HEART OF ICE

CHAPTER 19

"Christopher!"

I stopped and looked toward the sound of Alejandra's voice. I barely had one foot in the lunch tent. I watched her hurry over the sidewalk and across the grass. The look on her face told me I definitely wasn't going to get to have a quiet break.

"There you are," she said, taking a breath. "I was worried I wouldn't find you until later."

"Wait, have you been here all day?"

Alejandra looked at me strangely. "It's only been a few hours."

"Whoa! Who is this," Gerald asked loudly. He looked at me with a devilish grin. "Your girlfriend?"

Alejandra chuckled loudly. "Not even close," she said, shaking her head.

"Yeah," I said, not hiding the sting of her short laugh and words. "She's more like my...cousin.  A very distant cousin."

"Ahh, cool, cool. I'm Gerald," he said, extending his hand politely.

"Alejandra," she said, shaking his hand shyly.

"Soo...what's up," I asked. Maybe there would still be time to at least get a cookie if the conversation reached its point a little more quickly. The cafeteria cookies weren't very good. Imagine a kind of round, doughy piece of cardboard with what were called chocolate chips but without having any of the ingredients to technically make them chocolate. I think the school thought they were healthier that way. But, really, they were only healthy because most of the students avoided them altogether. I was tired, kind of cranky, and just wanting a cookie, even if it was from the cafeteria.

"Garrig," Alejandra said.

"What?"

"She said Garrig," Gerald replied.

"Yeah, I heard that. Thank you."

Gerald smiled at me. "You're welcome."

I looked at him for an extra second then turned my head to face Alejandra again. I didn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. "What does that mean," I asked her.

"It's a last name."

"Of who?"

"Whom," Gerald corrected.

I turned my head slightly to look at him.

"Just trying to help," he said. "You know...be a part of the team."

"Who is this," Alejandra asked, looking back and forth between Gerald and me.

"His name is Gerald Warton. He's one of the guys that was on the motorcycle that helped me yesterday."

Gerald glanced at me with surprise. "Aww, you remember my whole name. I'm touched."

"Names aren't really a challenge for him," Alejandra said.

"Except with this Garrig person," Gerald quipped.

"Knowing a name isn't the same as knowing a person," I said, though I knew that wasn't necessarily always the case with me. "I've never met this person, this Garrig."

"He's a student here at this school," Alejandra explained. "I saw him this morning. He had an argument with a teacher before the first bell rang. Then, I saw him again just a few minutes ago. He was on the other side of the stadium. He was just standing there, looking at something."

Gerald leaned forward, enticed by her story. "What was he looking at?"

Alejandra shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. But-"