“You're not hopeless,” Noelle says, hauling me up, and leaning me against the boards so she doesn't have to hold me for a few seconds. “You're just… surprisingly bad at this. I mean, how are you this bad? You had lessons for four years!”
“Yes, well, not all of us are natural athletes, Noelle,” I mutter, brushing ice shavings from my leggings. “Some of us have other talents.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. You and I have the same genes, and I'm honestly flabbergasted. You look like you're being electrocuted in slow motion.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I'm just saying, we might need to adjust our expectations. The audition is in less than a month. I thought we'd be working on spins and simple jumps by the end of this, but at this rate…”
Our earlier conversation comes to mind, and this time, I refuse to give up.
“I'll get it,” I insist, setting my jaw. “It'll take a minute, but I will get it. It all just needs to come back to me.”
Noelle looks at me skeptically but shrugs. “All right, let's try again. This time, focus on pushing out with each foot, not just walking on the ice.”
I nod, determined to prove myself. Not just to Noelle, but to myself.
Ineedthis audition. I need to show I can do more than just sing at student bars and entertain children at birthday parties. I need a real break.
Taking a deep breath, I push off with my right foot like Noelle showed me. For a brief, magical moment, I glide forward smoothly.
“That's it!” Noelle encourages. “Now the left foot!”
I shift my weight, push with my left foot, and promptly lose all balance. My legs go in opposite directions, and I land hard on my butt, skidding across the ice in a most undignified way.
“Owww,” I groan, more from embarrassment than pain. “This is hopeless.”
“Stop saying that,” Noelle says firmly, skating over to help me up again. “No one's good their first day back. Well, except me, but I'm a freak of nature, according to Mom.”
Noelle smiles, dusting ice off my back, just as some little kids glide around me as though they’ve been brought here to taunt me.
She squeezes my hand. “Look, we've been at this for almost an hour. Why don't we take a break, get some hot chocolate, let these kids have their lesson, and come back fresh at the end?”
“Giving up already?” I tease, even though my legs are screaming in relief at the suggestion.
“Strategic retreat,” she corrects. “Besides, your butt must be bruised beyond recognition by now.”
“I'll have you know that theater majors are used to physical discomfort,” I say with mock dignity. “We regularly lie on hard stages pretending to be dead for hours.”
“Well, no one will have to ask you to pretend to fall at your audition. You've got that part down perfectly.”
“I hate you.” I stick my tongue out at her.
She laughs, taking my arm to guide me back to the rink exit. “Love you too, sis.”
Chapter 18
“Good job, Eddy,” I call to the kid making so many slap shots I'm surprised the six-year-old goalie is still standing. “Try aiming for the corners next time.”
“That kid hits like you,” Erik says, elbowing me in the ribs. “Lots of power but all over the place.”
“So all over the place that I've scored the most goals this season,” I mutter, pushing off on my skates and heading back to the kids we teach. I don’t acknowledge that over half of those goals were because ofhisassists. He already knows that.
“Yeah, but that’s only because I had that injury the first few games. I’m coming for you, Hendricks,” Erik says as he skates beside me.
Oh, he's following me?
I was hoping he was taking the hint, but I guess after having a great dinner with my sister and Alex and Brooks, he thinks we’re all good now.
