When the Ice Breaks

XXXII

Isabel

I sat uncomfortably across from Chloe, not daring to meet her eye. We sat in a booth in a small diner about 10 minutes out of town. The waitress brought us two glasses of water, and I was currently picking at the straw paper. 

"So..." Chloe began. "You and Stella Bowers?"  My eyes shut instantly as she said her name and I couldn't bear to look at her. I took a deep breath, "Yes," I replied. "Me and Stella are dating." Without a beat, she replied, "How long?" I lifted my head to meet her brow eyes, "Since September I guess," I mumbled. Her face twitched, and she shook her head and sighed. "So for months, you've lied to me and everyone about what you've been doing. I mean you..you could have told me Iz. I know everything about you.

 Oh my god, and that day she dropped you off at my house, you two were...." She tried to get off. I nodded and she sighed again. The tears I was trying to hold back won, and they now freely fell from my face. 

I couldn't bear to look in her eyes as we sat in a slice once more. "Look, Isabel, I don't care if you're gay or whatever. I care about the fact you lied to me for months when all I could have done was support you. You have no idea how much it hurts to watch your best friend go from a shell of herself to happy, and you have no idea what's causing it," she said.  I covered my mouth as another sob threatened to leave my mouth. 

"I'm sorry," I blubbered out. She reached over the table and grabbed my hands. It's okay. I just want you to talk to me and tell me things!" I tell you everything, and sometimes I tell you too much," she replied. I laughed, cried with her, and wiped my tears away.

 "Okay, well, she's amazing. I mean, yes, she was an asshole at first, but that's just because of things in the past. She's so compassionate and kind and would do anything for her family. She has such big dreams and lets me dream big like her, too," I said in one breath. 

Chloe's face had now turned into a devilish smirk, and I only knew what she was going to ask. "And the sex... is it good?" I blushed and looked away just thinking about it. "Yeah, it's really, really good," I said. 

She laughed and replied, "Makes sense because the way you walked up to me at Halloween, I knew you had just had your world rocked." I made a questioning face, and she continued," Dude, you were limping, your corset was ripped, your hair was a mess, your face was flushed, and on top of that, you had hickeys all over you!"

My face turned a bright shade of red as ISabel asked millions of more questions about Stella and I, and I answered all. "Do you want to tell other people?" she asked. I sat back in the booth as Ai processed her question.

I did want people to know, but I was scared. I mean, I had been known as one thing, and I didn't want anyone to hate me or treat me differently. I saw the looks Stella received; I was just not as strong as her. 

"Maybe," I replied after a while. Chloe nodded and proceeded to order food for us both. We ate and talked as usual and decided to have a sleepover tonight. I placed a $20 bill on the table and got up. "See you in ten," I said walking towards my car.

Once I was fully in, I pulled my phone out and tried to call Stella, but it went straight to voicemail. Usually, she answered, but I took it as she was swamped. I decided to text her instead.

Isabel: hey I spoke to chloe

Isabel: shes cool with it

Isabel: and im cool with her knowing

Isabel: Stella

Isabel: can u answer

I didn't realize until the fifth message that they were green, which meant she blocked me. "Oh, hell no," I thought as I shut my phone off and sped out the parking lot. The entire drive to Chloe's was mad. As soon as I arrived, I hopped out of the car and slammed my door with such force that I saw the window shake.

"Woah there female hulk, what's up your ass?" Chloe asked. "Stella blocked me," I said through gritted teeth. Chloe's mouth formed an "o," and she ushered me inside as we divulged a plan. 

For the rest of the night, we talked and caught up on everything about our lives. She talked about how she and her boyfriend had broken up, but it was mutual, and they were still staying friends. We talked and watched six movies, gorging ourselves on pizza, ice cream, and cheese puffs. Around 2 a.m., we passed out, and I fell asleep dreaming of a certain pair of green eyes. 

NEXT DAY

"So you'll be okay?" Chloe asked as I threw my bag in my trunk. I nodded, "I should be, if not ill come back and stay with you," I replied. She pulled me into a hug before letting go. I got in the car and put Grand Rapids in my GPS. My plan is to go and see Stella. I had no idea exactly what I was walking into, but I did know that she was rooming with Megan.. whom I had been texting to make a plan with this morning.

The drive was long and extremely boring, as I passed landmarks I had seen multiple times in my life. I finally arrived in Grand Rapids around 8 p.m., and since the hockey game had already started, I decided to grab food before going to the hotel. 

I was just finishing eating when Megan texted that their game was over. I quickly paid and left for the hotel. I walked up to the counter and was met with a middle-aged man with a gut and balding. "Hello, sir; I just seem to have lost my room key. It's room 809," I said, fluttering my lashes. He sighed deeply before handing me another key. I raced to the elevators and went up to the room.

An hour had passed, and I spent it deciding what to say and scrolling on TikTok. I was getting ready to cut my losses when I heard the door unlock. 

She wore baggy sweatpants that hung low on her wait. She wore matching black goodies with a large Carhartt jacket on top. Her feet were shoved into Crocs, and her wild hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. Once I reached her face, her very tired but shocked face met mine. "Isabel," she breathed out. I rolled my eyes and furrowed my eyebrows. "Oh, we so need to talk," I said as she shut the door completely. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, walking into the room and placing her bag down. I scoffed. I'm here to see my girlfriend, who seems to have gotten into an accident and lost her phone," I bit back. She sighed and kept walking, removing her heavy coat and sweatshirt. So what happened? Are you okay?" I asked sarcastically. "My phone is fine," she responded boldly. 

My body burned as every word she spoke made me madder and madder. "So why the FUCK did you block me?" I asked walking towards her. She sat on the edge of a bed looking dead at me. "I needed to focus on hockey," she replied calmly. My eyes prettily fell out of my head. "So you're telling me you blocked me from focusing on hockey. Wow, talk about fucked up priorities," I said, stepping back. She looked at me and stood up. 

"What did you expect Isabel? You just left me there and didn't say a word for two goddamn days. My mind was racing if you were okay if we were okay. You could have picked up a phone and said something," she fired back. 

I got closer,"You could have done the same. Reached out, said something. But you chose hockey over me," I let out. She groaned, "My god you don't even hear what I'm saying. You just went radio silent." "And you chose HOCKEY over me," I said back. We were now inches apart, both of our chests rising and falling at an incredibly fast pace.

"I did what I had to, Isabel," she replied. I nodded and said, "So did I." I sighed, "I'm sorry that I went silent. Chloe and I just need space to talk it out," I said, dropping my head. I heard her inhale and exhale, placing a hand on my chin and pulling it upwards. "I'm sorry I chose hockey over you. I promise I'll never do that again," she said, staring into my blue eyes. 

I nodded and we just stayed like that for a while. Like our eyes and bodies doing all the talking. "Heard you're going to state, baby," I said. She smiled picked me up, and twirled me around. "And you're going to the Olympics," she replied. I blushed and dropped my head, so my hair created a curtain around my face.

I'm not sure how Stella did it. She took my accomplishments and made them seem like they were dipped in gold. She always took such precious care of me and my feelings. I had never felt that from anyone, including my parents. She made me feel as if I was the only girl in the world, and I wanted to pay her back. I wanted to show her how much she meant to me. "I...I wanna show you how much you mean to me Stel," I said softly. 

She looked at me and replied, "Oh, yeah?" I nodded before pushing myself off her and connecting our lips with haste.