Rejects

Chapter Sixteen - Snowball Fights

"IT SNOWED! IT SNOWED! IT SNOWEDITSNOWEDITSNOWED!!!"  Frank's energetic screams of overwhelming joy pierced my ears, but at this particular moment I can't blame him, I'm really excited too.  It's December, and it finally snowed!  It was snowing all last night, and when we woke up this morning everything was covered in a frosty white blanket. 

When I went downstairs Mom had hot chocolate ready for all of us, and that was my breakfast.  After that I went back to Mikey and I's room and looked at my phone.  Three missed calls, all from Frank. 

That was an hour ago, and now I'm outside in a bunch of snow gear with Frank two feet away and squealing in excitement.  Snow really is just fucking great.  Sadly Mikey isn't with us right now, he hasn't been feeling well lately so he stayed inside.  We'll probably go in and hang out with him later, but right now we're abandoning him, wow I'm a great brother.  Eh, back when he still had friends he'd always leave me to go hang out with him, it's my turn now. 

"Hey Gee!"  Frank called, breaking me out of my thoughts. 

"Hm-" THWACK! A snowball to the face.  Frank fell backwards laughing as I wiped snow off my face with a gloved hand.  I playfully glared at him and said in a foreboding tone, "Alright, you wanna fight?"  Before speedily picking up a small mound of snow and sculpting it into the perfect throwing ball.  I tossed it at him just as he was sitting up and hit his chest dead on.  Whoa, I didn't expect to actually make that hit!  I have terrible aim! 

Frank dramatically gasped and stared at me in mock horror.  "How could you do this to me?"  He said in an overly dramatic voice, making it my turn to laugh.  "You laugh at my pain!"  He exclaimed, standing up.

"hey, you hit me-" THWACK!  Before I could finish my sentence Frank had chucked another snowball at me.  I stared at him with overdramatically wide eyes and exclaimed, "Alright then, let's fight!" 

For the next five minutes at least, Frank and I continued chucking snowballs at each other and running around and shouting and laughing.  Even after we were both out of breath we continued battling, and it wasn't until my tired feet gave out and Frank yelled over my fallen body, "Hah!  I am the victor!  I always knew I could do it!  I always knew I could win!" that it was decided, the fight was over and I was defeated. 

Frank ran as best he could through the snow and kneeled by my side, smiling childishly at me, a sparkle in his hazel eyes that proved he was having the best time right now.  I smiled back and stayed where I was, the snow is actually pretty comfortable. 

"Good job Frankie, I'm proud of you." 

Frank fell back and laid down beside me, making me smile even more. 

"I love the snow,"  He muttered tiredly. 

"So do I," I replied. 

For a little bit we just lay there, not moving or speaking or doing anything really, just lay there and be peaceful.  Finally I sighed and asked, "Do you think we should go see Mikey now?  He's probably really bored."  Frank nodded from beside me and said, "Yeah, sure, let's go." 

We struggled to get up and trudge through the snow to get inside my house.  Frank went in first and I closed the door behind me upon entering.  We shook off some extra snow before proceeding to take off all our gear. 

When I looked up I saw Mikey sleeping softly on the couch, some random tv show playing in the background.  Mom walked in from the kitchen and when she saw us her eyes lit up.  "Oh, boys, I'm glad you're back inside.  I have to run out for a little bit, if you wouldn't mind watching over Mikey while I'm out." 

Frank smiled at her and replied, "No problem Mrs. Way." 

"Oh thank you, I'll be back soon!" 

We said bye and she left, heading into the snow we just came from.  I looked over at Mikey and began to walk closer to him.  Once I was right next to him I sat down and stared at his face, still sleeping peacefully.  Then I yelled, "MIKEY MIKEY IT'S TIME TO WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPY HEAD!" 

My brother shot up and his head darted around, eyes wide.  After a moment he groaned and laid back down, glaring at me. 

"Fuck you." 

I pretended to be offended and put my hand against my head in mock anguish before smiling and laughing.  I stood and walked over to the recliner that Frank was already sitting in, deciding to sit on the arm myself.

"Why couldn't you just let me sleep?"  He whined, and I answered, "We came in to talk to you, I'm not letting that go to waste."

"C'mon Gee, you know I feel like complete shit right now." 

"Yeah, me every morning we walk into school suck it up." 

Mikey glared at me, and then looked at Frank before sighing and sitting up.  "Fine, now that I'm awake we might as well do something." 

My face lit up.  "Yay!" I exclaimed.  Mikey looked between Frank and I and said, "So you two came in cause you got tired of making out in the snow?"  At this comment my face heated up, becoming redder than a tomato, while Frank burst out laughing.

"No," Frank said after calming down, "I did hit him in the face with a lot of snow though." 

"Hey, I got some good hits on you too!" 

"Sure, sure." 

I glared at Frank and Mikey cut in, "I always beat him in snowball fights too.  He has horrible aim."

"Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly." 

As they mocked my skills I leaned back on the arm of the chair and crossed my arms while muttering, "I'm not that bad."  Frank smiled up at me and said sarcastically, "Oh I'm sorry, are we being too mean?" 

I stuck my tongue out at him playfully and he giggled, doing the same before turning back to Mikey. 

For the next few hours we continued talking and laughing the way we always do.  We talked about a bunch of different things, such as how Christmas was getting closer every day.  We talked about snow, we talked about school (that was kinda boring so we switched topics pretty quickly), we made fun of each other, Frank and I chased each other around a little bit while Mikey laughed at us, but didn't join us because he claimed that every time he stood he felt lightheaded.  We were okay with that.

When Mom got back she told Mikey to go back to sleep, and asked if I wanted to bring Frank up to my room so we wouldn't disturb him.  The three of us just wanted to keep messing around, but Mom got her way so now Frank and I are sitting on my bed, talking about a bunch of random stuff. 

"So what do you want for Christmas Gee?"  Frank asks, playing with the hem of the blankets.  I think for a moment and answer, "I guess some more art supplies, a better pencil sharpener would be nice." 

To me that sounds like a pretty good answer, but then Frank laughs and shakes his head, making me lose some confidence. 

"Oh come on," he says, "That's stuff you can buy for three dollars at Michaels.  What do you really want?  What, if you got it, would make you smile and say 'this is fucking amazing'?" 

I smile and look down, but after thinking I realize I'm not really sure what to say.

"I guess some posters would be nice, I mean, not like I don't have enough already." We take a moment to observe the walls of the room, covered in band posters to the point of barely being able to see the actual wall anymore. Frank laughs again, but simply answers, "Alright."