Just one week from Christmas, Sam Thornton and her twin brother are inconvenienced with the news of new neighbors who, unfortunately, have been befriended by their overly social parents.
So when they are forced to hang out with the Baker's son for...
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"Are you okay?" Winter asks with an arched brow as I shuffle through his front door, my hair and whole entire front dusted in snow like a powdered sugar covered cookie. Except not as tasty.
My cheeks begin to burn in the heated home air, the skin tingling in the places that had been touched by the wind. Unzipping my coat slowly I reply, "I'm fine. I just fell, no big deal."
I don't look at him as he chuckles lightly and saunters away into what looks like the dining room, another opening through the area leading into the sitting room. Refraining the urge to stand against the wall and bang my forehead against the drywall, I hang up my coat with Dakotas and shoulder my backpack.
I begin walking their way when I hear someone clear their throat and Dakota whispers, "Take off your boots. You're tracking snow everywhere." He gestures to the floor and my eyes widen when I see that I've tracked a melting path of snow behind me and it's fall off my feet as we speak.
"Shoot." I hiss, shuffling back to the front door and ripping my boots off. "I'm so sorry." I say to Winter awkwardly as I hobble on one foot, attempting to aggressively separate the other boot from my foot.
"No no it's completely- " he stops in the middle of his sentence when I lose my footing, my arms flailing for something to hold onto, before landing straight back on my butt. My eyes close when my tailbone hits the floor, pain shooting up my back. "-fine." He finishes quietly.
"Before you ask, I'm okay." I wave him off, trying not to look in my brothers direction because I can feel his maniacal laughter from across the room.
Much to my dismay and embarrassment, Winter rushes forward in a slightly awkward sort of way to help assist me back onto my feet, his hands wrapping around my forearms and lifting me off the floor.
"Thanks." I mumble, blood rushes up my neck and spreading over my face. I'm sure I resemble Rudolf the red nose reindeer if, instead, his name was Rudolph the red faced reindeer.
"Don't mention it. Just try not to fall again, I'm starting to worry you'll get hurt." He laughs, the deep sound bringing an involuntary smile to my face.
"I'll try my best."
"Okay so let's get this play date on the road!" Dakotas smacks his hands together, rubbing his palms against on another as he eyes the two of us. "I'm Dakota and this is my twin sister, Samantha. But everyone calls her Sam." My brother introduces us.
Rolling my eyes at my brothers need to speak for me, I turn to face Winter. "I would like to warn you ahead of time of Dakota's insane behavioral issues."
Winter's forest green eyes sparkle with laughter and he looks between the two of us. "You know, I think you'll both end up being a handful but I think I can handle it. Or at least I hope so." With the last sentence his eyes are set on me, a playful grin on his face, freckles across his nose revealed under the dim lighting of all the candles and Christmas decorations.
I get a weird feeling in my stomach, my eyebrows furrowing at his gaze, before looking away uncomfortably. "Uh yeah I think you'll survive. So what do you want to do considering our parents have ditched us to drink champagne and talk about us behind our backs and most likely about the price of your father's vacuums." I press my lips together.
"Don't forget the stamp collection." Dakota chips in with his index finger pointed at me, his head cocked sideways. "Very interesting stuff."
"Right." Winter shoves his hands in his pockets as he releases a small and awkward laugh as if he doesn't get the joke.
"Oh sorry, we're only kidding." I quickly explain, feeling like a complete idiot once again.
His thick brows raise in my direction. "No you're fine. I'm just a little sidetracked." He scratches his brow.
"By?" My brother asks from the sitting room, his feet propped up on the coffee table. I give him a glare and mouth for him to get them off while Winter begins explaining how the weather is a bit concerning and he's worried about his parents. Dakota squints at me as if he doesn't understand and I subtly eyeball his feet and nod my head.
"- so that's why, I don't know, maybe we should check the weather and see what's up?" Winter finishes just as Dakota rolls his eyes and takes his feet off of the glass table.
"Huh. I mean if you're worried about it then go for it." I shrug, pulling my backpack off of my shoulder and placing it on the brown leather couch covered in festive looking cushions, a basket of very cozy looking Christmas blankets next to it on the carpeted floor.
The television flickers on just as I take a seat, a sigh emitting from my lips as my bruised bottom hits the soft seating.
"So it appears that what we thought to be an average overnight layer of snow, has now resulted in highways closing, and all main roads are down as well. Folks, I recommend that you stay together and stay safe. The storm isn't over yet. It's not completely clear how long it will last but prepare for the worst because you are all likely to be - "
The light from the tv goes off and we're left in silence and darkness when the lights overhead and around flicker off. The sound of the heat shutting down widens my eyes as my hands squeeze the material of my sweatshirt.
None of us say anything as we wait for the power to turn back on. We sit for another two minutes in silence before Dakota yells, "We're gonna die!"
