Perserverance (Discontinued)

Skate it off

She woke up to birdsong, though a feeling of longing filled the air. She felt like she should be more happy than she is. Today was the skating trip. She would get to hang out with Bella and Rollerblade all day, not thinking about her worries - except that Desmond would be there. She dressed in silence and filed onto the old bus. Sam got on shortly after, pumped as usual. When she arrived at school, she scanned the crowd. Desmond was nowhere to be seen. He must have stayed home. She smiled half heartedly. if she was going to have fun today, she couldn't think about Desmond.

"Hey girl," Bella said as she entered the gymnasium, "ready to go to breakfast?"

"Yeah...sure."

"Cheer up, I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. Boys are stupid."

"Yeah," she said. Then she thought of Jeremy. The last thing she said to him. She called him out. He wasn't really stupid. He was nice. She almost cried, but she only got choked up. She held it in. He was gone. There was nothing she could do about it.

"Chocolate muffins! Your favorite!" Arise said meeting up with them. A gold ribbon fluttered in her hair.

"Woopee..." Alice said shyly. Arise wasn't going on the trip. She never turned in her permission slips on time, mostly because her parents were weird and overly protective. They boarded the bus and she took her seat with Lucas, Bella was with Sam. They sat that way until the teachers decided it would be best to split up the genders. Alice rolled her eyes at the gesture and happily sat with Bella. They sang terrible songs about strength and independence the whole drive there. Once they made it inside, she couldn't choose between her familiar roller skates, or if she should try in lines. Lucas got his usual in lines, so she decided to try them out, though she was actually terrified.
"Its okay," Bella reassured, "I'm trying them out too." She wanted to impress her new crush. Edwin Golding. Alice was just doing it for fun. She slipped the first one on, and she already knew it was going to be a rough day.

"We're in this together," Bella reminded her. She breathed heavily. Ten minutes into the trip and she had already fallen thirteen times. Her knees we're bruised and her wrists burned and cut from all of the falls. She flipped over a boy named Cory, she couldn't do it. She was used to pushing off with her toes. She didn't know how to move in these wretched things. She sat down on the bench and teared up. She couldn't do it. She started to take it off.

"It's okay if you want to quit, trade in." Bella said, touching her shoulder.

Suddenly, Lucas zoomed up to them, "It's not okay to quit! You can't be a quitter, Alice!" And with that, he left.

"Lucas is right, I have to get back out there." And she kept trying. At first, she held onto Bella with every stroke, but eventually Bella was catching on and needed to go faster. She sped past Alice and left her to cling to the railing. Though she knew she would fall, she had to let go of the railing. If she didn't, she would never learn. She was a great skater without these, and it took a lot of practice for normal ones too. She had to start small, but she had to start somewhere. Lucas flew by, and turned around to face her, "you don't push off with your toes in these, You tilt your feet in slightly, and push outward." And he left, again. She was alone, losing herself in the music; in the crowd. She drafted through strangers, building speed, she forgot about everything else. She wasn't Alice. She was a paid of skates. Then she suddenly forgot. She was falling again. She crawled off the court in tears.

"Ill never get it..as soon as I think I do, I screw up." She said to herself, only it wasn't just to herself. Lucas was there beside her.

"You can do it Alice." She looked up. "You can't give up. I know you can do it. You just have to try. I believe in you." She had a sudden instinct to kiss him, which she buried with thanks. She needed that encouragement. She clung onto those words as she slid back into the ring. She got better with every syllable she repeated in her mind.

I be-live in you.

You can do it.

You can't give up.

And she caught up with Bella, they skated together a few rounds, but as she was getting the basics down, bella was just working on pure speed. She raced onward again, leaving alice to the beat. And all of a sudden, she found words she knew well.

"
Hello, it's me
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time's supposed to heal ya
But I ain't done much healing
Hello, can you hear me
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be
When we were younger and free
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet

There's such a difference between us
And a million miles

Hello from the other side," and Lucas caught up with her.

"Alice-"

But she raced on, tears swelling in her eyes. She sang along softly, " I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart
But it don't matter it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore-"

"ALICE!" He called from behind again.

"Just go away." She skated away, she wouldn't let him see her crying. She wouldn't let him know of her setback, of her fall. She had fallen in reverse. It took the entirety of the song to sink in. She had fallen in love all over again.