Swirling, whirling, hypnotizing.
Arnold stood at the window in his darkened bedroom and watched the snow fall outside.
That morning had been cold but sunny and bright, not a cloud in the sky.
When twilight arrived, it brought this storm. Wind and thick fluffy snowflakes whirled around the sky before finally landing on the ground or any available flat surface. Already the ground was more than covered and in the street lights, he could see a group of college kids racing out to the parking lot to throw snowballs.
The door to his bedroom opened and he turned around, blinking at the sudden intrusion of bright light. Arthur, one of his roommates, stood in the open doorway. Behind him a cacophony of noises and singing could be heard from the hallway of the dorm.
"Hey, we're all betting there's no school tomorrow. A group of us were planning on heading outside for a bit."
Arthur's girlfriend Amy poked her head around the doorframe, all red hair and freckles and grins.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?"
Despite any attempt to remain stoic, he found himself laughing. "No, I do not wanna build a snowman."
"It doesn't have to be a snowman." she persisted, still grinning.
"Seriously, stop watching that movie."
Arthur poked his girlfriend on the shoulder, smiling affectionately at her.
"Come on Arnold, you need to get out, have some fun. It can't be all studying and serious."
"Scholarship," was all he said. Arthur waved it off.
"One hour. Snowball fight. Didn't you have snowball fights when you were a kid?"
Snow days were spent in neighborhood wide snowball fights, hiding behind cars and light poles to be the last one standing. The air was full of laughter and snowballs flying.
"If we flank past Mrs. Vitello's flower shop, we can get Harold and his group."
"No can do, after the last snowball fight, he's got Stinky on point there."
"Come on, it's Stinky. He'll be easy to take out."
"Can't we circle around Mr. Green's butcher shop?"
"The girls are holed up in that area."
"We could take them out, use the prisoners to take out Harold's group."
A scoff. "Good luck, the girl's managed to convince Helga to take their side this time."
"Never mind, let's take out Stinky, he's easier to down."
"Earth to Arnold."
Arnold blinked shrugging. "We did. But it's been a long time since I've been in a snowball fight."
"An even better reason to come down now and fight."
He thought about just giving in; going down for maybe a half an hour and pretending to play in the snow before retreating back to his room to…study. Or whatever he would end up doing. Because Arthur was right, even though they lived on campus, by the looks of the storm still blowing outside, there was definitely a very good chance that classes would be cancelled tomorrow while they cleared off the parking lots and the pathways to the buildings. Which meant he could sleep in tomorrow. And recently, sleeping in had turned into his favorite pastime.
"Give me a minute to get some warm clothes on and I'll meet you out there.
"Hurry up," Amy chirped. I think we might even get our resident Elsa out there."
"Aren't you cold?"
The blond blinked slowly, before taking in the snow that had started falling gently around them. She shook her head, pushing her hair back into the ponytail.
"The cold doesn't bother me."
In the hallway, he could hear Amy's sorority sisters boisterously singing Do You Wanna to Build a Snowman? as they knocked on still inhabited dorm rooms in their quest to drag everyone outside.
"Yeah, okay. I'll catch up."
Amy, still beaming over succeeding in her mission, tugged at Arthur's arm and together they hurried out the door to join the rest of their dorm building in the still falling snow.
Arnold finished getting dressed, grabbing his gloves, a hat and a blanket as he walked out of his dorm room. But instead of heading towards the parking lot where everyone else was located, he instead headed towards the roof of his building where he knew they "resident Elsa" would be hiding out.
He climbed the stairs to the roof access and opened the door.
Under the open tent never taken down from summer stood Helga, leaning against a concrete wall watching the people below her laugh and throw snowballs.
He closed the door behind him and stood there for a moment, just watching her through the blowing white.
Blond, pale and as regal as the queen she was compared to, she seemed unaware of the snow landing on her shoulders and falling down around her feet. She wore a long brown trench that was open and he could see the bottom jeans under the coat. Her hair was down.
A sorority sister that didn't quite fit the entire bill, she remained because her "sisters" loved her wicked sense of humor, her uncanny ability to out prank the Frats, her steadfast determination to protect and guide all new pledges, and her unwavering loyalty to her sisters who deserved it.
She'd earned her nickname by the way she remained aloof to everyone she didn't consider a friend. And wary towards everyone she didn't consider a close friend. Very few people could be counted among her very close friends.
And he was among one of the very few.
Saying nothing, he stepped through the snow already accumulated on the roof and to where she stood. He shook out the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"I heard the door open." She said.
"I remember a time when you'd would've been down there making elaborate plans to annihilate every last person down there."
She snorted tugging a corner of the blanket closer to her. "A long time ago. Now I just survey my domain."
That elicited a smirk from him. "You encourage their nickname of you, you know that right?"
"Doi, football head. I could do worse than royalty. And besides," She looked over at him, her hair still damp with snow. "It keeps people away."
"Not everyone."
Her face softened into a small smile. "No, not everyone. As Thad always said, even a Queen needs a Prince."
"Even the Snow Queen?" He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her towards him. She went willingly, resting her head on his shoulder. He could feel the cold on her body through the blanket. "Aren't you cold? We could go back in and I can make some hot chocolate."
"Let's stay out a little longer." She let out a soft chuckle. "The cold never bothers me."
