As Cold As Ice // Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 2

"Good Morning Charlie, did you sleep well?" Charlie comes walking into the kitchen, looking like he'd already taken a shower and got ready for school. I on the other hand still look like I just fell out of bed. The only thing different to any other day is that I'm not in my PJs anymore because that would have felt really weird. "Yeah I did, thanks Amanda." I can tell calling my mum by her first name makes him feel a little uncomfortable. "Have a seat." Mum gestures at the seat next to me so Charlie sits down.

"I made pancakes. I hope you like them. Coffee?" He nods a little shyly and my mum places a few pancakes on his plate. Meanwhile my dad grabs a cup, fills it with coffee and sets it down infront of him. I feel like he's getting more and more uncomfortable so I lean closer to him and whisper "Don't worry, they treat me the exact same. It's like in their heads I'm still a baby and can't do things myself." A small smile builds on Charlie's lips and I think a little of the discomfort leaves him as he reaches for the maple sirup.

"Are you trying to drown them?" I gesture at the poor pancakes that are currently trying to soak up the loads of maple sirup. Charlie just casually shrugs his shoulders. "It's really good." I look down at my blueberry topped nutella pancakes and I can't really imagine his are better than mine. Admittedly, my parents eat them with maple Sirup instead of nutella too and they always give me a hard time about eating them differently but they don't use close to as much maple sirup as Charlie did.

He cuts off a small piece and holds it infront of my mouth. "Just try it." It's not like I've never tried pancakes with maple sirup before... I'm just not a big fan. I open my mouth anyways and try his version. The whole time I'm chewing Charlie is watching me carefully. The intensity of his gaze makes me a little dizzy so I take my time chewing to calm down my pulse a little.

"I mean it's ok but..." His eyes widen a little. "Stop right there, I don't wanna hear it." I can't help but start laughing. Is he seriously being dramatic about this? I guess it's only fair if he tries my version so I skewer a blueberry and cut of a piece of pancake. Holding it up to his mouth he shakes his head almost unnoticeably. "Omg come on! I tried yours!" He shakes his head once again, a smirk forming on his lips.

I don't move the fork away from his mouth, patiently waiting for him to take the bite. Eventually he gives up and opens his mouth. Now it's my turn to watch him carefully. Once he's done he says "Ok fine, it's kinda good." A triumphant smile forms on my lips. I can hear my parents giggle next to us. My cheeks start to blush immediately.

I completely forgot they are here. I look down at my pancakes, focussing on them and them only, not looking up for once until I'm finished eating them. "I'm gonna get ready for school." I turn to Charlie, looking at him again for the first time. "We leave in 20." Without waiting for his response I jump up and head back to my room.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable Mia." I keep my eyes fixed on the street. "You didn't." It's true. It wasn't his fault. It's probably the one thing that annoys me a lot about my parents, they never know when to disappear. I mean, why did they have to keep standing there, watching us eat breakfast? Don't they have anything better to do? But then again, maybe they just didn't feel comfortable with their daughter being alone with a stranger.

"I kinda feel like I did." I glance over at Charlie, a reassuring smile on my lips. "You didn't. If anyone made me feel uncomfortable it was my parents." Charlie doesn't say anything else but I'm not sure if he's convinced. "So... should we skip first period and head to the rink?" In the corner of my eyes I can see his widen. "Seriously?" It's not like it would be a first.

As long as you keep your grades up and don't do it too often teachers don't mind the skaters skip a class here and there. My grades are always good and I have Sarah to tell me what I missed. She isn't skating so she is always at class. It's funny. She my closest friend, at school and out of school, yet her and I are completely different.

"It's not a big deal. So?" I glance over at Charlie once again. The way he looks at me makes me swallow real hard. "Didn't paint you as the bad girl type." He says that with a smirk and, oh dear, he looks damn attractive. I try my best to sound casual as I say "Well, guess you'll have to find out."

As I pull into the schools parking lot I look over at Charlie. Without me having to say it he knows what I want. "Alright fine. Let's do this." I immediately like him even more. I shoot Sarah a quick text so she knows not to worry and then we head down to the ice rink. There is truly no better way to start a Monday morning than in here.

This is definitely my favorite place in the world. I push myself off the barrier and glide over the ice for a little, waiting for Charlie. He steps onto the ice only shortly after, catching up with me quite quickly. We do a few rounds in silence. It's nice. Whenever we have practice everyone is so focussed on themselves but now it's like we're focussing on each other.