It's Not Easy Romancing a Stone

I ran only a few minutes in the rain until I got to my door. I hoped Rian was home by now as I knocked on my locked door. Hoping that Tyler wouldn’t appear in his car trying to find me. I waited a few second but got no answer. I stood on my cement stairs and then remembered our spare key. I hoped over the railing and dropped down behind the bigger bushes and found the key under the rock it had been under for years. I had never used it but it came in handy today, which I was thankful for. I got back over the railing and slid the key into the lock. It opened and I slid into my house, but not before checking up and down my street.
I ran up to my room. Not thinking about anything else as I slid off my jeans and slipped on yoga pants and a tank top. I checked myself in my long mirror on my closet door. After pulling my straightened hair into a pony and deciding I looked presentable, I ran down stairs. I got to the kitchen grabbed a meal bar and my string bag, and made my way to the mudroom. I grabbed my figure skates from the top shelf, slid my phone into my string bag and grabbed my car keys. I locked the door behind me and put the spare key back into its place. I needed to get my mind off things. I started up my car and started driving to the place I went when I could slip away from everything, the forum.

TYLER’S P.O.V.

What the fuck just happened? I asked myself as I stood there in the rain of a 7-11 parking lot. What was her problem? She couldn’t let me just drive her home?
I sighed as I walked back to my car, soaking wet from this stupid downpour. What did I do to her that made her hate me? I was ready for her to be one of those girls who put out; one of the easy ones. But I guess that wasn’t fucking true.
Why did I care that Vanessa wasn't one of those girls? It was like she burrowed herself deep into my mind and was content on staying there. I mentally slapped myself. What was I thinking? I just met this girl and she's already driving me fucking nuts.
I got into the drivers side and tightened my grip on the steering wheel. I was about to start driving home when my phone started ringing. I got my phone out of the cup holder and look at the ID. It was Horty. I sighed and answered with an annoyed tone.
“Hello?”

“Where the FUCK is she?” I was surprised when and obviously agitated female voice came through the small speaker.

I stuttered in surprise. “W..w..what? Who?”

“YOU KNOW EXCTLY WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT SEGUIN AND IF YOU DON’T TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU DID WITH VANESSA..” I toned her out. It took a second until I realized it must have been that other girl that Vanessa showed up with at the practice today.
“Hello? Are you there? I swear to GOD if you hung up on me..”

“I’m here.” I sighed into the phone.

“Where is Vanessa? Why isn’t she answering her phone?”

“I don’t know where she is! She kinda like uhh… jumped out of my car and ran away. I tried to follow her. I really did.” It sounded like I was lying I could even tell. But I wasn’t. That’s when I realized that I had to find Vanessa.

“Oh bullshit Tyler! We’re on our way home right now, but there’s a lot of traffic so it’s going to take a while. You better fucking find her or I’ll chop you’re motherfucking dick off. You got that?” I heard laughs in the background but chose to ignore them.

I gulped. She sounded downright scary. Not to mention serious.
“Yes M’am. I swear I didn’t mean to let her leave she told me that this was her house and it was 7-11. Then she got out and ran away. Where would she go? ” What have I done? I silently thought to myself as I realized the situation at hand.

“She probably went home you fucking dipshit! Where else would she have gone?”I could hear her slamming her palm against her forehead. I really am so oblivious sometimes.

“What if she’s not there?” I mean, she could have left to go somewhere. Like a coffee shop or something and the girl I was talking to would be the only one to know what else Vanessa might be doing.

“If she’s not at home then she’s definitely at the forum.” The girl stated as if she was 100% sure of it.

“T…th…the forum? As in like, the ice rink?” Why would she be there?

“Yea the one on Causeway Drive. But check at her house first. I need to make sure she’s okay.” The girl, who I found out name, is Rian, told me the address to Vanessa’s house and that if she was home, her jeep would still be in the driveway. I thanked her and hung up. I got a towel from the trunk and dried myself off and then sat on it and shifted into drive. What had I gotten myself into?

VANESSA’S P.O.V

I smiled as I pulled into the forum and got front row parking. It was a good sign. No one could find me here. It was like my safe-haven. I pushed open the doors and inhaled the smell of sweat and ice, with a mixture of other things also. This place had a smell that I couldn’t quite put into words, but that’s what I loved about it. I smiled happily as I sat down on the bleachers and stretched out. I them plugged my iPod into the speaker system, seeing as I was the only one in here I could work on my new routine. A few minutes of later, I laced up my small white skates and walked onto the ice that had not been skated on since yesterday, when it had been rode over by the zamboni. Jar Of Hearts by Christina Perri filled the forum and I started to let the music take me away. Starting off simple with Waltz jumps and small spins, I used up the entire rink.

“And don’t you know I’m not your ghost anymore?
You lost the love I loved the most.”

I started getting more into it while doing loop jumps. I was doing well so far and was proud of this routine I came up with on my own.

“And who do you think you are?
Running around leaving scars,
Collecting your jar of hearts,
And tearing love apart.
You’re gonna catch a cold,
From the ice inside your soul.
So don’t come back for me.
Who do you think you are?”

The lyrics, I now realized, we’re relating to something I hadn’t realized. I shook that off and tried my first axel of the routine. I slipped at first but then tried again and landed it.

“Remember how to put back the light in my eyes.
I wish I would have missed the first time that we kissed.
Cause you broke all your promises.”

A few more choruses passed until it was time for the big triple loop jump I had been waiting for. The end of the song was approaching as I closed my eyes and skated hard and pushed off of my right foot and felt myself spin three revolutions before landing perfectly on my right foot again. I landed right at the glass near the entrance of the rink. Right where I was supposed to. Holding onto the pure bliss of the situation I kept my eyes closed and sang the last line of the song.

“Who do you think you are?”

As the song came to a close, I got back to a standing position and opened my eyes. Only to see no one other then Tyler standing right on the other side of the glass, staring at me with his mouth ajar.
“Shit.” I whispered as skated all the way to the other end of the rink, hoping somehow that would make him disappear. I heard the rink door open and watched as he skated over to me with a smirk that I wanted to smack right off his face.