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Has Joel complained about how much he hated the snow and rain? If he hasn’t, oh boy, get ready for it.
Now was the most overcast time of the year. Constant snow to the point it began piling up higher and higher and icing over roads. The sky was a constant gray, the sun only sometimes peaking through. It was Joel’s personal torture from Mother Nature.
The base of Joel’s foot slipped ever so slightly forward that he almost fell completely over. He sighed frustratedly, annoyance continuing to seep into every vein that was desperately trying to warm him up. He took a quick breath before continuing.
As usual around this time of year, Gem was sick, meaning she couldn’t drive him to the bloody campus. Which also meant the worst: Joel had to walk. Walk on the icy sidewalks and through the stupid snow he hated.
The light flicked to red, the crowd on the sidewalk eagerly watching it beginning to move across the white striped lane. Joel followed, attempting to weave around them as that damned fox did, failing pretty badly.
Their project was almost complete, which was nice. As it came closer to finished, though, a horrible thought came creeping in Joel’s mind. He refused to address it to avoid complicating the space in his head. It was already a mess up there, don’t need to make it worse.
Which felt crazy to say, considering that since he talked to Grian, the annoying feelings in his head spread to his stomach and chest. The last day the group met up to work on the project was somehow the worst stomachache Joel had ever experienced. It was one thing that made him feel good about the project being done, that he might not have to see Etho again.
His foot slipped again, breaking him out of his thoughts. He exhaled, shaking it off and continuing.
He addressed that stupid thought. No wonder he slipped. Exactly why he shouldn’t address it.
He turned the corner around the park, where now he could see the campus. Relief filled his chest, and stayed there until he noticed a familiar set of ears atop a masked face. Joel stopped dead in his tracks, staring into the park at the fox.
Forget warmth anywhere in his body besides his own face. His chest felt heavy with rapid heartbeats. Fuck, why did Etho have to show up!
He wasn’t even doing anything, just sitting on one of the park benches flicking away at his phone, and here Joel was losing his mind over it. All those stupid thoughts about Etho’s hands and hair and other things Joel won’t elaborate on started returning like a tsunami.
This, whatever it was, was going to be the death of Joel.
And he may have just actually died when Etho noticed him and waved with those stupid smile eyes.
Bloody Etho. Making him think and do stupid things. It’s all Etho’s fault that Joel was now walking over with his best attempt at a normal face.
“Hey Joel!” Etho spoke first when Joel had taken a seat next to him on the bench. “What are you doing out here?”
“Sup. Just walking to class. You?”
“Oh, you didn’t hear? Classes were canceled today. Some professor said the snow was too high.”
That same annoyance from earlier returned immediately. “Really?”
“Yep. I was uh, just about to tell you.” Etho shoved his phone into his pocket. He relaxed back onto the bench, raising his arms to support his head. It was stupid how good Etho looked sitting like that, especially with his hair free flowing out of the usual ponytail.
“Well, that’s just wonderful. I’m up far too early in the stupid weather I hate and now I have to walk back. Bloody wonderful.” Joel huffed, crossing his arms in frustration.
Etho’s head turned to face Joel. He had this sparkle in his eyes that Joel just couldn’t read and it made his stomach hurt. It also made it very hard for him to simply look another direction. He seemed to like that stupid sparkle.
Joel cleared his throat as he finally managed to pull his eyes off of Etho’s, looking at the shop across the street from the park to avoid him.
After a barely noticeable laugh from him, Etho spoke up. “You don’t have to go. We could spend the day together. We’re already out, why not enjoy it?”
Joel started fidgeting with the ends on his hoodie’s strings, deeply thinking about the request. He was going to fight whatever possessed him to speak; “You’re right. Why not?”