Ice ~ Bellarke

Chapter One

Bellamy Blake charged out of the locker room followed by a horde of boys clad in pads and practice jerseys, all toddling on flat ground in their skates. He stepped into the arena and took a deep breath, relishing the smell of cold air and fresh ice. His smile faltered as he reached the rink.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Time to cool down and get off the ice, it's past 3:30, you're cutting into our time!"

A small blonde girl landed a double axel and turned to face him.

"Don't think so," she said evenly and skated towards him. "We're just starting, I booked the ice for a two hour block starting at 3:30."

"And who the hell are you?"

"Clarke Griffin," she answered. "Captain of the skate-team." Her eyes dropped to the C on his jersey. "And let me guess, you'd be Bellamy Blake, captain of the hockey team?"

"Does this look like a curling broom to you?" he held up his stick.

"Not particularly," she commented drily. "Just trying to get the formalities out of the way but I guess I should have known better than to try."

"Right," Bellamy gritted his teeth. "Well let me formally tell you to get off the ice."

Clarke looked from him to the figure skaters behind her.

"You know what, I think we'll stay."

"No," Bellamy shook his head. "Not an option. Not sure if you noticed but I didn't formally request you to leave, I formally told you to leave."

"That's not how this is going to work," Clarke wrinkled her nose. "You might have authority over them," she nodded to the hockey players behind him. "But you don't have any authority over me."

"Wanna bet?" Bellamy asked. "I booked the rink. We've got a big game coming up, we need the ice time."

"So?" Clarke challenged. "They must have double booked us. We've got a big comp coming up, we need the ice time just as much."

Sure," Bellamy scoffed. "But last time I checked, the hockey program takes priority over the skate program at this school so I'll do whatever the hell I want."

"Whatever the hell you want, huh?" Clarke looked him up and down. "That's the rules you want to play by?"

"Damn right," he nodded.

"Fine by me," Clarke sniffed. "I guess I'll do whatever the hell I want too," she put her hands on her hips. "Raven, Finn- go ahead and start warming up," she called over her shoulder. The two skaters behind her shrugged and took off, skating laps around the rink. Clarke turned her attention back to Bellamy.

"You practice in that half of the ice and we'll practice in this half," she nodded towards him.

"Yeah," Bellamy exhaled, "and what do you expect me to do with half a rink? I've got 18 guys out here."

"You figure it out, you're the captain, aren't you?" Clarke reminded him. "Why don't you set up pylons and do some skating drills?" She asked and surveyed his team appraisingly. "You guys look like you could use it."

Bellamy rolled his eyes. "So now the figure skater is a hockey coach too? Got any more advice for me?"

"It doesn't take a hockey coach to see you've got some sloppy skaters. What sort of defenseman can't even skate backwards?" she nodded towards a burly boy scrambling towards the net.

"Kovacevic can skate," Bellamy grunted but shot the boy a worried look.

"If you say so," Clarke raised her eyebrows. "Anyways, I'm not leaving."