"Following her parent's divorce, everything in Makayla Summers's life seems to fall out of place. When her happy-go-lucky father decides to move to Philadelphia, it's just the beginning of the worst. Or so she believes.
Starting afresh in a new hig...
"Wonderful. Just, wonderful." Damien slouched forward on his chair, glaring out the window with a whole lot of annoyance written across his face.
"Stop being such a sour puss," Nick piped up, blonde eyebrows knitted together in a frown directed at his best friend. "Snow is beautiful. And just because you're not a fan of it doesn't mean you need to bring the rest of us down with you."
Damien snorted. "I'd like to see you spend more than an hour shoveling it off your front porch," was the retort he gave in return.
I let out a sigh, another on top of the several I'd already let out watching Damien's mood-swings come by all of today. Something told me that he wasn't a big fan of winter. The moment the first snow flake had drifted down from the sky two days ago, he had transformed into the Grinch.
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It got even worse today. Before my alarm even had the chance to go off, my phone started vibrating from next to my head. I had rolled over and blindly accepted the call to hear Damien snap, "Did you look out the window?"
Snow. Everywhere. Lots and lots of it. It had accumulated overnight and pretty much blocked out of most of the roads, causing public transportation to become a bit of a problem and on top of that - school. Leo had connected us in a group call to confirm that, yes, due to a snow day, school had been canceled. And ironically enough, Damien was the least delighted about that.
I watched him from my seat on my couch, where I sat curled up beneath the woolen blanket. His eyes, though irritated, seemed to be drifting to a place farther away than they were focused on. I couldn't shake off the feeling that this had more to do than just it being a simple dislike to the season of winter, or snow for that matter. Why else had Damien showed up at my door thirty minutes later, with a permanent scowl stamped across his face? Oh, right. I forgot he has the tendency to make himself at home. The only positive aspect to the way my morning started had to be Nick and Leo's presence - mainly Nick with his ever constant optimism. Boy, did I love him for that.
We were all assembled in my living room - Leo and Nick sat together on a couch with Damien directly behind them. He had made it a point to grab a chair and part the curtains so he could sit near the window, glaring endlessly out over the vast blankets of white that had layered overnight in my garden.
"Have you got more? Someone may need a refill." My eyes darted over to Leo who shook his empty mug at me. "Not for me," he mouthed but tilted his head in Damien's direction. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips and I nodded, getting his point. Hot chocolate always helps with his moods.
Within seconds, I was at Damien's side, handing him a fresh new mug of steaming hot chocolate. He tore his eyes away from the window, turning slightly to look at me with a raised eyebrow but didn't turn away the warm beverage. I watched as he took the first sip, visibly relaxing. It always works like a charm.
