Second Snowfall (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

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  Elton Hall Chronicles:

  second snowfall

  By Sarah Fischer

  Elton Hall Chronicles: Second Snowfall

  Copyright © 2017 by Sarah Fischer.

  All rights reserved.

  First Print Edition: June 2017

  Limitless Publishing, LLC

  Kailua, HI 96734

  www.limitlesspublishing.com

  Formatting: Limitless Publishing

  ISBN-13: 978-1-64034-137-1

  ISBN-10: 1-64034-137-4

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to anyone fighting what seems like a hopeless battle. There is an end in sight if you allow those who care to help.

  Also, this book would not be possible without my twin brother, Jacques Fischer, and his help with some of the darker aspects of this book.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

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  Chapter 1

  Any minute, my best friend, Violet, was going to walk into my dorm room and tell me all about her trip to England with her boyfriend, literature professor David Berneli. I was dying to hear about how they were doing. We talked almost every day over video chat but it wasn’t the same. Besides, I needed to talk to her about Jason. Until now, I wasn’t able to talk about it. But that was over. I couldn’t keep this a secret anymore. I needed my friend.

  The waiting was too much for me, so I decided to start unpacking my bags. I really needed to exchange some of my summer clothes for winter clothes. There definitely was not enough room in my closet for half the things I wanted to wear. Thankfully, I had brought several more containers to shove in the limited remaining space under my bed.

  I was under the bed, trying to rearrange things, when I heard a hard knock on my door. I quickly slid out, careful not to hit my head, and rushed to answer it. Violet was standing there with a giant package topped with an elaborate bow someone else must have tied for her.

  “Hi,” I shouted as I tried to hug her around the box.

  “Hey, babe.” She smiled and forced the box into my arms. “This is for you, since I missed seeing you at Christmas.”

  “Stop! You shouldn’t have.” I took the box and we both headed to my bed. It was covered in clothes but I moved a couple piles for Violet to sit down. Then I grabbed a small box out of one of my bags and sat next to her.

  “Here, I got you something too.” I handed her the present, eager to see her face when she opened it. I absolutely loved giving personalized presents to people.

  We dug into the boxes and I pulled out a beautiful tote bag. It was bright yellow and orange with a paisley pattern and thick handles. “This is perfect.” She had remembered yellow was my favorite color.

  “There’s more. You can’t give someone a bag with nothing in it,” she insisted, putting her present aside to watch me expectantly.

  I searched through some of the pockets and finally pulled out a snow globe with the London Bridge inside. The bottom read:

  Merry Christmas from Jolly Ole England.

  “Aww, I love them both!”

  “I’m glad. I was a little worried it would be too touristy, but I know how much you love Christmas, so I figured—”

  “No,” I interrupted. “I like touristy, and I actually brought a mini Christmas tree to put up.”

  “Seriously? Christmas was almost a month ago.” She snickered and rolled her eyes at me.

  “Don’t judge me!”

  Violet finished opening her present and pulled out a beautiful leather journal. I had found it in a secondhand bookshop I visited with Jason. The pages were old and there was a thick gold bookmark sticking out of the top. Violet was always talking about how she liked to write her thoughts down, and when I saw this, I knew she’d love it. It was the perfect mix of romanticism and literature, basically Violet’s personality in a gift.

  “This is the most amazing journal I’ve ever seen!” I thought I saw a tear in the corner of her eye, but she quickly flipped it away and pulled me into a quick hug.

  “Thanks! Jason and I thought it screamed your name when we were doing some shopping.”

  Violet shifted her eyes from the journal to me and squinted suspiciously. It was always unnerving that she seemed to be able to read my mind. She definitely knew there was something going on between Jason and me, but I didn’t think she was aware of the extent of my feelings. Or if she was, she was actually keeping her thoughts to herself.

  “So, what exactly happened over break? You more or less refused to talk about him when we Skyped. I didn’t get much more out of him when we talked.”

  “I don’t know! Okay, I kept inviting him and Janice to do things, because they live really close to me, but Janice kept bailing. She didn’t come out with us once. So Jason and I explored together,” I explained, avoiding her eye contact.

  “You explored what?” Violet was looking at me suggestively, raising her eyebrows.

  I rolled my eyes. She had such a dirty mind. “Explored the area, like we went to some lesser known shops, the movies, uh…we went to an ice skating rink, and he took me to a hockey game.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I know, right? Who would have thought I’d ever step foot in a hockey arena? But it was actually a lot of fun.” I remembered sitting a little too close to Jason because I was cold. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders to help warm me up. We sat like that for most of the game. I tried not to focus on how good it felt to be in his arms, but most nights, I dreamed about what it would be like to be folded up in his embrace. He radiated this warmth from his being and it drew me in. I was constantly cold, but with his arm around my neck, I felt like I’d never be cold again.

  “No, I’m more focused on the fact that you went on, like, four dates with Jason.”

  “They weren’t dates,” I insisted, but I really didn’t put up much of a fight. Deep inside, I wanted them to mean more.

  Violet started to protest, but there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, my heart fell into my stomach as Jason stared back at me. His short hair somehow managed to stand on end and his shoelaces, as
always, were untied. I shook my head slightly. He needed someone to clean him up, though, for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe it was part of his charm.

  “Hey, Annabelle.” Jason walked into my room and then pulled me into a hug. I heard Violet giggle behind me but ignored it, giving her a dirty look over his shoulder.

  He let go of me and turned toward Violet.

  “Jason,” she yelled, and barreled toward him, hip bumping me out of the way so she could hug him.

  “Vi,” he bellowed into her ear as he looked at me over her shoulder, shaking his head as if to say, “What are we gonna do with her?”

  I tried to control the blush creeping up my neck, but it was no use. His blue eyes did it to me every time.

  “So, how was England?” Jason asked, making himself comfortable on my bed.

  Violet grabbed a pillow and sat at the end of the bed. She gave me a knowing stare, expecting me to sit in between them. Normally, I’d sit between them like it was nothing. My bed was just a place we congregated sometimes. It was probably because I wasn’t having sex in it so it was safe. Today, with all the feelings swirling around in my head, I wasn’t ready for that, so I sat in my desk chair.

  “It was good! David introduced me to his mom, which was terrifying, but it actually went really well.” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she talked about walking hand in hand around Piccadilly Circus, sneaking kisses on the London Eye, laughing too loudly at the movies, dancing in the rain, and eating fish and chips in English pubs.

  “But Carina, that’s his mom, is convinced she can teach me how to cook. We tried it once and it wasn’t so bad.”

  Jason and I looked at Violet incredulously. We’d heard stories about her trying to cook before and it usually ended badly.

  “Okay, so it involved a lot of supervision but David said it was good.”

  “Of course he did, you’re bangin’ him,” Jason teased.

  Violet and Professor Berneli hooked up last semester. She called me on Skype almost every day to update me on her “holiday” with him. Things seemed to be going well. They claimed the relationship was all physical at first, but I thought they’d been in love with each other since she kicked his ass in poker that first night they met.

  But their relationship was still against school rules, so they were using covert methods to see each other. That was why the trip to London had been perfect. They finally didn’t need to hide their feelings, or their budding relationship. I envied her a little bit. Sure, she was talking a huge risk, but at least she was going for what she wanted.

  “Did the professor manage to teach you a few new things while you were there?” Jason raised his eyebrows and winked at her.

  Violet looked Jason dead in the eye and a sinister smile spread across her face. “Not as much as the Kama Sutra did. Did you know he has a copy in his library?”

  We all burst into laughter as Violet stood up and started to stretch into different positions. Jason got up and tried to copy her, his gangly arms and legs barely bending.

  “You might want to practice touching your toes before you try any of those positions,” I told Jason when I managed to stop laughing.

  “What, you aren’t impressed by my moves, Annabelle?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ve always wanted a man like you.” I forced a laugh, trying to make it seem like I was kidding. It just slipped out. Actually, things like that were slipping out more and more. I needed some self-control.

  “So, how’s Janice?” Violet asked Jason, changing the subject. I knew she was trying to be polite, but I couldn’t help but feel like she had punched me in the stomach. I couldn’t stand Jason’s girlfriend, well, Violet couldn’t either. We both put on a brave face whenever he talked about her. But we almost never brought her up first. However, Violet was bringing her up more and more often. It was driving me nuts, but the smile on her face made me think that was the exact reaction she wanted.

  “She’s good. Uh, she had a lot going on during winter break so I didn’t get to see her as much as I would have liked.” Jason turned to look at me and then smiled big. “Annabelle and I ended up hanging out most of the time.”

  “I heard that. She was just telling me about your hockey game.” Violet snickered again and gave me a little wink.

  “Oh man! It was hysterical. She didn’t bring gloves, a hat, or a scarf. She didn’t realize ice hockey rinks were that cold.” Jason laughed and chucked a pillow at me lightly.

  “Ha-ha! You didn’t tell me, and you knew I’d never been to a game before. I figured we’d be inside so it wouldn’t be as cold as it was outside.” I tried to defend myself, but they both looked at me with pursed lips and raised brows. “Why don’t we go get some lunch? You guys can tease me more then. I’ll have better comebacks once I get some food in my system.”

  Violet and Jason seemed to be fine with my change of subject and we headed to the cafeteria.

  Normally, I was not an outdoors person. I didn’t really like dirt, bugs, or sweating, so being outside was not my thing. But this campus was so beautiful that I didn’t care. The grass was luscious and there were flowerbeds and gazebos dispersed throughout the grounds. It was like walking through the Secret Garden and it actually made me feel at peace. At least it did until Jason put his arm around my shoulders and shattered any semblance of calm I may have been experiencing.

  He was the only guy who had ever done this to me. Heck, he was the only guy I’d ever hugged who I wasn’t related to. When he stood this close to me, I could smell his cologne. He usually wore a clean scent that reminded me of laundry day. To me, there was nothing better than falling into fresh sheets. He made me think of that, but then I thought about falling into fresh sheets with him and I quickly started to panic and tried to push those thoughts away. But then it dawned on me. I knew that smell. It made me think of the ocean spray from the boardwalk and I could almost hear the seagulls.

  “Are you wearing the cologne I got you for Christmas?”

  “Yeah, why?” Jason didn’t look at me, but rather stared straight ahead. I couldn’t see the look on his face, however his ears turned a light shade of red. Could he be blushing too?

  “Nothing, I just think it smells good,” I replied, trying to keep the ridiculous smile off my face.

  “Well, I would hope so. You bought it. Unless you got me something that smelled awful in an effort to stay as far away from me as possible.”

  “Ah, you have me figured out. I guess they switched the bottle at the store.”

  “That must be it,” he said, and gave me a bright smile, squeezing my shoulder a little with his big hand.

  He was wearing my gift and it seemed kind of intimate for some reason. I didn’t think it would have this kind of effect on me. My pulse was beating rapidly and I was desperate to calm it before Jason noticed. There was an awkward silence, but I didn’t know what to say. Violet, as she almost always did, seemed to pick up on it.

  “So, I love my journal. I assume you were a part of that gift?” She gave Jason a little side hug and pulled him away from me for a second. Sometimes it was frustrating that she was so perceptive. But I was grateful for her. I needed those few moments to try to compose my face and calm my nerves.

  “Oh yeah, glad you like it. Where’s my present, then?”

  “Was I supposed to get you a present? I thought your present was that I came back from England and now you get to be in my presence.”

  “Eh, Annabelle and I had enough fun without you.” Jason gave her a little shove then pulled me close so he could put his arm back around my shoulders. “Right, Annabelle?”

  “Nah, I kinda like her. She brings excitement to the group.”

  Jason pulled Violet back under his arm. “Fine, whatever Annabelle says.”

  “Your present is in my room. We can get it after we eat,” she told him, and he dropped the arm around me and gave her a quick hug. I instantly felt a chill go through my system now that his warm arm was around Viol
et. He didn’t pull me back in for a hug and I didn’t reach for it. The three of us just continued to walk while Jason’s arm was wrapped around Violet.

  The cafeteria was pretty empty so Violet asked Jason a few more questions about his family and the rest of his break as we grabbed trays to get food. Then we separated to grab our favorites. Violet worshiped pasta and Jason basically lived off pizza and burgers. Although, he could only eat burgers when Janice wasn’t around. She didn’t eat red meat and insisted Jason didn’t as well.

  My favorite was anything I could throw in a stir fry. Well, that and ice cream. Jason finished getting his food and told us he was going to get our table by the windows while the two of us finished getting our dinner.

  I was almost done with my stir fry when Violet basically snuck behind me. I jumped a little, my focus too on Jason to realize she was there.

  “You bought him cologne? That’s a girlfriend gift.” She rested her tray on the counter so she could put her hands on her hips and give me one hell of a judgmental look. Eyebrows raised, head tilted to the side, and lips pursed. Since she’d walked into my room, she kept giving me this look. At this rate, her face was gonna freeze that way, and I didn’t think Berneli was gonna like that O face.

  I rolled my eyes and flipped the stir fry onto my plate. “I didn’t know what to get him and some websites suggested cologne. So, you know, I just found one I liked. Guess he liked it too.” In reality, I had spent hours on his gift. I didn’t want to get him just anything and I read an article that said cologne could cause a guy to subconsciously think about you throughout the day. Not that I should want him to think of me. It was just wrong, but whatever. I wasn’t made of money so it was one of the few things I could get. At least I didn’t get him boxers.

  “Well, what do you think Janice is going to say when she is hooking up with Jason while he is wearing your cologne?”