November passed and December came in. And it finally snowed. Normally it snows earlier in the season but it was too cold. The precipitation always came down as sleet or freezing rain.
“Great. Snow,” my brother said. “Think they’ll cancel school?”
“Not a chance. They’ve never done it before and I doubt today will be the exception.”
“Well at least this is the last week of classes. Then its Christmas break!”
“Not like we’re going anywhere!” I said with fake enthusiasm.
“Actually Sophie and I were thinking about going to the mall on Friday to do some Christmas shopping. I asked Dad and he said you could go…”
“You want me to go off campus?” I said turning to look at my brother.
“It would be good for you and we’re going to a different mall.”
I laughed. “And let me guess, I have to take the two goons with me, wear a wig and sunglasses.”
“I think you’d look good as a blonde.” Sebastis smiled. “They need to do Christmas shopping too.”
I laughed. “Yeah. I can imagine.”
“So…?”
“Fine I’ll go. But we’re not staying…long.”
“Yay! Ok let’s get a move on, snow bunny.”
My brother and I headed downstairs to the building’s lobby. We paused at the door, staring out at a sheet of white, Luke and Michael standing next to us.
“I can’t even see four feet from the door,” Sebastis said.
“Yeah. We’re not going outside,” Luke said. “Too much of a security risk.”
“I can see just fine,” Michael said, looking out the door.
I heard thundering on the stairs and we turned around. Our mother appeared hopped down the last couple of stairs and smiled at us.
“School’s canceled. No one can get out of their buildings.”
I smiled. “Really?”
“Yeah. But I’m worried about Kati though. She’s all the way out there by herself. I called her and she said she was fine but…”
“I can go get her,” Michael said. “I can see just fine.”
“Michael, that would be great. Let me give her a call.”
“Can I go?” I asked, looking from Michael to my mother.
“Gee, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” my mother said.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be with Michael.”
My mother looked at Michael. “It’s up to you.”
He looked down at me. “I don’t think…”
Please? I said silently.
He frowned. We agreed not to do this when people are around.
Please?
“It might be good for her,” Sebastis said. “Why don’t we all go?”
“Oooo I like that idea!” I said. “I can pelt you with a snowball and you wouldn’t even see it coming.”
Everyone was looking at me, smiles slowly creeping up their faces.
“What?” I said.
“Ok. But Sybil can you get some rope please?”
“Sure.”
She went back upstairs and we all sort of just stood there. My mother came back down ten minutes later.
“Sorry. I called Kati and she’s expecting you. Here’s the rope.”
She handed Michael a coiled rope. He grabbed the end and dropped the rest on the floor. “Alright. Here’s the drill. We go in a straight line. I’ll lead. Then Georgiana, then Sebastis, then Luke. No one deviates off course.”
He came to me first. “Arms up.”
I smiled and lifted my arms. He ran the rope through my belt loops and then did the same to my brother. He handed the end to Luke and he did the same but knotted the rope so it couldn’t come free. Michael stood in front of me and did the same thing.
“Let’s try to make this…easy. Ok?” he said looking directly at me.
“Talk to him,” I pointed at Sebastis.
Michael smiled and took a walkie-talkie from my mother. “We’ll be on channel three.”
My mother smiled and gave everyone a peck on the cheek.
“Have fun!” she called as we headed out the door.
The wind was brutal at first. I got used to it after about five minutes. I could hear my brother keeping up a conversation with Luke. I reached out and took Michael’s hand and he turned back and gave me a smile. It wasn’t hard walking through the snow.
Having fun? Michael asked.
I haven’t thrown any snowballs yet.
I could see him smile again even though he was back to facing forward. I’m sure when we get to Hekati’s she’ll let you throw as many snowballs as you want.
How much further?
It’s about the length of two football fields.
Since she was the Head Mistress she got her own little house. It wasn’t extravagant or huge. It was like a two story cottage. It was set apart from the rest of the buildings but not too far. The top story was where she lived and the bottom she used for guests and office space. I remember helping her move in when I was a little girl. The first time I saw it I had thought it was something out of a fairy tale because it was set into the tree line and it seemed to glow.
“We’re almost there,” Michael called back.
“How much longer? I think my fingers are going to freeze off,” Sebastis said.
“About ten minutes.”
The ten minutes came and he was right. I could just see Hekati’s house through the snowfall. When she saw us coming she came out on the porch and waved.
“Hey guys!” she called.
We stomped onto her porch and she ushered us inside after making us take off our boots. Her house was just as I remembered it.
“I was starting to get worried,” she said.
“We had the snow dog here to guide the way,” my brother said, slapping Michael on the back before sitting down on our Godmother’s couch.
I smacked him upside the head and then sat down next to him.
“I think I’m beginning to feel my toes,” I said.
Luke laughed. “You’re the one who wanted to come.”
“It was fun,” I said giving him a smile.
He smiled back. “So we’ll stay here for about an hour, if that’s ok, Kati?”
“Sure. I can make a pot of tea while we wait for you two to thaw out.”
“I’m fine!” we both said.
I looked at my brother and raised my eyebrows. He smiled and nodded.
“Don’t even think about it,” Luke said.
“Aw come on, Luke,” I whined. “We’ll be here all day if we don’t do it now.”
“Do what?” Hekati said.
“Snowball fight,” my brother said. “If we do it now, we don’t have to ‘thaw’ out a second time.”
“Bad idea,” Michael said.
“There’s no stopping them,” Kati called from the kitchen. “Once they get an idea in their collective head there’s just no—see?”
Sebastis and I had bolted for the door while Kati held their attention. We scrambled outside and back in our boots. We went running for the yard, both of us laughing our heads off.
I nailed him first but soon after my brother nailed me on the side of the head.
“Hey! No head shots!” I called.
We continued like that for about twenty minutes. Then Sebastis stopped.
“I’m freezing,” he said.
I looked at him, suppressing my own shaking. “Me too.”
“Back inside?”
“Back inside.”
We ran for the porch and nearly fell over ourselves climbing the stairs.
“Your lips are blue,” my brother said.
“And your nose looks like Rudolph.”
We shook ourselves of snow and headed inside. Luke and Michael were both standing in front of the picture window. Sebastis and I hung up our jackets and then Luke and Hekati draped blankets over our shoulders. We plopped back down on the couch.
“I’m f—f—freezing,” Sebastis said.
Hekati laughed. “No one forced you to go out there.”
“It was wo-wo-worth it,” he said, elbowing me in the side.
I just smiled. My teeth were chattering too hard for me to even talk.
“I think the snow bunny is frozen,” my brother joked.
I just gave him a look. Luke sat down next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. He took the second blanket Hekati offered and tucked it around me. I leaned against him and my teeth soon stopped chattering. My brother was leaning up against me and we probably looked like three Eskimos at the North Pole. I soon heard my brother’s soft snoring and I couldn’t help but smile.
“I think you wore him out, Gee,” Hekati said.
I beamed. “That’s what I do.”
She gave me a soft smile and then looked at Luke. “I’m sorry about this. You four didn’t have to come all the way out here for me.”
“It’s not a problem,” Luke said. “Besides Michael did all the work.”
Hekati looked up at Michael. “You didn’t have to.”
“Yes I did.”
My own eyes were starting to droop but I looked up at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Take a nap, Georgiana,” he said.
“I’m not tired.”
Everyone laughed and my eyes soon dropped closed.
I dreamed. It was a snowy day like the one today.
Sebastis and I were out on the quad. It was last year, before Aidan, before Michael.
“Sophie!” I called.
She walked out of her building. “Gee! Where are Aidan and Mark?”
“They’re coming,” I said.
She smiled, looking over my shoulder. “Duck.”
“Duck?” I said, frowning.
“Duck!” my brother yelled.
I ducked just as a snowball soared past my head and slammed into Sophie’s building. I looked behind me and smiled. Mark and Aidan were walking over, goofy smiles on their faces.
“You’d really nail me while my back’s turned?” I called.
“How else are we going to hit you?” Mark called.
I’d been gathering my own snowball and fired back. Mark dodged, the snowball flying behind him. Aidan pointed at him and laughed. My brother took aim at him and threw. Aidan dodged it but then I was nailed from behind. I turned and found Sophie smiling at me.
“Tag!” she yelled. “You’re it.”
“Sophie!” I yelled.
I grabbed a hand full of snow and chased after her. She laughed but forgot to dodge. My snowball nailed her in the shoulder.
“Stop! Stop! Look!”
We both turned just in time to be nailed by snowballs. The boys had ganged up on us. How predictable. We ran around the side of her building, both laughing.
“Aw, come on!” Sebastis called. “You can’t hide.”
I looked at Sophie and we both smiled. We made a few snowballs.
“On three,” I said. “One…two… three.”
I stuck my head out and three snowballs flew at my face. I ducked behind the building and Sophie started throwing.
“Come out girlies!” Mark called. “Or we’ll come after you!”
“That’s not good,” Sophie said, still smiling.
“Should we?”
“Why not? It’s not like the snow actually hurts.”
We ran out and came under fire from the boys. Sophie tackled my brother and I went after Mark.
“Don’t you dare!” he called running away.
I ran after him, scooping up snow. When I tackled him I lifted up his shirt and dropped the snow inside.
“Oh my god!” he screamed. “It’s so cold! Get her off me!”
Aidan tackled me from the side and I went down giggling.
“Dude, she shoved snow down my shirt!”
Aidan held me down and pulled off one of his gloves. His fingertips were red and my eyes went wide.
“Don’t you—ah! Your hands are freezing!”
He’d put his hand on my stomach. He laughed. “Snow!”
Mark put a snowball on my bare skin. Aidan pulled down my shirt and released me.
“That was so not cool!” I said laughing and getting up.
I danced around as I flapped my shirt to get the snow out.
“You’re so dead, Hanover!”
I saw Aidan and Mark running away and I gave chase. They split up and I made the quick decision of chasing after Aidan. I tackled him to the snow and he was laughing hysterically. I kept him pinned with my body while my hands gathered a snowball.
“Give me your best shot, Vertigo,” he said.
I held the snowball above his face and smiled. “Your wish is my command.”
I dropped it on his face and he bucked under me, trying to get the snow off his face. He got his hands free and wiped the snow off. He flipped me over and crushed me into the snow. He sat on my hips and pinned my hands above my head. He grinned down at me.
“I’ve got you now.”
“Won’t your girlfriend get jealous?” I asked smiling.
“What girlfriend? Didn’t you know you’re the only girl for me?”
I laughed. “The one you were looking really cozy with last night at the Christmas party.”
“Broke up. Last night actually.”
“Ohoho, not good enough? She not keeping you warm?” I joked.
He laughed. “Waste of time actually. She likes someone else.”
“Aw poor Aidan.” I pouted.
“No big deal. I have you.”
He moved my wrists to one hand and gathered some snow in the other hand.
“Don’t you dare!” I said.
“What’ll you give me?”
“Nothing you want.” I grinned.
“I don’t know, Ana…this snowball is getting pretty cold.”
“Don’t! Ok! What do you want?”
He smiled wickedly. “A kiss.”
“What?” I said staring up at him wide eyed. Didn’t he know what Luke did to the last guy who demanded a kiss?
“A kiss. I want a kiss.”
I smiled. “You really do have a death wish.”
“It’s getting colder…”
“Fine. I’ll give you a kiss. Just let me up.”
He looked astonished. “Really? A real kiss?”
“Yes! If it will keep that snowball from going down my shirt or in my face…yes!”
He let me up, still looked astonished. He sat next to me in the snow, facing me, snowball still in his expensive leather gloved hand.
I smiled at him and he smiled back. I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
“Aw come on! That’s not what I meant!”
“Be more specific next time. Didn’t they teach you that?”
Then I slammed a snowball on his head and took off laughing