(sooo i just edited the previous chapter because i noticed a major plot hole while writing this chapter. i previously made the mistake of making adyson bring her knitted scarf with her, when she's supposed to be losing it here. sorry for the inconvenience!)
"Snow?" Adam asks his co-worker in disbelief. After all, Oceanside, with its seemingly eternal summer-like sunshine, isn't exactly known for its snowfall. He looks at Moira as if she was stoned. Which she probably is. Adam is well aware of Moira's occasional, unabashed habit of smoking weed—Moira proclaims that it "enhances her mind"—every now and then.
Moira nods before taking another drag of her cigarette. "We're actually pretty lucky that we will only get, like, an inch of snow. Folks in other parts of the country have it worse, you know—I heard some flights got canceled." She paused for a second. "God. I can't believe we're actually talking about weather right now. It's like I've turned into some of those boring-ass old men with nothing better to do than read boring-ass newspapers and talk about their boring-ass businesses with other boring-ass old men."
Adam wanted to chuckle at Moira's repetitive use of the phrase boring-ass in a sentence, but instead he goes quiet. His mind goes back to the desolate look in Adyson's dark eyes after receiving that phone call from her boyfriend, and after hearing Moira mention about canceled flights, everything starts to make sense. Perhaps that is the reason why Adyson's boyfriend couldn't make it home.
"And look, somebody actually manages to get you a present. Guess you're not as much of a loser as I presumed, huh."
Adam frowns upon hearing the last sentence coming out of Moira's mouth. "What present?" Adam isn't exactly swimming in friends, and girls at school rarely, if ever, flock to him. It would come off as a big surprise if someone outside his family actually cared about him enough to give him a Christmas present. (In other words, yes, Adam is kind of a loser.)
"This?" Moira holds up a small, rectangular box wrapped in a glittery blue gift wrapping, the exact wrapping Adyson used for the present she intends to give her boyfriend if he manages to make it home. No, scratch that—it is the exact same present that Adyson intends to give her boyfriend if he manages to make it home. Apparently, the girl was in such a hurry that she forgets to bring along the present with her. "Nice, Jessup. Didn't know you had it in you."
"No, no." Adam shook his head. "That's not mine. Adyson left it there—shit. I need to give it back to her." He then snatches the present from Moira's hands and storms out of The Daily Roast, leaving an astounded Moira behind.
The twenty-three-year-old discards her cigarette, shook her head, and mutters, "God, Jessup. Never seen a guy so dedicated to a taken girl before," under her breath.
***
It turns out that Moira was right. It is unusually cold outside, and although the chilly weather is quite mild compared to the freezing Minnesota winters that he is already well-acquainted with, Adam immediately regrets not bringing his winter coat with him when he steps outside his house this morning.
Nevertheless, Adam keeps on running, hoping that he manages to make it to Adyson's house on time. Thank God Oceanside isn't a particularly large town, because it means that he can easily reach Adyson's house—which is located in the wealthier part of town near the hills—by foot. Adam's body, thank goodness, gets a little warmer from all the running.
He had no idea how long he's been running—all he knows is that he's on some sidewalk in a semi-residential part of town just out of Main Street—when all of a sudden he accidentally bumps into someone. Literally bumps, to the point that the girl actually falls to the ground. The coffee that she has been holding is knocked over, its contents pouring all over the ground.
The girl that he'd unintentionally hit, as it turns out, is Adyson herself. Talk about fate—or, more accurately, cliché. Events like this, as far as Adam's concerned, had only ever happened in movies—but there's no time to dwell on that now. Adam reaches out his hand, helping Adyson to get up.
"God, I'm s-sorry," Adam mutters in between his shortness of breath. "You okay?"
Adyson, who is slightly puzzled upon seeing Adam's sudden presence in front of her, nods. "What are you doing out here?" she says while brushing off the small patches of dirt from her sweater. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, on your shift or something?"
"Moira's got it all covered up," Adam explains, even though he's almost 100 percent sure that Adyson doesn't even know who Moira is. "You, uh, forgot something." He hands over the present to her. "Moira saw this sitting on top of the counter, and then she asks me whether this is a Christmas present someone's given me, and I said no even though I sort of wished that you were—oh, God. I talked too much, didn't I?"
"Hey, that's okay," Adyson reassures Adam by giving him a smile that he swears can warm up even the coldest winter nights. Feeling a bit shivery from the unfriendly weather (unlike Adam, she certainly isn't used to temperatures that drop below forty-one degrees), she wraps her arms around herself—hugging the present, which is pressed against her chest—while rubbing her palms against her own upper arms.
"You cold?" Adam asks concernedly, and Adyson nods.
Soon enough, Adam does the unthinkable. He snatches the present from Adyson's arms, rips it open, and takes out the scarf Adyson had initially knitted for her boyfriend before wrapping it around her body.
"Adam, what the hell are you doing?" Adyson frowns upon witnessing Adam's sudden, sort of confusing act of kindness. "That was for Chris."
Adam shook his head. "You deserve your own love and affection just as much as he deserves yours, Adyson," he utters truthfully. "And I sure don't want to see you freeze yourself to death just to keep someone else warm."
Adyson sure didn't have any idea on how to respond to him. On one side, she really wants to be mad at Adam for ruining her intended present, but what the boy just did was simply too kind—she can't help but feel the urge to thank him. In the end, she decides to stick to the latter. She smiles again and mutters in a low tone, "Thank you, Adam Jessup," before giving him a light, friendly hug. That is when she notices something on his shoulder. "Hey, it's snowing."
"It is?" Adam asks before Adyson breaks away the hug. Her sudden hug sends a trickle down Adam's spine, and when she breaks away, he feels disintegrated.
Adyson nods reassuringly. She reaches out her left hand and shows Adam the snow that falls on her palm. "Yeah. Snow in California. Can you believe it?"
Soon enough, snow starts to fall slowly around them, creating a scenery never before seen in sunny Oceanside. Amazed by this unusual phenomenon, people living on the street starts to step outside their homes. Even Adam, who is definitely no stranger to snowfall, is quite stunned by this rare occurrence.
"I don't know if this is a side effect to global warming or what, but it sure is beautiful," Adyson comments.
"Yes, it certainly is."
A/N: oh god i actually cringe while writing this chapter--like, why tf is this so cheesy and all clogged up with grammatical errors i just can't.
but on the other side i also managed to fangirl over adam??? lIEK I SERIOUSLY NEED A GUY LIKE HIM WHERE CAN I GET ONE ASDFGHJKL;
anyways, two more chapter and we're finished, guys c:
YOU ARE READING
Snow in California
Short Story[featured on @wattfest's holiday shorts reading list] During a rare, snowy day in a normally sunny California town, a boy and a girl learns a thing or two about love. © 2016 by Hilly Ecclesiana. All rights reserved.
