January Signature Author Excerpt: Shared Blankets by Comicality
Did you catch Monday's feature for Comicality's 2020 'The Storm' Anthology feature, Shared Blankets? This story is a coming of age tale that many related to, so if you want to snap back into the past and enjoy a story that brings back those memories, keep reading!
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Cedric giggled out loud. "Are you serious? Ramen and cookies? Bruh...what are you doing?"
"Hehehe, what? I'm friggin' hungry, dude!"
"I'm not even about to let you wreck your stomach up with garbage like that. Not happening." He said. "Listen, I've got a frozen pizza up in the freezer right now. Pepperoni and sausage. I'll grab some tin foil, pop it in the oven...and by the time you stomp your way through the snow to get over to my side of the complex, it'll be half way finished. We can split it. Deal?"
"Really?" I said. My stomach started rumbling before I was even able to be humble about accepting the offer. "Yes! I'm on my way!"
"Bundle up!" He grinned, and hung up. Saved! Thank God! My hunger was starting to twist me into knots. If I had a pet, I would have been looking at it sideways by the end of the hour.
Shoes, jacket, gloves, skullcap, ear muffs, scarf...ok, I'm ready. I know that Cedric's part of the apartment complex was just across the courtyard...but if you think that I was overdoing it for that short of a trip...then you've obviously never experienced a true Chicago snow storm before.
I know that our landlord was doing his best to keep the sidewalks and stuff as clean as possible, snowblowers and shovels and heavy sprinkles of salt on the concrete...but Mother Nature always wins in the end. He might as well have been trying to run around to catch the snowflakes in a potato sack before they hit the ground. It would have been equally as futile. So I shuffled my way over through snow that came up just over my ankles, the icy winds already cutting through me as they blew the falling snow sideways against my face. God DAMN it's cold out here!!! But a hot pizza and a hot boy to share it with seemed like more than enough reward for the few moments of discomfort I'd have to experience getting there.
I stepped into the foyer and stomped the excess snow off of my boots, brushing off my shoulders and taking off my hat to fix my hair a bit before ringing his doorbell. Cedric buzzed me in, and I walked up to the third floor, where he was already standing in the hallway with his apartment door open. "Hey..." I grinned.
He giggled, "Damn, boy! Your face is pink as hell right now! Is it that cold outside?"
"Dude, it is ARCTIC out there!" I said, making sure to take my boots off on the rug by the door and hanging my coat up before I brought a mess into his house. I called out, "Hi, Mrs. Emerson!"
"Oh, my mom's not around. I think she's probably stuck at work like yours is. Nobody's moving anywhere right now." He said. "Max, come here. Check this out." He brought me into the kitchen, the warmth of the oven already taking the chill out of my bones as the fragrance of warm pizza and melted cheese lingered in the air. He directed my attention to the 'Breaking News' segment on the TV, and it was showing video of the chaos going on in the streets as the snowstorm began to hit its peak. "Are you seeing this?"
"Wow...they're really stuck. Dude! Is that Lake Shore Drive???" I said.
"Shit is crazy, right?" Cedric laughed. "People just got out of their cars and left them sitting on the side of the road, like 'fuck it'! Hahaha! Like...'I'm better off walking!'"
Cedric had a laugh that always made me laugh twice as hard. It was just so infectious. It tickled you from the inside until you were nearly doubled over by the time you were able to recover from it. Plus...you know...he could be so cute. Sigh...so very cute.
"So, what's going on with the pizza? You promised me some nourishment." I grinned.
"Calm down. We've got eight minutes left until it's done. I put some extra cheese on the top, I hope you don't mind."
"You KNOW how much I love extra cheese!" I said.
"Yeah, you're right. I do." He said. Did he have the heat turned up...or was it just me getting a little warmed up here by looking into his eyes the way I was. "Hey, I was playing a racing game in my room if you wanna take over for me. I'll keep an eye on the pizza until it's done."
"Alright. Cool." I said, glad that I'd be able to get enough distance between us to breathe normally again. Our hands connected, and he brought me in to bump shoulders before I backed up to go into his room.
"Don't fuck up my lap time either! I'm trying to win a league trophy." He called out.
"Whatever..."
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