Gripping The Fire

Chapter 4

Mika stared blankly at the open math book that sat on her bed in front of her. Her mind had gone blank when she began trying to figure out how to solve these algebra questions.

"[12+(2squared x 32)-(7/2)]x3 equals what?" Kyle said. He was sitting next to her on her bed. She slowly looked up at him from her book and shook her head.

"No idea," she answered.

Kyle laughed and began explaining how to solve it. "Ok the answer is 409.5," he concluded. Mika raised an eyebrow and looked down at the problem again, trying to see in her mind how that was the answer. Her face suddenly lightened with understanding. "Oh... Ok. I get it now," she said. "See... I told you I'm terrible at math."

"Not math. Just algebra in particular," Kyle corrected. Mika started laughing.

"So you're saying I really am terrible at it huh?" she asked.

Kyle smiled and then laughed. He hadn't realized that what he said had implied she really was bad at math. "Yes. You are the worst person at algebra than I've ever seen," he said sarcastically.

"Uh! Hey!" Mika said playfully pushing his shoulder.

"You know I'm just playing," he said placing one of her pillows behind him. He leaned back on the pillow and watched Mika as she began to work on the next problem. She then looked over at him and smiled.

"What?" he asked curiously. Mika looked back down at her book.

"How about we... take a little break..." she said closing her math book, "have a little snack, watch some cartoons, and then work on this." She looked back over at him, a smile still across her face. A smile made it's way to Kyle's face.

"Sounds good to me! Let's go and get some food!"

They jumped off the bed and headed to her door. "First person to the kitchen chooses the cartoon!" Mika said and began running. Kyle quickly ran after her and tried to beat her by jumping over two stairs at a time. Even though this allowed him to catch up to her, he didn't win.

"No fair! You got a head start!" Kyle told her.

"Well too bad," she said sarcastically with a smile. She opened the fridge and the first thing she saw was a huge batch of red and juicy strawberries. "Well here's our perfect snack," she said pulling the strawberries out. She put a bunch in a large bowl, and then poured sugar in another bowl and grabbed a tub of cool whip. Kyle grabbed some napkins and followed her up the stairs to her room.

They both plopped down on her bed and Mika reached for the TV remote. She turned on the TV and checked the menu to see what was on. "Oh my gosh! Batman's on!" she said turning it to the station that was showing Batman the series.

"Batman rocks," Kyle said excitedly.

"You bet he does!" Mika said turning up the volume. She then grabbed a strawberry out of the bowl and dipped it in the sugar. She took a big bite of it and then rooted for Batman as he began kicking some villain butt. "Go Batman! You kick their butts!" she cheered.

Kyle began laughing. "That's great!" he told her. "You're so hilarious! I love it!"

Mika laughed. "Well you gotta cheer Batman on! 'Cause if you don't he'll find you and kick your butt for not cheering for him," Mika told him. "Believe me. He's found me before. 'Cept he didn't kick my butt... He just lectured me."

Kyle looked down at Mika and smiled. "You are such a rare and unique person Mika. I didn't realize how special you are until now."

Mika looked down, embarrassed by what he said, and blushed. "Is that special like Special Ed or is that special like one-of-a-kind?" she asked. Kyle couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so crazy. I love your sense of humor. And that's special as in one-of-a-kind. I haven't met anyone like you before." He paused for a second and they looked into each other's eyes. They slowly began to tilt their heads to the side and leaned closer to each other. "You're so... Oh what's the word?" He thought for a second. "Unreal..."

"Is that... a good thing?" Mika asked barely above a whisper as she looked back and forth between his eyes and lips.

"It's a very good thing..." Kyle answered. Then they kissed softly, yet passionately.

Mika took a deep breath when their lips left each other's, and Kyle licked his lips while a smile tickled the corners of his lips. "Why don't we... skip the cartoon, skip the strawberries and whipped cream... and go straight for the sugar?"

Mika raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "You don't mean this sugar do you?" she asked holding up the bowl of sugar. Kyle laughed.

"No... Not that sugar."

"I had a feeling you didn't mean..." Mika was suddenly cut off from Kyle's lips touching hers. As Kyle continued to kiss her, he reached out to take the bowl of sugar from her and then carefully set it on the sidetable that was by her bed.

Mika was thoroughly enjoying Kyle's company. She loved the attention he gave her and she loved how he made her feel. She had never felt this way before. It was such a foreign feeling. She wanted it to go away, but then she wanted it to stay. He made her feel special, worth being alive and being who she was. He liked her for her, for the way she was, and he didn't seem to want her to change, which was perfect because she didn't want to change and she was definitely not changing herself for anyone. For the first time in a long time, she felt content. She was happy with how things were working out and she didn't want anything to change.

Kyle put his hands around Mika's waist and gently pulled her onto his lap. Mika placed one of her hands on his chest and her other hand ran through the hair on the back of his head. Kyle suddenly pulled her closer to him, and then his lips slowly kissed their way down to her neck. Mika took a deep breath as she looked up and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on her neck. She closed her eyes again when he moved and began kissing her shoulder.

His hands suddenly, yet slowly, began to push up her shirt. Mika realized this when his hands touched her stomach, as this spot was a bit of a ticklish spot. She didn't twitch, however. She opened her eyes quickly and wondered how far Kyle was expecting them to go. She, for sure, wasn't going to go passed kissing. She tried to think of the best thing to do and say in order for them to stick with only kissing.

Suddenly, the bowl of strawberries fell off the bed and spilt all over the floor. Mika and Kyle quickly jumped to pick them up. As they were picking them up, Adrea came into the room.

"You're in so much trouble when Mom finds out you got strawberries on the floor," she told Mika. "Oh and Mom called and said to vacuum, clean the kitchen, and make dinner tonight. She wants it all done before she gets home."

Mika's jaw dropped. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"No, I'm not."

Mika sighed irritatedly and then looked at Kyle. "Sorry but I guess you gotta leave sooner than I thought..." she told him.

"Aight. That's ok,' he said as he picked up the last few strawberries and dropped them in the bowl.

They stood up and Mika was sure to put the bowls on the table, a solid surface where it couldn't topple over easily. Kyle grabbed his backpack and Mika followed him out and down the stairs to the front door.

"Thanks for helping me with my math, Kyle," she said opening the door for him.

"You're very welcome. You can ask me for help anytime. I'd be happy to come over and help you again," he said with a wink. Mika smiled knowingly and raised an eyebrow.

"Well I guarantee I'll be asking for help again," she assured him.

Kyle smiled and leaned forward. They kissed again for a few seconds and then Kyle turned and left.

After Mika closed the door, she turned around and glared at Adrea, who was standing at the top of the stairs watching her. Mika glared at her with disgust as she walked up the stairs and stopped for a second right in front of Adrea. She then gave her somewhat of a nasty look and then continued on her way back to her room.

Adrea followed her and leaned against the doorframe. She watched Mika as she began to pick up her books and straighten out her bed.

"It's too bad that bowl of strawberries fell, isn't it?" Adrea asked with a smirk. Mika stopped what she was doing and looked at her.

"I know you made that bowl fall Adrea. Don't try to deny it. We were no where near it. We didn't touch it and the mattress was hardly moving. It did not just fall over on it's own."

Adrea gave her a matter-of-fact smile and shrugged. "I don't deny it."

Mika rolled her eyes and sighed irritatedly. "I know you did it with the soul intention of ending our little 'study session,' but I just want to thank you for doing that," Mika suddenly said. Adrea's eyebrows shot up with surprise.

"What?!"

"That's right. It distracted him from trying to get in my pants, and I thank you for that because I'm not ready for that type of relationship. So thanks!" Mika smiled fakely at her. "Now go out!"

Adrea's jaw dropped and she turned around and walked away. As she turned around, she used her telekinetic power and slammed Mika's door shut.

That was it. Adrea had had it. She was not going to let her little sister get the guy she wanted. She stomped down the stairs and stopped short in her tracks when she went into the living room. Her eyes seemed to fire up with anger and rage as she glared at a small picture of Mika that sat on one of the light stands. Her plan began to form in her mind. She grinned mischievously, with a drop of evil. "Just wait Mikael Bradley Shore... You will pay," Adrea said quietly. She then turned and began to walk into the kitchen, her mischievous grin still across her face.