Part 5 of 6

Monday, December 10.

I sighed as I ate my cereal, one hand absently twirling a piece of hair that was too short for my braid while the other held my spoon. My cat paced at my feet under the table. I was daydreaming about Dexter again. We were supposed to hangout sometime over the week but different things kept getting into our way. 

He would get a surprise shift call from work and had to cancel. Or our teachers berated us with homework that took all our time to finish.  

It was frustrating me beyond belief. I was on the last good bite of raisin bran when my phone buzzed on the table. 

'Morning Matty! -Dex '

I smiled and replied back quickly before tossing my bowl into the dirty sink. I'll do the dishes later. 

I shoved my feet into my snow boots hoping to get to the store before the roads get too slick. I sat on my motorcycle letting it fully warm up before taking off down the road as the snow began to fall. 

People were hustling and bustling today as the snow fell. What I would kill to go play in the winter wonderland. Back home it was always a tad too warm in the winters so when it did snow it was a big deal, but here I've seen enough of it to be almost sick of the frozen slush even if the little kid in me screamed to build a snowman.

The door dinged as Dexter walked in right on time for his 7:50 am hot chocolate. He brushed off the snow that piled onto his jacket at the door before walking up to the empty line. 

"Man, that snow is coming down." He said to Jerry. "By the way, the answer is the letter m." Dexter shot a wink at me and I blushed. 

Jerry whispered something I couldn't hear back to him before sending his cup my way. And Dexter whispered back too. Since when did those two know each other? 

"Matty, when do you get out of class today?" Dexter asked as I poured the steaming milk into the cup. 

"Two. Why?" I responded adding the whipped cream and chocolate chips on top. 

"Great!" His face lit up with a smile. "I'll meet you at your bike after your last class." He winked as he took the cup and walked away. 

When I left StarTwix with my cup of cocoa, the snow fall slowed to a nice drizzle. I smiled as I made it to my bike. I wiped off the piled up snow with gloved hands before taking the tarp off it and stuffing it in the hidden compartment under the seat. 

Tied to the left handlebar was a pink rose with a note attached to it. The rose had gotten a bit squished but I didn't care, it's the thought that counts. 

The note was just a folded up drawing of a heart with an arrow drawn through it. Or more like barely through it; almost like it was just attempting to break the skin of the heart. 

I started my bike, letting it warm up as I twirled the rose in my hand. A smile danced brightly on my face. He gave me a rose in the middle of December. 

Good thing I have three classes and a lunch break to kill the time or else I might be worrying about what I’m wearing. Crap! I  glanced down at what I’m wearing; dark washed jeans, a plain long-sleeved green shirt with my black winter coat over it, and black winter boots. I really hope this is fine.

*~*~*~*

A smile took a snail walk onto my face as I left the boring science class and into the outside winter wonderland. The snow had stopped, leaving a fresh blanket on the ground. I really hoped Dexter could find my bike in this weather since I'm not the only one who tarps their motorcycles and more than one parking lot.

When I neared the square parking lot where I parked, I saw someone leaning against a light pole. The person looked bundled up in a dark colored winter coat and something small but purple twirling in their hand. 

My smile grew wider. "Hey, Dexter."

He looked up from the purple flower and beamed at me.

"Rapun- I mean, Mat-." He spluttered out in some incoherentness, then made an audible sigh and his cheeks turned red. 

"Dex," I said placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Slow down. It's just me." I let go of his shoulder to push my glasses up. 

"Matilda, I got you a rose." He held the purple flower out to me and I smiled up at him. 

"It's beautiful." I said looking at the delicate purple rose. 

"Yeah, it sure is." Then he mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'and enchanting too'.

I just smiled when I caught him staring at my face and asked, "So, where should we go?"

"Oh that. I found this amazing place that you should see, but it's a surprise. So, can I drive your motorcycle?"

I felt taken aback. Not by the surprise place, but that he wants to drive my precious motorcycle. 

“Matty, please?” I was debating. On the one hand, I get to be the one to hold onto him, on the other it’s my bike, no one but me has driven it. But there’s also the thing that Jerry said about giving Dex a ride on the bike. And on that same hand I get to be the one to hold onto him, smiling to my heart’s content since he can’t see me. “Matilda? What do you say?”

My free hand was already in my jacket’s pocket toying with the keys. The cool fake glass of my little frog keychain felt heavier than usual like it didn’t want to be in someone else’s hands. Dexter was looking at me with pleading eyes, about to go all puppy-eyed on me. I gripped the frog a bit tighter before I pulled it out masking it and letting my three color coded keys hang below. “Well lets not wait for the snow to melt.”

Dex took my keys and followed me to my tarp covered motorcycle; his skateboard was peeking over his shoulder from the top of his backpack. It was my turn to twirl the rose. “A frog keychain?”

“Yeah, my mom gave it to me when I was nine from some carnival we went to. It’s just one of my cherished memories.” I shrugged my shoulders lightly; my whole backstory can wait, the time doesn’t seem right for him to know all the details. Not that it’s like some shady drug dealing kind of backstory but more of a sad but sweet sorrow kind of story. “But enough about that,” I said when we stopped at my bike. “What we need to decide is who’s getting the only helmet.”

“Actually we don’t.” He pulled his backpack around, setting it on the lightly snow covered ground. “I have one of my own.” He pulled out this regular helmet like a little kid would wear with a regular bicycle, although this one is shaped different. “It’s my skateboarding helmet, and I want you to wear it.”

“How’d you fit all that in the bag?”

“I’m a master at Tetris.” He smirked and handed the helmet to me and I took it. The helmet was a simple black color shaped similar to a baseball helmet, lightweight too. Dex pulled the tarp off my bike before putting the obvious green key in the ignition. I lifted the seat to pull out my helmet from the hidden compartment and Dex put the tarp in its place.  

“It’ll be easier if we switched backpacks, Matty.” I handed him my messenger bag and he gave me his bulky bag with a skateboard. He placed my helmet on his head and got on my bike. My heart raced at the sight. He flipped the visor on the helmet so I could see his face. “Well hop on already!”

I smiled and placed his skating helmet on my head before sitting in place behind him. My arms wrapped around his waist tightly, since I’m usually the one steering. I can’t believe I’m actually trusting him with this. He revved the engine before taking off.

Dex drove my motorcycle with ease on every turn. I was a little preoccupied with the fact that my arms were wrapped around his torso, my head leaning on his back. My eyes closed on their own accord so the vibrant white of the surrounding frosty dreamland disappeared and I breathed in on the moment at hand. And all too soon, well like ten minutes or so, Dexter had parked my bike on this one road that looped around.

“Where are we?” I asked as I reluctantly got off of the bike and looked at the surrounding frosty trees.

“Longfellow Park. This is the best parking spot for where we’re going.”

“Which is?” Instead of answering my question he just covered my bike up and stuff before grabbing my hand pulling me to the sidewalk at the end of the road. He was able to stuff his skateboard helmet in the compartment too.

We switched back our bags and walked. I teased him throughout the whole way asking ‘Are we there yet?’, just to see if he would crack. Each time he would just respond with ‘nope’ and we would fall silent again until I asked again. About the twentieth time I asked and passed countless of trees and houses he finally changed his answer.

“Ladies first.” He gestured to this red door on a blue two story house on the corner of Willard and Mount Auburn Street. It looked like an ordinary house, so what’s so special about it?

We walked up to it and he held the door for me as I stepped in, warm air hitting my cold cheeks. There was a small kitchen to my right along with a bar. To my left was a room filled with shelves and ice skates. In front of me was a large spacious room with just two benches placed by the fireplace. The second floor was a wrap-around balcony draped with lights. In the middle of the spacious room were two sets of old chandeliers, the kind with light bulbs in a circle on a wooden board. The floors had this red carpet and the walls were made of wood with multiple windows on both sides. The head of a deer was mounted above one of the front windows. The place gave off more of a cabin feel than a house.

“Go get yourself a pair of skates,” he said pointing to the room behind me. “I’ll sign us in.”

In the room with the skates there were three bookshelves, two black one red, each one labeled with the shoe size. Only one set was for visitors, the red one. I grabbed a pair of white shoes out of the cubby for size 7 ½ and walked out.

“So why is it so empty here, Dexter?” I asked coming out into the open area.

“I reserved the hour for us. We get the whole rink to ourselves.” He smiled before going into the room I just came out of, his backpack no longer on him.

I sat on one of the benches by the fireplace; its firewood was almost burned out. I looked around the room admiring the woodworking, my hands messed with the strap of my messenger bag; the skates were sitting next to me. Up in the corner opposite of the kitchen area there was a second doorway to the room with bookshelves, but that wasn’t what I was looking at. Up on the top was something green hanging down from the balcony.

“Ready to go?” Dex asked coming out of the doorway I was looking at, his pair of skates in his hands.

“Yeah, but where do I put my bag?” I stood up, slinging the strap off.

“I’ll take care of it.” He held out a hand and I gave him my bag. “Go out one of those doors and put on your skates. I’ll be out in a moment.” He pointed to these red doors that stood next to each other with a space in-between.

Skates in hand, I went to the right door and pulled it open. A blast of cold air hit me but I didn’t care; the arctic paradise I wanted had arrived.

I practically skipped down the steps of the decked porch, leaving my skates forgotten on a bench. I had to stop on the last step of the stairs; the ice rink began there. I had this huge urge to make snow angels and now I couldn’t even get to a patch of snow big enough for me. The garden of snow sat on the far outer bank of the rink. I scooped up a bit of the fluffy white stuff that settled on the rail of the stairs and made a snowball. The cold and wet seeped through my gloves as I pondered where to throw it.

“There you are, Matty. Why don’t you have your skates on?” Dexter said behind me, not knowing the weapon in my hand. Target acquired. I turned around and tossed the snowball, aiming at his chest. It went a bit higher, barely hitting his left shoulder. My almost satisfied smirk disappeared with Dexter’s own smirk appearing. “It’s on Rapunzel.”

He came down the stairs so fast I almost missed when he took the plastic guard off the bottom of his skates. Then the ground disappeared from my feet and I was in Dexter’s arms bridal style. I had let out a surprised squeak, which only gave Dex a bigger smirk.

“What happened to skating?” I asked as Dex glided across the rink with ease.

“That went out the window when you declared a snowball fight.”

“But this is all ice. We need ground with snow.”

“Ah, but there’s a perfect spot right over... Here.” He put me down at the far end of the rink, my snow boot clad feet sinking into the snow. As soon as his warm hands left me, he took off back down the rink.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I shouted through my cupped hands as he left me stranded on the bank of snow. He disappeared into the building again but came back out quickly, skating back over to me. He had my skates and his boots in his hands. Dex sat down on the snow and took his skates off putting his other shoes on. Oh so this is what he's doing, I thought and smirked. Game on, Dex. Game on.

I darted over to a tree and gathered up some ammo, before tossing the snowball in Dex's position on the edge of the bank. I hit him in the side. He turned and I hid back behind the tree. When I looked back where Dex was he was gone. A cold chill hit my back. 

Dex was behind me, lightly bouncing another snowball in his hand. 

Our little game went back and forth, us laughing the whole time. This might be the most fun I've had since attending Harvard two years ago. School and work had been my main priority and my social life got stuck on the back burner, simmering to a crisp.

I ran darting to another tree. “Look out!” shouted Dex. His body slammed into me, causing both of us to fall to the snowy ground.

“Why am I always falling for you?” I asked looking up to him. His body hovered like a shield above me.

“Must be my impeccable charm.” He smiled wide. Both of us staring at each other, my heart racing to the moon. This is it, the drum roll. The moment leading up to the kiss.

I heard a word almost a whisper, “Kiss.” 

He leaned in closer to me on the ground; there wasn’t much room for me to move except up.

I heard it again. “Kiss.”

Inches between us and then…

“Do you hear that?" We both asked simultaneously. I guess I wasn't going crazy by hearing things. A snowball hit Dex square on the cheek, parts of snow hitting me too. We both turned in the direction it came from.

Out on the ice stood five kids. One of them, a boy, held another snowball. 

"You going to lay there and freeze or come out on the ice?" the little boy asked. He was probably no older than eight. 

Dex chuckled lightly and I joined in with my own set of giggles. He got up off me and held out a hand. "Shall we, Matty?"

"Of course." He pulled me up a tad too hard and I bumped into his chest. "You did that on purpose didn't you?"

He just smiled, put an arm around my shoulder and steered me to our discarded ice skates. After lacing up, Dex helped me to my feet, where I teetered lightly trying to balance, and failing.

"Have you ever ice skated before?" Dex asked as I practically had a death grip on his arms. 

"No, maybe a bit of rollerblading, but this is cool." I said looking around at the ice rink. More kids had come out onto the ice. Some mid-teens played hockey in the back corner while the majority of girls were out in the open free skating. 

"So the person with the coolest motorcycle on campus can't even balance on a pair of skates," he teased lightly pulling me further out onto the ice. "You just got to get the hang of it." He stayed skating backwards as he pulled me forward. 

Soon, Dex was able to skate next to me as we held hands, making laps around the rink. I still teetered now and then, but I was getting the gist of it. Not to mention how nervous I felt when his hand was in mine. I had stuck it on the back burner in my mind until he gave my hand a squeeze or pulled me gently in a direction.  Then my heart would skip a beat and the process started all over again. 

Before I knew it the sun had started to dip and lights hanging around the rink turned on. I smiled at the magical touch it gave off, but then I shivered with the breeze. The cold seeped through my clothes and I realized that we have been outside for far too long.  Judging by how frozen my nose and cheeks feel, my face is probably really pink, or plain out red. 

Dex's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Let's go get warmed up." I nodded in return; his face had turned a bright red especially his nose. We probably both look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. 

We sat down on a bench up on the porch after he helped me balance up the steps in my skates and switched to our previous shoes. When Dex opened the door for me to walk in, I had to force myself to step out of the doorway. 

Besides the sound going up a few decibels, the room had gained two long tables and practically every seat was filled with adults; some little kids too young to skate ran around playing tag.  

We managed to squeeze over to the second entrance to the shoe room to put away our skates. 

"Hot cocoa?" he asked leading me back into the crowded room. I nodded in response and he walked over to the bar leaving me by myself in the corner. 

"Hey Dex!" I shouted after him and he stopped to look at me. "Whipped cream instead of marshmallows." His lip quirked up on one side and gave me a thumbs up before turning back around. I leaned against the corner in the wall and crossed my arms as I waited trying to warm up some. That's like the fourth time Dex has walked away; am I missing something here? He came back a moment later; his eyes had drifted upwards above my head briefly and a smile crept eerily across his face. 

"What?" I asked when he stood directly in front of me. He pointed upwards.

"You're standing under the mistletoe." His smile was contagious when I saw the culprit above me. 

"That I am." He got a tad closer to me and gently set his hand to cup the side of my face. We looked into each other's eyes briefly before both of ours shut when the distance was shorter. 

The moment was perfect, well almost perfect since I got shoved into the wall, ripped from Dexter's grasp before our lips met. A little girl in a green winter dress had ran between us followed by a little boy in a similar green outfit but with pants who was chasing her like a game of tag.  We were both watching the adorable duo in the room next to us that a bell ringing had made us jump.

 

"Guess that's our hot cocoa," Dex said hooking a thumb behind him, he had a light smile across his face. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to a small table semi-secluded in the opposite corner pulling out a chair for me. I smiled up at him and then he disappeared again only to return with the drinks. The steaming cup warmed my fingers up more than they already were from being inside. 

"So where are you from Matty?" Oh good, we're going to keep the conversation alive with twenty questions, not that I'm complaining too much. 

"Atlanta, Georgia. How about you?" I asked him back before taking a sip. I could feel the warm liquid warming me up already. 

"Really?" I nodded lightly. "I wouldn't have guessed you were from there. I'm from Baltimore, Maryland."

"I would have guessed New York but Maryland is cool too."

"I'd have to take you to see their science center."

"And I- um - The World of Coca-Cola?" I don't think there was any mathematic centers in Atlanta. He chuckled lightly.

"I wouldn't mind a Falcons game," he smiled. Professional football, should have known. "If they were playing against the Baltimore Ravens." He joked lightly. 

It went on like this until we realized it was getting too late. We were in the middle of debating which Legend of Zelda video game was the best. We gave our empty mugs back to the bar, got our bags and left. 

I pulled up to my apartment, cutting the noise from my bike. Dexter hopped off before me. We had switched places so I had driven back to my place and he held onto me. Inside my stomach was having a party with butterflies and on the outside I was trying to keep composure even if my face gave everything away with smiling and blushing.

"You sure you didn't want me to drop you off at your place?" I asked after taking my helmet off. He helped me place the tarp back on my bike for the night. 

"Yeah, I'm actually nearby here. I recognize this street. I always go by it in the mornings to class. Although your bike was never there."

"Really? We've gone by each other without realizing it." 

"Yeah, such a small world."

Silence ensued both of us. The wind ruffled up our hair and I shivered.

"I had fun today, Dex. We should do this again sometime."

He grinned wide with little dimples forming. 

"It was fun until we realized what time it was." He held my hand, the touch warm under our gloves. 

"Don't remind me. Back to the world of homework." 

He laughed lightly, the sound music to my ears, something I got to hear all afternoon. 

After all that fun we had, and bonded so well from skating, we were standing on the sidewalk in front of the stairs to my front door. The awkwardness radiated everywhere just like at the table, like both of us were unsure of what to do except hold hands.

This is it, the goodbye. It's going to be different than the others. 

He took the first move getting closer. His face inching nearer to mine, butterflies deciding to party even more in my stomach. 

Just before his lips could touch mine, I hiccupped. He chuckled. 

"Just had to ruin the moment." He kissed my cheek before I could hiccup again. "See you around Matilda." 

We smiled at each other and another hiccup bubbled out of me. He drifted away still holding my hand until we were out of each other’s grasp. 

"See you around Dexter." I waved and he waved back. Then he took his skateboard in hand and took a light jog before jumping onto the board and turning down the corner out of sight. My hand was already on the cheek he kissed. 

I sighed in content and then walked up my stairs to start on my homework and have a light dinner. 

A few hours later, going on eleven pm, I got a text just as I was getting ready for bed. 

'Sweet Dreams, Matty. -Dex.'

I smiled, the butterflies starting their party again as I crawled under my comforter. My cat jumped onto my bed with me and snuggled close. 

I texted him back before drifting off to sleep.

'And the hiccups strike again. Night Dex.'

Author's Note

I am such a tease! ;) How'd you like their 'date'?