Snowflakes

December 19th

19th

"So when you're cold from the inside out and don't know what to do, remember love and friendship, and warmth will come to you." - Stephen Cosgrove.

"IT'S FRIDAY!"

"Jay, I could not care less what day it is; why are you waking me up like this?" I grumble, in a bad mood before I've even opened my eyes.

When I do finally force them open, the first thing I see is my older brother looming (already in his coat) over me, shortly followed by the digits on my alarm clock showing I have precisely seven minutes to get entirely ready if I have any hopes of getting to school on time. Suffice to say, my mood doesn't exactly improve.

I throw off my covers, gritting my teeth against the sudden rush of cold, and travel all the way across the hall into the bathroom in approximately half a second. My toothbrush hangs limply from my mouth as I splash my face with icy water.

"Why are you hovering around me?" I question Jay as I duck behind my wardrobe and change out of my pyjamas into my (albeit crumpled) school uniform with impressive speed. "Also, why are you in a good mood? Last night you were being super moody about your car breaking down."

"Because it's Friday," Jay answers, as if it will satisfy my curiosity. I roll my eyes, pushing him out of the way in order to grab my shoes.

"Yeah, there's fifty two of them a year and you're not this chipper on the rest of them."

A glance at my phone tells me that if I can get to the bus stop in one minute, I'll just about make it on time.

"True," says Jay from behind me as we race up the road, dodging puddles left by last night's sleet. "But I just have a feeling today will be a really good day at college, y'know?"

I have to hold back from replying as I spot the bus ahead of us and launch into a full power sprint towards it, waving my arm out like a madwoman. Thankfully, it slows to a halt and the door slides open. I can barely pant out my destination as I pay the fee and collect my ticket. It takes a few minutes for me to catch my breath enough to speak, even once we're relaxed at the back of the bus.

Jay is sat beside me, fiddling with his phone and feigning complete innocence. I narrow my eyes at him. "You're skipping college today, aren't you?"

"What? No! What?!" he retorts, but the bad lying is hereditary and I can see right through it.

"Jay Moore, I cannot believe you're skiving." It's not a shock, really. He was constantly getting into trouble for this when he was my age.

This sparks a verbal fight over his immorality, immaturity and, most importantly, the fact Mum will totally flip if she finds out. The few other passengers on the bus barely glance at the bickering siblings in the corner. Eventually, we come to the conclusion that Mum will definitely go mad if she finds out that Jay has slipped back into his old habits, therefore we must form a sibling pact to not tell her, so long as Jay gives me a lift to school every morning I want until Easter, starting tomorrow when his car is back from the garage.

But the agreement we form at the end of the spat doesn't matter; I forget it instantly when I glance out of the bus window for the first time since getting on and realise I've missed my stop. I curse under my breath, standing up and jabbing Jay's shoulder.

"We just missed our stop, you... nipple!" I exclaim, quickly reverting to PG rated language when I spot a primary school kid out of the corner of my eye. Or at least, like, PG-13 rated language. Jay is already cackling.