Bookworms and... Booya! (book 1)

too. I think I saw a couple moves that we could mesh together that'd be perfect for you."

  I gave a slow, happy shrug of both shoulders as I released a quick breath and surrendered to another silly smile. I stood to follow after him. "Cool." That word could've described my entire day that far. Actually, it didn't do it justice. I don't think I had the words in my vocabulary for a description of the day.

  So, Zell and I lay opposite one another on the floor, our heads occasionally brushing against each other when we pointed at articles here and there. We shared viewpoints and critiques of the moves published. We shared opinions on moves that shouldn't have been published.

  I found out who his favorite submitter was and why. I found out who his favorite judge/master/whatever was and why. I also found out just how smart he was. I always suspected he knew a lot, especially about what he taught at Garden. I saw that when he gave me the lesson. When we discussed the articles in the Combat King, I saw it on an even grander scale.

  Zell was smart.

  "What about this one?" I asked, pointing at a move that combined a few different kinds of leg/feet moves.

  "Here. Let me see."

  I turned the magazine around and tapped the page.

  "Which one?"

  "This one," I said as I tapped again.

  "Hm. You know, I think that's a good one to try next. Your coordination's on the high side, so you should pick it up really fast."

  Attack of the warm fuzzies! I turned the magazine back around. "I need to find more fist combos, though."

  Zell flipped through the pages of his most recent Combat King. "I thought I saw one in here--yeah." He turned it around and tapped. "It'll take longer to master than the other one, but I really think you should give it a shot. It does a good job of combining body strength and balance with speed and dexterity. The only thing you'd need to watch would be the contact. We need to work on your focal points a bit, but you'll get it quick enough."

  The door opened. Zell looked over his shoulder to give his mother a grin. "Hey, Ma. Have fun?"

  "Hello, Zell. Hello, Sally," she greeted as she shook out her coat and hung it next to mine. "Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. What about you two?"

  "Of course," Zell said as he sat up. I gathered the magazines and handed them to him. He straightened them in his grip. "This is Meg and me you're talking about."

  "Meg?"

  Zell stood, watching me out of the corner of his eye as I did the same. Then he looked back over at his mother. Well, that was weird. It was as if he'd been checking to make sure I didn't need help. I nearly giggled at the whole gallantry thing of it.

  "Yeah. Short for Mega-Phoenix. She gave me one of those a while ago. Remember that whole thing with choosing between Headmaster Cid or Gardenmaster Norg? It was then."

  "Oh. Then you've known her for a while," Ma Dincht observed as she hung up her scarf.

  "Well, almost. So what's for dinner?"

  Ma Dincht laughed. "Let me change out of my wet clothes, Zell. And in case you haven't noticed, I've been simmering a pot roast all day. If you and Sally could cut up some potatoes and add them to the crock pot, that would help. Don't forget the carrots and celery, too." And then she was up the stairs and closing the door to her room to change.

  "Pot roast! Ohh yeaaah!" Zell exulted, and he hurried in search of the aforementioned crock pot. He found it in the right corner of the kitchen. He removed the lid to take a deep whiff of the slowly simmering meat inside. "Ma makes the best pot roast. Here. Take a whiff."

  I leaned slightly over the crock pot and closed my eyes as I took a sniff of the fragrant aroma of spices, juice, and meat. My mouth practically started watering there into the crock pot. "Oh my gosh. That smells good."

  "Don't I know it." Zell turned for the fridge to grab three potatoes from a basket on top. "Here. Wash these and cut them in half."

  I took them and moved to the sink. "Then I'm to put them in the pot?"

  "Yup. I'll get the celery," he said as he opened the fridge and bent inside, "and cut 'em up," he finished in a muffled voice. "Celery with pot roast rocks."

  "Shouldn't we have another green?"

  "Yeah. Probably. I wonder if she has any... hm... do you like broccoli?"

  "Strange as it sounds, I do. She has some?" I finished washing the potatoes and moved to the counter near the crock pot to cut them in half with a knife from the knife holder beside the toaster. I carefully put them into the crock pot.

  "Yeah. Fresh, too." He straightened, celery in one hand and broccoli in the other, and gestured to the cabinet at my feet. "Grab me a pot, will ya?"

  "Sure." I opened the cabinet to pull out what I believe is called a 'dutch oven'. I straightened to hand it to him, but then pulled it back again with a smile. "You've kind of got your hands full, Mr. Dincht."

  Zell grinned. "Yeah. Just a little."

  I giggled. "You want some water in it, right?"

  "Yeah. About half an inch." He moved to where I'd been standing once I moved to the sink. Then he set the celery and broccoli onto the counter. He wiped off the knife I'd used for the potatoes and started picking and choosing the stalks of celery lucky enough to go into the stew. He looked over his shoulder at me. "Got it?"

  I nodded and brought the pot back over. "You want me to break apart the broccoli and put it in?"

  "Perfect. Oh, and you better turn on the stove. It takes a little while to heat up. Go ahead and put the pot on it, and you better get the lid. Don't want all that steam getting loose."

  I nodded again, doing as I was told and enjoying every minute of it. So, he cut up the celery as I broke up the broccoli, both of us putting the unused stalks back into the refrigerator. We didn't talk much, but I didn't care. The silence and the crunch, crisp, crack of the celery and the broccoli was good enough for me. After all, I was helping Zell Dincht make dinner. Who needed conversation?

  The celery went into the crock pot, the broccoli remains were thrown away, and then we cleaned the counter, washed our hands, and drifted back into the living room to wait for his mother. Before she came down, Zell remembered a website he wanted me to see and ushered me over to the computer.

  So that's where we were when Ma Dincht came downstairs and took over the preparations, me looking over Zell's shoulder as he pointed and talked and discussed the website and how it did a great job of displaying fighting techniques, etc, etc.

  Ma Dincht praised our kitchen duties, gently scolded Zell for forgetting the carrots (he didn't like them, apparently), and thanked us for cleaning up after ourselves. Then she promptly teased Zell by accusing him of not cleaning up after himself unless there was company. He denied it with a grin in my direction, and then remembered another website that had a better search engine.

  So I was back to looking over his shoulder, leaning in more this time, as he typed and pointed and talked.

  I was in heaven.

  At dinner, Zell told a couple more stories from his adventures with Squall and Selphie and the others against Sorceress Ultimecia. Then he was pushing for me to tell the story of my adventure with the Fire Cavern. I did and Zell was right, Ma Dincht did love it. When I finished, Zell laughed and said I'd added more fancy stuff the second time around.

  Did I already say I was in heaven?

  Then it was time to go back to Garden, and I found myself enveloped in a warm hug by Ma Dincht while promising to visit again soon.

  "Hey, Sally," Zell said as we made our way to the door, "could you head on over to the car rental to see what they have? I gotta talk to Ma."

  "Okay. Bye, Ma," I said again with a wave and a smile.

  "Bye, Sally."

  Then I left the Dincht home with a deep sigh and a content smile as I stuffed my hands in my pockets. Wow. Nobody will believe I've spent the entire day with Zell Dincht. That I've teased and laughed. That I've tickled and smacked and pushed. That I've been more myself than I thought possible. Why should they? I don't even believe me.

  I snuggled deeper into the
warmth of my jacket as I walked toward the car rental station. Tomorrow wouldn't be so bad. Not after today. I liked him. It wasn't a big deal. He liked me, too. So I liked him as more than a friend. That wasn't a big deal, either. We had fun together, and I really doubted that would change when I told him how I felt.

  I stepped up to the window of the rental place. "Hi. What do you guys have available to rent tonight?"

  "Where you headed?"

  "Back to Garden."

  "Oh. Well we have a car specially reserved for SeeD use."

  If it was anything like the train car, it was probably ritzier than anything I'd seen before. "Really? Wow. That would be great."

  "I'll just need to see your ID and then," he pulled out some paperwork, "just fill this out. Then you're all set."

  "Oh." I looked down at the paper as I dug for my ID. I took it out, set it on the counter, and then picked up the pen to start filling out the paper.

  "You're a candidate?"

  "Uh-huh," I said as I continued to fill out the paper.

  "The car's only for SeeD. I'm sorry."

  "Oh," I said again. I looked up, worrying the inside of my lip. "Well, what else do you have?"

  The man turned to his computer and typed a few letters. "Let's see."

  "What's the matter? " Zell stood beside me, my heart thudding in my chest as our arms brushed. He slipped into his jacket. “The SeeD car gone?”

  "I can't rent it. I'm only a candidate."

  Zell made a face before stepping up to the counter. "Yo, Henry. Come on. Stop doing everything by the book and give us the SeeD car. Geez."

  The man named Henry laughed as