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This song fits with the chapter.
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I watch the kid closely as he races his friend around the rink, and when I catch a glimpse of his face, my heart drops.
It's Landon.
If he's here, then that means . . . My eyes search frantically around the rink, and my heart squeezes when they find what they're looking for.
Hazel.
She looks gorgeous in her cream-colored coat and gloves, keeping a close eye on her brother. I don't know why I'm so happy to see her. Leaving my spot on the rink walls, I push past people on my way to the other side. When I finally reach her, it looks like she's about to leave her place too, standing up and pulling her hair to the side.
She turns around and our eyes meet. A small gasp escapes her lips, and as I tuck my hands into the pockets of my coat, I offer her a small smile. I step forward, moving into the space next to her.
"What are you doing here?" She asks, turning to fully face me.
"I could ask you the same thing," I say.
She glances at the rink. "I'm watching Landon. He wanted to come here with his friend from school for a playdate."
"How did you find a parent willing to drive their kid here on Thanksgiving?" I ask.
She shrugs. "Surprisingly, lots of people don't celebrate Thanksgiving because of the horrors the original day caused for their communities." She says. Then her gaze returns to mine. "But why are you out here? Aren't you supposed to be at Leah's?"
"Yeah . . ." I say.
"And wasn't your grandma supposed to come with your favorite dessert or something?"
My face falls and I look away to hide my discomfort. Once I feel my crestfallen expression is successfully hidden, I turn back to her with a weak smile on my face.
But she sees right through me. "What's wrong?"
It's as if just her caring voice made my throat close up, and my eyes moisten. Tearing my eyes away from hers, I blink away the tears. How embarrassing.
She's studying my face, and she reaches out to touch my arm. "I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?"
"No." I choke out. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all emotional."
She doesn't move her hand. "Emotional is good sometimes. What happened?"
I shake my head. "It's okay. It's not important."
"It is if it's making you cry."
I furrow my brows at her. "I'm not crying," I say. "Something just got in my eye."
"Almost cry, then." She says, raising her brows.
"My eyes are just naturally shiny." I deadpan.
Hazel gives me a brief look before turning back to the skate rink.
I turn as well, breathing a sigh. "No, my grandma didn't come. She met a guy somewhere and decided he was more important than spending time with her own grandchild."
"Aw, I'm sorry. That's not right," she says. "And you're close with her?"
I nod, explaining the whole shebang with my mother and why they are the way they are. Hazel listens intently during my storytelling, and her empathetic expressions are genuine.
"Sorry. I know I sound self-absorbed." I say.
Her brows furrow. "What? you don't sound self-absorbed at all."
I shake my head. "I'm selfishly ranting to you about my problems at home when I know you're in a worse situation."
Hazel purses her lips, flips her hair over her shoulder, and steps closer to me. "People don't rank problems by how bad you think they are. Your feelings are valid regardless of the situation."
I look at the rink, mulling over her words. Then I look at her, a smile tugging on the corner of my lips. "When did you get so smart?"
She just looks at me. "I've always been smart."
Someone slams against the rink walls, grabbing it for support. We look over the edge to be met with a panting Landon and a blonde boy around his height who skates in behind him.
Still breathing heavily, Landon looks up at us with wide eyes. "We're getting . . . out."
"Okay," Hazel says. "I'll meet you two by the entrance."
Following Hazel to the rink's open section where people come in and out, I catch myself staring at her as she talks to the boys. God, her voice is so sweetâdelicious, even. I think I'm hungry.
My stomach growls.
Landon and his friend awkwardly stomp on the groundâWalking on the pavement with ice skates is hard. Landon looks at me and grins, and I smile back.
"Casey!" He shouts. Before I know it, he's crashing into me. I think he tried to run, forgetting his compromised feet, and fell. But I catch him and he wraps his arms around me.
I glance at Hazel, and she's looking at us with a hand over her mouth, like she's trying not to laugh.
He pulls away.
"Hi, Landon. I missed you." I say.
"You didn't tell me Casey was coming!" He accuses, turning to Hazel.
She looks at me, then at him, smiling. "I didn't know she was."
I look at the second kid standing awkwardly next to him. "Is this your friend?" I ask, bending down to his eye level.
Landon nods eagerly. "This is Oliver."
The kid gives me a shy wave and then Landon begins an elaborate story about how good Oliver is at skating, and how he taught him to spin around and do other tricks.
I smile, nodding along with his story and adding in the occasional "Wow" and "That's cool".
We end up going to the hot chocolate stand I saw earlier. Landon and Oliver both got their cookies and ran to a picnic table.
Did you know there are different flavors of hot chocolate? The man behind the stand asked me what flavor I wanted, and I drew a blank.
"I'll have the caramel flavor." Hazel pipes in. I look at her. She smirks and points at the sign leaning against the stand.
I purse my lips. "I'll have the, uh, peppermint," I say.
The guy finishes making our drinks, and I take mine hungrily. I know just drinking it won't satisfy my hunger, so I purchase two cookies on the way to the table.
When I sit down, I immediately unwrap the first cookie. Hazel slides in next to me, and my heartbeat quickens. I had been expecting her to take the seat across from me, but I guess she had other plans. It's not like I haven't sat next to her before; this just feels different.
I'm overthinking this. It's not that big of a deal. Then why is my heart beating so fast?
"How's your hot cocoa?" I ask casually.
Pulling the steaming cup away from her mouth, she says, "Pretty good. How's your cookie?"
I grin. "Great."
Bringing my cup to my mouth, I take a sip of my drink, then immediately pull it away to inspect it.
"What?" Hazel asks.
"This is surprisingly amazing. Who knew peppermint-flavored hot cocoa could be so good?" I say.
"Can I try some?" Hazel says, eyeing the cup.
I hesitate.
No, we're friends. Friends share drinks, right? Of course they do. I share mine with Leah all the time. But that's Leah, and this is Hazel.
Don't make it weird, Casey.
"Sure," I say, and I hand her the cup.
I watch as she takes a sip, then mimics my movements and pulls the cup away, wide-eyed.
"You're right. It's really good," she says, handing the cup back to me.
I raise my eyebrow. "Better than yours?"
She smirks. "Never. Mine is superior."
"Hm." I hum. "Let me try some, and I'll judge."
Casey. What are you doing?!
She passes her cup to me. Picking it up, I bring it to my lips and close my eyes.
"Hey!" She says, after a long while of me just drinking her drink. "Don't drink all of it!"
Right as I pull it away from my lips, she snatches her drink out of my hand.
"Sorry. I got thirsty." I say, grinning.
She gives me a dirty look. Then her expression returns to normal, and she turns to me. "Mine was better, wasn't it?"
I blink. "Um, I forgot to check. Give me one more sip."
She pulls her cup closer to her as if scared I might steal it or something. Eyeing me, she says, "Heck no. You greedy little . . ."
"I have to go to the bathroom."
We both turn to the voice in front of us, and I'm surprised to see it's from Oliver. I think that's the first time I've heard that kid talk.
"Perfect." Hazel says. "So do I."
We throw away our trash, and not wanting to waste food, I pocket the second cookie that I didn't yet touch. After walking through the marketplace, we found a bathroom near the ice rink. I wait with Landon outside as Oliver and Hazel go into their separate bathrooms.
Turning to Landon, I ask, "So what happened since I last saw you?"
He had been staring off into the distance, and now he looks at me. "Hazel left too. Momma took care of me."
"Oh, really?"
He nods. "She always leaves when Momma comes."
We sit on a stone ledge near the bathrooms. "Is it because they don't get along?"
He nods again. "Yes. They always fight." Then Landon looks away and kicks his feet against the ledge. "I wish Hazel was my Momma."
My heart breaks again for this adorable, amazing little boy. "Hey, don't say that. Your Momma loves you." I say. My words probably aren't helping at all--Hazel is the master of that--but I continue. "And I'm sure she's trying to do better. You know, Hazel's a kid too, and she has to take care of herself sometimes."
He nods slowly, and doesn't say anything. In an attempt to lighten the mood, I reach into my pocket and pull out the cookie from earlier.
"Do you want some of my extra cookie?" I say, holding up the plastic wrap.
His eyes light up immediately. "Yes."
"Here." I break off about half of the cookie and hand it to him.
I bite into the cookie right as Hazel appears, holding up her phone. Oliver trails behind her, and Landon jumps up to meet him. Sliding off the ledge, I walk slowly to Hazel.
She looks at her phone. "You guys are too cute," she says.
I peer over her shoulder at what she's looking at, seeing me and Landon sitting side by side on the ledge, peacefully eating our halves of the cookie.
I snort. "You took a picture?"
"Yep. And it's getting posted," she says.
I shake my head. "You'd better not tag me. I look horrendous." I say.
"No, you don't." She says. "You look cute."
A smirk finds its way onto my face before I can stop it. Ignoring the fluttering feeling her statement caused in my chest, I say, "Fine. Tag me.
~~~
We continue to walk around the marketplace for half an hour before Oliver has to go home. It's almost like a mini-mall, and it's very pretty too.
Oliver's parents arrive and pick him up, then it's time for us to go. I slump onto a bench, and so do Landon and Hazel. The sky is turning from a milky blue to pinks and oranges, signifying the beginning of a sunset.
"I'm glad I ran into you guys today," I say. "I had fun."
Hazel nods. "Us too." She says. "I was preparing to be bored, and--"
"Heyyy." Landon says in an accusing tone, narrowing his eyes up at his sister.
Her lips form an embarrassed smile. "Well, not bored, but you had your friend, so . . ."
I laugh. "Anyway, I gotta go. Leah gave me a curfew." Standing up, I wave to them. "Bye, guys."
"Bye Casey!" Landon says.
~~~
I walk to my car with my hands in my pockets, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. My day had started horribly, but hanging out with Hazel made it ten times better.
Hazel makes everything better. I realize. And she's so beautiful too, and always smells so good, and--
Fuck. I think I like her.
A/N:
You should vote & comment for good luck on your final exams.
<3