January and snow

Definitely mood swings

I didn't notice I had fallen asleep until I felt the sunlight land on my cheek. I raised up my head and Christopher wasn't seated in front of me again. I quickly used my hand to wipe off anything that could possibly be on my face. I looked around the diner to check if he had left. I didn't see him anywhere and I felt disappointed.

I brought out my phone to check the time and my face. My face looked okay and the time was 9am. My head went blank for a nanosecond, when my brain switched back on, I jolted and looked out the window. The snow had finally stopped falling, only some snow flakes from the roof dropped to the ground. The snow mower hadn't come to clear up the road yet. I got up from my seat and walked over to the counter. The barista was still there and he looked really tired.

"Hi," I greeted. He looked at me and smiled. "So what's your name?"

"William," he answered. I smiled and used my finger to make a star with the dust on the counter.

"I'm January," I looked around the diner again in search of Christopher. He couldn't actually leave. The road was still blocked with layers of thick snow and it'll be a death mission to leave. "Do you know where Christopher is?"

"Here is he," Christopher announced his entrance as he walked into the diner. He came from the back room with the waitress following him from behind. I looked at his hair which was a little messy. Some cobwebs and dust stuck to his hair.

"What were you doing in there?" I asked.

"Vanessa asked if I could help her with something she couldn't reach because she wasn't tall enough," he said, teasing her about it. Her cheeks flushed and she hit his forearm.

"I'm tall enough, it's the ceiling that's high," she said, trying to defend herself. They kept on bickering and I just had to stand by the side, watching their bicker. When did he become close to... Vanessa? I walked away from them and went back into my booth. I'll just have to wait for the snow mower to move the snow away and leave this place.

My chest was tight and restricted air flow. I was angry for some reason, at Christopher and Vanessa. I looked at them again and they didn't even notice I had walked away. My eyes began to water and I looked at the table. Tear droplet fell from my eyes, rolled down my cheek and unto the table.

"Are you okay?" Christopher asked. I quickly cleaned away the tear and looked out the window. I cleared my throat to make sure when I talked, it won't come out shaky and hoarse.

"Homesick," I lied. I heard him sigh and sit in the chair in-front of me. I took in a shaky breath, avoiding eye contact.

"I don't think that's it," he said.

I mustered all my courage and looked him in the eye. "So what is it?"

He smiled, "I don't know." I rolled my eyes, got up from the booth and walked over to the counter.

"Can I get pancake and just water?" William nodded and went back to get my order. I sat on the high stool in front of the counter waiting for him to come back. I turned around and noticed Christopher was looking at me. He looked really confused and sad. I sighed and walked back to him.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry," we both said simultaneously. The edge of my lip twitched to curve into a smile.

"Mood swings," I said. "It was mood swings." That must be the only reasonable reason. I got a mood swing because I was still stuck here and I was frustrated.

"I didn't make it any better, did I?" I slid into the booth and shook my head.

"You did not," I answered. "While we wait for my order, why don't you tell me about your life back in the Wales?"

"It was like every typical childhood. Monday to Friday is school, Saturday and Sunday we play out doors. Sometimes on Sundays, we have family night of fun—that's what we called it. Each Sunday had a person that would pick a game for us to play. Sometimes if we were lucky, we would have our cousins and grandma there.

"Christmas and new year were always the best for me and my family. Birthdays were special but not compared to Christmas. That was... my life," he concluded. I smiled brightly and placed my hand on the table.

"Your family sounds great."

"They are great," his hands moved closer to mine but before he could place his hands on mine, William yelled from the counter.

"Order up!"

Breakfast had passed and the snow mower still hadn't arrived so we all decided to play a game to pass time. Luckily, we found a game of uno in a closet at the back. I had already won four rounds and Christopher had won three while the rest didn't even come close.

"You guys are cheats!" Vanessa cried after she lost yet another round. I was deemed the winner for this round again which made William and Vanessa surrender. Only me and Christopher was left in the game.

"I'm not going to quit," I informed him. He shrugged and focused on the game. He put down a card and smirked.

"U...NO." I licked the inside my mouth and put my full attention in the game. We played for a few more minutes until he placed his last card. I groaned and dropped down my card.

"Nice game sir," I pulled out my hand and shook his. A sound came from outside and I quickly averted my gaze to the window. It possibly couldn't be. A smile formed on my face and I stood up. A snow mower was currently cleaning up the road which meant I could finally leave here. I walked towards the window and laughed.

"Yes! They're finally here!" I screamed in joy. The rest of the people came to the window and started cheering for the mower. I looked at Christopher and grinned. I mouthed the words finally and he nodded.