I'm sorry I'm late (again…) For the past two weeks I have been working a part time job and when I come home I don't have the energy to write. Three weeks ago I was at a music festival where the last thing on my mind was the story. Now this chapter is extra-long but there is some major time skipping in this. I feel like I have come to the point where I had to do it to get the story moving in the direction I wanted to. I hope you all enjoy it and one last thing is a shoutout to Pumkingking5 for constantly reviewing and my good friend The Princess of Books.

Please leave a review telling me what you like/dislike about the story! I love hearing your opinions! And now without further ado:

Friday, November 9th
Troy's POV

I was on my way home as soon as school was out that Friday. My backpack much heavier than normal due to the books and notes Gabriella wanted from her locker. Walking up her driveway I stopped outside the black front door and raised my hand, making a fist, before knocking on the door. Moments later it opened revealing my girlfriend standing in the doorway dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I could see that she still had a fever, because of the slight redness in her face.

"Hey Troy." "Hi Brie, are you feeling any better?" I questioned her and she gave me a little smile. "I feel a little better. Would you like to come in?" she offered me and I let a smile cross my face. "For a little while," I accepted, "You should stay in bed though," I told her as we entered the house and she lead the way towards the living room.

"I have been sitting on the couch all day doing nothing. It's great to get up every now and then. Especially when I know I can see you." Gabriella let out a little cough and I gave her a look. "Mhm, sure about that?" I asked her as she sat back down on the couch. I took the purple blanket that was balled at the end of the couch and wrapped it back around her as she rested back against the couch.

"Did you find everything in my locker?" she questioned curiously looking at me sitting in the chair at the end of the sofa.

I laughed and opened my black backpack that I had put on the floor. "That was the least of my concerns. Your locker was so organized," I told her taking out her books before looking for the notes and papers. "Well I got a few tips from Taylor and I always hated to have it messy," Gabriella explained with a little shrug of her shoulders watching as he took out everything.

"Oh and before I forget it. Darbus was telling the whole homeroom about the musical next month and reminded the cast about the extra schedules that was on her desk." I told her and she stretched for the folded piece of paper I presented her. My eyes watched as my girlfriend unfolded the paper, her brown eyes scanning the words on the paper.

"This is a lot of extra practises. We have finals coming up soon that I need to study for, and the scholastic decathlon competition is soon," Gabriella complained looking back at me.

"We will manage don't worry. I am sure you will ace every final as you have, just as you have done with every test this semester, and when it comes to the decathlon competition, I have watched your team and you are all unstoppable. I strongly believe that you will win the next couple of competitions and be in the final in March," I reassured her and Gabriella took a breath and nodded. "What about basketball?" she questioned her voice becoming raspy.

"Don't worry about that too ok? Chad is confident that we are ready for our next games and if I can't be at practise Chad promised me that us guys could meet during the weekends and he would show me." I told her confidently. "I'll just figure this out with Taylor and I think a lot will be sorted," she said to me and I nodded. "See, everything is going to all right. Now I think I should head home and you should get some rest," I said and rose from the chair.

"Ok. Hopefully I'll see you on Monday," she told me with a smile and I kissed her forehead. "Get better soon ok?" I said to her and she smiled back at me. "Thanks. See you later Troy." "See you later Brie," I said to her and left.

Tuesday, November 20th

It was Tuesday evening and I was studying for the science test tomorrow. To say I was nervous was an understatement! I knew I was in trouble if I didn't get a good grade now. With the help of Gabriella and Taylor I had gotten a C- on my Spanish project and was happy with that for the time being. The Wildcats had a basketball game this Friday which was critical to win if we wanted to qualify for the championship game. If we won, the Wildcats were most likely going to the back to back championship game. This was all crazy! The musical had it's opening night on the 7th of December where we had one show before a new musical was taking place in the spring.

My gaze fell on the kitchen clock to see it was a little after midnight. I sighed out loud and pushed the chair back closing the book with a soft thud. What I hadn't learned now I probably won't learn. Besides, it was only six hours until I had to get up again and there was no point in falling asleep during the test.

"That wasn't so bad," Taylor stated as we walked out of the classroom after the test. "I was actually pleasantly surprised about the questions too. Much easier than I anticipated," she agreed. "I don't know what I am going to say," I muttered and Chad shook his head as he had heard what I said. "Oh come on you two. If you just had studied more it would have been easier," Taylor told us giving us both a look. "Geese Taylor. Not everyone has a super brain to remember absolutely everything they read," Chad stated pissed before walking off. "What?" Taylor questioned hugging her book closer to her body as we walked down the crowded hallway.

Exactly a week later I sat in the science room with the same nerves as last time. I was literally under two minutes away of getting my test back. My gaze followed the teacher as she handed out the papers to the students. As I read their expressions it was a mix of everything. Some were overjoyed, other clearly disappointed while a handful of people simply didn't seem to care. Our teacher walked over to my desk and put the white piece of paper face down on my desk. Nervously I reached out for it, picked it up and looked at the red letter in the top right corner. A smile crossed my face and as I peered up from the paper in my hand, I saw Gabriella's smiling gaze landed on me.

As the bell was sounded students scrambled to get out of the classroom and I made my way over to Gabriella. "Hey you," I said to her and she turned around picking up her bag. "Hey how did it go?" she questioned curiously and I smiled showing her the piece of paper. "B+!" she exclaimed quietly as we walked out into the hallway. "That is amazing Troy. I knew you could do it," she said to me confidently. "I can't take all the credit. You helped me out a lot two weeks ago when we studied together," I told her honestly. "What about you? Are you happy?" I asked her and she nodded with a smile. "Very. I got an A+." "That's amazing congratulations," I said to her and she smiled.

"Hey have you seen the forecast lately?" Gabriella questioned me excitedly. "No?" I admitted a little confused and she smiled looking at me. "It's supposed to snow in two weeks," she cheered excitedly. "And?" I questioned not seeing why she was so excited. "Albuquerque is so far south that we once in a blue moon get a decent amount of snow here. The forecast said that it is supposed to come 4 inches or more of snow," she exclaimed excitedly looking at my face. Puzzled by the meaning of once in a blue moon my expression was thoughtful.

"You don't seem very excited," she observed. "I am but 4 inches isn't that much," I said to her and she frowned. "For a state so south it is a lot. On average it comes one inch maybe," she pointed out. "What is normal in Etrea?" "Depends on where you are. In the capital Iwaki, on average there could be anything between 30 to 40 centimetres of snow in December. In inches that is approximately 12 to 16 inches. In the western parts of the country it could get as much as 50 to 60 centimetres which equal 19 to 23 inches," I said to her and she looked shocked at me as we entered our English classroom. "Maybe we'll get a snow day on Friday," she said as we sat down in our normal seats. Gabriella was seated beside me, Taylor behind me and Chad on my left.

"Snow day?" I questioned looking at her. "Don't tell me you haven't heard about snow days?" Chad exclaimed shocked looking at me. "No? We don't have them in Etrea," I told Chad who was looking at me wide eyed. "Dude it is the best days ever invented. We have four snow days and if there comes so much snow that the schools decide to close we get the day off." "Just like that?" I questioned surprised about the whole concept. "Yup. No extra work, no extra days we have to be at school unless we use more than those four snow days," Chad explained and I was amazed. "That is a great concept but a little strange that they would close a school due to snow," I said to them as the warning bell was sounded.

Friday, December 14th

When I awoke that Friday morning it was just as any other day, except when I looked outside my bedroom window the snow was falling heavily and there was already a good amount of snow on the ground. I found a thick sweater and after checking the temperature I found one of my warmer jackets in the back of the closet, and it was then I heard my phone. I walked over to the table and saw that I had received a text from Brie. I reckon you haven't heard but we have a snow day today! Chad just texted me asking if we wanted to come over at his place. Usually, that means playing in the snow… Remember gloves! If you're free, meet me at my house at ten? Xoxo Brie. Sending a text back telling her I would meet her at ten I looked over at the clock again. Seeing as it was only seven I had three hours and was suddenly craving some Etrean food. I looked inside the pantry and figured out I had the ingredients to make Natto. I got the rice, soybeans, soy sauce and what was left of the dried bonito. After what I remembered I didn't have any seasoned seaweed but that didn't matter at the time. I found some green onions and some mustard in the refrigerator and started making the breakfast.

"Hey Brie," I said as she opened the door. "Hey are you ready?" she questioned and I nodded. We were both dressed about the same in warm jackets, gloves and a beanie. Gabriella was also wearing a blue coloured scarf that she had wrapped around her neck. "Bye mom see you later," Gabriella called and we were on our way over to Chad's house. "So what do you guys normally do over at Chad's house?" I questioned inherently. "Depending on the amount of snow I am thinking that he has planned some sled driving, snowball fights. Just typical snow day activities," Gabriella said. "Well I don't know much about snow day activities so I'm looking forward to this," I exclaimed excitedly. "The thing I'm looking forward to is coming inside and warming myself up again. It's freezing outside," she concluded.

As we came over to Chad's house Taylor, Zeke, Jason, Ryan and Kelsi was already there waiting for us all bundled up in their winter jackets and coats. "What have you planned today?" Taylor asked Chad as she was moving around to keep the cold out. "Sled driving," he said excitingly with a grin plastered on his face. Chad found a couple of mats and other stuff before leading us towards a partially remote place no more than a minute of walking.

"Here it's perfect because there hardly is any cars driving her, and this hill is awesome!" he exclaimed as we looked down. "Ladies first?" he asked and handed a mat over to a rather sceptical Gabriella. "I'm not so sure," Gabriella said sceptically gazing down at the mat, down the hill and then back at Chad.

"I can go with you," I said to her when I saw how uncomfortable she was. "Ok," she agreed a little reluctantly but took the mat from Chad's outstretched hand.

Putting the mat down on the snow cowered ground I sat down taking the small rope that was attached at the front holding on. Gabriella sat down behind me and took a hold around my torso. "Don't push Chad," Gabriella warned and I knew she was looking at him. "Are you ready?" I questioned her as I could feel her gripping around me a little tighter. "Let's do it," she said determined and I could feel us starting to go forwards.

"Chad!" she squealed as I felt a push and downhill it went. The only sound I could hear was Gabriella's slight screaming and the whooshing of the air as it passed us. The speed only seemed to increase and me having no clue how to steer, stop or even slow this thing down, we somewhat ended up going sideways. "Oh no," Gabriella exclaimed before we tumbled over and landed on the soft white ground.

When I sat up I was covered in snow and I just sat there laughing looking back up at the group looking from the hills. "That was fun," I stated excitedly and Gabriella huffed brushing some snow out of her hair. "You ever done this before?" she questioned as I shook my head, no.

We eventually made our way back up the hill where everyone was waiting on us. We had just reached the top as the next couple of persons went down again, and this was how it continued for several hours. When the clock crept towards four we had made a bunch of snow men, snow angels and we were currently in the midst of a snowball fight.

It had started as Chad hit Taylor on the shoulder, but when she was returning fire she had hit Gabriella instead. The result? A full blown snowball fight between me, Taylor, Gabriella and Zeke against Chad Kelsi, Jason and Ryan.

"Yes!" I cheered as Chad was hit in his afro. The wind picked up around us and snow was being blown everywhere making the visibility bad. "I'm going to get you!" Chad called making a snowball to throw at his best friend. "Oh no," I muttered running off, away from Chad. Before I even noticed it myself, my feet got lost from underneath of me and the cold snow was in my face.

"Troy!" I heard Gabriella call as I pushed myself off from the ground. "Are you ok?" she questioned worriedly as I brushed myself off. "I'm good," I assured her sitting on the ground as the rest came rushing over.

"Are you ok?" they all questioned worriedly. "I'm good. I think I just slipped on some ice," I said to the others as Chad offered his hand to help me up from the ground.

"I think we should call it a day. I'm cold and we should stop before anyone seriously injure themselves," Kelsi stated wisely looking at all of us. "Yeah," we all muttered agreeing walking towards Chad's house.

We said goodbye one after one as our ways separated. In the end it was just me and Gabriella walking the quiet streets of Albuquerque. "You want to stay at my place for a while?" "That is if you don't want to go home and change," she added looking up at me while pushing a stray of hair away.

"I'm relatively dry so I'd love to," I told her with a smile and put my right hand around her waist. Naturally she leaned herself into my embrace as we walked home. We walking into the hallway of Gabriella's house and Maria popped her head from the kitchen when the front door closed.

"Gabi is that you?" Maria asked rounding the corner. "Yes, also Troy is here," she called seeing her mother.

"Hi Maria," I greeted with a smile hanging up my jacket. "Hello Troy. How was your day?" she asked us. "Great," I smiled.

"Goodness gracious it's freezing outside," she stated looking at the thermostat situated in the window still. "I will make you two some hot cocoa if you want?" Maria questioned and we both nodded our heads. "Yes please," Gabriella said as she was removing her scarf.

"So what have you all been doing this snow day?" she questioned as we joined her in the kitchen. "Enjoying the snow. Chad took us up to that hill again where we were sledge driving. We ended the day with a snowball fight." Gabriella told her mother. Maria placed the two steaming cups in front of us and I picked up the mug, taking a small sip that warmed me from the inside. A phone was heard in the distance and Maria excused herself before walking into the living room to answer the call.

"I need to get something from work. Apparently something urgent and what not… Will you two be ok?" she questioned as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen already dressed in her coat. "Of course," Gabriella stated easily holding around the hot cup. "See you two later," Maria said and walked out the door.

"So what do you think of your first snow day?" Brie questioned and I let a smile cross my face. "Exciting," I stated at once taking a swallow of the hot drink in my hands. "So what do you do when you get snow in Etrea?" she questioned curiously putting the cup down on the table. "Well I'm mostly alone when it's snow. Mom has some siblings that are my age that visit during Christmas and we have a snowball fight outside. It doesn't last long as it isn't fun playing two against one," I explained to her and she nodded interested.

"Can you tell me more about Etrea?" she questioned and I thought for a moment. "The weather is different," I stated and she cocked her head.

"Oh. How come?" "Because of the location it gets freezing in the winter and miserably hot in the summer. One more significant difference is school uniforms." "How long do they wear school uniforms?" she questioned curiously looking at me.

"From the age of six when we start school, until we graduate after college," I said taking out my phone. I opened the gallery and started scrolling for a picture. I found the right picture and looked at it for a second before showing it to her. It was a picture of me and Marcus both dressed in school uniforms complete with a blazer and tie.

"He really looks like the boy from a photo at your house. Who is it?" she questioned giving me my phone back. "His name is Marcus and we have been best friends since first grade," I explained to her. "He had to move because of his mother's work two years ago so that was partially the reason why I wanted to study abroad," I told her and she looked at me.

"What other reasons was there besides wanting to live a normal life?" she asked me and I looked at her.

"After Marcus moved away I spent most of the last semester alone. Towards the end of the semester I played basketball with a couple of exchange students from Japan and that was when I decided I wanted to take a year abroad," I said to her recalling everything.

"I'm sorry to hear about Marcus," she said to me and I could genuinely hear an apology in her voice. "Don't be sorry. It was nothing anyone of us could have changed about it." I explained to her.

Gabriella leaned her head on my shoulder and I put and arm around her. "I love you Troy," she stated looking up at me. "I love you too," I told her kissing her forehead.

Gabriella found my left hand and gently squeezed it. A numbing pain shoot through me, nothing like I have ever experienced before. I pulled my hand out of Gabriella's small palm and she looked at me a little worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked me concerned not shifting her gaze from my eyes. "My hand hurt," I told her and it wasn't before then that she tore her eyes away from me looking down at my hand.

"Let me see," she asked and I put my hand in her outstretched one. Looking down at my left wrist it was swollen and had a mix of purple and red colour. "That doesn't look good," she stated concerned. "I think I should have my mom look at that when she comes home."

"I think it might have happened when I fell during the snowball fight," I supplied and she nodded agreeing.

What do you guys think? What has happened to Troy's wrist? I promise you all that we are moving fast towards Christmas and I have made up my mind about how that is going to unfold. I'm not revealing much (or anything for that matter: D ) please stay tuned for more. I am working one more week and then I have two weeks off before school starts on the 17th. I'm aiming on writing a couple of chapters in those two weeks so I have ready for you.

Until next time
-FreeFlyingWriter