𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭

thirty three

Kaiden

As we stood outside, the cool night air filling the space around us, Eliza and Ethan couldn't stop talking about the competition.

Eliza was still buzzing, her face animated as she gestured wildly, recounting every moment of her routine with a kind of pride and excitement that matched her usual energy.

Ethan was right there with her, hyping her up as if she'd just skated in the Olympics instead of a local competition.

"Did you see that ending?" Eliza exclaimed, practically bouncing on her feet. "I nailed it, didn't I?"

Ethan nodded eagerly. "Absolutely! You hit every single move. That crowd didn't know what hit 'em."

I listened with a half-smile, watching as Eliza lit up with each word. She deserved the praise, no doubt. Her routine had been solid, packed with the kind of energy she always seemed to have a never-ending supply of.

But I couldn't help but feel... distant from it.

Their enthusiasm was contagious, but it barely grazed me.

My mind was somewhere else entirely.

A few feet away, I caught sight of Delphine, standing quietly with a cigarette between her fingers.

The small glow of the ember was the only thing marking her presence in the shadows, her face mostly obscured. The way she stood there, apart from the group, made her look untouchable.

There was something almost surreal about the way she held herself after that performance, like she'd stepped off the ice and into some kind of ethereal space, half here, half somewhere else.

Ethan's voice broke through my thoughts, pulling me back to the conversation at hand. "And, Kaiden," he said, elbowing me lightly, "you saw Delphine's routine, right? That was... intense, right?"

I shrugged, trying to look like I wasn't as affected as I really was. "Yeah, it was... something."

Ethan gave me a knowing look, but before he could say anything, Eliza piped up again. "I know! She was amazing out there, wasn't she?" She glanced over at Delphine, who hadn't seemed to hear her, or if she had, didn't care enough to acknowledge it. "It's like she was in her own world."

And she had been. Watching her out there, her movements so sharp and precise, had been... mesmerizing. There was no other way to put it. Every turn, every jump, had this quality that was hard to define, a mix of strength and vulnerability, power and grace. She moved like she was in control of every inch of the ice, every millisecond of her routine. But there was something else, something hidden beneath the perfection, something she'd held back.

I'd never really understood why anyone would put themselves through so much, but watching Delphine... it made sense, in a strange way. She wasn't just performing; it was as if she was confronting something out there, something personal, and for those few minutes, she'd won.

As Eliza and Ethan kept talking, my gaze drifted back to Delphine. She took a slow drag on her cigarette, her face lit briefly by the soft glow. I couldn't tell if she even knew we were here, her attention so focused inward that the rest of us seemed irrelevant. She exhaled, smoke curling into the air, disappearing like it had never been there in the first place. There was a quietness in her that drew me in, an intensity that felt almost magnetic.

"So, Kaiden," Ethan said, snapping me out of my thoughts, "what did you think of her routine? Pretty impressive, huh?"

I hesitated, not sure how much to say. "Yeah, it was... different. She's good."

Eliza grinned, nudging me playfully. "Different? That's all you got? Come on, even you must've seen how incredible she was out there. Don't act like you didn't notice."

I rolled my eyes, giving her a smirk. "Fine, yeah. She was great. But you're both making it sound like she just reinvented figure skating or something."

Eliza scoffed, waving me off. "You just don't get it, Kaiden. That kind of skating... it's more than just moves. It's like... it's an art, you know?"

I wanted to argue, to brush it off like I usually would, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the memory of her on the ice, the way she'd owned every single second out there. For once, I didn't have a comeback. I couldn't shake the feeling I'd gotten watching her skate, like there was something deeper there, something I didn't fully understand.

I glanced over at Delphine again, and our eyes met for a brief moment. She didn't smile, didn't even acknowledge me, but there was a weight in that look, a flicker of something I couldn't quite place. It was like she saw through me, saw past the nonchalant mask I always wore. And for the first time in a long time, I felt... vulnerable, like she'd caught me off guard without even trying.

Ethan, oblivious to the moment, kept talking, rambling on about the competition, about the other skaters, but I barely heard him. My mind was stuck on Delphine, on the way she'd looked at me, that quiet intensity that lingered even now.

"Kaiden," Ethan said, pulling me back once again. "You still with us, man?"

I forced a smirk, brushing it off. "Yeah, just... thinking."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, giving me that all-too-familiar look of curiosity. "About Delphine?"

I shot him a glare, half-annoyed, half-amused. "No, just... shut up, Ethan."

He laughed, unbothered by my irritation. "Alright, alright. But don't act like you're not intrigued. I've seen you looking at her, like, every time she's around."

I didn't respond, mostly because I didn't have a good answer. I was intrigued, more than I wanted to admit. But it wasn't something I could explain, not even to myself. Delphine wasn't like anyone I'd ever known. She had this way of pulling people in, of making them want to understand her, even when she kept them at a distance. And for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her than what she let on.

As Ethan and Eliza continued to talk, I leaned back, my mind drifting again. Delphine was still off to the side, cigarette in hand, staring off into the night with that same distant look. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her head, what thoughts were running through her mind as she stood there, so close yet so far away.

And in that quiet moment, I realized that maybe I wanted to find out.