Pins and Needles

Chapter 4

I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me as I looked up at the bright neon sign that read "Rochester Roller Rink". Earlier that day, Maeve had convinced me to go to the rink with her and a couple of others. To my dismay, Clark was attending, and that fact almost made me back out entirely. However, Maeve kept pushing so I had no other choice but to accept the fact that I would have to stay in the same room as the devil incarnate for a few hours. The idea was not pleasing, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Maeve shuffled up to me with a big goofy grin plastered across her face, "Aren't you excited, Angel? We haven't hung out with the group in forever!"

I snickered, rolling my eyes in the process, "I've never hung out with 'the group'. I wonder how much fun you could possibly have when that drain clog is present."

"Oh please! He isn't that bad. I don't understand why you hate him so much; he's never done anything to you. Or, nothing I'm aware of, at least," she raised her eyebrows at me.

My mouth hung open as we stepped into the establishment, "Ugh! As if I'd let him! Really, Maeve? Never in a million years," I said as I handed the guy behind the booth money for skates. "And I hate him so much because you never know what he might do. He's just... shady."

"He's my boyfriend!"

"Precisely! I just don't want him to hurt you, Maeve."

"Aw, Angel!" she yelped, jumping up to hug me. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. He won't break my heart, and if he does, he'll have another thing coming."

That wasn't exactly what I meant, but I decided to let her indulge and not correct her.

Maeve had already finished putting on her skates and was joining Clark before the guy even came back to assist me.

"Alright, what size?" he asked.

"Six and a half."

"Geez, you sure do have some small feet!" a voice behind me exclaimed.

I spun around to see who insulted my shoe size and found Dean O'Rousse sitting on a bench tying up his skates.

"Uhm, what?" I asked, pricking myself in the process.

"You have tiny feet, if you didn't already know," he joked.

I just stared at him, unsure of how to react before he stuck his hands up in the air, shaking them wildly.

"Oh uh no! Don't misinterpret, I think it's cute."

I looked the boy up and down, examining him from his strong calves up to his scruffy brown hair. Weird, maybe he has a foot fetish.

The rollerskates guy came back with my skates and I thanked him before sitting down on the bench opposite Dean. As I shoved my foot into the stiff boot, a pair of burgundy skates that matched mine clouded my view.

"Look, I hope you don't think I'm weird because of the foot comment. I thought it would be an okay conversation starter, but it turned out to be--"

I cut him off by putting my hand up and sighing, "I don't really care, Dean."

He looked a bit surprised, but still laughed it off, "Wait, you know my name?"

This guy...

"Yes, I did meet you last year, after all. Plus, you came with Maeve's group, did you not? I happen to be a part of that band, surprisingly enough."

"Ah! No, I remember meeting you, I just wasn't sure you did," he choked out. " Also, I did come with them, but I didn't expect you to come as well," he choked out.

I groaned, "Well, I had to at some point."

"I suppose so, Angel," he laughed, emphasizing my name at the end.

Once I finished tying my laces, I got up from the bench, subtly creeped out by Dean's choice of words, and glided over to the rink opening. Dean was still hot on my trails, however, as I could feel the boy inching closer to me. I pushed forward a bit, leaving Dean behind as I looked around for Maeve. When I spotted her, I motioned to catch up, but abruptly stopped when I saw who she was with. Clark clung loosely to Maeve's side as he struggled to keep up with her steady pace. The two were giggling and laughing away about God knows what. Unfortunately, before I could get a better look, Dean came round the corner and right up next to me.

"Do you need any help?"

I didn't mind Dean, I knew he was a good person and had a pure heart, but it had been so long since I'd seen him that it was strange how casual he was acting. It was a very brief interaction, our meet. He was in a serious relationship at the time, so we never had the chance to properly talk. Unfortunately, he had broken up with the girl 3 months ago, and, from what I had heard, it was a rough upbringing. I didn't blame the guy, you could tell how in love he was with the girl just from the way he looked at her. Luckily, he had finally gotten over it a month ago and was finally ready to get back into action, hence the roller skating. I just had the misfortune to pick the exact day he was coming out from hiding, single and ready to mingle. However, I avoided jumping to conclusions and gave the man a chance to properly speak if he did just want to be friends with me.

"No, I'm good. I skated a lot when I lived in Wisconsin, although, that was ice skating," I explained, showing off regardless.

"You lived in Wisconsin? I thought you moved here from California?" he asked.

I kicked my left skate against the ground, pushing off of it with ease, "I did, but I also lived in Wisconsin for a year and a half. My family is in the military, so we moved a lot when I was younger."

"Oh! I didn't know that. Where did you move from to California?"

"I lived in Oregon for a couple of months, then came to California for my freshman and half of my sophomore year. Then I moved here, as you know."

Dean tripped a bit, almost falling on his face before catching himself on his knees, "Oh, that's so cool. Where else have you lived? Like, have you lived outside of the country?"

I stopped abruptly, feeling uneasy after the question. I should have seen it coming, but I wasn't prepared in the slightest.

"Uhm, I did but-"

A sudden screech bounced off the walls of the rink, causing everyone in the building to falter. A crowd was gathered around Maeve as she laid on the floor, holding her knee. Dean and I looked at each other, then simultaneously skated over to the group.

I looked at the blonde who sat on the floor, a bloodied spot oh so present on her knee, "What happened?"

"She tripped and fell, if that wasn't obvious," Clark countered, a bit more acidic than needed.

I scowled at the boy, not wanting to satisfy him with a response.

One of Maeve's friends, Simon, chirped up, breaking the tension, "She lost her footing and fell hard. Her knee got scraped up bad; I think she needs to bandage it."

Clark sprung into action, picking up Maeve bridal style and skating off to the exit of the rink. He sat her on one of the benches and scampered off to the water fountain. Once he returned with a water bottle full of water, he slowly applied it to her knee, being careful not to pour too much if she winced.

Dean said something behind me, but I was too far gone watching the pair that his words went in one ear and out the other.

It was hard to take my eyes off them, one could never be so sure what Clark was thinking. I had no trust in him and I'm sure he thought the same, so who knew what lengths he would go to anger me. It was irritating me by the second, why couldn't they just come back already?

Someone grabbed my shoulder, and I unintentionally jumped, startled by the sudden contact.

"Uh, are you ok, Angel?" Dean asked as I recognized the voice.

I turned to face him, snapped out of my daze, and nodded, "Yeah, sorry."

I looked back at Maeve and Clark one last time to see them giggling once again. A strong feeling of uneasiness settled over me as I swallowed the bile crawling up my throat and shuffled away from the scene.