Chapter Eleven: The....Date?
Cole's POV
I can't seem to forget last night. It was her season, and she was supposed to be mad at me. But she wasn't. She sacrificed time from her Early Winter to stay with me.
Me? I wasn't hurt of her powers. I mean, when she's there, I was kind of distracted from my pain.
Was it her making me comfortable or is she just turning the cold down? I'd bet on the first one.
Everytime she was near me, it was a whole new feeling. Who would've guessed we were so pissed of at each other before? Why did I even hate her before?
I was wrong to hate her before. Now, I wanted to spend every minute with her.
Did I just say that? Yeah, I guess I did.
Cylene snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Cole? Hey, Cole!" I snapped away from my thoughts. Okay, I was spacing out again.
"Wh-what?" I asked, confused.
Cylene rolled her eyes. "Are you even listening?! I said, I'm going to practice with the band. I'll be home late."
I chuckled softly. "Again, Cy, you sound like Mom."
"Just don't do anything stupid!" Cylene yelled, heading out the door. Why is she always bossing around?
I went to my bedroom to at least get warm a little. I sat on the floor, lighting floating flames around me. I kept my posture relaxed. Yeah, everything was just perfect.
The fires largened and grew until they tickled the ceiling. I willed the flames to get down a little bit then I it was completely extinguished. I opened my eyes. Why would my powers go out in my room?
"Why can't you just work?!" I grumbled, trying to create just a spark. But winter is really near, so it has a big effect on my powers, obviously. I glanced outside the window and felt the chilly air.
If my powers won't work here in my home, then where? I don't have a freakin' cave or whatever like Aesha.
My powers hadn't gone away altogether, actually. If I would release enough force and tried all I can, I would probably make a large fire. But, believe me, with the season right now, I don't have the strength to do that.
Don't do anything stupid! Cylene's advice replayed in my mind.
I've done enough stupid things-including yesterday when I followed them to Early Winter-but this one could be the stupidest yet.
Maybe, it could be worth it, too.
~~~~~~~~~
I took a deep breath, checking again if this was the right house. Then, I knocked on the door. I was greeted by a familiar girl.
"Cole, what are you doing here?" she seemed surprised that I was here.
"Hey, Shaelon. Uh, is Aesha here?" I asked.
She narrowed her eyes, "Why are you looking for my sister?" I knew exactly why I was here: talk and hang out with Aesha, to make me feel better.
"I-I just need to-" I stammered, but Shaelon cut me off.
"Just go in."
I went in to be greeted by that coldness. I guess it was always like this in their house with Aesha and her powers.
"Shaelon, come up here!" a woman's voice echoed from upstairs.
"Is this about your powers?" Shaelon asked me.
My eyes widened, "You know about my powers?"
She nodded, "Aesha kinda told us last night."
"Shaelon!" the voice said again.
"I'm coming, Mom!" Shaelon replied then turned to me, "I need to go do something, I'll take you to Aesha's room."
And so, we went upstairs. Each step, it felt colder and colder. We passed through a hallway and Shaelon pointed towards a room. "That's her bedroom."
I nodded and walked towards it. "Cole," Shaelon called out. I turned my head. "Enter on your own risk." she said.
I stepped outside the door, feeling how cold it is. But it doesn't seem to hurt me. I slowly twisted the knob and swung the door open.
A snowball came and hit me on my chest. Now, it hurt. It was like I swallowed a minty toothpaste and it was so cold in my lungs.
"I'm sorry!" Aesha sat on her bed, playing with her powers.
She was beautiful, as always with her brown hair down and she was wearing a pink tank top and white shorts.
Though the only thing different with her is her blue eyes.
She came rushing towards me, "Cole, I'm really sorry, are you okay?" she looked up at me, her eyes back to their hazel brown color. Aesha brushed off the snow on my shirt.
"I'm fine, Aesha." I assured her.
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, "What are you doing here?"
I rubbed the back of my neck, getting nervous again. "I was alone in the house, Cylene's away. I tried to use my powers, it wouldn't work."
She nodded, "So, you want me to turn the cold down?"
"Actually-"
"You do know that it makes it worse if you visit me here?" she asked.
"Aesha, the real reason I'm here is that I wanted to ask," I was surprised that the words tumbled easily out of my mouth, "do you want to hang out, you know, just have fun?"
She pursed her lips and blinked a few times, "B-but, why don't you hang out with your other friends? Willow?" she asked.
Inside, I hated hearing Aesha mentioning my fake girlfriend. But I just shrugged, "I felt like I wanted to hang out with you." She blushed even more.
Aesha kept her gaze down, "W-won't y-you get hurt? I mean, I'm cold and all, it might really make you weak."
"It's fine, Aesha."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded.
She took a deep breath, "Okay, just wait here, I'm going to change first."
I waited patiently by the door. How can she agree to do this? Does she think this is a date or something?
A few minutes later, Aesha came out. She wore a light blue blouse and pants that reached mid-calf. As usual, she kept her hair down.
"Come on, let's go." she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mom, I'm going out!" Aesha cried out to her mom. A woman, probably in her thirties appeared from their kitchen. She had brown hair-like Aesha- and green eyes.
She raised an eyebrow, seeing me. "Who's your friend?"
"Um, Mom, this is Cole, Cylene's younger brother." Aesha said.
Her mom nodded, "Oh, so this is the guy who has fire powers." she inspected me. But wait, Aesha's mom knows about the powers?
"W-we'll go now..." Aesha grabbed my hand, which sent a jolt down my spine, and led me towards the door.
As soon as we got out, I asked her, "You told your mom?"
She raised an eyebrow, "You don't tell your parents?"
I shook my head, "They're not really close to us. I even bet, they don't know us. They're barely home, so I learned to live with just Cylene. Actually, before you did, only Cylene knew about my powers."
"Oh," she said.
We reached my motorcycle. She stopped, staring at it.
"You scared, ice queen?" I smirked.
She rolled her eyes, "I'm not afraid. It's kind of the first time."
"Here," I said as I got an extra helmet and leaned forward to strap it on her head. Her cheeks were colored pink when our faces were inches away from each other.
I climbed on the vehicle and so did she.
"You might want to hold on tight," I warned her.
"And end up freezing you?" she said.
I sighed, "Why are you so worried, ice queen? I'm gonna be fine."
Aesha wrapped her arms around my waist and moved closer to me.
I like it this way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aesha's POV
I have no idea why he was doing this to me. But I'm pretty sure my heart was beating quickly when I, kinda, hugged him on the motorcycle.
Why not one of his friends? Why not Willow? Why me, the person who would hurt him badly?
We got off the bike and I closely trailed behind him as we made our way on the sidewalk. Where's he taking me?!
I kept my gaze down, hoping this would just end. Cole's just so confusing. Why did he suddenly want to hang out with me? He doesn't....
....like me.....
......does he?
I tried to ignore the thought. Why on earth would Cole like me ?
"We're here." he said. I looked up at the building we stopped in front of. An ice cream parlor.
I frowned, "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"
He seemed startled by my outburst, so I softened my expression. "I mean, this isn't fit for you, Cole. As much as I'd love to go in there, it would hurt you. You've been trying to assure me that it'd be alright but it's not."
He stayed silent, but walked closer to me. It felt like my skin was burning and slowly turning to ashes. Though, I didn't back up even if I was hurt.
"You have to start thinking about yourself, don't mind me." I said in barely a whisper.
"What about the coffee shop?" he asked.
"Th-that works."
He gently held my arm and guided me to the coffee shop.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Cole sat across from me, sipping his hot coffee while had my iced drink. In this awkward-silence situation, whenever I look at him, I wan't sure whether I wanted to slap him or hug him.
But I'm sure I'm the one hurt right now with his warmth, not the other way around. How come I'm bothered and he's not? Is he hiding the pain? I try to be nice to him so I conceal the hurt I'm experiencing and I turn down the cold which just makes it worse.
That's already enough sacrifice.
Inside me, I wanted to get mad at him again. I know I felt guilty and I apologized but the anger's really building up again. I guess I was just doing this for the sake of Cylene.
At the same time, I wanted to befriend him, consider him as someone I'll trust. I was starting to realize he wasn't a jerk after all.
Maybe I was beginning to like him, too.
Wait, what?!
No!
I don't like Cole!
I don't know what was stronger, my hate, or my love for him?
"Ice queen," Cole was staring at me.
I stared back into his dark eyes. "Wh-what?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Nope, I'm really not.
"Are you sure?"
"It's okay, Cole." It is not okay.
He leaned back on his chair and took another sip of his beverage. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Can I tell you something?"
Cole's gaze snapped at me. His face told me he was eager to listen to whatever I was going to tell him.
"Okay, this happened when I was nine, a month before my dad died." I paused waiting for his response but he didn't say anything. So I continued, "We were having a family vacation, it was summer. I wasn't excited at all.I kept on pouting on the way there, knowing my powers would just go out if I try to use them. Dad tried to cheer me up, but I stayed silent." I didn't even know why of all people, I was telling Cole. It just felt like I needed to get it out of my chest.
"While we were at the beach, the day was so hot. I refused to go out of the cabin we rented. But Dad stayed with me. We sorta got into an argument because I was so pissed off. I ended up saying that I hated him and I storming out of the cabin. I wandered off to a deserted area of the beach."
"The sun was so hot. I couldn't use my powers, I couldn't sweat, there was no way to cool myself. I've never experienced something worse than it up to now. For me, everything was so heated up. I felt so weak, I remembered collapsing on the sand. I woke up in the cabin, crying."
I closed my eyes, recalling how I cried myself to sleep that night, because of how painful it was. When I opened my eyes, I hadn't realized I was crying right now.
Cole stood up from his seat and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into an embrace. I didn't mind at all. I hugged him back, burying my face on his chest. I shed my tears and let it all out.
"Have you experienced something that painful?" My voice was muffled.
"No. And I'm sorry," he whispered, stroking my hair.
~~~~~~~~~
Cole's POV
I wanted to hug her and run my fingers through her hair a bit longer but sadly, a few seconds after, she pulled away.
"I-I'm sorry...I had to cry in front of you," Aesha apologized, still sniffling.
I managed a smile, "It's okay, you have to let it go sometimes."
I guess I was lucky, not feeling something really bad with the cold like that. I guess Cylene protected me well...
She wiped tears away and fixed herself, "So, should we get home now?"
A smile started forming on my lips. "No, I need to take you somewhere else first."
~~~~~~~~~
"The park?" she asked. I nodded.
She raised an eyebrow, "Of all the places, why here?"
"Don't you want to be here?" I asked. I don't want to make her cry again. I don't want to mess up everything.
"I guess..." her voice trailed off.
I took her hand and led her to one of the benches. It was late afternoon, still cold and windy. A few people were in the park and-unfortunately-it was still far away from dusk.
"Your powers, did you ever wish you weren't born with them?" I wondered out loud.
"Yeah, sometimes. That way, I'd be a normal person who will not pass out during a summer day." she told me. I chuckled a little.
"I think about that too." I said.
I looked at her. She was staring at anything else, but me. Why was she trying to avoid my gaze?
And then Aesha did it again, she looked down at her lap, blushing.
My heart racing, I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
"Cole-" she started to protest but I shushed her. "Just don't say anything,Aesha, please."
She rested her head on my chest. But I lifted her chin with my fingers to make her look up at me. I gazed into her beautiful eyes before kissing her head.
Nothing hurt. At all.
With her so close to me like this, I think I'm falling for Aesha.
~~~~~~~~~
Yieeeee!!!!! Aaaahhhh! Whaddya think of this chapter?
Dedicated to a daughter of venus/aphrodite/love! (not you V) Whaddya think? it's so romantic, right?!
inwardly screaming and squealing!
-Vireen :D