From Eden

seventeen

"C'mon, Chlo, my G—" I slipped mid sentence, and practically fell onto the soft, brown railing that wrapped around the roller skating rink. My skates gave out again before I could clumsily, and not very confidently, stand myself back up. "Fuck."

"You suck at this," Chloe laughed, joining me on the railing. "I don't remember you being this awful when we ice skated in New York, all those years ago."

"Oh yeah, New York, for Dance Moms," I nodded, rolling my eyes at her. I couldn't suppress a grin when I met her eyes again...she seemed to be glowing. "I guess I'm out of practice; it's not every day I just hit up the roller rink."

"True," She laughed again, and I trembled when I felt her reach around my waist and touch the small of my back with her palm. "Come on."

Blushing, I attempted to balance myself again, and slowly pushed myself forward inch by inch. My fingers brushed the soft railing still, just in case I were to fall again. Chloe never left my side as I started to speed up, and I shot her a happy look when I realized I was finally getting the hang of it.

"There you go!" She cried, releasing my back. I silently wished she had kept her hand there, but I didn't say anything. "Can you go faster?"

"Can you?" I squealed, and my eyes widened when she nodded feverishly. "Shit, I can try. No promises, though." I had to swerve in order to not hit a child in my way, and I felt myself sliding again. Though in a panic, I was able to catch myself, and I looked up at my companion in excitement that I was remembering how to skate. My face fell a bit when I saw Chloe was still laughing at me. I must have looked so idiotic. "Glad I'm so funny."

"No, no," She shook her head, still smiling. "It's okay, it's cute."

Oh, man.

My heart racing, I felt a surge of energy. I sped up a little bit, understanding more how to navigate myself on the skates. Soon, I was zigzagging in between numerous people, and I got that fun, airy feeling of being a child again. Chloe was still beside me, so I reached out to her and grabbed her hand. It was soft in my own, and I gave her a little squeeze before we pushed forward.

The lights in the rink dulled then, and patterns started appearing on the floor in yellow tinted light. They announced a couple's skate, and I gulped hard, side eyeing Chloe to see what she would do. She only held my hand firmly, and kept skating. She didn't even look over at me, so I assumed that she wanted to continue for this skate...a love song started playing, and I began to sweat. No way this was happening. A swelling overtook my chest, and I recognized the butterflies in my stomach I had forgotten so long ago.

'A World Alone' by Lorde flooded my ears, and I was overwhelmed with such feeling that when Chloe met my eyes from the left of me, I dropped her hand and panicked. She tilted her head a little, and I said quickly, "Couple's skate, wanna get pizza?"

I fucking. Hate. Myself.

"Sure," She answered happily, seeming unfazed by our disconnect. We skated another lap around the rink before skating off to the food stand, where I could so faintly hear Lorde's voice singing from the floor. "I can pay, do you want a drink?"

"Water," I nodded, "thanks." My throat was quite parched, and the butterflies still wouldn't settle down.

When we chose a table to sit at, I couldn't help but longingly stare at the floor. All the couples were still skating together, laughing and smiling. I bit the inside of my lip absentmindedly, wondering what Chloe and I looked like out there. Did we look good together? Would people think we were together?

"Earth to Paige!" My friend waved in front of my face, and I whipped my head around in embarrassment to see a slice of pizza and a water in front of me. It was only then that I remembered that I wasn't sure if I could eat without throwing up; that was probably why she was so happy to hear me ask for food!