With You

Editor: Faiz

Wisps of smoke surrounded me as I exhaled winter’s air and watched it slowly disappear. The season has been getting colder and harsher with heavy snow coming down every once in a while. Scraping it off the driveway and clearing all of the melted ice had been difficult but it was worth the effort. Who knew snow could be so dangerous? Regardless, tonight was one of the calmer nights.

I sat alone on a bench in the park and observed my surroundings as I patiently waited for my friend to arrive. There were couples talking amongst themselves and groups of friends who were laughing and playing in the snow. The sight of it all was comforting and I was indulged in the reminiscence of hanging out with friends.

Despite the cozy feeling, however, I could feel my heart beat faster with each passing moment.

“Tonight, I’m going to tell him how I really feel.”

A wave of anxiety washed over me the more I thought about it. We’ve been friends since we were kids and even went to the same college together. However, we both took different majors and his workload was very high compared to mine. He’s been extremely busy so it’s possible that he hasn’t put much thought into these things or… perhaps he has already found…

I shook my head to prevent myself from overthinking. The two of us were close and I shouldn’t worry too much. Still, the thought of rejection lingered in the back of my mind.

“Hey!” A voice snapped me back to reality.

I turned to my left to see my fantasy chasing towards me. Will wore a long black coat and an olive green knitted scarf around his neck. His dark blonde hair was sticking out everywhere like he had been rushing to get here.

“Ok!” I thought, mentally preparing myself. “It’s fine. I got this. Just act normal like we usually do!”

“Hey.” I greeted as I stood up. “You look terrible.”

“What the heck?!” Will exclaimed. He placed his hand on his chest and clenched his coat like he was injured. “We haven’t seen each other this whole week and this is how you greet me? I’m hurt.”

“Maybe if you didn’t spend nearly nine hours on your computer and actually started your work, you’d look better.”

“Yo, shut up!”

We both shared a heartfelt laugh and continued to playfully banter for what felt like ages. His laughter washed away my anxiety like it was never there. Seeing his smile made the whole world disappear like we were the only ones to exist. Being together with him made me feel warm inside like we could overcome whatever life threw at us. I found it funny how much impact one person could have on you. 

I noticed Will staring at me and I tilted my head in confusion. A moment later, it hit me like a train when I realised we had been sitting in silence for a while. How long have we been standing like that?

“You’re so stupid.” Will chuckled. “Y’know what they say about silence. If two people can sit in silence without it being awkward, it means they’re comfortable with each other.”

I stared him dead in the eyes. How could he say something like that out of the blue when my feelings are mentally fighting for their lives right now?

Suddenly, I grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and quickly threw it at his chest before running off. I heard Will shout in surprise and, not long after, a snowball flew past me. I glanced back to see him with more snowballs, trying to keep up. The sounds of our laughter filled the air as we continued to chase each other through the night.

“It might be pretty selfish of me but I hope he accepts because I want to make more  memories like this forever.”

Illustrator: Kou