81. Ch 81- Winter's Break Eve

The end of the school semester was drawing ever near, and the students at Royal Woods Elementary were doing their best to keep focused. They all knew that that Friday was the last day of the semester, which was reason enough for them to not want to be there, on top of a general dislike for school. This feeling was only made worse, however, when they had woken up that morning to see snow falling outside their windows, yet not enough to bring about a snow day. Still, they knew it was only one more day before the winter holidays officially began, and they were doing their best not to let this get them down. In Lincoln's class, he and many of his classmates made occasional glances outside of the windows, feeling envious at the second grade class enjoying their recess in the snow covered yard.

"Our recess ended way too quickly," he told himself, keeping his voice hushed so as not to alert his teacher.

"I hope they give us an extended lunch break," Rusty whispered to Lincoln.

"I wouldn't count on it," Clyde pointed out. "Principal Huggins would probably reduce lunchtime, if anything."

"You're such a buzzkill, man," Zach moaned, to which the dark haired boy chuckled.

"Hey, it's not my decision."

The boys' conversation was halted when they heard the classroom door open, their eyes returning to the front to see Coach Pacowski had entered. "Sorry for the interruption, Mrs Johnson," he told the teacher.

"Not at all, Coach," Mrs Johnson replied. "I was just wrapping up this lesson, anyway."

"Might I make a quick announcement?" She gestured for him to do so, and he turned to face the class. "As I'm sure you're all aware, you have gym class next. While I'm sure you'd all rather spend that in the snow, the school board expects me to conduct your class as normal, which would mean indoors." The sixth graders all whined and complained, irking the gym teacher into blowing his whistle. "That's enough! As I was saying, that's what the school board expects. With that in mind, make sure you bring your winter clothes, because the board ain't here! Let's have gym class outside!"

The class rejoiced at this decision, just as the bell rang to signal that it was time for the next lesson. Once Mrs Johnson has dismissed everyone, they eagerly followed Coach Pacowski out of the room and went over to their lockers, pulling out their winter clothes. "This must be our lucky day!" Stella told her friends, pulling out her white winter coat with fur lined hood. "What do you think we're gonna be doing?"

"Maybe we'll have a huge snowball fight!" Liam suggested, putting on his dark green farmer's coat. "We might actually have a shot at winning that!"

"I doubt it," Rusty argued, putting on his brown hoodie and zipping it up. "If Jordan's terrifying with a dodgeball, she must be lethal with a snowball."

"I say we play dead and make snow angels," Zach suggested as he slipped his head through a black jumper. "Maybe she'll show mercy."

"Guys, you're overreacting," Lincoln assured them, getting into his winter clothes. "It's just gonna be a snowball fight or something, and I'm sure she'll go easy for this. She isn't the snowball queen, after all. Right, Clyde?" He heard a muffled response, so he turned to see that his best friend was wearing a slightly oversized dark blue puff jacket, zipped up so it covered his mouth and with the hood up. "Uh, you okay there, buddy?" Again, Clyde's response was muffled, but he gave a nod. "Okay… anyway, let's just go and have fun, alright?"

The group all agreed, putting on their gloves, hats and/or scarves before going towards the gymnasium, where they saw Coach Pacowski waiting by the exit door in a yellow winter jacket on top of his usual attire. When any of the students arrived, he directed them through the door to the field outside, which felt like walking into a literal winter wonderland. The snow was gently cascading by this point, with a good few inches worth of snow having settled on the ground. The air was cold, but not unbearable, and it certainly beat doing dodgeball again.

When everyone was there, Coach came out, dragging with him a cart covered in assorted items such as cones, barricades and shovels. He let the cart rest before he blew his whistle, making the class instinctively form a line. "Right! Now, since we've had a good amount of snow overnight, and you're one of the last classes I have this semester, we're gonna do a series of games to pass the time, then cap it all off with a good old fashioned snowball fight. Since we don't know if the weather will get worse or not, we'll skip the warmup and get started with a snowball run." He took one cone and put it down by his foot, then began making a line with other cones. "You're gonna run from the start back there to the finish line, and you're gonna have to dodge as your classmates throw snowballs at you. Everyone gets one throw, and you'll get a second added to your time for each snowball that hits you." He finished one line, about a hundred metres long, then made another line parallel to it, both lines a few metres apart. "Right! Who wants to go first?" No one particularly wanted to go first, so one of the students ended up pushing Rusty forward, much to his surprise. "Spokes! Good man!"

The ginger boy grumbled, walking over to the start line while his classmates all prepared their first snowballs behind the far line. Once Coach Pacowski pulled out a stopwatch, he counted Rusty down and blew into his whistle, sending the lanky boy running with a yell. He got hit a few times pretty quickly, though none were enough to deter him until he got one on the side of the chin. This caused him to stumble and stop yelling, getting pelted by everyone else who still had ammunition in their gloved hands. He got back to his feet and ran the rest of the run, so Coach stopped his stopwatch.

"That was appalling, Spokes! Eighteen hits out of twenty three, your total time is forty five seconds!" He could tell the boy wasn't pleased with that time, but didn't focus on it for longer than a second before looking to the girl closest to him. "Next!" So, for about fifteen minutes, the kids ran the snowball run with varying degrees. Some were hit a lot but able to power through, some focused more on avoiding being hit, and poor Clyde had to drop to his knees and find his glasses after they got knocked off his head, bringing his run to an abrupt end. Zach and Stella ended up helping him off the 'track', to which the boy showed his gratitude. "Good effort, McBride," the gym teacher unconvincingly complimented, before looking at who was next in line. "Loud! You're up!"

Lincoln gave a small gulp at the thought of meeting the same fate as his bestie, but didn't take too long in heading to the start line. As he got counted down, he looked ahead, and an idea came to his mind. 'I've got it!' he thought to himself, a confident smile coming to his face. 'It's go time.' The whistle blew, but rather than run, he kicked at the snow just in front of him, then used the sudden distraction as a cover to start running. He was able to dodge a good few of the initial response, only catching one to the thigh of the first seven or so throws, then slowed down enough to sidestep, duck and dash past any incoming projectiles. Even though he took a few good hits all over his body, he didn't get slowed down any further and crossed the finish line in good time.

"Eighteen seconds and five hits! Nicely done, Loud!" The boy gave a small cheer at the result, before moving to the back of the line. "Rosato, you're next!" Jordan nodded, walking over to the start in her yellow parka, dark grey winter pants, dark blue ear muffs and black boots. She got into a starting position, and when Coach blew his whistle, she took off in a sprint. Many of her classmates were unable to throw their snowballs even remotely close to hitting her, and she only really had to move her head to dodge at least half of those that came close. She didn't get away unmarked, taking two to the midsection and one to the shoulder, but her pace didn't slow, and she crossed the line in impressive time. "Sixteen point five seconds and three hits! That's a new record set by Rosato!"

The girl smiled proudly as she walked over to the Loud boy, who sighed. "Well, there goes my thunder," he commented, making her giggle. "Still, good job, Jordan."

"Thanks, Lincoln. You did good too."

"Thanks." They talked for a few more seconds, before Coach asked them to pick up the cones and put them back on the cart. When they did that, they all saw that Coach was now moving the barricades around, placing them in the snow. "What is he doing?"

"I have no idea."

Fortunately for the two kids, and for the rest of their class, they didn't have to wait too long to find out. "Okay! Next game is a classic: Capture The Flag! As you can see, I've marked out a battlefield for you to use. If you get hit by a snowball, you have to drop out of the game and wait by me for one minute. You're gonna be in teams of four, and you score if you manage to get the flag from the centre to their base. If you get hit holding the flag, you drop the flag where you stand." He walked down to the far end of the line, where Jordan and Lincoln were stood. "First team is Lincoln, Jordan, Zach, Stella, Clyde and Kat. Head over to the North base." The kids looked to each other, then back to Coach with confusion, who deadpanned. "The one over there!"

They looked in the direction that he pointed and shrugged, ignoring the gym teacher's mutterings as they walked over to their base. "So, Lincoln, what's the plan?" Clyde asked, having unzipped his coat just enough to be heard.

"Woah, wait a minute!" Kat interrupted. "Who says he's in charge?"

"Well, Lincoln's just great at coming up with plans," Zach argued on his friend's behalf. "He's the Man with the Plan, after all."

Kat crossed her arms, unimpressed with the redhead's answer. "How'd that work out for you? Huh, science man?"

Zach grumbled, an embarrassed blush on his face as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's not like your bangs never grew back."

"Yeah, after a month! I had to get a wig just so I wouldn't be too embarrassed to come into school!"

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Jordan spoke up, stepping between the two arguing classmates. "Kat, I know you're still not happy about that incident, but come on. He was just trying to impress you, and it was ages ago. Can you at least get along for this class?" Though she didn't particularly want to, Kat sighed as she gave a nod, with Zach giving one too. "Thank you. Now, who votes that Lincoln comes up with the plan?" She raised her hand, as did Zach, Stella and Clyde, but not Lincoln. "Don't you have a plan?"

"I mean, I do," he admitted, "but I'm okay with listening to someone else if they have anything to suggest."

"Well, the majority vote in favour of you, Lincoln," Stella pointed out. "Let's hear what you've got!"

"Alright, alright, just give me a second." He looked over the 'battlefield', seeing where the rest of the class had been put. "So, since there's three other teams, if we split into three pairs, we could focus on each team. However, one team is directly opposite us, so we won't be able to hit them as easily, so we should split in three and focus on the two teams either side of us."

"… okay, that's better than what I could've come up with," Kat commented, bringing chuckles out of the rest of the team. "So, Lincoln, who's going with who?"

"Well, I think Zach and Clyde are the best support players, so they should go on opposite teams. Jordan seems to be the best runner here, and Stella does track, so if they're our runners, me and Kat could be their backups."

"Quick thinking, Man with the Plan," Jordan jokingly told her friend. "So, me, Kat and Clyde go left, and you three go right?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Stella confirmed, holding her hand out facing down. "Let's do this!"

Everyone followed the tan girl's lead, placing their hands in the middle and raising them up with a cheer. They turned and faced the battlefield, where they saw a red flag sticking out of a central snow pile. Standing away from the battlefield, Coach Pacowski held his whistle out ready. "Ready? Three! Two! One!"

He blew into the whistle, and chaos ensued. Snowballs were flying left, right and centre, with everyone using the barricades for cover when they could, sprinting between them under heavy fire. Lincoln saw Rusty aiming for him, but was fortunate enough for the freckled boy to get taken out from another angle, so he continued closer to the next barricade, where Stella and Zach were taking cover. He poked his head out, ducking down again when Liam took a shot.

"Liam and Andrew have their eyes this way," he informed his teammates. "Zach, if we provide a distraction, Stella can run ahead and go for the flag."

"Got it," he agreed. Lincoln counted them down with his fingers, before they stood up and threw snowballs at the two ginger boys, the farm boy managing to dodge successfully while Andrew got taken out with Zach's projectile. "Oh, yeah!"

His exuberant celebration was cut short by a snowball to the back of the head, prompting Lincoln to turn around and roll to the side when Mollie tried to take him out. He looked up and saw that their sights had been directed elsewhere, so he threw a snowball at her, hitting the shoulder and eliminating her for the time being. However, when he looked forward again, he saw Stella drop the flag after only getting a few feet from the centre. He looked over to Jordan, who was taking cover while Clyde and Kat held off the team on the right, and nodded towards the flag. A few gestures and mouthed words later, she nodded back to him, and she vaulted over the barricade, crouch walking towards the flag while Lincoln threw snowballs in the direction of whoever tried to take her out. When she eventually grabbed the flag, she stood up and sprinted back towards their base, vaulting the barricade Lincoln was behind at the same time as he vaulted it, and though he took a snowball to the face for his efforts, it held off the frozen ammo long enough for Jordan to return to base, the win signified by the whistle blowing.

"That's a point to Team Rosato!" he declared, the girl in question cheering as she waved the flag in the air. "Let's reset the field and start again!"

For the rest of gym class, they played a few more rounds of Capture the Flag, with Lincoln's team getting a few more wins and having the most wins overall, before an all out snowball brawl broke out. The kids started off by teaming up on Coach Pacowski, but any and all allegiances went out the window when they began throwing snowballs at anyone that even dared move. Jordan proved to be a force to be reckoned with, just like she did in dodgeball, but the free for all element of the game made it fun for everyone, without fear of her becoming the snowball queen as well as the dodgeball queen.

After gym class was over, everyone eagerly went back inside and put their coats and other winter items back in their lockers, before heading into the dining room. All of the tables had tinsel dressed around the edges, a decision Clyde informed his friends was made by Sheryl to make the final day of the semester more festive. The festive feel was boosted by the fact that, instead of the usual school meals, the kids got a mini Christmas dinner for lunch— slices of turkey (or an alternative for the non-meat eaters) with a couple of pigs in blankets, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts and gravy. Combined with the added gift of a cracker per student and the general atmosphere of merriment, it really felt like Christmas come early.

Everyone returned to their classrooms when lunch was over, and after a festive themed maths lesson, Lincoln's class went through English class, the excitement for school being over growing within them as the minutes passed them by. After fifty minutes of the hourlong lesson, Mrs Johnson put down her book and declared to the class, "okay, everyone! That's all I have to teach you for today! Now, I'm not allowed to dismiss you early, but because it's the final day, you can relax and do what you like for the rest of the lesson. Just make sure you stay in the room unless you need the bathroom, and keep the noise to a reasonable level while I do some online Christmas shopping."

No one questioned the teacher on that last bit of information, as they were all talking amongst each other before she had finished talking. With Lincoln and his friends, they were all pushing their tables together, moving their chairs so they could sit around the bigger makeshift table. "So, none of you guys forgot, right?" Clyde asked, to which his friends all voiced affirmations that they hadn't forgotten. "Alright! Let the Secret Santa begin!"

They all reached into their bags and pulled out a present each, with varying degrees of neatness to the ways in which they were wrapped. "So, how are we doing this?" Stella asked. "Are we opening them now or on Christmas Day, and who gets to go first?"

"It'll be more fun to open them now," Lincoln suggested. "That way, we get to see how we each react to our gifts!"

"That's a good point, Lincoln." The other boys all agreed, though some were likely just eager to open a gift early. "Since you brought that up, why don't you go first?"

"I can do that, sure. I got Liam, so here you go, buddy."

"Aw, thanks, bud!" he thanked as he received his gift. He quickly tore into the paper, revealing that he had received a woollen hat in the shape of a chicken. "Now that's a neat little hat! Where'd you pick that up?"

"I actually saw it while I was in the city, and I thought you'd like it."

"I do! Gimme a second here." He took the hat and put it on his head, two 'wings' covering his ears. "Ooh! That's toasty! Thank you, Lincoln!" The Loud boy smiled at seeing his present went appreciated, before Liam took his turn. "This gift right here is for Rusty."

"I wonder it could be?" he pondered as he accepted the box, removing the red paper and lifting off the lid before pulling out the contents, a bottle of cologne. "Dude, how did you know this was my brand?"

"Because you always suggest it to us whenever there's a dance."

Rusty ignored the sniggers from Zach and Lincoln and said, "I've been needing some more of this stuff!" He began to spray it on himself, making his friends cough at the over application. "Thanks, Liam. The Rustman's gonna pull this Christmas." Once again, he ignored the reactions his friends gave as he pushed his crudely wrapped gift over to Clyde. "Here you go."

"Uh… thanks, Rusty," he timidly accepted, worried by his friend's attitude as he undid the brown paper. When he saw what was inside, though, his eyes lit up. "No way! This is a limited edition set of Ace Savvy and One Eyed Jack coasters! How did you get these on the budget we set?"

"I managed to find it cheap online. So, you like it?"

"It's great, Rusty! Thanks!" Putting his gift to one side, he picked up the purple box with a silver bow and gave it to the girl opposite him. "This one's for Stella."

"Wow, you wrapped that perfectly! It's looks too pretty to open! Well, almost." The others chuckled while she removed the ribbon and opened the paper. Pulling the box out of the paper, she removed the lid and gasped. "Where did you find this?!" Her friends' initial confusion at the reaction was cleared when she pulled out a miniature wooden toy horse and cart, which she set on the table to admire the paintwork. "My granny has some like this!"

"I found it at a flea market. When I asked the stall owner about it, she said she bought it in the Philippines, and that it's vintage."

"It's awesome, Clyde! Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

She carefully put the gift back in the box, then put her green paper package in front of Zach. "You're next, Zach. Hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will," he told her as he ripped open the paper, pulling out a glasses case, which he then opened to reveal a pair of glasses. "Oh, these are cool."

"Try them on!"

Curious, Zach did just that, but was then blown away when it looked as though his friends had turned into aliens. "No way! I love that movie!"

"I'm glad you like it."

"I really do, thanks." He took the glasses off and put them back in the case, then held up the last unopened present, wrapped in red paper. "Well, no prizes for guessing who this is for."

Lincoln rolled his eyes as the gift was passed to him. "Thanks, Zach," he told his friend, before opening his present to find that he had been given a statuette of the main character of Total Trash Takedown. "Woah! That's cool."

"Yep. A cousin of mine told me he saw it at the game store, managed to grab it before anyone else could."

"That is going right next to my laptop. This is great, thanks, Zach."

"Still, I think we all know who gave the best present," Rusty suggested boastfully, making Stella roll her eyes.

"Rusty, it's not about who gives the best gift, it's about simply giving anything at all. Let's not make this a competition."

"You're right, Stella," Clyde told the girl. "This was a great idea, by the way. I think we're all glad you suggested it."

The boys all agreed, making her smile grow. "Hey, I'm glad you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Hopefully we can do this again next year."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Lincoln responded with a smile.

"Well, you would know."

The girl's joke got them all laughing, and it was at that moment that they heard the bell ring, and the school was filled with cheers. After Mrs Johnson let them leave, they all filed out into the corridor in a hurry. They all cleared out their lockers, made their ways to the exit and rejoiced. The winter break had finally begun.