On Thin Ice [Dr.Freon x Your Little Project]

[Your Little Project]

Sophie Greene was failing Literature. She learned this upon her return to campus after Thanksgiving break. Her only notice was slipped underneath the entrance to her dorm room, a small room that she’d managed to keep reserved for herself. Truth be told, Sophie just brushed any roommate to the side and proceeded to make their shared space as hostile as possible as a generally successful method to spooking everyone away. A sophomore on the varsity cheer squad, she couldn’t possibly risk spending time with a social liability, or any manner of unimpressive company. For the first time, the girl wished she had someone to turn to.

If the squad found out she was headed towards academic probation, it would be just another thing to gossip about. They all managed to maintain a solid C average, but Sophie generally suffered from attendance issues, leaving her absolutely lost the days she bothered to show up. Desperation brought her to the front office of the school, hoping for some type of credit program to turn things around. If she wasn’t at least into a D by Christmas, it would be goodbye pom-poms and hello living back at home. Thankfully, Sophie had been pointed towards the student tutor program. The worst part would have to be coming up with lies to get out of social situations, but if it kept her around for the next year, totally worth it. Apparently she was lucky because they had some nerd that wasn’t already helping anyone, and their scheduled tutor time would start in fifteen minutes at the library.

Determined, she grabbed her backpack and began jogging to the library. Her fiery hair whipped about in the freezing air, small snowflakes tickling at her cheeks and eyelashes. Of course, snow was falling; it had started last night and they were supposed to get several feet over the next day or two. For now, just a couple of inches with salt effortlessly melting the sidewalks clean. The clock struck three just as she barged through the library doors, unraveling her scarf and removing her thick outer coat. Hanging them at the door, she stepped into the common area and peered about with curiosity. What did a student literature tutor look like? His name was Kevin, which was all she knew. Not only had she never set foot in the school library before, she also had no idea if the guy even knew he was helping her.

A helpful librarian gestured to the side of the building with individual rooms. They were well-lit, with large windows at all walls to discourage any kind of student intimacy. Every room had a couple, or even a few students working in them already, all of them except one. It took her a moment to realize that there was a lone figure seated at a table, but once she had she approached the door, stepped in and attempted to remain casual as she cleared her throat to gain his attention.

“Are you… are you Kevin?”

 

[Doctor December]

Kevin Mehlville gave a small, involuntary jump upon hearing a voice in such close proximity, and looked up from the textbook he had been reviewing to see a pair of large, yet sharp eyes staring back at him. His gaze expanded outward to notice the lovely face housing those eyes, nestled safely under warm locks of red hair. He'd already been a nervous wreck at the thought of meeting a new person, but now that he knew how gorgeous she was, his brain was on the verge of a full system crash.

Eventually, his mind registered that she'd not only spoken to him, but was waiting for a reply to his question. "Uh... Yeah. Yep, I'm Kelvin Menv- er- Kevin Mehlville. And you're Sophie?"

If he could just get his calm back, this would be a real breath of fresh air. He hadn't had a tutoring job yet this year, but last year, his sophomore year, he'd had three, one heavyset jock and two scrawny, smartass slackers. All guys, whose general consensus that Kevin was creepy and a dork played no small role in potenrtial tutoring gigs avoiding him the entire first quarter. A shy, awkward mess who overthought both his appearance and his nervousness (making it a self-fulfilling prophecy), Kevin rarely talked to girls of his own accord, so perhaps this would be that practice he'd been hoping for since he'd enrolled.

He gave a friendly smile, letting his slightly large teeth peak out. "So, Lit, huh? I'm usually a, uh, Chem tutor, but I aced Lit, so, uh, you, you know, you follow me and you'll be a pro in no time." He motioned to the seat opposite him at the table. "Uh, please, please join me."

 

[Your Little Project]

The moment Kevin spoke Sophie immediately regretted her actions. Never before had she ever been at the mercy of someone else, let alone someone that wasn’t on a higher rung of her social ladder. She seemed to linger near the door, her inner debate nearly blatant thanks to her posture. Slowly, timidly, Sophie approached the table.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Her tone was defeated. In no way, shape or form did she seem enthused to be spending her time with him. “And look, I’m not trying to be like the best of the best. I just need to get back to a C, then I break even.” Her manicured hand grabbed the back of a chair and pulled it back, allowing her to slip into it before she straightened her skirt of any creases.

After producing an unused notebook from her back pack, she cracked it open, dated the paper with a purple pen, and pointedly stared to Kevin. Her bright eyes were capable of many things. At this moment, they were likely rather intimidating. She didn’t blink as she spoke, maintaining eye contact as long as he could bare. “So like, now what?”

Studying wasn’t exactly in her vocabulary or muscle memory, making this entire venture a bit of an odd experience. She really hoped he just had the answers to all the upcoming tests and quizzes laid out, but something told her it wouldn’t be quite that simple.

 

[Doctor December]

Despite his sudden awe at her presence, Sophie's reluctant demeanor wasn't lost on Kevin. It was discouraging, but he gave a deep breath (one he realized, too late, was probably audible) and waited as she came closer, trying not to stare too blatantly at her shapely legs as they made her skirt swish like a curtain hiding restless performers backstage. He unbuttoned the top button of his plaid flannel shirt and another breath escaped.

As she explained her timid goal for the sessions, it did nothing for Kevin's discouragement, and there was even a bit of resentment in there, too. She was clearly just trying to coast by, and had no intention of paying him the attention he was giving her. Not that he had any plans today, or ever, honestly, but he was using his freetime to help her out, and she was acting like this was all a waste of her own.

"Well, I don't think it'll be too hard," he explained to her as she sat down. "We just gotta make sure you've got a good understanding of the basics, and you ought to be fine."

"What now?" she had asked, and in response, he turned the textbook around so that she could see the pages rightside up.

"Let's start with Transcendentalism," he said.

And the next forty-five minutes seemed to melt away. Maybe it was that he had to do most of the talking, or that he found Literature to be so natural, but confidence slowly crept in him as the session began to progress. He wasn't stammering as much, his voice had a sureness to it, and he even worked up the courage to move his chair close to hers so that they could both get a more convenient view of the text book.

"So," he said eventually, having lost track of time, "You doing okay so far?"

 

[Your Little Project]

Sophie was thankful for the fact that Kevin positioned their main goal for her to just grasp the basics. No, she didn’t want to debate points or form an opinion on anything. If she could just repeat facts to qualify for an increased grade she’d be in the clear. As he mentioned the topic of their study session, the girl sighed and began to title the first page of her notes.

Something magical seemed to take over Kevin as he slowed down and took the time to break the concept down and explore any hangups that Sophie might have had. He was so involved that his gradual repositioning closer to her and the textbook that she hardly even noticed he had moved until they paused to reflect. The girl arched atop her chair, arms stretching to the ceiling as her chest strained against her sweater. Upon entering her personal space, he’d be able to catch trace amounts of her perfume; lavender and honey?

If she caught him steeling a glance or appreciating her form she would just feign ignorance. The last thing she wanted to do was host an intimate discussion. “I guess it’s starting to make sense... Maybe I’m just over thinking things.” Or maybe if she had just shown up to class to begin with, she’d have learned along with everyone else. Her confidence was building after one rudimentary lesson. Flipping through the few pages of notes she’d taken, Sophie tapped the tip of her pen against the table a few times before pressing it to her pursed lips in thought.

“What if I need help with math, do you do that too...?” Oh no, perhaps there were more dangers lurking within her report card than she’d like to admit.

 

[Doctor December]

"Uh, y-yeah, I do!" Kevin declared, a little taken aback by Sophie's change of heart. Maybe this tutoring thing wasn't a total bust after all. Maybe she was coming around. Heck, maybe he was over-thinking things, too.

He looked over to the clock and noted that it was getting close to the evening time. Not that he really cared, but their session was almost up soon. It was getting darker earlier now that winter was on the approach, and with the snow coming in, the clouds would make it night that much quicker. This wasn't a big concern of Kevin's, but a pretty, popular girl like Sophie may have places to be, or simply wanted to walk home while it was still somewhat warm out.

"Well, it looks like your hour's almost up," Kevin said with a nod to the clock. "But I'm free tomorrow?"

Then, something inexplicable happened. Perhaps his confidence was channeling the repressed part of him that had been silenced from talking to a pretty girl hundreds of times before, and was now building a momentum that couldn't be easily stopped.

"...Maybe we could go ice-skating afterward? And grab a hot chocolate after that?"

 

[Your Little Project]

As Kevin admitted his capability to cover the math end of things as well, everything finally began to fall into place. He would be able to help her resolve her current GPA issues in addition to any new ones that might crop up with due to her own inability to make it to classes on time. He was almost like a new safety net. By the time he was offering his availability for the next day, she was already back on her phone and replying to any missed texts, likely from the rest of the cheer squad. Her backpack was littered with school memerobelia; patches, pins, she even had a pair of mini-pompoms dangling from the zipper. She responded to his offer without even ripping her eyes from the small screen.

“Well, the math is just kinda in anticipation for how my next test goes, let’s just stick with the English for now.” It was obvious she was distracted, her tone was flat and it was clear she wasn’t coming back to study due to their chemistry. Finally, she seemed to have caught up with her notifications and put the device in a pouch in her bag before slinging it carelessly over her shoulder. Just as she was prepared to whirl about and leave, she heard it: the offer of a date.

Sophie froze in her tracks, blankly staring at the boy before her. Those gorgeous green eyes did a brief and blatant scan of Kevin from head to toe before the laughter started. It was a soft, short chuckle that resonated through the tiny room, something that she couldn’t control. To her, the notion was hilarious. They just met, he was a tutor. Ew.

“Why don’t we just stick to the school stuff, yeah?” Boys (and even some girls) asked her out frequently and often, leaving her rather cold response as an average one. Truth be told, it was that very attention that kept her avidly seeking social superiority. If she wasn’t able to just slap away offers, what was the point of all her work?

“It’s not like we’d even last anyways. Seriously, I’d just get bored.”

 

[Doctor December]

"Oh... Y-yeah," Kevin replied, sheepishly looking down to the floor to avert his embarrassed eyes. The disappointment wasn't really a surprise. It was like the inevitable stomach ache after over-eating. He was hurt, and a bit humiliated, but deep down, he wasn't really expecting anything less.

The part that did shock, though, the part that really shot a sting toward his chest, was Sophie's effort to go the extra mile to say she would get bored. How could she possibly know that?! It may not have been the most cruel thing anyone had ever said to Kevin, but it was definitely the most ignorant, and it was the latest in a line of hurtful remarks that was becoming way too long. He almost had a mind to do something about it this time. Not that there was anything he could do.

And the worst part was, he'd have to come back and face her again for more tutoring tomorrow. If he backed out now, she could tell the office what he'd just done, and his withdrawal would be a conflict of interest. He didn't want to think about the academic consequences that could come of that. So there he sat, fighting back a scowl as Sophie readied herself to leave.

After finally collecting his thoughts, he concluded, "Sorry, yeah, you're right. We should just stick to school stuff. Same time tomorrow?"

 

[Your Little Project]

The cheerleader gave Kevin sufficient time to lick his wounds and recover before attempting to speak or act again. There was something about seeing someone struggle to keep themselves pulled together that made her inner villain grin. Sophie was completely aware of how devastating her casual turn-downs could be. Paired with the fact that he’d already offered to help her again only made it more entertaining.

She stood there, feigning an interest in flipping her hair over her shoulders and adjusting her outfit before responding. “I knew you’d see it my way, Kev. It’s just easier. You’re a smart guy.” Her tone was one generally reserved for praising a dog or child, making her words more of a rude commentary than any form of actual comfort.

Once they solidified their plans for the next day, she whirled about and headed to the main entrance to retrieve her heavy coat from the closet provided for students. If he followed suit she didn’t seem to mind. Wrapped up in her layers with her thick scarf cascading from the neck of her jacket, she still looked dramatically attractive. Nearly every article of clothing she owned was purchased with a specific place for her wardrobe and it showed. Prepped for the rigid outdoor cold, she stepped out.

The snow hadn’t ceased. The salt wasn’t enough to keep it all melted, leaving small wet patches mingled with a thick layer of slush. Meanwhile, non-pathways has accumulated nearly half a foot already. The fierce winter snow wasn’t anything that would raise a red flag; it was winter, snow would fall. If Kevin was around, she’d offer little more than a wave before taking a fork in the path that led back to the student housing. The walk wasn’t terribly long, just a bit isolated due to the surrounding forestry and generally unused playground. Kevin had a great idea though: hot cocoa was on the docket the moment she returned indoors.

 

[Doctor December]

Kevin watched longingly at her as Sophie made her exit, and as she strolled out the door, he caught a glimpse of how bad it was getting out there. Chances were narrowing that the campus would even be open in the morning.

Good, thought to himself, he wouldn't have to put up with her fickleness tomorrow. And yet, strangely, he found himself wanting to see her again still. He wanted to continue to be contemptuous of her horrid attitude, but her lovely body, even under all those layers of clothes, kept his lonely mind busy. A sliver of regret began to wiggle in his mind, and he recognized it right away.

It was the desire to get even.

Kevin did not live in apartments on campus, but he didn't live far away. Unable to afford campus living, he'd rented the first floor apartment of a small, old, brick duplex a few blocks from the gate to the university's west entrance on the other side of the spacious campus lawn. When he'd first moved in, the upstairs tenant was loud and rambunctious. He was glad when they moved out. But now the solitude, like everything else, just seemed lonely. After braving the snow to his home, Kevin prepared for another boring night of Netflix binge watching before eventually passing out.

He awoke to an email notification chiming on his phone. It was from school. As he'd guessed, classes were canceled due to inclement weather. After a night of stewing in the sting of Sophie's blow yesterday, he had formed a plan to take advantage of the barren campus.

After a bit of simple deduction to reason what Sophie's school-designated email address would be, he doctored a bogus address that looked like it could belong to the university, then sent her a message with the college's letterhead photoshopped on top telling her that after 3:00 PM, classes and programs would resume.

 

[Your Little Project]

The night proceeded as usual: warm drinks, fuzzy blankets, and several hours of video chat with various other classmates and friends. Even a blizzard couldn’t stop a social butterfly. They all gossiped about pointless topics for hours until one by one, they all dropped out of the call for various reasons. The last one standing, Sophie ended up dozing off while playing free app games on her phone.

It was the morning alarm on her phone that roused her from slumber. After running through her morning routine, she settled at her desk and laptop to roll through any new updates for the day. The biggest game changer was an email detailing the state of the school campus and the fact that it was closed. She broke out into a grin and rolled her shoulders in a small celebratory fashion. She could go back to bed! Before shutting her computer and planning something new, she noticed another message in her inbox. It looked like some sort of addendum to the original message and it corrected to resume with scheduled activities right at the hour she was supposed to see Kevin again.

Ugh.

If her attendance at school didn’t hang in the balance, he would have been at the top of her “forget that” list. The only positive was that she had just enough time in the morning and early afternoon to have a personal spa day. Painting nails, hair treatment, even face masks. Nearly time to leave, she got dressed for the world and ventured out into the snow.

The cruel wind whipped at her cheeks and eyes, encouraging her to tug her scarf in a more protective position. In an attempt to preserve warmth, she crossed her arms over her torso. Despite the email, Sophie couldn’t help but question the sanity of whatever staff chose to encourage the students to move out and about. By this time, salt was out of the question. Knee deep in powder, she staggered onward. Most of the visual ques were buried, leaving her with the occasional pedestrian sign to indicate the direction of her travels.

Half way to her destination, the chill began to seep through her boots and jeans. “Fuck,” she murmured. Even with all of her layers goosebumps began prickling at her slender thighs and biceps. Her struggle was real, her pace undoubtably lagged.

 

[Doctor December]

The mixture of being bundled up for the day's harsh weather and active enough to produce his own body heat left Kevin more or less immune to the cold for the last hour or so as he prepared for the "tutoring session" he had planned for darling Sophie.

He was just finishing stuffing the leaf blower he had... borrowed... from the groundskeeper's unlocked shed into a backpack that could barely fit it when he saw her trudging her way toward the library. He smiled with a devilish, conniving glee. Sophie had bought it. She'd fallen for the email. And now he had her all to himself. He gave her a wave, hoping she'd spot him.

His other hand hid his phone in his pocket. On the screen, a second bogus email was sitting in wait, detailing a backtrack: The weather hadn't improved enough for the school's liking, and now afternoon schedules had all been called off again. His thumb tapped the "send" button.

He jogged over to her the best he could in the deep snow, but in a couple dozen seconds, he was close enough to chat.

"Hey, Sophie!" he greeted, winded. "This storm is really somethin', huh? I'm guessing you got the second email late too?"

 

[Your Little Project]

No, Sophie hadn’t spyed Kevin off in the distance until she could hear him hastily bounding his way through the snow. Realizing who it was, the girl controlled an urge to roll her eyes and chose to stop walking to face him. Even though the bottom half of her face was concealed, a gentle puff of smoke seeped through the fabric with each exhale. One, two, three...

Finally, she made sense of his words. “Late... email?” Her brows furrowed in confusion. Already freezing, the girl absolutely refused to take her hands out of her pockets. “Sh-show me!”

A shiver ran up her spine during her last demand, her voice wavering despite the solidly expectant look. Anticipating him to show her an email on his phone, she edged closer to him while remaining completely oblivious to the awkwardly large bag on his shoulders. Rather than observe everything around her, she was now caught up in her own thoughts. The cheerleader was already pissed off that she was out in weather like this; she could only imagine what kind of recall that was made.

“Ohmigawd, that staff person was an idiot! Is school still closed?” She sounded desperate and this was likely the first time she would have been excited to learn that things were operating normally. The state of the snow compounded by the lack of... anyone else was beginning to make a reasonable prediction simple to deduce.

Sophie tugged her scarf away from her face, exposing her pale skin to the elements and Kevin. Her discomfort tugged at the edges of her angered expression.

 

[Doctor December]

"Yep, take a look." Kevin had sent the retraction email to her, but also to himself (as well as his first,) anticipating he might need to corroborate his fabrication. He took out his phone, shuffled to his student email, and presented it to her. He shrugged. "Guess they couldn't make up their minds, huh?"

When she unveiled her face from her scarf, he tensed up a little bit. Her bitchy side was coming out again, this time in full force. At first, it was intimidating to say the least. But after the initial fear subsided, Kevin felt a very personal disgust toward her mean attitude, especially after her soul-crushing little remark yesterday. But it didn't matter. Hopefully after today, he'd be able to instill some manners into her.

And yet, a part of him did feel sorry for her. Had these events been genuine and not his own orchestration, she'd still certainly deserve them, but he'd pity her all the same.

He shrugged again. "Yeah, those morons don't ever plan for anything until it's already biting them in the ass." He looked to the ground, nodding to himself nervously, before mustering the confidence to face her again for one last, hopeless ditch effort. "So, uh, since we're both out and about, maybe you'd like to go find a warm cafe to grab a bite at?"

 

[Your Little Project]

Frustrated, Sophie balled her hands into even tighter fists as she released an agitated sigh. The small cloud swirled for a moment before rising and dissipating. The news only seemed to intensify her rage and she ripped her hands from their pockets in order to begin angrily tapping at her own screen to check her email. Without gloves, the cool air slipped along the edge of her sleeve and up her arms, making the exposure rather uncomfortable.

"Jesus H. Tap-dancing Christ!!" She must have come from an oddly religious Midwestern family to curse in such a way.

Realizing the sudden shift in her free time, she switched to her messenger app and began tapping away feverishly. She'd wasted so much time! All the other girls had probably been spending the day together. His attempts to comfort her fell upon deaf ears, the gentle popping sound of her typing ringing between the both of them. However, when Kevin gathered the courage to ask her out a second time, she stopped. A tense silence settled between them. Languidly, her eyes turned his way as she tucked her phone away into her pocket.

"Yesterday, I said no. What could you have possibly done to make me change that answer since then?" Once was flattering, twice was absolutely unbearable. In a huff, she moved to turn and begin drudging back in the direction she came. The only bonus were the tracks to lead her back safely.

 

[Doctor December]

Kevin inhaled an agitated breath, and quickly nodded to himself a few times. Why should he have expected a yes? His mere asking was apparently a huge insult to Little Miss Cheerleader.

"Okay, okay..." he softly said, more to himself than to her as he swung his backpack around one shoulder and withdrew the small leaf blower within. A battery-powered model, it no noise when he activated it with the simple flick of a button as opposed to the tiresome and loud pulling of a gas engine start chord.

"What could possibly change that answer?! How about this?!" he asked, piping up a little louder to get Sophie's attention as he trained the blower's stiff air hose at the snow-packed ground just in front of her.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you? I offered to help you study, and you acted like I was wasting your time. I ask you out on a simple date, and you act like my very existence offends you. Well, I'm pretty tired of it. You think it makes you the bigger person to give me the cold shoulder? We'll see how quickly you warm up to me when I give the cold shoulder back. Ten, fucking, fold."

He began to stomp toward Sophie as he pressed the trigger on the leaf blower. The fan inside his weapon of choice gave a faint buzz as a small, concentrated gust kicked up the snow in front of the pretty cheerleader, sending the white powder crashing toward her like a tsunami.