Please, Miss (GirlxGirl) ✔️

18 | snow

The snow fell three days before the Christmas break. I'd woken up to a sheet of white at my window, and I couldn't help but squeal in excitement. I'd never seen snow in the flesh before; Florida didn't tend to have that kind of weather, unsurprisingly.

"Have you heard?" Clarice asked with a grin at breakfast as we sat down opposite her. I tucked into my golden syrup porridge, a blank look on my face. "There's going to be a huge snowball fight later on. Even some of the teachers are getting involved apparently."

"Oh, I'm not so sure I'll be getting involved in that," Megan replied, then laughing at Clarice's furious expression. She rolled her eyes. "You know I don't like getting cold and wet. Sure, I love looking at it, but having the snow thrown into my face does not sound like a hell of a lot of fun."

"Oh come on," I elbowed her, my voice whiny like a child's. "You have to take part. I've never had a snowball fight before. You can't miss me losing my virginity."

Megan arched her eyebrows. "I think that ship sailed a long while ago," she muttered.

I elbowed her again, this time harder as Clarice cackled. "You know what I mean, asshole."

She sighed, a grin still marring her lips. "Fine, I'll come with you, but I'm not staying long, and the second—the second—someone gets snow in my face or down my back, I'm going straight back inside. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Clarice replied with a salute.

The first two periods, consisting of maths and French, dragged along excruciatingly; I was itching to get out of these dull lessons and into the thickening blanket of snow outside. Third period was English, which usually would have heightened my mood, but ever since last week when I'd stayed the night in Alex's room, everything between us seemed to have gone quiet again. She didn't seem like she was at all annoyed at me, but more cautious, scared, maybe.

I headed into her classroom and slumped into my chair, watching the delicate white flecks falling heavily on the other side of the window. I could feel her eyes on me, but I refused to look her way. I wanted her to make an effort with me for once. Why was it always my job to sort out these complicated silences?

"I know you're all very excited about the snow," she said calmly, standing up from behind her desk and walking around to the front, "but please try and focus today guys. We won't be doing anything too heavy seeing as it's three days until Christmas break, but I would at least like a little work done this lesson."

"Are you joining in on the snowball fight, Miss Bowen?" Someone near the back of the classroom asked. Now, my eyes flickered automatically to her face, curious about her response.

She grinned. "I wouldn't miss it, girls."

Her eyes trailed to mine and lingered on me for just a split second. My heart leapt in my chest and then sunk again as she looked away.

As the rest of the class filed in and took their seats, she began talking about quotes from a book that we'd be analysing today. I drowned her voice out, doodling aimlessly on my pad of paper. A part of me was dreading going home for the holidays, because leaving her seemed such a difficult task. And yet, another part of me struggled to care. Why should it matter if I left her? She didn't belong to me, she wasn't anything to me. We weren't together, and probably never would be. That was just something I was going to have to accept. Maybe over the next two weeks I would realise that I didn't need her at all, and I could make it through the next six months at school without her. After all, once I'd left, I didn't ever have to see her again; she couldn't have my heart in tatters anymore.

"Evie?" Her voice snapped me from my train of thought, and I realised I'd covered most of my page in aimless scrawls and swirls. "Would you like to give us your opinion on that chapter?"