To the Unplanner: A LOT of media makes making and keeping friends *cough*likeinKingdomHearts*cough* seem so easy. Truth be told, I'm jealous by it. x_x
Not gonna lie, this chapter is a bit of wishful thinking on my part. We didn't have a deep freeze this year in my area- I think the lowest it ever got was 35 degrees Fahrenheit way back in January or February. March is usually when we get a 'snowmageddon' (no, I'm not making this up), but this year it didn't happen. It makes me a bit sad because we never had a good three-inch to foot tall snow this year. Why be cold if it ain't gonna snow?
When I was writing this chapter, it was only the second week of April and we were expected to see nothing but 60-70 degree days for the next ten days. (And we ended up having a tornado warning that ended with a small burst of snow/hail.) Isn't that something? I'd like to think that global warming isn't a factor here, but who knows?
Thank you for reading!
The weather man had promised one last cold snap before the end of the season, and it sure did deliver. The snow had started falling about an hour ago- since then, there was a good five inches of snow covering school grounds. Suffice to say, classes for the day were canceled. Skuld looked out her window as if the wind spoke ill of her. Having a snow day meant that it was one less day to summer vacation, and she needed that time to herself, darn it!
She pretended not to see Ephemer walk on up to the girls dorms. She pretended not to care as he bent down in the snow to make a snowball. She didn't even care to flinch when Ephemer landed a direct hit on her window. His aim was pretty good, she'd give him that. If only Ephemer couldn't see that she was staring out right at him, then maybe he would have stopped. Instead, the headstrong boy tossed snowball after snowball at his friend's window, hoping to egg her out of her room.
Ephemer's persistence eventually paid off. Giving a defeated sigh, Skuld got her winter clothes together and started to head outside. Before she was close enough to her friend, however, Skuld made a decent sized snowball that she ended up lobbing at Ephemer's stupid, cherub-like face. She missed her mark by three degrees south- but it sent the message well enough.
"Hey!" the boy pouted as he brushed the snow off of him.
"Are you trying to get expelled?" Skuld countered. "Why can't you just call me on the phone like a normal person?"
Ephemer's face scrunched into one of mild disgust. In a part-whining, part-serious voice he remarked, "But that's no fun."
Skuld rolled her eyes. "Can Pleasure Island take you back? You're not enough of a jerk yet."
To her annoyance, the boy laughed. Then, without any warning, he took her by the hand and started to drag her away from the dorms.
"Ephemer…!" Skuld shouted as he tugged on her arm. "What are you…?!"
"We're going to get Anora!" he said to her, looking over his shoulder for a moment to glance at her.
"Who?"
"You remember that girl we met back in January after the fencing match?"
"Sorta…?"
"Well, she's going to be coming with us today in this winter wonderland. We just gotta find her first!"
Skuld did nothing to hold back her annoyed groan.
. . .
Anora was in her secret place that afternoon, as she usually was on a weekday. However, the snow was too high for her to actually skate. She would have brushed it off, but the snow was still falling and wasn't expected to lift up until after sunset. Responding to her stranger friend was harder than it usually was when she was wearing mittens. Why didn't she have any gloves? Or maybe even those gloves that had a cover on them so they became mittens? That would have made this so much more easier…
"Hey Anora!" a sudden voice called out to her, surprising the girl enough to completely mess up the word she was spelling. She looked at the ruined note before turning to see who had spoke up. Of all people, she didn't quite expect to see Ephemer coming up- never mind the girl he was dragging behind him too.
The two got a bit closer to Anora before Ephemer dropped his friend's hand. He took immediate interest of the note in Anora's hand. "So," he mused as he moved closer, "Whatcha writing there?"
"Ephemer!" the girl that came with Ephemer chastised as she smacked him over the head.
"Ow!" the boy playfully retorted. "It was an honest question!" He then turned to Anora again and said, "Once you're done writing your note, you think you want to spend day with me and my lovely friend Skuld? We can stay here if you want."
The only response he got at first was a bewildered blink. Anora looked from the pleased looking Ephemer to his friend (Skuld, was it?) who looked rather annoyed to even be near the boy. Slowly, still unsure of the idea, Anora started to nod her head in agreement.
"Great!" Ephemer exclaimed as he took a sudden hold of Skuld's hand again, and started to drag her to a spot not far from there. "Come on Skuld!" he even cheered. "I think there's enough room to make a snowman over here!"
"Oh brother..." came the exasperated response. Anora couldn't hold back her laughter at the odd duo. She finished up her note and placed it on the concrete slab, making sure to place a rock under the note so the wind didn't blow it away.
Ephemer was quick to notice that she was coming over to them now, and he happily waved at her. "Good timing!" he grinned. "Skuld needs some help with making a round snowball!"
"I do not!" came the indignant huff. "I'm just not a sculptor."
"Obviously."
"Hey! It's not like you're doing any better!"
Anora was the first to burst into a laugh at their argument. Her laugh -her genuine laugh- came in small bursts, like the popping of clustered bubbles. Both Skuld and Ephemer stared at her for a moment before looking at each other. Ephemer broke the silence with his own laughter next. Skuld reluctantly joined in, leading the three of them into a joyous laughter.
It took some time for the trio to calm down again, their cheeks hurting from both the cold and their happiness as they began to work on their snowman. They each rolled up a decent sized ball of snow for each layer of the snowman; Ephemer had been kind enough to lift each part and stack them for the girls. The trio had found some twigs that worked well enough for the arms. But it still didn't seem finished.
"He needs some personality." Ephemer decided out loud. "Any ideas, ladies?"
"How about that scarf of yours?" Skuld teased, wiggling her fingers as she crept up to him.
"What?! No way!" the boy immediately recoiled- he placed both hands over his red scarf in defense. "I've had this scarf since before I knew you!"
Skuld gave a callous roll of her shoulder. "It was a thought."
Ephemer glared at Skuld for a moment before happily turning his attention to Anora. "What do you think, Anora? Anything you want to dress our snowman up with?"
At first, Anora didn't seem to respond, looking over the snowman with a few tilts of her head. When she had an idea, she gave a quick snap of her fingers, signaled for Ephemer and Skuld to stay where they were, then quickly headed toward the cafeteria. The two friends glanced at each other and shrugged. They waited for Anora to come back, finding themselves a bit surprised when she returned with a carrot and two rather large cherries.
Well, the carrot made the most sense. It was the cherries that caused the two friends to raise an eyebrow at their new friend. Anora ignored them for the time being as she placed the carrot on the snowman's face, making it the nose. She then turned around and offered the cherries to her friends. When neither Skuld or Ephemer wanted one, Anora shrugged and popped one of the cherries in her mouth. She chewed on the cherry flesh for a little bit before spitting the cherry pit out onto her hand. Skuld immediately gave a noise of disgust. Ephemer, on the other hand, only continued to give a bemused stare as Anora started to eat the other cherry.
Once she had both cherry pits, Anora quickly made a tentative wipe of her mouth before moving back to the snowman. For a good moment or two, the girl carefully tried to work the pits onto the snowman's face. When she finally stepped back, it was then that her friends realized what her plan was.
"Those are some pretty tiny eyes." Ephemer noted.
"But they work." Skuld decided, placing a hand on her chin.
Ephemer gave a sagely nod. "That they do." he agreed.
Anora looked at her friends, making sure she had their approval. Happy that they liked it, she then gave a wide, cheerful smile revealing her now cherry stained teeth. The disgusted groan Skuld then let out made them all burst out in laughter.