On Thin Ice (editing again)

Chapter 15- You're Left Alone For 5 Seconds, And This is What You Manage to Do

Razor

Tonight's game was fought hard. We played through three periods, an overtime and a shootout. With some of our players being sick, we had to rotate more often since we had less people to play, therefore, tiring us out faster. I wasn't having fun at all, this was just miserable. I had homework to finish up, AP homework at that. I was ready for this to be all over.

The players sitting on the bench in pools of sweat slowly and leisurely went out on the ice in order to thank the person who put us out of our misery once the winning goal was scored for our team. Our teams shook hands with each other, but afterwards, I got out of that locker room as fast as I could in order to get home.

I wanted to get home and go to bed, but I was going to check on Blaze, since she didn't play tonight. I knocked on her door, and she answered. I think I was interrupting a nap, or a sleep, because her hair looked like a squirrel found a home in it.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Hungry. You want anything?" She asked and I walked in. We raided the fridge and devoured the leftovers that weren't being eaten. We talked about the day at school, the game, we just talked for a little while, enjoying each other's company.

She had her feet propped up on my lap and I played with her shoelaces. I untied them and retied them, eventually taking them off completely and coloring in the chips of her black toenail polish with a sharpie.

"Now it's all perfect." I stated.

"Are you happy about that?" She laughed.

"You know, as a matter of fact I am!" I defended.

"You smell terrible, you know."

"Yeah, well, I did just come from a hockey game."

"I bet I look terrible too. I've been studying and I fell asleep in my textbook again."

"I mean, it's not noticeable at all, maybe a hat would be good. A big hat," I poked all in good fun. It wasn't a smart plan, taking into consideration she had her foot right in front of my face. She jabbed her big toe right in the path to my nose.

"YECH, I SURRENDER! I'M SORRY!" I admitted in defeat while pushing her foot away from my face. She laughed, as did I.

That turned into a whole fit of exhausted laughing, laughing about absolutely nothing at all. We stopped laughing for one second but when we looked at each other, we just began laughing all over again. This went on until our sides hurt, which is the best kind of laughter.

Before I went home, I kissed her on the lips while my hands were on her cheeks.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"You betcha."

"Goodnight, Blaze."

"Goodnight, Razor."

"SLEEP TIGHT!! DON'T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE!" I sang as I walked out her front door, ready to go home and crash. For the first time in a while, I felt content. I gave the game my all, my homework was done and I spend the tail end of my evening out with someone I cared about. Things went the way I planned, and I liked the feeling.

I left her house, a fresh layer of snow had fallen on the ground. It was an inch or two deep, and I knew it was going to be complicated getting home. I put the keys in the ignition and cranked up the heat, putting the front and rear defrosters on. I grabbed the brush from the backseat and started sweeping away the light, fluffy snow that had settled on my car. It wasn't a long car drive before I got home, but I knew I had to take extra precautions.

I backed out of the driveway slowly, the snow crunching under the tires of my Jeep. Everything was going well, as I was the only one on this particular road, and I thought I was in the clear when I reached the main road. It had just been plowed, but the snow fell over a layer of ice, which didn't get plowed away. I started swearing intensely as I yanked my foot off the gas, steering the car in the direction it was veering, so I didn't start spinning out. My attempts at controlling the car helped under these circumstances, but I still crashed into a telephone pole. The snow that was resting on the wires fell down on my windshield, like the cherry on top, or the icing on the cake.

I took a deep breath and analyzed how badly I was bleeding. I had a split lip and a cut on my forehead, but that was about it. I didn't crash too hard into the telephone pole, which I was grateful for. I had to save up for college, not for a new engine on the car. The front bumper had a nice-sized dent in it and I was stuck in a snowbank from where they had plowed, but otherwise, it was fine. I reached over for my phone, which had fallen down under the passenger's seat and called Blaze. I knew she would still be up, because I just left a few minutes ago.

"Hey, Blaze." I greeted nonchalantly.

"Razor, what's up?" She questioned skeptically.

"Don't freak out, but I just crashed my car."

"How do you expect me not to freak out! You just got in a car accident! How bad is it, really? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, bleeding a bit. I hit a patch of ice and found myself crashed into a telephone pole, but it's not that bad, I swear."

"Okay, um, um, UM, WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME?! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO!"

"Weren't you a lifeguard in California or something?"

"For like, a year, until I moved out here!"

"Yeah, well, come down here and bring me a first aid kit please."

"You think I'm driving in that weather? I haven't even driven in snow yet! You've always driven me! California is VERY different from Pittsburgh, you know! I'm getting my dad-"

"I am not riding in a car alone with your dad! He'll think I'm an irresponsible driver, reckless or something, and then he won't let us date!"

"Well if you're fine and so is your car, drive to the hospital, I don't know! Do you want to risk going out again? You can always come back here, or sleep in your car or something."

"I'm on a quarter tank and I drive a Jeep! If I leave the keys in the ignition and fall asleep, it'll be out of gas in the morning and someone might come carjack it even though the doors are locked, I'll get hypothermia! I could get kidnapped!"

"Stop overreacting, I'm getting my dad to ask him what we should do."

I waited in my car, the phone on the dashboard above the steering wheel. I could hear various background noises and some faint talking, before she said that I was on speaker and her dad was there. I was told to hold on, they were both coming out, and they'd drive with me to the Emergency Room. In the morning, they would drop off my car at the mechanic, call his parents, and we'd converge again. I agreed with their plan and sat back, hoping that this would turn out okay.

When they arrived, they jumped out of their car and I got out of mine. She put her hand on my face, examining the cuts and dabbing at them with the sleeve of her hoodie. My first thought was that she was pulling a tip from the mom book, like when the kid has something on their face they clean it. Then I realized she was sincerely worried about me and was just trying to size up the scene and make it better than it was. We talked for a little while about what happened, how I was feeling, until I got back in my car and we drove to the Emergency Room.

I really didn't need it, I knew I was fine, but I knew she wouldn't be if I didn't go. It's better to be safe than sorry, and I guess being here was better than still being stuck in my car. She sat with me in the Emergency Room, and I reached over and locked my fingers with hers. She looked up at me and I told her that everything was going to be fine, and for the first time, we both believed it was.