Through Glass(4)

Firecracker.

It’s what he called me every time he wanted to dig underneath my skin, letting loose the temper I always tried so hard to keep hidden. Only he could do that, irritatingly enough.

“No,” I gasped, caught between laughing and screaming at him. I could already feel my temper bubbling uncomfortably.

“Yes,” he said, his dark eyes looking over at me for a fraction of a second before darting back to the canvas in front of him. “And I’m putting you in a green dress…”

“No!” I shrieked, my head spinning as my pulse quickened.

“Red hair, green dress…” Cohen continued, he wasn’t even paying any attention to me, which only made my temper bubble more. I wanted to laugh. I begged myself to calm down, but seeing that wicked smirk on his face did not help at all.

“I’ll look like a leprechaun,” I hissed, my hands automatically moving to ball up more paper. Darn him for being so far away from me; he deserved a good slug in the arm. Why did he always do this to me?

“Okay, firecracker, you tell me when you finally grow above five feet and I will paint you in grey not green.”

“I’m five-four, Cohen!” My temper finally hit its boiling point and I shrieked, my voice ringing in the stifling summer air that surrounded us.

“Chill, Lex.” Cohen’s voice lowered from his dark teasing to the calm that could only be found after the red-headed storm he had brewed showed up. “It’s not you. It’s just a landscape.”

He waited, but I couldn’t find anything to say. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I was still waiting for my temper to settle down and I was afraid I would say something I would regret. While my face didn’t feel quite as hot, I definitely wasn’t in any state to be sharing calm, cohesive thoughts.

Cohen only smiled. He had known since the eighth grade of his control over my oh-so-carefully-guarded temper. It was probably the same time he started calling me firecracker and tomato and gables; nicknames that heated my blood for more than one reason. Although, I was sure, one was more of a rejoicing for his attention than anything else.

“I just need another piece for my show this weekend.” He brought my thoughts back to the present and the bright red paint that still clung to his paintbrush.

Cohen had started showing his work a few years ago and I, along with everyone else he knew, had been prohibited from attending. The only reason I had known he had begun to show his pieces was because I had poked it out of him. Literally poked jabs to his side while he tried not to laugh. Why he hadn’t run away from me, though, I wasn’t quite so sure.

“Another one?” I asked, my anger at him melting away.

“Yeah. I was thinking of putting this one in, but I think I will keep it.”

I barely heard him, my mind was already buzzing around the perfect opportunity he had presented me with. I had been barred from those shows for years, but now, now I would secure my invitation.

“Can I come?” I asked, leaning toward him precariously.

Cohen froze, a grin stretching across his face for a brief moment before it disappeared, his face relaxing. The smile had come and gone so quickly that I wasn’t sure I had actually seen it. His eyes narrowed at me. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” I repeated. That was the closest I had gotten to a solid yes in years. The last of my temper melted away as jittery excitement seeped into me. Cohen looked at me as he placed the brush down on his paint stained desk.

He stared into me with those dark eyes and my pulse quickened again. Get over it, Lex, he’s just your friend.

He smiled again and I couldn’t help returning it, even though my better logic screamed “friend-zone” at me from the back of my mind.

I had forgotten how much I had missed him. I forgot how much he had come to mean to me. Right then, I wanted to accept those feelings.

“Yeah, I think it may be time for you to see.”





All I was missing was freckles.

It was the same thought I had every time I looked at myself in the mirror. I had everything except freckles. I had the red hair that was too bright to be considered auburn, the fair skin that made me look like a porcelain doll and green eyes the color of old soda bottles. I had everything other than the freckles.

Of course, if I had the freckles, it would make the whole “Anne of Green Gables” look that much worse. Not like it wasn’t bad enough as it was. It was the only reason I had been glad when Cohen went to college; no daily reminders of my tomato red hair.

Firecracker.

Ugh.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror in my locker to make sure that everything was in place before grabbing my Mysteries of the Indies book and attempting to shove it into my bag.

This would have been much easier if I didn’t already have two other books in there. Whoever planned all of my classes on the side of the school opposite to my locker should be injured in some painful way. At least I only had a few weeks left.

“So, I was thinking,” Sarah began the second she leaned against the locker next to mine. “We should do a double. I’ll take Luke and you should invite Cohen.”

“I’m sorry?” I practically screeched at her in panic, the large book slipping from my hands to land on my sneakered foot.

“Cohen, your best friend, the boy you’ve been fawning over for the past eight years. He’s home from college. I know because I saw him at the McDonalds last night so don’t try to tell me otherwise.” She smiled and handed me the book while I closed the locker and threw my book bag over my shoulder. I would just have to carry the book. Why I needed to study mythology from India I had no idea.