𝓜𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝔂 𝓓𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝓘𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼

Luis Mendoza

1998

The weather was freezing and my boyfriend and I were caught in a snow storm. He insisted we drive from Minneapolis to Miami this year for Christmas. Christmas was over now and we were headed back to Minneapolis, but we both knew we weren't going to make it back for the first week back of school. We were stuck in the middle of Iowa, only an hour or so from home and they'd decided to close the highways down. 

We were trapped in a small town in the middle of nowhere, we couldn't leave as both ends of the highway were closed. People were out there redirecting traffic. I was dead tired. I was done with the driving and being cramped in a small car, but it was better than being trapped at Luis' house any longer. His family was bigger than most and all of them had big personalities. They all played hockey and that was all we did while being there.

Don't get me wrong, hockey is fun and I love playing it, but I got tired of playing it after we played everyday for more than three hours. I was looking for a getaway in Miami, the nice heat, relaxing by a pool and the beach, but no, I mainly got stuck going to the arenas the entire time. To make things worst, because Luis and I weren't eighteen years old, his parents didn't allow us to share a room, so I bunked with his little sisters.

I can't complain because Luis put a lot of effort into getting us to Miami and he really thought it was special for he and I, especially for me to meet his family and all. My mother was skeptical, of course, why wouldn't she be? I was seventeen and a half years old, travelling the country with my boyfriend on our own. Why wouldn't she be afraid of something happening? 

"Are we going to find a vacant hotel to stay in or remain in this car?" He asked, looking over to me.

I shrugged, tired and bored out of my mind. I rubbed my forehead before looking at him. "I don't know, you decide."

"I guess I'll find somewhere for us to stay." He spoke, grabbing his wallet and the large cell phone we had. It took up space, but it was a mandatory thing that we needed. We each had one, it was like the thing everyone needed to have. "I'll be back." He got out of the car.

After a half hour of him walking around outside in the cold, he called my phone and explained to me where he was. He'd traveled about eight blocks in the cold to get to this hotel. It was one of the only ones that had vacant space since the others were full. I drove down to meet him there, but I didn't get out of the car until I saw him walking towards the car. It was cold out there, people's hats and scarves were blowing off their bodies, their faces turned bright red then white the moment they stood out there. The snow blew heavily, it was barely visible.

"Let's go." He opened my door, grabbing my hand and then grabbed one of our bags. He grabbed one of my bags and one of his, we didn't need much, just that. Heading inside, I couldn't see and my eyelids were turning to icicles, how he walked around out there is beyond me.

Finally in our room, I threw my bag down, leaving my winter gear on and jumped onto the bed. Lying down, we had two queen beds in our room. I didn't mind where I slept or who I slept with at the moment, I was just happy to be lying down in a cozy room.  "I know there's two beds and all, but all the single rooms were booked." He told me. "Besides, if we're both looking for our beds, we got 'em."

We'd been dating since we were fifteen, so for about two and a half years now. We've slept with each other before, but we stuck to our own sides of the bed. It was mutual, we never did anything. I yawned. "I'm ready for bed."

"I'm gonna shower first to warm up then I'll get some sleep. Hopefully the roads are open tomorrow because we can't the first day back."

"Nope. The team will grow skeptical and think we've eloped." He laughed, getting up to meet him. Placing my arms around his neck, he gave me a smile before kissing my forehead. "Go warm up. I'm heading to bed."

Lying in my bed, the blankets were pulled up over to my head as it was cold. I was wearing sweatpants with a long sleeve and hoodie as well. My feet were cold enough that I wore socks and I hate wearing socks to bed. It wasn't long before the other side of my bed sunk in and I felt the blankets tighten as someone lied on them. I was too cold to turn over to see Luis. He was laughing as he got under the blankets. "You know, it wouldn't be so cold if you turned the heat on?"

"I did."

"No, you turned the AC on. Which, surprisingly, works in minus thirty-five weather."

"Oh." I answered. He knew I was cold and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me towards him where I snuggled up against him. It was cold and we kept warm by lying beside one another. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, but he was up for hours trying to fall asleep. My face was warm, hidden in his chest with the blankets up over our heads and his head came to the top of mine, his arm over my side loosely. 

Maybe the cold weather wasn't that bad afterall.