2 Ice Cream & Sore Losers - Part One

"Oy!! Come on, I'm about to melt here!" I signal my friend Jenny to hurry up, but I guess she's way more interested in Mark De Luca, than she's in the ice cream. My precious summer vacation has barely started and I'm already about to pop a vein!

"Hana! They're out of cups! Do you want a cone instead?" Jenny asks barely looking back, she has the hugest crush on Mark since kindergarten, and it does not help that we are neighbors and that his family owns two of my favorite places, the De Luca Gelatteria (Ice cream shop ) and De Luca Trattoria (Italian Restaurant) my love for pizza is only rivaled by my love for Ice cream.

"Yeah, no problem! Just get me the damn Ice cream!" I say, feeling I may go into combustion if I don't eat something cold.

The Omniscient One knows I love San Diego, (Mark says I love it just because of Comic con, Sea world and the Zoo) but the heat sometimes can get real heavy and contrary to what people say, being born to it doesn't make you tolerate it any better.

When Jenny gets to our table, I dash for my cone and bit it getting a mouth full, I sigh loudly once the ice kicks in, freezing my tongue. (Don't you just love a brain freeze?)

Jenny can't stop laughing, "Geez! You really don't like the heat, no wonder you've been cooped up in your air con bat cave, since vacation started, you know, peeps are starting to wonder if you are a vampire!!" Jenny laughs as she shares the thoughts of our neighbors. (who have known me from birth, but still like to make shit up, just for giggles).

"I wish..." I laugh as I take another brain freezing bite.

The ice cream was so not cutting it, I need something cold to sip, "Yo Marky Mark! Get me a Sprite on the rocks!" I say to my friend that is working his ass off during summer vacation... serving ice cream, reading Manga and talking to his buddies. (Me included)

"Yo Miss Otaku! You know where the ice is and you know how to get it yourself...So do a guy a favor... ." Mark fired barely looking, continuing to read his Manga.

I get up looking around to see if there are any of our other friends hanging around, but the store is quiet at this time of day, peeps must be at the beach, it's then I notice someone sitting at the back, right at that moment the guy looks up straight at me, he's Asian and Holy shit he could be an Idol, (yes, he's that hot) the dude smiles knowingly, he keeps staring at my chest, is he a perv? But then I remember I have a limited edition SAO t-shirt on, (Sword Art Online, a popular Japanese anime).

I awkwardly turn to go get my drink, my heart skipping a beat.

When I get to the counter, Mark looks at me, finally noticing my SAO t-shirt.

"Who did you kill to get that!!?? That was a limited edition given to the winners of each region! Oh come on!! Don't tell me...holy shit!!!" he looked as if I had ripped his book, erased his gaming scores, killed his cat and insulted his Nonna all in one go. (Yeah...some guys are sore losers).

"Actually I don't know who I killed, I eliminated you in the first round....so beats me who got to the final ... I just know he or she got their ass whooped. Oh by the way, you should really think about changing your gamer tag, it's kind of creepy Mr. Lickalicious." I smiled while looking back to check Jenny was not giving me the evil eye for talking with Mark, surprisingly she was not even looking at us, she was looking at the Asian guy.

"Ya think? I think it's a chick magnet! So I won't be taking your advice Miss Otakus4Bazingas!" Mark said showing me the middle finger...

"That's just a finger you know? So, who's the new guy?" I asked Mark, who smirked, "He's kind of my cousin, I guess, he and his family just moved here. Girl where have you been?? Oh yeah, I know... Playing your fingers off in the Bat Cave!" Mark and Jenny had nicknamed my bedroom Bat Cave, way back when we were kids, the name had stuck for some reason.

"Hummm, something like that." I couldn't really tell him what I've been up to, it's kind of classified.

"Geez Hana, you need to get a life!" Mark's condescending tone riles me up.

"Yeah? Look who's talking! Your cousin ?...What's his game?" I gaze from Mark to his cousin and my chin drops to the floor when I see Jenny in a deep discussion with the new guy. (Wow...Jenny and deep discussion in the same sentence...What has the world come to.)

"He's an OK guy, I guess, on the quiet side, likes to keep to himself, his name is Kai, quite the name, right?" Mark asks.

"Kai? Hummm...sounds Asian... but then again the dude's Asian, you said he's your cousin? How did that happen?" I asked Mark who laughed when he answered. "Yeah, well, I'm not about to enlighten you on the bees and the birds am I? My uncle fell in love with my aunt while he was working in Shanghai, they got married and the rest is history, Kai is my aunt's nephew, no direct blood connection, he's family form her side.

"He just moved here? Does he speak English?" I ask, thinking the first few months are going to be hard on him.

"Yeah, silly, he's American-Chinese like you, he was born in America, actually pretty close to us in a way, he was born in San Francisco, his father came to the States to study, he ended up marrying his University sweetheart, and didn't go back to Shanghai." Mark explained, he is probably the only dude I know that likes to gossip. (Jenny and him are a match made in heaven)

Slurping my Sprite, with Mark in tow, I approach Jenny, Kai keeps giving me side way glances;

"Hana have you met ..." and then she stops only to continue what seems to be a monologue, "Of course you haven't, you've been living the vampire life, you don't even know someone moved into the neighborhood." Feeling a bit flustered I interrupt Jenny.

"Actually, Mark just filled me in on all the details." Looking up at Kai's six feet plus, I extend my hand while lifting my shades to my head, I like to meet people looking them in the eyes, even if that may freak them out - my Nainai says we can tell a lot by looking into a person's eyes.

"Hello I'm Hana Cooper Han, welcome to the neighborhood." the seconds tick away in an awkward silence and my hanging hand, but all I get is "Hi." a monotone greeting, done for courtesy sake, I put down my hand, feeling awkward, he then looks down at my hand and into my eyes, he takes a step back in surprise, I get that a lot, that's why I wear the shades, my slanted eyes are light green, which can be weird for an Asian looking girl, the way he looks at me is actually creeping me out, it is as if he has some beef with me, but I'm sure I haven't met him before.

Kai keeps staring, he looks at Mark and says in what I would call an extremely condescending tone, (and the sexiest voice I have ever heard) "I thought that when Mrs. Cooper said she had a daughter, that daughter was a kid, not someone around our age, but now that I met her... hummm." Mark looks at me, his eyes showing he is worried how I'll respond.

I can't remember the last time I was speechless, but let's just say it's as rare as a miracle, my mind is a blank sheet, I have just been given the cold shoulder, by someone I was meeting for the first time, but my confusion doesn't last long, I am nothing if not fast in the uptake, as my instincts take over, I smile at Mark's worried expression, "Geez Mark you forgot to mention your cousin is a douche!" Jenny makes a gasping noise, Mark laughs, and I just turn my back put my shades on, grab my Ice-cream and my drink and quietly exit the shop, facing the full sun of the mid-afternoon.

Well, how's that for first impression? I think as I lick my now melted ice cream.

No sooner am I out the door, than I feel a hand on my arm pulling me, "What the hell?" I say as I am forcibly turned, and my sprite spills, I come face to face with Kai (like the dude is inches away from my face, i can smell his breath, well points for him he smells of mint), he looks livid, but hey, not my fault the guy is a jerk, he just got back what he deserved.

"Douche? You couldn't come up with nothing better?" Kai asks holding me in place, the dude is strong, I got give him that.

With a honey sweet voice I say, "Sure I could, my vocabulary is top-notch, I just don't want to dirty my mouth insulting someone that does not even deserve the briefest moment of attention." that should do it.

Or maybe not...