Fire And Ice

##15

I walked into my house and sighed in relief. I walked over to the staircase and ran up. Down the hall around the corner and into my room. I closed my door behind me and sighed, leaning against it. Today sure was something.

With a grunt, I pushed myself off the door and headed over to my bed. I tossed my bag at the foot of my bed and walked over to my stereo system and threw in a CD, and pressed play. The thumping beats of “Hips don’t lie” by Shakira echo in my room. My hips took on a mind of their own.

Shaking and shimmying to the beat I danced over to my bed and plop down on to it. Humming along to the song, I pull out my books and notes from today’s classes and dig into my homework.

-

Hours pass and I glance up from my History paper at the sound of a door closing down stairs. I set my pencil down and stood up. Walking over to the door, I opened it and glanced down the hallway. “Mom?” I called.

“Hi honey.” She yells up from down the stairs. I leave my room and go downstairs to see her putting down her purse while holding her lunch box from today. She looks over and smiles at me then walks into the kitchen. I follow her.

She sets the lunch box on the counter and turns to me. “How was school today?”

“Good.” I answer.

“Just good?” she raises an eyebrow at me. I shrug.

“As good as school can get I guess.” She laughs.

“Oh.” She walks over to me and stands in front of me. And just stares at me. I look up at her questionably. She looks around the kitchen and sniffs the air. I raise my eyebrow at her.

“Uhm what are you doing?” I ask.

She looks down at me. “Trying to locate the dinner you were preparing tonight.”

My eyes widen. Dinner! I was supposed to cook tonight. I slap my forehead and groan.

“Sorry mom. I forgot all about that. And stopping by the grocery store too. Homework and school distracted me.”

She hugs me and and pats my back. “It’s okay hun. I’ll cook tonight.” I shake my head. “No, I said I was going to do it tonight and I’m not going back on my word." I hug backed back and run up the stairs and grab my wallet from my school bag. Coming back down stairs, I head to the front door and slip on my shoes and jacket.

"I'm just going to pop by the grocery store and come back in a flash!" I hurry outside and head down the sidewalk to a nearby grocery.

-

Walking each aisle I grabbed what I needed in order to make vegetarian lasagna . Pushing along a cart, I glanced to look over my items. Looks like I have everything. Except for long noodles and cheese. I walk a little faster and head to the dairy aisle. Looking down at the products, I select a cheese and head to the pasta aisle.

5 minutes later, I’m still searching for those damn noodles. Normally, they’re on the bottom shelf but weren’t there today. I huff in frustration.

A man passes by me and reaches for the top shelf. I watch as he pulls down a pack of noodles. Well. I guess they were moved to the top shelf. I shake my head and walk over and reach, but I fall short a few inches. Standing on my tip toes I can almost touch a packet. I stretch more and touch one. So close.

I stop stretching and sigh. Then prepare to jump. Bending down slightly, I launch myself toward the noodles and grab a packet. Success! I smile.

But going back down something goes wrong. Since I’m so uncoordinated, I landed wrong. My feet seemed to twist around and I start to fall back instead of standing. I squeak and close my eyes as I prepare to hit the hard, unforgiving ground.

But I don’t. I feel someone’s arms surround me and catch me. I heard a grunt. I smile in relief and look up. My mouth drops open in surprise.

Malik looks down at me with worried bright blue eyes. My heart begins to pound, all funny. As if it were trying to jump out of my chest. “Are you okay?” he asks. I gulp and nod. He sets me right. My chest feels tight. My jacket and shirt rides up where he holds me and his fingers touch my skin. I jolt and jump out of his arms.

His hands were impossibly hot. Scorching. My skin burns and I felt the painful sting. I wince and pull down my jacket and shuffle back from him, my breathing laboured. I stare at him as he watches me with a puzzled face. Faint music from the store fills the silence between us.

“Thank you” I say quietly to fill the air. He nods. “You’re welcome. Didn't want you to hurt yourself. Can’t have you missing class, huh?” He smiles softly. “The one thing I look forward to on my days at school.”

I blush, surprised. I’m what he looks forward to? What does that mean? Does he….

He can’t. I shake my head, flustered.

“I uh. I have to go.” I reply in a soft voice and move quickly to my cart. I throw in the noodles and push it away. Glancing back once, I see Malik wave at me and put his hands into his pocket. His good looks still hit me hard. Man that was so awkward.

I groan and head to the checkout.

:No Edits: