Word Count: 889

The first thing Paris saw when he wandered back into his room after his morning shower was that the curtains over the window had been pushed open to provide a view of the scenery outside. The second thing Paris saw when he actually took the time to look out the window was that there was snow. Everywhere. Again. And it was still snowing, flakes of white drifting down from a dreary, overcast sky.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said and approached the window, as if gaining a better view would help him to process the situation.

The campus was covered. Completely and utterly covered. For the last couple of days he’d been hopeful that the last snowfall would soon begin to melt, but it seemed luck was not with him. Because there was more snow. Piles and piles of snow. Heaps of it. Mountains of it!

Okay, maybe not mountains, but there was still quite a bit.

“Screw you, Destiny City!” Paris shouted angrily, jerking the curtains back into place so that he wouldn’t have to see the horrible picture of cold and wet that taunted him with its cold and wetness. He didn’t know who had even opened the curtains – they’d been closed when he’d gone to the bathroom to take his shower – but he suspected it had been his roommate. He also suspected his roommate to be one of the idiotic boys currently frolicking and roughhousing outside.

Paris would not be joining them. Ever.

He hated snow. He hated everything about it, but he especially hated the way it disturbed his usual routine. Dropping temperatures meant more clothes – layers of leggings and pants and long sleeved shirts, jackets and mittens, scarves and hats. Snow meant goodbye to shorts and skirts and summer fun.

Winter was the most horrible season of the year. Paris was convinced of it.

“I am not going out there today,” he decided. Before his shower, he’d thought of heading out to find a little fun – that was the whole reason he’d bothered to get up and take a shower in the first place – but he adamantly refused to go out in that. It looked like hell out there! If hell was cold… and wet…

Grumbling to himself, Paris flung off his towel to find something to wear. It was at least warm in the room, so he didn’t have to worry about bundling up. Instead of the thick winter coats his classmates were wearing outside, Paris pulled on nothing more than a pair of underwear and an old fitted t-shirt. And his fuzzy pink slippers. He didn’t even bother doing his hair, just pulled the damp mass of blond curls back into as much of a ponytail as he could manage, sliding on a headband to keep the rest of it out of his face.

He was going to have to move, he thought, wishing he was far, far away from this place. He didn’t care that almost everyone else was having a good time, or that Destiny City looked the very picture of a winter wonderland. There was just no way he could put up with this sort of thing. It was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Maybe he’d move to Florida. Orlando was supposed to be the happiest ******** place on Earth, wasn’t it? Did it snow in Florida? He didn’t know; he’d never been. Maybe California then. California had nice temperatures this time of year, didn’t it? Sunny and mild? But California had earthquakes, and he didn’t think he could handle that.

Sighing, Paris collapsed onto his bed in despair, resigned to spending the rest of his life in this hell hole. He tried to think of something else to do for the day, but nothing really came to mind. Every idea he had was soon ruined by the reminder of snow. He had half a mind to stomp across town and show up at Ladon’s house looking all sad and pitiful, and then maybe spend the afternoon baking cookies for the both of them, but that would require going outside and wading through the torrents of white.

Thus, plan A was officially nixed.

On to plan B then.

Paris turned to hang over the side of his mattress, peering under his bed when a thought struck him, shifting around a few boxes and random objects until he found what he was looking for – a bottle of rum and a six-pack of coke. Perfect. He’d almost forgotten he’d hidden it there for emergencies.

Fine. If Destiny City was going to be a little b***h and completely ruin his life, then Paris was going to make his own kind of fun. Here. At school. With whatever means he had at his disposal. First, he was going to get well and truly drunk – and if he got in trouble for it, then so be it. Next, he was going to find an acceptable partner and get laid, because if he was going to be stuck inside all day then he could at least have something fun and pleasurable to look forward to. Then he was going to pass out and sleep. Forever.

Maybe when he woke up, the snow would be gone.

Doubtful, but he was allowed to hope.

As he made his first drink, Paris wondered what he’d ever done to deserve this.