Carry On SnowBaz

Snowday (11)

Simon

It got even colder, I bet. And it started snowing again. Normally, I love snow but right now it's just cold. Too cold.

"Do we go home now?" I shout to Penny and Baz, who stand a few metres away from me because they have to discuss something without me. "It's already getting dark and I'm tired!"

I'm aware that I probably sound like a grouchy child, but I couldn't care less.

"Not until we had the big finale of the day, Snow," Baz shouts back to me before he starts whispering with Penelope again. They laugh and squint at me several times and it pisses me off. I sit on a bench, not far away from the pub we left ten minutes ago. I was in a good mood. Really. Me, Simon – in a good mood on a bad day! But this was when I was half sleeping on a warm comfy seat. Now I'm just freezing and exhausted and sit alone on some hard bench on the roadside in Camden Town while crowds of strange human-beings run around me. Everything smells like food and smoke and there were a few people who wanted to sell me some ugly bracelets or postcards of London. Of course, I rejected – what didn't delight them. And the fact that Baz and Penny plan a surprise or something like that doesn't make it any better. I had enough surprises for today.

When they finally come back to me – both grinning like a madman (or madwoman in Penny's case) – I'm fully covered with snow and nearly frozen to death. (Okay, maybe I'm a bit overdramatic, but still. It's so cold!)

"If you two really want to surprise me – in a good way – then please order a cab which drives us home," I say when Penny sits down next to me. She places her backpack on her lap and sighs.

"Simon," she says and leans against me. It's a challenge not to fall over – that's how stiff I'm already frozen. "I'm not carrying around this bag the whole day, and do not even use its contents only because you are a grinch."

"I thought you carry our shopping stuff in there," I mutter. It's not a very big bag, but she spoke it all tiny so it would fit.

"Yeah but that's not all," Penny says. "There's one last stop we have to make. It'll be fun!"

I groan. I don't need fun. I need my warm bed and sleep.

"Come on, you can do this, Snow," Baz says smiling. He's standing in front of me (because the bench is too small for the three of us) and ties his hair to a bun. He doesn't do this very often, even when I always tell him that I like it. A lot.

"I'm just –," I start but I get interrupted by a loud honk. Penny and I turn around and stare at a cab which stopped right behind us. The window opens and a kind-looking cabdriver shouts: "Do you need a ride?"

I turn back and grin at Baz and Penny. "I call shotgun!"

A minute later, I sit in the front seat of the cab with Penny's backpack on my lap. (This was the compromise because the backseat is very small. And I always get sick when I ride in the back.) I don't exactly know where we are driving at, but I know it's somewhere near the Thames. I try to peek at Baz behind me but the cab is so tiny, I can barely move. The driver watches me strangely, so I decide to give it up and stare out of the window. Only two minutes later, Baz and Penny are in a vivid discussion about the possible shadiness of the pub we were in before. Again.

"There are tons of places with this kind of service system in America," Penny says. "And I'm sure they don't all drug their guests."

"How do you know?" Baz replies. "It's not like you're a reliable source. How often have you been in America? Four times?"

"If I was on drugs, I bet I wouldn't feel this tired and miserable right now." I turn around to look at them and almost dislocate my neck. "So, end of discussion."

"You're always tired and miserable, Snow. Even on drugs."

"I've never been on drugs! And I'm not always –"

"Five times, actually," Penelope interrupts me.

"What?!" Baz and I ask at the time. "I've never been on drugs, Pen!" I go on.

"I've been five times in America I mean, you morons," Penny says and rolls her eyes. "Every summer since I met Micah. And he wouldn't have shown me these pubs if there actually was a suspicion of drug abuse."

"Sure?" Baz asks and without even looking, I can see the glance Penny shoots at him.

"When he will visit us next month, you really should be careful what you're saying," Penny says. "He's not that little anymore."

"We'll see..." He hesitates a second. "Wait, Micah will visit us next month? Here? In London? In our flat? Did you know that, Simon?"

"Yup," I say while I stare at the streetlights passing us.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did tell you!" Penny responds. "And it's not our flat...actually."

I can literally hear Baz rolling his eyes.

"And," she goes on, "you'll welcome him. He's really excited to meet you two."

"But will he live in our flat?" Baz asks alarmed, ignoring Penny's point.

"Of course. Where else should he stay?"

"I don't know. But the flat is too small for the four of us."
"Yeah well, it's not like you haven't one on your own."

Baz just snorts and a grin flashes over my face. But it doesn't change my mood. I'm still so not up to for this last stop and this shitty cab hasn't even a working heating.

"Will you tell me where we're heading at?" I ask but before the cab driver can answer, Penny cuts him off.

"No," she shouts to me, then she turns back to Baz. "You can't really demand that my boyfriend has to search for his own place to stay when I have a perfectly appropriate flat. And it's not like I have ever complained to Simon about you hanging around there all the time."

I clear my throat.

"Oh, come on! I've never thrown him out or something like that," Penny moans. "Anyway, Micah will stay with me. Whether you like it or not, Basil!"