It's Not Easy Romancing a Stone

After I had finished lacing up, I jumped over the bench and skated towards her, not being able to wipe the smirk off my face. She looked up at me and peered her eyes, rolled them and started to skate the opposite way, toward the other bench, trying to exit the rink. Well that was just not going to work. I picked up my speed and reached her. I blocked her from the bench and she looked up expectantly.

“Why’d you jump out of my car?” I could tell my question had taken her a bit off guard, which I was hoping for.

She composed herself quickly “I couldn’t stand another second in there with you and your abrasive presence.” She glanced at me harshly and attempted to side step me but I moved with her.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you could skate like that?” I decided to cut right to it. The way she skated completely memorized me. Even if it was just practice and only for a minute or so, it still was bewildering to me that a girl who seemed so bitter could have a completely different, graceful, side to her.

“I guess I forgot to mention it.” She barked at me and turned back sliding artistically across the ice. I followed, captivated by her unique movements. Everything she did was somehow similar, yet different to what hockey players did in the same rink. Her strides were longer, but had less power. The way her upper body swayed back in forth, instead of ridged and forceful. She was on her phone not paying attention and I found myself staring at her ass for quite a while, a lot longer than I thought; long enough that ever Vanessa noticed and shot me a nasty look. I shook my head and broke the awkward silence.

“You know, Rian was the one who told me that you’d be here. She was freaking out a little bit. Thought you got stolen or something.” I made my way up next to her and she put her phone away. We were now just gliding around the rink.

“No shit Seguin. Do you think I’m stupid?” She didn’t even look up at me towering over her. But she didn’t skate away, she stayed next to me. I took that as a shot to question her further.
“Was that a practice or did you just make that up on the spot?” As soon as I asked I knew it was a stupid question, I braced myself for her smart-ass response but to my complete surprise, it never came.

“No I actually have a competition tomorrow.” I could see her lips pull up into a smug smirk. I recognized it too.

“With that routine you’ll definitely get first, rank at least. I mean with that triple axel at the end and the peppering on the bridge, people will be impressed.” I dug my hands in my pocket and kept looking forward as we took a slight left turn at the end of the rink.
She looked up at me with a slightly impressed look, but it held mostly shock. To be honest, I was shocked too. My sisters did a bit of figure skating so I knew quite a lot about it. To impress girl I usually just pulled facts that were completely false out of my ass, but I could tell the Vanessa was genuinely impressed. I couldn’t believe I had remembered all the framework of the sport.

She shook it off and stuttered a bit. “T-Thanks?” She spoke it more like a question. I could tell that she wanted to ask me how I knew what she did in the routine but she bit her lip. ‘Hot’, I though quickly. But I made sure not to let it slip out.

“So where’s your competition? Local or--?”

“It’s actually at the Garden.” She looked up at me and her cheeks were flushed. I think this was the longest conversation we’ve had that she has yet to insult me.
“Oh cool.” I played it cool but I knew that the first thing I was going to do when I got away from her was to look up the competition's details.

“Yeah…” Her words died and we both spoke at once.

“Well I better be going-” “Well I gotta get home-”

We both stopped and laughed. We were at the end of the rink opposite of the bench.
“One more thing” She looked at me with an amused expression.

I looked at her confused as she smiled “I’ll race you to the benches!” Without even giving me time to respond, she took off in full stride. I pushed off the ice after her and caught her quickly and gripped her waist pulling her back so she was behind me. “HEY! That’s not fair!”She laughed a laugh that made my insides melt.

“I didn’t hear any rules!” I shouted back and reached the benches first. I hopped off the ice and went to go put my sneakers back on.

She grabbed her iPod and sat down next to me, doing the same thing. My left arm kept brushing up against her right but she didn’t seem bothered. But it was driving me crazy. I wanted to say something about seeing her again but she spoke before I could spit something out.

“Thanks for driving me home today. ” She didn’t look up but I could tell she wasn't trying to be sarcastic about it.

“It was no problem really, accept for that stupid radio…” Oh God why did I bring that up again, why? My face was turning red and I could feel it. But she just laughed and stood up.

“Maybe I’ll see you around?” She spoke while picking up her skates and facing me. She pushed her dark hair out of her eyes.

“Well Rian, Looch and Horts seem to be getting along so maybe we’ll be seeing more of each other.” I chuckled.

Her face fell a bit at this realization; she probably doesn’t want to see me again. My shoulders dropped a bit.

“Yea maybe.” She forced a smile and turned on a heel and walked out, leaving me standing there.

I looked down t my phone and checked for the competition time. It read:

Girl’s New England Figure Skating Finals tomorrow t the TD Garden! Get your tickets here!

I quickly bought a ticket to be on the safe side, they weren’t that expensive. I smirked and walked out of my car. I definitely was going to see Vanessa again, whether she wanted to or not.