Snowed In

Jessica poured herself a cup of coffee. Then she carefully folded herself into her chair with her knees tucked into her side, flopping her notebook onto the table along with an array of pens. Total overkill, she knew. But this was something that called for the heavy duty supplies. She had to prepare herself for the dreaded Christmas date.

It wasn’t dreaded because of the person she would be with. Riley was amazing in every way. It was dreaded because she had never planned a date before. The only people that she had been on dates with were her ex-boyfriend and her friends with benefits situation with Ace. Anyway, with Ace the only date-like thing they had done was go out for tacos or sandwiches. Riley was expecting to be wowed and Jessica felt obligated to deliver.

She made a list of all the different events and ideas that she could come up with. But there were far too many cons.

They could go ice skating. But she was afraid of falling on her ass. It could be fun and she knew that they would laugh about it, but she really didn’t want to display how uncoordinated she could be. And after seeing Riley trip over numerous steps in their short time together she didn’t think that she was far better on her feet.

They could watch a Christmas movie in her apartment. Maybe Elf. But hadn’t that been done about a thousand times? What if Riley got bored or, even worse, she didn’t appreciate holiday movies for the genius that they are?

They could go to Tiffany’s annual ugly sweater party. But her holiday sweater was far too ugly for one of their very first dates. She knew it wouldn’t make the best impression and she would feel self conscious. Also, what if Riley didn’t like her friends? She wasn’t quite ready to introduce them.

They could really go hard on the Christmas spirit and build snowmen, throw snowballs and drink hot cocoa. But Riley didn’t seem like someone who liked being cold or being outdoors for that matter.

But it wasn’t until two hours later when she was scrolling through her phone and on her third cup of coffee that she finally came across the perfect date idea. The Traveling Book, a used bookstore a town over, was having a special Christmas event for Harry Potter. There were photos of past years, of trees lit up and crystal balls lined up with wands and tea leaves on display tables. Blue and white streamers splayed over cozy armchairs that were surrounded by stacks and stacks of books. Hadn’t Riley mentioned her love for books and Harry Potter during numerous conversations? This would be perfect.

She texted Riley right away.

Jessica:
There’s something I want to take you to.

Riley:
Is it a surprise?

Jessica:
Yes, but I think you’ll like it.

Riley:
I’m not usually a fan of surprises, but I’m down. You don’t seem like the type to show up at my doorstep wearing a ski mask and start singing Christmas carols.

Jessica:
I can definitely sing you Christmas carols if you want, but I don’t know about the whole ski mask thing. Seems a little out of fashion, but you’re the one with the eye for that kind of thing.

Riley:
I can assuredly tell you that ski masks are so last year horror genre.

Jessica:
What’s horror movie chic this year?

Riley:
I dunno. Probably blood. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched a horror movie. But I picture meat dresses and skin masks. They’ve upgraded.

Jessica:
Yikes. Your mind is terrifying.

Riley:
Wait until you hear about my hypothesis about ghosts.

Jessica:
You have to tell me on Saturday. Can we meet up at 7pm?

Riley:
Prepare to be amazed. See you then. Meet you at The Jumping Bean?

Jessica:
Perfect. See you there.

--

The next two days felt like a century for Jess, but when Saturday arrived she rushed home from the bookstore after five and immediately started getting ready. She put on some electronic pop, curled her hair and did a full face of makeup. But it took her nearly forty-five minutes to make sure that her makeup looked nice but natural, and nearly the same amount of time to find a good date outfit. She settled on some black jeans and a blue shirt with little orange cats on it. Then a black jacket to wear over it.

By the time that she was running out the door she was nearly late. She grabbed a navy Ravenclaw purse on her way out the door, nearly dropping her keys as she tried to lock the door from pure nerves and excitement. And then she was on her way.

The walk took about ten minutes. The Jumping Bean was a chic coffee shop about three blocks over. At the moment it had gold lights strung above the door and a deep smell of coffee leaking through the doors so that she smelled it from nearly a block away. She walked through the door and was met with a collection of wood tables that were placed about in no discernible pattern. It was cozy and warm and she could see the steam coming off the cups of the many people sat at tables.

She saw Riley sitting at a table near the back and immediately started over. She was sitting with her hands cupped around a cup of tea, looking beautiful as always. She was wearing a navy blue dress with stars and had her now purple hair wrapped in two short braids. She gone full glam with cat-eye eyeliner and red lipstick. There was already a lipstick print on the side of her mug. Jessica hoped she hadn’t been there for long.

Riley smiled as Jessica walked up. “Hi!” She was enthusiastic with her greeting and it charmed Jessica.

“Hey. How are you?”

Riley smiled even brighter. “I’m good. Had a full day of classes. It’s nice to not be staring at math problems anymore. You?”

“As much as I love books I’m glad to be away from them for awhile. Luckily I have the next two days off.”

“Doesn’t mean much when you’ve got school work to catch up on and work at the radio station, does it?”

“Definitely. But I’ll manage.”

They were both grinning at each other over the table. They couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like they hadn’t seen each other since the class they shared just that morning, it was like they hadn’t seen each other since last year.

“We don’t have to leave for another twenty minutes or so. What did you think of —?”

But Jessica was cut off because there was a loud yelling of, “Oh shit!” from one of the other customers. The lady was standing near the door, a to go cup in her hands and staring in horror out the door. There was a thick coating of snow, endless snow, that covered everything in sight.

It dawned on Jessica that they might be there for awhile. Only confirmed by the fact that the door would not budge. Five minutes later it was figured out that somebody would have to be called to clear out the snow, after the manager had made a call. It wouldn’t be for anytime soon.

“I’m really sorry about this,” Jess apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. This’ll be fun. We’re actually snowed in. How cool is that? My life is so boring. It’ll be nice to have a story to tell.” Riley could really find the bright side of anything.

“I guess that’s true. But I was going to take you to a Harry Potter event.”

Riley only smiled. “That’s so sweet. But there’ll be more of those. Don’t worry. And everything is fun in your company.”

Jess blushed. “Oh hush. Same to you though.”

Time went by fast and seemed to slip away from them as they sat at their table, their hands now wrapped around warm mugs, as Jess had finally went to order herself a latte. When she had come back to the table Riley had even been making conversation with the lady at the next table, a child sleeping in a chair on the other side. There really didn’t seem to be any need to feel rushed.

It finally popped into Jess’s head when they continued their conversation. “Wait. So what is this ghost theory?”

“Oh, it’s stupid. I just believe that people can become a ghost even while they’re alive. Since it’s a part of your soul and all that. At least that’s what I think. You can blame my sister. She comes up with all these wacky theories and I get them stuck in my head. But it makes sense, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know. I don’t believe in ghosts?”

“You - What?”

“I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“You’ll take that back after you have a ghostly experience.”

“Can’t wait for this ghostly experience.”

“You said that with a dead look on your face. I know you don’t believe me. But it’ll happen. You just have to open your mind a bit.”

“Open my mind to being paranoid and afraid of weird noises. Sounds great.”

They were both smiling and Jessica squeezed Riley’s hand. She might not believe in ghosts, but maybe Riley would change her mind. It would take quite a bit to convince her, but anything felt possible with Riley. She’d already learning a lot in her time with Riley. Maybe this would be another thing that she was wrong about. To be fair, she had never given it much thought.

Riley practically yelled, “I’ll send you videos. There’s so much proof out there!”

“Do you mean those videos shot on a potato?”

“No, there’s so many great videos. You’ll see.”

“Okay. Can’t wait to be wowed.”

“You say that like a sceptic, but I’ll change your mind.”

“You’ve changed my mind about a lot of things. I promise I’ll give ghosts a chance.”

On and on their banter went until their coffee and tea went cold sitting beside them forgotten. Their hands flayed about wildly, Riley’s voice rising with every theory and explanation of her favorite movies and shows. They learned each other’s favorite songs and wrote each other lists of what they needed to check out (Riley exclaiming: “You have to!” about nearly everything). It was the frenzied sharing of information and thoughts that come with a new love. And it was totally them.

When someone finally came to clear up the snow they looked at their phones in surprise. They had been trapped there for an hour and a half and they hadn’t even realized it. But they walked out feeling as if they had learned the secrets of each other’s universes. There was an understanding between them that there was still more to uncover.

They hugged and Jessica leaned in to kiss Riley. It was soft and sweet and exactly what felt right in the moment, the snow drifting down and latching on to their hair and clothes. And then they parted ways, knowing they would see one another the next day in English class. Both of them tried and failed to stop smiling the whole walk home below the Christmas lights shining from every tree.