Gripping The Fire

Chapter 1

Mika Shore grabbed her backpack and ran to the door. Closing it behind her, she ran down the stairs, grabbed a poptart that was sitting on the kitchen table, and headed to the front door.

"Adrea! Come on! We're gonna be late for school!" she called as she took some headphones out of her backpack. She put them around her neck and let them just sit there. She then reached back into her backpack, hit the play button on her portable CD player, and the earphones around her neck began to play music by The Donnas.

Just then Adrea ran down the stairs. "Don't rush me!" she said irritatedly as she ran past Mika and into the kitchen. Adrea grabbed two pieces of hot and buttered toast and then grabbed the backpack that hung on one of the chairs. "We're leaving Mom!" Adrea yelled.

"Be there in a second!" their mother called from her office. Adrea looked over herself in the mirror that hung next to the door. She ran her fingers through her short brown hair and snickered at Mika. "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all," she told her.

"Uh! It's kinda hard when you're always reading my mind. Now get out of my head!" Mika yelled.

"Now Mikael... Don't yell at your sister," their mother said walking in.

"Don't call me Mikael!" Mika said irritatedly. Their mom rolled her eyes and then leaned forward and hugged Adrea.

"Have a nice day girls," she said and then turned to go back to her study. Mika watched her mother walk away, a hurt expression across her face.

"Yes... She does like me more than she likes you. Now let's go," Adrea said with a smirk. Mika's lip curled up in disgust as she turned around and stepped out of the house. She closed the door behind her and then got into Adrea's baby blue Dodge Neon. Adrea started the car and the radio began blasting. Mika reached forward and hit the off button.

"What the hell?! This is my car! Don't even think you can turn the radio off!" Adrea said. Adrea then hit the button again and the radio turned back on.

Mika put her earphones on her ears and tried to overpower Adrea's music with her own. 'Maybe if it's loud enough, she won't be able to read my mind...' she thought to herself.

Adrea suddenly laughed. "You think that can stop me?"

"Get out of my head! Don't you know what privacy is?!" Mika yelled, pulling her headphones off. "Thinking is the only way to have full privacy. No one knows what you're thinking but you. Why do you have to ruin that?!"

"Because I can and because it's fun," Adrea answered in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. Mika's lip curled up.

"Since you can just read my mind, there's no use in not saying things aloud. You disgust me. All you care about is yourself. Nothing else. Why can't you be a loving sister like all sisters are supposed to be?"

"Now that's not true. I care about my friends... And Kyle." Adrea smiled widely when she mentioned Kyle.

"I'm surprised you even have friends," Mika said under her breath.

"Guess what. The dance is coming up soon and my friends heard Kyle's going to ask someone to go with him today," Adrea said excitedly. She suddenly squealed with excitement.

Mika rolled her eyes. "He's a decent guy. He'll most likely ask not you."

Adrea glared at Mika for a second. "I'm getting tired of your mouth. Just shut up."

"Not much use in that Adrea. You're constantly reading my mind, remember?"

Adrea snickered at that comment and then went back to focusing on driving. The rest of the way to school, Mika continued to say things about Adrea in her mind, hoping Adrea was listening. It would definitely make Mika's day if she were able to completely piss off Adrea.

At lunch, Mika and her friends sat comfortably outside in the shade of a large tree. That was usually where they ate and generally hung out.

"We still on for the concert on Friday?" her friend Kaylie asked her.

"Most definitely. Why would I bail on you guys?" she replied. When her group suddenly went quiet, she looked around at her friends and raised an eyebrow. They were staring at something behind her. She turned around and saw someone standing there right behind her. She looked up and jumped unexpectedly when she saw it was Kyle.

"Um... Kyle... Hi. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm doing pretty good. How 'bout you?"

"I'm alright. I'm guessing you're looking for Adrea. She's most likely still sitting at her regular table in the cafeteria."

"Actually... I wanted to talk to you... Is that alright?" he asked a bit nervous.

"Um... Yeah..." She looked at her friends as she stood up and gave them a confused look. They just shrugged their shoulders and watched the two of them walk away.

They walked over to another large tree that was a little ways away from where her friends were and then stood there silently for a few seconds. Mika finally broke the silence.

"Ok this is a little awkward. Just tell me what you want to talk to me about," she said leaning against the tree. He took a nervous and deep breath and then finally started talking.

"Well I was wondering... would you... go to the dance with me?"

The air suddenly caught in her throat. Was he really asking her? "Seriously? I mean... This isn't some cruel joke like from 'She's All That" or something is it?" she asked.

"No! Of course not!" Kyle quickly said. "I really, seriously want you to go with me to the dance."

"But why? Why me? There's nothing special about me," she said pushing off of the tree. She walked around to the other side of the tree and he followed her.

"But there is!"

"No there isn't. And you barely know me for goodness sakes!"

Kyle paused and just looked at her for a second. He then looked straight into her eyes and began to speak. "You're pretty. You're smart. You don't take crap from nobody. You like who you are. You have a great sense of humor. And you have one of the most beautiful smiles I've seen."

Mika stared at Kyle speechless. This was definitely not what she expected. Kyle raised an eyebrow. "You ok?"

"No! This is all wrong! You're supposed to ask Adrea to the dance! Not me!" she said.

"Adrea? Why would I ask Adrea? I mean she's cute and all, but she's not exactly my type."

Mika was shocked. She couldn't believe he was asking her of all people to the dance. She just stood there looking at Kyle for a few seconds. She didn't know whether to accept or not. She wasn't sure if this was some cruel joke or for real.

She suddenly shook her head. "I can't accept this. I'm sorry." She turned to leave but he grabbed her wrist. She turned back and looked at him. Grabbing her other wrist, he pulled her to him and they looked eye to eye.

"Please come with me," he asked softly. Her emotionless expression faded and she nodded her head.

"Alright. I'll go with you."

Kyle smiled widely. "Thank you. You won't regret accepting. Oh and sit with me at lunch tomorrow ok?" He then leaned forward, kissed her cheek softly, and walked away. Mika brought her hand up to her cheek and watched him walk away.

She walked back over to her friends and they began teasing her about Kyle.

"You better hope Adrea doesn't kill you," one of her friends said. "It's a good thing she wasn't out here to see that kiss..."

But unknown to them, Adrea had seen the whole thing from inside. She turned away from the window, anger burning in her eyes. Her angry expression suddenly changed into an evil grin. "You'll pay..." she whispered. She then plastered a smile onto her face and went to meet her friends.