

We continued down the hall. As we were passing by the door leading into the back garden, through the glass insert on the door I noticed Mathias. He was standing outside, surrounded by all the fresh air he could possibly need. Now I knew why he needed it.

His hands were in his pants pockets, his head lifted upwards. Just seeing him there, in his short-sleeved T-shirt, was enough to cause goosebumps, but his stillness confirmed me that he experienced coldness in a different way.

A moment longer and we would have passed by unnoticed, but for some reason, he decided to enter just as we found ourselves in the proximity to the door.

"I... hmmm... I'm not..." I mumbled the words, unable to give them meaning. Therefore, I stretched my arm out handing him his hoodie. "Here, this is yours," I found the missing words at last.

"Keep it. It reeks of you anyway," he said, smile touching the edge of his lips.

"How dare you?!" Opal stood at my defense. She stepped forward, her eyes shooting daggers at the werewolf.

I grabbed her by the arm to stop her before she got herself in trouble. "It's okay, Opal. He's just joking."

"Except he's not joking at all," Ardea said quietly. I hoped it was too quiet for Opal to hear.

That awkward moment was interrupted by our headmaster. He must have gotten concerned, seeing us all standing there; Mathias by the opened door, me on the opposite side, Opal to my right, Ardea and Nia behind us.

"Do we need to talk about something?" he asked while his glance shifted from me to Mathias. "Or maybe let Professor Fortius have another chat with the two of you?"

"No!" we both answered simultaneously.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" another answer came in unison.

"Look," Mathias continued, "we won't pretend that we're best friends, cause we're not."

"Told you," I whispered in Opal's ear. Finally, she gave me a smile.

"After the talk we had earlier," he said, adding in undertone, "may it never happen again, I understand her." He looked at me only for a second, then bowed his head.

"Me too," I concurred. "I understand him now."

"Well, will someone explain it to the rest of us?" Opal demanded answers. "Because we still don't understand anything! We're still in the dark! And it's not the good kind of dark, like in the depths of a mine where the gold sparkles in the darkness. No! It's the kind of dark that happens when electricity goes out in the middle of a cloudy night."

With an amused smile on his face, the headmaster said to Mathias, "Your chemistry teacher wishes to see you. She adjusted the formula. We both agreed that you're going to need something stronger this year."

This year? I wondered what those words meant. Did he need the formula last year, as well? And the year before? His body had a strong reaction to my race, that much I knew, but I was the only one of my race in the school. And I wasn't even there the previous years.

"Look! Snow!" Nia exclaimed, pointing outside. Through the open door, the sight of the first snow of the winter silenced our conversation. It came early, displaying large but scarce snowflakes.

Snow fascinated me. It never snowed in the place I used to live before. It still amazed me how water was able to turn into tiny symmetrical wonders when the conditions were right.

I rushed outside, passing very close to Mathias, but this was snow. I had to feel it on my skin even if it meant destroying nature's masterpieces with the warmth of my body. I still held Mathias' hoodie in my hands. Its blackness made the perfect backdrop for the whiteness of crystalized water.

So beautiful! Millions of them, yet none two completely alike. The sight of perfectly shaped water overtook my mind, pushing all other thoughts aside. All the questions that were forming earlier melted away, just like the snowflakes on my skin.

Once again, I'd like to thank all my readers who are spending time reading my story.

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