Thin Ice

Chapter Six

Cassie:

    As soon as I close the doors, I get a call from my mom. I take my time grabbing it because for all she knows, I'm on the ice. I wait until the last ring before I slide it open, "Hey, I'm about a minute away. Time to wrap things up," She says quickly, then hangs up. No goodbye, no asking how it went, not even an "I love you". I sigh before putting my phone back in my bag and waiting for her car to pull up outside.

My phone buzzes again, so I pull on it slightly just to see who it is. It's Jenny asking if I can call. I quickly respond with, "Give me an hour," then return my phone. In an hour, I'll also post the picture of me and Devin on my story. That way, the word starts to get around quickly. Everyone's on Instagram right before they go to bed.

    My mind drifts to Devin who I watched drive away a couple minutes ago. He's sweet, that's for sure, but I think he focuses on everything wrong in his life. Maybe his anxiety would be better if he stepped away and realized he needed some good things in his life too. In my opinion, you have to work for the good things. Most of the time, it's not just going to come right to you. That's why I said he could kiss me once. He'll have to make the move, and think about it, and work for it. It's not going to mean anything, but he at least gets a chance to step outside of his comfort zone. If he even does it. Maybe it was bad to say something like that, it could stress him out, but if he wants to make more friends, he has to do some stressful things.

    My mom's car parks in front of the building, and I sigh. Time to deal with the devil. Don't get me wrong, my mother's a great woman. She's intelligent, determined, and she makes enough money to pay for three extra children she doesn't have, she just has some issues that I know of that she needs to work out.

    I step outside of the rink and walk with my head held high over to the car. Yes, I'm still upset that I didn't get a cheeseburger and I didn't get to at least stay for awards, but I've never been one to shrink at the icy gaze of my own mom. She did this to herself, so I have every right to be upset. I open the car door to the passenger side, and slide in. Of course my knee bumps into the glove box and I barely hiss out an "ouch" before biting my lip to keep quiet. Being clumsy is not a great way to assert dominance. My mom doesn't ask if I'm ok though, she just backs out and starts driving back to our house.

    I want to ask how awards went because she must have heard by now. I also want to ask if we had anything for dinner, and if I could have some, but I know the answer is probably not. My mom struggles with food, and she puts it on me too. She's always been incredibly skinny even though her shape warrants some hips. You wouldn't be able to tell that she had a child without me, her literal twin, by her side.

    "I'm sure you're wondering how awards went," My mom clears her throat, but doesn't look over at me, "You didn't win anything." Her voice is just like her eye color, cool, cold, collected. I don't make any effort to respond, I just resort to looking out the windshield. I silently thank Devin for the milkshake because if I hadn't eaten that, I would've been incredibly hangry right now and I'd be fuming instead of trying to keep it together.

    "Have you eaten anything today?" My moms asks, and for a second I wonder if she's concerned that I am hungry, but then I realize it's to make sure I haven't eaten anything outside of what I'm supposed to, which is chicken, greens, and protein garbage. She calls protein bars "granola bars" which couldn't be farther from the truth.

    "No," I say coldly, and my mom glances over at me.

    "Are you mad at me?" She asks, and I again thank Devin because I would've scoffed in her face if not for that milkshake.

    "I'm a bit upset, yah," I tell her because "communication is everything in this household". My mom used to say that a lot, but now she doesn't say much at all to me other than things about skating... and my diet. Sprinkle in some things about cleaning the house, and that's her entire vocabulary when speaking to me.