BH

Burning Hearts: Eight

I missed Raie as if I hadn’t seen her for years, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. It was like we were at two places on either side of a bridge, and we had always had that bridge to get to each other, but now it was cracked and falling down, and soon enough, the whole thing would be gone.

Raie


"The coast is clear, Raie, you can come out now," Eric chuckled. From behind my little wall, I wandered over to the long bench and planted myself next to Eric, keeping on the lookout for Sapphire. "Remind me again why you're hiding from her? I thought you were best friends."

"Exactly," I breathed, able to see my breath as I shuddered. It was due to start snowing in a couple of days. I loved the cold, it was much better than summer when there is heat and sweat and exercise to be done. In winter you can always just curl up under the blankets and stay warm with a good hot chocolate and a nice book. "She called dibs, which means I'm not meant to be sitting here with you." When I’d found out that Eric was this supposed ‘Sonny’ she’d met on our second day here, I almost died.

"Dibs?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

I sighed, cupping my hands around the warm hot chocolate and taking a sip. "Yes, dibs. Don't ask," I added.

Eric shook his head and took a sip out of his Styrofoam mug, which I guessed was full of tea. He then reached into his large coat and pulled out a paper bag full of something that smelt great. "Blueberry is my favourite, but I know you like white choc chip," he pulled out a muffin from the bag and planted it in front of me, stuffing a blueberry muffin of his own in his mouth.

I put my hot chocolate on the bench beside me and wrapped my hands around the still-warm muffin. "Oh, yum," I said, breathing in its delicious scent. "Thank you." I took a large bite from the muffin and looked at Eric, finally making up my mind. "I better not sit with you anymore."

Eric stopped chewing. "Whap? Whay?" Food splattered out of his mouth and I laughed. 

"Swallow and try again," I giggled.

After a couple of chews, I saw Eric finally swallow his food. "What? Why?"

"Because Sapphire likes you! And I'm not supposed to hang around you because of that."

"But-"

"No. You should ask her out, satisfy her."

"I-"

"For me? Do it for me? You'd make her really happy..." I couldn't believe I was saying these words. I really liked Eric and I was sacrificing him for Sapphire who'd been practically ignoring me for weeks now. Actually, I wasn't really surprised that she hadn't discovered I'd been sitting with Eric.

"You’re a good friend," he said with a quick nod.

"Yeah... I guess. Treat her well." I climbed to my feet, violently shivering, and shoved the remains of the muffin into my mouth. I grabbed my books and juggled them in one hand and my hot chocolate in the other. "Be good," I smiled at him before slowly and reluctantly walking away. So yes, I did have a major crush on Eric- god, he was mega attractive- but he only considered me as a friend. Sapphire probably wanted him more anyway.

Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks. Something cold and wet had just touched my arm. Still juggling my hot chocolate and my books, I peered down to my arm to see what the cause of my becoming even colder was. On my arm, just above my wrist, was a tiny droplet of snow. I gasped as another few drops fell on me, and let out a wide smile. Snow was my favourite thing in the world. 

 A few cheers went around the school yard and I gave a small laugh at everyone dancing around in the wonderful snow that was falling from the sky. My cheeks and nose were a bright red, and I could barely feel my toes- but I loved every bit of it. Some tall football jock slammed into me and made me drop all of my books and my beautiful hot chocolate. They landed on the icy floor at the same time, my cup tipping over and spewing hot chocolate onto all of my books.

"Jerk!" I yelled after the guy and gave a sigh, bending down to grab my books. My skinny jeans, with tights underneath for extra warmth, and big, fuzzy snow boots were proving to be not very suitable for the cold. I had five layers on my top half- two singlet’s, a long sleeved top, a cardigan and my long woolen jacket- and I was still freezing my butt off. 

I slipped a pair of gloves around my fingers and grabbed my hot chocolate cup, tossing it aside so I could fix up my books. Groaning, I realized that all of the pages of each of the books were soaked straight through in brownish liquid, and most of the writing wasn't readable any more. "Great..." I murmured.

 I almost jumped in surprise as warm hands wrapped around my gloved ones, pushing them away, and scooped up my moist books. Snow was starting to fall heavily from the sky and my teeth were chattering like crazy as I looked up to find out who my helper was.

"Ty, right?" I breathed.

Ty straightened up and looked at me, his eyes piercing into mine. "I just realized who you are." He handed the books back to me and I gaped, still pretty shocked.

"I-uh-" My teeth chattered. "Th-thanks."

"No problem... geez your freezing," he observed. "We should go inside."

"I-I."

He laughed. "You don't have to talk until your warm."

Ty gently grabbed my wrist and led me into the library, which was warm and cozy. Once my teeth had finally stopped shaking, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"That's okay." He was still studying me curiously.

"What?"

"Raie Griffin."

"I-uh, that's me?" I raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know?"

"Ty is short for Tyson." My heart thudded heavily in my chest. "Tyson Whyte."

"Ohmygod," I let out all at once, dropping my books again. I froze in my spot, unable to move. "Tyson?"