Never

Chapter 13

Several weeks passed by. The brisk November air turned to a bleak December frost. But my mood drew a stark contrast to the freezing, gray skies. I was riding on a high ever since we kissed on that park bench under the gnarled tree. We tried to see each other at least once on the weekends, with the occasional visit to the hide room throughout the weeks. We would ditch our friends at lunch and even skip some of the less important periods of the school day to meet up for a mid-day cuddle. Sometimes we would go there just to talk, but often we couldn't resist each other and ended up in a heated act of passion fueled by hormonal teenage yearning. Or perhaps it was just overwhelming physical attraction. Either way, his body was irresistible.

Since it was too cold and usually too snowy to do anything, we had a short list of options to choose from when it came to dates, especially since most public places were off limits. We never dared sitting at tables in restaurants, even fast food joints or cafés, in fear of seeing people we knew from school. No one even knew we were friends let alone... well, I'm not actually sure what we were. Towards the end of December, the weekend before winter break, Spencer said he was planning another surprise. I was elated thinking back to when he last surprised me with a date, picturing his adorable goofy self running through the black light with a laser gun, and of course, kissing him in the dark, secluded room. It would be hard for him to top that.

After meeting up in the hide room during last period of the Friday before break, he clued me into his plan,

"My brother's gonna come pick you up tonight around eight, is that okay?" His older brother would often drive us. He never paid attention so it was perfect. I think he smoked as much as my older brother did, needless to say he was oblivious.

"Yeah kinda late, but that works," I say, trying not to seem like it would be a problem. My parents would probably get suspicious but I could just lie and say I was sleeping over at Erin's.

"Okay perfect, dress warm," he said with a sly wink. I swear, this boy is such a flirt. Before I had time to question, we had reached my class and I ducked into the room. Looking at the ground, I moved hesitantly through the doorway with a huge grin sprawled across my face. Once I realized I was back in a classroom full of people, I look up to see my classmates all staring at me. I drop all emotion in my face immediately with shame, and my cheeks burn red-hot as I scuttle back to my seat. Crap, I think to myself. I need to be more careful.

That night, I was nervous all over again. Even though we had been on a handful of dates already, I still got nervous every time. I didn't want to mess things up. What we had going on was better than anything I've ever had before, by a landslide. The other half of me was equal parts excited as it was nervous, to see him again.

His brother came and the three of us rode in silence, like usual, to the unknown location.

"Alright Spence, don't text me too late asking for a ride, I'm hanging out with Emily later and don't want to be interrupted, if you know what I mean," his brother says when we get there. Gross. But who were we to judge. If only his brother knew what we did. When he said this he winked the same way Spencer would, but with not nearly enough friskiness, and not nearly as subtle. That was Spencer's area of expertise.

We stepped out into a cold, dark parking lot. There was only one building, which was massive, but it's gray cement facade looked like it would contain a prison behind the lone metal doors in its center. I blindly followed Spencer up to the metal doors. He pulls a small key from his back pocket and opens the lock on the doors, as if he's done this a million times. I grow even more confused.

We head inside and it doesn't feel any warmer. If anything, it was a couple degrees below what the air behind me was. It was also pitch-black in here, like it's been closed all evening. He walks nonchalantly into the darkness and reaches around a wall. All of a sudden a rush of bright light floods the --

"Oh my God," I let out. "I should've known."

In the center of the huge facility was a shiny blue oval floor of ice surrounded by tall glass walls. It was an ice skating rink!

"I wanted to take you here for a while, but had to wait for a night that it was closed. This is where my team practices," he explains. I don't say anything. I just stare at the massive place. All to ourselves, I think.

"Okay let's get you some gear," he says as he grabs my hand. He leads me into the locker room and gets two pairs of skates. "I figured you could just borrow my friends." He motions me to sit on the bench and starts shoving my feet into two large black skates. They fit perfectly so he must have somehow knew my size. I guess he pays attention to things more than I thought. Once he ties up my laces for me, he quickly fits on his own. We waddle over to the entrance of the rink and he jumps onto the ice without hesitation. I watch as he masterfully glides huge distances with a single forward stride. He's clearly showing off. After a couple skillful swivels and a little backward skating, he skids to a stop at the entrance.

"Okay hockey boy, way to show off," I snarkily comment.

"Eh, that's nothing. Come on, are you gonna skate or what?" he replies.

"Yeah but I haven't skated since I was little so I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with those moves."

"Just try your best. I promise I'll go slow." he assures me.

I step on the rink and after a couple slippery strides I start to catch my balance. He matches pace to my left and cheers me on a bit. I start to gain momentum and soon I feel like I'm flying across the ice. Then I remember I don't know how to stop so I yell out to him, who's now the one trying to keep up behind me,

"Wait, I'm going too fast! Help!" He rushes up to me but it was too late. In an attempt to slow down, my skate catches on the ice at a weird angle and I flip over, starting to fall. Then I see out of the corner of my eye Spencer crashing into me. I reach out to grab him and stop him. Before we know it, we collide and tumble together into the plexiglass boards with a THUD. When we come to a stop, our bodies are intertwined in a tangled mess and we can't help but die of laughter. Neither of us were hurt, save for the inevitable bruises on my ass and elbows that caught my landing when I made rough contact with the ice. He saw me reach to comfort one of my elbows with my other hand.

"Aw did you get a boo-boo on your elbow?" he mocks in a childish tone, but I can tell there's some genuine worry behind his kind eyes.

"Yeah actually it hurts a lot, thanks for your compassion," I exaggerate.

"Here let me kiss it better." He takes my arm and rolls back my sweatshirt's sleeve to expose my newly red elbow. His hands are warm, which provides extreme comfort and relief from the freezing cold emanating from the ice beneath. He brings it up gently to his lips and presses a light kiss on it.

"See? All cured." And just like that it actually did feel better. Or at least I got too lost in his eyes to notice my own bodily senses. He stared back at mine and, still holding my elbow up near his lips, he starts to plant tiny kisses up the length of my arm, all the way up to my shoulder. He did it childishly, almost jokingly, but still in a sexy manner. Once he reached my shoulder, he kept going and soon he was brushing his warm lips against my neck, then my ear, and finally back to my lips. Completely alone in this skating warehouse — the only two warm living masses in it huddled close in the center — we stay sat on the cold, icy ground, and kiss feverishly, like we couldn't possibly get enough.

After a few moments, he rises up to his feet and reaches down to pull me up. We begin skating again, still holding hands, and for the first time, we let down our guards. The moment was effortless; I was perfectly content. I fell backseat to a state of pure joy, letting it take the wheel and guiding me along, which is how I normal felt when I'm around him. I didn't take it for granted. I savored every minute of it; every stride; every occasional little peck on the lips that we exchanged while simultaneously soaring across the ice as one. The only thoughts in both our minds were of each other.