Gemma: I know you mentioned finding your dad a hobby the other day. . .
Frankie: I’m afraid to ask.
Gemma: Senior dating is a thing. Maybe you could see if he’s up for testing the waters.
Frankie stared at her phone screen blankly. Her immediate thought was to completely dismiss Gemma’s suggestion. However, the longer she had to mull over it, the more intrigued she became. It could be a fantastic means to having her dad leave the house for a few hours, and maybe make some new friends.
Frankie: I’ll run it by him later.
Gemma: If it would be easier for you, I personally volunteer to help him set up his dating profile.
She laughed.
Frankie: I feel like senior dating could make an amazing concept for a reality TV show.
Gemma: I’d watch it. *Winking emoji*
Frankie: Leaving for the rink now.
Gemma: Good luck with Mr. Blanks today.
Frankie: *Rolling eye emoji*
Gemma: You know you love me.
Frankie chose not to respond and shoved her phone into her pocket.
* * *
Frankie skated a couple laps around the rink to warm up, weaving her way in and out of a handful of recreational skaters. Making a game plan in her head, she transitioned onto a back outside edge, picked up speed, and set up for an easy double Axel toward the empty center of the ice.
The jump could be tricky for some due to its unique forward takeoff. She remembered how at sixteen, it had been one of the most challenging jumps to learn. All her triples had come before even the double Axel. She’d fallen thousands of times trying to figure out the proper timing and take off. Even with crash pads, her hips, knees, and butt had been bruised and battered for weeks. None of the corrections her coach offered to her clicked.
Then, one day, a visiting Russian coach gave her the one correction that had magically fixed everything.“Change your entry setup. Your body is falling too far outside of the circle.”As soon as she and Mr. Franks took the words to heart and shortened her steps and edge into the jump, it became one she could land with pinpoint accuracy overnight.
Bending her left leg, Frankie swung her right leg into a position that resembled a lowercase “h.” Wrapping her arms and legs in tightly to achieve the most aerodynamic position, she rotated two and a half times, and landed on a deep backward outside edge.
A few of the recreational skaters clapped. Others stared openly. Frankie gave them a nod of acknowledgment.
She could probably manage a double Axel-double toe and maybe a double Axel-triple toe. If she tried something harder like a triple flip or triple Lutz, she’d end up bailing halfway through the jump. She hadn’t properly worked on them in a couple months.
Frankie repeated her entry pattern for a second double Axel attempt. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Charlie in a navy-blue beanie, observing her. She felt the need to show him what she was capable of, not certain why.
New plan. Let’s try something completely different.
Putting her touring experience to use, Frankie kicked higher than normal from a skid and delayed her rotation into the double Axel. It was a trick she had learned from one of the more experienced show skaters. Adding in another layer of difficulty, she landed the first jump with her left leg in front and immediately pushed off her toe pick for a triple loop.
Yet as ambitious as Frankie was, she could sense she lacked the right amount of height for the loop. On its exit, she landed and finished the rotation on the ice, fighting to stay on her feet as she ground her blade into it. She cringed as she heard the scratchy scraping noise.
We’ll call that a double Axel-two and a quarter loop. It wasn’t even close to being all the way around. But all in all, not bad for a first-ever attempt at that combo. It could’ve gone a lot worse.
Glancing to the boards, she saw Charlie had moved and stood at the door to the ice. With a frown, he pointed at her, and signaled for her to see him. She deflated and felt like a naughty child being caught doing something wrong.
After last night, she’d thought they’d moved past the point of him being testy with her. She’d changed her ice time so she skated in the public session. There were plenty of people around to “supervise” her. What had she done wrong now?
She let two kids cross in front of her, then exited the ice. “Hi, Charlie,” she said in a cheery tone.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
