that yet. It was so obvious that it was the first time he had ever been on a date. In twenty-six years, that was the first time he and a girl had spent time together, and he’d made a mess out of himself somehow.
Oh, but she didn’t call it a date. You should stop calling it a date. This was not a date! He was berating himself, even though there was no good in doing that. The damage was done, and Olivia was still talking to him. There was that silver lining. She might have been scared and confused, but at least she was turning to him for help. He didn’t have any answers yet, but he would eventually make up his mind. After all, Madeline needed to hear it from them in three days.
“Get yourself together, Donnie. You’re nothing right now. The two of you have nothing. You only share this, and that’s all,” he declared to himself. It should have been enough to convince him. They really were nothing, and there was no telling if they would ever be anything. He did like Olivia, but only as a friend. As far as he was concerned, they had moved from the co-worker stage to friend stage. Maybe that was all they were ever going to be.
“You’re just her friend, Donnie,” he repeated. “You’re just her friend.”
Yet, deep down, he had a hard time believing himself.
Chapter Twelve
It didn’t take Olivia long to fall asleep and end up in the frost world again. It was getting easier to dream this place up. As soon as her head the pillow and she was asleep, she found herself back in that Frostland. If it had another name, she didn’t know what that could be. From now on, it would be known as the Frostland to her. She opened her mind’s eye and saw that it was the same place. There was nothing but ice and snow for miles. It was a beautiful world, but it was also pretty depressing. The sun was like a small white dot in the sky, and the clouds were always gray. She wondered how anyone could stand to stay in this place.
“Well, at least I was smart enough to dream up a coat.” She said to herself, feeling a lot better about wandering around in the ice and snow. She had no idea what she was wearing underneath, but that was okay. Everything felt warm, and the sun was out now. This time, she could take in the breathtaking scenery and enjoy what she was looking at. There was snow and ice on the trees and bushes. She didn’t see any buildings or people running around, but there were birds chirping. Suddenly, she didn’t feel alone.
“I think I can get used to this world. Once I figure out what that heart under ice is, I can take the time to check everything out.” She told herself, looking around for someone. There weren’t any footprints in the snow. She couldn’t even see her own, even though she had been walking around for the past couple of minutes.
“Well, if I could just find someone, this would be a lot easier.” She sighed heavily, looking up at the sky. Curious, she yelled up at it. “Hello! Is anyone out there?”
Something rustled in the trees, and she tried to find a place to hide. Before she could make her move, something came out of the shadows and stopped in front of her. She tried to breathe, but it was hard. This was something she had never pictured in her life but here it was. It was real, and it was moving in the snow.
“Oh my God, you are beautiful.” She managed to get out. Her eyes widened as she tried to make sense of the image in front of her.
It was a deer, made of ice. It moved like a normal deer would, but it had a glassy, ice-like appearance instead of the normal brown-skinned deer she had seen. It was one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen, but she was afraid to approach it. It stared at her, so she waved back. Hopefully, it would not see this movement as a threatening sign. The ice deer bent down and began to drink from the frozen lake.
“How are you doing that?” she asked, looking to see if there was a hole that the deer was drinking out of. She couldn’t make anything out, but it seemed to be all