ICE (The Benders Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

out as she turned the rearview mirror to its side so Kenna could see her reflection.
    She was purple! Kenna was slightly disturbed at her wet and ghostlike appearance. Her mascara was running down her face as if an ink pen had exploded beneath her eyes. And her once blush-stroked cheeks were now whiter than a fresh Minnesota snow with the only color being that of protruding purple veins. She looked like a zombie grape, an icy zombie grape.
    “I’ll be fine,” she repeated reluctantly as she touched her bluish lips. “Jon?” Kenna asked upon turning her eyes away from the mirror and to her concerned classmate.
    Britney nodded. “There was a moment of panic,” she explained. “The people that saw you go under all screamed. Jon and Bryce and everyone else came running.” She paused for a moment as tears began to well in her eyes. “I thought you were a goner,” she choked and pushed back the tears. “But before anyone could even call 9-1-1 or anything, Jon ran out and dove in after you. Then a few of us made a human chain out to the hole and Bryce pulled you out and dragged you off the ice. Jon was able to pull himself out.”
    Kenna sat in silence again, trying to process the story.
    “I hope Jon is okay,” Britney added with a little sniffle.
    Kenna nodded, still unable to understand why the conceited boy would have jumped in after her.
    “Anyway, do you want to come to my house and get cleaned up or just go home?” she asked wiping her nose on her sleeve and placing her foot on the brake pedal. “We should call your dad.”
    “No,” Kenna came to her senses quickly at the mention of her father. “I don’t need to freak him out. I’ll just get cleaned up at your place. He doesn’t need to know about all this.”
    “He’ll probably find out anyway. We should call,” Britney argued.
    The new girl looked at her friend with a stern glare which was enhanced by her already zombie-like appearance. As a result, Britney reluctantly agreed and together they made their way back into town.
    “Now I warn you,” she began as she neared her big blue house. “My house is a little different than most.”
    “What do you mean?” Kenna inquired, seeing fretfulness come across her friend’s face.
    “I mean, I have four older sisters and two younger brothers. And my four sisters are all married with like ten kids between the four of them. And it’s the weekend so everyone is over,” she clarified as she parked a ways from the house.
    “Yea looks like quite a party,” Kenna acknowledged seeing the number of vehicles outside the large blue abode. Outside the house sat six different vehicles of all different shapes and sizes. If Kenna hadn’t known better, she’d say there was some kind of unusual gathering inside.
    Apart from the many cars and the color, Britney’s house was unique in other ways. It was the only house on the block strewn with Christmas lights and even a little manger scene underneath one of the two trees that grew in the front yard. The house was truly bright and spirited, even dazzling with a Christmas glow.
    “Yea, we’ll just get upstairs before anyone notices us. Stay close behind me,” she instructed while Kenna slipped on a sweatshirt from the backseat of the car as they left the Buick and began their march into the blue house.
    Before they even opened the front door, Kenna could hear all sorts of commotion inside. Children’s laughter, children’s crying, a few adults shouting and reminiscing loudly over the sound of the kids. A wonderful aura of happiness seemed to surround the house.
    As Britney quietly adjusted the door, the pair slipped inside. The stairs leading to their escape were only halfway down the entry hallway, and they should have been able to disappear quite easily. However, just as they began to tiptoe into the hall, a small blond boy, who Kenna guessed must have been about four years old, came running from the room beyond their sight.
    Britney immediately put her