.:04:.
"There you are." Jamie glanced up from what he was doing to offer Jack a friendly smile. "Where have you been?" He added quietly, looking around to make sure no one saw him talking to himself.
Jack leaned against the car, cradling his staff in his elbow and shoving a hand in his pocket. He sighed gently and watched the young man work. Jamie didn't press him for information, he simply waited and leaned down to grab another armful of snow. Jack's resolve broke and he snorted, chuckling as he watched Jamie plop the armful of snow on the car's windshield and gently pat it down.
"I was thinking about stuff. I dunno. I hung out with Sophie the other night and I just… I'm sorry, what are you doing?" Jack leaned away from the car and laughed, looking back as Jamie got another armful of snow from the side of the road.
"Nothin'. Mom leaves for work in about an hour, I just wanted to leave her a nice surprise before I head for school. Or I would head for school, if there was school today. If you know what I mean." Jamie gave him a long, meaningful look.
Jack was still laughing, glancing between his friend and the snow-coated car before nodding.
"Yea, I get it. I guess it's a bit overdue anyway. I'll be right back." He composed himself and leapt up into the air.
Jamie watched him go, a triumphant smile on his face.
"Mornin' Jamie."
He glanced over to see Sophie walking down the back steps of the house. She had her backpack in one hand and was adjusting her scarf with the other. The dwindling snow beneath her boots crunched as she crossed the sidewalk toward him, and she glanced around.
"What are you doing to mom's car?" She asked a little absently. He gave her a sly grin and she cringed. "Oh. Nevermind… Sometimes I think you spend a little too much time with Jack."
Jamie slapped his hands together and jumped with excitement. "Hah!" He all but shouted in her face. Sophie shot back a step in alarm, her eyes going wide.
"Why did you go so long pretending he wasn't real?" Jamie asked curiously. He'd waited so long for her to admit he was real, he was practically grinning from ear to ear.
Sophie's eyes were still wide and she glanced around. She relaxed a bit, pulled her backpack onto her shoulders and looked away self-consciously.
"You know why, Jamie." She murmured quietly. His face fell when he realized he'd managed to hurt her. "I'll see you at school…"
She started to walk away, and Jamie was snapped from his daze when a few snowflakes drifted down around her. Suddenly finding himself distracted, he looked up at the sky and realized the previous bright blue had been replaced by thick white clouds.
"Soph, wait. I don't think there's gonna be school today." He glanced back to her as she stopped and looked around. It started to snow harder, and Jamie smiled. Sophie let out a soft laugh and held her gloved hands up to catch some snowflakes.
"You whined to Jack Frost himself for a snow day. Let me guess, you forgot to do your homework." Sophie tilted her head and looked at her brother.
"I didn't forget! I just wasn't done…" Jamie grumbled indignantly.
Sophie rolled her eyes. Something above them caught her attention, and Jamie looked up to see Jack descending from the snow clouds. He landed softly in the snow beside them and grinned, shaking himself out and bouncing a little in place.
"Whew! This is gonna be a good one. Might even get two or three days out of it." Jack moved over to return the high-five Jamie offered.
"I guess I'll put my backpack away." Sophie snorted, turning on her heel and heading back towards the house.
Jack watched her go, the grin on his face softening. He reached up to grip his staff and lean on it, pressing his cheek against the cold wood. It felt good to know she was ready to be friends again.
"I take it the two of you had a good time?" Jamie asked a little suggestively.
"Oh god, just shut up." Jack swiped at Jamie with his staff. He jumped back, but the staff caught him in the knee and frost immediately spread up and down his leg. He cried out in shock against the cold, then dissolved into laughter.
They both looked up as the front door closed, and Sophie headed back toward them. Her camera bag was slung over her shoulder. She'd put on a hat with little ears, and her golden hair splayed out over her shoulders from beneath it.
"Hey Soph, wanna hang out?" Jamie offered as she started to walk past them. "I was gonna get the guys together and see how big of a snowball we can roll, then leave it in an intersection once it gets dark." He flashed her a wicked grin and she wrinkled her nose.
"Uh, no thanks. I'm gonna go take pictures of stuff." She waved over her shoulder and kept walking, and the two boys glanced at each other and shrugged.
"Giant snowball sounds good to me." Jack said, shouldering his staff and looking over at Jamie expectantly.
"Awesome." Jamie murmured, spinning on his heel and walking purposefully down the sidewalk.