"You two are married?"
"Yes," Natalie says.
"It was fast," Dex adds helpfully.
"DEX," three people say at once.
A boy in the second row raises his hand.
"If it was fast, did you know you liked her before you got married?"
The gym goes quiet.
The curious kind.
Dex slowly turns toward me like he just smelled blood in the water.
"Oh this is good," he whispers.
Colby folds his arms.
"Answer the kid, Shelly."
"Yeah," Bobby says. "Run with Coach's skate thing."
Coach just watches.
Waiting.
Maddie is staring at me like this is the most important question ever asked in the history of elementary school.
I glance toward Natalie.
She looks like she wants to disappear into the wall.
But she doesn't look away.
Coach lowers the skate slightly, still holding it in his hand.
He doesn't say anything.
He just looks at me.
I glance at the skate, then back at the kids.
I exhale slowly.
"When your skates are loose," I say, "you skate carefully. You're thinking about every step. Wondering if you're about to wipe out."
A few kids nod like this is extremely serious information.
"But when they fit right," I continue, "when they're laced up tight and double-knotted… you stop worrying about falling."
The gym is completely silent now.
"You just skate. And you skate really well."
Dex whispers.
