An Idiot Gang Snow Day

An Idiot Gang Snow Day

I was trying my quickest to put my snow gear on, which led to some mistakes that ended up in me taking MORE time instead of less. I was busy putting my snow pants on the right way around when I heard a voice outside.

“ALEXANDER!” A voice rang from outside, Theodosia. “HURRY UP!”

“I’M COMING! I’M COMING” I yelled back while fumbling with my snowshoes. I finally got out the door and saw my friends. Angelica and Thomas were seemingly inspecting the ice of the lake near the lakeshore, while Theodosia stood in front of the door, arms crossed, and a mischievous smile on her face.

“Thomas, Angelica, and I are betting on whether the ice is solid, wanna join?”

“I’m not going to join a bet about something I haven’t seen. I will not make that mistake again.”

“Smart man!” I chuckled and started walking over to the lake with Theodosia. The snow crunched under our footsteps, the perfect texture for snowball fights or making snowmen, something I already knew Theodosia was thinking of. The voices of Thomas and Angelica became clearer.

“Just so you know, I’m not going to be the one pulling you out of the water,” Angelica said, matter-of-factly.

“You won’t have to, I’ll be correct, and we will have fun on the ice instead of trying to walk through 18-inch snow,” Thomas replied. Angelica seemed to pause, which is when Theodosia butt in. She put her arm around my shoulder.

“Who are you gonna back, Alex? Thomas, who thinks the ice is safe, or Angelica, who thinks it’s not?” I thought embarrassingly hard about this. Angelica is the more outdoorsy type, but Thomas is a literal ice skater, so after realizing that, I announced my answer.

“I’m going to take the ice skater’s side, sorry, Angelica.” Thomas fistbumped me.

“That’s fair,” said Angelica and shrugged.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Angelica grabbed my hand and helped me down the rocky coast onto the lake. I braced myself for the creaking sound of the ice under my weight, but was surprised by silence.

“Huh, guess you were right, Thomas!” Angelica called back. Thomas and Theodosia were heading down the rocks. Thomas did it the most gracefully out of all of us; he clearly has been doing it for years. The ice was silent. I knew Thomas was right.

“Yeah, I have to admit to you, Thomas, you might make me lose a bet for the first time!” Theodosia announced, and Thomas’s chest puffed up with pride.

“Ha! Yeah, I told you! I know this type of shit, Alex understands!” Thomas said, I nodded in approval.

“Alright, Mr. Genius, now that you’ve gotten an ego boost, what are you supposed to do out here?” Theodosia said, putting her hands on her hips.

“I was thinking of a snowball fight, we have the right snow and gear for it,” Thomas stated and walked out further onto the ice.

“There is a lot of snow on the ice; we’d definitely have enough.” He bent over to test the snow, then I heard a creak. I looked at Theodosia and Angelica, judging their reaction. Did I even hear anything? I heard another creak, a loud one. I didn’t wait. I approached him, and the ice shifted under my weight. My heart beat faster. Angelica and Theodosia were behind me, both knowing the ice would get worse if we were all in the same area.

“Thomas, I don’t think the ice is stable in the *CRACK*” A deafening crack rang out. I felt sick. Time slowed. I ran out to him, blood rushing in my ears. Thomas disappeared, I heard Theodosia say, “THOMAS! HOLY SHIT!-” I saw him resurface. He was trying to pull himself out, but he had no traction, slipping at every attempt. I finally reached him and grabbed his arm. I pulled him out, and we stared at each other in silence, the only sound being Thomas’s panting and wheezing. The first time I’ve ever seen him look scared.

“I didn’t….think…” Thomas started, breathing hard and shivering.

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Theodosia said, helping him up. “You two..” She pointed at Thomas and me. “Should warm up inside.”

“Can do,” I replied. We walked back in silence, each of us trying to process what just happened. We arrived at the house and stopped outside. Thomas gave Theodosia a very wet $20.

“You kept your winning streak,” He said while handing the money over. Theodosia took the cash and replied, “At the cost of giving everyone a heart attack.” Thomas chuckled. Theodosa made a hand gesture. I groaned and gave her the $20. She pawed through it while Angelica hugged Thomas.

“Glad you’re okay.” She said, hugging him tighter.

“Me too, and on the bright side, you weren’t the one who had to pull me out of the water.”

“Ha!” Angelica laughed and let go. Thomas and I headed inside. I took off my winter gear and put Thomas’s on a chair near the fire. The light was warm and put me at ease. I went into the kitchen and got the hot chocolate I had prepared for my friends earlier. I had tailored the hot chocolates exactly to my friends' liking. I grabbed my recipe book to make sure I didn’t hold the wrong one.

Angelica’s was white chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream, extra sugar, and edible glitter. Theodosia’s was dark chocolate with habanero powder and mint. Thomas’s was dark chocolate with marshmallows and cinnamon. I got Thomas’s and my hot chocolate (milk chocolate, whipped cream, marshmallows, and extra sugar) and went back to the fireplace. I offered Thomas his, and he took it, smiling.

Somehow, through sheer dumb luck, only Thomas’s coat, gloves, and snowpants were soaked through, not his clothes underneath. I sat on the rug near the fireplace and plugged a hairdryer into the nearby power strip. I turned on the hairdryer and started drying Thomas’s clothes. He plopped next to me and sipped from the hot chocolate. I saw his face practically melt into an expression of complete, unadulterated content. Thomas sighed happily. A little while later, I thought I heard him say something.

“WHAT?” I yelled over the hair dryer.

“TURN IT OFF!”

“WHAT?” I yelled back. Thomas reached over to turn off the hair dryer.

“Oh!” I realized, and we burst out laughing. After we recovered from that, I asked Thomas what he was trying to say before.

“Turn it off?” He said, a mischievous smile spread across his face.

“Dude, you know what I’m asking about.”

“Just had to screw with you a bit.” Thomas punched me in the arm. I reacted dramatically, clutching my arm. He chuckled.

“I was saying that this hot chocolate is absolutely perfect.” He pointed at his hot chocolate, which was already almost gone. I smiled.

“I have the recipe. I grabbed it when I got the hot chocolate earlier.” I pulled the recipe notebook out of my pocket, tearing out the recipe for him. He hesitated.

“You sure?” He asked, his head cocked.

“Yeah, I memorized the recipe, and I have a picture of it on my phone.” I showed him the picture to quell his concerns. This seemed to work, and he delicately put it into his pocket, careful not to crumple it. I decided that I’d done enough with the hair dryer and took a break to sip my hot chocolate. It was perfect. I let out a long sigh. Thomas must have warmed up because he wasn’t shivering anymore.

“You’ve warmed up?” I asked.

“Hmm? Yeah, no small part thanks to you. He sipped from his now-empty mug, clearly looking for a way to break eye contact. Thomas started again.

“When the ice broke...” He paused again. His brows furrowed. “I was terrified.” He put the cup down and turned towards me. “You saved my life, Alexander.” He pulled me into a hug. I was surprised; other than with his sister, Thomas had never been much of a physically affectionate person. He burrowed his head into my shoulder. We stayed like that for a while before pulling apart. I put my hand on his shoulder and the other one on his hand. He blushed.

“Hey, you’re welcome, it was no problem, we’re best friends, right?” I said.

“Right.” He smiled, and I smiled back. We were taking in the moment when we heard a thud on the glass.

“Was that a snowball?” I asked, and got confirmation a second later when snow exploded against the window.

“They’re having a snowball battle without us!” We exchanged looks and started getting dressed to go outside. We chatted while we did so.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone get that red before.” I teased. Thomas’s face flushed again, trying to formulate a comeback.

“That’s because I’ve actually dated someone, unlike you.” He shot back and stuck his tongue out.

“Right, because you dated someone one time in middle school, that means you blush more? I responded with arms crossed. Thomas threw his arms in the air.

“Fuck this, you win, Alex.” He feigned annoyance, but I could see a small smile from under his attempted poker face.

“Glad I have friends who can match my energy!” Thomas said. I stepped back, and he gave me a curious look. I grinned.

“MATCH THIS!” I yelled and tackled him before he could respond. We wrestled for a bit before collapsing in a fit of laughter. After that, we finished getting ready and discussed our plan of attack. We snuck outside to see an ongoing snowball war and the remnants of a snow angel competition. Thomas snuck behind Angelica while I snuck behind Theodosia. They were too engrossed in their battle to realize what was about to happen. I made a gigantic snowball and gave Thomas the signal. I then smashed said snowball directly into Theodosia’s face from behind. Thomas did the same to Angelica. We creamed Angelica and Theodosia; a one-person team vs. a two-person team was an impossible battle for them.

After winning the snowball war, we went back inside. Everyone drank the hot chocolate I had made for them as we shared stories sitting by the campfire. A pretty successful snow day if you ask me.