On Thin Ice (editing again)

On Thin Ice

Blaze would never be sure if what happened to her was a result of karma in a way, getting back at her for what she had done, but she did know that it all happened so fast, she had forgotten how she had gotten there and why. It was easy for her to say that life has a funny way of getting back at you, but you just have to wish it turns out right in the end. Man, did Blaze wish that a happy ending was the case for her.

After her parents divorced, a bombshell was dropped on her and her brother: they had to move across the country all the way to Pittsburgh from California, and for reasons unknown. She was 17, and it was predictable that she wouldn't go along with the move very easily. She didn't want to leave sunny, warm California and she also didn't have any interest in dropping who she was.

Needless to say, she was about to be dropped in a city she had no interest in being in. It didn't help that she didn't like hockey and would much prefer surfing, and the tan she was sporting was sure to turn some heads when she walked down the streets. Everyone involved in her life could tell from a mile away that it would be a difficult transition and it wasn't going to be fun, not at first. Blaze, herself, knew that for a fact.

She thought she was going to be the same person forever. Looking back, Blaze was glad she wasn't the same person. It was the hardest lesson to learn, but she just had to realize change was good first.

Her little brother Dallas drove Blaze straight over the edge. He knew exactly what buttons of hers to push- he was three years younger than Blaze and never did learn how to shut his mouth. It wasn't uncommon for him to have these spurts of brilliance, but most of the time he didn't think through anything he was saying, which Blaze knew would get him in trouble. Blaze was the exact opposite of her brother- she preferred to not talk to people as much as possible. Blaze was a tough nut to crack, and Dallas was an open book.

Then out of the blue one day, Dallas said he wanted to join the junior hockey team in the area. It was a strange declaration because he never actually liked hockey before, but Blaze understood that he was trying to fit in. Her? Not so much.

At the dinner table, when he said this, the three family members all looked at each other. Blaze knew what this meant, and she was horrified. If he started playing hockey, Blaze would be the one to take him to practice, and she also knew that she probably would have to start playing as well. Their dad gave in, thinking this was a good opportunity for him to learn the local sport and make new friends. The same didn't go for Blaze, not by a long shot. She was the last person on earth to agree to that commitment.

When Blaze had to drive Dallas to practice, she sat in the stands and did her homework. She didn't have an interest in the sport whatsoever and it took too long for her to develop the taste for it. Granted, she had other things on my mind. Keeping her academics up in the midst of a personal crisis was incredibly difficult, for she was losing her sense of self and wasn't fitting in well at school. As a junior, she was too late to the game in finding friends at her new school, and she had to keep her GPA up in order to secure her place on the honor roll. Hockey was the last thing on her mind.

Starting a new school in junior year was hard, and it was the main reason for nearly everything. She didn't have to stay there long to know she didn't belong with the crowd and the atmosphere around her, my AP homework weighing her down the most.

Everyone had already established themselves in the school and they had their friends, and she was very obviously different. Blaze got looks when she walked down the hallway because she wasn't from around here, which just made her feel like everything about her screamed "you don't belong here." And to make it worse, she doesn't make friends easily. Everyone learned quickly to stay away from her, for she was aggressive and didn't play well with others.