Smoked Out

Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound of my alarm clock was the most annoying part of my mornings but I knew that if I changed it to a song I liked, I'd end up hating the song after a while. Music was not something I wanted to take my morning frustrations out on. Music was supposed to be calming and filled with emotions, not my morning wake up call. Beep. Beep. Beep. Alright, alright! I mumbled in my head before turning over towards my night stand and pressing the alarm button.

I sat up and gave my cheeks light taps to try and wake myself up more. As far as morning rituals go, tapping my cheeks was as far as I got before falling back asleep for another blissful ten minutes. However, today I needed to be ready on time. Lucky for me, this was not a day of getting ready to go to school, this was a day of getting ready to teach skating lessons at the rink to eleven year old kids. I was not about to have a bunch of disappointed kids waiting around for me because I couldn't get out of bed. No matter how lovely another ten minutes of sleep seemed.

So like I always did on Sunday morning lesson days, I got out of bed, got ready, and ate a nutritious and filling breakfast. Okay, so it consisted of a granola bar, a couple of strawberries, and a blueberry pancake as I rushed out the door, but it had bits of my daily nutrients and it did fill me up... for about twenty minutes. Now was not the time to be complaining about my appetite though, I had kids to teach.

By the time I got my skates on and planted myself on the ice, it was quarter to nine and everyone had already started their warm-ups. The girls were dressed in their practice costumes and most of the boys were dressed in jeans and a sweater. I had about four boys in my class who wanted to be figure skaters, the rest of them were told they needed extra rink time for their hockey league. I wasn't about to turn down extra business.

“Okay everyone!” I shouted in an attempt to get their attention. A bunch of them skated over to me but the majority hadn't heard me. I took the whistle hanging around my neck and blew on it until I saw twelve heads turn in my direction. I motioned for them to come over and like always they did as they were told. I never really had a problem with them in terms of misbehaving. “Can anyone tell me what next Thursday afternoon is?” I usually started off with a reminder of when their next lesson was so that they wouldn't forget to tell their parents. It also helped inform the few parents that stayed to watch as well.

“Our rehearsal.” Lydia said through her helmet. Lydia was that one student who always answered questions in class and never bothered to ask for help. She was a fast learner, but I was trying to get her to become more comfortable with her turns. She liked to focus solely on her balance which she had already mastered and she hardly agreed to try new things.

“That's right,” I said loudly. I looked over at the parents who had stayed to watch and hated how bored they looked. I know classes can be boring to watch but they hardly even showed any interest in their kids. “Now can everybody tell me what that means? Together now.”

“Be here, be prepared, and have fun!” They all shouted together. Listening to them repeat back my skating motto never got old. I probably made them say it way too often but they never seemed to mind, so I never bothered to stop. Besides, it was true. You had to be here to learn and to grow as a skater, you had to be prepared so that you were able to learn and grow as a skater, and you have to have fun because if you don't there really isn't a point to being here at all.

“Good! Now get into your positions for drill one.” We practiced their drills until ten minutes before the class was over and then I told them they could just hangout as a reward for working so hard. I could tell that some of the guys hated having to be in a class associated with figure skating so I had to hand it to them for trying.

A blonde head glided over to me and asked me to help her with her turns. Her name was Annabelle and she was the most advanced skater in the class. It boggled my mind why she continued to stay in my beginner level class when she should be in the intermediate one. I made a mental note to discuss this with her parents the next time I saw them. I had to write up report cards in a few weeks, maybe I'd write a little note to them when I handed out their marks. I was in the middle of helping her with a turn when I heard a bang on the glass and turned around to see none other than Talon Langworth. I didn't hide my scowl as I told Annabelle I'd be right back and skated over to the end of the ice where Talon was standing. When I got there I noticed a little brunette kid with those same golden brown eyes glaring at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Think you could give this guy some lessons? His hockey coach says he needs the practice.” Talon's husky voice said before I could open my mouth to speak. I could tell the kid he was with was not too pleased about being told he could do better. Talon gave the top of his head a scruff and there was something protective about the gesture that brought a smile to my face. I quickly disguised it with a look of concern instead and focused solely on the boy.

“Classes started up a few weeks ago, it's going to be hard to enroll him, but I'll see what strings I can pull. What's your name, kid?” I figured that since he was related, or I'm assuming related, to Talon he probably wasn't going to enjoy being called “sunshine” or “little rascal”. By the look on his face though, he didn't enjoy being called kid much either.

“What does it matter? You seem to have picked one out for me just fine.” Woah. So this fantastic trait runs in the family. Having him in my class was going to be fun! I wasn't about to deny the kid the class just because he had an attitude; I didn't discriminate against anybody. It was going to be hard to have him enrolled but I knew I could manage it just fine.

“Charming.” I said this time looking up at Talon who was standing there with a smug look on his face joined with admiration for the kid. “I'm going to need to know his name though before I enroll him, and you're going to have to stay for a bit to fill out some forms.” They both rolled their eyes at me which made me want to kick the kid in the leg and Talon in the balls. They were definitely related. Somehow the idea of Talon being in some big buddy little buddy program didn't seem likely.

I told them to wait there while I got the rest of class sorted out and made sure that everybody went home with the person they were supposed to. I was happy that Adam, one of the hockey boys, was finally remembered and that his dad had come and picked him up on time. There have been countless amount of times where I've waited past an hour for his dad to arrive.

I told Talon to follow me out of the rink and over to my office, which was about the size of a small bathroom. Either way I liked having my own space at work and it made talking with parents easier. I also stayed here a bit later to write reviews for the kids instead of doing it at home where I was always distracted by something. Whether it be the TV or Amy and Beverly coming over unannounced.

“Okay, this time when I ask for your name can you please tell me it?” I said trying to sound as nice as I could. He still didn't look too pleased to be here, but his face had softened a bit. I don't think he realized it though, it was probably from being lost in thought. They both sat down in the chairs in front of my desk and crossed their arms. It was strange how alike they were.

“Axel Langworth.” He said leaning back in his chair. He flicked his dark hair out of his eyes and looked at the papers in front of me. I scribbled down his name on my class attendance and pushed the forms as well as a pen over to Talon to fill out. He ran his hand through his hair as he read over the two page contract stating the rules and the cost before filling it out and handing it back over to me. I scanned it over to make sure he filled everything out correctly before shoving it into a file and typing the few bits of information I needed to enroll him into the computer.

“I have to get this approved first before I can let you know for sure if Axel's enrolled. I'll get the enrollment fee from you once everything is finalized. I should know by tonight and I really don't see any problems with him being in my class, so I don't think you should worry.”

“I'm not.” Talon said cutting me off. “Come on over when you know for sure, you know where I live.” Well if he wanted to be a jackass about it then so be it. I really hoped that Axel's mom or dad was going to be the one bringing him to his classes because I don't think I could handle seeing Talon at the rink all the time without punching him in the face at least once.

“Yeah well, remind me to thank my parents for that.” I said sarcastically, hating that he got me to break out of my professional state of mind. I looked over at Axel who was watching the two of us glare at each other with a look of amusement on his face. “Don't worry, it won't be horrible.” My attempt at trying to sound less annoyed.

“Are we done here? Because as much as I'd love to be sitting here discussing our living arrangements, I have other things I need to do.” I rolled my eyes and pointed to the door, watching them get up and walk out of it. Well as far as luck was going for me lately, it pretty much sucked. I silently cursed myself for breaking that mirror last year when I dropped it on the floor by accident. I used to think that whole seven years of bad luck thing was just a myth but now I'm not so sure. The way I see it, Talon has taken over half my house and crashed my skating class in less than twenty-four hours, that has got to be some kind of record.

I stayed back a few minutes to send the administrator of my program the form of enrollment and then made my way to the parking lot where my little black Sunfire sat waiting for me. It was a gift from my parents last year and I adored it to no end. It was one of the only things that was just mine, that no one else was allowed to touch without my say so. Even then, the only other person who has ever driven it has been my mom and that was the week her car broke down so I had to lend her mine.

I threw my gym bag and skates in the trunk before getting in and starting the car up. Of Monsters and Men's Love Love Love blared through the speakers and I was immediately drained of all the bitter feelings I had from Talon's visit. I wasn't looking forward to my “telling him the news” visit and I hated the way he spoke to me in the office. Either way, Axel probably isn't half as bad as Talon is, and that's what really matters in the grand scheme of things.

I called Beverly to let her know that I was coming over now for our usual after class hangout and made my way to her house. I picked up some wine gums on the way because I knew that she would appreciate an unhealthy snack and called her using my bluetooth to let her know to unlock the door because I was close.

“Amy couldn't make it today.” She said once I had arrived and closed the door. I walked over to the kitchen where she was making garden salad and threw the wine gums on the counter. “Have I ever told you how much I freeken love you?!” She picked up the wine gums and tore the bag open, popping a few gummies in her mouth.

“Slow down there,” I said laughing. “I was feeling generous today but I would still like to have a few myself if that's alright with you.” She pushed the bag over to me and I helped myself to a couple of green ones. The green ones were definitely my favourite kind. Or maybe the purple ones were. Either way, the green ones tasted great!

“So how was class today, Ms. Crawford. Have they improved any?” I had filled Beverly in on every single student in my class, asking her for advice on how to handle certain situations. She was always good with that sort of thing and most of her tips worked really well. Part of me thinks that she should go into teaching instead of becoming a massage therapist, but I don't think that would fly well with her.

“Well Lydia landed a jump today, which is good but she's still not completely comfortable with some of the turns. Jacob tried a lift today which I told him not to do but hey, the kid wasn't so bad at it. Oh and what else... how about Talon Langworth's little brother joined my class today and -”

“Wait, what?” She said cutting me off. “Talon has a little brother? Are you sure it's not his secret child?” She stopped mixing the salad and focused all of her attention on me with a look of curiousity in her eyes.

“I'm pretty sure it was his brother,” I said trying to think back to what the form said. “they lived at different addresses.” I felt sort of creepy saying this out loud, but it really was an accident. I had to look over the form so I could send the information over to the administrator otherwise Axel wouldn't be allowed in my class at all.

“Maybe he lives with his mom?” She said raising her eyebrows. I started to think about this a little but then she started laughing at me. “I'm kidding, I doubt he has a secret child. Our school is too small for something as big as that. We would have known by now. Besides, he's got to be around eleven if he's joining your class. I don't think Talon had a child at eight years old.” I started laughing at how stupid I was to actually think it was a possibility for him to have had a kid when my phone started ringing. I looked down to see that it was the administrator calling and raised my finger to Beverly to tell her to be quiet before answering the phone.

“Macy Crawford?” A sharp voice said into the phone. I could tell by her tone that it was Mrs. Zelda, the nicer of the administrators staff. I used to have weekly meetings with her when I first started teaching two years ago, but we stopped those when she thought I had reached great teaching potential and no longer needed her help. She was the woman who gave me this job and I've never had a problem with her before. Before this phone call anyways. “I'm calling to let you know that I read over the file you sent me and I don't see a way that we can work around this so that everybody gets what they want. I have a proposition for you but you may not like it.”

“What's the proposition?” I asked feeling an uneasiness in my stomach. I met Beverly's concerned expression and shook my head at her warning her not say something stupid in that really loud obnoxious way she has whenever I'm in the middle of a call.

“In order for Axel Langworth to be in your class, you would have to bump another student out. This usually wouldn't be an option but you've been working with these kids long enough now that I trust that if you were to bump anyone it would be to benefit your class.” I felt my eyes widen in disbelief as I sat down on the stool in the kitchen.

“There has to be another way.” I said racking my brain for another possibility. “We have the room, the rink is practically empty when we're in there.” I knew no matter how hard I bargained with her though she wasn't going to change her mind. I could tell by how final and stern her voice sounded, but I had to try anyways.

“The maximum class size for a beginner’s class is twenty kids and you're already at twenty one. To add another kid would be pushing it as there were a lot of other people lined up for your class.” I sat on the phone with her in silence for a good thirty seconds before she said. “I'll give you until three pm tomorrow afternoon to decide what you're going to do. I expect to hear from you. Have a good Sunday, Macy.” And then the line went flat.

Well that was that, I guess. There was no way I was bumping a kid I had been teaching for a few weeks now just to have Talon's brother, who was pretty ungrateful by the way, join my class. I just didn't have the heart for it. How does anyone look a kid in the eye and tell them that they can no longer do the thing they love most? You don't. And I wasn't about to start the trend.