Sparks Fly

Ellie burst out the door of her last class for the day. She pulled out my phone, glancing at the clock before tossing it into the passenger seat of her car. The time read 2:57pm as she backed her car out of its parking space, hitting the gas hard. She had half an hour.

3:28pm. She easily found a parking spot outside the elementary school her little sister attended. She let out a long exhale just before the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.

“Ellie!” She heard a tiny voice cry.

“Hey, Sophie, how are you?” Ellie's little sister reached up to grab her hand and smiled, swinging their hands back and forth.

“It was okay. We learned some shapes and colors today,” Sophie replied. She pointed to Ellie's shirt, a soft royal blue. “Blue's my favorite.” Ellie nodded, lifting Sophie into the car and buckling her in.

“Hey, blue's my favorite color too," Ellie replied with a soft smile. "Maybe we can do some coloring when we get home and you can show me your favorite shapes, too." Sophie nodded in agreement, and they were on their way.

There was the same note when they got home as there had been when they'd left.

'Pizza in the freezer. Love you' from mom and dad.

Ellie and Sophie's parents worked full time in the city, so they left by 6am and were rarely back by 9pm. By then, Sophie was already in bed, and Ellie was too busy with homework to say much more than 'hello'. Sophie had been born when Ellie was already fifteen, so she was more than capable of caring for her baby sister by then.

Ellie popped a DVD in, Sophie's favorite: Beauty and the Beast. They knew every song, and every word.

“Hey Ellie?” Sophie asked, turning from the picture she was coloring shades of blue to look at Ellie.

“Yeah, Soph?” Ellie glanced up from her homework with a small smile.

“How come they're all so mean to the Beast?” Ellie sighed, looking over at the TV. Gaston was rallying together a mob to kill the Beast.

“They don't understand him. Gaston loves Belle, so he thinks getting rid of the Beast will force her to love him. They hate the Beast because they think he's scary, when they don't know him at all.” Sophie pouted, sucking on a juice box.

“I would be his friend.” She coughed, taking another sip of the juice box to calm her throat. Ellie looked at her phone - one hour until Sophie's skating lesson. “Everybody needs friends.”

“I agree. Now let's get you ready for skating, okay?”

“No, the best part is next!” Ellie rolled my eyes, letting Sophie watch as the furniture attacked everyone. She giggled all the way upstairs, going to change into her skating outfit.

“Don't forget a jacket!” Ellie yelled up the stairs. Sophie returned ten minutes later to Ellie sniffling over the Beast's transformation. Sophie giggled again.

“You always cry.”

“Yeah, cause it's romantic. Come on, let's get in the car.” Ellie turned off the TV, then followed Sophie up the stairs and out the front door.

Sophie had a skating lesson every day after school, for a whole two hours. Ellie thought it was a little strenuous for a six year old. Their mom thought that it would be good for Sophie to get involved in some kind of sport. Fine, as long as Ellie wasn't the one paying for new skates and uniforms, she thought.

Ellie helped Sophie lace her skates, then turned her over to the instructor. Watching as her class took the ice, Ellie moved to the (somewhat) heated bleachers. She tugged her hoodie down over her hands, shivering and digging out her homework. She waved hello to the usual parents, then started a particularly difficult problem set.

“Excuse me” Ellie flicked her eyes up to see a guy standing in front of her, his head tilted sideways. He was cute - warm brown eyes, short black hair. And a hockey duffle slung over his shoulder.

“Yes...?”

“Um, is this yours?” he held Ellie's phone in his outstretched hand.

“Yeah, I thought” she looked down next to her, where she thought her phone had been. “Did you just take it or something?”

“No!” he replied, flustered, placing the phone down next to Ellie slowly. “Sorry, it was by the backpacks on the floor. I was going to ask around to see whose it was, and you're the first person I asked. So I guess it's a good thing it's yours, cause somebody could have said it was theirs. And then that would've been stealing. And I wouldn't want to sort of be an accomplice to a something like that.” He snapped his mouth shut, realizing that he'd been rambling. Ellie quirked an eyebrow. “I play hockey on the guy's team here. Do you skate?”

“Not at all. I flail around and fall on my face is what I do.” He laughed, and Ellie couldn't help but to smile. He had an infectious sort of laugh. “Uh, thanks for bringing my phone back...”

“Carlos” he offered, sitting about a foot away from Ellie experimentally. “My name is Carlos.” Ellie rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Well, Carlos, it's nice to meet you. I'm Ellie.” Carlos broke into a wide smile, which Ellie found herself matching easily. Subconsciously (because it's cold up there, obviously), they both scooted a little closer on the bench.