Cold Hearted

Chapter Two

"Emma, let your sister help!" my mother called from the upstairs loft. She was cleaning and had stopped the vacuum when Danni had dashed upstairs to tell her that her big sister wouldn't let her help make cookies.

I could hear Danni's cries to my mother and my mother's muffled replies back. Then, Danni softly padded back down the stairs and silently joined me in the kitchen. Her and I were both in favor of the silent victory. We basked in the win by staying quiet and letting the loser think about it.

"Fine, but wash your hands. And you can only frost a few," I ordered. Danni was happy to even be allowed to be making food with me. I worked at the bakery over by the shopping center, and my baking skills had improved greatly upon my starting there. It was called Pat's Pastries. I had no idea who this Pat was, but it was a locally owned business. Maybe Pat was a relative of Mrs. Lynn, the owner of the shop.

My frosted and decorated cookies were a winter wonderland. Danni's were the best a six year old could do. I gave her tips and showed her how to do certain things with the frosting.

"Time to take them over Danni," I smiled, covering the cookies with a lid to the container.

As we stepped outside, I felt the tops of my ears turn red. The snow was light, and it fell gently.

"It's snowing Emma! We'll get sick!" Danni exclaimed.

She had this crazy notion that snow was somehow hazardous before it touched the ground. It sprouted one day last winter when my mother had told her not to go out in the stronger falling snow or she would get sick. Danni took it to mean that snow in the air was dangerous.

With that, she sprinted back into the house, telling me to deliver them without her.

I knocked on the Sanders' door, the wood feeling like needles against my bare fist. Nothing.

I tried again, and no response.

I was about to give up when the door slowly opened to reveal a tired looking Everett in black lounge pants and a black long sleeve shirt.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice filled with sleep.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to wake you up!" I said, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"What do you want?" he asked, his green eyes sharpening. Their piercing look caused me to stop in my tracks.

"I, um, have cookies for you. Me and my little sister made them," I said, holding up the container.

Everett looked at it, and frowned.

"Come in," he said, opening the door all of the way. His bare feet felt too intimate and too familiar for me. Like we we're long-time friends visiting each other and I would soon be without my shoes and socks.

Everett directed me to the kitchen, where he took the container from me. The pictures of a small boy on the walls that must've been him, held my attention. His eyes in the photographs didn't seem so angry.

"What's your name?" he asked, looking at me over his shoulders. He was pouring milk into two mugs and he poured hot chocolate mix into both. I could only assume they were for us.

"Um, Emma," I said softly, amazed that this odd boy was being a kind host.

"Well, 'Um, Emma', why did you bake me cookies?" he asked, setting the mugs into the microwave. They clinked against the glass spinning plate and the door shut with a loud click.

"Well, I made them for you and your mother, Rose," I said, gaining more confidence.

He handed me my warm mug of hot chocolate, and I took a sip.

"Your hands looked cold, I figured some hot chocolate would do you good," Everett spoke. His words held emotion, but his facial features were still stone cold. I was baffled.

"Um, thanks," I said, following him as he lead me to the table. It sat next to a window that faced the back porch. Snow covered his back yard and I could see into my yard over the fence separating them. The white blanket made me thankful for the hot chocolate.

"You say 'um' a lot," Everett observed. His pajama clad leg shook underneath the table as we talked.

"Well, it's just that you seem so shy and closed off at school. I just figured you'd want me out of your hair as soon as possible," I said.

Everett stared at me silently. His arms were braced on the table and his shirt certainly did them justice. He could probably snap me in two.

"Listen Emma, not a lot of people are nice to me. So either you're a very clueless girl, or you just want to find out why I am the way I am, just like everyone back in Colorado," Everett was suddenly cold with his words. "I'll save you the time of trying to figure me out. You can't, and you won't, okay? But nice approach with the cookies."

For a moment, I was speechless. I could almost hear the softly falling snow finally floating to the ground and kissing the Earth hello. Everett continued to stare at me as he took another sip of his hot chocolate.

"Well that, um, isn't what I was doing. I, um-"

"Save it. Leave. I'm not some circus freak for you to come and entertain yourself with," Everett snapped. I stood, leaving my hot chocolate on the table.

Furious, I stormed towards the front door, Everett following me. I practically ripped the door off of its hinges and I turned back to the cold-hearted boy.

"On second thought, those cookies are just for your mother. You wouldn't want to give in to my plan, would you?" I said, burning holes in Everett's forehead with my eyes. I hoped my sarcasm got through his brick wall-like front.

"Please leave," he spoke sternly. With that, and a huff of air, I was trudging through the snow that was now picking up, back to my house.

--

"He said that?" Gabby's voice came through the phone sitting on my desk. I was busy doing homework when I decided I needed to call Gabby and tell her about what had happened yesterday after school.

"Yes, and I think something serious happened to him. He said that people treated him like a 'circus freak'," I said, scribbling some answers down.

"Oh my god. Well we have to find out what happened to him!" she said, and I knew that tone of voice. She was genuinely interested.

I was about to refuse when she spoke again, "I can't come over until Friday. I'll spend the night and we can do a steak-out and see what's up."

This would be the first time Gabby had spent the night at my house in months. I knew that practically stalking Everett was wrong, but it couldn't hurt that bad if it meant spending time with Gabby. It was Saturday, so I just had to get through this week of Winter Break and then I'd have my friend back.

"That sounds perfect," I smiled.

"Wonderful! Gotta go now!"

And with that, I was left to do my homework alone.