"Better the devil you know than the one you don't." Says who exactly, since I also heard that "ignorance is bliss"...?
Chapter 31
Things were finally starting to look up, after having had my belly kill me for the better part of the last three days.
Julie had invited me to go ice-skating with her, and to be honest; I was thrilled to the gills!
I wasn't exactly a skater, but I believed that if you could ride a bike, then you could pretty much do anything that required balance.
Tonight I was at least going to try and look a little bit special. I never put a lot of attention to what I wore, as long as I simply wasn't naked.
The special ensemble included a pair of purple martens, patterned tights, a black fitting wide-neck dress top, and my mom's fur trimmed coat. Now I just hoped that my legs wouldn't freeze up on me.
"Who are you and what did you do with Charlie?" Jules asked gasping as she took in my new look. "You look like you're going on a date."
"We are going on a date aren't we?"
"Yeah, but..." she shrugged having found herself speechless.
"Just tell me I look nice."
"You look nice."
"Thanks," I said giving her a small peck.
She wasn't dressed bad herself. She looked good in grey skinny jeans and a tiny fur trimmed jacket that clearly wasn't made with anything to do with the brutality of weather in mind.
The drive to the skate park was a bit long (since it was in the outskirts of Easton), but it was definitely worth it.
It didn't snow in Easton -not even during Christmas- and so the park was busy with families and couples out to enjoy their weekend.
"I got my letter into Lakewood," she said slightly nervous as she locked the car door.
You see, the thing was, I hadn't received any letters yet; and that wasn't normal. I was smart and should have gotten all my first choice consideration letters by now.
"That's great," I said truthfully.
"Are you sure you wrote down your address correctly?" She blurted out.
"I think I know my address pretty well. Maybe they checked my background and didn't like it," I said accepting my fate.
"Every uni you applied to? Charlie, that doesn't sound right."
"I can't explain it, I don't know... maybe I'll call them to see what happened, or just wait to join a community college."
"Don't joke like that!" Jules chided.
"Enough with that. I thought tonight was only going to be about us," I said not wanting to talk about that anymore.
We paid our entrance fee, and with our bright pink -definitely not my choice- matching boots, changed at the provided benches before handing over our own shoes.
I totally felt like a duck as we walked with our blades to the entrance of the refrigerator cold rink.
"How exactly do I do this?" I asked noticing that I was already sliding on the ice from the moment I stepped on it.
"I've never taught anyone before, but I think it's a good idea if you hold my waist and try to slowly follow my lead."
"This isn't funny; there're kids pulling stunts here," I said watching a kid barely out of diapers skate backwards.
"You'll also get the hang of it," she said towing me like a broken-down Buick.
There were so many people skating while holding hands, kids held by their parents, people on their faces, and others plainly showing off.
Despite the fact that I felt like my legs could shoot off from under the rest of my body, I was having fun.
I only managed to fall once, and it was because I let go too soon trying to do it all alone.
"I think you're starting to get it. I don't feel like I've been tied to an anvil anymore," she said coming to a gentle halt.
"Me too!" I said excitedly. "It's like you only have to push yourself with one foot and have your other foot ready with enough force to take over when its reached a certain wavelength."
"It's very good to see that you've come up with a formulae to help you grasp the concept," she said making fun of me.
"Give me a minute to crunch more numbers and I'll be better than you!" I said beginning to skate away on my own even if my arms were stuck out of my sides like aeroplane wings.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jules asked sort of while she crashed into me from behind.
Oh damn! She was fast.
"You win," I said feeling her arms wrap around my waist as she somehow suddenly managed to bring the both of us to a stop.
"You have to crawl before you run," she said smirking at me as I turned to face her.
I hadn't noticed our proximity and the way we were holding each other until it was too late.
It was inevitable.
Without another word, my lips sort hers and we stood kissing as everyone around us simply ceased to exist.
It was strange, but I realised that I truly did love her more than anything or anyone in the world at that moment.
