Sweet Expressions

That Sneaky Vanilla

I licked at the vanilla drip that was threatening to sticky up my fingers off of my ice cream cone, barely making it before it dripped. Gabriel looked over my actions in concern, worried I would get ice cream in my hair. He brushed my loose hair back off of my shoulder and used the movement to sweep his thumb across the back of my neck, and then letting it linger just under my ear. I shivered and it had nothing to do with the ice cream that had finally dripped down the opposite side I had licked, all over onto my hand. Kota and Victor bumped hands grabbing for the paper napkins and I ended up with two of them being held out to me at once. I giggled and accepted them both, using one to wrap around the bottom of the cone and the other to clean my hand.

I looked up when Kota's phone began buzzing in his back pocket, surprised that I could hear it in the noisy atmosphere of the ice cream parlor Victor had taken us all to. I sat between him and Gabriel, Kota and Luke taking up the light blue booth seat on the other side. I looked out the window at the park across the street, the cars busily passing the peaceful looking greenery. Kota sighed and I looked back to see him on his phone-and Luke craftily reaching behind him, aiming for Kota's back pocket. I held my breath and Gabriel's thumb stilled on the back of my neck. We both waited as Luke got closer to whatever prize he was rooting for. Victor raised his own phone and aimed it at them both, taking a picture and then lowering it to press at the screen. Kota's phone chimed and I covered my smile with the back of my hand.

Kota frowned at his phone and then batted Luke's creeping hand away just before he hit gold. I snickered at Luke's flawless recovery, his face betrayed nothing of the thwarted theft. Kota continued to tap at his phone and lifted his rear to scoot a few inches away on the bench. Luke just followed him, his eyes finally showing amusement when Kota rolled his eyes and snorted. Luke put his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in his hand, his dark brown eyes now on me.

"Sooo...Cupcake. We've got a day free, or at least part of one anyway. What would you like to spend it on?"

I looked him up and down, taking in the casual jeans he had on and the untucked and partly unbuttoned white shirt. I tapped my finger on my mouth, trying to think of a place we could go that would make everyone happy. Gabriel leaned back and resumed tickling the back of my neck. It was distracting me, I couldn't think. I ummed for a minute as the boys expectantly waited for my answer and then latched onto the last place that had entered my mind.

"A walk in the park sounds nice, maybe?"

Victor and Luke looked especially pleased. Gabriel squinted at the park across the way. Kota raised his eyebrows in interest at me and then frowned again at the phone buzzing again in his hands. I put my finger to my lip as he checked it and sighed. He looked apologetically back up at me.

"I'm sorry Sang, a walk in the park sounds wonderful. Unfortunately..."

I was used to this with the boys and nodded. "You have to go."

He grimaced and nudged Luke out of the way so he could exit the booth, and we all ended up standing. Kota put his phone back in his pocket and then embraced me, holding me tightly and sneaking a kiss on my eyebrow before releasing me. He waved and began heading for the door when Luke coughed and held up a thin brown glasses case to him.

"You might need this."

* * * *

Luke ran ahead of Victor, Gabriel and I like a puppy that had been let off it's leash for the first time. I smiled after him and got nudged by Gabriel as we walked along the mulch-strewn path that followed a smattering of trees and a wide open field. I looked up and was alarmed to see that he looked kind of troubled. Victor put his hands in his pockets and watched Luke run after some kids who were playing frisbee on the field, trying to give us some privacy I'm sure.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong, Sweetie. You should have fucking said something sooner about Addie. You have to tell me this shit, Trouble. What happened exactly?"

I lifted my finger to my lip and told him about the encounter in the bathroom doorway, from first bumping into her to her threatening to replace me. He grunted at that part and ran his hand through his hair, looking out at Luke running after the spinning disk. I pushed my finger harder against my teeth. Victor turned back to us and noticed my hand, pulling it gently down and put it on his arm. He urged me gently forward and we began walking again, even though I had been unaware that we had stopped. Gabriel sighed and threw an arm over my shoulders so that I was walking causally with him and formally with Victor. I thought as we walked in silence and listened to the kids laughing with Luke. Victor looked over the top of my head at Gabriel, a question wrinkling his brow.

"So, do you think Addie is the source of the kid's problem Gabe?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I dunno yet. We need to catch her in the act. I still have my eye on the Superintendent, but if this Addie is making a move on Trouble then who knows what the hell else she's up to. Have you got the cameras set up in the classrooms yet Vic?"

Victor nodded curtly and the two were silent for a moment. Gabriel scratched at his earrings and stared at the ground.

"The problem is is drawing her out and getting her to make a mistake without leaving Trouble alone with her, but I'm not sure how that's going to work if she only goes after her when I'm not around."

I pondered the problem and got distracted when the red frisbee I had seen Luke playing with cut in front of us high above the path. I watched as it landed in the branches of a tree and stick there. I raised my eyebrows in concern for the kids who had lost their toy and were clamoring for it. Luke made a running leap up the side of the tree and gracefully swung himself up into the branches, disappearing from sight for a few moments and reappearing below the branch that held the toy. He shook the branch, releasing the stuck disk and earning a cheer from the kids watching below. I smiled to myself as he dropped to the ground lightly and waved goodbye to the grateful kids, coming back to us now that we were rounding the bend of the path. The kids ran laughing back to the field and began tossing their toy back and forth between themselves as we left the park, making me ache for the kids in our class. I wanted so badly to figure this out for them, so that the only thing they had to worry about was figuring out what they wanted create next.