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It was winter break, and Ted was ready. After a grueling four months of school, he finally had ample time to sit around all day watching MTV, hanging out with Bill, and practicing his most mediocre guitar riffs. His history homework was over for the time being, and Ted was going to make the most of it.
Winter break in San Dimas, unlike other places, didn’t have the same seasonal connotations that one would expect of the holidays. His hometown wasn’t exactly the ideal winter wonderland. For as long as Ted had known, it had never once snowed there. He supposed that the lack of freezing temperatures could be a good thing, but at the same time, snow could be worth the gnarly cold.
He’d often hoped that one morning in late December, he would wake up to see a fresh blanket of powdery snow on the ground, just waiting to be made into a snowman or packed down to make an ultra fast sledding course right there in his front yard. Unfortunately for Ted, temperatures hadn’t dropped below freezing for long enough to make his wish come true in a long time. He supposed California wasn’t going to switch climates with Vermont any time soon, so all he could do was dream.
Today, ‘making the most’ of his break meant sitting on the couch in his living room, watching some old action movie he had never heard of. It was a Saturday afternoon, and Deacon was out at a friend’s, so Ted had the house to himself. Well, himself, and his dad, who was busy finishing up some paperwork in his room. Close enough to all alone, he thought. It was in the middle of a black-and-white car chase that the telephone rang. Ted rolled off the couch, and rushed over to pick up before it went to the answering machine. He slid across the kitchen, and answered just before the last ring.
“This is the Logan residence,” He said. He had to be formal, just in case it was one of his dad’s heinous coworkers who wouldn’t hesitate to shout at him for a single usage of ‘dude’.
“How’s it hanging, dude?” Bill’s voice said.
Ted’s mood was immediately improved. “Hey dude! I haven’t talked to you in a most egregiously long period of time.”
“Ted, we talked for like four hours last night.” Bill said.
He was right. “Still, my friend, that was ages ago.”
“Most accurate. Anyways, Missy and my dad are gone today, so the whole house is free for us to rock as loud as we want.”
“Excellent! I’ll come over right away.” He hung up quickly, eager to leave as soon as possible.
Ted was halfway out the door when a voice sounded from behind him. “Where do you think you’re going, son?” Captain Logan said.
Ted turned to face him. “Just to Bill’s house. We have to practice in order for Wyld Stallyns to become world-renowned, you know.”
Captain Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, grumbling with annoyance. “How many times have I told you that your band nonsense has to stop? If you really want to be successful, go out and get a real job like a normal person.”
“But dad, dude-”
“And stop with the ‘dude’!” He was getting really angry now. “Did I raise you to talk like some, some delinquent?”
“Delinquent?” What did that mean, again? Something bogus, Ted assumed.
“It’s that Preston boy, isn’t it? He’s a bad influence on you, Theodore. I know all of this,” He gestured generally to Ted. “Isn’t my fault, so it must be him who is making you so abnormal.”
Abnormal? “What are you saying, dad?”
“I’m saying that you need to stop being so childish, and grow up already. Leave your band and friend behind, and start acting mature for once in your life.”
Leave Bill? He would never. “Bill is my best friend! I can’t ‘leave him behind’!”
Captain Logan’s temper was worsening. His face was cherry red, and he looked like he was about to explode. “Yes, you can Ted! And you will! It’s not normal for two young men to be close like you are. People are going to start thinking bad things about you unless you straighten out. Do you understand me? Or are you too stupid to get that one thing drilled in your head?”
Ted had had it. He could handle being called weird, being called stupid, and even being called a failure, but saying any of that about Bill was a step too far. “You’re bogus, dad! All you want is for me to be exactly like you! You know what? I’d rather be a failure with Bill than a success with you and your heinous ideas about what’s allowed and not allowed!” And with that, Ted turned and slammed the front door right in his dad’s face. He ran off before his dad could shout at him to come back.
Ted’s face was hot with rage as he ran all the way to Bill’s house, not caring that he was out of breath by the time he rang the doorbell to the suburban home.
The door swung open only seconds later, and he was greeted by Bill’s smiling face. “Hey dude! What’s-” He paused, staring at his friend’s face. “Ted, you look most troubled.”
Ted shrugged. “It’s my dad. He was saying some heinous stuff about me being a delicatessen, or something like that.” He walked into the house, closing the door behind him. “He was talking about how I should grow up and stop hanging out with you.”
Bill shook his head. “What a dickweed! Don’t let him get to you, dude. He just doesn’t realize how excellent you are.”
Ted smiled. “Thanks, Bill.” They went into the kitchen, where Missy’s expensive cooking appliances were littering the counters. “Still, it just bothers me, I guess. He doesn’t have these problems with Deacon…”
“Ted, it’s not your fault that your dad is so non-triumphant. He’s old. That’s what old people do. Criticize the youth to perpetuate a cycle of generational divide.” Bill said.
“Woah,” Ted said. “That’s deep, dude.”
“Nah, I just read it somewhere.”
Ted sat down at the table and began to run his fingers through his hair. “I dunno, dude. It’s just like… I feel like even if we become huge rockstars, he’ll never respect me, y’know?”
Bill nodded. “I get it.” He put a hand on Ted’s shoulder.
Ted looked up to see Bill’s soft features, and a comforting expression that said ‘everything is gonna be fine, dude’. Their eyes remained locked on each other for a moment too long, and Ted felt his cheeks heating up. He looked down quickly, hoping that Bill hadn’t seen him blushing.
Bill stepped away, and moved to open a cabinet above the messy counters. “I know what’ll cheer you up, dude!” He pulled a can of cocoa powder out of the cabinet. “Hot chocolate!” He set it down, and grabbed two cups. “Remember when we used to have contests to see who could drink the most?”
Ted remembered their feats of strength from when they were no more than nine or ten. “Yeah. Those usually ended with both of us hurling.”
“True, my most esteemed colleague, but this time, we will regulate ourselves.” He filled the kettle and set it on the stove. In just a few minutes, the water was boiling, and Bill mixed the powder, water, and milk in the mugs, before setting them down on the table. “Bone apple tea,”
“Thanks, dude.” Ted said, picking up the cup and taking a sip. It was, well, hot chocolaty. “Most flavorsome, my friend.” He said, quickly chugging the rest of the drink.
“Dude! You’re supposed to savor it.” Ted looked to see that Bill had barely even sipped his cocoa.
“Sorry,” Ted smiled apologetically. “I guess my old habits got the best of me.”
Bill shook his head, but Ted could see the hint of a smile on his lips. “Now I’m going to drink mine as slow as I possibly can to make you pay.”
“Bill,” Ted groaned, “Why must you torture me like this?”
After an agonizing ten minutes of Bill drinking his cocoa sip by sip, the cup was finally empty. “Do you see the errors of your ways now?”
“Sure, sure,” Ted said, grabbing the cup and putting in in the sink. He’d wasted enough time already. Now, it was time to get rocking. “C’mon, dude!” Barely realizing what he was doing, Ted grabbed Bill’s hand, and dragged him out of the kitchen and to the side door to the garage.
Okay. This was new. He was holding his best friend’s hand. It was casual, and Bill had hardly noticed. Ted couldn’t let go of his hand, or it would seem like Ted knew it was weird, which would make it even stranger that he had held it in the first place. But every second he held onto it, it made his heart beat faster and faster. He hoped that Bill wasn’t freaked out by the sudden, unexpected hand-holding.
“Ted?” Bill was looking at him, confusion in his blue-green eyes. “You okay, dude?”
Ted snapped out of his jumbled thoughts, and realized that they were already in the garage, standing there, holding hands. “Yeah, I, uh-” He quickly let go of Bill’s hand, shoving his hands in his pockets instead. “Sorry. I was just spacing out.”
Bill frowned. “Okay…” Thank god, Bill hadn’t totally freaked out at what had just happened.
Ted was reaching to pick up his (well, Bill’s) Fender when-
“Ted!” Bill yelled. “It’s snowing!”
“What?” Ted turned to see that, sure enough, through the small glass panes on the garage door, there were tiny white dots floating down against a light gray sky. “No way!”
“Yes way, Ted!” Bill slid the garage door open, and they two boys rushed out to see the snowflakes falling around them. It was light, and the snow seemed to be melting as soon as they touched the ground.
The two of them stayed staring at the sky as the snow continued. Ted stuck out his tongue, struggling to catch a snowflake on it. After a moment of trying, he managed to get one. “Dude! These just taste like water!” He said, turning to Bill.
“What did you think? They’re made of water.” Bill smiled at his friend.
“I dunno.” Ted caught another one. “I kind of thought they’d taste like peppermint.”
The wind picked up, and Ted shivered. No wonder it was snowing. This was the coldest that San Dimas had ever been.
“Woah, it’s freezing.” He said, rubbing his hands together to generate warmth.
“Give me your hands,” Bill said, reaching out to Ted.
Ted chucked awkwardly. “Uh, what?”
“It’ll keep us both warm. Like how penguins huddle and stuff.”
That makes sense enough, Ted reasoned. He held out his hands, and Bill took them. It was nice. Warm. He liked it. The wind stirred up dead leaves around their feet as the snow dampened Ted’s hair. It wasn’t a winter wonderland, but it was close enough.
Bill shifted a bit, and moved his hand so that their fingers were intertwined. But Ted didn’t question it. Even though this was new, it already felt normal, like the two friends had been doing it for years.
Still, Ted couldn’t get his mind off of Bill as they stood in the falling snow. Bill’s cheeks were rosy, flushed from the cold temperatures, and his eyes were bright, fixed on the sky above. Ted couldn’t help notice the way that a few stray snowflakes lay on his blonde curls and the way that his soft pink lips were parted just enough to see his almost perfectly white teeth. Ted wondered if Bill’s lips needed warming up, too.
Bill looked over to him, catching him as he stared. “What is it, dude?”
Ted glanced down, face flushed as he averted Bill’s gaze. He really shouldn’t have been staring like that. “Nothing.” He said, shaking his head.
“Dude,” Ted looked back to see that Bill was looking him right in the eye. Bill’s eyes moved down, trailing until he was looking at Ted’s lips.
Ted could feel his cheeks heat up as his friend let go of his right hand. God, he had just majorly screwed up! He was about to apologize to Bill when he felt a warm hand move to his cheek. Ted looked to see that Bill was reaching up to cup his face as his other hand moved to Ted’s back. Ted kept his eyes locked on Bill as the boy closed his eyes and leaned in.
His eyes fluttered closed as Bill’s lips met his, warmth spreading from his head to his toes. Ted moved his hands from his sides to rest on Bill’s waist as he held his friend closer to him. He could feel the snowflakes melt on his skin as they stood there, taking in the feeling of each other together like that, while the wind ruffled Ted’s hair.
After a moment, they both were out of breath. Ted opened his eyes as he broke the kiss. He looked into Bill’s eyes, which were wide in amazement, as they both broke out into laughter.
“Woah,” Was all Ted could manage as he broke out into a goofy grin.
Bill nodded, smiling just as wide as him. “Yeah, woah.”
Ted felt his heart swell as Bill leaned in again, this time much quicker, and held Ted’s face in his hands. When they broke apart again, it had stopped snowing. Ted couldn’t care less. Because in that moment, he only had one thing on his mind. Bill.
That day, in late December, in a town called San Dimas, something miraculous happened. Most people considered the miraculous thing to be a small snow flurry, the first in years, that had lasted only minutes.
But for two Californian valley boys named Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esquire, the real wonder wasn’t the snowfall, but what had happened during that snowfall.
What had happened wasn’t just miraculous.
It was, as the two of them would say, excellent.