Heavy is the Head

Snow-White - 2

Chapter 2

Snow White had started running to the cafeteria straight away, without even stopping to zip up her bag and yet the cafeteria was already packed. She peered around the multitude of people until she spotted Florian. The one friend she had in this dark, dark world.

"Hey loser!" Florian yelled, standing over by their usual table and waving both hands in the air, his brown hair that was long overdue for a haircut bouncing up and down.

Florian had been her best friend ever since she had moved to the neighbourhood, four years ago. The very same year that Snow White's dad had passed away. Snow White and her mother had moved right next door to Florian and his family. Well. Technically, Hilde was Snow White's stepmother, but she had always treated Snow White as though she was her real daughter and anyway, Snow White barely remembered her birth mother who had passed away when she was very little.

Snow White scoffed and then slid into the seat beside Florian. "It's so cold! Where did you put your jacket?"

"I don't know. I must've left it back in the classroom." Florian muttered vaguely, hunched over an A4 sheet of paper. "Remind me to go back and get it, will you?"

"Yeah." Snow White sighed and opened her bag to get her lunch out. She took out her bagel and peered over Florian's shoulder. "What're you doing?"

"I'm working out how many shifts at the stables I'll need to work before I can afford to buy a plane ticket to Arendelle."

"Awww." Snow White grinned, "You're gonna miss me that much?"

"No?" Florian turned to look at her and grimaced, "I'm going to break into the boarding school, and meet my future wife. Don't worry though, I'll name our firstborn after you."

"It's alright, I know how you really feel." Snow White patted him on the shoulder, watching amusedly as Florian scribbled down an indistinguishable scrawl of numbers on the sheet of paper, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. Maths was not his strongest subject.

"I'm not going to miss you at all. I have Astor to keep me company." Florian mumbled.

"That poor cat." Snow White sighed heavily, "I don't know how she's put up with you for so long."

"What do you mean? She loves me!"

"That's not what she told me."

"Oh yeah? And what exactly did she tell you?"

"That you're a terrible owner and she prefers me."

"Really? That's the best you could come up with?" Florian shook his head. "So disappointing."

"That was poor on my part, I can't lie." Snow White admitted, "You know I'm bad at insulting people, it just isn't part of my kind, gentle demeanor." Snow White laughed, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Kind? Gentle?" Florian spluttered. "You're talking as though you didn't spend an hour on the phone last night talking about all the ways you want to torture your maths teacher because of the homework she'd set you."

"I have selective kindness." Snow White retorted.

"What you also have is no friends."

"Ouch." Snow White finished her bagel and pulled a shiny red apple out of her bag taking a large bite, just as a tall girl with dark blue hair and sea green eyes approached their table, a big black puffer jacket in her arms. Florian ran a hand through his hair nervously, and pretended not to notice the newcomer's presence, his knee bobbing up and down.