Miss Park

Roller rink

"Do you even know how to rollerskate?" 

I watched as Rosie strapped her skates to her feet, the excitement oozing out of her. She was so jittery, grinning like a damn idiot while she waited for me to do up my own skates. 

The rink was only a few minutes away from the beach house, so tonight we had gotten our dinner at a little diner in the town, and headed over to where people were roller skating. 

"I mean yeah a little". She gripped my hand and pulled me towards the skating floor. As soon as we stood up, I wobbled a little on my skates. "Have you ever seen that movie called Our Times?" 

I nodded, "It's a Taiwanese movie right?" 

"Yeah, I saw the main characters on roller skates and thought that skating would be really fun!" She watched as I gripped the handrail beside the canteen and used it to aid my path to the floor, where I could already see heaps of kids doing laps like there was no tomorrow. The place was awesome I will admit. Bright disco lights flooding the retro-looking roller rink, a DJ in the corner playing only old songs that were so easy to groove to. It was something I knew Jennie and Jisoo would enjoy. 

"I'm not very good at this Rosie!" My sentence ended in a squeal as I nearly fell over, Rosie grabbing me by the arms to steady me. I had honestly never been good at rollerskating, despite my talent for balance and handy long legs, skating was something I perished at. All she did was a chuckle, holding my hand as we slowly made our way to the floor. 

"Come on, Lis. You got it. Just take it one step at a time." Her hair fell in front of her eyes and she tucked it behind her ears. "There are so many kids on the floor, if they can do it, I am sure you can!" 

We entered the roller rink and kids zoomed past us at speeds I didn't even know was possible on skates. I felt unbalanced, and a little embarrassed. But Rosie's playful smile and gentle hands made it all okay. "Just take steps, baby. One step at a time instead of gliding along while I pull you". 

"But it's scary!". I argued, my voice suddenly high pitched and whiny. 

"Look at that kid!" She pointed at a young boy with her free hand, her other still being a victim of my iron grip. The boy was good, he could flip directions and skate backwards like it was nothing. And as both of our attention was being held by the boy, my legs nearly collapsed and I yanked Rosie's arm hard, nearly pulling her down with me. Both of us squealed as we tried hard to regain our balance. 

We definitely looked like absolute knobs right now. Two grown women holding hands and struggling to keep balance at a roller rink that was populated by children no older than thirteen. I could see a few parents watching us from the sidelines with curious smiles on their faces like we were more entertaining than their own kids. 

"Okay try and let go of me!" Rosie called out over the music, and I shakily let go. My skates carried me off in a sideways direction and all of a sudden I was simply rolling towards the wall with Rosie calling out from behind me. "Lisa! You need to step!" 

"I'm trying!". 

"Here, watch me. Like this". She took off skating around the rink, looking actually quite graceful as she moved quickly. I watched her as she took one step at a time, and she actually made it all look quite easy. She stuck her arms out and swayed them to the tunes blaring from the speakers, a smile big and bright across her face. 

She halted beside me and took my hand again, her staking and pulling me uselessly beside her. As awful as I was at this, I was having fun and I could tell that she was too. It didn't bother me that I was absolute shit and making a fool out of myself because I was here with her making a fool out of myself with the girl I was falling for. And she was only paying attention to me. 

"Here, Lis, we can sit here and watch people and then give it another go," She guided me over to a bench that was carved into the side of the rink in case anyone needed to rest for a few moments without having to get off the floor. She pulled me down onto the bench beside her and looped her arm through mine, both of our feet dangling. "Look there's that kid again". 

I followed Rosie's finger until my eyes found the kid from before, still skating at breakneck speed through the rink, he was running circles around everyone else in the place. It was incredible to watch, his posture, his leg positioning. He looked like he had come straight from the past when skating was so popular. 

"Alright come on, I want to be as good as him by the end!" I pushed myself up off of the bench and Rosie raised an eyebrow at me. But, she didn't say anything and instead took my hand to hold me steady again. 

This time I wasn't that bad. I tried to copy the boy's posture and movements, which helped a little, I am sure I still look like a penguin though. But Rosie was in my ear the whole time, telling me how much better I was doing and that slowly built my confidence. 

"I think I got it". I called out to her over the music, her giving my hand a squeeze in return. 

"I know you do! You're doing good!" 

Taking it to the next level, I let go of her hand for a few moments before deciding that I didn't like it. "No, wait, don't let go. It's scary". We moved quicker and quicker, until the kids that were lapping us twice per round, we're only now going past us once. 

"Chaeng, can you pull me?" I hooked my thumbs around the backs of her jeans and held on while she pulled me along the roller rink. The laughter that spilled from both of our mouths was easily heard over the music. I could see both children and parents starting to point at us with smiles. "I'm getting more confident behind you!" 

"Lis, you have to know how that sounds". She lifted her arms up into the air while I held onto her hips, the both of us gliding around the floor with ease. "Do you think this is how people fell in love in the past?" 

Blushing hard at her comment, I let my smile widen as I watched the back of her head, her shoulders swaying with each step that she took. But, all good things must come to an end and Rosie's body jolted furiously and fell to the ground, pulling me right down with her. My ass was definitely going to have a bruise the size of the pacific on it after that one. 

"Are you...," She trailed off her sentence, too weak from laughter to actually get her words out. "Are you...". 

"Fuck that hurt!" I said much too loudly for the age group that we were around. Both of us doubled over with laughter. "Do you wanna head back over to the tables where you return your skates?" 

She nodded, still out of breath as she pulled herself and then me to our feet. "Just come over here for a second". She shakily pulled me to the sidelines where a table of mothers sat, deep in conversation and waiting for their kids. All six of them turned their heads to look at us as we approached. 

"Hi," Rosie began, pulling her phone out of her back pocket that somehow survived that fall. "Would one of you be able to take a photo of us?" 

A lady with long blonde hair stood up immediately, reaching forwards to take the phone out of Rosie's hands. She waited for us to steady ourselves and snapped a few photos, Rosie and I striking a few different poses while trying our best not to slip over. 

"Thank you so much!" Rosie took her phone back from the woman and we sat back down at our table, taking off our skates. It was a little bit of a relief to not have them strapped to my feet anymore but kind of sad that taking them off meant that our date was coming to an end. 

"Did you want to go and get some ice cream?"