Have Some Cake

Christmas: Boston, MA (2/12)

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

A thick blanket of fog sits over an empty street. On both sides of the street are rows of New England-styled brick buildings, which are the dorms of Boston University's students. A student strolls through the snow-covered sidewalk, approaching the cleared entrance of one of the buildings.

Humming a Christmas tune to himself, Jake Oettinger ambles through the path, up the steps, halts in the front porch of his dorm building, under its small cover. He turns to his right to face the electronic lock with a hand out. His body instantly pauses.

Taped in front of the electronic lock is a lined piece of paper. With a slight frown, Jake lifts the paper to reveal the electronic lock. The screen is black.

Jake taps it in hopes of waking it up. Yet it stays dormant.

He then flips the paper back over the electronic lock, noticing handwriting on it. His eyes stay on it intently as he reads:

I got the batteries to the lock. Only way to get them back is by having a snowball fight with me. Loser cooks dinner. -Fab Capt

Jake frowns. He turns around and gazes at the hazy area. He then steps out into the cold, down the stairs, and scoops up snow from the path's side.

POW!

Jake jolts up as he senses a soft, blunt impact ripple through the right side of his jacket. He whirls to his right.

Standing on the sidewalk with a rosy face and mischievous grin is Dante Fabbro. Puffs of white smoke slip through his teeth. A snowball sits on his gloved left hand.

Jake lowers his eyebrows with resolve. He flings his snowball at him.

The snowball explodes against Dante's shoulder. Dante whirls and dashes down the snowy sidewalk.

Jake runs after him, scooping more snow into his arms as he exits the pathway. He makes the sharp turn to the sidewalk. His eyes aim at Dante's black, bobbing back.

Dante glances behind his shoulder before lobbing another snowball at him. The goalie leans away from it, letting it fly past him. He thrusts a chunk of his snow back at him.

The snow falls short of his target. Beyond him, a dip in the path appears, signalling an approaching hill.

Dante takes another look before firing another snowball.

The snowball makes contact with Jake's shoulder, igniting more determination within him. He throws the whole pack of snow at Dante.

The pile of snow plummets the target, pushing him face-down onto the snow. With the momentum, he rolls through the fluffy snow before disappearing behind the dip.

Jake halts at the edge and peers down. Surprise is evident on his face.

Growing smaller and smaller, Dante slides down the packed snow like a penguin.

With glee popping up on his face, Jake hops into the air before landing on the side of the hill on his bottom and sliding down. The brisk wind hits his face, making it rosy as his hair and scarf whip behind him. His eyes are filled with delight, and his tongue is sticking out.

At the bottom of the hill, Dante slides to the left toward an empty lot and hits a mound of snow. He stays still.

Jake presses his heels and glove-covered hands against the rough, packed snow to guide him toward the left. The distance between him and his teammate reduces quickly. He launches at him and plops right on top of him.

"I win! I win!" The goalie pumps his fists in the air. "Dinner for me!" Subtle shock then comes upon his face as he hears muffling from below. He peers down.

With his face stuffed in the snow, Dante flaps his arms up and down from both sides of him.

"Oh, right, sorry." Jake slips down from him and sits in the snow.

Dante pops his head up from the snow and takes in a deep breath. "You got me...!" He turns over to lay on his back and slip his hands into his jacket's pocket. "Here." He pulls out his open palm, revealing two batteries. "Hopefully, they still work."

"Yipee!" Jake takes them and hops to his feet. "Here." He holds his free hand out to him.

Dante reaches out to it and holds onto it as he rises to his feet.

"Great." Dante huffs and dusts the snow from the front of his jacket. "I went through all of that effort just to make dinner." He then steps to the foot of the hill.

Jake rushes up next to him. "Aw, no worries—" He pats his shoulder. "I'll help ya!"

Dante gazes up at him with a small smile. "Really?"

He nods. "Yup!"

"Aw, thanks, Jake Dog." Dante wraps his arm around his shoulder.

Jake gives him a warm smile before placing his arm over his shoulder.

Side by side in the cloudy winter afternoon, the two make their way up the white hill.

The End.