Frostbite

I allowed Juliet to lead me back to the locker rooms with a little annoyance. It's not that I don't appreciate her but I can take care of myself when it comes to shit head jocks. I've certainly had my fair share of run-in's with them.

This one, however, left me seething. How dare that arrogant, self worshiping asshole tell me that what I do doesn't matter?! Especially when he specializes in the most primitive "sport" known to man.

I mean, even cavemen were smart enough to find stuff to draw on walls with and paint a presentable image. I bet hockey players couldn't do that if they tried. And what the hell kind of player of anything falls while playing tennis? Holy fuck.

"Don't listen to him Cage." Juliet says, patting my shoulder. "Benji's harmless most of the time. He just had this thing against-"

"Figure skating. Yeah, I got that." I bite.

"I like figure skating." She says as if I hadn't uttered a sound. "My cousin is a figure skater. I've been to some of her things before. It's impressive."

"You really think so?" The hope I had for this town just got restored a bit.

"Yeah, Jennie's kind of a hometown hero. She's training for the olympics, you know. Do you know her? Jennie Wilson? She's kinda short with an amazing fashion sense. You've probably seen her around. She-"

"Juliet." I say finally, stopping her rant. I've come to the conclusion that she talks way too much.

She looks at me with wide eyes. "Huh?"

"Jennie Wilson is my pairs figure skating partner. Yes, I know her."

"Really? Oh wow! Wait, you know now that I think about it, she did say something about a partner. Stevie?"

"Stevens. Micajah Stevens." I correct.

"You sound like that spy guy." She giggles. I laugh along as well and decide that I like Juliet. She's really awesome. I think I could really become friends with her despite her association with that pretentious jack-off.



"I met your cousin today." I say slowly, stretching my hamstrings.

"Oh really?" Jennie muses, pulling her leg up all the way by her ear in a vertical split.

"Yeah. She's . . . interesting."

"Juliet is a little outspoken, yeah, but she's a really good person." Jennie defends.

I roll my eyes. "I know."

And that's all the conversation we get in before Uncle Isaac comes in. "Okay guys. You ready for your first training session of the 2013 competition season?"

"Yeah." We answer in unison.

"Good. It's been how long since you've been on the ice together? A month? We're gonna do some things that get you back in the habit of skating with a partner today. Then I've got you two down with another choreography session with Ella tomorrow so don't you dare be late. Kinna wants to do another fitting on Thursday and there's a local competition in two weeks. It's just a showcase so you'll be doing a routine you already know which you'll be practicing on Wednesday. Cage, you need to tone your upper arm muscles a little more and, Jennie, you need a haircut. Got it?"

"Yes sir." We chorus, both trying to file the information away even though we both know we'll be reminded again and again and again.

"Good." He smiles. "Get your skates on and don't forget to put on a jacket." Uncle Isaac sends me a pointed look.

With that he exits to the main rink and we're left to lace up. My white skates are very beat up but I wouldn't trade them for anything. They've been mine for almost three years and I still have the blister scars from when I broke them in. I could probably do with a new pair and I'll definitely have one before the qualifiers start if Uncle Isaac has anything to say about it, but for now I'm in love with the ones I have.

Jennie and I meet Uncle Isaac out by the ice and he orders us to do a few laps quickly. We comply almost eagerly and I can't deny that I love it.

"Okay guys! I wanna see a synchronized backward power 3 turn followed by a back outside twizzle. Left leg." Our coach calls out. Jennie grabs my hand and skates a quarter of the rink with me before letting go, signaling the start of the trick.

It goes smoothly, as expected but Uncle Isaac has some words to say. "Cage, pick up the speed. Jen, bring in your right heel a bit and tighten the twizzle. Again."

We throw the trick again and he makes a few more criticisms. "Cage! Steady the arms. You know better!"

We set up the trick again and execute it three more times before Uncle Isaac sees fit to move on. "Okay, I want a synchronized double axel - double toe loop combination. Make it perfect."

And it takes almost an hour to make it perfect. Once we do, Uncle Isaac shouts more tricks and more commands until we get to our final half hour. Jennie and I are almost completely out of breath from throwing our hardest and working our bodies to the limit. I can tell I'm gonna be sore tomorrow and I can't wait.

"Okay, last one you guys. Give me a press lift into a death spiral."

We both skate to a stop and look at him like he's crazy. "Uncle Isaac, are you insane? We can't do that!"

"Why not?" He provokes. "You're both talented enough. You've got half an hour! Let's go!"

"Isaac, seriously. We can't do that." Jennie says. "It's above-"

"What? Did I just hear Jennie Wilson say she can't do something? Look, we're not here to make excuses. We're here to make you two into Olympic gold medal winners. This is one of the first steps. Now cmon."

We give each other dubious looks but push off in our skates nonetheless. If we don't do this then we'll never hear the end of it. Jennie reaches out and grabs my hand. I squeeze her hand reassuringly and turn so that were skating backwards. I tug her hand and she glides in front of me effortlessly before placing both her hands in mine and pushing off the ice. I extend my arms and lift her high above my head. She lifts her legs in a mid air split. This position is held for five seconds before I lower her to the ice, hands still connected. I make sure she's steady on her feet before tightening the turn and extending my arm. Jennie gets lower and lower, closer to the ice until all I have to do to insure injury is let go. Slowly the turn looses momentum and I pull her up slowly until she's safely on both feet.

Uncle Isaac applauds us with vigor and we just stare at each other in disbelief. I can't believe we just did that. And on the first fucking try. Holy shit.

I'd like to see a hockey player do that.