Frostbite

Ice skating has always been there for me. When I'm happy. Pissed. Missing the mom I never really knew. All I have to do is lace up my skates and spend a few hours on the ice. The competitions were just a way to show other people my love of it and then I found out that I was good. Really good. Better than everyone I competed against. 

Uncle Isaac was the first one to ever put me on the ice. It was one of those pretend-you're-my-kid-to-get-a-date things. He used to teach a figure skating class, inspired by my grandma who had been an established figure skater and figure skating coach. He had always spent time at the rink with her and his love grew over time. His class was one step on his journey to become a Professional Skating Association certified coach.

Uncle Isaac's class was made up of mostly teenage girls with moms who weren't bad looking. He had it bad for this one mom though and it just so happened that she was single. He invited her out on a date and she accepted but only if her daughter could come with her. He kind of needed a way to to get the mom alone and that could only happen if the daughter was occupied. Guess who was the occupier? 

I was a fucking cute little kid so I don't blame him. Besides, after that one date, things got serious between them so I started spending more and more time on the ice with him. 

The relationship fizzled out pretty quickly after the daughter was finished taking his class but he saw my love of skating even though I was only three. Uncle Isaac took a special interest in me, not that he wasn't already spending tons of quality time with Kinna and myself. After mom passed he moved in to help Daddy with us and the bills and whatnot. 

I'll never forget that story though. It's what gave me what has totally and fully become my life. Uncle Isaac never pushed me into doing things I didn't wanna do or wasn't ready for. If anything, I pushed him to teach me more, more, always more. I just couldn't get enough and I still can't, though now I think I'm teaching him things he's never seen before.

"Hey, Cage, what're you up to?" My Uncle asks, walking into my new room and leaning against the door frame.

I look up from the box I'm unpacking and furrow my eyebrows together. "Putting the last of my things away. Why?"

"Well, your dad and I were gonna head up to the school to enroll you so you'd be set for Monday and I was thinking that when we get back you and I can go to the rink to scope it out. I've already booked your sessions for the next few months but I haven't been able to check it out yet. I figure you'd like to come." 

Smiling at the fact that he figures I'd be more interested in my new ice rink over my new school, I nod eagerly and agree. "Thanks Uncle Isaac."

He smiles at my happiness and goes to do the enrolling thing. School has never been my place of interest but I'm actually kinda smart. I just find myself longing to be gliding across the ice and freezing my ass off rather than staring blankly at a chalk board and getting cramps in my hand from taking too many notes.

Once the remaining items of my room are set away, I step back and admire my handiwork. My mothers old vanity sits in one corner and my desk sits in another. Along the same wall is my dresser and my posters of other famous figure skaters. My bed is on the opposite wall along with the door to my expansive closet and many pictures of my family together, including one of my mom and I when I was first born, less than five minutes old.

After deciding that I'm fully and completely satisfied with where everything is, I head down the stairs and into the kitchen where Kinna is cleaning and putting away the last of the dishes. 

"Cage, can you go out to the truck to see if there's anything we might have missed?" She asks.

"I already did." I answer, sliding up on the counter and swinging my legs. 

"Oh. Okay then."

"Hey, Kinna. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you really think I can do it? Qualify for the olympics?"

"You'd better. I moved three states away from my boyfriend so you could try." She laughs but stops abruptly when she sees the serious look on my face. "Micajah, of course I think you can do it. Not only do I think you'll qualify but I think you'll get at least the silver."

I search her face for any indication that what she was saying was false and find none, so I hop off the counter and wrap her in a hug. 

We're both the same height, about 5'8, but Kinna is a blonde bombshell. Curvy in all the right places and a thin, healthy size thanks to the metabolism inherited from both sides of our family. If I were straight and she wasn't my sister, I'd go after her. Me, on the other hand, I've got a shaggy mop of brown hair that I don't bother to tidy unless Kinna makes me. My body is thin and agile, like every figure skaters should be, and all the right muscles are toned to perfection thanks to the training of my Uncle. 

Mid-hug, we hear a chorus of Aw's and break apart to see Daddy and Uncle Isaac watching us. I roll my eyes and grab my jacket, already halfway out the door and to the car. My Uncle follows me with an amused expression on his face and drives us to the rink.

The Ritter ice skating rink is used for many things. Beginners and intermediate skating classes, public skate times, birthday parties, and, most commonly, the practice and play rink of the local hockey team. And now, the rink where I'll be training for the most important three minutes of my life.

Walking into the rink, the first thing I notice is the shouts of several men. Upon closer examination I realize that it's the hockey team running drills, shaving down the no longer perfect ice, shouting to each other for the small black puck, and shoving each other into the rink walls. 

I grimace as I watch a particularly big guy get shoved face first into the transparent wall and roll my eyes. Hockey is such a vile sport, if it can be considered a sport at all. Why would you ruin such a perfect thing like skating and turn it into that? 

It sends shivers down my spine and I know it's not just a result of the cold. I can't believe I have to share a rink with them.