"If ice and burn, then love and hate can mate."
-George R. R. Martin

Her heart was cold as ice.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I had just gotten out of bed and had my robe on. Every morning I listened to the crackling of the freezer burn on my heart. The vital organ pumped loudly as it tried to survive the cold temperatures.

No, literally. When she was born, her heart was frozen. She had to wear a conduction patch to control the temperature, but it still ran cold.

I move a bit of the robe to expose my heart. It tinted blue and looked as though it would start dying if I didn't put on a new bandage soon.

I placed the bandage on it, making sure the adhesive around the heating pad was going to stay there. When the heat touched my skin, the top layer of frost melted away into the air. My heart felt a little better.

I checked the thermometer which was placed on a necklace chain. They tried to make it look like a piece of jewelry but they were not successful so I hit in under my clothing. The thermometer said it was around 20 degrees. Not bad, at least for me.

She couldn't feel things the way others do.

I exited my house with a book I took with me whenever I left the house. I started bringing the security blanket type object around with me since I started elementary school. The cover had 'How to Have Feelings' written in crude writing, it belonged to my younger self. I had written the book myself and it was my survival guide and daily reminder how to have emotions.

***

I sat down on a blanket in a park that was within walking distance to me. I didn't care much about the park, but it was just convenient. Also, I enjoyed looking at people. Parks are a good way for me to go propel watching and to try and copy their emotions, but today I forgot my mirror so I was just content on watching and reading.

Maybe I would update my book today.

She never felt excitement...

A man on a cell phone smiled a wide smile. His eyes getting wider and his eyebrows filling the upward motion. Overall his face got longer. He jumped up from the bench he was sitting on and said words that I could not understand.

or anger

A middle-aged woman waved her cane at a few birds. Her face was scrunched up and her eyes were smaller. She was glaring at the birds as they flapped their wings, flying away.

or...love.

Two people were near a tree, giggling. The girl was leaning against it and the boy was getting closer to them. I could not see their facial expressions, but from my book they should be smiling. It was obviously by their body language they were a couple and that the boy was probably going to kiss the girl.

I turned my attention back to my book and began turning the corner of one of it's pages when—

In fact, she never really felt anything...at...all.

I looked up from my book when I heard someone approaching. I watched as the boy ran to a tree and a few bushes and jumped into them. I held my book with one hand as my eyes zoned in on the peculiar boy, a pinch of curiosity tickled in them.

My heart started beating as discomfort grew in my cold heart. The heartbeat was loud enough that I could softly hear it. I took out my thermometer which hung around my neck and watched as it moved from 40 degrees to 60. Something weird was going on. I looked at the tree with a stronger desire to approach the boy.

Slowly I walked over to him. He had fallen off the tree at his time and it sounded like he had dusted himself off. When I reached the side he was hiding on, his back was to me. He was looking at my discharged blanket and still opened book.

He was spying on me?

He turned around. His eyebrows rose in surprise, making the sclera of his — eyes more prominent. His mouth opened itself slightly, bearing the top row of his almost perfect teeth.

I smiled showing all of my teeth.

Was this the way how people smile? I am not sure. I didn't have a mirror. I hope that my attempt at friendliness gets through to him.

In a blink of an eye, his white shirt was engulfed into flames.

A took a step back, my eyes widening at the spectacle.

Was my smile that bad?