Break the Ice

Chapter Two

T A R Y N

It's 8:30 am on a Monday morning and I'm practically dragging my sister to the kitchen so she can eat breakfast. With the angry scowl on her face you can tell she is by no means a morning person.

I, on the other hand, have been up since six. I was able to get my morning workout in faster than usual and I'm in a surprisingly good mood.

I slide Izzie her plate and sit beside her to eat my own breakfast. She eyes the oatmeal and fruit in front of her as if I just gave her a plate of worms. I motion for her to eat and am thankful when she picks up her spoon to start eating.

I usher her to get ready and start stretching after she's finished eating. The 10 am skate session is the most popular session at the rink for figure skaters. I want Izzie to be able to get on the ice as soon as she can while the other skaters are stretching beforehand.

Once we are both ready to go, I grab my keys and skater bag before heading out to my car. It's almost blinding when I'm driving with the sun reflecting off of all the piles of white snow.

Despite the icy roads and the grandma pace I drove at, I still managed to get us to the rink with 10 minutes to spare.

Izzie runs off to her friends and I find a nearby bench to put my skates on. While I'm tucking the remaining laces into my skates, a pair of white skates with stickers scattered all over them entered my view.

There's only one skater here who parades around wearing those dorky, sticker clad practice skates. My eyes trail upward and I smile up at my best friend, "Hey stranger."

"Hey yourself," She says, crossing her arms. "You've been M.I.A all weekend, you didn't even answer my texts."

I sigh, "I'm sorry, Alia. I've been busy and haven't been on my phone."

"Too busy for your bestie? Wow Taryn, I am truly hurt." She places a hand over her heart, but her voice is light and teasing. It doesn't stop me from feeling the guilt of it, I had seen her messages but I hadn't purposely ignored them. I had all intentions of answering them, it's just that life got in the way. Truly, I was busy with work and spending time with my sister. Alia knows that I'm a terrible texter which is why I think it doesn't actually bother her as much as she plays it out to.

The corners of my mouth turn up slightly, "Come on, let's get on the ice."

The two of us make our way to the rink entrance making small talk, but the commotion on the ice quickly distracts us. We observe from the entrance a pair of skaters who look to be arguing. It was obvious who the pair were, they're one of two pairs that skate here in the arena. The male being Conner Gregory, everyone knows who he is and almost every girl has been in his bed. Including his skating partner, the one who is currently yelling at Conner. Whatever it is, it looks pretty intense.

"I'm over this!" Amanda, Conner's partner, yells at him before storming off the ice and past us. I watch her leave the arena. "What the hell just happened?" I ask. Alia shrugged her shoulders looking completely unphased, "I guess she found out Conner slept with another girl this weekend."

I cock my eyebrow, "And how would you know that?"

She narrows her eyes at me, "Because I was at the party where it happened."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure it wasn't you."

"Please," She scoffs. "I can't even tell if I like guys or girls more."

This makes me laugh, but I find myself looking at the dumbfounded Conner who's now standing alone on the ice. A part of me feels a little sympathy towards him, not because it looked like his partner just dumped him but because he was dumb enough to sleep with his partner. With Conner's not exactly innocent reputation, he should have been smart enough to not toy with the relationship between him and Amanda. Now look at him, what a stupid decision.

"See this is why you don't put your dick in your skating partner." I say out loud. Alia stays silent for a few moments. I look at her and she looks like she's mulling something over in her head. I almost ask her what she's thinking but her mouth opens before I do.

"Even though he's a jerk, you have to admit he's hot."

I find myself gaping at Alia as if the most unbelievable thing just left her mouth. "Oh god, not you too." She lightly punches my arm, "Come on, I know you know it." I shake my head vigorously, I will never admit out loud that Conner Gregory is even remotely attractive. Even if it was the truth.

Conner is an incredibly talented pair skater with a stronger upper and lower body. He has the looks to back it up too, with his dark hair and intense brown eyes. Not to mention his wealth thanks to his daddy. He's a walking chick magnet and he damn well knows it. I think the 'egotistical jerk' vibe he gives off is the main reason I will never feed into it.

Alia and I part ways to do our own things on the ice. I haven't had a coach for a few months. My last coach had been on the verge of retiring and after my fall, I was in no way eager to get back on the ice.

When I was eventually cleared to skate again, she
had tried to help me overcome my fear of jumps but it was the same results over and over again. She grew tired of trying to help me since I made no efforts to improve.

I didn't hold anything against her though, I understood it was difficult trying to work with me. I still face the same issues I've had since then, although I have gotten myself back to doing turns and basically anything else that didn't involve leaping into the air.

But at the end of the day, what good is a figure skater who can't do jumps? If I continue like this I will have no future in skating, and as the competition season inches closer I'm faced with it head on. Meaning that, if there's any time for me to start jumping again, it's now.

Luckily I had come to the rink this morning with a plan. I would start off with single jumps. Only one and a half rotations, doesn't seem too hard. Or at least that's what I try to convince myself. I'll start off easy with a toe loop, then work my way up to salchow and so on.

By the time I'm skating around the rink, I've convinced myself that today will be the day that I land a jump.