Hidden feelings | Kirk Hammett

28. Dates and Roller Skates

It's been about two weeks since that whole thing at the club happened. Kirk and Daphne have been officially dating for about a week. I couldn't really say I was surprised. I'm clearly not the one he wants.

I've tried to push it aside and shove it to the corner of my mind. I've tried to convince myself that it was going to be a short relationship and she would turn out to be an asshole and he would dump her and realise I'm the one for him. As much as I'd like for that to happen, we don't live in a romance movie.

I saw Dave the other day, we hung out at his place and talked. I eventually caved and told him about the whole thing. He's a really great listener.

Now I was getting ready to see Metallica for the first time since that night to roller skate and have dinner, and I was trying to pull myself together. They had called and asked if I wanted to hang out throughout the week, but I'd said no and told them I was really busy.

Not true, obviously. If sitting in my bedroom listening to my records and staring at the wall meant busy then I guess.

As much as I love Kirk and the other guys, I'm not really in the mood to see them right now. I don't think I could bring myself to see Kirk getting cosy with another girl.

But I couldn't keep declining their requests to hang out. I knew they were getting suspicious and would eventually show up at my door, bombarding me with "What's going on Juliette?" and "Are you alright?" questions.

And to top it all off, if would just be me, Daphne, Kirk, Lars, Cliff and James. Nancy, Violet and Maya were all conveniently busy today. Just great.

♧

"Size 8.5 please." I said to the guy at the counter. He handed me the skates and I carried them off to a bench to put them on. For some reason I couldn't find the others.

I was tying up the last shoe when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hi, Juliette!" Kirk gave a toothy grin, and I couldn't help but smile back. The others had arrived, along with Daphne, grinning and waving as they lined up to rent a pair of skates.

"Just go first, we'll meet you in there!" Kirk yelled over at me. I gave him a thumbs up and made my way over to the rink.

The rink was pretty filled with people, but not to the point that it was hard to skate or locate others. The disco ball suspended in the middle of the room glowed with colorful light, matching the spirits of everyone in the room tonight.

I held on the side bars, pulling myself in. I didn't skate often, so I was pretty bad at it. I went slow, trying to advance forward. I did alright, but kept almost falling forward, so I had to stay next to the side so I had something to hold onto if I fell.

I looked up and saw that my friends had gone in the rink with me. Lars was skating on his home, fast and confident. Cliff and James were on their own as well, not super skilled, but going at a pace that was comfortable for them.

I scanned through everyone, looking for Kirk even though I knew I wouldn't like what I would see. As expected, I saw him next to Daphne, her voice audible even from a distance.

"Hey, can you hold my hand?" She giggled. She was clearly not great at skating either, remaining unbalanced even when stood still.

"Sorry but if you fall, I'll fall too!" Kirk joked.

"Please? Do it for me? You know I'm really bad at this and I need your support, babe!" She pleaded.

Kirk gave in and took her hand, pulling her along across the polished wooden floor.

Putting my focus back to the myself, I skated slowly next to the rail, trying to gradually pick up speed.

"Fuck-" I swore under my breath, toppling forward.