Free Snowed in Together by Ann Herrick

she wanted too.
    When Ellyce turned her attention back to the eggs, I leaned close and puckered my lips. Even from inches away, I knew I was zeroing in on a perfect landing on her gorgeous mouth.
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    "Hi, guys. Whatcha doin'?" It was Tiffany. Tony, Jeff and Cari followed her into the kitchen.
    My mouth froze in mid-pucker. To deactivate my lips, I licked them back to a neutral position.
    "Oh. Uh. Nothing. Nothing's up," I babbled. Man, I cooked alone with a girl for a few minutes and right away I started hallucinating about kissing her. I dipped a ladle into the hot chocolate, poured some into a cup and handed it to Tiffany. "Try this."
    Tiffany took the cup, peered inside, sniffed, then looked at me with suspicion. "Like, what is this, exactly?"
    "Just try it," I said. "Don't you trust me?"
    "You do seem to be the cub-scout type." Tiffany hesitated, then cautiously took a sip. "Mmm, hot chocolate. It's good!"
    Tony grabbed a cup and thrust it at me. "I could use some of that."
    "Me too," Jeff said. He held out two cups, and after I filled them, handed one to Cari.
    After everyone oohed and aahed over the hot chocolate and pronounced it fit to drink, Ellyce said, "Where are Ms. Tenray and Mr. Korman?"
    "They're both feeling pretty stiff and sore," Jeff said. "They asked if we'd bring back something for them to eat."
    "I think we should all eat in the art room." Cari blinked nervously. "Just in case more tree branches come crashing down."
    "Good idea," I said. "We can put everything onto a couple of carts and roll it down there."
    It was kind of chaotic with six of us "helping," but we loaded the food, plates and tableware onto two carts and took it back to the art room. Ellyce and I brought a couple of plates of eggs and two mugs of hot chocolate over to Korman and Tenray.
    "How're you feeling?" I asked, as I handed a plate to Korman.
    "My shoulder is pretty sore," he said. "But I'll survive."
    "Can you manage eating with your arm in the sling?" Ellyce asked. "I could help, if you need it."
    "If he needs any help, I'm here." Ms. Tenray radiated a smile in Korman's direction.
    "Oh. Okay," Ellyce said. "Holler if you need anything."
    As Ellyce and I went back to the student side of the room, she whispered, "I kinda felt as if we were intruding."
    "Yeah," I whispered back. "I think they vant to be alone."
    Ellyce put her hand over her mouth to smother a giggle.
    "What's all the whispering and giggling about?" Tiffany said. "Or shouldn't I ask?"
    Ellyce's eyebrows drew together as though she was in deep concentration. She smiled mischievously and said, "You shouldn't ask."
    Tiffany looked as if she'd explode from curiosity, but she didn't say anything. I wondered if I'd sparked that impish side of Ellyce, or if it'd always been there and I just hadn't known. I was fantasizing about discovering all kinds of facets of Ellyce's personality, when there was a low rumble in the direction of the ceiling.
    "Uh, oh," Tony said.
    "On, no." Cari bit her lip. "What if the ceiling caves in from all the snow?"
    "Don't worry," Jeff said. "The school roof was designed to hold up to five feet of snow."
    He was so quick to announce that statistic that I knew he was just making it up. But I noticed everyone relaxed, so maybe it was a good thing.
    Then the lights flickered.
    Tiffany grabbed Tony's arm. "What if the lights go out again?"
    "I'll protect you from the big, bad wolf," Tony joked.
    Tiffany didn't laugh. For the first time all day, she looked worried.
    Fortunately, the lights stopped flickering. Ellyce and I loaded up a couple plates of eggs and mugs of hot chocolate and tried to enjoy our food.
    There was an eerie silence. I guess no one felt like talking. Maybe it was because we knew that once the eggs and hot chocolate were gone, all we had were Tiffany's mints and cheese curls. Or maybe we were worried that the roof really would cave in. Whatever the reason, we were awfully quiet. It was actually starting to