Fire Meets Ice

Chapter 15: First Love

I wouldn't stop thinking about Eric while I was out with my parents at dinner...

The sound of butterflies in my stomach and short memories of him sweet talking to me was distracting me from focusing on the here and now...

Alexa and her parents were sitting down near a booth at Steak and Shake waiting on their meals after ordering. She was on her phone the entire time texting Eric and her mom wasn't pleased to see that.

"Now, now," Alexa's mom said, her tone firm. "Stop looking at your phone, Alexa. Who is it that wants to speak to you this badly?"

Her dad, equally concerned, chimed in, "You've been on that phone way too much this afternoon. Let me see who's texting you so much."

Reluctantly, Alexa handed her phone over. Her parents leaned in, curious. They saw Eric's name displayed under the contact labeled "Erica," and from the messages, nothing seemed inappropriate or suggestive.

"Erica, huh?" her dad said, raising an eyebrow. "Who is she again?"

Alexa felt a wave of nervousness wash over her as she replied, "A girl from my chem class. She's a good friend, Dad."

"I see..." he said, scrutinizing the screen. "You two seem to talk about a lot of different things. But remember, don't lose focus when it comes to schoolwork, understood?" After a moment, he handed the phone back to her.

"Yes, Dad. I won't," Alexa promised, trying to keep her voice steady.

My parents were a tad bit close to discovering my lies, but at least they didn't check further in my text messages.

Tuesday came and I lied to my parents about staying late at school for National Beta Club sign ups...

When I was in fact heading to Eric's house to "tutor" him for history...

She sat in his living room and they both had a glass of water to drink. She diligently worked on writing her thesis statement of her essay starting with a hook and then a claim. She was about to work on her next paragraph until Eric stopped her.

"I'm not sure what I should write for my thesis," he admitted, a hint of frustration in his tone. "I didn't get my doc analysis sheets done."

Curious, Alexa turned to him, her brow furrowing in concern. "Lemme see what you wrote for the ones you finished," she suggested. As he handed her the sheets, she glanced over them, her eyes scanning the scribbled notes.

"I see... It's clear you have the same opinion as me about the prompt," she noted, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Really? So you think I should just borrow your ideas?" Eric asked, a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

"How about this," she proposed, "let me finish my essay first, and you can write it in your own words. Sound good?"

"Even better," he replied, a teasing smile creeping onto his face. "Anyone ever told you that you have beauty and brains?"

Alexa felt a rush of warmth flooding her cheeks as she blushed. "You really thought that about me?" she asked, surprised by his compliment.

"Yeah," Eric admitted, his voice lowering slightly. "I liked you for the longest time, Alexa, but I was just too nervous to approach you first."

Her heart raced at his words. "What? I've had a crush on you for a while too, Eric. I didn't know you felt the same..."

A smile broke across Eric's face, and a new light danced in his eyes. "Now that we both like each other, why don't you be my girlfriend?"