“Shoot, okay. Give me a minute.” He relaces his skates, pulling tighter and wrapping the laces around the back like mine, then stands back up. “Okay, yeah, this feels more stable. Thanks. What now?”
“Now we walk onto the ice. I’ll go first and talk you through it?”
Zander smiles. “Yes, thanks. Don’t let me fall on my ass, please,” he says as he holds his hands up, begging.
“I’ll try, but you’re more than likely going to fall.” I step onto the ice, feeling a little unsteady myself, but after a few glides in a circle, it comes back to me. Turning around, I instruct Zander. “Put one foot on the ice and grab the rail with both hands.”
He steps out and grabs hold of the rail, but his foot keeps gliding forward. “Crap,” he mutters as he steps back off the ice.
Ismile. “Turn your skate sideways, like mine, when you step out.” I show him what to do. “That way your skate won’t keep moving.”
He tries again and gets both feet on the ice. “This is going to be harder than it looks. How are you standing there like you’re on grass?”
“Practice. I’ve been skating since I was three. You’ll get there. I’m gonna skate beside you while you hold on to the rail. Just do what I do.” I take a small step with my right foot and push off with my left.
Zander lifts his leg to copy me and completely wipes out, falling flat on his back.
A full-bodied laugh erupts from me. I can’t help it with the look of pure shock on his face. He groans and sits up, staring at his feet as though they’ve betrayed him. “Son of a…what did I do wrong?”
“Nothing,” I giggle. “I said you would fall. Everyone does. Grab the rail, kneel, and place one foot on the ice at a time.” It takes a few tries, but he gets back on his feet. “Why don’t I grab a penguin for you?”
“A what?”
“It’s a training aid for beginners. You lean on it as you skate so you don’t fall.”
“Alright, I’ll try it,” he grumbles, concentrating on not moving at all with a death grip on the rail.
“Okay, just stay there and don’t move. I’ll grab one.” I hop off the ice, go back to the rental shed and grab a penguin, then walk back to Zander. He’s turned away from me, one elbow leaning on the rail when I get back on the ice. Pulling the penguin behind me as I approach him, I call out that I have it. Zander turns towards me, and I see he’s on the phone.
“Sorry. Didn’t see the phone,” I say, backing up when I hear a voice on the line.
“Z, who’s that?”
Zanderrolls his eyes. “Troy, that’s my daughter. I just told you I was skating with her. She’s back with my penguin.”
“Turn the phone around, man, so you can introduce us.”
Zander looks at me for permission. There’s gonna be a lot of introductions moving to a new place, so I might as well get the next one over with. I nod and step closer. There’s a guy on the screen, maybe in his late 30s, with short black hair, brown eyes, and a smile on his face, waving.
“Hey there, Summer. I’m Troy.”
“Hi Troy. Nice to meet you.” I wave back.
“Can you do me a small favor?”
“Um, sure?” I look to Zander for guidance, but he just shrugs.
“Great. Grab your phone and bring up the camera app. I need you to take a pic of Zander for me in a minute.”
I furrow my brows, but get my phone from my jacket pocket, and turn on the camera. “Okay, I’m ready,” I tell Troy.
“Super, now show him the penguin.”
I smile and move to the side so Zander can see the penguin behind me. I quickly snap a pic of the look of horror on his face and can hear Troy laughing in the background.
“Did you get it, Summer?”
“Yeah, I did.” Troy seems like a jokester. That could be fun. I decide to sneak a few more pics for him as we skate. I get the impression Zander won’t really mind.
