Tense [styles]

03

chapter 3

       Elodie sat on the bench, watching her friends. They were on the other side of the rink, skating without her. She'd given up trying after falling on her butt countless times. She told her friends to keep skating without her and carefully made her way to a bench where she took off the ice skates, trading them for her Vans.

Elodie looked around at the families skating together, couples holding hands as they glided on the ice, and the little kids tumbling to the ground clumsily as they took their first steps on the ice. She laughed under her breath. The place was packed with people, and it was cold, too.

It's had been only thirty minutes and Elodie was already bored. She saw Liam glance over, making his way towards her. Elodie smiled when he stopped in front of her, an adorable look on his face.

“You look bored,” he said. “Want any company?”

She shook her head. “Nah. I'm fine. You go have some fun while I sit here and rot with boredom.”

Liam smiled. “You should give ice skating another try. It's actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it.”

Elodie giggled. “I've bruised my butt from all the falls I took. I think it would be better if I just watched.”

“I could teach you if you'd like?”

“You want to teach me?”

He nodded, blushing a little. “Yeah. I mean, I taught my cousins. They're Pros at it now.”

Elodie laughed. “Well, Mr. Payne, you must be a pretty amazing teacher.”

“I sure am,” he said grinning. “and it would be a pleasure if you'd let me help you out. I promise, in no time you'll be attached to the skating rink.”

She thought about it. “Okay, fine. But if I break something, it's on you.”

Elodie started to take off her shoes when Liam's phone rang. He held up a finger and answered it.

“Hello?. . . What?. . .Er, yeah.” Liam looked at her funny. “Sure. Okay.”

He handed the phone to her without a word. Elodie took it slowly, frowning, and placed it on her ear.

“Hi?” she said stupidly. There was a loud noise on the other end, but nobody answered. “Hello?”

“Elodie?”

“Uh, yeah? Who's this?”

Liam turned away. She wondered why he had given the phone to her. She didn't know who was on the other line. All she could hear were strange noises.

“Love, it's Harry. I tried calling you all day today! Why haven't you been answering my calls? Are you mad at me?”

Elodie licked her lips. “Um, my phone is broken.”

There was the same loud noise again. It sounded like someone was tapping on the speaker.

She said Harry's name but he didn't answer. She couldn't hear anything but that strange sound. What the heck was it? Finally, Harry's deep voice came back.

“Listen, can you meet me at the park today? I need to talk to you.”

Elodie's brow furrowed. “Uh, sure. What time?”

“Can you be there in twenty minutes?”

“Yeah. I'll see you then. Bye.”

She hung up and handed Liam his phone back. He stared at her with a questioning look on his face. Elodie sighed.