Ice Skating!
- Dipper's POV -
"Jeez... that test was so hard last period." I heard my sister say. She had a tired expression as if that test took every inch of her energy out.
"Well, at least it is over with." I said.
"Yeah... what about yours?" Mabel asked me.
"Well... We had a free day today since I've already finished the tests earlier." I said. "Our class did well so no plannings from the teacher went wrong."
"I swear, I feel like you're in some special classes or something..." She said, looking jealous.
"Well... I do, do well with my classes and get every homework, essay, assignment, project, etc. done on time. Maybe that's why I get the harder classes." I said.
"Jeez. I would have already given up by now if I had your classes." She said. We walked out of the school building and headed down the steps.
"Wait. Is Grunkle Ford picking us up?" I asked.
"No, silly. We're free. We can walk home together!" She answered.
"Ah, that's right! Forgot about that... I wonder why I keep forgetting lately." I said.
"I have no idea. The first incident is when you forgot the whole day. The whole day. I'm trying to figure out how did you forget the whole day!" She said.
"Maybe it happened when I was stressing too much." I said. I think ... I had that happened to me before. One period I stressed so much that my mind made me forget what was causing me so much pain. "But to be honest, I'm remembering slowly. I do remember the trouble scene and ... little conversation with one of our grunkles. Although... I don't remember..." I trailed off, trying to recall the memories back. Why do my memories keep disappearing?
"You don't remember what?" She asked.
"... The day after our punishment was made... did I cry at all?" I asked. I remember crying somewhere in the day, just don't know when. Maybe it wasn't important.
"... No. You mostly slept for the whole day since you didn't get any sleep at all." She answered.
"Oh." I said, coming to realization. I remember sleeping all day. That's maybe why I couldn't recall any memories.
"Anyway... Let's get off of that topic. On with the new topic!" She smiled.
"What will that topic be about?" I asked.
"Ice skating!" She chirped. Oh shit. I forgot about that one. I frowned.
"Great. More embarrassing memories. Am I going to be laughged at if I fall?" I asked.
"Probably." She snickered.
"You're a horrible sister." I grumbled.
"I am not! I can't really help it." She said. "I thought ice skating was really known and everyone knew how to do it. I didn't expect my brother to not know how to do so at all."
"Well sorry, I never had friends who would bring me to places I've never been to." I said.
"Well, now you have people you know that will!" She said.
I narrowed my eyes before sighing. "So, when will we be going to the frozen pond?" I asked.
"Tomorrow!" She answered.
"Have you talked with Kahlil about that?" I asked.
"Yep! I told him that we were free from our punishment yesterday!" She chirped.
"And what did he say about it?" I asked.
"He said it was okay. Besides, since we're going tomorrow, we're going shopping today for your skates!" She said.
"... Right... Can I still-"
"No. You're not going to sit there and watch. We're not leaving you out!" She huffed.
"Alright. Well, it was worth a try." I mumbled.
"Anyway, let's place our things down and head out to the mall." She said.
"Alright." I said. We headed over to the shack to set our things down before leaving. We told our grunkles where we'll be and headed on over. I covered my head with my hoodie, giving a reaction to the cold breeze that flew past us. I shivered before hugging myself. It's so cold today. I wonder... What will we be wearing tomorrow? Something to balance out the temperature? I may have to check what I have. We soon arrived, halting at the entrance after we got in. I shivered before staring out into the wide area. I watched people walk in normal paces, doing the usual.
Okay- I flinched when I felt pair of arms grab me from behind. "Somebody's a bit cold. I think they need a little warm inside~." I heard Kahlil whisper close to my ear. I blushed before revealing a small smile. I felt his arms gripping tightly around my torso. "Maybe I could share my warmth with you. How about that?~" He whispered again, sending shivers down my spine. The redness in my cheeks begins to spread a bit bigger.
"You know, it's a bit hard to talk when you are right next to my ear." I said.
"Ah, will it become harder if I whisper something dirty?~" He whispered, making me turn into a tomato.
"I'd rather not hear you do that please." I said quietly, my voice close to being a squeak.
"Why not-"
"Hey, Kahlil!" I heard my sister say, cutting him off. I looked over to her, watching her walk over to us. Did she walk ahead of me?
"Hello, Mabel." Kahlil said, letting me go. Thank you. Though I gotta say, your warmth was pleasant to enjoy.
"Say your here on time! Shall we head over to the shop?" She asked. Wait...
"Wait. Did you invited him over?" I asked.
"Yes she did, is that a problem to you, dear?" He asked, eyeing me as he walked from behind me.
"... No it isn't." I said quietly.
"Then we'll be heading off, shall we?" He said.
"Yep! Come on, Dipper!" Mabel said, following him. I blinked before following behind. I should be high alert for these two. Whatever they have planned, I bet it's something bad. Well, just have to wait and see. We arrived at the place, ice skating/roller skates store. Apparently, they had both, so that's good. Though we were here for one reason. We headed over to the store worker and explained what we were here for. I guess I can't pick my shoes normally. The worker nodded and told me to come in the back. I grew tense before obeying.
I followed them in a room where a line of ice skating shoes was on the rack. I turned my head over to the left, staring at the ice rink. Well, I guess everything is in the mall. But it's quite small ... So I guess not. I was shown the first set of shoes, receiving the clear to try them on. I did and it felt weird. A little too tight as it doesn't give me room. Also, I feel like I'm hovering even though I'm touching the ground. I told the worker as they nodded. The skates were listed from bigger size to small size, which is useful in this case. I was told to try on the other shoes as I did. This one I saw on the skate racket was two skates bigger than the previous skates I tried on. They fit well so far, giving me a little room. I told the worker that, after that they wanted me to give it a shot. I looked a bit nervous, staring at the small ice rink.
I held onto the wall, a bit afraid of putting the shoes on the surface. The worker told me to relax and focus on balancing. I went along with that plan. I slowly place them on the ice, turning my body towards the wall before trying to steady myself. My legs tremble slightly, however, I think I was doing okay.
"Good, good. Do they feel right when on the ice rink?" The worker asked.
"Yes." I nodded slowly, my arms begin to tremble as I looked down at the skates.
"Alright, come over here, take them off and head over to the door." They said. I nodded and did just that. I think I can do this skating thing. I took the skates off and put on my shoes. I picked them up and headed over to where the worker was. I hand them over to them before we both exited the room.
"Alright. Looks like we choose our skates, the price is around $50." They said. Fifty dollars? I should have thought about what they cost.
"Enough for me to pay them." I heard Kahlil say. WAIT. WHAT. I looked over at him with wide eyes.
"Alright, come over to the cashier." The worker said before the two went off. I blinked before walking over to my sister's side.
"What's going on exactly?" I whispered to her.
"Kahlil paying for your skates!" Mabel whispered back. I was baffled, surprised that he was doing that. I would have never guessed that in a million years. "Better pay him back!" She snickered.
"... Right." I frowned, looking away. Once the transcription was finished, we made our way out. Kahlil handed me the bag as I slowly accepted it, still shocked. "What?" I heard him say.
"I'm just surprised you paid for this. " I said.
"Well, I did want to give you something, though I guess that's more than giving you something." He said.
"That's ... fine." I said, smiling softly.
"Besides, you deserve it." He chirped.
"Thank you." I said, looking up at him.
"Your welcome." He smiled.
"Now we can go tomorrow!" I heard my sister chirp. I looked over at her as she was excited.
"Yep." He said.
"Speaking of which. What do we wear? Something light or warmer?" I asked.
"Light and a little warm! Your jacket would do well. Pants, another whole case." Mabel answered
"Of course." I mumbled.
"Don't worry, you'll find something." He said.
"Yeah." I mumbled again.
I stared down at the snow, thinking to myself again. It was a little warmer today. A little ... though, it still feels like it's colder than that. I sighed and looked up, staring at the icicles hanging from the frozen vines. It's so bizarre how this jungle gets cold. I stepped over a tree root before catching up with the others. "Are we there-"
"Do not ask another question about that." Kahlil hissed, annoyance rising off of him.
"Sorry. I'm just excited!" Mabel said.
"Yeah, and you told me that HOW LONG AGO?!" He hissed.
"... Sorry..." She frowned.
"Just be patient, asking people the same questions gonna bite you in the back one of these days." I said.
"No, it won't." She said.
"Sure about that?" I asked.
"Nothing comes around to bite you in the butt." She said.
"Karma does, and I hope it does comes to you." He said.
"What did I do wrong?!" She said, looking irritated. I sighed and broke the two apart.
"Shush, I don't think we need to continue this any longer." I said.
"But I-"
"If you haven't been told by now, your hyper attitude can annoy others sometimes." I said, cutting her off.
"... Well I didn't know that. I thought everyone loved it." She said.
"Some people don't like hyper people." He said, parting a bush for me to go through.
"Why? We haven't done anything wrong!" She said. I walked through the clear pathway carefully before eyeing the ice pond before me.
"While that is true, your extroverted behavior is enough for my ears." Kahlil said.
"Hey!"
I snickered before walking forward. There was an ice wall around the large pond. Did he set them up while we were gone? Well, at least there's something I can hang onto. "Say... Can I ask a question?" I asked.
"Mhm?" Kahlil said, walking over to the walls.
"Do skates cost more than this?" I asked.
"Yes. They are. And I wished I came here sooner." Mabel asked.
"They do?" I said, looking over at her. She was already pulling her skates out of the shoe case. Her skates shown a pinkish color as there were stickers all around them.
"Yep! Mines cost around ... $80? Maybe $100 ... I don't quite remember." She said, walking over to the walls.
"Then why did mines cost less?" I asked, walking forward.
"I think you shouldn't worry too much. We have it lucky here where we only have a few hundred. So, probably the less the people are, the less costly they get. Besides, they don't offer figure skating lessons. So you have that." He said, sitting down next to the wall.
"Don't forget about hockey skating lessons!" My sister said.
"Yeah, that too."
"Then if none of those are needed, then why sell them?" I asked, sitting down.
"Every winter if it doesn't cover us in snow, there would be a winter festival that hosted an ice skating competition." He answered.
"ICE SKATING COMPETITION?!" I heard my sister shout.
"Calm your ass down, I don't think they're hosting one this year." He said, annoyed.
"Aww."
"Well, at least they have some use." I said, taking the skates out of the case.
"I guess, although I doubt anyone skates anymore as they did a few years ago." He said, getting up with the skates he placed on carefully. He leaned against the ice wall, getting a firm grip.
"Well, let's see if you can fall on your butt!" Mabel said, throwing herself onto the ice surface. Unfortunately, that plan fired back on her as she fell on her butt.
"Nice going, idiot." He said jokingly.
"HEY! It's been a while!" She whined.
"... Now I'm nervous to get up." I said after a while. I had the skates on as I just sat on the ground.
"You'll be fine. The snow will soften your landing if you manage to fall." He said, carefully getting onto the ice. I nodded before staring at the ice. I moved my shoes next to Mabel's before carefully getting up. I almost fell before grabbing onto the ice wall. I pulled my body close to it as I panted. Okay, calm down, I have not panicked myself yet. I glanced upon the blue ice, eyeing the surface in case anything was unsafe or cracked. It doesn't seem to be like that at all, almost as if it's perfectly untouched. This isn't a normal ice pond. I gazed up, eyeing my sister who was skating over to me. "Are you coming in?" She asked.
"I am, I'm just making sure the ice is safe." I said. "Though I will fall once I begin to move."
"Don't worry! We'll help you." She smiled before looking over at Kahlil. "Wow, he's a better ice skater than I am."
"Of course, he is." I mumbled, looking over. He was skating so smoothly on the ice, making it look easy. I grumbled, getting all jealous. I looked back over at my sister, who was looking at me with a smug expression. "What?"
"I see you eyeing him." She giggled.
"Not for that reason." I said, shivering.
"You sureeee?" She raised a brow.
"Yes, I'm sure." I mumbled.
"You positiveee?" She giggled again.
"You really want to know what I say about this?" I asked.
"Well duh, you don't talk much about him when he's away!" She said.
"That's because I don't want to." I said.
"Well, here's the time to say something about it." She said, trying to convince me.
"What are you going to do if I say it, take him away from me?" I asked.
"No..." She said, looking around frantically. She seemed nervous and a little blushy. Of course.
"Either way, you can't." I said.
"I know that... you know how it is. Somehow the ones you are attracted to are not always gonna be attracted to you back." She said quietly.
"Yeah, yeah. I've seen it a thousand times." I said.
"Besides the point, I want to hear your opinions about him." She said.
"Well, if you want to know that, all I can say is that he's great to be around." I smiled, blushing slightly.
"I guess..." She said. "What else about him?"
"... Uh..." I muttered, staring down at the ice wall. "... Whenever he smiles, for some odd reason, he's pleasing to look at. Seeing him happy always brings a smile to my face." I smiled, looking up at her.
"Awww, that's adorable.~" I heard him say. My face went completely red instantly.
"I thought you said he was away." I squeaked quietly.
"Don't blame me!" Mabel said.
"I've been standing here since the last few minutes, just listening to your guys' conversation." Kahlil said.
"Were we too loud?" She asked.
"No, no. Not at all." He said.
"Okay then, well I will leave you two alone then." She said before pushing herself away from the wall.
"I actually thought that was cute of what you said about me." He said. I slowly looked over at him.
"Cute." I grumbled, trying to hold my smile back.
"Let it slide, grumpy pants." He said, gliding over to where Mabel's spot used to be.
"... Fine." I huffed, looking away.
"Anyway, should we start teaching you how to skate?" He asked.
"I'd rather-"
"Even if you say that, you're lying to yourself." He said, cutting me off. I glared at him before easing it. He's right... I do want him to teach me. Maybe I should ease it on some things with the way I react. We started on some basics, learning how to balance on the ice. I think I got it down. Soon, he was gliding me across the surface, showing me how to glide on my own. Once I watched him do it a couple of times, I decided to give it a try. I successfully made myself move forward, unfortunately, I got a bit panicky and fell onto the ice. However, that never stops me from doing this glide on my own. I attempted a couple more times, recalling the lessons to control how I managed this action. After a couple of minutes, I finally got it. I successfully glided from one wall to the other wall. I was so happy that I did it.
"Now all that's left is to do some tricks!" I heard my sister say.
"What?" I looked panicked.
"We're not doing that, only the basics." Kahlil said.
"I know, I'm just messing around." She snickered.
"Better be." He said. She smiled nervously before skating away to the entrance. I turned over to him and gave him a look. "What?"
"Stop scaring people." I said.
"Well, I'm sorry. I've been noticing that I'm protective of you." He said.
"Very overprotective." I said, correcting him.
"Whatever." He said, rolling his eyes.
"It's not a bad thing, just don't get obsessive about it." I said, slowly turning my body.
"I would never. I wouldn't be a healthy person if I do that." He said.
"I wonder if you can be healthy while being obsessive." I said.
"You probably can. Some people are blind to see their actions. They sometimes can't even understand what's the problem there." He said. I leaned against the ice wall, getting a grip on it first.
"I don't think that's good..." I said.
"It's never good most of the time." He said. Silence fell upon us, allowing us to view the environment. I was trying to spot my sister, however, it seems like she's not on the ice pond anymore or in our sight. Did she go off on her own? I do hope she'll be okay. I shook from my gaze and glanced over at the ice, looking at how clear it was. It was like water underneath the surface was frozen as well. It looks so pretty while interesting at the same time. Ice can be mysterious when it comes to certain places where they form. I wonder how they form those types of shapes. I blinked, realizing it's been a few minutes since we have last spoken. Wouldn't Kahlil say something by now? I looked over at him as he had his eyes closed. He was leaning against the wall. "... You okay?" I asked.
He opened his eyes and looked over at me. "Yes, I am. Why?"
"Just curious, you usually say something when it lasts this long in silence." I said.
"Oh. Lately, I've been getting used to it." He said. "It's ... not bothering me as much anymore."
"That's good." I smiled.
"Yeah. I've been trying to figure out why I'm getting used to the silence again." He said.
"It could be because of me." I guessed.
"Because of you? Are you trying to be special?" He raised a brow.
"I'm just guessing!" I said, looking away.
"Why would you think that you would be the answer?" He asked.
"... Well... As I recall before, you like to be around me. It may make you be resting at ease or feeling as if you were safe. I can't be for sure if I'm right." I answered, slowly looking back at him.
"You're not wrong either. I love being around you. Your company is enjoyable to hang about." He smiled.
"I'm glad that's the case." I said.
"Really? So you won't be bothered if I play with you a bit?~" He slowly smirked.
"If... it makes you feel better, then I won't." I said, blushing slightly.
"Wow, what is this sudden change?" He asked, raising a brow.
"It's not sudden change! I'm just ..." I trailed off, confused for a moment.
"Changing. You're changing and it's fine." He said.
"I guess it is." I said, the confusion disappears.
"So. If it really doesn't bother you ... I wanna test and see if you can handle it." He grinned.
"Of course, I should have guessed you would go for that option." I said, sighing.
"You know I always do." He said, getting off of the wall.
"So, what would it be?" I asked, eyeing him. He moved forward a bit before turning towards me.
"I don't know yet, I can't tell how I do my tricks." He answered.
"If you don't know yet, then that means I'm safe for now." I said.
"... I guess you are. Wait. Is that supposed to mean you don't want to hear what I would say to you?" He asked.
"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?" I said, grinning slightly.
"What do you mean "maybe and maybe not"? That doesn't give a good answer to this." He said.
"I don't know what I'll do next with whatever you throw at me." I said.
"You'll go straight to blushing into a tomato and try to hide your face." He said, skating slowly to me.
"... I guess." I looked away.
"Like what you are doing right now."
"I'm not blushing yet." I said, looking back at him.
"True, true... We'll just have to make that happen." He smirked.
"And how would you do that?" I asked.
"Easy. I'll just say something that'll make you blush." He answered.
"Don't be so cocky, Princey." I said. He looked to be caught off guard when I said that nickname of his.
"I forgot you called me that once." He said.
"Yeah, it's been a while. Maybe I should start bringing the nickname back." I said.
"Oh great, am I a royal prince to you?" He asked.
"You seem to act like one." I answered. "Acting all mighty and self-confident of your actions as if no one is gonna change them."
"Quite the observer I see." He said.
"You realize that now?" I asked, eyeing him.
"I've known that about you all this time, I just don't pay attention." He answered.
"You never do." I said. Especially when you're inching closer to me.
"I do sometimes... It's just that paying attention to certain things seems boring to me." He said.
"Well, we have our differences and sometimes we're just good at them." I said.
"... True... As I can lure you with my skills." He said, acting all proud again.
"Skills? You call it having skills? It's called being flirty." I said, raising a brow.
"I think there's a difference between the two.~" He smirked.
"In your mind, it may be. Don't know how, but that's how you work." I said.
"You'll never know how I'll work." He said grinning devilishly. I'm going to do it, I can't hold it in any longer.
"If we were to go back to being an observer, I've noticed one thing about you that stands out from the rest." I said, signaling him to come closer as if it was an invitation to whisper this guess. Kahlil appeared a bit confused and wary before leaning closer.
"You seem to take too long when trying to kiss me." And then, I went for it. I placed my lips on his and hope to best it worked. And apparently, it did. I already feel him giving in as my body inched closer to his. I felt his arms wrap around me, hugging me tighter as he deepened the kiss. Did he know I wanted this or was it how I presented myself? Maybe it was and I didn't realize. Not like it matters anymore.
My back hit the wall as I quickly grip onto it, realizing that we were still on the ice. I leaned back as he did the same. "Now, now, now, why are we getting so feisty?" He asked, eyeing me down with those yellow eyes.
"I-"
"Especially when you took the chance to steal it from me." He said.
"... I couldn't help it..." I said lowly.
"Mhmm, I bet you couldn't. I bet you wanted all of me to yourself.~" He whispered. I turned bright red, smiling slightly. "Is that right?"
"... Maybe." I answered quietly.
"Maybe? I think it's more than that.~" He smirked.
"It is ... just can't bring myself to admit it to your face." I said quietly.
"Then why don't you admit it through your movements?" He asked, leaning in a bit closer.
"... I could do that ..." I answered.
"Then let's try." After his statement, his lips were on mine again. Didn't expect it so quickly, didn't know you wanted that flame so badly. I don't mind, either way, all of this emotion is making me ... a bit too "happy." My body was against his once more as I was melting into his wishes... more so ours. A mixture of a dream and reality coming true so soon. However, it shattered when he parted away. I was confused at first, wondering why he did that. I leaned back and stared at him. Kahlil opened his eyes and darted his eyes off of me. "Yeah, yeah I heard you the first time." He said towards someone. I widened my eyes as the realization came to place. How did I forget my sister was around here? And why couldn't I hear what she said the first time around?
"You guys can get your time by yourselves later!" I heard her say faintly. Was I too deep into what was presented in front of me? That may have been it. Wow, I never felt like that way before.
"Dipper." I dived back to reality before looking at him. "Do you want to continue this later?"
"..." I blinked before looking down. I feel the excitement rush within me, attempting to convince me towards the answer I wasn't going to go to. I do want to say no, but ... I want to say yes. I don't know what to do. I felt his forehead touch mines as I looked confused. "We can do it whenever you feel like "yourself" again." He whispered, letting in a quiet snicker.
"... Okay." I said quietly, smiling softly.
"Come on." He whispered softly, gliding me over to the exit. Once we arrived, we took off our skates and put on our shoes. I place my skates back in the skate case before placing the box into the bag. I stood up and picked it up. I watched my sister walked over to us, looking annoyed. Though her response was quite different from her expression. "Did you have fun?"
"Yes, I had fun ice skating today." I said.
"Well... Okay." She said, looking disappointed. I think she meant something else... I blinked before turning over to Kahlil who was smirking.
"You're so blindsided sometimes." He snickered. I soon realized what she meant.
"I didn't know she meant that!" I said.
"It's alright! Either way, we all had fun!" She chirped.
"Yes, we did." He said.
"Now I want to go home, it's getting colder." She said, shivering.
"Good idea." He said. We soon head off, walking together through this cold jungle. The trip back was quiet, probably because none of us wanted to talk in this sudden cold snap. Once we were nearing the familiar area, I felt my arm being pulled back. I looked over at Kahlil who was blushing slightly. "You know, you were right about how slow I am when trying to kiss you." He said shyly.
"I'm not surprised at all for that fact, at least I'm right though." I said, smiling widely. He looks so cute when he acts all shy. Never knew he could act shy.
"Now, don't act so confident." He said.
"But I am." I smirked. He narrowed his eyes before averting them away, soon the blush grew bigger.
At least we had fun. That's what matters the most right now.
End of Chapter 57