Prequel- Chapter 1: Our First Snowy Meeting

Alena Fleur

I turned over a page leisurely, engrossed in the book I was reading. It was quieter than usual in the library, with only the occasional grumbles among the few students at failing to get a ticket to go home this winter vacation.

However, that wasn't my case.

I had successfully secured a ticket to Georgia, my hometown, but the flight was tomorrow morning, and right now, I was just spending time in the university library as my roommates should be hustling inside our room to pack their luggage at the last minute. The last thing I wanted was to get caught up in their mess since my things were already neatly packed. I would much rather spend that time burying my nose in a good novel.

"Hey, Al! How long will you be here?" Sara, a friend of mine, called out from the library doorway, rather loudly, receiving a scornful hiss from the librarian. She gave him a sheepish apologetic look and rushed over to me.

I gave her a smile and replied to her question, "Just until all my roommates leave."

"No, that's not what I mean." She shook her head vehemently, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "Have you looked outside?"

"Why? Is there something going—" my words froze in my mouth when my eyes fell on the white flakes slowly falling outside the window. For a moment, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Is it—"

"Yes!" Sara affirmed excitedly, earning another hiss from the librarian, but she didn't care at that moment. "It's snowing!"

"But you guys told me it doesn't snow here," I murmured in disbelief.

"Yes, and I believe you are the miracle who caused it. What are the odds that it snows right after you wished for it?"

Just today, after our last class of the autumn quarter, my friends and I were talking about the lack of snow at Stanford and how much I missed the snow. It didn't snow much back at home, either. At least we would get at least a few inches of snow every year, but even that was a rare occasion here. So I had dramatically folded my hand in front of my friends and wished for snowfall today, and very surprisingly, it came true.

"Oh, my God, it's really snowing!" I let out a squeal and stood up from my chair.

My excitement was doubled by the fact that last year when I went home, it didn't snow at that time.

Therefore, my heart had been yearning to experience some snowfall for almost two years now. And finally, it was here.

"Let's go outside, Sara!" I exclaimed.

"Will you girls keep it down?" the librarian finally voiced his annoyance at us, but the two of us paid no heed.

Sara shook her head sadly. "I need to turn in the assignment to Mr. Collins before I go home. I still have some work left on it. But when I noticed the snowfall, I thought I would let you know."

I grinned. "Thanks, Sara. Good luck with your assignment! I'll be back to check up on you!" With that, I ran out of the library like an excited little girl.

As soon as I stepped outside the campus, I noticed the late afternoon sky was covered with grayness while snowflakes descended gracefully from the clouds. I breathed, filling my lungs with the cold air.

I reached out my hand, letting a few snowflakes land on it.

My grin got wider than before.

I closed my eyes and stepped forward to get fully exposed to the snowfall. Then I spread my arms around like a free bird and started twirling, feeling the cold flakes cover me.

I have always loved this sensation. It was as if my body felt colder but my chest felt warmer.

It had been torture to go through last winter without experiencing any snowfall. But thankfully, God granted my wish and let me have some snowfall in my second year of university.

Snowy days always brought me luck. Someday, it would probably bring me across my soulmate—someone who would adore the snow just as much as I did. Someone who would love to dance in the snow with me.

"God, this stupid snowfall—"

As my eyes were closed and I was lost in twirling, I bumped into someone, knocking the two of us down onto the short pile of snow.

"Ugh," that person beneath me groaned.

I opened my eyes after the impact to be greeted by a pair of glaring green ones. Then my eyes automatically went over his handsome face, immediately recognizing it.

Elian Storm.

He was a year senior to me. We weren't exactly acquaintances or anything. I had just seen him in passing sometime over the last fourteen months and heard a few great things about his talent and family background.

"Will you get up or shall I shove you off?" Elian asked in annoyance.

I panicked and immediately scooted to the side after realizing I was lying on his chest. "Sorry about that."

"You should be. Because my thesis papers are all wet now, thanks to you," he grumbled as he stood up and hurriedly started to gather the papers that went flying from his file.

I remained seated on the snow-covered grass and assured him, "Don't worry, I'm sure you have it saved in your computer or something."

"Still, I have to print them out again," he complained.

I rolled my eyes. "I will print them for you, if that's what you are asking for."

"No need," he harshly quipped. "But if you actually feel sorry, then you should probably stop dancing like a crazy person in the snow from now on."

"Hey, I already said sorry. There's no need for you to be that rude," I let out.

He stopped picking up the soaking papers and let out a heavy sigh, as if realizing that he was actually being unnecessarily rude to me. "I'm sorry, but I'm just annoyed at the weather."

I arched an eyebrow. "At the weather? You mean, the snow?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's the absolute worst."

"Speak for yourself. It's the best to me," I said and laid down on my back, feeling chills from the slight wetness of the piled snow. I looked at the falling snow and smiled widely. "Look how beautiful it is."

Elian also looked up at the sky, and from his bored expression, I could tell he saw nothing special. It was jarring to discover this. How could someone hate the snow so much? Until now, I had never come across a person who didn't feel snowfall was at least a little bit beautiful.

"How can you not think it's beautiful?" I asked, not even trying to disguise my surprise.

"I simply don't. Plus, why does it even matter? Shouldn't one care about the fact that the ground is slippery, it gets ridiculously cold, and there will be a lot of traffic?" he asked.

I chuckled and commented, "You are a glass-half-empty type of person, then."

He looked down at me with a skeptical look. "And why is that relevant right now?"

I chuckled more as he didn't even deny the claim. "Because I can't believe someone can just focus on the snowfall's negative sides, not the positive."

"Oh, really? What are the positive sides? Is it like the rain of dollars? If it is, pray tell." He shot me a sarcastic smile.

I sat up from the ground and said, "Sit down beside me."

He gave me a flat look, but I maintained eye contact with him, so in the end, he gave up and plopped down beside me.

I suddenly noticed there was no one around in the library quad besides the two of us.

"Well, the positive side of snowfall is..." I trailed off to create some anticipation, and more for the purpose of annoying him, which I was successful in. "Snowfall makes me remember my childhood memories, and those memories make me happy," I simply said.

"What, that's it?"

"Why, don't you have any happy snowfall memories?"

"It doesn't even snow here, to begin with."

I pulled up my knees to my chest and asked, "Did you grow up around here?"

"Yeah. But the few times I did experience snowfall, I can't name one when I thought it was something pleasant," he retorted.

"Well, you have seriously missed out on life then."

"I don't think so myself."

"You have never made a snowman. How is your life accomplished?" I pointed out.

He chuckled at that, surprising me. "I can't imagine how making a stupid snowman will complete my life."

"Exactly. You can't imagine because you have never done it. Once you do, the experience will be one of the best," I uttered.

"Touching melted ice can't be that pleasant, that's for sure."

I puffed my chest and said, "You have to experience it today!"

"What? Right now?" he asked with wide eyes.

I was about to reply in the affirmative, but I remembered that he looked to be in a hurry earlier. "Only if you aren't busy," I added.

He shrugged and said, "I have got time to spare. Might be fun to see you try and fail to build a snowman with such a little amount of snow," he challenged.

"Just you watch."

"Good luck..."

"Alena Fleur," I told him with a smile.

Surprisingly, he returned my smile and said, "Elian Storm."

All my life, snowfall has always brought me good things.

But as I started to make a snowman with Elian while telling him the happy stories from my childhood and as he listened attentively, I was completely unaware of the fact that this snowy day had brought me the best person in my life whom I would hold the dearest to my heart.

A/N: Please follow me, trimagical_ , if you love my novels! Have a great day!