The Chance

18 || Bad Ideas

Snooze - SZA

𓆩♡𓆪
Evie

Up with the good, down with the bad.

It's the saying I learned tonight as I was forced—or not very willing on my part—to climb a flight of stairs for an hour straight.

Ascend the stairs leading with my good leg and descend leading with my bad one.

If I hadn't shown up so eager to get going, I'm sure she wouldn't have put me through that. As much as it exhausted me I was understanding that it's something I have to do to get better.

Doesn't make my legs feel any worse though.

On top of that, the slim amount of cash I have on hand now only sufficed for my Uber back to the campus library where I had a study group.

A few other kids showed up, Braden included, and it was nice to get some work done and catch up with him. On the other hand, some not so happy news I heard from him was that his new partner is none other than Stella—bitch face—Harkins.

If life couldn't just throw me another curveball. I can tell by the way he talks about the routine and the changes they've made, that even have me questioning Vita's judgment, are all to ease her into Braden's level of skating.

All of it just makes me mad. Mad that I can't be there, mad that our routine—which was near perfection—has totally changed, mad that I have to witness him skate with someone who's not on either of our levels.

But most of all I'm mad that I can't do anything about it.

I can't just show up in a few weeks to reclaim my spot, or even take a step on the ice until my knee is fully healed. That itself feels like the worst punishment.

I've never been off the ice this long before. Usually the rink is like my second home. Now all I go there for is to talk to my uncle about the players I have to babysit.

It's not what I want to be doing.

Braden leaves a few hours in and offers me a ride, which thinking about it now I should've taken because I don't have the funds for another Uber.

Luckily their house is only a few minutes away, ten at max if I stroll.

So after calling it quits at the five hour mark, I pack my stuff and head out.

Met by a harsh breeze I regret not bringing a heavier coat. By 12:30 in the morning, the sky is pitch black and the only source of light I have are the sparsely scattered streetlamps and my phone flashlight.

I tuck my hands back into my pockets and start walking. However, the mix of mental and physical exhaustion I'm in right now is not ideal.

The wind starts to pick up, leaves of all colors get blown down the sidewalk, and I angle my head down until it stops.

A few minutes into this treacherous walk I look around and realize the situation I've put myself in. I mean, a lone girl walking alone at twelve in the morning seems like a classic kidnapping scenario.

Maybe it's just my paranoia speaking, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. And as I pass a poll with a button to call campus police, there's a slight urge to push it even though I'm halfway there.

I shake my head and tell myself that it's a girl urge—you know, the things we think about all the time in cases like this, just in case something goes wrong.

I don't know how else to explain it but I ignore it nonetheless.

The only things I'm thinking about now are the sheets I'm going to be under in twenty minutes, but more importantly, the daunting thought of who's going to be right there next to me.