It was winter when I saw him again. The first time we would meet that we weren’t children.

I was warned about a week or two in advance when I found my parents in the kitchen. They looked up at me, smiles on their faces.

“Anna, you remember Max, right?”

Of course I did. His parents were friends with mine who moved to the other side of the country about six years ago. Back when we lived only half an hour away, we would always celebrate Christmas together.

The last time I saw him at Christmas, I gave him a jar with all the ingredients for hot chocolate, his favorite drink. Marshmallows topped the shredded chocolate on top of the mix. A candy cane serving as a minty stirrer was tied to the lid.

When he smiled, I could almost forget all the times he had teased me, made me a sore loser after all the games we played, and ignored me since he was a year older. His genuine, warm smile was something to be treasured-too often it was hidden along his competitive streak.

We were both barely children then. I was ten-a preteen at best. He was eleven.

The year after he moved, my friends would pester me with questions who was my crush. I had to start wearing my first bra. I didn’t get my first crush until a year later.

When people asked me who was my crush was when I didn’t have my first one, I would often think of him. Would he count? What was a crush?

Now, after four crushes and one date to homecoming, I wondered if I really had a crush on him. I convinced myself it was wistful thinking-I had always wanted to be older than I was.

Finally the day came and Max arrived at my house. I rushed downstairs to open the door.

He used to be only a bit over my height, but now he was at least a head taller. His face had grown longer, his hair darkening. Yet when he smiled, it was the same smile I remembered. The same one when he held the glass jar in his hands.

“Hello Anna,” he said in his deep, foreign voice, vapor coming out of his mouth.

“Max,” I managed to say, opening the door. “Come on in.”

He was staying over to check out the university an hour away-it was known for its medical program. “It’s hard to be a junior,” he admitted in the kitchen after my mom bustled around, pampering him after the five hour flight. “All this pressure from college admissions and SAT’s are driving me crazy.”

I nodded, unable to speak. I guess I was lucky to be a sophomore. But I couldn’t help be tongue-tied. What did I expect in the first place? That Max would stay the same or something?

But the truth was, he changed into someone I almost didn’t know. His looks had become mature. I couldn’t believe I expected to see the same face of the child that raced me in my memories.

As he settled in the guest room, I sat on my bed, my back against the wall the separated his presence from mine. As I played with the fraying quilt, I wondered how much he had changed on the inside since I saw him.

Did I want it to be as drastically different as it had been on the outside? Perhaps that competitive streak he had as a kid was still there inside, wanting to race with me, challenge my limits.

The opportunity presented itself when Max announced he wanted to see the town a few days later. “I’ve always dreamed about it after we moved away when Christmas came around,” he said, flipping his spoon over his thumb.

“Anna, why don’t you show him around?” My father said, barely moving away from his newspaper.

I snatched the keys from the counter. “C’mon, let’s go,” I called over my shoulder as I bounded towards the car. I’ve opened up more as his presence became more familiar over the days.

“Why so eager?” Max asked, slamming the passenger door shut.

I blinked, still not used to his voice. “Oh, I barely get to drive, since only juniors living fifteen minutes away and seniors can drive to school. I need every chance I can get to exercise the rights given to me by my license.” I put the car in reverse, easily backing the car out of the garage and having run smoothly down the street.

Max stretched at his seat. “I don’t why I’m surprised why you managed that with ease. You were always better at the car games.”

“That’s because you kept swerving when you had to drive straight,” I retorted, turning the turn signal on at the edge of my neighborhood.

“Not my fault you would scream when a sharp turn came about.”

“Hey, if you can’t stand distractions-“

“RED LIGHT!” Max shouted.

I started, but barely swerved. “You should know better than to test me on a road I’ve known all my life,” I scolded him. “The traffic lights don’t show up until five minutes later.”

“Of course.” He put his arms up as he leaned back. “So mature, you were.”

“Nu-uh, never around you. I had to age back a few years to get down to your level.”

“I’m older than you by a year, Anna.”

“That doesn’t mean that fact is not true. You always acted younger than you actually were.” I pulled up by Kiss Café. “Come on, let me show you this place.”

The bell tinkled as I opened the door. I breathed in the scent of roasting coffee beans as I held it open for Max. The room was warmly lighted, with oriental fans and silks draped over the walls.

“Wow,” he breathed out, looking around. “This place is amazing.”

We seated ourselves at a two-seat table. “Two hot chocolates please,” I told the waitress as we shrugged off our jackets.

Max smiled at me. “The hot chocolate stuff in the winter still going strong, huh?”

“Never going to outgrow it.” I folded my hands in front of me. “So, tell me, what did you do with that hot chocolate jar I made for you?”

“At our last Christmas?” He tucked the jacket behind him, trying to look innocent. “I made hot chocolate with it.”

I fake a slap at him. He dodged, smiling. “Okay, okay, to tell you the truth, I followed the recipe attached to the jar every year for Christmas after I moved. It made Christmas fit in better, to have something familiar. I still have the jar.” He shrugged. “What did you do after our last Christmas?”

I was transported into the past as I struggled with the question. I could see a little, eleven year-old me, looking out through the windows, watching the snow fall. “Dad, when is Max coming?”

“Sweetie, he’s’ not coming this year. His family moved to Oregon. It’s too far away for them to come.”

“Will they ever come again?”

“Probably not.”

I looked out at the white landscape, blinking. I was eleven, too old to cry outright anymore. But as Christmas went on, my eyes water at the emptiness, the strangeness of the event.

Only hot chocolate had made me smile.

“I made hot chocolate as well. Although that year, we ran out of marshmallows. Even the small ones.”

“Oh no.” His face morphed into a sad, basset hound’s look. “Hot chocolate without marshmallows? How tragic.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his distraught face. After a few seconds, he joined in.

The waitress came with two steaming hot mugs topped with whipped cream. “Here you go, two hot chocolates. Enjoy!” She quickly left to answer a customer’s hand.

I grinned. “You take the first sip.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is there something fishy in it?”

“No, just try it. I promise you’ll like i.t”

He obeyed, tilting the cup to his mouth. His eyes widened. “Amazing!” he said once the cup left his mouth. He the foam off his upper lip. “What’s inside? I mean, I know there’s milk, chocolate, and sugar, but my taste buds are tickled!”

“Guess.”

Max sipped again, his eyes closed. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Definitely cinnamon swirled in there. There’s also a citrusy tang to it too. It really reminds me of cookies…Maybe vanilla?”

I nodded. “There’s one more.”

He took a big mouthful this time. I followed suit, my nose enrapture by the warm, burning flavors. Although, if mint was there, the hot chocolate could be a bit more balanced.

“I give up.” He sat back.

I stuck out my tongue. “Sore loser.”

“So are you going to tell me?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you gave up way too easily.”

“And how much more would I need to think about it?”

“Depends how valiantly you press on.” I swallowed the last of my hot chocolate. “Are you done?”

“Just about.”

“Take your time.” I took out my wallet.

“No, I’ll pay.” Max started fumbling in his pockets.

“Nah, you’re the guest. Besides, my dad insists.” I slipped two bills and gave it to the waitress. “No change please.”

“Alright. Have a nice day!” She shuffled away with the bills, pulling out a receipt from her pocket.

“No change?” Max asked as we went out of the store.

“Kiss Café is a pretty cool place. They have the usual prices and stuff, but they also have this special program where you pay them how much you can afford. Sometimes I take advantage of that when I’m low on money, but then I overpay when I get the chance. Lots of unemployed and homeless people benefit from the program, so I try to contribute when I can.”

“That’s an interesting system.”

I groaned. “Oh no, please don’t turn into my Dad. I swear half of the time he could be an economist if he was more willing to take risks.”

Max grinned. “I remember when he tried to explain capitalism to us when I was six. You had your eyebrows scrunched up in a way that I had to keep laughing at.”

I punched him lightly. “And you would always tease me about it. And asking me to make that face again and again.”

“Can you still make it?”

I gave him a duh look.

“Come on, just do it once.”

I scrunched up my eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

He laughed, his whole body shaking. “It’s still cute as ever.”

“Tell me about it. A guy used to make the same look at my school, and when he moved away in eighth grade, I was his replacement.” I shook my head. “We didn’t even look alike.”

“Maybe it’s just the look in general.” He kicked at some clumped up snow as we continued walking down the sidewalk. “Some people have their eyebrows slide down to the point where it’s pointing at their nose when they make that look. I always thought they looked scary when they did that.”

“Well I guess mine stays flat a bit.” I pointed across the street. “There’s the bus stop for the bus that drives to the university, so I guess this is kind of a campus town. So if you get in and decide to go here, you could visit the town.”

“I see.” Max pointed at the bookstore we were passing. “Do they have college textbooks and stuff?”

I nodded. “At decent prices too. Sometimes they’re even cheaper than Amazon, if not at the same price. And they buy back books if they’re in fairly good condition. But I’m sure most college bookstores do that.”

He nodded. We had reached the Central Plaza. He looked up at the Christmas tree set up and sighed. “It’s still the same,” he marveled.

“Although a bit shorter than before?” I teased as I joined him at his side. “The family in charge of the tree insists it stays the same year after year. I think it’s been the same for forty years now.”

Max breathed out, water vapor coming out of his mouth. “Man, I hope it never changes. I mean, modern stuff is good, but we need stuff to be the same to anchor us down, you know?”

I laid my hand on his shoulder. “I know what you mean.”

He looked at me, his face solemn. “How much do you think you have changed?”

I shrugged, dropping my hand. “I’m not longer a child. I guess my dreams and fantasies have changed. I look different. The way I behave is different as I learn more and more about how other people react and how society works.” I looked at him, meeting his eyes. “But I like to think there’s still something same about me, no matter where I go or what happens. Like the past will always stay the same.”

“The past will always stay the same,” he repeated. “Yes, that’s true. And there’s stuff you can always count on. Like this tree.” He gestured as he spoke.

I grinned. “Are you planning to become a philosophy major or something?” I started walking again, and he followed.

Max laughed, the serious look on his face finally disappearing. “Nah. Philosophy is a little too deep for me to handle. Not to mention you have to memorize all the theories those ancient philosophers came up with.”

“Like Plato and Aristotle?”

“And even more.” He shook his head. “I participated in Philosophy club when I was in eighth grade and it seemed downright depressing. Not to mention some of the most clueless people were in it. They just sat there agreeing to whatever is said.”

“Oh those people?” I grinned. “Did they agree the sky was red or something?”

Max laughed again. “Man, I should suggest that to them when I get back! Although I guess if you wore green goggles for a period of time and then took them off, the sky would appear to be red.”

I nodded. “That makes sense.” I gestured around. “So, this is the other edge of town. See anything interesting?”

He nodded. “What was that Surf store?”

I whirled around. “Wait, WHAT??? There’s no such store,” I retorted, turning back.

Max was grinning widely. “Man, that look on your face was the best!” He showed me his phone.

“Hey, delete that!”

“Nu-uh.” He put it in his pocket. “It’s my souvenir!”

“Fine.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. They were getting numb. “Wanna go back now?”

“Sure.”

While we were walking back, Max asked, “Do you have a cell phone?”

“Yup.” I took it out of my pocket. “Swap?”

“Sure.” Max took mine as he handed his over and snapped a picture of himself. He started typing at the touchscreen. “I’ll be under the name Hot Chocolate, just so you know.”

My thumb selected the photo he just took as my contact photo. “And I’m under mystery ingredient.”

He groaned. “You’re never going to let me off on that, huh?” We swapped back phones.

“Of course not. It’s just there to haunt like that photo you have of me making a face.”

“Then why did you set that as your contact photo?” Max said as he scrolled through his contacts.

“What other pictures do you have of me?”

“Touché.” He aimed his phone at my direction. I quickly made a peace sign with a cheeky smile. He grinned as it made a clicking noise. “Now I have two pictures of you.”

“Go ahead and change it if you want. But I bet you’ll be more likely to smile if you just keep it as it is.”

“Ehh. Or there’ll be the look of my future roommate’s face when he realizes all the pictures of girl on my phone have them doing a cute pose.”

“That’s what girls do best.” I pulled up the car at the house. “Well, we’re here.”

He looked at me. “You know I’m leaving in two days, right?”

I nodded as I got out of the car. Even though it was close to Christmas, he would be gone before it actually happened. But I couldn’t blame him-Christmas was time to be with family, not some long-lost childhood friends.

Max shut the passenger door. “You know, your parents have a time conflict sending me to the airport. But since you can drive, why don’t you offer to take me?”

My lips twisted into a wry smile. “Is that supposed to mean anything?”

He laughed, tapping my cheek with a finger. He had used to do that when we were little, when I would get suspicious of him. “Nope. I can suggest that if you want.”

“It’s better if you do. They might get the wrong idea if I say it.” I shoved him gently. “You were always on their good side anyway.”

Two days later, I rapped lightly on the guest room door. “Max?”

He opened the door, rubbing his eyes, already dressed. “Good morning,” he said with a yawn.

I laughed quietly. “Come on. We have to leave in twenty minutes. I got doughnuts.”

“Doughnuts?” His eyes snapped open. “Glazed?”

“Yup. Get them before they’re gone.” I grabbed a bag as he dragged out a suitcase from the closet.

Max scoffed as he followed me down the stairs. “Who else is going to get them?”

I flashed him by best vampire smile. “Me, of course.”

He groaned. “I’m not even wide-awake yet. Do you have some wake-up liquid?”

“We got tea.” I passed him a mug.

Three mugs of tea and twelve doughnuts later (man that boy can eat!) we set off in the road. Once I was the highway, I relaxed. Driving was still not easy, but at least now we would be driving in a straight line for twenty minutes.

Max stretched in his seat. “So how you’ve been these last few years? I keep forgetting to ask.”

I shrugged. “I’ve grown up, not so innocent anymore. School isn’t fun anymore. Some of my friends have gone in different directions-I swear some of them must be smoking something since they work like sixth-graders. Stupid ones. Always taking things for granted.” I took a deep breath. “Sorry that I sounded so bitter.”

“Nah, it’s okay. That’s life. Anything good?”

I switched lanes. “Besides getting good grades and staying in top classes, nothing really.”

“No boyfriends?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nope. It’s like I have some sign on me to stay away. But that’s okay. I haven’t found the guy that I feel romantically attracted to and still be able to be myself around him.” I peeked over at him. “So how you’ve been?”

“It’s okay. As you can tell, I’m looking around at colleges. My PSAT scores were pretty good.”

“Any girlfriends?”

“One. But that was two years ago.” Max shifted in his seat.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t really that real anyway.” He started sneezing.

“The tissues are under your feet.”

“Thanks.” He blew his nose. “Sorry, it’s that this place has a lot more trees than back home. Somehow I’m having allergies even though it’s the winter.”

“Well, winter does come pretty late here. The trees take their time to calm down. Remember when you came here before? You also had your allergies.”

Max smiled. “Yeah, and I went through two boxes of tissues every single time.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I would always get annoyed since I was so possessive.” I turned the wheel as the road turned to the left.

“Do you ever feel cold?” He suddenly asked.

“In what way?”

“Like inside, you’re looking for something, and every time you think you found it, you get warm, but usually it’s not it? Like the perfect piece is always hidden, and most chances you take with the pieces that come your way never get fulfilled.”

I thought about it. Crushes? Friends? Both were the same way. I usually felt warm when I found a friend who I could trust and talk to about anything. And that rarely happened. “Yeah I get what you mean.”

Max sighed. “It’s horrible. And the worst part is that sometimes you feel warm, but you don’t know if the other person is warm.”

I turned into the exit to the airport. “Well, I guess that’s part of life. You know, like natural selection.”

He groaned. “Of course you would look at it the scientific way. Competition for reproduction.”

“Hey you said that, not me. And every girl has a romantic side to her. It’s how you deal with her reaction.”

He nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

I snorted. “Trust me. This guy once asked me to homecoming and I freaked out because I said yes without hearing what he said. Biggest mistake ever.”

Max laughed. “What happened?”

“Oh, we went to the dance together and I could barely look at him in the eyes. I mean, I thought we were just friends. He luckily got over me and he’s happy with his girlfriend. They’re really cute together. I wish you could get to know them.” I pulled up at the departure curb. “Well we’re here.”

We stepped out of the car and took out his bags. I stepped back. “Is that it?”

“I think so.” He surveyed his luggage.

I turned to him, grinning. “Nope. You forgot something.” I took out a plastic container from my pocket. “Here. For your cold days.”

His eyes widened. “Is this…”

“It’s hot chocolate mix,” I confirmed. “The same as the one we drank at the Kiss Café.” I grinned. “And it helps with all sorts of cold. The secret ingredient is ginger.”

Max’s face turned to disbelief, making me giggle. He joined me in laughing after a few seconds. “Of course! Ginger! Why didn’t I think about that?”

“Because you hated that flavor.” I giggled.

“Of course you would remember that I always gave you the ginger cookies.” He shook his head. “And I actually liked that drink.”

“Well, now you know that you don’t dislike ginger that much.” I gestured to the container. “And you’ll always connect me with it. I hope you get warm soon.”

“And leave you in the cold?” Before I knew what was happening, Max hugged me and pecked at my lips.

As I stared at him in shock, he stood up, his face reddening. “S-sorry,” he stammered. “Look, Anna, don’t get mad at me…”

“I’m not mad at you. Just…” I took a deep breath. “Just startled.” I looked at my watch. “Don’t you have a plane to catch?”

“We got ten minutes. Look, Anna, I just wanted to say…I really like you. I mean, I know five days isn’t a lot, but I can’t help but look at you in a different way besides a childhood friend. And I was hoping…”

I started walking, closing distance between us. Max stopped talking, looking at me. Finally I was close enough to throw my arms around him.

“Look,” I said softly, dipping my head. “It’s not just you. God, when I first saw you, I was so nervous, I could hardly speak to you. And I was hoping the same thing.”

“That this would happen?” His arms had encircled my waist.

“Yeah.” I looked up into his eyes and smiled. “Well, I was hoping we would still be friends, but I can’t deny that I also hoped there would be something more.”

He laughed. “This feels like a dream, Anna.”

“Then let me prove to you it isn’t.” My heels rose as I found his lips. This time, the kiss lasted more than a second.

His lips still pressed to mine, Max murmured “You wouldn’t mind waiting for me to come to you for the next time?”

“I wouldn’t mind at all. As long there is a next time.”

Months went by, and soon I was a junior. After receiving a pretty good PSAT score, I was stressing about writing the tons of college essays and scoring well in the SAT’s. I started visiting Kiss Café a lot more, often going there after school to study. As my frequency increased, the owner noticed and often offered me new drinks that were being considered as additions to their menu.

Secretly though, I already knew which college I wanted to go to. The one that was only thirty minutes away. However, to get into that college was still pretty tough. Competition for every school was high these days.

As I looked at my AP US History textbook again, hands suddenly obstructed my vision. Before I could react, familiar lips pressed against mine.

When my captor released me, I looked up to the dark eyes I had been dreaming about for months. I laughed as he sat down across from me. The only different about him was that his hair was longer. “Well hello there.”

“Hello.” He tapped at my textbook. “Busy studying?”

“Kinda. I have test tomorrow in that class.”

“Too bad. I was hoping I would get time to talk to you.”

I put my notes into the book and closed it. “I’ve got five minutes.”

“Only five minutes?” Max teased me.

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on the table. “Look, I got to stick to the schedule, but I have time for you.”

“Fair enough.” He laid his hand on mine, making it tingle. “I just wanted you to know that I got accepted.”

Realization dawned on to me as he stared at me, trying to read my reaction. “So…are you going there?”

He smiled. “Would you want me to go?”

“You already know what I want!” I swatted at his arm.

Max laughed, taking back his arm to avoid my hit. “My parents really like what it has to offer academically. Of course, I didn’t tell them the other influences there was there.”

I pecked his lips. “Oh, you’re such a naughty boy.”

“I am very naughty.” He took my arm and pulled me from my seat as he stood up. I landed standing across from him, my hands against his chest, making me look up to see his face. He pushed a strand of hair away from my face. “Inside, there’s always going to be that mischievous kid you grew up with.”

I gave him a fake glare as my heart beat faster. “And what are you going to compete with me this time?”

Max drew me closer with his hand on my back, touching his lips to my ear, making me shiver. “I will be competing to see whoever can love the other the most, and when I finally win, you’ll be mine,” he whispered.

“Well, then mister, you have a long way to go.”

“I know. And I’ll start with this.” He pulled me back and put his lips on mine again, more firmly this time.

I knew then the cold would come less and less over time. And I would always want to know what was hidden in that competitive guy of mine.

*

Hi guys! Thank you so much for reading this story! I know it’s like SUPER LONG for a oneshot, but it just begged to have the detail it wanted. (You know how sometimes stories beg to be written? That’s what I’m doing. I’m just writing it down. ^_^) Anyway, if you have any drinks you want to be featured, feel free to suggest them! I might branch on to desserts later on.

This is also a challenge for "Write Like the Wind" by MusicChibi. Please got to the story if you want some writing prompts or ideas!

Also, APs and SAT Subject tests are coming up, so I’m REALLY sorry that the next one is going to take some time. But I promise the next one is going to have an idol featured. Any requests are welcome too. (FYI-if you want Infinite or other idol groups I don’t know that well, you’re probably not going to get it. Sorry! But I’ll let you know if I don’t know them. >.<)

I hoped you enjoyed it!