This was originally going to be multi-chaptered, but I didn't have anywhere to go with the story from here.
Anya had wanted to get in some more practice time, she was determined to be the best, and had gone to the rink early to do just that. She hadn't realized that it would be in use at such an early hour. She hadn't even realized that her team's rink also supported a figure skater. She carried the general negativity hockey players had for such skaters, but she forgave her staring as she'd never seen a male figure skater before. She'd seen clips of male figure skaters flashed across her TV before this, but she'd never thought she'd see one in real life, on her rink, and only a matter of feet from her.
She watched as the blond boy travelled around the rink, performing tricks in time to the music blaring from the rink's speakers. He was surprisingly graceful for a boy on ice, moving in ways she knew her teammates were incapable of replicating. She didn't even think she could do it. She tried not to gape and pretended to not be impressed should he notice her.
The track ended, the singer's voice trailing off, and the boy finishing in a flourish. "Oi!" a man yelled suddenly.
Anya jumped, seeing a man on the ice she hadn't noticed earlier glaring and pointing at her. "What are you doin' here?" he shouted at her.
"I came early to practice," she said, hiding how startled she'd been.
"Practice what?" he growled.
"Hockey," the boy answered for her, skating around to the man, "She's Hockey Girl."
"My name's not Hockey Girl," she called out harshly to him, adding, "Figure Skater Boy."
"Fair enough," he said, seemingly grinning. She couldn't quite tell from the distance.
"Enough flirting," the man, most likely his coach, snapped, "run it again. Focus on your landings. The last few are always shoddy."
The boy nodded and skated over to his starting point. The coach seemed to be toleration her presence so Anya took a seat in the stands. She was a little ashamed of wanting to watch, but told herself it was to get the rink as soon as they finished. She tracked Figure Skater Boy's every movement as he went through his routine. She didn't know what his coach was talking about as it all looked flawless from her vantage point. When he finished he huddled up with his coach on the ice. They talked for a few minutes then the coach left.
Anya hurriedly pulled on her hockey skates and rushed down to the entrance to the rink. She had everything she needed in the duffle bag slung over her shoulder. All she needed now was blondie to get off the ice. He stopped, however, a few feet from the edge of the rink. She glowered at him. "Hello Hockey Girl," he greeted her, too cheerful for the hour and what he was calling her.
"I told you that's not my name," she said, stepping onto the ice, no longer worry about if he'd get clocked by a stray puck.
"I've yet to hear it," he told her cheekily, gliding a little closer to her.
"Anya Braginski," she told him gruffly, offering out her hand for a shake.
"Arthur Kirkland," he informed her, shaking her hand firmly.
He then slid past her, turning around only once before leaving to say, "Catch you later."
She decided to instead catch him the following morning, just as he finished his practice.
It took a month and a half of them meeting nearly every day for them to exchange more than just a short greeting. "Alright, Anya Braginski," he told her in a mock formal tone as he came off the ice, "We can't keep meeting just like this."
She couldn't think of anything to say, believing he was about to reject her, tell her to stop watching and leave him alone. She didn't want that to happen.
"Seeing as I have to be here every morning and you've been coming early for your practice ever since we've met, I think it's high time one of us asks the other out for coffee if they really want something to happen," he said, giving her a knowing look.
"Will you go out for coffee with me?" she asked, immediately wondering if he knew somehow that she'd been thinking of how to ask him that for almost three weeks.
"Yes, of course," he said with an easy smile, "When and where?"
"Is today at the Eagle Coffee Shop at two, alright?" she asked, feeling excited and desperately wanting him to say yes.
"Yeah, that's fine," he said with a shrug.
She couldn't stop herself from giggling, and she muffled it with her hands. He skated by her, lightly touching his shoulder to hers, and said, "Glad you're happy, Anya."
He left, and she forced herself to focus on her hockey, not the ways their meeting could go wrong, how she could mess it all up, what her teammates would think, and most certainly not the way he'd said her name.
She arrived a little early to their meeting, first date she wanted to call it, and he came right on time. It was the first time she had seen him out of his leotard for skating, and he had dressed smartly. He wore almost form fitting blue jeans, a button down with a sweater vest over it. She, on the other hand, wore beat up boots, baggy jeans, and a hoodie over her t-shirt.
"Hello," he greeted her warmly.
"Hi," she said back, feeling a little choked. She felt almost as nervous as she did before games.
"Have you ordered anything yet?" he asked politely.
"No," she answered, wondering if she should have.
"Alright, do you want me to get you anything?"
"No," she said, trying to not sound defensive, "I can get something myself."
"Okay," he said with a nod. It seemed like she had been able to successfully keep her tone under control.
He turned and walked over to the counter to order. He got earl grey tea, and she ordered black coffee. Not usual for a seventeen year old, but she had a taste for the drink. After they received their drinks, they sat down at a table together. They quietly sipped at their respective drinks. She felt awkward in the silence, but he didn't seem bothered by it. "How's your tea?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound as awkward as she felt.
"It's good," he told her with a small smile, "How's your coffee?"
"It's great," she said, not wanting to say the same thing he did.
"Really?" he asked, she nodded, "I've never been able to stand coffee. Personally, I think it tastes disgusting even if it smells nice occasionally."
"I think it's fantastic," she told him before taking another sip to prove her point.
"Otherwise why drink it?" he asked, smirking slightly over his cup. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh.
"I don't know," she replied shyly, "There's a lot of caffeine in it."
"Fair point," he conceded with a nod towards her.
"May I ask you something?" she questioned, setting down her mug.
"Sure," he said with a nod, lowering his cup as well.
"Why did you decide to figure skate?" she asked, genuinely curious about his answer. He was good at it, clearly, but what would make him want to put in the effort to be that good at figure skating of all things?
"I enjoy it. My parents also let me do it which is nice," he said with a quick shrug, "Why did you decide to do hockey?"
"I like it. I'm good at it," she tilted her head side to side before finishing, "To prove it, I guess. Does that make sense?"
"Prove you can do it?" he asked, "I know all about that."
He grinned wickedly then, in a way she'd never seen him grin before. It made her a little nervous to see it, but also excited for what could happen next.
"Can I ask you something else?" she inquired, wanting to switch topics.
"Yes, go ahead," he said.
"Why did you say what you did this morning?" she asked, "Why say one of us should ask the other out?"
"Well, I mean you kept showing up," he said, looking away slightly and perhaps blushing a little, "It was obvious you were showing up for me. I'd thought you'd like it if you got to ask me out."
"I did," she said, smiling and feeling oddly pleased with herself before catching herself, "You do actually want to date me though, right? It's not out of pity or something."
He shook his head, "No, I'd honestly like to date you, do stuff like this, if you're alright with that."
"Does that mean you'll be my boyfriend?" she asked, wanting him to say yes.
"Sure," he answered, smiling again.
"Good," she said then took a sip of her coffee.
"Are we official now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I guess so," she answered with a shrug.
"Can I get your number then?" he asked, a little of a smirk appearing in his smile.
"Only if I get yours," she replied.
"Fair enough," he said, pulling out his phone and holding it out towards her. She pulled out her own, and they switched. She programmed her number into his address book, and switched with him again when he was ready. She immediately pulled up her contact list and found his, knowing she'd commit it to memory later.
"What do you want to do now?" he asked, drinking a bit of his tea.
"Finish my coffee," she answered then took a gulp of the slightly cooler liquid.
He chuckled and drank from his cup again.
"Do you think we've moved to fast?" he asked suddenly, speaking like he was musing out loud.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, we hardly know each other, and we've just decided to start dating each other," he explained, tilting his head to the side for a moment.
"Don't you date to get to know the other person?" she asked, "That's why people go on blind dates, yeah?"
"Yes," he said with a nod, "Besides, if we're both okay with it, it's not a problem."
"Yeah," she agreed. She drank more of her coffee, feeling better with her doubts assuaged. He gave her a smile over the rim of his cup. She grinned in response, already thinking of the words she'd use to tell her mother that hockey had been the reason she'd found a boyfriend.
I think I have a tendency to make teenagers more mature than they should be. I'll work on that. I'm also not particularly familiar with figure skating or ice hockey. I just thought a set up like this would be interesting.
Please review!