Frostbite

Nico and Bennett could possibly be the cutest couple in this entire country. Except, of course, for me and Benji. They do the hand holding, the hugging, the cuddling, the kissing, the joking, the sitting-on-each-others-laps, and the lovey eyes.

It's amusing to watch them and only makes me yearn for my boyfriend when he's not around. Thankfully, that's hardly ever the case. Actually, Benjamin is perfect at knowing when I want him around and when I don't. I mean, I rarely ever don't, but sometimes I'm just not in a friendly mood and he recognizes that. The same goes the other way around. I can tell just when he wants me to cuddle with him and just when he needs me to keep everyone, including myself, away from him. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect relationship. 

"So I was thinking-" Benjamin starts, coming to stand behind me. He rests his hands on my hips possessively, serving as a reminder of our, ahem, events last night. 

I lean into him as he drops a kiss to my neck and giggle. "That's never good."

"Haha, aren't you funny. Anyway. I was thinking that we could take a walk." 

I turn in his arms and give him a look. "It's pouring down rain outside."

"Exactly." He winks.

"I have ballet at five."

"Good thing it's only four. Come on. It'll be fun. Trust me." He smirks, leaning down and capturing my lips with his.

And that's how I find myself walking down the sidewalk in the pouring rain, hand in hand with Benjamin. We were soaked the second we stepped outside so it's really no use trying to shield ourselves.

We walk for about five minutes before Benjamin finally pulls me to a stop and surprises me by taking my face in his hands and kissing me thoroughly. It's slow and sweet, lips moving together in perfect harmony. His lips taste like Mountain Dew and his tongue is sweet too. He's gentile and slowly let's me take control. I allow myself to indulge and explore every inch of his mouth, claiming what's rightfully mine. 

When I pull away, panting for breath, he just smiles at me with a goofy grin. "I can cross that off my list now."

"Your list?"

"Yeah. I- uh, okay, this is really lame, but I have a list of things I want to do with you." He admits, ducking his head. "One of them is to kiss you in the rain. Or, it was."

I resist the urge to coo and call him adorable because I know he hates that, but I do wrap my arms around his neck tightly and kiss him as if my life depended on it. 

He laughs when I pull away panting for breath and brushes my hair away from my face. "What was that for?"

"For being such an amazing boyfriend."

"Well in that case, why don't you kiss me like that more often?" He smirks. I roll my eyes and try to pull away, only to be pulled back and kissed again. 

"So, where's this list?"

He laughs. "I might let you see it one day. If you're good. We should probably head back though. Before you get sick and that bitch tries to kill me."

When we get back to my house, Kinna grabs us an armful of towels and we dry off as best we can. Benji strips down in the safety of my room and I throw his clothes in the dryer after I change into some dry ones as well. Thank god Daddy isn't home. I don't think he'd take very kindly to a naked Benjamin in my bed, even if he is covered by three towels and a blanket. 

We pass the rest of the hour exchanging kisses and stories from when we were younger. His clothes are dry faster than I expected and he offers to drive me to ballet. He claims that it's on his way home anyway but I know the way to his house very well and it certainly is not. I suspect that he just wants to spend more time together and I'm not complaining, so I say yes.

We share a few more slow kisses before I jump down from his truck and dash inside the dance studio. Jennie's waiting in the lobby with a knowing smile.

"Where did you two disappear to after school?"

"We went on a walk." I shrug.

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah. A walk." 

"It was!" I insist.

"I believe you!"

"Liar." I accuse. She rolls her eyes and grabs my wrist, pulling me to the back to change.

"Don't bother changing." Miss Ella calls, intercepting us on the way to the locker room. "We're going to review your last two competitions and discus what you want in your routine for the Olympics." She explains.

"You're already planning that routine? We might not even go." Jennie says with a surprised look.

"It's better to be prepared, right? Besides, who are you kidding? There's no way you aren't going.  Now go on, I'll meet you two up there in a second." 

We head to the back of the studio and climb the stairs to the hallway where all of the offices are. I reach the top before Jennie does due to the fact that she insists on wearing three  inch heels all the time. I turn to wait for her and end up watching her trip on the last step.

A sickening crack sounds throughout the hallway, followed seconds later by the thud of Jennie's body and a blood curdling cry of pain. I drop down to my knees next to her immidiately, grabbing her hand tightly to help release the pain. 

"Jennie? Jen, what happened?" I ask worriedly, trying and failing to figure it out on my own.

She squeezes my hand tightly and points to her foot, unable to form words through her gritted teeth. I take a deep breath but even that doesn't prepare me for the sight of Jennie's ankle. It's twisted at an impossible angle, broken bone so prominent that I'm surprised it isn't poking through her skin. 

The first wave of nausea passes and I notice the source of the accident; a three inch heel broken clean off of the rest of her shoe. 

"Shit, Jen. Not to freak you out or anything, but this is bad." She digs the nails of her other hand into my arm and glares daggers at me. "Okay, not helping. I'm gonna go get Miss Ella, okay?"

She shakes her head furiously and gasps out, "Don't leave me here. C-carry me down."

Without hesitation, I lift her into my arms and start down the stairs slowly so as not to cause another accident. Miss Ella see's us from a distance and rushes over immediately, noticing the crisis. One of her younger ballet students sees the scene and shrieks at the horrifying sight, whipping out her cell phone and dialing what I assume is 911. By the way she informs us that help is coming I'd say that that's exactly what she did.

Miss Ella drills me on what happened as she applies emergency first aid. I relay the whole story rather calmly, all things considered. By the time the ambulance gets here, Jennie's parents have been contacted and she's able to form complete sentences with minimal difficulty. The paramedics load her onto a stretcher and situate her in the ambulance with impressive speed. Miss Ella rides with her and it's agreed that I'll follow in her car, since Benjamin is the one who drove me here. 

The rain is still pouring down and as I watch the ambulance speed away I can't help but think that it's appropriate. With Jennie's ankle so badly broken, here lies our dreams of the Olympics.