Zia's Ice Cream Epiphany

Carter and Zia's First Date

Carter's hand was hovering above the phone, should he do it? He set his jaw and grabbed the phone, just when he was an inch from dialing the number he slammed it back. What was with him? It was always Carter the determined, the one who side by side defeated Set (for now) with Sadie. Carter the invincible, he liked the sound on that. But now he was a complete wreck he keeps asking himself, "Should I do it?" He groaned loudly in frustration and fell onto the sofa. "What's that I smell?" A certain British blue streaked blonde head popped behind the kitchen wall. Carter put a pillow over his face.

"Could it be the smell of Carter attempting to ask Zia on a date?" She asked dramatically, sitting herself on the sofa next to Carter. "Sadie," Carter murmured through the pillow, he slammed the pillow against the armrest. "You seriously need stop getting into my personal business." Sadie stood up abruptly, "Pshh, like when was your business ever personal Carter." Then she left to her room. Carter grabbed the phone and held it against his chest, "Please oh please say yes." He whispered.

He dialed the number quickly and put the phone to his ear, nervously. Someone picked up, "Hello?" Zia's voice made his insides squirm, in a good way. Carter just sat there for a few seconds, mesmerized by her voice until she repeated, "Hello?" He cleared his throat and tried sounding cool, "Um, hey Zia it's Carter Kane." He hit his palm with his forehead, why did he give his last name? She hesitated for four seconds and said simply, "Oh, hi Carter." Carter sucked in a breath, "Yea, hey, um, are you busy Friday?" Carter shut his eyes mouthing, "Please, please, please," "No," Zia said curiously.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "I was thinking we should catch up, you know, go to the mall. Remember I mentioned that before? Well, it's been a while." He could almost feel Zia smile, well he hoped she was. "Yes I do remember. I think that's a good idea. Where is the mall?" Carter almost leaped from the couch and said, "Halleluiah," but instead he said, "Well, you can meet me at the nearest mall in Brooklyn. How does that sound?"

"Hmm, that sounds okay, how about at twelve o' clock?" Zia offered. Carter said a little bit too rushed, "That's great." There was silence for a good seven seconds until Zia broke in, "Okay, see you then. Good bye Carter." Carter was tongue tied and could barely manage to say bye until Zia hung up. "Oh my gosh Carter! Can I come along?" Sadie asked teasingly. Carter whipped around, "Sadie!" She ran up the stairs laughing. Carter felt nothing but eagerness and, what was it? Anxiety? Yeah, it was.


Before he knew it, it was already Friday morning. Groggy but nervous he opened his closet and looked at the one side of normal t-shirts and jeans and the other side with his button shirts and khaki pants. If I wore a t-shirt and jeans, would she think that I was trying to be cool? Or does a button shirt make me look stiff and inappropriate for a mall date? He thought. He took his chances and picked out a green t shirt, dark blue faded jeans and white sneakers.

As he got downstairs he found Sadie sipping a coffee and Khufu the baboon nibbling on some Oreos. Sadie glanced at Carter and smiled, "Ha, I knew he would dress normally to impress her. Khufu, you owe me three bucks." Khufu growled and gave Sadie three crinkled bills that appeared out of nowhere, near his bottom. Carter sat down next to her, pouring Cap'n Crunch in his bowl. "Very funny Sadie, but how would you feel if I betted you would come down, all dressed up if Anubis asked to hang out with you?" Sadie made a face and sipped at her coffee, cheeks glowing a faint pink.

At eleven fifty he reached the mall and waited at the east entrance, waiting for Zia to show up. A minute after twelve o' clock he spotted her walking towards him from the parking lot. She stood in front of him, "Hello Carter." Carter was probably smiling like a goofball. All he could think was how amazing Zia looked. Before, all he's ever seen her in were in light brown cotton clothes that looked like potato sack pajamas. But even then she was still beautiful. But she had on a maroon long sleeved shirt that she pushed the sleeves to her elbows. Black skinny jeans and not what you would expect, black ballet flats. Zia had her short bobbed hair, which grew, in a ponytail, with the front of her hair hanging around her face casually. Her gorgeous amber eyes were rimmed with eyeliner, not the thick kohl that she used to wear.

She wasn't really smiling, more like half smirking at Carter as he stared dumb founded for a couple of seconds. "Oh, hi… Zia." He couldn't help the little squeak when he said her name. He shook his head slightly and asked, "Come on, have you ever been to a mall?" They walked side by side each other as they entered the mall, with all the people rushing everywhere. Zia bit her lip, "No, I'm afraid not. Not a large building like this. But I have been to bazaars, which is similar." Carefully squeezing in between people, Carter realized Zia's expression wasn't the least happy. What if she actually didn't want to come? Carter thought. "Are you hungry?" Carter asked as Zia looked around, unimpressed.

She was looking at a guy with a one foot long neon green mohawk with mild amusement, "No thank you, I'm not hungry." Carter felt warm and still nervous he glanced at a Baskin Robbins, "How about some ice cream then?" She tilted her head, "What is ice cream?" She asked, looking straight at him. He smiled and said, "A special American frozen dessert. Wanna try?" Zia grinned, "Okay." He told her to stand by the side of Baskin Robbins as he ordered. He waited for a minute in line and he looked at the flavor menu. He turned around, "Hey Zia, what flavor do you…" Immediately his blood began to boil, a guy was flirting with her.

He left the line and overheard the guy talking to her, "Come on baby, you're fine as hell." Zia was furious, "I am not your baby." She was leaning against the wall, with the guy putting both his palms on the wall to both sides of her, trapping her. The guy seemed to be about fifteen, his hair was a russet color. Freckles splashed on his nose and he wore nothing but Abercrombie and Nikes. Carter cleared his throat as he approached, "Get away from her." The guy looked up and grinned evilly, "Is this git your boyfriend? Come on, you can do way better than that. Like me for instance." Carter lunged forward and pushed him away, hard. The guy fell to the ground, and snarled. He jumped back up and was about to punch Carter, which he could easily deflect. But instead Zia stepped in the way and punched him in the stomach.

Just for a glorious second, Carter heard him wheeze and double over. "Go away or I'll snap your leg." Zia threatened. The guy ran away murmuring, "Ugh, tough chick." Carter was smiling and asked, "So, what flavor would you like?" Zia, with a murderous face switched back to a calm expression and said, "Um, what is there?" Carter without even thinking about it, grabbed her by the hand and said, "Come on, I'll show you."

Zia couldn't decide so Carter ordered two Chocolate Chip Cookie Doughs. He handed her a cone and she looked at it hesitantly, "How strange. Does it come with a spoon?" Carter already licking his cone happily said, "No spoon, just lick it." Zia looked at him puzzled, "Lick it?" "Yea, just lick it. That's how you eat ice cream on a cone." Zia stared at her ice cream and murmured, "Americans…" Carter chuckled, "Come one Zia, lick it." She glanced at him and touched her tongue on the tip on the swirly dessert. She pulled her tongue back and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh my god Carter. This tastes beautiful!" She exclaimed. Smiling like Carter's never seen her smile before. She licked it again and again until she came back for air. She closed her eyes and moaned, "Marvelous." Then she realized Carter was watching her the whole time, she blushed. "Sorry, how barbaric of me." He took a bite out of his cone and said, "Ice cream is ice cream, nothing barbaric about eating it." Zia watched as he nibbled on the cone and she did so too. She licked her lips, "Carter, you know what?" He asked, "What?" She licked once more and said delightedly, "My favorite food is ice cream." They began walking and Carter replied, "Then you have seen nothing yet."


As they strolled through the mall, talking about their recent lives they finished their ice cream and Carter had nothing else planned out. He looked around looking for something to do and Zia's eyes saw a certain dress in a store window. She automatically walked towards the window and pressed her palms against the glass. "You like that dress?" Carter asked. Zia was staring at the dress, but it was beautiful. It was sleeveless, a low v neck, and a wide leather belt that hung from the waist. Covering it was a black leather jacket with many zippers. But it was the dress that was astounding. The fabric that looked like silk shimmered with red, orange, yellow and blue. Creating an illusion of flames flickering from the thighs up. The hem of the dress reached the mid thighs, and underneath it were black leggings and studded black leather ankle boots.

Zia murmured, "It's gorgeous." But she tore he eyes from the dress and mumbled, "But it's impractical. I can't battle in an outfit like that, what was I thinking?" Carter looked at the dress and asked, "But you want it?" Zia shook her head. "Okay, I'll go buy it." He stepped into the store and Zia followed impatiently. "Carter, please don't." He looked around for an employee and asked a lady, "How much is the entire outfit in the window?" The lady, tired and impatient, glanced at it and murmured, "$130.89." Zia's eyes widened and said, "Carter, I don't want it." He rolled his eyes, "Come on Zia, you know you do. Besides, my uncle is rich. He doesn't mind if I spend a little for once." Zia gulped and stared at the dress eagerly, trying not to be tempted.

"My friend will try it out and I'll buy the entire thing if it's good." The lady stared suspiciously at the two teens and went again to remove the outfit from the mannequin. "But Carter—" He pressed her hand softly against her mouth and said, "Go try it on." The lady handed her the outfit and Zia walked uneasily into the dressing room.

A few minutes later, Zia walked out. She was drop dead gorgeous. The look seemed to be tailored just for her. The fire represented her elemental magic and she really worked it. She was trying hard not to smile. Carter stuttered, "Wow. Zia you're stunning is all I can say." But in his mind he could say much more. Zia grinned and blushed at his words. The lady couldn't help but smile too and said, "These hoop earrings would make it even more beautiful." She put them on and let her shoulder length hair loose. She was made to be a super model alongside a powerful elemental magician. Carter paid for it without her consent and Zia was flustered at his generosity. She went up to him and kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Thank you." He smirked and whispered back, "Your welcome."    

The day went by quickly. They watched a movie in the theater, which Zia greatly enjoyed and couldn't stop babbling about other possibilities to the dramatic ending. They walked around some more and ate dinner at the food court. As sunset was approaching they walked back to the east entrance and they were facing each other. "I've had one of the best times of my life." Zia said. "Me too," Carter couldn't help but say. As he looked at her from head to toe, she has transformed so much since he met her. From a pretty, hostile magician to a gorgeous warm transformed friend. And he hoped she would be more than a friend. With one more dazzling smile, Zia leaned in and kissed Carter on the cheek, "Can we come to the mall again another time?" Carter nodded, out of words. She walked away and was out of sight, and Carter felt like a million dollars.

When Carter got home Sadie was at the door, "Oh my gosh! How did it go?" Carter shoved her away and groaned, "Sadie, you're the nosiest person ever!" But she kept pelting him with questions, "Did you watch a movie?" "What did you buy?" "Did she have a good time?" "Did you kiss her?" The last question struck out and Carter turned around, "Maybe Sadie. Just maybe." They both ran upstairs and Carter reached for his door. Sadie put her hands on her hips and asked teasingly, "So you didn't bore her to death? Ha, I bet she thought the date was boring. She would've had the time of her life if I was there—" Carter was inside his room holding the door half open, "Good night Sadie." But she kept talking, "Did she ask for a next time? Next time can you bring me along?" Carter closed the door on her but she continued, "Ooh, I can't wait to call her right this second to ask how things went! I'm gonna do it right now, do you mind that Carter?"

        He ignored his sister and fell on the bed. Either way he had the most incredible time and no matter what Sadie says to her, he wouldn't be embarrassed. Because he was cool like that, well, mostly maybe.