“You guys look ridiculous,” I said with a laugh. “It’s only a hill. We’re not skiing in the Rocky Mountains.”
Ben and J crossed their arms over their chests—at least the best they could manage in all their layers.
“We’re going snowboarding,” Ben explained, and I let out a small snort.
“Is that all?”
“Are you inviting your boy-toy to come along?” J asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Josh emerged from behind me, glaring at his friends.
“You guys look like you’re ready to climb Mount Everest. We’re sledding, for crying out loud.”
“We’re ready for extreme snowboarding!” J and Ben said together. David shrugged nonchalantly.
“Is Rachel coming too?” I asked David. He slid a hand through his hair and shook his head.
“I told her she could come. I think she and her brothers are doing their own thing. I’ll go over there later.”
“Oh,” I replied.
“Is Micah coming?” J asked again. As I was about to answer, Micah’s black Grand Am pulled carefully into our driveway. He parked the car and lifted a hand to us in greeting.
“I guess that makes us ready to go!” Ben said with a grin. “I’ll get the boards out of the car.” Ben didn’t wait for anyone else to help him. He skipped down the walk path as Micah headed toward us.
“It’s a great day for some snow fun!” Micah announced.
“You can say that again,” J said with a chuckle. Micah took the time to notice J and David’s apparel and grinned.
“Wow, you came prepared, huh?” He shoved his hands into his pockets and gave a small nod in Josh’s direction.
So, this was how my day would be—surrounded by boys. With a reluctant sigh, I turned back into the house and grabbed my winter jacket and slipped on an extra pair of thick socks to keep my feet warm. Josh waited until I had my boots on and my jacket zippered to close and lock the door. The six of us crossed the road and trampled through the farmer’s field, dragging our snowboards and sleds behind us.
Micah held out his free hand for me as we approached the steep hill, hauling my long purple sled with his other. I took his hand and walked with him as we climbed. Ben and J were the first to reach the top of the hill and clicked their boots into place on their snowboards. Josh and David were close behind. Micah steadied the purple sled in front of me.
“It makes more sense if you’re in front. You’re lighter.” He gestured with a gloved hand to the bow. Carefully, I straddled the sled and took a seat. I slid my hands into the snow, keeping the sled secure until Micah clambered on behind me. I enjoyed being so close to him, feeling the warmth from his body around me.
“All right, captain! Let’s go!” Micah pushed with his hands against the ground, moving the sled to the edge of the hill. We quickly began to slide down the crystal-white snow. The sudden drop made my stomach twist and I squeezed my eyes shut as I let out a laugh. As the sled came to a stop at the bottom of the slope, Micah jumped up and helped me to stand. His cheeks were pink. I lifted my hand to adjust his hat on his head, tugging it down over his ears. He grinned and leaned to press a soft kiss against my cheek.
“Thanks.”
“Get a room,” Ben teased as he swept past us on his board.
“Not sure Josh would approve,” Micah replied and winked at me as he held out his hand. Instead, I raced up the hill, leaving Micah to follow with the sled.
“Beat you to the top!” I shouted over my shoulder.
“Cheater!” Micah called after me. David and Josh glided down the hill beside us, stirring up a spray of snow from their boards. As I reached the top, I turned and watched Micah narrow his eyes at me playfully.
“Next time, you’re pulling this thing up yourself,” he panted.
“Aw, sour sport,” I cooed. He laid the sled down again and held it as I climbed on. He followed suit, adjusting his legs so that I would fit between his comfortably. My mind began to race as I thought about just how close I was to him…how close our bodies were to each other.
“Ready?” Micah asked, keeping his hands firmly on the ground to keep us from sliding too soon.
“R-ready,” I replied, letting out a puff of air. I was glad it was so cold; he wouldn’t notice just how pink my cheeks really were. He pushed us off, giving us the momentum to go downhill with a steady speed. I tightened my grip on his legs, clinging to him as we slid down, and let out a breath once we reached the bottom.
Hours seemed to fly by as we spent our day on the hill. Our group raced each other until we finally decided to call it quits; our fingers and toes were wet and cold.
“I’m pretty sure Mom has a box of hot chocolate in the cupboard,” I mentioned as we began to walk back across the cornfield. Ben and J wrinkled their noses and shook their heads.
“I think we’re going to pass. I’d rather get into dry clothes,” Ben said. Ben, J, and David all crawled into Josh’s Jeep Cherokee once we arrived back home.
“Aren’t you going to change first?” I asked Josh as I peered into his driver’s side window. He shook his head and gestured to the back of the Jeep.
“I have clothes. I can change into them at Ben’s house,” Josh replied as he lifted his hand. “Tell Mom and Dad I’ll be back later.” As he pulled away, J and Ben waved at me from the back seat. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and waving back.
Micah stopped at his own car, grabbing his gym bag.
“I came prepared,” he said as he followed me inside the house. He turned toward the bathroom, down the hall to change. I peeled off my jacket and wandered up to my room, tugging my cold, wet clothes off as I went. After I changed into a heavy navy sweatshirt with a pair of gray sweats, I strolled back to the kitchen. Hot chocolate sounded too good to pass up. I was just about to put the saucepan of water onto the burner when Micah came out of the bathroom, rolling the sleeves of his red-and-black checkered shirt up to his elbows. As my gaze wandered the length of him, I smirked at the sight of his grey socks. They looked thick and warm.
“Whatcha doing there?” he asked. I lifted up a few white packets of hot chocolate.
“Making the hot chocolate I was talking about,” I said, leaning back against the kitchen counter. Micah came to stand in front of me and the stove, glancing at the water in the pan.
“You’re totally doing it wrong. You should make it with milk.”
I wrinkled my nose and shook my head as a small “Yuck” emerged.
“What do you mean, ‘yuck’? How do you think all those fancy places make it?”
“I don’t buy hot chocolate at fancy places,” I said.
Micah grinned as he lifted the pot and dumped the water into the sink.
“Figures.”
He helped himself to the fridge, pulling out our carton of milk and poured a bit of it into the saucepan. I pushed myself up to sit on the counter and watch.
“I’ll teach you how to make the best hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted, and you’ll never put water in the mix again,” he said. He waited for the milk to begin to bubble. Then Micah poured the chocolate packets into the saucepan and stirred it until it was creamy and smelled heavenly. I handed him two mugs, and he carefully poured the contents into them.
“Cheers, to you,” he said, clinking his mug against mine. I lifted the mug to my lips and took a sip of the hot brew. He watched me closely, waiting for my reaction. He was right; it was the best-tasting hot chocolate I’d ever had.
“Good, right?” Micah put his mug down on the counter. He took the saucepan off the stove and began to wash it in the sink.
“It is!” I glanced at the cup and then slowly at him. I hadn’t ever imagined Micah to be the type to cook…to know how to make sweet, special things. I took another sip, savoring the sweet mixture. “Thank you, Micah,” I murmured. Micah nodded as he put the pan on the drying rack a
nd lifted his mug again to take another sip.
“At least I’m good for something.” He winked. “Right?”
“You’re good for a lot of things,” I said, holding my mug between my palms. Micah rested his mug on the counter beside my thigh and peered at me. He braced his arms against the counter on either side of my legs.
“As long as you think so.”
I nodded as I kept my gaze glued to his. “I do.”
“Dusk Till Dawn (Feat. Sia)”
Zayn
JENNIFER: So what did you and Micah get into today? ;)
I laid back in my bed, lifting my phone over my face as I read Jennifer’s text message. Micah had spent the rest of the day with me. After trying to convince Micah to watch the Hallmark Holiday Channel movies for almost an hour, we somehow settled on studying for our vocab quiz for Mrs. Tenner instead.
“We already know how they’re going to end,” Micah said as I clicked the TV off.
“Oh?” I asked, feigning surprise.
“Yeah, the guy is always Santa or a prince. She’s always some barista or nanny, and they’re going to fall in love over hot chocolate and presents, and he’ll propose to her in the snow on Christmas morning.”
Rolling my eyes, I patted the spot beside me. “Well then, Ms. Cleo, since you’re oh-so-accurate, we should put those skills to better use. I can already predict Mrs. Tenner is giving us a test sooner, rather than later.”
Micah groaned. Just as my parents got home from work, Micah decided to leave, wanting to avoid driving in the snow after dark.
CHARLIE: We went sledding today. Hung out afterwards.
CHARLIE: I got him to watch the best of Hallmark.
JENNIFER: oooo lala!
JENNIFER: Did you have fun?
CHARLIE: Yeah! I’d say we did.
JENNIFER: I’m so jelly of you two.
JENNIFER: You guys are just too cute together
CHARLIE: You think so?
JENNIFER: OMG Yes!
JENNIFER: I ship you two hard!!
CHARLIE: I do really like him.
JENNIFER: No duh! I mean, I knew that long before you did.
That was only partly true. I had known I had feelings for Micah, but I didn’t want to get hurt. Samantha Walters had taken advantage of me when she had found out about a boy I liked in seventh grade. It had taken a lot for me to learn to not only trust Micah, but myself. It wasn’t until I met Micah that I realized I didn’t need to care about what others thought of me.
JENNIFER: It’s a good thing you like him.
JENNIFER: I mean, you are his girlfriend!
CHARLIE: Yeah, I guess, LOL
JENNIFER: Do you think he likes you back just as much?
Micah’s feelings sometimes stumped me. I knew Micah liked me, but I didn’t know just how much. Was I just a girl that he kinda-sorta liked? Did he…love me? And whatever his feelings were, did he have certain expectations from me? If he did, he hadn’t mentioned those yet. Would he ever?
CHARLIE: Idk. I guess I hope he does.
JENNIFER: I think he does, if that means anything.
JENNIFER: He’s very attentive.
JENNIFER: Have either one of you used the L-word yet?
The L-word. Love. It was probably a bit too soon for that. While I was falling for Micah harder and harder with each passing day, I wasn’t sure if Micah actually felt that strongly about me. Was he even capable of expressing what he did feel, with the word…love?
CHARLIE: The L-word? Really Jen?
JENNIFER: Yes, really!
CHARLIE: I think it’s a little too soon for that.
CHARLIE: We’ve only been dating for a few weeks!
JENNIFER: So you and Micah haven’t said ‘I love you’ yet?!?!
CHARLIE: NO! Of course not
JENNIFER: Come on, Charlie!
JENNIFER: He’s your boyfriend! Lay claim on him gurl!!
CHARLIE: I already did claim him. We’re dating!
JENNIFER: Well, I say that you should tell him the L-word.
CHARLIE: maybe when the time is right…
CHARLIE: But that's not right now.
I let out an exasperated sigh. What was the big deal anyway? We had only just started dating and people our age did not say “I love you.” Not unless they were dating for a long time and were really serious about each other. But…Micah and I were really serious, weren’t we?
CHARLIE: Enough about me. What did you do today?
CHARLIE: Stay out of trouble?
JENNIFER: The anime club and I hung out together
JENNIFER: We totally binge-watched Death Note.
JENNIFER: YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE IT CHAR!
Jennifer was always trying to get me to watch her anime shows. I had given into a few seasons of Inuyasha and Cowboy Bebop, and a few high-school love stories, but I didn’t really understand the hype.
CHARLIE: Sure. I’ll have to sometime.
CHARLIE: You and me.
CHARLIE: I’m going to bed, Jen. I’ll see you tomorrow
JENNIFER: Aw, alright.
JENNIFER: See you tomorrow, lover-girl ;)
I rolled my eyes at Jennifer’s sentiment as I pushed myself off my bed. I connected my phone to the charger and put it down on my nightstand. I didn’t have any new text messages from Micah, which was a little unusual. I assumed he must have gone to bed.
I climbed into bed and pulled the covers over my head. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I began to wonder, what would I say if Micah Jacobs ever told me he loved me? Would he stand there and wait for me to say something back? Would he just say it, and then act as though it hadn’t happened? Would I have enough time to react? Would he be offended if I didn’t say anything at all?
My hands started to feel clammy as I played several versions of the scenario in my mind, like a movie with alternate endings. I didn’t want to disappoint him. I didn’t want to disappoint myself either. As I closed my eyes, I hoped that when the time came—if it did—I’d be ready.
“Arms Open”
The Script
“I HATE PIEROGI DAY,” JENNIFER said, wrinkling her nose as she squished a pierogi underneath her fork. Rachel pulled out one of her chocolate peanut butter cups from the wrapper and handed it to Jennifer.
“The joys of bringing your own lunch,” Rachel replied. I unwrapped the plastic from my peanut butter sandwich I made for myself earlier that morning. Thankfully, Josh had glanced at the school lunch menu on the fridge before he’d left and had started to pack his lunch. We both hated pierogis.
I did my best to cut my sandwich in half and handed it to Jennifer with a sympathetic smile.
“It’s not much, but it’s something,” I said just as Micah took a seat beside me. He passed me a chocolate chip cookie from his tray and nudged me gently with his elbow.
“Pierogi day, huh, Jen?” he asked, amused as he gestured to his own plate.
“Apparently,” Jen huffed, biting into the sandwich half I gave her. Micah offered her the plastic container of fruit.
“You’re welcome to it.”
“Thanks,” Jennifer said, taking the cup in her hands.
“So, Thanksgiving is just around the corner,” Rachel began as she licked a bit of chocolate from her thumb, “and I was thinking that maybe we could all do something together.”
“I can’t cook,” Jennifer said, shaking her head. “No one in my house cooks. We do Thanksgiving at other people’s houses or at a restaurant.”
“Well, David and I were planning a pre-Thanksgiving get-together for the entire youth group. We were actually talking a bit about it yesterday on our day off. We could use some of the money we raised for the youth group and host a church-cooked meal the weekend before the holiday. We invited the entire congregation to come. It would be a terrific way to bring everyone together and hear a new lesson. Maybe we could all go.”
“I don’t do that sort of stuff,” Jennifer sighed. “You know this. It’s like…against my religion. A dance is one thing. Eating dinner with a church is another.”
While I glanced at Jennifer a bit puzzled, Rachel turned her attention to Micah and me.
“Would you guys go? I swear it’ll be fun. It’ll just be food and a bunch of amazing people. I really want you guys to come.”
“I mean, I don’t mind.” Micah shrugged as he turned his attention to me. “Do you want to go?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ve always had a good time with the youth group.”
The last time Rachel invited me out, it was to a dance she and the youth group hosted for veterans. I had asked Micah to go with me, and we actually had a lot of fun. I could still feel the warmth of his hands on my hips. Micah leaned to whisper in my ear.
“I think you just enjoyed stepping on my feet earlier.”
I felt my cheeks heat up.
“Oh, great!” Rachel said enthusiastically. “You sure you don’t want to go, Jen?”
The Songs We Remember: A Young Adult Romance (The Songs in Our Hearts Book 2) Page 2
