one

My skates landed smoothly on the ice, I didn't fall this time. I spin, feeling the cool air of the ice rink rush past. My arms rise gracefully, and I move with elegance. Everything around me becomes a blur; the people in the stands, the other skaters, and even my coach fade into the background. All I could see was the blur of everything together, and I loved it.

As I slow down, I glide across the ice and take a deep breath, pushing the dizziness away. When I come to a stop, I open my eyes and look toward my coach. Her face is glowing with pride as she claps and cheers for me.

An unstoppable smile spreads across my face as I skate towards her, proud that I have mastered my new trick.

"Annalise, that was amazing." She beams, "You're ready. See you tomorrow."

My smile grows as I thank her and step off the ice. I walk to the changeroom, sit, and wipe the snow off the blades of my figure skates. Relief floods through me as I untie and loosen the laces, my feet thanking me as I pull off the skate fully.

I slip into my shoes, put the skates away in my bag, and leave the empty room. On my way out, I wave at my coach and check my phone. My brother texted me that he was here.

The warm air hits me in the face as I leave the freezing rink. I take a deep breath, savouring the moment. It was one of my favourite things about skating. The warmth after freezing.

My brother honks at me to signal where he is, even though I can see him. I approach Ian's car, hurrying, and almost stop when I see someone in the passenger seat.

I hopped in the back because his best friend, Hayden, was in the front. Why did it have to be him? I could tolerate any other of his friends but this one.

Hayden and I used to be kind of close because he was always at my house, but he suddenly got distant for no reason, and I hated him for it. He became cold and rude out of the blue.

"How was practice?" Ian asks eagerly, right away.

"Good."

"A." He warns me about my short answer.

I look at him in the rearview mirror, then at Hayden next to him. "It was good. I mastered a new trick."

He smiles and starts to drive. "We had to pick some stuff up from Sports Super."

"Did you get—"

"Yes. I got you new leg warmers, and don't worry, I think they're cute."

"What? That means they aren't." I frown.

"Hayden thinks they're cute too." He looks at Hayden in the mirror and says, "Right, bud?"

"Yeah, whatever." The boy mumbles, his head staying straight.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I could feel myself getting annoyed at his presence.

"You guys hungry?" Ian asks, not feeling the mood shift.

"Yeah, I want food." I responded; at least I had the decency to. Just because Hayden was giving me the cold shoulder for whatever reason didn't mean my brother deserved it.

"We'll pick something up and bring it home." Ian comes up with a plan. Normally, I would've liked it, but now I was wondering how long Mr. Grumpy was going to be with us. "Chinese sound good?"

I nod, smiling. Usually, I would be eating a granola bar or something, but I forgot to pack one. I remember we have a stash and lean forward, trying to get to the compartment between the boys in front of me.

"Police!" Ian warns and stops at a red light, making me jerk backwards. Good thing I had my seatbelt on. He turns around to look at me and asks, "What are you doing?"

"I want a quick snack." I cross my arms. I was getting hangry the way I always did if I didn't eat after practice.

"You could've said so." He laughs, and the car moves again, his hands glued to the steering wheel. "Mac, open the compartment, and there should be some granola bars. Hand one to Annalise for me." I almost giggled at Ian's use of Hayden's nickname. I'm not sure if he noticed, but Ian called him by his hockey name whenever he needed a favour or if he knew Hayden would want to say no.

Hayden follows my brother's instructions and stops. I look at him, waiting for my snack.

"Chocolate or strawberry?" He asks in a low voice.

"Chocolate." I answer in a voice as monotone as his, and he gives me the bar. I opened it and took a big bite. I was starving. "Thanks." I say dryly, and he replies in the same tone.

I munched on my snack in silence for the rest of the ride to the restaurant. It was kind of awkward, but that wasn't my fault.

Ian pulls into the parking lot and says, "Oh wow, that's a long line." He parks and turns the vehicle off. "You guys stay here. It's way too crowded there."

"Okay, make sure to get fortune cookies." I remind him.

"Will do." He laughs and then turns to Hayden. "You want anything special, Mac?"

"No, thanks." He says and then changes his mind: "Dylan will want the kid noodles, though. You know how he gets with spicy food."

"Right." He says and gets out of the car, not closing the door, "So a kid noodles for Dylan, a spicy noodle for you, Mac, and the rest of us are fine with regular noodles." He looks at me and adds, "And fortune cookies," before closing the door and walking into the restaurant.

I finish off the granola bar and crumple the wrapper. I wanted to throw it at the guy in front of me; he was on his phone, but I decided against it—for my brother. Instead of annoying him that way, I would do it in a different way.

"So you got any games coming up?" I asked him about his sport. He was on the same hockey team as my brother, so I would have to go to the game anyway. The thing was, Ian always told me at the last minute. I actually needed to know the answer to this question.

"Yes." He replies gruffly.

"Are you excited?"

He turns and glares at me, then turns back around, reminding me why I couldn't tolerate him.

We sat in silence for a few minutes until Ian came back with the food. He opens my door and hands me the bags before closing it and getting into the driver's seat.

The mouthwatering smell of Chinese noodles wafted through the car. I was glad I was in the back, but it was making me hungry.

As we pull out of the parking lot, Ian gets a call. The ringing echoes through the speakers until he answers it.

"Hey, we're here." I recognize the voice of one of his other friends and teammates on the hockey team.

"Oh, hey Finn, We're on our way. We just picked up food. Mac is with me." Ian catches his friend up, but he fails to do the same with me. He didn't tell me that his friends were coming over. I guess that's why he got food.

"Cool! It looks like everyone is here except for you two. See you soon."

"Okay, bye; be there soon!" Ian says and hangs up the call using a button on the steering wheel. "Oh I forgot to tell you, Annie. A few of my friends are coming over."

"I figured." I say and laugh at his forgetfulness.

We ride in silence for a few more minutes and finally get home. I shoulder my bag as Ian parks and almost jump out with the food when the vehicle stops.

Ian takes the food from me and opens the door. I walk into the house, drop my bag somewhere out of the way and go to the kitchen for some water. I loved chocolate but it always made me thirsty.

Five boys including my brother crowd the kitchen, opening the food. Ian turns the TV on so a hockey game is going on in the background.

I gulp down the glass of water, get some food for myself and go upstairs, twirling the noodles with my fork.

~~~

I woke up in a cold sweat.

In my dream, I was spinning and spinning, doing my routine when someone did a leap, their blade was too close to me and I got cut. There was so much blood.

It wasn't real, I tell myself.

I creep downstairs, looking for Ian.

"Hey, wanna watch a movie?" I asked my brother, and he didn't respond right away, so I figured he was giving me a look from across the room. "I tried sleeping, and it doesn't look like you're going to bed any time soon." I explain myself, so I get let off the hook.

"Ian?" I ask when he doesn't respond. What was he doing in the dark?

I walk more into the kitchen and smack his arm. "Quit ignoring me. It isn't funn—"

"Hey! That's not fair!" I hear Ian's voice and giggle as he runs down the stairs, racing with his friends.

I realise who I just smacked and take a huge step back.

My hand made its way to the light switch, and Hayden stood there, unamused. What was he doing in my kitchen at 1 a.m.?

"Sorry, I thought you were Ian."

"Why couldn't you sleep?" He asks, his dark brown eyes staring into my soul.

I suddenly became aware of what I was wearing; they were just lazy pyjamas, but I would never go out in them.

I turn to see my brother and the rest of his friends. I'm thankful that they saved me from the awkward conversation.

"Goodnight." I pass my brother and start walking up the stairs, not wanting to stay in the same room as the weirdo who was standing alone in the dark.

"We're going to watch a movie; wanna join?" He calls after me.

I spin, "If you say so." I really didn't want to be alone. I was glad for the distraction. Plus, movie nights were my favourite.