He nodded, “Because it kind of trashes your blades. I usually use old skates,” he said simply.
“I give ‘em away,” I replied lamely.
“What? What if you become a famous figure skater? You just gave away skates people would fight over!”
He said it as if it were the end of the world and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but I laughed at his reaction and shook my head, “I’m not going to be famous.”
His eyes popped out and he looked at me like I was crazy. I felt myself get a little defensive until he said, “I’ve seen you out there, Jules. You’re pretty fucking great.”
Two thoughts popped into my mind almost simultaneously- I liked the way he said Jules. No one called me that. And he’d seen me skate? That really made my face hot. I wished I could turn off my self-consciousness. I couldn’t comprehend why he would watch me. This cute boy. Watched me? I tugged at the hole in my gloves and couldn’t look back at him.
“You could always drive to have them sharpened before practice the next day?” He suggested with a shrug. His shoulders were so much stronger and broader than mine, he practically looked like he had shoulder pads on.
“I can’t drive,” I said a little too quickly. I was shocked at how fast I was finding words. I usually couldn’t converse with boys, but of course I could talk just long enough to offer up an embarrassing fact about myself.
He looked at me strangely then. It was true though. I was already 16, so I should’ve been able to, but my grandparents never had time to teach me, and I was pretty busy myself anyways. All my hours were dedicated to school or skating. I rode the bus to school. The rink was across the street from the high school. And then I rode the bus home. It was pretty simple, and I was fine with it.
“Let’s make a deal,” he said. His eyebrows scrunched together in fake concentration. “What if we go to Tenny Park tonight and skate, and then I’ll sharpen your skates before your practice tomorrow? I’m getting pretty good at it, and I can do it for free. Tomorrow’s Saturday, so you get here at 9, right?”
I ignored the second part, of course he knew figure skating hours because he worked here, not because he had specifically watched me… right? I focused on what really blew my mind, “You want to go to Tenny Park... with me?” I asked, I couldn’t keep the skepticism out of my voice. I was hesitant to say yes in case he was just trying to make fun of me. Why would this unbelievably cute boy want to take me out skating? I’d never been asked out on a date before… did this qualify as a date? I’m pretty sure it did…
“Yes,” he said firmly.
“Uh.. why?”
“Because I want to hold your hand,” he said with a confident look on his face. “And maybe kiss you,” he wagged his eyebrows at me. “And I’ve wanted to ask you out for a long time,” he smiled.
I opened my mouth, but no words came. I’d never kissed anyone before. I found it hard to swallow; it felt like I’d achieved a whole new level of nervousness.
“So, I can drive. You punched in for two hours, so you leave here around 5ish, so I’ll pick you up at 6:30ish?”
It was a good thing he kept talking, because I was too shocked to come up with words… so I gave him a swift nod.
We were going skating. I didn’t want to dress up. That would be dumb, I told myself. I stressed over what I was wearing anyway. I decided on black leggings, gray leg warmers, and my light blue warm-up jacket. It would be kind of chilly, but I didn't want to wear a ton of layers and look all puffy. I wished I had a friend to run this by, but I usually kept to myself. At the rink, everyone was a competitor first, friend only second. I berated myself for not getting closer to anyone now though. Why wasn’t I more social? Then I wouldn’t be so weird. I debated putting my hair up or down for the last half hour and decided to leave it down. He’d never seen it down before because it was always pinned in my signature low bun for skating. I decided I’d bring a ponytail in case I wanted to jump or spin and needed to tie my hair up.
The doorbell cut off my thoughts. Well, I guess if I blew it, I wouldn’t have to tell anyone.
I quickly ran downstairs and opened the door to reveal The Boy. The very first boy who asked me out. He looked even more cute in his hockey warm up pants and a team sweatshirt, and he perfected the messy but nice look with his dark hair.
“Damn, this is a huge house,” Grey said, as he looked around the foyer. He finally rested his eyes on me, and I immediately felt my cheeks burn. He reached out to tug the ends of my hair. “You look lovely, Miss Jules.” It seemed he had decided on that nickname, and it made me feel warm inside. No one had ever given me a nickname before.
“Huge, but no one ever in it. The house,” I joked, but it didn’t come off as funny as I’d meant it to, and it left me feeling too transparent. I just wanted to turn his hot gaze away from me. Grey bit his cheek in and just nodded, like he understood what I was saying.
I grabbed my skating bag and following him out the door to his old truck.
“So, I was gonna take you to a fancy dinner, but I like really really love the pizza at Old Tenny’s concession stand... Annnd I only have like 10 dollars to my name right now. That okay?” He grinned as he climbed into his truck.
“That sounds perfect,” I felt myself relax a bit into the lumpy seat.
“You gonna be warm enough in that?” He asked genuinely, looking at me with a doubtful face.
“Yeah, I’m used to the cold. I won’t complain,” I told him, but I was questioning my wardrobe choice.
He reached behind him and grabbed another team sweatshirt from his back bench seat and handed it to me with a wink.
“I gotcha covered. You’re a tiny thing, you’ll freeze out there without it.”
I’d never worn a guy’s sweatshirt before. I felt a mixture of shock and giddiness over it and was immediately met with its strong woodsy mixed with clean laundry scent. I wondered if that was just him or some kind of guy cologne he used. Whatever it was, I wanted to bottle it up because it really put my candles to shame. I wondered if they sold “boy” scented ones.
