Snow, Snow Is Here To Stay

Explanations

I didn't want to face either Ben or Marco on Monday so I called in sick. Around noon, I got a phone call from Ben.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Anna, are you okay? You didn't show up at school and I just wanted to check in," he said.

"Yeah. Thanks. You know, um, I gotta go. My mom is calling me," I lied.

He sounded confused and kind of hurt. "Oh, okay then. Bye."

"Yup. Bye." I hung up as fast as I could.

Then a text pinged my phone. It was Marco: Hey. Heard ur sick. Get well soon!

Thx, I replied.

Marco: Sorry about yesterday. Was it my fault you left?

Anna: No, not at all! Thanks. I have to go. Bye.

Marco: Alright, bye. :)

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling for a long, long time. Why was I deceiving Marco and Ben? I didn't even know the answer myself. I realized I felt bad and called Ben back. He picked up on the second ring of the phone.

"Hello? Anna?" Ben said when he answered.

"Hi," I said quietly.

Ben replied, "I thought you had to go..."

"Yeah, but I'm free now!" I smiled, even though he couldn't see me.

"Um. Okay."

There was an awkward silent moment.

"So, uh, what are we doing at school?" I asked brightly. "Is there anything I missed?"

"Mr. Garber went on and on about the Valentine's Party. Apparently, you need a date and everything and he got so excited about it," responded Ben.

Did he have to bring that up? I still haven't considered a date or even an outfit.

"Oh, great," I said.

"Then, just before I called you, Marisa tripped on some pudding and fell flat on her face," Ben cracked up.

I laughed too. "Wish I could have seen that."

"Yeah but luckily, Mr. Fabulous right here, recorded it!" Ben surprised me.

"OMG! Seriously? Send it to me!"

So he did. I watched it and even though Marisa has been so unfriendly, I felt bad. I put my phone down and walked out of my room. I went downstairs to get a bag of chips but a knock at the door stopped me. I set the bag down and headed over to open the door.

"Hello, Anna," Marco greeted me. He looked confused. "You don't look sick. Are you okay?"

"Hey, why aren't you at school?" I asked, even more confused than he is.

"It was lunch break," he explained, "so I decided to check on you." Marco blushed.

I felt my cheeks warm. The gesture was so sweet. We just stared at each other for a while. Almost like we were in a trance. I shook out of it first.

"Thank you," I kindly said. "That means a lot to me."

Marco blushed even deeper. "You're welcome." He runs a hand through his hair. "Um, so I brought you something else," he said and fished around in his backpack for something. Marco pulled out a paper bag and handed it to me. I accepted it gratefully and opened it. Inside were two chocolate chip cookies.

My heart practically melted. "Aw, thanks, Marco!" I was about to hug him, but remembered I was supposed to be sick. I drew back. "I'm sick," I explained hastily when I saw the hurt expression on his face. "Maybe next time."

He nodded and walked away with a wave of his hand, taking my heart with him.