Hearts on Fire

Chapter 1

"It's just not fair. I wasn't the only one talking!" Dania complained as she walked with Sameira from their 5th lesson to 6th, the last lesson of the day.
"Technically I wasn't even talking at all. Ali started talking to me. What was I supposed to do? Ignore?" Dania shook her head, irritated about the events that just unfolded, as if it had been the first time she'd been reprimanded for talking.
"Well, you could've," Sameira replied, knowing she'd probably should have agreed, rather than add fuel to Dania's flames.
"Oh, shut up, Samiera. Little Miss Perfect. Miss I-Know-What-The-Answer-Is-Mrs.-Sarah! Being good comes so easy to you. Some of us actually live a little," Dania retorted.

As best friends, Dania and Sameira always joked around and teased each other. They were more like sisters, and teasing each other was their way of showing affection to one another.

"Oh shut up, Dania. You're just mad that I'm holding my grades up and you're still struggling with that-"
"Don't you dare say it, Sameira. I'm working on fixing that grade but I swear the teacher has it out for me!" Dania began again.
"Of course they do. Just like every teacher, huh?" she threw back, knowing it would anger her even more.
"Shut the hell up you little teacher's pet!" she cried out. Sameira started laughing. "You're such a little teacher's pet, I swear," Dania added.
"In fact, since you love being a little pesky pet so much," Dania began, yanking Sameira's keys off of the lanyard, hanging around her neck.
"Hey! Give me those!" Sameira called out.
"Here," she shook them her face, "fetch!"

The keys flew across the hallway, past a bunch of students and teachers, and landed by someone's shoes.
"Shit!" Dania whispers as they try to go retrieve them.

The person looks down to see a pair of keys laying beside their feet. They bend down and pick them up, looking around to see whom they could've belonged to. A boy. He caught the girls looking at him, or more specifically, at the keys in his hand. He walked over to them, stopping about a foot away from the two girls. "Are these yours?" he asked, dangling the keys from his thumb.

He was tall, almost intimidatingly tall, but he had a smile so sweet and genuine that it seemed to balance it out. He has dark skin, indigenous to Kenya, but his skin seemed so much more softer. Almost like his smile. What stood out to me the most was the dimples on his cheeks. They sat there like delicate little things, resting on his face, ready to show the world just how sincere his happiness was. Sameira stood there, admiring his assets for much longer than she thought she had.

"Uh, yes. Yes, those are mine, sorry." Dania replied.

Sameira finally noticed that he'd been standing there, staring at her, waiting for a reply. Shit, Sameira thought, I wonder if he noticed me admiring him.

He handed Dania the keys, and Sameira tried to keep my gaze on the ground and act natural. "Thank you," Dania replied as he handed her the keys.

"No problem at all," he answered, before walking back on his way.

She waited a few seconds before turning to Dania and asking, "Who was that?"

Dania smirked, "That is Alexander. He was in my English class last year. I never really talked to him but he seems nice."
"Yeah, he does.." Sameira muttered, almost under her breath. She turned around to catch another glimpse of Alexander.

To her immediate surprise, her eyes automatically caught his. He was looking right at her. Immediately, she felt her face go red. They stood like that for a while, looking at each other across the hallways, but, to them, it seemed like forever. He smiled again, his dimples making a return. Sameira couldn't help but smile back.

Looking back, it might sound cheesy, or cliché, but that's exactly how it happened. That was the beginning of their story. This simple gesture, of picking up her keys might as well have been the one pivotal moment in their lives, because after this moment

everything changed.

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Author's Note-

Hey, readers! I'm so excited to be writing my first teen fiction. I'm even more excited because I've been meaning to write this story for a long time, but I was worried that since it's not a fan fiction, nobody would read it.
Yes, this is based on a true story and it's a tale I hold close to my heart. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I will enjoy writing it!
Loves and kisses,
blackarabia