“Hey, Ezra?” When I turned, she gave me an unexpectedly dazzling smile. “Thanks.”
Hours later, I was dead on my feet, my ears buzzing from the constant chatter in the cafeteria and the noise from the battery-operated radio. Cole was over in the corner, goofing off with a couple of the guys from our class, and I decided to let him be while I headed outside for some air. When I stepped out underneath the gray afternoon sky, I spotted Hannah sitting on the grass a little bit away from the entrance. She was hugging her knees, her stick-straight black hair falling in a curtain over her face. I took a deep breath and went to sit beside her.
“Oh — hi, Ezra.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave me a watery smile.
“Um.” I tried to think of what Cole would do if he were sitting in my place. “You okay?”
“Not really.” She rested her cheek on her knee, and I tried waiting it out. I didn’t know what to say, exactly — but maybe that wasn’t the worst thing, because after a moment she spoke again. “My mom’s house — it’s pretty much wrecked. All our stuff is gone, and we’re pretty much going to have to gut the house and start over. And I come up here, and I try to keep busy, but — sometimes it all comes back and hits me, you know? And I just lose it.”
I stared down at my lap, picking at the grass next to my crossed legs. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
She looked at me sharply, and then her eyes widened. “Shit, Ezra, of course you would. And here I am crying about stuff to you, when you had your mom — You must think I’m so stupid and selfish —”
“No, of course not —” I said quickly. I was getting out of my depth. “I mean — we all have stuff we’re sad about. It’s not a competition.”
“I guess not.”
The silence was heavy, and I thought of Cole once again, and how easy this was for him. I cleared my throat. “Um — would a hug help?”
She laughed, shaking back her hair to look up at my face. “It might!”
I held out my arm to drape it over her shoulder, and she curled up against me. I guess I did learn this, with everything that happened with my mom — that sometimes words aren’t the most important thing.
***
About a week after the storm, I woke to a resoundingTHUDagainst my bedroom window.
“The fuck?” I reached for the window latch and threw open the sash, squinting in the bright sunlight.
Cole was standing in my backyard in a field of freshly-fallen snow, a red knit cap on his head, a second snowball in his gloved hands. “Can Ezra come out to play?” he shouted.
“Just give me a sec —”
I banged the window shut and nearly fell out of bed as I reached for a pair of jeans, a warm sweater, thick socks —
It took me just a minute to throw everything on, and then I was thundering down the stairs, grabbing my coat and zipping it up as I headed for the back door. When I opened it up, Cole was at the base of the stairs, winding up to toss his snowball at me. I flinched, crossing my arms over my face.
“Wait—”
He stopped, hand paused in midair. “Why? Not a fan?”
“Not really.” I took the stairs cautiously to join him. “I dunno, it’s just — a surprise? And wet. It makes me jumpy and I’m not big on that.”
Cole studied my face for a moment, then broke into a grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he tossed the snowball behind him. “Stupid idea, really. Want to build a snowman instead?”
I kicked the snow at my feet. “There’s barely enough snow here for a snow baby, let alone a snowman.”
“I don’t care! Come on, you’re doing it —”
What can I say? Cole was infectious, and I couldn’t resist him. I followed him to the front of the house, shaking my head as he cackled, but I did what I was told. It took us half an hour and pretty much all the snow inthe yard, but finally we were standing beside an icy creature with sticks for arms and rocks for eyes, covered in bits of grass and streaked with mud.
I brushed the snow off my gloves and crossed my arms. “It looks like a dirty snow penis.”
Cole threw back his head and laughed. “Have a lot of experience rating penises, do you?”
I didn’t know why I was blushing so hard. “I mean, I have one,” I grumbled, but that only made Cole laugh harder.
As we headed back around the house to the back door, I looked over at Cole. “You know, you’re different from what I expected,” I blurted.
