So, like clockwork the carolers return. Welcome, welcome, and of course you can sing. Before you start, shall we swap stories?

Excellent! Please, come in and take a seat. I’ll bring out something warm, just don’t spill!

Here, the yules burning bright and the chocolate is hot. Sit, get cozy, and that’s my cue!

Our story begins in a snowstorm…

“Well, I think we’re stuck,” Theo says, turning away from the window.

Behind him, Hailey sighs.

“Great. Any chance the storm will blow over?”

Theo shakes his head. “No. My phone said it would last at least all night.”

Hailey runs her fingers through her hair, irritated. “Great,” she mutters. “Just great.”

Angry, she storms out of the room. Helpless, Theo watches her go. With a sigh, he turns back to the window and stares out at the storm raging. “It’s not my fault.”

Out in the hallway, Hailey walks down the hall and just around a corner. Then she walks up to the lockers and kicks one aimlessly. “Stupid. Why are you picking fights? So stupid.” She pushes her head into the cool metal of the locker and takes several deep breaths. “Five minutes and I’m already flying off the handle. Get a grip, stupid!”

Slowly, she puts herself back together with a few deep breaths. Once she regains her composure, she walks back down the hall.

“So what did your mom say?”

Theo turns from the window. “It’s not just the snow. The wind is pretty rough, so they can’t plow it very effectively. She’s sorry, but we’re just gonna have to ride out the storm until morning. She called your mom and Mr. Rutter already so they know to unlock the doors in the morning.”

Hailey crosses her arms. “So should we get out of the band room then?”

Theo steps away from the window and nods in agreement. “Yeah, I guess Mr. Rutter said there are sleeping bags in the rec room.”

“Lead on,” Hailey mutters as he walks out the room.

They walk in silence through the halls, each one throwing glances at the other. When Theo catches Hailey looking, they both turn away red faced.

“Um,” Theo begins sheepishly. “So, how are you?”

“Fine,” Hailey replies quickly.

“Oh, that’s good.”

“Yeah.”

An awkward silence stretches out between the two until they arrive at their destination.

“Well here we are.”

“Yup,” Hailey replies, hugging herself with her arms. “Um, you said there were sleeping bags?”

“Yeah, I just don’t really remember where.”

Hailey opens the door to a room full of various boxes and shelves overflowing with a wide assortment of school supplies, sports equipment, and cardboard boxes. The two teens stare at the mess for a few seconds before letting out twin groans.

“I’ll take the left, you take the right?”

Hailey nods and rolls up her sleeves. Shifting aside one box, she reaches to one of the back shelves and grabs a half-inflated football before tossing it aside. Opening the box, she finds an old pile of mismatched markers. With a shake of her head, Hailey shoves the box behind her and reaches for the next object. To herself, she murmurs, “This might take a while.”

“Yeah,” Theo says in agreement. Then, trying to strike up a conversation, he asks, “So, it’s kinda funny right? I mean I only came on this trip because Jake asked. I don’t know anything about ice skating. Now I’m stuck, which sucks obviously, but at least I’m stuck with you which is a good thing,” Theo pauses, a nervous look crossing his face. “Not that I’m happy about the storm or anything! I mean, I’m not happy to be stuck here at all. But I don’t hate being here with you!” Red faced, Theo continues in a rush, “Um, that’s not what I meant, I mean I like you, not like like since you know we broke up and all but, like, that doesn’t mean that I dislike you, you know?” Theo stops babbling, and stares at Hailey helplessly.

“I don’t dislike you either,” she answers, before turning back to her pile of things.

“Oh!” Theo says, a smile creeping across his face. “That’s pretty cool!”

Still smiling, he turns back to the pile of stuff and continues digging. A few minutes later Hailey says, “Any luck?”

“Nope.”

Theo glances over at Hailey and adds, “Hey, so, why did you come on this trip?”

“I like ice skating,” Hailey answers. “It’s relaxing.”

“Oh, you never told me.” Theo pauses, glancing at his hands as he continues to shift boxes.

“I never got the chance,” Hailey points out. “We broke up before winter came around.”

“Oh, right.”

“So,” Hailey changes the subject, “Jake made you come?”

“Yeah he dragged me into this,” Theo answers with a grimace. “It wasn’t very subtle, but he hinted you might be coming so I just kinda let it happen.”

“You came because you thought I would be here?”

Theo flushes and quickly says, “No! Well not no because yeah, I did, but I’m not stalking you or anything creepy like that! Jake just kinda insisted I should sign up for the trip and its not like I dislike ice staking so you know I said sure maybe and then he kept saying I really, really, ought to sign up for it. Obviously, he meant you know that you would be here too and you know Jake can’t be subtle to save his life so it was pretty obvious but I couldn’t say no and I wasn’t going to back out. Not that I would back out, I’m not avoiding you and obviously you’re here too. I mean I’m happy about that, but well, you get what I mean. I didn’t only come because you’re here, just like mostly kinda.”

Hailey blushes slightly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she turns back to her side of the room and busies herself. Theo stares at her helplessly for a second before sighing and turning back to his own pile.

As he does, Hailey exclaims, “Here!”

Face flushed in triumph she turns around and lifts up a box full of unopened sleeping bags. Grinning, she grabs a bag and lifts it up, shaking it in front of Theo’s face. “There we go! How do you like that?”

As she reaches back into the box for one Theo continues to stare at her, saying soft, “Yeah, I like it.”

Putting the bag under her arm, Hailey asks, “Alright, so what now? I don’t suppose the school has pillows in here too?”

“No but the teacher’s lounge does have a couch. And Mr. Rutter’s office. We can steal pillows from there.”

“It’s a plan!” Hailey exclaims. With a determined look on her face, she pulls her hair into a ponytail and rolls up her sleeves. “Let’s go loot the teacher’s lounge.”

Theo lets out a laugh. “Alright, lead on.”

Smiling, the pair of teens turns and head down the hall toward the main offices. As they cross the school, they fall into companionable conversation. They don’t talk about anything of substance, but the atmosphere is markedly different than the dour attitude from before. With a pair of grins, they arrive in front of the offices.

“Can you believe we’re actually going to do this?” Theo asks.

“Yeah,” Hailey replies. Then, she asks, “Hey, should we stop by Mrs. Anderson’s desk and mess with her?”

“How?”

“I don’t know, I guess we could move her pencils and stuff?”

“That’s kinda boring,” Theo points out. “We need a better idea.”

“We could decorate her desk? Put Christmas stuff on it?”

Theo smiles. “Alright. I can probably scrounge up some ornaments and fake snow from the art room. Jake mentioned they made stuff in shop class. Do you want to get the pillows then?”

Hailey nods in agreement. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see what I can find.”

“Meet back here in fifteen or so?”

“Sounds good.”

Theo drops off his sleeping bag in a nearby bench and turns back to head toward shop classroom and the art rooms. Hailey does the same before heading in the opposite direction into the office pool. Going through to the teacher’s lounge, she pulls a pair of worn pillows off the couch and then stops in Mr. Rutter’s room to grab a pillow off his office couch. Then, she looks through the other offices for any other teachers with a spare pillow. When she finishes searching, she has another pillow bringing her count to four. Returning to the entrance to the office, she spots Theo walking down the hallway with a box in his hands.

“There were some cutout snowflakes and a few clay trees,” he says. “I also found a couple of ornaments we can hang around the ceiling above her desk.”

“I only found these four pillows, but not bad, right?”

“Yeah I only need one anyway,” Theo replies.

Putting her hands on her hips, Hailey grouses, “You could have told me that before I searched through every office in there!”

“Sorry,” Theo replies, “I thought you knew. I mean I never use more than one pillow when I fell asleep on your couch.”

Hailey flushes. “That’s different!” she squeaks out, “just because you fall asleep during movies doesn’t mean you only use one pillow in bed.”

Theo shrugs and carries the box of decorations into the office.

Poking fun at her, he throws over his shoulder, “As I recall, you don’t need any pillows.”

Hailey’s face turns beet red and she stops moving. Theo goes through the door into the offices, as it closes behind him she mumbles, “I was using you as a pillow. It doesn’t count.”

Then, shaking her face to banish the mental image, she rushes into the office after Theo.

Theo drops the box on the desk next to Mrs. Anderson’s. “Alright. Do you want to hang ornaments while I put up these snowflakes?”

“Sure, pass em over,” Hailey replies.

The pair work together while chatting, keeping the conversation light as they prank one of their favorite teachers. A few minutes later, Theo exclaims, “Finished! What do you think?”

Hailey smiles, “I like it. She’s gonna love it.”

“Good,” Theo says with a matching smile. “So now we just have to find a place to sleep. Any rooms you’ve always wanted to hang out in after hours?”

Hailey thinks it over for a minute as the two walk back to their sleeping backs and pillows. “Maybe the library? There’s a few secret rooms that are pretty cozy.”

“I heard the rebuilt sections are really nice too,” Theo adds.

“Let’s avoid those,” Hailey says, her voice artificially light.

Sensing the touchy subject, Theo quickly adds, “But I prefer the older areas. Let’s head over.”

As they walk, Theo makes small talk. “So, you like to skate?”

“Yeah,” Hailey smiles, “Mom and Dad take me to the public rink every year since I was like four years old. I’m not good or anything but skating is always fun. I like being on ice, I can just glide around and it feels like all my problems are too slow to keep up.” She shakes her head, “It’s hard to explain.”

“I get it,” Theo says softly. “Football is the same way. When I’m on the field, everything is just locked in and I don’t worry about anything.”

As the pair arrives in front of the library doors, Theo pushes them open and says, “Got a spot in mind?”

“Wanna pull some tables together? It could be fun.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

A few minutes of shifting furniture later, the pair step back and let out matching exhalations. “I forget how strong you are,” Theo says, “You don’t look it.”

Flipping her hair, Hailey huffs and says, “Yeah? I’m too dainty?”

“Not the word I would use. You just surprise me.”

Throwing the sleeping back out on the table, Hailey climbs on and offers a hand to help Theo. “Coming? I promise not to rip off your arm with my super strength.”

Theo snorts as he takes her hand. “Right, you’re exactly what I picture when I think of a superhero,” he says sarcastically.

“Superheroine,” Hailey corrects. “Duh.”

The pair settles into the sleeping bags. “My mistake,” Theo says. “I suppose you’re just really good at maintaining your secret identity.”

“For sure,” Hailey agrees. “I’m great at that.”

The pair falls silent for a few minutes. Staring up at the ceiling, Hailey tentatively asks, “So,” she bites her bottom lip, “how are you? Really?”

Theo’s voice comes back through the dark. “I’m okay. Not great, but getting better. This was good though. It helped. How about you?”

Hailey refuses to turn as she replies, “Same. I miss you.”

“Me too.”

The pair lay there in silence, each of them too afraid to say anything until they fall asleep.

In the morning, Hailey finds herself wrapped around Theo, using his body as a pillow. Theo, in turn, has his arm around her.

And so our Christmas comes to a close! The storm howls and the winds rush bringing snow across the frozen ground. But winter weather is no impediment to the joy in your heart and the warmth in your soul. So sing on, and let the winter bring only good tidings!