The Scars Within

Life of Abel

A week of summer vacation has already passed. Work at the bookstore has been going good, and Ricca and I have spent practically every free moment together; going to movies, meeting the guys for coffee, going to the beach, everything and anything we wanted to do. Ricca, of course, has been trying to pressure me into talking with Abel. We're supposed to be hanging out at the park today, but she's 30 minutes late. Just as I get up from my spot under 'our' tree (The place we always meet at), I see Abel is walking towards me. 'No. No no no no no. She did not do what I think she did.' Abel catches my eye, and by the way his shoulders sag as he rolls his eyes, I know my thoughts were correct. Ricca set us up. She probably told Abel to meet her here and then did the same to me. I gotta give her some credit, she's pretty smart. When Abel stops in front of me, he starts to talk.

"Lemme guess, Ricca told you to meet her here?" Sighing, I nod my head.

"Yea, she did. We were supposed to meet half an hour ago, but apparently she told you a different time." Before either of us can say anything, my phone starts to ring. Pulling it out of my pocket, I see that it's Ricca. I quickly answer the phone and put it on speaker. "What the hell Ricca?"

"Well jeez Carmin. Nice to talk to you too. I'm doing great, thanks for asking."

"You're on speaker, Ricca. Abel's here too."

"So it worked! I am such a genius. Anyway, before I have you two after my head I guess I better explain. Carmin, I'm sure, already knows why I did this, but Abel, I'm pretty sure you don't. Anywho, I want you two to get to know each other. Ya know, chat, get some lunch, maybe end the day with a romantic stroll on the beach at sunset. I don't know, I'm just spitballing ideas for you guys here. Remember, I have eyes everywhere. Don't think you can get out of this. Have fun kiddies! MUHAHAHAHAHA-"

In the middle of her maniacal laughter, she hung up on me. I could feel my eyebrow twitching, along with the blush on my face. When I looked over at Abel, I saw him rubbing his temples, an annoyed look on his face.

"Elle fait toujours ce. Comment ai-je pas le voir?" He mumbles.

"Um, what did you say, Abel? I only know a little French." I say, smiling sheepishly at him.

"Oh yea, sorry. I said she always does this kind of stuff. How I didn't see it coming I don't know. Sorry for her, Carmin."

"It's alright Abel. It's not your fault she's crazy." We fall into an awkward silence for a few minutes, neither of us saying anything. "Soooo... Wanna go get some ice cream? I know a good place that's only a few blocks away from here."

"Yea, sure. I brought my car since I was at school before this. Do you want to take that instead of walking?" Abel asked, looking me in the eye.

"That sounds like a plan. Ricca made it seem like she wouldn't let us do anything other than hang out with each other today. We can decide what to do next once we get going."

Within five minutes, we were parked at 'Ice-Out,' the best ice cream place for miles. 'The Scoop,' as I call him (His real name is Jeremy, the owner of Ice-Out) doesn't even ask for my order. I've been in here so much he already knows what I get. Abel ordered a double scoop of Moose Tracks in a waffle cone. He got his first, but he looked a little shocked when he saw my ice cream. I can't say I blame him though. My ice cream has one scoop of Moose Tracks, one scoop of Butter Pecan, and a giant scoop of Mackinac Island Fudge in a bowl with an explosion of sprinkles on top. As I take a bite, I look at Abel with an eyebrow raised.

"Problem?" I question with a smirk.

Shaking his head, he replied, "No, just... Damn. How in the hell can you eat all that? I never saw you as the one to eat a lot." Laughing, I move to sit in one of the many booths inside the building, Abel sitting across from me.

"Well Mr. Willow, I guess that means you have a lot to learn about me." Time seemed to speed up as we spent time together. We talked a lot while eating our ice cream. As it turns out, and I know this is super cliché, but we love the same bands, books, movies, and even cars. After finishing our treats of frozen heaven, we decided to drive around and see if anything caught our eye. We ended up going in a few shops, just kind of passing the time. We kept talking throughout the time we were together. To finish out the day, we did decide to go to the beach. It was starting to cool off a bit, since it was roughly 7:00 in the evening. Sitting on the sand, we told each other stories about our childhoods.

"Wait wait wait, you seriously wrestled a moose? I thought that was just a Canadian stereotype!" Abel had just told me a story where, surprisingly, he actually wrestled a moose. Not surprisingly though, his buddies dared him to.

"I did. It was kind of cheating though. It was a baby moose, no way in hell was I going to wrestle the Mom or a bull. I won, but the little thing was pretty damn strong. Got the $50 from my buds though. I can definitely say it was worth it." Abel said with a grin. 'Aww, he looks so cute when he grins like that! Wait, what the hell was that?!? I did not just think he was cute.' That's right. He isn't cute, he's hot. 'WOAH WOAH WOAH. CALM THE HELL DOWN SELF. WE ARE NOT A HORNY TEENAGE GIRL.'

After roughly an hour of talking at the beach, Abel and I decided to go back home. Our outing hopefully satisfied Ricca for awhile. It only took 10 minutes to get back to my place, and Abel walked me to the door. Once we got there, I turned to Abel.

"Even though Ricca sort of forced us to hang out, I'm glad we did. It was really nice to get to know you Abel." I said with a smile.

"I'm glad we did too. I actually wouldn't mind if we did this again sometime. Sound good to you?" He asked with the same grin from earlier. Blushing, I nod my head in response. After saying 'goodbye,' I turn to open the door. Once my hand touched the door handle, Abel grabbed my arm and turned me back around. Before I had a chance to react, his lips were on mine. The kiss was soft, but I could tell he was trying to hold himself back. He pressed me against the door as I wrapped my arms around his neck, gently responding to the kiss. As we slowly parted, he gazed deeply into my eyes. Abel's lips twitched up into a smirk as he said, "I'll see you around, Carmin." He backed up, and got back into his car. I watched him pull it into the driveway next door, and walk inside. Before the door closed, he turned towards me and gave me a wink.

I slowly raised a hand to my lips, then turned around, and walked inside. 'Huh. My first kiss was with Abel. Ya know, he's a really good kisser.'