Winter strode to the center where Mandy and Leo were, "Does your head really hurt or are you just scared to lose?" The crowd fell silent at her brazen statement. Mandy tugged at her arm, but Winter was already annoyed. Leo yawned, "Me? Lose?" Winter balled her fist, "How about you go against me then?" He chuckled, "What's the difference?" Winter felt her annoyance morph into anger. She stood there watching him smirk. He knew what she was thinking, he was goading her on. Leo was toying with her and she was letting him. He nodded, "Exactly." For some reason, he was really getting on her nerves. There was a collective gasp from the crowd. "Did you see that?" "Her eyes turned red!" "Weren't they blue before?" "They just changed." Winter looked around when she heard a foreign voice in her head, "Yes. They're talking about you." Her eyes met Leo's and he nodded, "My telepathy works both ways. I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine when I wish." "Why didn't you tell me that before?" He shrugged, "It didn't seem important. Anyway focus. Your eyes just changed colors. They're red now." Mandy yanked on Winter's shirt lightly and pointed to her eyes. Winter nodded and merely said, "Who will you spar with?" Leo yawned dramatically, "The girl who seems nervous or the one who's eyes just turned red hot? If my head didn't hurt the choice would be easy." He began walking away and Winter heard his voice in her head again, "Mandy didn't want to spar today. That's why I said that. And I sure as hell don't want to spar against you. I saw your match with Brenna." She held back her laugh and glanced towards Mandy who looked relieved, "Whatever pretty boy." Leo said out loud, "I'll be in the infirmary if you need me." Coach Russo growled, "And with that, I'll conclude today's sparring matches." She eyed Winter resentfully and then clapped her hands. When there was no movement Cornell bellowed, "Class is over. Go." The crowd stared at Winter wearily before she grinned and Mandy pulled her away, "What was that?" Winter blew hair from her face, "That? I was just getting annoyed with him so I spoke up." Mandy waved her hand, "No not that. Your eyes." Winter rose her head, "Oh. I don't know but let's go find out."
Layla met up with Mandy and Winter in the hallway. "Where are we going?" Mandy smiled, "I want to see your dorm." "I don't think that's a very good idea," Layla told her. Mandy pouted, "Why?" "Because she just got assigned her dorm a little while ago. She's not used to it yet. We shouldn't impose," Layla explained. "Let's go to your dorm," Winter suggested, "You guys share a room right?" They nodded and began leading the way. When they stood in front of their room, Winter realized that her dorm was on the other side of campus. They walked inside and Winter saw that they had two beds and two sets of different decorations. One half had a green color scheme and the other had pink. Winter didn't have to guess which side belonged to who as she sat down on the floor. Layla and Mandy followed suit. "Okay so, my eyes turned red while I was confronting Leo about being an idiot." Layla sat up, "You know him?" Winter shrugged coolly, "We're acquainted." Mandy tapped her chin, "That's weird. He's usually difficult to approach unless you're Sam Tudor." "What?" "Him and Sam are very close friends. They always have been," Layla clarified.
Winter twisted the ring on her finger and Mandy went on, "Your eyes turned red when you got angry." Layla tied up her hair, "Which means your eye color probably changes with your mood." Mandy exclaimed, "Like a mood ring?" Layla laughed, "Sure." "Let's test it out." Winter began thinking about things that made her upset: annoyances, her mother's letter, people she loved getting hurt. She opened her eyes and Mandy gaped, "Red." Winter smirked. Layla jotted something down on a notebook that Winter did not notice she pulled out, "Okay try sad." Winter thought of losing Mandy or Layla, the death of her fish, Juan, and her dad. "Blue. Deep, dark blue," Layla wrote. "Layla, what are you doing?" Mandy asked. Layla described in detail that she was making a log of which eye colors associated with which emotions. Winter took the liberty to tune out. "-ter. Winter. Winter!" Her head snapped towards them. "Orange. Distracted or bored," Layla noted again. "Orange? What a terrible color," Winter remarked as Mandy held a mirror up for her to see. It wasn't a harsh orange, but a delicate shade that you'd catch in a sunset. Mandy leaned in, "Do love now." "Love?" Mandy giggled, "Yeah. You know. Being in love." "Romantic love," Layla translated as Mandy nodded. She shut her eyes. Winter's mind brought her to a buried memory from when she was three years old. She saw herself in a comfortable bed. A little boy, around her age, crept closer to her small, sleeping form. His eyes were burning but gentle as he lightly brushed her hair from her face and whispered, "Mine." She tried examining him closer but his face was blurred. Her magic tugged at her strongly. Winter opened her eyes breathlessly. "Lavender." Winter's eyes widened, "What? They're lavender? Are you sure?" Mandy looked at her again, "No. They're magenta now. What's that?"
Layla smirked, knowingly, "She's surprised to find out that she's in love with someone." Mandy shook her arm, "What? Who is it? Tell us!" Layla patted Mandy's head and whispered something Winter didn't care to hear in the moment, "I don't know. I met him a long time ago, but I don't remember what he looks like." Her heart raced as the softly spoken yet possessive word rang through her mind, "Mine." She swallowed nervously. Her magic was restless and she wondered why the memory surfaced. Layla nudged her, "Here's what we'll do since it's almost lights out. I'll keep taking note of which colors mean what. I'll give you and Mandy a copy when it's finished, but we keep it from everyone so that they can't read you like we can." Mandy and Winter nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan."