My Cup of Tea Ch. 01

"The bike ride..."

"What's the bike ride?" Sara knew intrigue was apparent on her face and her ignorance made her look stupid. But who cared? Jenna, best friend number one, wasn't one to judge.

"Come on... Every love story has a bike ride. The guy rides the bike and the girl is behind him and they—"

"I'd rather be on a motorcycle. It's much faster and bikers are hotties," Lisa, best friend number two, added and her arms stretched behind her neck to support her head. Her exposed body baked slowly in the sun and Sara could see drool on boys' mouths from a mile away.

Jenna and Lisa were as different as day and night. True but oh so clichéd. Then again, what was original these days?

Sara listened to the waves sweeping seaweed in and out from the wet sand. Salty air hit her face and the sunrays didn't dare to bake her crispy golden like Lisa. Conscious of her body as usual and afraid of the affects of UV rays on her skin, Sara hid underneath a big watermelon-colored beach umbrella with Jenna. Jenna, her long black hair in a bun, her green eyes covered by big-bug sunglasses, was reading a cheesy romance novel and eating baked chips. Lisa, in a teensy-weensy unpolkadotted blue bikini, oiled herself meticulously and winked at every cute boy within a few feet away.

Sara laughed suddenly as the fact of possessing archetypical friends bemused her. This was officially the last summer of freedom... the summer before senior year began and she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd rather be at the moment. Or with anybody else but Jenna and Lisa. High school was a place of drama and hurt, but it was nothing compared to college. The thought of colleges and universities shattered her laughter. Yes, she was quite the moody one, though classmates often referred to her as the least of three evils. Jenna, Lisa, and Sara were the self-proclaimed Feared Three. Like her flamboyant sisters, Jenna and Lisa made Sara their shadow.

Being a shadow had its benefits, Sara would agree. She felt no pride in being a leader and so she was always the follower. Another face in the crowd? Why not? Plain and ordinary and at the most, she was pretty cute. Short brown hair and bangs framed her oval face. Her eyes were large but her lips weren't kissably full. Her nose wasn't a button but at least it wasn't crooked. She wasn't tiny, but she could use a few more inches to boost her height. As for her body, well let's just say no magazines would feature her as their choice model.

"Anyway, loser, the bike ride is quite essential. Without it, the purity of young love is obsolete. Or rather, nonexistent."

"Use words normal people can understand, you witch." Lisa flicked some oil at Jenna with her long, slender fingers. Jenna, a wiccan with a love for dark colors and moods, didn't find Lisa's title for her insulting.

"Go on." Still intrigued, wide-eyed Sara edged closer to Jenna.

"Imagine riding down an autumn path with the boy of your dreams on a bike with frictionless wheels. It is like floating on air."

"Geez... You two have to grow up. These days, a bike ride is for fobs. Get it? Fobs. Find a guy with a Porsche, hop in and that's what I call romantic." Lisa shook her head and like a goddess, her cascades of pale hair danced in the air. She stood up and stretched her lithe body. "Let me teach you two a lesson. Love and purity do not mix."

"Slu—"

"Jenna heads up!"

A water balloon sailed through the air fluidly and exploded upon impact with Jenna's barely-there chest.

"Aw, I thought you would dodge it. And I got your book wet?" Angel-faced Joey was apparently the culprit of the rage-eliciting water balloon. Golden boy Joey, jock-extraordinaire with a flaming crush for Miss Goth.

Jenna tossed her book aside and hastily wiped her drenched shirt.

"I didn't come to the beach to get wet."

"Me either..." Sara was an innocent bystander in the way of the now dead water balloon.

In seconds, Jenna tackled Joey and both fell and hit the sand bum first.

"Stupid moron!"

While the lovebirds in denial fought it out, Lisa flirted up a storm with Joey's friends and Sara was left alone under the massive coverage of the umbrella. She picked up Jenna's book and flipped through the wet pages.

"Love is a bike ride. There are bumps in the road. There are falls. One can ride alone. One can ride with another. Down a path that is both known and unknown... Interesting."

Sara buried her nose in the book for the rest of the day. If there wasn't a niche for her to fill, then her place was beneath the umbrella, alone and yet still very happy.

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Ian wanted to be in Europe. He wanted to work for an architect there. He wanted so much more than this boardwalk and this beach. Riding his bike to his aunt's house, he spotted an unusual umbrella on the beach. Maybe it was his boredom. Maybe it was the sun. Maybe it was even his exhausted muscles playing tricks on him. But whatever it was, he would have to agree that the girl beneath the umbrella was the silliest one he'd ever seen in a while. What sort of girl would wear her granny's one piece at the beach? He had to thank her though. He hadn't had such a good laugh in a long while.

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Ice cream! Sara loved ice cream. But ice cream did not love her. One look at her hips and the reason was clear. The skirt she wore along with the outfit for the creamery was ridiculous. She looked like a character from a too-happy fairytale.

Tasting the ice cream early in the morning was part of her job, but no one had to know that. The cold spoon dared her to put ice cream on her nose. And she did. Customers would not arrive for another ten to fifteen minutes.

She did forget about the other workers though.

"Is that part of our outfit too? We have to wear the ice cream?" A guy in a similar uniform sans the skirt had slipped into the creamery. Tall. Somewhat dark. Very gorgeous.

Sara's face did not burst into flames. Unfortunately, her blush was vivid and the same shade of crimson as the ripe flesh of a watermelon. She quickly wiped the ice cream away from her nose.

"I'm sorry. I was probably interrupting something important. My name is Ian." Definitely the silliest girl ever, Ian thought, remembering her from the other day at the beach.

"I'm Sshara... I mean Sara." A hand shot out to shake Ian's. A very sweet and sticky ice cream covered hand.

"So I guess this job is pretty self-explanatory. Well, time for work."

"Yea..." Eh. Cute guys were definitely not worth losing her heart to. Still, a girl could drool, eh?

One month passed and Sara "convinced" herself to never develop a crush on the cute guy she stood next to every weekday for at least five hours. Lisa and Jenna visited often and before long, Lisa claimed Ian as hers, unbeknownst to Ian.

"I know you like me. I like you too. That means you can be my boyfriend."

Ian's jaw almost dropped as he handed Lisa her cone. Sara heard Lisa's words echoing in her head again and again, tempting her to either laugh or cry out in shock. Jenna smirked and left the drama to the creamery.

"As they say it in England, you're not my cup of tea," Ian finally responded. He wiped his hands and left for the back offices of the creamery. Lisa dropped her ice cream and Sara immediately scooped her another cone, on the house.

Lisa's defeat secretly made Sara's heart smile. Ian didn't fall for her charms. But then again, if even hot foxy mama Lisa wasn't his type, what was?

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"That was mean. You crushed her in front of everyone."

"Everyone meaning a little old man and his granddaughter?" Ian grinned and watched Sara go off like a firecracker, quite amused. Her words streamed into his ears and danced.

"I think you should apologize..."

"I don't think so. She seems like the type to play guys. Her ego can use some beating."

Ian got on his bike and looked at Sara with mischievous blue eyes. Sara found his stare locking on her own eyes to his and at that moment, the world became a blurry painting before her.

Last summer of freedom.

"You are the silliest girl I've ever met."

She had expected something more along the lines of "You're cute." Disappointed, Sara turned away and blushed profusely as a million capillaries exploded across her cheeks. Her palms were sweaty and her feet were stone heavy. She wanted to run away. When he began to laugh, she wanted to bury herself instead.

"Want a ride home?"

The bike ride.

"What?"

"Want a ride home?" He asked again, this time stretching his words and pronouncing them carefully as if she were slow.

Sara blinked. The two devils on her shoulders debated the pros and cons of accepting his offer, mostly the pros.

Her lips moved before her mind decided. Her heart had taken charge.

"Sure."

Ian smiled and waited for her to take a seat.

"Hold on to me. Oh come on, don't be shy. It's just me."

Sara obliged reluctantly and wrapped her arms around his waist. His scent invaded her nostrils at full power. Though the creamery made all of them smell fruity, his clean scent was all his own. Her nose would never forget.

"You don't have to press your face on my back. But that's okay." Ian felt his own face warm up a little. Luckily, Sara couldn't see. Sara felt lucky too. Ian couldn't see her unless he twisted his head enough to snap his neck. She hid behind his back and her heart's heavy pit-patting almost destroyed her chest.

So warm was his body and so innocent was this body heat and contact.

He sailed down the road.

"Woah!" Sara held on tighter and laughed.

Frictionless like on air...

Sara closed her eyes. If only some things could last forever, she'd never open them again.

"Do you worry about your future?" she asked timidly.

"All the time."

"I thought guys only worried about girls."

"Funny. No. I don't at least."

"Sure you don't."

"Well I do think about this one girl."

"Oh?" Sara's heart almost stopped. If jealousy could really turn one green, she would become a piece of lettuce soon.

"Yes. She's weird. Funny. Sometimes she's quite stupid too. But she's very unique. And very... you."

"What?" Sara's heart stopped.

Ian was silent. His legs stopped pedaling. Sara's house was just around the corner.

"She's you."

Sara's lips parted and she loosened her grip around Ian's waist. Her hands were shaky. Did he just tell her she was quite stupid? And was he confessing something along the lines of his love for her? No way!

"Do you like me?" Oh crap, she would just die if he said no or started laughing.

"Maybe." He chuckled. "Maybe means yes in er... guy speak by the way," he said, stuttering a bit.

People their age had a lot of drama in their lives. Parents divorcing, drugs, violence, melancholy, death, separation and other issues. At that moment, Sara Biea Affen experienced none of that. She was just another girl on a bike ride with just another guy. And yet, nothing else could compare to the sweet simplicity and innocence of their bike ride.

"I like you too..."

Ian smiled and turned his bike and pedaled hard. "Let's keep going then."