The Ice Cream Shop

"Yeah..." She said with a small smile on her lips. "I was what you call an army brat... we moved too much for us to make friends." She said with a bigger smile on her face, and then she gave him a pair of confused eyes. "well... you can count me as a friend!" She said happily.

Carson beamed. "Great, then. And I haven't moved a lot, but my dad goes everywhere!" Carson smiled. glancing at his phone, he noticed the time. "My sister will panic and/or kill m if I don't get home. See you at school!" With that, Carson was off in a beat and happy as a clam.

The ice-cream shop was full of kids picking up something cold and sweet to enjoy while escaping the heat. Lena squeezed past the line keeping Tesanee close so she wouldn’t get lost, although she was sure Chepe was keeping a good eye on his little sister. Approaching the counter Lena scanned over the many flavors of ice-cream. She had brought enough money with her to treat the three of them for his birthday after all she was the one that dragged them all down there. “They all look so good! I don’t know which one to get!” She exclaimed, leaning slightly against Chepe to see which flavor caught his eye.

Chepe grinned at Lena, putting his arm around her without thinking. It just felt so natural to do it. He looked at all the different flavors. "Hmmm.......I'm not sure." he said. "What do you like?" he asked Lena. "I KNOW what Tes likes." he laughed. "My favorites are bubble gum, or mint chocolate chip." he scratched his head. "I'm not sure which to go with." he laughed. "I'll let you pick for me." he told Lena, his long black hair falling into his bright green eyes yet again.

Tesanee was bouncing on her heels. "MY favorite is Pistachio mixed with cookies and cream ice cream with strawberry syrup and marshmallow creme on it." She grinned. She wondered if Lena would laugh at her favorite flavor, or if she would get ill. She didn't tell people what she liked because of reactions she got.
Tesanee stayed a little way away from them. She really wanted to leave them to spend the day alone. Fortunately she had a plan for that.

Lena hadn’t missed the fact that Chepe had hooked an arm around her. Actually the moment he did a smile spread across her lips. The ice-cream shop was rather crowded and it felt as though Chepe was trying to keep her close, so that she wouldn’t get lost in the sea of people that were trying to get a peek over them at the many different flavors. Although she enjoyed the comforting feeling of being so close to Chepe the fact that Tesanee seemed to move further and further away from them made her a little nervous. She was young and Lena didn’t want to lose sight of her. Not everyone on the island were good trustful people…and if someone snatched the small girl up right under their noses Lena would never forgive herself.

“Oh! Mint Chocolate Chip!” Lena exclaimed -helping Chepe choose his ice-cream. She had leaned in close her soft voice right at his ear so that he could hear her over the giggly eccentric customers. Sliding passed a couple at the register Lena bent over both hands on her knees beside Tesanee. “That sounds absolutely scrumptious.” She said commenting on her choice of ice-cream mixture. “Will you let me try a bite? I might have to ge- ooof” As Lena was speaking a boy who looked the same age as her and Chepe pushed passed them without as much as an “excuse me” almost knocking Lena over into little Tesanee.

Chepe smiled at Lena. Looking over at Tesanee, he said "You need to stick with us okay?" Laughing at a couple people he saw goofing off he turned to Lena and Tesanee again. "Thanks for helping me pick" he grinned. "I never could have decided on my own." When the guy pushed past Lena and Tesanee, almost knocking Lena in to his sister, he didn't think. He quickly moved up behind the guy and grabbed his arm, glaring at him angrily. Chepe had an intimidating look on his face, which was usually all he had to do. "You just shoved a lady who is special to me," he said, "And almost hurt my sister too." He dragged the guy back to Lena and Tesanee. "Apologize to both her and my sister now." he said, in a soft, dangerous voice.

Grinning, Tesanee said, "sure! I don't mind letting you try it." She laughed. "Chepe hates trying my combinations."
When the guy shoved past them Tesanee was shaken up. "That was mean." she mumbled under her breath.

The boy pulled away from Chepe glaring at him. It seemed as though he might have been sizing him up deciding it wouldn’t be smart to pick a fight with him. Turning to the two girls he mumbled an apology before disappearing out the door, quickly creating as much distance as possible between him and Chepe.

Lena giggled nudging Chepe playfully in the side. “You’re cute when you’re mad.” She whispered so his sister wouldn’t overhear. Grabbing Tesanee’s hand Lena approached the register letting her order her odd mixture first. After paying and getting their ice-cream, she knew they wouldn’t be able to find a table in the crowded shop and opted for the umbrella covered tables outside the mall.

Chepe blushed slightly. "No one was going to push you and get away with it." he said, smiling at her. "I couldn't have lived with myself if I had allowed him to not tell you he was sorry." Chepe shook his hair out of his eyes. "People like that really annoy me." He looked at her and smiled. "you look great today."
Tesanee was bouncing around excited about going outside to eat. She always felt uncomfortable in crowded places.
After getting their ice cream, Chepe slipped his arm around Lena again as they headed outside. Once they found a table Chepe, dropped his arm from her waist, to pull out a chair for Lena to sit. He smiled at her, his long hair covering one eye completely and partially covering the other, the slight breeze blowing the rest of his hair around him.

Tesanee plopped down in one of the seats, "Here!" she said "Taste it!" she handed her ice cream to Lena. "It's REALLY good." she said happily. her hair didn't fall in her eyes as Chepe's always did. Chepe made sure her bangs were always short enough to stay just out of her eyes. In fact when Tesanee looked over at him she saw it was hanging in his eyes yet again. She grinned at him, but she could tell he didn't see her since all his attention was centered on Lena. She thought her brother was cute. It was the first time he'd gotten this way over any girl. Tesanee decided Lena must be really important to him. Tesanee knew Chepe had told her that he knew Lena before their family had moved, but she couldn't remember her. She looked at her, thinking she would like to see her brother this happy all the time. She generally was the one who his protective streak was directed toward, but inside the shop, she'd been a little surprised that he was so protective of Lena as well. She hoped that Lena liked him as much as he seemed to like her...the last thing he needed was another Mina.

“Thanks,” Lena said taking a seat in the chair Chepe had pulled out for her. He wasn’t the little boy she used to run with anymore. He had become such a gentleman…which honestly was hard to come by on the Island. The girl that let him slip through her fingers was really missing out…

Leaning over the table towards Tesanee –as she held out her ice concoction- Lena took a small bite. She was always willing to try something at least once. The flavors melted in her mouth and a first it was definitely a strange mix…but surprisingly it wasn’t bad. Lena could defiantly see why it had become Tesanee’s favorite. It was good, although not something she that would order for herself. Smiling she licked her lips glancing at Chepe a hint of mischief in her smile, “That was actually really good Tes. Could I have another bite?” As Tes held her ice-cream out this time Lena scooped a little off the top onto her finger. Before Chepe could even register what she had been doing Lena turned brushing his hair out of his eyes getting him on the side of the face with the extra sticky ice-cream in the process. “Well I think that is more effective then cutting it!” She exclaimed playfully, falling back into her chair laughing at the colorful glob on the side of his face.

Chepe laughed and scooped up a huge blob of his own ice cream, wiping it across her cheek, laughing. "There!" He grinned. "Green looks good with your hair." He said, giving her a wink. The ice cream was all over Lena's cheek. He sat down, in the chair beside Lena's, after putting his guitar down beside him. "You actually like that flavor of ice cream??" he asked her. He thought she was cute with the ice cream all over her cheek.

Lena mustered up her most shocked expression looking at Chepe as if she couldn’t believe her just did that. The whole time she was having difficulty holding in her laughter. Getting up from her seat she leaned over him reaching for a napkin, “You know Chepe. Green’s not really my color….I think it suits you much better.” Grabbing his face she wiped her cheek against his smearing mess of melting goo all over the cheek. “Oh look! It definitely looks much better on you!” She said pleased with herself as she wiped her own cheek with the napkin. Her attention was immediately taken away from him as her own flavored ice-cream began to drip down her arm melting in the hot sun. “Oh no!” Bringing her hand up she tried to lick the mess off her arm before it dripped any further.

Chepe grinned as he grabbed his own napkin and wiped the ice cream off his cheek. As Lena was trying to lick the melted liquid off her arm, he reached up with his own and wiped a line of the sticky ice cream from her cheek, to her chin down her neck. Grinning he looked up at her, green eyes smiling. Chepe leaned up, put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her down at the same time and kissed her quickly on her lips. He smeared ice cream in the hair at the back of her head with his other hand, still playing unfair at the ice cream war. His hair had fallen in his eyes, the melted ice cream having lost it's grip on his hair, leaving smears of the ice cream on his face. He leaned back,away from her grinning. He wondered how surprised she'd be at him doing that.

Tesanee got up. "Be right back guys" she said, heading off. "I have to use the bathroom." She was gone in seconds.

It was hard to take Lena by surprise, but Chepe had done just that. The moment his lips touched her own she had forgotten completely about the ice-cream war. His lips were much softer than she expected but he pulled away before she could react. He had stolen a kiss from her. No boy had ever managed that…blinking at him a rare blush colored her cheeks Lena scratched the back of her wet head...wait….wet? Lena’s eyes widened. That little sneak! Not only did he steal a kiss from her but he used it as a cover to get her with the sticky gooey ice-cream, and in her hair no less. “I can’t believe you did that!” She accused, the ice-cream on her face hiding the majority of her blush. She was impressed although she wasn’t fond of losing the ice-cream war, but seeing as her there was nothing left but liquid sweetness covering mostly herself she would have to throw in the white flag for now. “It’s your birthday, so I’ll let you win.” She laughed tossing what was left of her melted treat. “So, should we get out of here and go clean up?”

Chepe laughed, wiping his sticky hands on a napkin. "We can go once Tes comes back." he said. "You okay?" He asked. "You look a little shocked." his sticky hair was still dripping ice cream.

Tesanee came back from the bathroom. "I'm back." she said, smiling. "What's going on? You two are COVERED in ice cream!"

“Yeah! No worries I’m okay. Just plotting!” She smirked winking at him as Tesanee came back from her trip to the little girls room shocked at the state they were both in. “The ice-cream melted faster than we could eat it, but we were going to head out and clean up! Are you ready?” As she spoke she used the napkins to clean up the best she could. Throwing them away she nodded her head in the direction of the car.

Chepe stood up, carefully slipping his arms through his guitar bag's straps. in a way to avoid touching it with his sticky hands. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands off and was back quickly. He pulled Tesanee to her feet, then turning back to Lena, he pulled her chair out for her again, so she could get up. He thought again how cute Lena looked all covered in ice cream. He wondered how she planned to clean herself up.



https://raiisland.forumotion.com/t35-harbor-docks-chepe-s-birthday

Tesanee was standing where Chepe had pulled her up. "Yes, I'm ready." She said. "You guys DO need to get cleaned up."