In the Flames

“Nope, and I’m Liz.” she quickly put her list and pencil into her purse and zipped it up.
Liz put her purse over her shoulder as she stood up.
“Hey, do you wanna meet my friends?” Cole looked over at his friends as one of
them punched another.
“Uhh,” she really didn’t want to, but he was being so nice to her, “Sure!”
Cole hooked his arm around hers and lead her over to his group of friends, ‘Guys,
this is Liz, she’s new here.”
She smiled sweetly at them, “Hey guys,” Liz wondered why his arm was still
wrapped around hers, or why she felt her self slightly blushing.
“Cole , I see you have some new arm candy! Does Mindy know about her?” a big,
brown-haired guy asked as Cole slightly laughed.
A tall boy with glasses smiled at Liz, “Don’t mind Chris, he’s obsessed with
Mindy. I’m Sonny, nice to meet you Liz,” he said as Liz smiled at him.
“Ah! New blood! I’m Jon,” a broad-shouldered Hawaiian stuck out his hand and
Liz shook it.
“Last but not least, I’m Mark, but people just call me Moose! And he,” He
elbowed Jon, “Is my dorky twin.” Liz had to admit, they did look a lot alike.
“So ... What’s with the blue hair?” Jon smiled at her.
Just then the bell rang and Liz muttered, “Saved by the bell,” she then looked up
and said louder, “I’ll tell you another time.”
Until fifth hour Cole was introducing her to all these new people. As she was
walking with Cole down the hall to her fifth hour, he had offered to show her, she heard
someone yell out, “Hey Lex!” Liz quickly turned around and saw the back of a bald head
walking toward her. He looked to be just over six feet with broad shoulders. He suddenly
flipped around and ran right into Liz, Cole’s arm still around hers.
“Watch where you’re going Lex!” Cole growled, Liz could not believe it ... Cole
growled!
“Sorry, Cole, but I don’t think that I ran into you, nor do I owe you an apology!
So, where did you get the new wench from?” Lex smiled smugly at Liz, “Oh my, and she
has blue hair!”
Koga continued to growl at Lex, “She’s not a wench and she just moved here.”
Liz could tell she was already on Lex’s bad side, “What, did you get kicked out of
your old school?”
“No, I did not!” Liz glared at him.
“Oh, I see, you dropped out and wanted to start again, elsewhere?”
“NO! I did not drop out. In case you wanted to know, I was the class president, I
got all A’s and I ...” Liz was about to say that her family died and she was forced to move
here, but instead she said, “ I was forced to move here! The hell I didn’t want to!” Liz
swallowed and tried not to suddenly turn and run to a bathroom to cry, instead She turned
from Lex and pulled Cole with here in the direction they had been walking.
“Nice to meet you too!” Lex yelled after them, his arms in the air.
Cole looked at her, “Why the blurry eyes so suddenly?” He sounded concerned
“Nothing, it’s nothing.” She put on a fake smile and looked up at him, “I’ll tell you
another time.”
They had stopped at a doorway and Cole looked down at her, concern still on his
face, “I’ll meet you here after fifth hour?” Liz nodded and turn to go in the class, but Cole
garbed her arm. “Would you wanna come to my hockey game tonight?” Liz opened her
mouth, about to decline when Cole stooped her, “Please say yes.”
How could she refuse that, “Of couse I’ll go, give me the details at lunch?”
Cole nodded and smiled as he walked away. Liz walked into the class and
introduced herself to the teacher.
“Hey Blue!” a voice came from behind Liz as she was walking to an empty seat.
She turned around to see Lex and sighed some.
“You should be nice to me.” Liz smiled sweetly at Lex.
“Why?”
“Cause Allen said that I could ask you if I needed help with anything!”
“Oh he did, now did he,” He smiled at her as he lead her to the seat next to his and
softly pushed her into it, “You know I don’t always listen to Allen.” Lex then sat down in
the chair next to hers and put his boots on the black table, “Although, if you stop hangin’
with Wolfie I might decide to be nice.”
“Why do I have to stop,” Liz mocked his next words, “Hangin’ with Wolfie for
you to be nice to me?”
“Cause, the guy is a jerk. You do know that after tomorrow he’ll act like you
never existed. He goes through arm candy like no other,” Lex leaned over and looked Liz
right in the eyes, “Now, why would you be haning’ with a heartbreaker like that anyway?”
Liz backed away from him some, “Cause he was nice to me, unlike some people I
know,” She stood up and went to sit next to a girl with short brown hair.
Liz was so happy when the bell rang to let her go to lunch. According to the girl
next to her, who never shut up, they had the middle lunch so after they came back to the
same class. When she walked out of the class, there was Cole waiting for her. He looped
his arm around hers and walked off down a hall.
“So, did ya miss me?” He smiled at her.
“My world is now complete,” Liz responded as Cole laughed.
“Are you buying lunch or did you bring it?”
“I am buying!”
Cole lead her around a corner and down a small hallway, “Here is the line. I’ll wait
for you on the other side, I’m not buying.”
“But I am!” Mark walked up behind them, “I’ll show Blue what to do”
“Hey ... Moose,” Liz smiled at him and he smiled back, “I’m hungry, lets go.”
Soon they had gotten their lunches and Liz was following Moose to the table that
had Cole and a bunch of his friends sitting at it. She sat between Cole and Moose, feeling
a bit out of place. The table was full of hockey players and their girlfriends. Liz also didn’t
really feel welcome; only Moose, Jon, Chris, Sonny and Cole talked to her. Liz finally
gave up trying to make conversation with anyone else and she sat in silence, eating her
lunch. Only when she got up to throw away her trash did she realize that Cole’s arm had
been around her shoulders all lunch. Then again when she sat down his arm when around
her shoulder. Liz leaned against him some and put her head on his shoulder. From across
the table Jon shot her a goofy grin. The bell rang for sixth hour to start and Colelead her
off in a direction with Moose following them.
Cole laughed a little, “I think you have a stalker.”
“Who? Me? Never!” Moose sounded offended, “Although I am sad that you got to
her first Koga.”
Liz laughed softly, “There is plenty of me to go around!” she said as Cole steered
her into the class.
The rest of the school day was a blur. Liz got home and looked at the note that
Cole had given her before she got in her car. It said to meet him at the school at four and
he would give her a ride to the rink.
“Kik, I’m going to meet some friends after school,” Liz yelled down stairs as she
put her hair up in a messy bun.
Although it was Hawaii, she knew that the rink would be cold so she grabbed a
hoodie and threw it in the back of her car. She looked at the clock on her car, it read 3:30.
Liz went back inside the house and ate a quick snack. She wasn’t sure how late the game
would go, nor was she sure if they had food at the game.
Liz left the house at about ten to four and arrived at the school just at four. There
were about twenty cars in the parking lot. She recognized Moose standing next to one and
she pulled up beside it.
“Nice wheels,” Moose said as Liz got out of the car.
Liz laughed a little and leaned against the car, “Thanks, their new! Uhh, have you
seen Cole?”
“Don’t sweat it. He’s usually late. He, Jon and I usually take turns giving the
others a ride. Actually,” Moose knocked on the window of the black SUV and it rolled
down, “Are you done yet? Liz is here.”
Liz could hear Jon inside the car talking, “She’s here already?” At Moose’s nod
Jon replied, “All right. I’ll be out in a second.” The window rolled back up and the SUV
started to rock back and forth a little.
Liz raised an eyebrow and Moose smiled at her, “No girls in there. He’s just
changing.”
“Sure,” Liz joked.
“You wanna check? Although I think you’ll see more of Jon then you wanna see.
“No, I’m good.”
Soon Jon appeared, rolling down the window some, “Moose, can you untie this
knot in my skates laces?”
“Uh-huh,” Moose replied Jon opened the door to hand out the skates and he got
out. Just then a blue mustang squealed into the parking lot.
“Show off,” Moose muttered.