I had always loved snow. I loved the way it fell down to the grounds quietly. I loved the shape and color of it. There wasn’t a single thing that I disliked about. Ahh, yes! I remember now; I always felt faint disappointment deep in my chest when it melted on my hand when I tried to catch it. Snow flakes never lasted more than a second on my skin.

-----------------------------





I sat in my desk, trying to finish the math homework before the teacher walks in. Although math was my strongest subject, this one question was stumping me. Then, a great shadow hovered over me. Biting my pencil, I looked up.


“It’s 36.” he said, standing in front of me with his hands in his pockets.
“Excuse me?” It was the new kid. He was from England. Rumors went around saying that he beat up a kid so badly that the person had to go to the hospital. So his parents sent him here to escape from the police. But I did know that he was the math champion back in England. Many rumors went around about him, but he didn’t seem to care. I admit he was a very quiet person and an outcast. He always sat alone, talked to no one, and just disappeared during lunch. Although he seemed sort of scary, I didn’t think he was the kind to hit a person. I just thought he was a bit creepy.
“The answer, it’s 36.”
“Oh, thanks.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. This was harder than solving the math problem. This boy whom everyone thought was a criminal was talking to me. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to get too close to him yet I didn’t want to be rude.
“Saturday, 2:00 clock, at the Main Palace Restaurant. Be there.” He sounded so calm. And he just walked away. What was he talking about? I must’ve had a blank face on because my best friend, Alicia, who sat next to me said, “I think he just asked you to go out on a date with him.”
“What? He doesn’t even know me. Why would I go out with him? And who asks a girl out like that? That was not a question. That was more like a command.”
“Saturday, 2:00 clock, at the Main Palace Restaurant. Be there.” she tried to imitate him. Every time she said it, she cracked up. “You better be there. Who knows what might happen to you if you stand him up.” She was really pushing me with her stupid jokes.

-------------------------------------

“Honey, you should go.” my mom tried to convince me. “You’re already 18. And you’ve never went out on a date. Come on, you’re going to be 17 next month!”
“Mom! No! What kind of a mother are you? The dude’s weird and scary!”
“Oh, I don’t think he’s that scary. He’s new here, and he doesn’t know a lot of people. You’ve got to give him a chance.”
“Mom, I didn’t think that I would have to tell you this. But rumors go around that say that he is got into bunch of trouble in Europe, and came here to get away from the police.”
“Oh, bull! Rumors have a way of spreading faster than the truth. You know, Mrs. Hoffers? Well, she’s that boy’s next door neighbor. She says he’s a fine boy. He even brought her medicine when she was so sick in bed that she couldn’t get up. Just give him a chance.”
“No, mom. I’m not going out with a boy who might be a criminal. Fine, say I do go out with him, and I actually start to like him, and he turns out to be a real criminal. What do I do then when he gets caught or something? No, mom. I don’t want my first love to be like that.”
“All right, fine. But you’re going to start going out more often from now on. You’re not going to be a teenager all your life. Just go out with Alicia and other people. Believe me, when you grow up, and at my age, you’ll wish that you could have your teenage life back.”


---------------------------------------------



I didn’t know how to tell him that I didn’t want to go. So I decided to call Alicia for some advice.
“I would go if I were you. I don’t think he committed what people say he did. He’s cute. But if you really don’t want to go, just call him and tell that you don’t want to go. Fine by me; less competition.”

“I don’t have his number nor the intention to call him. Some good advice, please.” I heard my self sounding a little angry and paranoid.
“Ok, fine. Just don’t do anything then. I mean, he didn’t really ask you. So you can just say that you didn’t get what you were supposed to do or something. “
“But he said ‘Be there.’ That means I was supposed to be present at the given address.”
“All right. Then don’t go and tell him that something urgent came up, like your aunt died or something. And you couldn’t call him to let him know that because you don’t have his number.”
“I don’t know. What if this is his first time asking? What if I discourage him? Then, I’ll feel bad. “
“Then just go. I’m hanging up. This is never going to end. Just go. If you don’t like it, come back then. Goodness, Jess.” she sounded really annoyed. Maybe calling her at one ‘clock in the morning was a bad idea. However, I did make the decision that I was going to go. But only to tell him that I’m not interested. Thinking about what I would tell him, I finally fell asleep.

----------------------------

I was ten minutes late getting out of my house because I took so long to straighten my hair for a five minute conversation. It took me about thirty minutes to find the Main Palace Restaurant. In total, I was about forty five minutes late. Finding him wasn’t that bad. He was the only one standing in front of the restaurant like a stone. I slowly walked up to him with anxiety in each step.
“Hey.” I quietly greeted him. He looked up.
“Hey...let’s go.” He didn’t even mention that I was almost an hour late. He walked ahead of me; again, with his hands in his pockets. I tried to keep up, but he was too fast for me. I had to practically power walk to keep up with him when he was just taking a stroll.
“So…what do you want to do today?” I said trying to start a conversation.
“I don’t know.”
“Didn’t you plan it?”
“No.” This date was not going well. I was scouring my brain for topics we could talk about. But I couldn’t come up with a single one. Then, I thought, that’s because I don’t know anything about the guy.
“Snow.” he said quietly that I barely heard him.
“Huh?”
“Snow.” I was so busy that I didn’t notice that it was snowing. First snow of the year on my first date.
“I love snow.” I told him. Finally, I had a topic.
“Me too.” I just loved snow because I just liked it. But it looked like snow meant more to him than it did to me. He seemed to be very protective of that memory. So I didn’t pry into it. “It was snowing on the last day I spent time with my mom. The next day, she passed away of heart attack.”
“But I thought, your mom and dad sent you here from England ‘cause you got into some trouble back home.”
“That’s just a rumor. I don’t know who started it. But I never knew my dad. I came here to find him.” Mom was right, I thought. He’s didn’t seem like a bad person at all. “I’m not a bad person and I hope you think that way.”
“I don’t think that. Not anymore.” I really didn’t think he was a bad person anymore. Instead, I thought he was a poor boy who has gone through a lot. I’m glad I gave him a chance.

------------------------------------

Back when I was a youngster, I didn’t have a good reason for loving snow so much. I just did. But now, snow is special to me because it became a part of me. Each little tiny bit of flake contains a memory with him. I guess, in a way, snow is him, if you know what I mean. Although I’ve known him for only six months, I felt as if I’ve known him forever back then, and still do. When it snows, I feel him by my side, looking at me in an adoring way. Even though it’s been decades since he left this world, he comes back when it snows.