Breaking the Ice

three

"Be back for dinner!"

"We will!" I shouted back to my mom and grabbed my little sister by the wrist. Alex quickly wrangled herself out of my hold, rushing out of the apartment and dashing down the stairs. Cursing under my breath, I snatched my coat off the rack by the door and chased after her, hastily closing the door behind me.

As I reached the car, Alex was already grabbing onto the passenger side's handle, waiting for me to unlock the door. I chuckled, pulling out my key. "Down, Fido."

My sister huffed, jiggling the handle as I pressed the button on my key. "You're the one taking forever."

I smirked, unlocked the car, and watched her scamper inside. "I'm also the one driving. Show some gratitude."

I slid into the driver's seat, starting the car with Alex at my side. She was trying and failing to mask her excitement, fidgeting with the cuffs on her long, beaded box braids. We were heading to the mall to run some errands and meet up with some friends, a rarity for Alex considering she couldn't drive and Mom didn't like her taking the bus alone. Being fourteen sucked, I realized. You couldn't do anything.

As the roads outside the windows blurred, I let my hands slide up and down the wheel, feeling the fraying stitching under my fingers. "Did you get Mom's list?"

"Yeah, duh," Alex drawled, pulling the slip out of her pocket and starting to read it out. "Says she needs eggs, milk, spaghetti, granola bars, and candy for the trick-or-treaters. We also need to pick up the arrangement at the florist's she ordered, plus I need a couple of new pairs of jeans."

"Did you bring your money for those?"

"Yes," Alex sighed exasperatedly, putting the list in the cup holder and pulling out a pink embroidered wallet, waving it at me.

I shrugged, grinning. "Just checking."

We pulled up to the parking lot, where Alex damn near gave me a heart attack as she leapt from the car before I had finished parking.

"Jesus, Lex!" I called after her as I slammed the breaks, causing the car to lurch. "You can't go shopping if you're dead, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, whatever," she said, before slamming the door and heading off. "Thanks!"

"Hey!" I barked through the open window. "Meet at Joe's in two hours, okay? Don't be late or I'm reporting you missing!"

Alex waved me off over her shoulder, running to the entrance of the mall where a small gaggle of freshmen was waiting for her. I sighed, parked the car, and grabbed the shopping list and my phone before heading inside. The mall was packed, as per usual on a Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, though, it wasn't hard to find my friends, seeing as they were all congregated around our usual spot at the food court. Sitting at the corner booth, I caught them just as they were dealing out a deck of cards and divvying up a large bag of gummy bears.

"Hey," I waved at them, letting them scoot over before I sat at the end of the booth. Dropping my stuff on the table, I watched as Simon dealt me a hand. "What're we playing?"

Jason, who was sitting to my left, picked up his stack of cards and smirked. "Poker. Biggest loser pays for lunch, as per usual. Hector brought the bears as chips." He pointed his hand around the table and eyed us with a grin. "One of y'all better get ready, 'cause I'm eating good today. Coach's orders."

"Gaining weight won't solve the fact that you can't aim for shit," Thomas barked from across the table, causing a bout of laughter all around. Even Jason cracked a smile.

"That's why I'm on defense, you fucker," he grinned, rolling back his shoulders. "Besides, you're one to talk, Mister 'I missed the damn easiest goal in the world'."