Winter

Zack shut the trunk with a sigh, sending a puff of white steam out into the air. I hugged my family tightly and shrugged into my coat.

“When will you be visiting again, Gem?” Dad asked.

“I dunno, I’ll probably be pretty busy-“ I started.

“With William?” Emily asked.

I rolled my eyes. She laughed and hugged me once more, smoothing down my long blonde hair. She let go and turned to give Zack a hug also. Matt, surprisingly, gave me a hug, too. He smiled at me and turned to his fiancé.

“Have a safe trip home, ‘kay?” Emily asked.

“We will,” Zack replied as he put his arm around me.

Zack and I waved at my family once more before getting into his car and blasting the heater. I took off my jacket and put my hands up beside the heater. We exited the snowy neighborhood and joined the rest of the town on the highway, heading back home to our traffic-infested streets.

“Did you have fun?” I asked Zack.

“Yeah, thanks for taking me, Gems,” Zack replied with a soft smile.

“No problem. I didn’t really want to be there alone with my family,” I answered.

“I don’t blame you.” Zack snorted. “Why is your Mom so persistent about you getting married?”

“I don’t know, but it’s really annoying me.”

“Well, at least your parents would be excited if you get married. Mine couldn’t care less,” he said, his voice melancholy.

I put my hand on his shoulder and shrugged. “Well you know my parents would care if you did. You always have us, Zack. I know my family isn’t the best, but we all really do love you.”

Zack smiled and put his hand on top of mine. “Thanks, Gemma. I love you guys too, even if your Mom is kind of psycho.”

I laughed and leaned against the window, staring out at the snowy road and black slush. Soon, the familiar sign with ‘Chicago’ printed upon it showed up. Zack and I both smiled a little. It was nice to be back home. We turned into our apartment complex parking lot and parked beneath a cover, anxiously unbuckling our seat belts and grabbing our luggage from the trunk.

We practically sprinted down the hallway to our apartment, our footsteps muffled by the flat blue carpet. Our next door neighbor was just walking in, an older woman with two pet Chihuahuas. The two small, black dogs barked at us, wagging their tails happily.

“Hi, Bella,” I greeted.

“Hello, Gemma, Zack,” she replied, a smile on her aged face. “How was your holiday?”

“Interesting.” Zack replied, laughing. “How about you?”

“Oh it was lovely. I went to visit my son, Diego,” Bella said.

“Cool! Well I’m glad you had a nice holiday,” I replied, smiling sweetly.

Bella smiled and nodded before heading into her apartment, letting her little dogs run inside wildly. Zack quickly pushed his key into the doorknob of our own apartment and opened the door, revealing our cozy apartment. We pushed our bags beside the door and lay on the couches, sighing contently.

“I missed you!” Zack squealed, kissing the couch.

I laughed and rolled over, shaking my head at my best friend. I then grinned and ran over to my room, only to find my fat grey cat, Dexter, lying patiently on my bed. I jumped onto my bed and kissed his head, stroking his thick fur.

“I missed you, Dex!” I said.

“And you thought I was crazy,” Zack stated, chuckling from the door.