At this point I'd given up trying to get a day to myself.
"Good morning everyone! C'mon, get out of bed, the day's already begun! It's the day, it's the day!"
Of course it had to be Claire... I heard her slam my door open, which made me grip my bedsheets tightly.
Fuck that, I'm tired from yesterday.
In the end we ended up returning to 1-A late at night - a very strange silence followed us.
In the middle of my flashbacks, I suddenly felt my bedsheets being pulled. Ha. If I'm holding onto them, then nothing will happen.
Or that's what I thought, until my eyes shot open when I realized the floor getting closer. I landed with a deaf thud on the carpeted floor and made a strange pained sound somewhere in between a growl, a groan, and a grunt. The three G's.
"Whoops, you okay there?" she asked, to which I grunted. I didn't want to get up, choosing to stay face down until I remembered who had barged into my room.
So then I pushed my face off the ground, growling.
Once again I heard Claire's voice taunting me: "Oh, is Sebby doing push-ups? Come on, strong boy, show me what you got!" And I realized how I looked like after lifting myself off the floor. It could have barely been considered a push-up, but I could definitely use the chance to impress if I tried.
Instead, I just sat up and let myself be dragged to the living room, where Kristina was waiting with breakfast.
"Was there a reason you woke us up this early?" I asked, watching as Claire went to the curtains to pull them open.
My eyes widened.
I saw white dots falling slowly from the sky, and a once green floor was now covered in white.
This was... snow?
A brand new sight, something I knew only by concept but now...
"It's a snow day!" said Claire, rushing off down the hall again."Because we're so close to Christmas, see? C'mon, get in the mood, Antoinette, or I'll tickle you 'till you do!"
A second later, I can hear Antoinette laughing and Claire making a battle cry. I look back at the window.
"Ha- Hey, get off! Get off or I'm kicking you!" but Antoinette's threats weren't as menacing when there's a girl smaller than her tickling her into submission.
I stayed watching the snowfall and picking out clothes from the watch until Antoinette came running out of her room and skid to a halt behind me.
I looked at her a moment in confusion, then decide to ignore whatever caused Antoinette to run. So when I turn around, I forced myself to not ask why Claire was wearing an exterminator mask and just take one of the sandwiches Kristina brought in.
"Why are you wearing that thing?!" Antoinette pointed an accusing finger at Claire, who just laughed.
"Scaring and tickling go hand in hand, obviously," said Kristina.
I decided not to trouble myself with this anymore and, with a coat in hand, I started for the exit, only to be stopped by a pair of hands grabbing me from behind before I even reached the door.
I turned my head around to see both Kristina and the Exterminator staring intently at me. "Wait for Antoinette," they both said in unison. "She hasn't even gotten dressed yet," added Claire.
The fact they so flawlessly spoke in sync was terrifying for all the wrong reasons. First off: "Take off the mask, Claire. Where did you even get this?" I asked, pulling myself away from their grasp and stumbling forward.
I bent over to pick up my coat as well, before turning back as Claire took it off halfway, pointing to her room down the hall.
"I keep a trunk full of stuff people don't want - this ones from kid whose dad was a firefighter."
Right... a hoarder. How could I forget that first day?
"And why the hell am I supposed to wait for Antoinette?" I asked, putting the coat on and placing a hand on the doorknob. If it wasn't a convincing reason, I was leaving. Snow couldn't wait.
"Because snow day's are rare, and it's a 1-A tradition to spend them together," Kristina explained, glancing to my hand. I instantly took it away from the doorknob. Honestly, I thought Kristina was trying to cut my hand off with that look.
"So why am I being pulled into this? It's a tradition you girls started, I'd be an outsider." I didn't look back to the door, but stayed looking at them.
Claire struck a dramatic pose. "It's been tradition ever since I arrived at the dorm! And that was last year."
"It actually started after Dominique arrived," said Kristina, looking at Claire. "Which was shortly after. I was introduced, and then he left... and then you two showed up, making this the second time this tradition will be held."
Dominique? I felt like I've seen a name like that before somewhere... but before I could dwell on it, Claire continued with an excited grin: "And now you're here, so we have all four members for it!"
I opened my mouth to say something, but then immediately shut it again when Kristina spoke. "Last year it was only three of us. This time it will feel complete."
"Yeah, and because it's a snow day, you get to see new sides of people you've never seen before - isn't it great?" Basically jumping on the spot, Claire looked at me expectantly.
I had thought about enjoying the snow on my own, but with Claire looking so excited I had a very hard time saying no.
I crossed my arms, debating my options. On one hand, I could spend the day alone in the cold, my least favourite temperature, with a water state I knew nothing about. On the other, I could be with those three and have fun.
Yeah, what was I thinking? The answer was so glaringly obvious. "Fine, I'll go. Not like I had something too important to do anyway. But first, food."
After a successful breakfast, Claire and Kristina dragged me out of the room without me putting any resistance, down the hall and to the first floor, with Antoinette following us with a smile. It was still a sight I appreciated, so I smiled back.
Once the elevator doors opened, I was hit with two things:
1) The incredibly cold air.
2) The sound of laughter and games.
3) The area ahead of us completely turned into a sheet of white, with small snowflakes that fall from the clouded sky.
4) The fact that I don't know how to count to two.
I stood up straight, looking around at the scene. There was... a lot of people in here, but no matter where I looked, I couldn't find any familiar faces.
But the frown disappeared into surprise when I felt a hand taking mine and pulling me along.
"Wh- Hey, Antoinette, let go!" I exclaimed, while looking at the back of her brown hair. I didn't exactly do anything to rid myself of her, seeing as how her hand is warm from the glove she's wearing, whereas mine was cold.
Passing by the crowd, I heard all around the sounds of joy, and my eyes scan around. Everywhere I saw, something's going on: snowball fights, snow angels, other variations of the word snow. Even with the heavy clouds above, the positivity all around seemed to make everything shine.
I looked back from the scene to Antoinette, and noticed Claire and Kristina, both beginning to pile up balls of snow.
"Are they...?" I asked, trailing off when I notice Antoinette wasn't listening to me anymore, instead opting for starting another ball. I stood awkwardly for a moment. Should I join them..? Or start another one - no, what were they even doing? I looked around, as if the answer will appear in front of me. She dragged me here for a reason, surely.
And hey, the answer appeared in front of me. Several meters in front, in fact. I saw two or three giant snowmen, and I quickly understand what they were doing.
I'm not one to do physical work like this, but this was already happening, and I didn't have the heart to just break out now. Besides, one of the kids that was with the tallest snowman threw me a smug look.
I started collecting snow, marvelling and forcing myself to calm down about it. Even though I couldn't remember, I knew this would be the first time I've ever seen snow, let alone touch it. It's cold, yet it managed to burn my fingers. I didn't mind, and neither did anyone else. Everyone was too busy having the time of their li-... having a great time.
They're too busy having a great time to tend to their own fingers, is what I meant.
And so was I, despite constantly telling Claire and Kristina otherwise. They didn't have to know, and I wouldn't tell them.
But it did get a bit difficult to hide it when half an hour later the snowmen, big and small, start towering over us, falling to the ground and cracking open like crystal balls. I used Antoinette as my shield when I saw the snow rushing everywhere like a wave.
For some reason, Antoinette wasn't useful as a shield, and we were both sent toppling backwards. Claire and Kristina came to help us up, but I was too distracted, laughing.
At first I didn't understand why I was laughing, it made no sense. And judging by the faces of my roommates, I could tell they thought the same. I stopped laughing for a moment, taking a breather and saw them smiling back at me.
"I knew you'd love this, Sebby!" Claire cheered, pulling me back on my feet by the arms.
"It was only a matter of time before you left your shell," added Kristina with a proud, faint smile, watching Antoinette shake off the snow.
And when I looked at them, I realized...
This - they - made me feel happy this time.
The feeling of happiness lingered throughout the rest of the day as I continued to play in the snow with 1-A. It made me feel like a child, being in something like this, but I wasn't going to let that ruin it for me.
What I would let ruin it, however, was when people began to leave as it got darker. The sun had begun to set, and there was still plenty of people left in the area, but the number had definitely dropped from before.
I only realized this as I peeked out of my snow fort for the currently on-going snowball fight. The lampposts on the sides of the path had turned on, giving the area a warm feeling, but less visibility for me.
"Hey, Antoinette," I whispered, leaning back but not taking my eyes away from the clearing.
"Yeah?" I heard her whisper back, at the same time I felt her back against mine. We were forced to team up after Claire and Kristina had done the same, leaving us at a disadvantage. Everything was in silence, with the occasional shuffle of feet, so I kept my voice down.
"Where's everyone going? Scared of the night?"
A shuffle of feet, and my eyes darted around.
"Don't even. I know you're backed up against me because you're just as scared."
"Like you're not?"
I heard her laugh. Then, silence.
Soft steps. I pressed my back against Antoinette, holding a snowball firmly in my hands.
"We should move soon, they might find us if we're here too long," I whispered.
I didn't hear an answer, and turned around just in time to see Antoinette get struck in the face with a snowball.
Before I was even able to react, I felt something hitting my back and hear a loud 'Winners!' from a bush, from someone who is obviously Claire.
I groaned, standing up. The snow was cold and wet on my back, and it made me shiver, even more so when I look to the bushes, expecting to see Claire, but see Kristina emerging instead, wearing a triumphant grin.
She ran to Claire, who emerged from the opposite side, and they high-fived each other.
"They're both crazy competitive..." muttered Antoinette as she wiped her face with her sleeves.
There was some polite applause from the people who remained, but the excitement from earlier today has all but faded were it not for those two.
"Cheap shot aside," I said, glancing at the winning team. "I think that's our cue to end the night. Oh - ew, gross, gross, it's going down my back!" I squirmed, feeling the snow. "Nope, I'm out. I'm going back to 1-A and changing out of these wet clothes."
I only had the coat one afternoon but it was already my favourite. Now it was ruined.
"I'll go with you," said Antoinette, grimacing. Her face was red from where the snowball hit her, with pieces of snow stuck to her face.
Kristina stifled a chuckle at the sight. "I think we will be staying a bit more. The night is young, and-"
"There are plenty of ways we keep each other warm!" interrupted Claire, jumping over Kristina to hug her from behind, nuzzling their cheeks together. "We do it all the time. You two are heading back, right? Sleep in the same bed, it'll help with the cold and that's a Redwood guarantee."
Of course, neither of us would entertain the thought.
Antoinette waved them off and walked back to the building, hugging herself and shivering for a moment.
"See ya tomorrow," I added quickly, to then run after Antoinette.
The white snow under my feet crunched every so often, and the cold night air hit my face hard, swerving past my coat and freezing my back more. I followed Antoinette into the elevator, where we stand in a comfortable silence.
There was no one else in it, and I soon found myself glancing at her, just in time to see her doing the same.
I didn't know why, but we both laughed.
We didn't say anything arriving at our floor, and in entering the room I let her go first.
Despite going to 1-A at night, I felt full of energy... like nothing could throw me down. It was a feeling I was seeing often with them around... and that, somewhere in my mind, frightened me.