Mint to Be

Chapter Fifteen: Dinner

Aiden stared at me with the same cold look in his eyes, and I could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves, until finally he burst.

"That's it!" He shouted. "Arm wrestle!"

I did a double take.

"What?"

Of all the things I thought he'd might say, this was definitely not one of them.

"You heard me," He responded, putting his arm on the table. "Now."

I screwed up my face. "Is this how men solve their problems nowadays?"

"I'm waiting."

"Fine," I said, placing my arm on the table. Then, when they were side by side, I noticed just how much bigger his arm was than mine.

I mean, my arm was really muscular, but his was really muscular.

Well, I hope my family mourns me.

He counted, "And a five, six, seven, eigh-"

"What is this, a dance number?" I interrupted. "I'll do it. Three- two- one- ZERO!"

And we went at it.

The force of his arm hit me hard, but my arm was all muscle, and I held him off.

Our arms were both shaking with strain, but neither of us were getting anywhere.

"Getting tired?" He asked me.

I snorted, "Yeah, of your attitude!"

And then his force increased dramatically. Our hands went down a couple inches in his favor, and we stayed there, both of us nearly sweating.

Then, just my luck, his arm got too close to the edge of the table and slipped off, letting go of my hands and falling forward.

I looked at my hand. "Does this mean I win by default?"

"No," He said as Cate said yes.

They then looked over and glared at each other while a satisfied smile planted itself on my face. I'll take what I can get.

"So, Caroline," Miles began, putting his chin in his hands and staring at me.

I looked behind me to see who he was talking to, and then realized that that was me.

"Yes?" I asked innocently.

"Got quite the appetite, don't you?" He asked.

"No," I said, "That was just a snack. I'll probably get something else later," I added just to annoy Aiden.

It worked. His nostrils flared.

"Cate, how have you been," Garret asked, sipping his water.

"Moody, blatant, salty, and a bit poetic," She responded, folding her napkin. "So the usual. Want to hear my new poem?"

"Cate thinks she's good at poetry," Aiden whispered to me.

"Here's my haiku;
Long days filled with pain.
No escape from this torment. Everyone hates me." She finished, and smiled. "That one was called School."

Wow! That was good!

We all clapped politely, and Adeline gasped in delight.

"What a great idea! Let's all go around and say a Haiku!"

Cole squealed, "That sounds fun!"

Then they both held hands and squealed.

Adeline grinned. "I'll go first. Sunshine and rainbows. I think everyone is nice. Except for meanies."