Wildfire

Chapter 14

~Three Months Later~

"How'd I let you convince me to do this?" I asked as I clung to the wall. The ice skates under my feet were bowed while I tried to keep from falling to the ice.

Jaren laughed, "It's not that hard. You'll get it. I can't believe you've never been ice skating or roller-skating before."

"Says the guy who played hockey all the way through high school. My moms also never liked me enough to take me to do cool things." I said. I pulled myself up with the wall since I had nearly just fallen.

"Here." He came up next to me and extended his arm to me. I looped my arm through his but not without nearly falling in the process. He wanted to take me to this event at the ice rink. I couldn't say no since it was his birthday after all. "See? You got it." He smiled.

"That's because I'm leaning on you." I said.

"Fine by me." He grinned down at me.

"Don't you wanna skate around? Told ya I'd slow you down." I said.

"I've heard your warnings and yet I still invited you. You don't have to be good at everything I am. Then I wouldn't be special." He said.

"I can't tell if I should take that personally or thank you." I responded.

He laughed, "I know you're not good at skating but I don't care. It's time I can spend with you."

"Cheesy alert." I giggled.

"That was pretty cheesy, huh?" He smiled.

"Okay. I wanna try by myself." I said while wiggling out of his grip. I was able to stay on my feet but I was losing my speed.

"Push to the side like this." Jaren said as he pushed his foot out to the side which pushed him forward. I tried but it messed up my balance. I fell backward onto the ice.

Jaren extended his hand down to me, "You alright?"

"Yeah. I'll get good at this. My ass is definitely going to be bruised though." I said as I let him pull me back onto my skates.

"That's the spirit. I'll stay closer next time so you don't fall." He wrapped his arm around my waist and showed me how to push with my feet. Several other people were skating in the rink. Most of them were pretty good at it like Jaren while there were a few amateurs who'd fall occasionally like me. I watched as a grandmother skated with her grandson.

"Okay. I wanna try again." I said. He let me go and I was able to push off a few times.

"Atta girl! Picked it up way faster than I did when I first started." He said, sliding up next to me.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you were like five." I laughed while he rolled his eyes. My feet slipped out under me but thankfully Jaren caught me.

"Woah. What happened?" He chuckled as he helped me get my balance back.

"Ice. Ice is what happened. Ice and I, don't mix." I joked, "Feel bad that we constantly keep stopping because I fall on my ass."

"Don't be. I would rather help you learn than skate around by myself. You're learning." He responded. I smiled and we skated around the rink a few times. I was starting to get a hang of it and was able to hold hands with Jaren without falling. I saw a few teenage guys showing off to their girlfriends by spinning or crouching down on their skates. I let go of Jaren's hand to try on my own again.

He seemed to appreciate a bit of freedom and he skated ahead of me and spun around so he was going backwards. "Show off." I giggled.

He smiled, "Nah. If I were to show off, I'd make everyone here jealous."