Frostbitten: The Complete Series (24 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
MEGAN GOLD

Brittany was just
fifteen
when she became a vampire.

Before Brittany’s tragic transformation, she was a completely different person—a shining star amongst her high school classmates.

Before her life was flipped upside down, Brittany was practically connected at the hip to a girl named Megan Gold.

An inseparable duo, Megan and Brittany had been best friends since before they could remember. They were closer than most biological sisters—closer than most identical twins.

Their parents met in the hospital on the day they gave birth—Megan and Brittany shared the same birthday—the same birth hour, and even the same birth minute. When Brittany’s parents walked out of the hospital with the newborn Brittany in their arms, Megan’s parents were right beside them, holding the newborn Megan.

As fate would have it, Megan and her parents were due to move into a new house, just days after the delivery. Their new house just so happened to be directly next door to Brittany’s.

For fifteen years, the two girls spent every single day together. They saw one another more than they saw their own parents. They shared everything—their dolls, their clothes and eventually their makeup.

Most people just assumed that Brittany was Megan’s sister. Visitors would ask Megan’s parents where their other daughter was, in the rare occasion Brittany wasn’t around—despite the fact Brittany was a completely different skin tone. Brittany was practically raised by Megan’s parents.

The Brucheveskyjs were never home much. As a matter of fact, they were hardly ever home at all. They preferred to spend their time in Miami, Hawaii, Greece, The Dominican Republic—anywhere except for the cold little town of Snowbrooke. They were a wealthy couple, and they never expected to have Brittany—they weren’t “cut out for the whole parenting thing,” as they put it.

Sure—At first, they gave it their best shot, but it was a lackluster shot at best. When Brittany was three years old, the Brucheveskyjs hired a nanny in Snowbrooke and then took off to their home in Milan, Italy. The young nanny got in a fight with her boyfriend within a week, and then decided to leave irresponsibly leave town. Before she left, she walked Brittany over to Megan’s house—not even bothering to wait for the Golds to answer the door before she was in her car. Brittany moved in with Megan for the rest of the year while the Golds tried to contact Brittany’s parents.

Eventually, they got through to the Milan estate, and the Brucheveskyjs sent the Golds their credit card information, so they could hire a new nanny for their daughter. The Golds did just that, but the new nanny quit soon after. The Golds tried to contact the Brucheveskyjs again, but the irresponsible parents had moved from their Milan home to an undisclosed location in Luxembourg. After a year in Luxembourg, they forgot that they even had a daughter. The parents never returned to Snowbrooke.

Different nannies came and went. Thankfully, the Brucheveskyj’s seemingly limitless bank account continued to pay the bills and the nannies’ salaries.

Years passed.

Megan grew into a beautiful young woman. She never let her naturally platinum hair grown down past her ears, unlike Brittany, who only ever cut a millimetre off of her hair once every year or two.

Together, Megan and Brittany made the perfect friends. Everyone in the town admired the youngsters, constantly commenting on how beautiful they were, how polite they were, or how smart they were. There was never any disputing that Megan and Brittany were the sweetest girls in Snowbrooke.

Saying Megan and Brittany were smart was a serious understatement. They loved to spend their evenings studying together. The two girls had absolutely perfect grades in school and they were constantly the top of their class—the cream of the crop.

It was highly unusual to see one without the other. They never fought or disagreed. They never competed or questioned one another.

When the girls entered the eighth grade, it was no secret that other kids were drinking and experimenting with drugs. There were even rumours that some kids were having sex already. Brittany and Megan weren’t interested in that rebellious lifestyle, but as more and more of the other kids went down that path, it was becoming harder and harder to avoid. As missed parties came and went, Megan and Brittany were beginning to feel more and more like minorities.

Boys had even started to take a physical interest in the bright young couple.

The girl’s perfect relationship hit its first rut one afternoon after the school bell rang.

James Enderby, one of the more handsome and popular students in the school approached Megan at her locker, while she chatted with Brittany. He had prepared the sweetest little proposal, presenting Megan with a little bouquet of flowers and asking her out to the upcoming dance. He lowered himself down to one knee, and even put on his best collared shirt. All the other students laughed at the sight, but Megan was flattered.

But she wasn’t prepared to leave her best friend in the dust.

Megan told James that, the only way she would go to the dance with him was if one of his friends took Brittany to make it a double date. James naïvely accepted the condition, and he went to discuss the matter with his extensive friend group.

Days passed.

James wasn’t able to find a partner for Brittany. He asked every single one of his friends, but none of them were interested. James pleaded with his buddies, but to no avail. James returned to Megan and begged that she go with him to the dance despite the failed condition.

Megan declined, opting to remain loyal to Brittany. James continued to propose in more romantic and elaborate ways. He even took over the intercom during the morning announcements, and asked her out publicly—a particularly awkward moment, as there was no way for him to know what Megan’s response was.

The dance passed, but James refused to give up on Megan. His heart had made its decision, and he was prepared to die with that decision.

Brittany did a good job of keeping a smile on her face, but she secretly wanted to break down and cry. James Enderby was one of the most popular kids in school, and he was a friend with nearly every other boy in the town—but somehow, he wasn’t able to find one single boy who could tolerate Brittany for just one night.

Brittany was forced to suffer through the torment of watching Megan get swooned over every single day. Nothing was worse than having to suffer through the movies that Brittany and Megan went to see on the many nights of the many dances—knowing that they were all just pity hangouts. Brittany never revealed her true feelings to Megan.

As the months went on, things only went downhill. Megan found herself being asked out constantly—not just by James, but by nearly every boy in the school. By the ninth grade, she had become an absolute vixen—the epitome of beauty. She was well ahead of the rest of the school in physical development.

Her short hair framed her soft face perfectly, her breasts had developed large and perky, her hips had the most insatiable curves and her legs were long and impeccably smooth. It seemed as though every single piece of clothing was carefully crafted for her body specifically—fitting her mouth-watering shape flawlessly.

After a while, Megan stopped putting on any makeup—it was a shame to mask her beauty. Her eyelashes were naturally dark, and her perfect cheekbones had a natural reddish hue to them. She gave all of her old makeup to Brittany—unintentionally rubbing more salt into Brittany’s broken ego.

Brittany was another story. She just remained Brittany. She was slow to develop. Her hair required tons of conditioner and product in order to remain soft-looking. No amount of makeup could hide her imperfections. Clothes fit her body awkwardly, and she was constantly dieting to remain thin.

Despite all of the attention Megan was getting, and all of the attention Brittany wasn’t, the two girls continued to spend all of their time together. Megan continued to refuse any man who didn’t have a suitable solution for her best friend. Megan had good intentions with her efforts, but they ended up having an opposite effect. Boys started to resent Brittany—people looked down at her in the hallways.

One day, Brittany couldn’t take it any longer.

She didn’t show up for school one day. Megan tried calling, but she couldn’t get a hold of Brittany. It wasn’t until hours after school was out for the day that Brittany turned up, carrying shopping bags.

“Oh my God—You’re alive! Where were you?” Megan asked.

“I woke up feeling sick, so I took the day off,” Brittany replied.

“I tried calling you. Why didn’t you pick up?”

“I was at the walk-in. They make you turn off your phone.”

“Are you okay?” Megan asked.

“I’m fine—The doctor said it was a day flu that’s been going around.”

“Don’t scare me like that!”

“You’ll never believe what happened. After the doctor, I walked around the mall,” Brittany told her friend. “I wanted to replace those old runners. I went into that little shoe store next to the food court, and this really cute guy was working.”

“Who was it?” Megan asked.

“His name was Robert. Robert Lawson. He was so cute,” Brittany recalled. “He kept making suggestions, and he made me try on like thirty pairs of shoes. Every time I thought I found a good pair, he told me that they were no good, and he made me try on another.”

Megan laughed.

“Finally, he admitted that he just didn’t want me to leave.”

“Oh my God—Did he ask you out?” Megan asked. She bit her lip, containing her excitement for her friend.

Brittany smiled. “Yeah.”

Megan squealed with enthusiasm for her friend. “Tell me all about him.”

“Okay, okay. He had bright blue eyes and messy blonde hair. He was thin, but not too thin. He was really sweet, and really charming. He asked me out to the movies.”

“The movies? You said yes, right?”

“I froze up—It was so embarrassing. But yeah—I eventually said yes,” Brittany recalled. “You aren’t upset, are you? I was so flustered, I just said yes without thinking.”

“No—I’m not upset. I’m so happy for you! Maybe we can make it a double date.”

“Well, he’s kind of shy—and I don’t want to freak him out. But I’ll talk to him about it this weekend.”

“This weekend?” Megan asked.

“We’re seeing the movie on Saturday night.”

Megan smiled at her friend, but her smile quickly dissipated.