Thin Ice (4 page)

“Too good for the public session?”

“I’m sorry! Did you want to use the ice? I can get off.”

“No, you’re good. Are you here alone?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“If you’re a creep or not. If you are, then I’m definitely not here alone and my bodybuilder boyfriend is in the bathroom.”

“And if I’m not a creep?

“Then yea, I’m here alone, and Chris is upstairs. If that’s who you’re looking for.”

Laughing at her witty remark , I say “Well I can assure you I’m not a creep, but I’m not looking for Chris. I left my phone in the locker room after practice.”

She’s still standing in the middle of the rink and looks like she doesn’t know what to say next, so I help her out.

“So since I’m not a creep, and I’m hoping the Hulk doesn’t come out of the bathroom and kill me for talking to you, wanna tell me what you’re doing here all alone at night?”

“Just felt like skating.”

“At eleven at night?”

“I’m spontaneous?” she says with a shrug of her shoulders, like she’s unsure herself.

“I’d say. What’s your name?”

“That depends.”

This girl has some spunk to her. Looking over I say “On?”

“If you tell me yours first. I’ve released way too much information already. Hasn’t your mother ever told you not to talk to strangers?”

“That depends.”

A smile comes across her lips. And it looks genuine. Not like the scared one she’s had on ever since she saw me watching her.

“Oh we have a comedian over here.”

“Looks like one of us is going to have to break first. I’m warning you, I don’t lose easily.”

“Oh good, cause neither do I.”

“Tell you what. How about I get my skates and we have a little competition. If I win, you have to tell me your name first.”

“Woahh. Totally unfair advantage on your part.”

“I thought you don’t lose easily?”

Scowling at me she agrees. “Fine. But I get a head start Mr. Hockey.”

I practically sprint to my car to grab my skates. You know the burst of energy you get after you pass the tired stage? Well, what’s-her-name just sparked it.  A twinge of excitement rolls through my body and I run back to the rink, slowing down when I get to the doors to play it cool. I see her sitting on the bench staring into space. It’s kind of nice to see someone who doesn’t rely on their phone to entertain them. There’s something different about this girl, and I’m determined to get to know her.

Taking a seat on the bench a few feet away, I decide to keep up some conversation.

“So how did you let Chris to let you in here after hours?”

“He’s a friend of my dads.”

A look of pain comes across her face and its masked so fast, you wouldn’t have caught it if you weren’t watching carefully. I’m just about done lacing up my skates when she steps back onto the ice.

“Okay Mr. Hockey. How do you want to do this?”

“How about goal line to blue line and back, goal line to red line and back, goal line to blue line and back."

"Who do you think you are, Herb Brooks?"

Where the hell did this girl come from?

"Well I'm officially impressed."

"That I've seen one of the greatest movies of all time? You're impressed easily then."

Shaking my head as I hold in my laughter and amazement, we skate towards the boards.

"You can have a head start. I'll wait for you to get back to the boards before I take off.

"How generous of you! On your mark?"

"Get set. Go!"

The smile on her face is contagious as she takes off for the far side of the rink. Damn she's a lot faster than I thought. As she nears the goal line, I fully expect her to just do a quick turn around or use the boards to stop herself, but my mouth drops as she comes to a full stop, covering the boards with a layer of snow coming from her blades. Well, I clearly should not underestimate this girl. As she returns to the starting goal line I get ready to take off. When her skates begin to turn, not only does she stop, but she also coats my pants in a layer of ice.

I look up and she's smirking over her shoulder as she heads for the red line.

"Oops!"

"Cheater!" I yell.

I take off for the boards and when I pass her I shake my head and the smirk on my face is unstoppable.

"I am not a cheater!"

"Youre trying to distract me!"

"Is it working?"

Ummm, yes!
"Not even a little!"

I haul my ass back to the goal line and take off for the red line and then back. As she gets ready to start her last lap, I'm right there with her and win with her trailing only a few feet behind me.

Taking a few seconds to catch her breath, she looks up with satisfaction in her eyes.

"Elli."

"What?"

"My name is Elli."

"It's nice to meet you Elli."

Smirking. I'm smirking. I must look like a complete idiot.

"So do I continue to call you Mr. Hockey? Or are you going to tell me your name?"

"That wasn't part of our deal, Elli."

Her shocked face is priceless. I look down and see her playing with her fingers that are slightly hidden by her sleeves. I think I make her nervous.

"Dylan."

The relief on her face is quickly masked by a smile.

"Where'd you learn to skate like that?"

"I've been skating since I was little. Just recreational. My brother plays travel hockey."

So that must be her brothers team on her hoodie. Good, that means it may not be a boyfriends.

"That's awesome! Where does he play?"

"Back home. I'm from New York."

Woahh. A little far from home?

"What are you doing in Florida then?"

"I go to Winter Park University."

"Me too."

"Really? I would have never guessed!"

She looks down at my sweat pants that say Winter Park Wolves Hockey and I quickly pick up on her sarcasm.

"Ha ha very funny."

We fall into an easy skate with surprisingly comfortable silence. Like she's thinking about what to say next. So again, I help her out.

"I don't remember the last time I skated without equipment."

Just when she’s about to answer, her phone starts ringing. She looks down to see who’s calling and an annoyed look takes over her features. She mouths a ‘sorry’ to me as she presses answer, and I give her an encouraging smile.

“Yes Tegan. Wait slow down. What? Are you okay? Yea I’ll be home in a little bit. No, I just ran out. Yes, I’m fine. Ill see you in a few. Yes I’ll pick up your popcorn. Bye."

“Everything ok?" I ask.

“Yea my best friend slash roommate went to this party tonight and now she’s calling for a movie night. Which means the guy she was with cheated on her. She’s a little wild that one."

“You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Logan’s party would you?"

“Yes I would be. Logan also being said cheater."

“I could have warned her about that one. He gets around. Don’t let her get upset over it."

She looks up to me with a puzzled look on her face. I realize her short frame only comes up to about my chest. We start skating towards the bench where we left our shoes and start unlacing our skates.

“I’ll tell her you said that, but it’s nothing I haven’t told her before."

“So why didn’t you go to the party?"

She looks down when she says “Well, I don’t drink, and I’m just not into that scene. I know, weird. But I don’t have a problem with anybody that does it, it’s just not for me."

“I get it. I don’t like going out much either. If I went to the amount of parties the rest of the guys from the team went too, I wouldn’t be able to walk, let alone skate. They’re all actually at Logan’s now."

Finally looking back up, relief washes over her. Did she think I was going to judge her for not drinking and partying?

Both of us finish tying our shoes and we make our way towards the door.

“I have to go and tell Chris he can lock up."

“Mind if I wait for you? I’d like to walk you out to your car if it’s ok."

“Oh, you don’t have to! You’re probably exhausted."

“No, I’m fine, really. This lot is extremely creepy at night."

“I’m with you on that one. I think I watch too much Supernatural. I always feel like something is watching me."

“Well I don’t have any salt, but I’ll keep a lookout."

A huge grin covers her face, I’m guessing with the fact that I watch the show. I binged on the series when I broke my arm in a game a few years ago. Ever since, I’ve kept up with it and look forward to a night in when it comes on.

“Do you want to go get your phone while I tell Chris?"

“Oh! I completely forgot. Yea, that’s cool. I’ll be right back."

I run off to the locker room, pick up my phone that was on the floor by my locker, and head back out to meet Elli. Shes waiting by the door looking towards me and smiling. When I look down at her hands, this time I see she’s not just playing with her fingers, she’s picking at them. And then I see the blood coming from her thumb.

“Hey are you okay? You’re bleeding?"

“What? Where?"

“Your thumb."

Looking down she realizes the little trail of blood now dripping down her hand.

“Oh yea, I’m fine, it’s nothing."

She quickly covers her hands back up with her sleeves and looks back up. “Ready?"

I hold open the door for her and we head towards the cars.

“Which ones yours?"

“The silver one, next to your jeep I presume?"

“That would be mine."

She opens her trunk and throws in her bag with her skates.

“This was fun Elli. For the record, I’m glad you didn’t go to Logan’s party."

A blush creeps up on her face as she looks back at me. “I am too. Thanks for walking me to my car."

“How often do you come to skate?"

“As much as I can. I don’t really have that much free time. I’m in the accelerated program."

“Oh so you’re a smart one aren’t you? Well miss smarty pants, I’d like to skate with you again sometime."

She hesitates a second before taking me by surprise. “Why?"

“Why what?"

“You don’t have to be nice to me. This was fun, but it’s really ok if you want to just part ways."

I’m so confused. Maybe I did something wrong? The look on her face tells me she’s just unsure about what to do, so I try again. “Elli, I’m not pretending to be nice. I really would love the chance to get to know you."

She looks like she’s thinking it over. She’s so closed off and I’m still extremely confused. She’s not like other girls, but that’s why I’m so drawn to her, and she finally puts me out of my misery after what feels like forever.

“Okay."

“Okay?"

“Yea. I’d like that."

Both our smiles reach our eyes as she lets out a small laugh. She puts my number in her phone and makes my name Mr. Hockey. I like that a lot for some reason. She sends me a text so I can save her number and we smile as we both get in our cars and head home. I’m grinning like a fool the entire way there.

Elli

My head is spinning.

What the hell did I just do? What am I getting myself into and why did I give him my number? I’m not thinking straight. Maybe the reason I was able to talk to him so easily was because we were the only two in the rink. But he just seems so different, genuine. Even when I brought up that I didn’t drink, he didn’t make fun of me or anything. The usual reaction to that is extreme disinterest in my existence and being ignored, and I’m okay with that. But this is a whole new game.

Why do I over think everything?

I have never seen anyone with grey eyes before, and his were piercing. I couldn’t stop looking at them. It’s like he saw through me and saw all my flaws. He sported scruff along his jaw and his hair was messy from his practice, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing. His tall frame and broad shoulders give him an intimidating look, but his smile makes you think twice.  

All I can think of right now is that I’m definitely not thin enough to be girlfriend material and he’s definitely out of my league. But again, I’m overthinking and there is no way this is going to go anywhere. All we did was exchange numbers. It’s not like he’s going to text me anyway. Besides, I need to focus on school.