Chapter Five:Donuts And Dreams
720 Words
CHAPTER FIVE:DONUTS AND DREAMS
The car stopped in front of Ember's house.
She got out, still smiling.
Still holding the chocolate Wade gave her.
She didn’t eat it. She held it to her chest all night.
Staring at it in her hand.
“He gave me chocolate… wow,” she whispered to herself before slipping into her room.
---
Wade got home.
His dad sat in the chair, a glass of wine in his hand. Wade’s bag on the floor.
“I’m home,” Wade said. He picked up his bag and left.
His father looked at him.
Didn’t answer.
Just turned away.
---
The next morning.
Wade walked into school with marks on his face.
The door opened.
Silence.
Everyone stared. Whispers filled the room.
Ember saw him.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the classroom.
All the way to the empty field. Still holding his hand.
Then she stopped, breathing hard.
“What happened to your face?” she demanded, eyes on his bruises.
“You run fast,” he said. And smiled.
“I know. But you haven’t answered me. What happened?”
“It’s nothing serious.” He pulled his hand from hers and sat on a nearby chair.
“Nothing serious?!” She sat beside him. “Who did it, Wade?”
He looked at her. “Ember.”
“Yes?”
“What’s your dream?”
“To be an instructor,” she said instantly, smiling. “What about you, Wade?”
“Dream?”
“Yes. Everyone has one.”
“I don’t.” He looked down.
“You don’t have one?!” She nudged him. “Hey, a guy should have at least one dream in his heart, right?”
“I guess…” He glanced at her. “But there’s something I have to be.”
“What?”
“A doctor.” He sighed. “My grandfather and father are both doctors. We moved here because of my dad’s hospital.”
“Are your grades good?” She leaned closer.
“No.” He met her eyes. “They’re excellent.”
“Sounds rough.”
“Thanks.” He smiled a little.
Ember stood up and held out her hand.
“Give me your hand.”
“For what?”
“Come on. Let’s skip class today.”
She took his hand and ran.
This time, he caught her hand and ran with her.
Both of them laughing.
In his head: What kind of world does she live in? What she likes, what she sees, what she says… I want to know it all.
---
They stopped at a donut shop, breathing hard and grinning.
“Two bags of donuts, please,” Wade said. “My mom loves them.”
He turned to Ember.
“Whoa, what a good son,” she teased, both of them eating donuts.
“Am I? Aren’t you?”
“No. My mom and I don’t get along.”
“But you’re so nice to me.”
“That’s just how families are.”
“So that’s normal,” he said softly.
They snuck into her mom’s restaurant with the donuts.
“She didn’t see us, right?”
“No.”
“Come on in.”
“Whoa.”
“Ta-da! What do you think?”
“Awesome,” he said, surprised.
They sat on the floor, watching a movie.
“Hey, Ember,” Wade said, eyes on the TV. “I want to be an instructor too. Just like you.”
He looked at her. “If I can’t skip med school, I can just fail the college exam. Then my dad can’t force me, right?”
Ember turned to him. Really looked at him.
“Do you know how hard that path is? If this is just a phase, forget it. You’ve got a long way to go.”
Wade moved closer.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. I love instructors. You made me see that.”
“Me?” She pointed to herself.
“The world you see is fun and warm.” He looked away, then back at her.
“I dream of the same world as you.”
Ember’s heart stopped.
Wade may never know…
The one who brought me to a joyful world… was him.
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