Snow; S.M.

14

Abrielle;

"But I want to take things slow, Shawn." I rest my hand on his muscular chest as I speak.

He nods and flashes his perfect smile at me. "Yeah, me too. I don't want to rush into anything if you aren't comfortable with it." I smile and he pulls me into his warm embrace.

This boy has got me going crazy...

"Alright. Wanna try to skate on your own?" I nod and slowly skate, barely picking my feet up off of the ice.

-

I rub my lips together to spread my lipstick before taking one last glance at my reflection in the mirror.

Shawn's supposed to arrive any minute to pick me up for dinner to meet his parents and his little sister.

I hear the doorbell ring and I quickly smooth my black dress, heart racing, as I leave my bathroom.

I get to the top of the stairs and see Shawn standing by the door next to my mom, dressed in a nice suit with a black tie. He smiles as he sees me and my mom continues talking to him.

"You two have fun!" "Thank you Mrs. Taylor. It was lovely meeting you," he shakes her hand and I smile as I take the last step down. "You too, Shawn. You're welcome over any time!" He smiles again before opening the front door.

"Ready?"

I nod and say a quick goodbye to my mom before leaving the house with Shawn.

We get in his jeep and head to the restaurant.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in so long," Shawn says as he turns out of our neighborhood. "I know! 4 days is such a long time," I joke while giggling. He playfully rolls his eyes at me and turns his attention back on the road.

I'm greeted with a hug from Shawn's mom and I smile at how friendly his family is.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Mendes. Hi Aaliyah!"

"Please, call me Karen!" I smile as I shake his dads warm hand. "Manny." "Nice to meet you, I'm Abrielle." "What a beautiful name," Karen says. I smile and thank her as I take a seat next to Shawn.

This is going rather well.

-

I take a small bite of my Fettuccini Alfredo and quickly wipe my mouth with the black cloth napkin.

"So you're from Honduras?" Karen asks as she gently sets her fork down on her plate. "Yes ma'am. I'm just over here for the school year and then I'm going back home." "Oh..."

There's a sudden shift in the energy in the room.

And not a positive shift.

Shawn grabs my hand under the table and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "So you're leaving after junior year?" "Yes. I'm going home for the summer and hopefully I'll be back for next year. I still haven't decided yet."

"I don't think that this is going to work, Shawn," his mom says as she sets her fork down and looks him directly in the eye.

"What isn't going to 'work'?" He asks, confused.

"You and Abrielle's little relationship."