"You can't hide in my room."
Guy chuckled uncontrollably on Averman's bed. I rolled my eyes at him. Connie on the other hand was extremely serious.
"I'm sure your dad isn't that angry." Connie said patting Josie's hand which was immediately jerked out of her reach. "You only skipped school."
Josie sighed. "The vain in his head was popping out like the time I burnt the headmaster's office down, Adam." Her eyes looked up at me pleadingly.
"Yikes." Guy interjected only to be stopped my Connie's glare.
Josie continued. "He said I either skate or 'I'm off a military school." She took a deep breath. "And I don't really feel like doing the whole G. I. Jane thing right now."
I grinned. "Then you'll skate."
"Uh . . . no. Banks, do you not hear me or do you just like to block out every other word I say?" She said getting up from my desk chair and tipping it over. "I'm not skating; I'm not going to military school and you aren't helping." She began to make her way towards the door.
I jumped past her and stood with my back to the door. "Whoa! Ok. How about we don't yell at Adam for about two seconds ok?" I took a deep breath as she crossed her arms. "What do you want me to do? It's not like I can convince your father to stop with the whole skating thing."
Connie got up and stood beside her. "How about we go do something and we get back to this when we aren't so angry?"
"Like what?" Guy asked hopefully still sitting on the bed.
~*~
"Roller skating?"
Connie grinned at her. "Yes Josie roller skating." Connie winked at the guy at the ticket booth and walked past. "Come on it isn't ice skating."
Guy smiled at me. "Hey it's like a date."
"It's not a date because she is angry at me." I reply through gritted teeth. "She is ready to throw a skate at me."
"Connie constantly says she wants to pummel me with things; darts, toasters, chairs, her hockey bag. It just means she likes you." Guy explained.
I rolled my eyes. "Really; I thought it meant 'I want to hit you so hard that you are in a comatose state so you don't annoy me anymore'." I replied sarcastically as we walked into a line to get some roller skates.
Guy shrugged. "Of course you can always take it that way."
~*~
Josie rolled her eyes as she skated beside me. "I can't believe your friend got me skating."
I smiled. "Connie is very persuasive."
"Do you think I'm dumb?" she asked very seriously and very suddenly.
My head jerked to look at her in the eyes. "Of course not; why would you be dumb?"
She shrugged and licked her lips. "Because I quitted the one thing I loved out of the blue."
I looked ahead. "No. You had your reasons and your dad needs to see that you're still hurting."
She nodded.
"Do you miss skating?" I finally asked.
She nodded again. "Everyday."
I had this weird revelation I had to share with her. "Maybe you didn't quit." She looked at me confused. I continued unphased. "Maybe you needed a break or maybe you didn't want to compete anymore."
She grinned at me. "Maybe."
I was right. Her grins do have that weird jelly effect on my knees. I could feel them wobble and the roller skates strapped to my feet began to quiver. Gravity pulled me down onto the ground with a thump. I looked up at her, my ass and my dignity bruised.
She smirked. "Smooth moves, Mr. All-Star."
~*~
Josie and I sat across from each other for once not thinking about skating. She eyes shimmered in the lights that were cast across the roller disco floor.
"Hey!" Connie smiled as she barely stopped in her skates, not used to the way they stop. Guy stopped with ease standing beside her with a goofy grin on his face. "Um. . . I hate to be rude and all, but Guy and I are going to go. I kind of promised him a date, just him and me." Color crept onto Connie's cheeks.
Josie shrugged. "No problem. It was kind of my fault for crashing your date."
I heard Guy mutter something under his breath causing Connie to slap his arm. "We're going to go then. See you Banksie." Guy said nodding at me and grabbing Connie's hand.
Josie smiled. "They're so cute, that it's sick."
I nodded. "They have been like that since District 5."
Josie looked up from the soda that she was swirling with her straw in. "Sorry, District 5?"
"Old hockey team we all used to play for." I explained. I frowned as she nodded and quietly sipped her drink. "Do you know anything about hockey?"
She shrugged. "The basics mostly; big guys go up and down the rink passing the puck to shoot into a net blocked by another big guy, meanwhile the other team hits them into the boards to stop them." She looked at me thoughtfully. "Do you know anything about figure skating?"
I smiled. "The basics mostly; a skater goes on the ice does a few twirls and jumps, goes off the ice and is scored."
"Wow. That was . . . sad." She laughed.
My jaw dropped. "Your explanation made hockey players sound like cavemen; big guys who just hit each other over the head. At least my explanation of your sport was flattering."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I have no reason to learn about hockey. I have no brothers who play it and my dad; he only watches the Stanley cup game and usually falls asleep after the first period." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, he said that figure skating was more dignified, and more suitable for a little girl."
"I could teach you about it." I offered. "The school basically lives for hockey. You would be left in the dark if you don't know anything about it."
Josie shook her head. "I think the only sport I will be learning about is Drill Squad, because I am so not going on the ice ever again." "But you said that you missed skating."
She nodded. "I do. I miss skating. I miss the feel of ice beneath my feet and the bite of the air, but I don't miss all the bullshit that comes with the territory." She sighed and pushed away her drink crossing her arms.
"I had no clue figure skating was so complicated." I admitted. "Isn't something that is supposed to relax you, not supposed to have bullshit involved?"
Josie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That's where my dear ol' dad comes in. He makes all the things that are simple, complicated. You could call him an overachiever."
I nodded. I knew exactly where she came from. Maybe it was the fact that our fathers were both highly educated and wanted the best for their children and instead of helping them by broadening their horizons and opening their doors to a prosperous future, they forced us into doing things we didn't want to do. Sure, a few things my father put me into while I was a kid helped me. I didn't want to play hockey at first to be truthful, but I fell in love with the game. But the other things were forcing me to become someone I don't want to be; someone exactly like my father.
She smiled. "Skating, when my dad didn't know I liked it, was so freeing and peaceful." She shrugged. "Then the second he found out I liked it, he hired a coach, who was the best of the best, who pushed me like hell to do things I couldn't do until I could. But that's not a bad thing though. I needed to be pushed. It's just that it made it not fun anymore."
Wow. That is exactly the way the Hawks were back in Pee-Wee hockey. I liked hockey but I was constantly pushed by everyone and every game wasn't fun. The Ducks saved me. They made it fun. They loved the game like I did and didn't force me the way The Hawks did. They were playing for fun. The Hawks were playing to win. But it's not like I could tell Josie that.
No, instead I sat there and smiled.
Then it clicked. I guess in Connie's opinion I had a moment with myself. "Why don't we make skating fun again?"
"And how are you planning on doing that?" Josie said looking past me.
I bit my lip. "You wouldn't happen have a pair of skates in your dorm would you?"
~*~
Josie looked around nervously. "Banks, I seriously don't think this is a good idea. I haven't skated in months. I mean it! I skated once after Peter's funeral and that was in late February and now it's December so I haven't touched the ice in . . ." She rambling to count the months in her head. "In ten months! That means I haven't touched the ice in almost a year. So maybe we could just go back to you dorm where we could join that card game with Averman and the rest of the Ducks!"
I laughed as she panicked and remained silent. Her ramblings amused me. I wondered how long until she began to get violent.
"And your friend, um. . . Chuck or something."
"Charlie." I corrected.
"Yeah him, he looked like he needed help with his homework so maybe we could forget about this whole making skating fun again and help him." She explained trying to pry my fingers off her wrist.
I smiled. "Actually Charlie needs to learn to do his homework on his own so no. We are skating."
She stopped in her tracks. "Ok maybe you are either really oblivious or stupid or something, but I have been hinting, since wee left my dorm room, that I don't want to skate. I'm not ready to."
I shrugged. "No time like the present." I began to drag her along at a quicker pace.
"Ha ha! That is really funny Adam. I like the whole use of the cliché and all but seriously I'm not ready to get back on the ice." She replied nervously desperately trying to pry my death grip on her wrist off.
I spun around to look her in the eyes. "Are you really not ready or are you scared that you will fall back in love with it without him? Or are you scared of doing this and having your father being right? Or maybe it's me. Maybe you are scared of sharing this with me because you feel like I'm treading on Peter's territory."
Josie's eyes locked with mine and didn't look away.
"Because I know that Peter would want you happy; if he loved you the way you said he did he would want you to move on and keep skating. I can see it in your eyes. Skating is and was your life and you aren't ready to give it up and without it you are barely alive; you just exist. It's the same way with me and hockey. I get it."
She bit her lip which began to quiver. She took a deep breath.
I let go of her wrist and grabbed her hand, lacing my fingers with hers. "You aren't happy when you aren't on the ice, or when you aren't thinking about it. Peter wouldn't want to hold you back."
She let go and wrapped her arms around my neck pulling me into a hug. "Don't speak. I know exactly what you mean. Thanks Adam."
~
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A/N: OK! This is MY Christmakah present to all the reviewers and readers out there! You guys are the best!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
REVIEW!
~Toodles!
Guy chuckled uncontrollably on Averman's bed. I rolled my eyes at him. Connie on the other hand was extremely serious.
"I'm sure your dad isn't that angry." Connie said patting Josie's hand which was immediately jerked out of her reach. "You only skipped school."
Josie sighed. "The vain in his head was popping out like the time I burnt the headmaster's office down, Adam." Her eyes looked up at me pleadingly.
"Yikes." Guy interjected only to be stopped my Connie's glare.
Josie continued. "He said I either skate or 'I'm off a military school." She took a deep breath. "And I don't really feel like doing the whole G. I. Jane thing right now."
I grinned. "Then you'll skate."
"Uh . . . no. Banks, do you not hear me or do you just like to block out every other word I say?" She said getting up from my desk chair and tipping it over. "I'm not skating; I'm not going to military school and you aren't helping." She began to make her way towards the door.
I jumped past her and stood with my back to the door. "Whoa! Ok. How about we don't yell at Adam for about two seconds ok?" I took a deep breath as she crossed her arms. "What do you want me to do? It's not like I can convince your father to stop with the whole skating thing."
Connie got up and stood beside her. "How about we go do something and we get back to this when we aren't so angry?"
"Like what?" Guy asked hopefully still sitting on the bed.
~*~
"Roller skating?"
Connie grinned at her. "Yes Josie roller skating." Connie winked at the guy at the ticket booth and walked past. "Come on it isn't ice skating."
Guy smiled at me. "Hey it's like a date."
"It's not a date because she is angry at me." I reply through gritted teeth. "She is ready to throw a skate at me."
"Connie constantly says she wants to pummel me with things; darts, toasters, chairs, her hockey bag. It just means she likes you." Guy explained.
I rolled my eyes. "Really; I thought it meant 'I want to hit you so hard that you are in a comatose state so you don't annoy me anymore'." I replied sarcastically as we walked into a line to get some roller skates.
Guy shrugged. "Of course you can always take it that way."
~*~
Josie rolled her eyes as she skated beside me. "I can't believe your friend got me skating."
I smiled. "Connie is very persuasive."
"Do you think I'm dumb?" she asked very seriously and very suddenly.
My head jerked to look at her in the eyes. "Of course not; why would you be dumb?"
She shrugged and licked her lips. "Because I quitted the one thing I loved out of the blue."
I looked ahead. "No. You had your reasons and your dad needs to see that you're still hurting."
She nodded.
"Do you miss skating?" I finally asked.
She nodded again. "Everyday."
I had this weird revelation I had to share with her. "Maybe you didn't quit." She looked at me confused. I continued unphased. "Maybe you needed a break or maybe you didn't want to compete anymore."
She grinned at me. "Maybe."
I was right. Her grins do have that weird jelly effect on my knees. I could feel them wobble and the roller skates strapped to my feet began to quiver. Gravity pulled me down onto the ground with a thump. I looked up at her, my ass and my dignity bruised.
She smirked. "Smooth moves, Mr. All-Star."
~*~
Josie and I sat across from each other for once not thinking about skating. She eyes shimmered in the lights that were cast across the roller disco floor.
"Hey!" Connie smiled as she barely stopped in her skates, not used to the way they stop. Guy stopped with ease standing beside her with a goofy grin on his face. "Um. . . I hate to be rude and all, but Guy and I are going to go. I kind of promised him a date, just him and me." Color crept onto Connie's cheeks.
Josie shrugged. "No problem. It was kind of my fault for crashing your date."
I heard Guy mutter something under his breath causing Connie to slap his arm. "We're going to go then. See you Banksie." Guy said nodding at me and grabbing Connie's hand.
Josie smiled. "They're so cute, that it's sick."
I nodded. "They have been like that since District 5."
Josie looked up from the soda that she was swirling with her straw in. "Sorry, District 5?"
"Old hockey team we all used to play for." I explained. I frowned as she nodded and quietly sipped her drink. "Do you know anything about hockey?"
She shrugged. "The basics mostly; big guys go up and down the rink passing the puck to shoot into a net blocked by another big guy, meanwhile the other team hits them into the boards to stop them." She looked at me thoughtfully. "Do you know anything about figure skating?"
I smiled. "The basics mostly; a skater goes on the ice does a few twirls and jumps, goes off the ice and is scored."
"Wow. That was . . . sad." She laughed.
My jaw dropped. "Your explanation made hockey players sound like cavemen; big guys who just hit each other over the head. At least my explanation of your sport was flattering."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I have no reason to learn about hockey. I have no brothers who play it and my dad; he only watches the Stanley cup game and usually falls asleep after the first period." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, he said that figure skating was more dignified, and more suitable for a little girl."
"I could teach you about it." I offered. "The school basically lives for hockey. You would be left in the dark if you don't know anything about it."
Josie shook her head. "I think the only sport I will be learning about is Drill Squad, because I am so not going on the ice ever again." "But you said that you missed skating."
She nodded. "I do. I miss skating. I miss the feel of ice beneath my feet and the bite of the air, but I don't miss all the bullshit that comes with the territory." She sighed and pushed away her drink crossing her arms.
"I had no clue figure skating was so complicated." I admitted. "Isn't something that is supposed to relax you, not supposed to have bullshit involved?"
Josie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That's where my dear ol' dad comes in. He makes all the things that are simple, complicated. You could call him an overachiever."
I nodded. I knew exactly where she came from. Maybe it was the fact that our fathers were both highly educated and wanted the best for their children and instead of helping them by broadening their horizons and opening their doors to a prosperous future, they forced us into doing things we didn't want to do. Sure, a few things my father put me into while I was a kid helped me. I didn't want to play hockey at first to be truthful, but I fell in love with the game. But the other things were forcing me to become someone I don't want to be; someone exactly like my father.
She smiled. "Skating, when my dad didn't know I liked it, was so freeing and peaceful." She shrugged. "Then the second he found out I liked it, he hired a coach, who was the best of the best, who pushed me like hell to do things I couldn't do until I could. But that's not a bad thing though. I needed to be pushed. It's just that it made it not fun anymore."
Wow. That is exactly the way the Hawks were back in Pee-Wee hockey. I liked hockey but I was constantly pushed by everyone and every game wasn't fun. The Ducks saved me. They made it fun. They loved the game like I did and didn't force me the way The Hawks did. They were playing for fun. The Hawks were playing to win. But it's not like I could tell Josie that.
No, instead I sat there and smiled.
Then it clicked. I guess in Connie's opinion I had a moment with myself. "Why don't we make skating fun again?"
"And how are you planning on doing that?" Josie said looking past me.
I bit my lip. "You wouldn't happen have a pair of skates in your dorm would you?"
~*~
Josie looked around nervously. "Banks, I seriously don't think this is a good idea. I haven't skated in months. I mean it! I skated once after Peter's funeral and that was in late February and now it's December so I haven't touched the ice in . . ." She rambling to count the months in her head. "In ten months! That means I haven't touched the ice in almost a year. So maybe we could just go back to you dorm where we could join that card game with Averman and the rest of the Ducks!"
I laughed as she panicked and remained silent. Her ramblings amused me. I wondered how long until she began to get violent.
"And your friend, um. . . Chuck or something."
"Charlie." I corrected.
"Yeah him, he looked like he needed help with his homework so maybe we could forget about this whole making skating fun again and help him." She explained trying to pry my fingers off her wrist.
I smiled. "Actually Charlie needs to learn to do his homework on his own so no. We are skating."
She stopped in her tracks. "Ok maybe you are either really oblivious or stupid or something, but I have been hinting, since wee left my dorm room, that I don't want to skate. I'm not ready to."
I shrugged. "No time like the present." I began to drag her along at a quicker pace.
"Ha ha! That is really funny Adam. I like the whole use of the cliché and all but seriously I'm not ready to get back on the ice." She replied nervously desperately trying to pry my death grip on her wrist off.
I spun around to look her in the eyes. "Are you really not ready or are you scared that you will fall back in love with it without him? Or are you scared of doing this and having your father being right? Or maybe it's me. Maybe you are scared of sharing this with me because you feel like I'm treading on Peter's territory."
Josie's eyes locked with mine and didn't look away.
"Because I know that Peter would want you happy; if he loved you the way you said he did he would want you to move on and keep skating. I can see it in your eyes. Skating is and was your life and you aren't ready to give it up and without it you are barely alive; you just exist. It's the same way with me and hockey. I get it."
She bit her lip which began to quiver. She took a deep breath.
I let go of her wrist and grabbed her hand, lacing my fingers with hers. "You aren't happy when you aren't on the ice, or when you aren't thinking about it. Peter wouldn't want to hold you back."
She let go and wrapped her arms around my neck pulling me into a hug. "Don't speak. I know exactly what you mean. Thanks Adam."
~
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A/N: OK! This is MY Christmakah present to all the reviewers and readers out there! You guys are the best!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
REVIEW!
~Toodles!