He’s Still Not Her Boyfriend

Farith walked over to the window, gently grasping Hannah’s wrist and pulling her along. He pointed outside, and Hannah saw that a nice soft snow had begun to fall outside her house.

“What is that strange substance falling towards the ground?” Farith asked. “Are we under attack? Is this a new weapon devised by the viraks?”

Hannah laughed. “No, it’s called snow. It’s basically frozen rain.”

“Suh-no,” Farith attempted to pronounce the human word, making Hannah chuckle again. “Snow.”

“That’s right,” Hannah nodded with a smile.

“It’s very beautiful.”

“But a pain to drive in,” Hannah shuddered as she recalled her harrowing adventure with the snow buggy.

Farith pressed his hand against the window. “How often does this phenomenon occur?”

“Depends on what part of the planet you live on. Some countries never get snow, other parts always have snow, and other parts have an in-between mix.”

“And which category does Opal fall into?”

“Well, since we are located in the Midwest, we alternate between three seasons: blazing heat, frigid cold, and construction.”

“Well then,” Farith said, letting go of Hannah’s hand and striding over to the front door, “if it is so cold outside...” he opened the door and walked out into the flurry, wearing nothing but his sweat pants and short-sleeved T-shirt. “Then I wonder how long I need to be out here before I die.”

“Farith!” Hannah groaned as she ran to the doorframe. “Get back in here! You’ll freeze!”

The esmera only chuckled, and with a wicked grin on his face, beckoned to Hannah.

“Then you must come and keep me warm, my Green Onyx Enfulzi.”

“I promised your father I would protect you from the viraks, not your own stupidity!” Hannah yelled.

Farith pouted. “So you’ll let me sit out here in the cold, all alone, on a strange planet where I don’t know anyone?”

Hannah rolled her eyes as she pulled on a pair of boots and tromped out into the street. “We’re too old for this, Farith. We’re adults now. You’re acting like a petulant child.”

“A child with a very beautiful babysitter.”

Hannah’s face flushed at the sudden compliment as she came to a stop in front of the esmera prince.

“Alright, I’m here. Now can we go inside before we freeze?”

Farith leaned forward and planted a kiss on Hannah’s cheek, which elicited a squeak of surprise from her. He then gently wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace.

“We won’t freeze if we stay like this,” he said.

Hannah was too shocked by the sudden proximity of Farith’s person to her own to argue the issue further.

And so they stood out there, in the middle of Harbinger Lane, holding each other and watching the snow peacefully dance around them, until Hannah caught Tracy filming them from the living room window and ran in to stop her from uploading it to her YouTube channel, yelling all the while that “He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just too stupid to put on a coat or come inside and I promised his dad I’d keep him alive!”