Year 8: Snow

As the bell rang for recess, the third graders charged outside, excited. During the morning, it had been snowing heavily, and all the kids couldn't wait to get outside and build snowmen, and have snowball fights, although they had been warned against the latter. As everyone sped outside, Kelsi and Ryan waited behind to patiently wait for eachother to get their coats and hats on.
"What do you want to do first?" Asked Ryan, looking out the window.
"Um...Martha said she was going to make snow angels. So I might do that." She said, tucking her hair into her hat.
"That's cool, I'll make a better one than you." Teased Ryan.
"Um...I think it's just a girls only thing." Said Kelsi, awkwardly, not wanting to look at Ryan.
"But...I thought we'd play together?" Said Ryan, a little upset.
"I just wanna play with the girls for a little while. You can play with the boys, I think Chad and Troy and gonna have a snowball fight, even though they've been told not to. Sharpay said she was going to referee it. I think she just wants to congratulate Troy when his team wins." Kelsi finished doing her coat up, and looked at Ryan. "Come on, let's head out!"

As soon as they reached the playground, Kelsi waved goodbye to Ryan, and rushed over to Martha and Taylor, who was busy lecturing Martha on the fact she'll get a cold from making snow angels. Ryan meekly walked over to where Troy appeared to be having an argument.
"Sharpay, you can't be on a team if you're going to referee it!" Sighed Troy, annoyed.
"But you don't have an even team!" Argued Sharpay. "Look! If you and Chad are a team, and Zeke, Jason and Peter are a team, then you need another player!"
"Hey, no girls on our team! You can referee, but you can't play!" Argued Chad.
"Fine, but--Ryan!!" Sharpay quickly rushed over to him, and pulled him over by his arm. "See, you have an even team now, don't they Ryan!"
"Yeah, I guess..." Muttered Ryan, heading over to Troy and Chad. The two teams began building their piles of snowballs, and Ryan kept glancing over his shoulder at Kelsi.
"So, not playing with your girlfriend this recess, huh Ry?" Teased Chad, patting him on the shoulder.
"She is not my girlfriend, really. She's just my friend." Said Ryan, looking over at Kelsi again, as she nervously lay in the snow.
"Whatever, girls are boring as friends. Take me and Taylor. We were friends in like...the first grade, but now..She's all bossy and boring. You need to be more like me and Troy! Ditch the girl!" Laughed Chad.
"Hey, I've got a better idea for a game." Grinned Troy. "Instead of throwing snowballs at eachother, why don't we throw them at the girls? They'll never see it coming, and they'll be completely unprepared!"
"I don't know, won't we get in trouble..." Said Ryan, nervously.
"Come on, it'll be fun! I just wanna see the look on Taylor's face..." Said Chad, grinning. "I'll go and tell Jason. You're in, right Ryan?"
"...As long as I can hit Sharpay with them, sure." Said Ryan, continuing to build his pile of snowballs.

While this was happening, Kelsi approached Taylor and Martha.
"...And then you'll get a brain freeze and it'll really hurt! And also you'll get a cold and you'll be in bed, and you'll miss the rest of school!" Said Taylor, looking satisfied while sitting on a step. Martha rolled her eyes, and when she spotted Kelsi, she waved at her.
"Hey! Finally got away from the evil twins?" Teased Martha.
"Ryan isn't evil!" Said Kelsi, instantly defending him. "It's Sharpay, he doesn't want to do half the shows he makes her do, he's--"
"Ugh, let's not talk about boys. They're a boring subject." Said Taylor. "As I was saying, Martha, I really think snow angels are a bad idea."
"But they're fun!" Argued Martha. "I'm still going to do them. Kelsi, what about you?"
"Um...sure. Don't see why not. They should be fun." She smiled nervously, and lay down in a pile of snow next to Martha, and slowly started to move her arms and legs in an up and down direction. She started to enjoy herself, and her and Martha were laughing, when they heard Taylor shout.
"Girls, take cover!" Before they could react, they heard a flump sound around their heads, and Martha screamed as a snowball hit her square in the face. She and Kelsi quickly jumped up.
"Run!" Martha called, as her, Taylor and Kelsi started running away from the boys chasing them with snowballs. Kelsi kept quickly looking over her shoulder to see what Ryan was doing, but eventually, Martha pulled her behind the wall at the back of the cafeteria.
"I don't think they saw us come here." Whispered Taylor. "Just keep still, boys are dumb, they'll get bored soon enough."

"We've lost them." Sighed Chad, sitting on the bars of the jungle gym. "Where could they have gone?"
"I'll go find them! I'll pretend I'm on there side and tell you where they are!" Said Sharpay, quickly running off. Troy rolled his eyes.
"At least she's finally gone. Something wrong, Ry? Your sister cramping your style? You weren't throwing many."
"...Hands got cold." Said Ryan. The truth was he was afraid of hitting Kelsi with one. He knew she disapproved of the snowball fight, and he didn't want her getting hurt.
"Well don't worry. We'll find them and--look! Sharpays waving us over there! They must've hidden behind the cafeteria!" Chad pointed to where Sharpay was standing a little way away from the wall, waving at Troy. Troy jumped up, and built up a massive snowball.
"Ryan, you can take the first shot!" He announced, passing the ball to Ryan. Ryan gulped, and nodded, as the three of them ran full pelt towards the girls. Blindly, Ryan threw the snowball in Sharpay's general direction, and heard a shriek. Opening his eyes, he gulped. The snowball had hit Kelsi in the face, and snow clung to her hair, and she held her hands over her face in an attempt to warm it up. Before Ryan could apologise, another bell rung signifying the end of recess, and everyone traipsed back into their classrooms.

Kelsi sat silently working out some math problems, occasionally turning to Taylor for help with them, who seemed to understand math better than most of the class, which Chad occasionally teased her for.
"...Kelsi I'm sorry I was trying to hit Sharpay." Said Ryan.
"...I know. It's okay." Said Kelsi. She did a few more questions, then turned to Ryan. "I think when we come back from winter vacation, I should sit with Taylor and Martha, and you should sit with the boys."
"But we're best friends." Said Ryan, upset.
"I know, but you're getting made fun of, and I'm getting made fun of. It's just easier. We can still be friends just...we have to hang out with other people." Ryan nodded.
"Secret friends, kinda?" He said, and Kelsi nodded.
"Yeah, something like that."

When school started after christmas, everyone was shocked to see that though Kelsi and Ryan rode the school bus to and from school together, Ryan tried to hang out with the boys, and Kelsi stuck by the girls, and they all instantly felt that it was their fault. Sometimes the status quo isn't always best.