W*tch

Chapter 2: Ice and Impossibilities

NOVA

I've always found solace in ice rinks. I don't know if it was the cold caress of the air conditioner or the smell of fresh ice but it has always brought me peace. After the shit storm of a session, I really needed that cold embrace. Luckily for me, I worked at one.

I stood at the maintenance door staring out at the perfect ice. The ice was perfectly smooth and still wet from the Zamboni. The arena was almost silent as the team who was practicing on the ice not long ago were slowly filtering out leaving ice that no longer held their story.  I knew it was odd to feel this way, but it always seemed like this was the only place my emotions seemed tangible enough to understand them.

"Hey dumbass, stop dreaming of dating the ice!" A feminine voice yelled from behind me. I knew who it was and turned around. It was my best friend, Zoey. She was drop dead gorgeous. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a braid and she was wearing this stunning black sundress  with birds all over it. "Are you going to keep staring at me like I killed your cat?"

I smiled and started moving towards her. "You realize, you are wearing a dress at an ice rink, right?" 

She gave me that smirk that said I should shut up and not try to convince her she's wrong. That was a Zoey go to whenever I said something really stupid. However, right now I wasn't wrong. Her hands moved to her hips while she walked, clearly annoyed that I had mentioned her lack of appropriate clothing. "Do I look cold?" 

"Kind of," I said calmly. Knowing full well that was the wrong thing to say. Not that it really mattered. We'd been friends since we were five when we both realized we had stuffed animals named Phillip. It sounds really stupid but we were just two girls obsessed with sleeping beauty. Sometimes, when things get really bad for me, I consider her my one true family. Though, I'd never admit that out loud. I moved over to the hangers that held a spare jacket. 

Zoey rolled her eyes and tossed her braid over her shoulder. "I am perfectly fine." I could tell by the slight shiver that she was lying but figured it was best to not approach the subject. "So, how'd the session go?" My hand froze on the jacket. I didn't want to talk about it. Instead I turned to her and gave her a poor recreation of what she called her 'perfectly innocent' smile.

"You look stunning by the way," I said while putting away the ice squeegee and trying to avoid her eyes. Eyeing the little tears in the rubber that surrounded the ice doors. 

"Oh no, do not try to avoid the question. Did you at least talk this time?" She asked and crossed her arms. Clearly not wanting to drop the subject.

"Kind of," I breathed. I already knew she wasn't going to like that I was mean to the guy. Zoey had this thing about being nice to everyone, even if they've treated you wrong. Back in elementary school, Zoey got bullied once. Instead of doing what I suggested and slink back into the shadows, Zoey started being extra nice to the kid. Apparently the kid just had a crush on her and had a poor way of showing it.  No one ever tried to hurt her feelings. She was practically treated like a princess every where we went and I luckily was treated well because they didn't want to make her upset.

Zoey entered my personal bubble and was slowly taking away my calm I often found at work. "You weren't playing nice, were you?"

I sighed already knowing her response. "Define nice." I could practically smell the annoyance radiating off of her.

"Nova!" She yelled and smacked my arm lightly.

I rubbed my arm and smiled at her. "Okay, I could of been nicer but I couldn't help it. He asked about family problems and I snapped. You know how I feel about talking about them." My voice grew smaller as I talked. With Zoey, there was always only honesty. "I felt like I was being used in a game and I just couldn't handle it.