Game Of Fate

One

"Thanks." I mumble to the driver, stepping out of the warm, cosy bus and into cold and miserable January snow.

Normally, I'm itching to get off the bus when it reaches my stop, but today I wish I could stay there forever. I don't dislike snow, but this stuff doesn't even count. With the freezing temperature and lack of actual snow, it feels like I'm getting ripped off right now.

"Hurry up! I want to get home." Fred yells from the crossing, watching me swing my bag onto my back.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming."

I do a little jog over to him, trying to place my feet solidly on the ground so that I don't slip and land on my ass.

"What are you doing? You constipated or something?"

"No." I frown at him. "I'm trying not to fall over."

"Well, you look stupid. Just walk normally."

Says the guy who wanted me to hurry up. So ungrateful.

The faint image of a green man appears on the traffic lights, and we start walking - well, more like shuffling - across the road. The walk to my house isn't long, but I still feel like I'm risking my life every time I walk up this goddamn hill. Half-melted snow and steep slopes do not mix well.

"The fact that we still have to go to school in this is a joke." I complain, sweeping snow from the wall and patting it into a ball. "It's a safety hazard."

"Maybe it'll be closed tomorrow." Fred suggests.

"Look at this!" I point at the sky. "It just looks like it's raining dandruff!"

Fred grimaces. I guess that probably isn't the nicest image. It's true, though. The flakes are so small and so slow that you can hardly even tell it's snowing.

"Whatever. Let's just hope it snows more overnight."

I offer an 'mm' in reply, but it's lost to the sound of a car speeding past us, way too fast for this weather. Idiot. It seems like the world is trying its best to annoy me today.

"I'm gonna stop off at the shop to get myself something. You coming with?"

"Nah, sorry. I have to babysit my sister so my mum can go out." Fred says, apologetically.

Fred always has to babysit. If any of my other friends gave that excuse as many times as Fred, I'd call bullshit, but Fred is different. I don't quite know what the situation at home is, but I know that Fred is the only one in that house who takes proper care of his sister. I get kinda sad when I think about it because it makes me feel bad for having good parents.

"See you tomorrow, then."

"See you." Fred says as he turns onto his drive.

I throw my snowball towards his basketball hoop as I walk past. I miss.

When I get home, my younger brother is playing on the PS4 in the living room. He stares at me when I walk in, clearly annoyed. When I don't move, he flicks his hand to shoo me away. Okay, then. Since we got a PS4, I haven't been able to set foot in the living room because of my brother, and now I can't go in the dining room either because my sister has turned it into her art studio. I feel like an intruder in my own house.

"STANLEY!" My mum shouts from upstairs. What now?

"WHAT?!" I yell.

"COME HERE!"

Irritated now, at the snow, at bad drivers, at my siblings and at my mum, I stomp up the stairs. My mum is in her room, straightening her hair, and there's a piece of paper on the bed.