“So, do you think Orion isfinallygoing to propose?” Eloise asked as we mindlessly meandered down the shoveled paths.
I shrugged. “Maybe Annalise will just get tired of waiting and ask him first.”
“I would pay money to see that. Your brother flustered?” She sighed.
It was a long time ago, but Eloise had once upon a time envisioned herself married to my brother—back when we were kids and newly friends and he was three years older, practically a grown up in her eyes. She’d planned the whole thing, and I was told that I was going to be her maid of honor and that her own brother would be the one to marry them. We were like eight and she was utterly convinced for years that she would be his wife.
Then, Orion met Annalise when we were 14-years-old, and now eight years later they were still together. Annalise was practically my sister at this point, and if Orion didn’t propose soon, I would do it for him. I wouldn’t be losing her to his stupidity.
“Calm yourself, he’s taken. I think he’s proposing on this trip. And I thought you were dating Cami?”
“I am, and she’s great, I love her. And she knows that Orion was…is my first love. I can’t just forget that.”
“You can, and you should,” I chuckled. “Annalise will 100% fight you. And honestly, I don’t think you’ll win that battle.”
Eloise gasped and stopped walking. “How dare you? As my best friend, you’re supposed to back me up.”
I stopped and turned to look at her. “As my future sister-in-law, I have to back her. Sorry,” I said, and laughed as Eloise shoved me.
She paused for a second, her eyes going wide, and the first trickles of panic started filling my chest. “I cannot believe that you’d choose her over me,” she said, mockingly affronted. “No hot chocolate for you.”
“You promised!” I said, as Eloise started walking away.
“Fine. Let’s go.” She sighed dramatically, holding her hand stretched out behind her.
I grasped it in mine and let her haul me down the path as I bit back a laugh and a smile.
For a moment, I felt light and free. I opened my mouth to tease her, when I heard the familiar sound of blades on ice.
As we rounded a corner, the outdoor rink came into view, and one lone girl skated on it.
She couldn’t have been any older than fifteen or sixteen, and she danced across the ice. She was smooth and graceful, seeming to float as she pulled off move after move. It wasn’t until she went to jump, that I cringed. She set up wrong and landed poorly.
“How about you stay here? I’ll go grab some hot chocolate from that stand over there?” Eloise said slowly.
I think I nodded and continued to watch the girl.
She skated around again, and set up for another jump. Her skate dug in, but she didn’t get the lift or spin she needed, and she hit the ice hard. I felt the impact in my bones, and I wassuddenly moving before I gave myself the opportunity to talk myself out of it. I knew very well the consequences of a bad fall.
“Are you okay?” I asked, in a way of a greeting.
She stood up, grimacing and turned to face me. Her eyes went wide after a moment, and dread started to do that thing where it pooled in my stomach.
“Y-yeah,” she stammered.
I nodded and then asked, “Do you have a coach?”
“N-no. Not yet…well, not currently. I had one, but she quit on me, told me I had no chance at a professional career starting so late, and because my jumps are crap.”
The fear of being recognized faded as burning anger replaced it.
“Your coach dropped you instead of teaching you?”
She looked down at the ice, her hands clasped in front of her and nodded. I could feel the shame rolling off of her in waves.
“Well, they’re shit and you’re most definitely better off,” I said.
Her eyes snapped up to me, and she stared at me shocked. Her reaction brought some clarity back, and I cringed when I realized how that could have come across.
