-Christianophobia: fear of Christians.

WINTER STOOD stunned by Alek's words. There was a soft buzzing sound in her ears, like bees were whizzing lazily back and fourth near her earlobes. It sounded as if it was mocking her, taunting her in some way by saying: Alek, go out with you? That is un-beeeeelievable!

Yes, bees. Guess who is very much aware.

She felt the hesitance thick in the air. She was taking too long to respond, she knew that. Staying mute wasn't going to help anything- but she couldn't get her mouth to form words. Her mind was going into overdrive, trying to formulate the perfect answer to this seemingly impossible equation.

She made a move to speak- this is it. The big moment of would she, or would she not. The question still dangled in her mind on what she would do. Was it really supposed to be a debate though? On one hand, this was Alek Grayson. Total ball of hot, long haired, black eyed, bad boy boyishness that made any girl weak in the knees and shiver like they were bowls of jelly.

But on the other hand, it was Alek Grayson. Too cool, too popular, too bad, too... everything. Winter knew that she wasn't a sight for sore eyes, but she also knew that she sure as heck wasn't what Alek normally chased after. He liked incredibly robust women. Women who had legs for days and boobs big enough to have an estate built on them. Women who lived exciting lives, or had perfect hair, or downed liquor like they down Voss water. And none of those things were really... Her. Her hair was always just presentable at best. Her boobs were a decent size, perky and full, but she certainly wouldn't be trying on any Double D's any time soon, and she was short. Painfully, noticeable, overwhelmingly short. Only standing at five foot two, she knew that her legs weren't nearly two tall glasses of water. Hell, she wasn't near being a tall glass of water.

Her tongue was stuck to the root of her mouth. It felt like sandpaper, dry and scratchy and highly uncomfortable. This was not going to be easy.

Alek's face tensed up. She'd been silent too long, and now he could feel her uncertainty start to fester around him. He scratched the back of his head, his eyes taking on a nervous gleam.

"Or it could not be something casual as a movie date, if that's not your thing. We could go to dinner?"

She found her voice to speak. "Uhm- no, that's not it. Its just... Weird."

"Weird? Weird how?"

She stared at him. He wouldn't think that him just asking her out of the blue was normal, could he? How many girl could he have done this with for him to think that this was at all normal?

"You don't find it, I don't know, odd that you just randomly asked me out? You don't know me, I don't know you, and we've never held a conversation before today. Yet you thought to ask me out?"

"Well, yeah."

"Uh-Uh. Try that answer again."

He scratched the back of his head again. "Why is it so hard to believe?"

"Because, for one, I'm not really your type. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I'm not exactly in the same playing field as to what you normally prefer."

"So? Maybe I'm trying something new. The girls I go after are too easy. And I mean that in the sense of getting them, and getting with them. There's no sport in it anymore."

Winter scoffed. "Sport? Is that how you view women? Like some kind of animal that you can catch and then release? Like a fish?"

"I wouldn't exactly put it that way. I don't really like fish."

"You're a pig."

Winter turned her back on him with a huff. Alek was such a... A boy. Immature, pig headed, and arrogant. And the last thing Winter wanted to do was waste a few hours of her life with a child. She wanted a man, not a little kid with a sharpie beard.

Figures, though. The first guy to ever ask her out was a selfish low life who thought being with a girl was like playing a video game. Well, she was no video game. She was a strong woman, and if it took another sixteen years for some guy to ask her out, so be it. Just so long as it was a decent guy. Someone who treated her well, and made her smile, and gave her food. That's all she wanted. Was it too much to ask?

Alek reached out and touched her forearm. Even through the sleeves of her sweater, she could feel the coolness of his touch and the roughness of his palms. It unsettled her how he touched her. She imagined all the germs that could be on his palm, on his fingers. All the dirt from the day accumulating under his unwashed finger nails. She almost screamed and threw her elbow at his face. She did not want his dirty hands touching her nice sweater. If he removed it, would there be a dirty hand print in its place? Or would there be invisible residue? Does he even wash his hands?

Winter quickly sucked in a breath of air and forced her arm out of his grasp. She quickly inspected the spot where he touched her and looked for any sign of filth that he may have picked up and passed on to her. When she was satisfied that there was none, she quickly ran her hand over the spot, just to be sure, and shot him a glare.

She didn't exactly have a problem with germs. She had a problem with people and their germs. People were like sticky paper to dirt and germs. She hated touching strangers, or strangers touching her. It made her skin crawl, and it made her feel paranoid. Like something was crawling on her. There were only a few people that she allowed herself to touch and to be touched by, and that was her dad, Kristoph, and even Spice. But he was her twin, so why not.

When she goes home, she would be adding a hot bubble bath to her list of things she would be doing for the night.

"Don't touch me. Ever." she snapped. "Do. Not. Put. Your. Hands. On. Me. Got it?"

A look of confusion crossed his face. "Never thought I'd hear a girl say that to me. Hmm."

Winter snorted. "See, this is what I mean. You're an animal. You date girls, use them, and then leave. And when was the last time you washed your hands?"

The last part came off as more of an accusation against him washing his hands rather than a question, but she didn't mind. Maybe it would serve as an eye opener to him- that the next time he decided to grab on to somebody's arm, he would use Germ-X first. Or soap. She could only imagine what he did with his hands.

He held his hands up, palms extended towards her in a mock surrender. "I'm not an animal. I wash my hands... On occasion."

"On occasion?" she cried. Then, with a more calm tone, "How dare you try to ask me out. I am thoroughly insulted."

He rolled his eyes. "If you say so, doll face. But no girl has ever been insulted by me offering them the best night of their lives."

"Oh, grow up!"

He suddenly didn't seem so hunky anymore. He just seemed like an unsanitary jerk wad who thought women were pawns in the game of life. Well, she was no pawn. She was a queen and deserved more than a no-hands-washing bad boy. Maybe it was part of the bad boy manuel.

Rule number one: No washing of the hands. A true bad boy only rubs his hands with soap when in the shower, or when rubbing down his partner in the shower. Anything beyond that it strictly prohibited, and strictly not bad-boy behavior.

With a huff, Winter gave her the best you are a bug and I am the shoe that steps on the bug look. "Listen, I sure do appreciate you offering to take me out on a date-"

Not.

"But no thanks. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get back to work. It was nice seeing you."

She turned and walked away as quickly as possible before he had a chance to say anything else insulting to her.

.....

When Kristopher picked her up at the end of her shift, she was more exhausted than usual. Her legs were sore, and her eyes stung from having them open for so long. She wanted nothing more than to take a bath, have a quick bite to eat, and go to bed. She was starving, cold, and tired. She didn't usually feel like this- not when covering just her shift, anyways. But the girl who was supposed to come in after she left, amanda, had called in a family emergency last minute. And since Vicki had no one else for the rest of the night, she decided to lend a helping hand and work a few more hours. It was the least she could do.

And Kristopher, trying to earn back her full forgiveness, didn't seem to mind the delayed pick up time at all. When she called and asked, he simply said yes, and that he'd be there right when she got off. Which he was. He sat in the driver seat when she came out, head bobbing up and down to the music that was playing in of his car and flitting out softly into the night due to his open window.

When he saw her, he stopped and smiled. She had seen that smile many times before, and her heart swelled with something foreign. He always looked relieved to see her after work. It was a look of admiration and happiness, like he was expectingly awaiting her return, but couldn't actually believe that she was there. She wasn't even sure if he was aware that he looked at her that way- but she was glad that he did. It made her feel... Oddly welcome. And happy. Like how a best friend should feel.

She returned the smile and hopped into the truck.

"Hey," she breathed. She was tired and hungry, but Kristopher made it bearable. Seeing her best friend here so late, even though his eyes were tired and his breathing was heavy, made her happy. It reminded her to be grateful for him, and to be grateful for their friendship.

"How was work?"

She opened her mouth to tell him about her strange night. About Alek, and how he asked her out on a date. And how she wondered how he knew where she worked, and that she would be working. But instead of her mouth forming words, it made a yawn. She was just too dang tired. She would tell him tomorrow, when her head was clear and her stomach wasn't grumbling anymore.

Kristopher laughed. "You sound like a baby when you yawn, Win."

She would tell him to shut up if she had the strength.

He began to pull out of the lot and make his way down the main road.

"Are you hungry?"

She mumbled something along the lines of "food...dying."

He laughed."I'll take that as a yes. How about a burger and fries? What do you feel like? McDonald's or Burger king?"

At this, she perked up. She announced, quite clearly, "McDonald's!"

He shook his head and smiled. "Alright, alright. McDonalds it is."

Since it was a small town, they made it to the fast food restaurant in mere minutes. Since it was so late, there was no line of cars at the drive through. And there was an even less amused sounding woman at the speaker to take their order. Winter would have felt bad if she wasn't starving.

After they received their food from a grumpy faced middle aged woman, who frowned disapprovingly at them like they were kissing bandits here for a midnight snack and rob. Although Winter couldn't help but notice that her eyes lingered mostly on her.Her frown deepened as she looked at Winter, like she'd just done something wrong. Winter scrunched her face.

"What? Do you need a cookie or something for serving us so late? Stop staring at me like that."

The woman balked. Winter half thought that she would reach out the window, across Kristopher, and slap her. But instead she gripped the sliding window, squinted her eyes, and frowned more. "Enjoy your meal."

As she was sliding the window closed, Winter heard her mumble "devil child" under her breath. Her silver cross necklace glinted manically under the dull florescent lighting of the McDonald's kitchen. Winter shivered.

Kristopher pulled out of the lot with a strange look on his face. "Well, that wasn't very nice," he said. "Maybe she was having a bad night."

Winter scoffed and pulled a french fry out of the bag. It was hot and crisp, and she almost cried with joy when she bit into it. She would have thought that the woman spit in her food if she made it herself, but was glad to see that the person who did make it was a spunky boy, who smiled at the both of them as he handed the bag to the lady.

Take that, she thought to herself at the behavior of the woman.

"No. She apparently just hates ginger kids disguised with blue hair. She didn't say anything mean to you or give you dirty looks."

He shrugged. "Couldn't take on the both of us, I guess."

She rolled her eyes and took another french fry. He was always one to see the brighter side of things. It was something she both envied and despised about him.

"Okay Krissy. What ever helps you sleep at night."

He reached over to her and patted her head. "It does, Win. It does."

Twenty minutes later, freshly bathed and belly pleasantly full, Winter groggily dragged her body to bed. She yawned, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep-

-Where, only moments later, she awoke somewhere else.