Hearts of Fire

Chapter 5

A/N:  I apologize to my few readers who are reading this story.  It has been well over a month since my last upload.  To try to make up for lost time, I made the chapter longer than usual.  Only Ameena's POV, but I promise there will be some Fayt or Erik POV next chapter.  Sorry again for the lack of uploading.

Anyway...

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And..... Enjoy!!! =)

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Ameena's POV

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  Beep!  Beep! 

“Ugh,” I muttered as I slapped my hand down on my alarm clock.  I hated Monday mornings.  I rolled out of bed, grumbling to myself—making absolutely no sense at all.

I walked over to my dresser, and pulled out a Tried To Reason t-shirt, a dark green zip-up hoodie, a pair of dark jeans, a pair of socks, and a matching set of under garments.  Only half-awake, I dragged my feet across the floor, feeling as if they weighed a million tons each, on my way to my bathroom.  Shrugging out of my pajamas, I set two clean towels on the toilet and brought a wash cloth into the shower with me.  I sighed in contentment when the hot water hit my skin.  My aching muscles relaxed as I washed my body clean.

I dried myself off and got dressed, but when I looked in the mirror to put a small amount of makeup on, I gasped aloud.  My nearly-black brown hair, which was usually needle-straight, sat in soft curls that went down past my shoulders.  And it had this peculiar shine to it….  Maybe I was imagining things.  I settled for pulling my hair into a side pony-tail.

Once I was physically ready for school, I grabbed my bag and went downstairs, stopping in the kitchen to have a small bowl of cereal, and a cup of juice.  When I was finished, I set my dishes in the sink, intending to wash them when I got home.  I listened to the TV from my mom’s room, which was right above the kitchen.  She was listening to the news….  And it was saying… something about rain?  I threw my mini umbrella in my bag just in case before, rushing outside so I could start the twenty minute walk to school.

Two minutes later, it was starting to rain.  I mumbled under my breath, and dug for my umbrella in my bag.  I sighed; it was stuck on something.  I pulled on it, but it would not budge.  I pulled up my hood, and I was seriously considering dumping the contents of my bag out when a car pulled up beside me.  The window rolled down, and I gasped at the person driving. 

It was Erik.

“Need a ride?” he asked, leaning over the passenger seat.

“I… I can walk,” I replied determinedly.  I had already gotten his help once in the past three days, and I would feel strange if he ended up thinking I was always a damsel in distress.

He laughed at some silent joke. “And be cold and wet by the time you get to school?”

Just ride with him, the voice murmured in encouragement.  I sighed. “Fine.”

I got in Erik’s car, which smelled like him—fresh mint—and he laughed again. “What’s with the pouty face?  It can’t be that bad to sit in a car with me for five minutes.”

My eyes met his, and then I could not look away.  He smiled at me, and then brought his eyes to the road.  “Why are you heading to school so early?” I asked—I left at 7:30 every morning to get to school by 7:50, and class did not start until 8:10.  It was only 7:35, and Erik was driving.