On Ice

OI Chapter 3

Saturday, October 6, 2012

I jerked out of a restless sleep when my alarm went off at 7am. The house was eerily quiet, something I was still getting used to. Plucking my phone off the nightstand, I wiped the sleep from my eyes with one hand while I checked for messages, a big fat goose egg. Great, Russ must really be pissed at me for not answering his calls yesterday. I wanted to send him a text, but it was likely he’d just blow me off, especially since his mood was likely foul from last night’s loss. Like most competitive people, Russ hated to lose. He was superstitious to boot.

Extracting myself from the tangled sheets and the comforter that had wound around me tighter than a burrito during the night, took a minute and I still managed to trip as I got up and out of bed. Padding down the hall I used the bathroom that I’d claimed, even though it wasn’t attached to my room, before heading downstairs. Thanks to Kale, I had fresh fruit and flavoured yoghurt, instead of the nasty “original” stuff that Russ used in his shakes or to make his own salad dressing. I stood eating my handful of green grapes and strawberry banana yoghurt leaning over the sink. I’d seen my dad do that more times than I could remember and I’d always thought he’d done it just to avoid having to use a plate, but I’d tried it once a couple of years ago and figured it out. It made you feel less alone eating over the sink, staring out a window, than sitting at an empty table by yourself.

Putting my spoon in the dishwasher, tossing out the empty yoghurt carton, I headed back upstairs. I pulled a pair of comfy black yoga pants out of one drawer, some socks and underwear from another, one of dad’s old Minnesota North Stars t-shirts and headed back to my bathroom. I figured a shower would be a waste of time, because I’d be stinky in no time, but I got dressed and tried to do a little something with my hair. You know something that required more effort than just tying it up in a ponytail.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I couldn’t believe how excited I was this early in the morning. There were faint circles beneath my baby blues but otherwise my face looked good. I was average looking, there wasn’t anything dazzling about me. I had my mother’s oval face, pert little nose that turned up just a bit at the end and a lusher feminine version of my dad’s mouth. The pale blond, stick straight hair and my eye colour, a dark bluish-grey were from my dad too. Russ’s hair and eye colour were nearly identical to mine, except that his eyelashes were thicker than mine. They were totally wasted on him.

I guess what set me apart from most girls my age was the fact that I towered over most of them at five foot ten inches. Unfortunately, the slender and sleek model bone structure that my mom had had, well those genetics hadn’t been past to me. I was solidly built from my feet up to my wide shoulders. But I was okay with that, I was happy with how I looked. Glancing at the clock I’d mounted on the bathroom wall beside the door, I swore and picked up a comb. The fishtail braid I wove my straight locks into turned out pretty good, but I really didn’t have the time to sit and admire myself in the mirror any longer.

Slapping the light switch as I jogged out, I collected from my room my iPod, grabbed my cross trainers out of the closet and hurried downstairs. Plunking my socked feet into the shoes, I swiftly tied the laces and went to the front closet for my hoodie. I was pulling it on over my head when I heard the distant sound of Kale’s motorcycle. Racing to the kitchen, I pulled out a few bottles of water before turning to run back down the hall. I could hardly contain myself as I bounded out the front door. Kale revved the engine and steadied the bike between his legs. He pulled off a North Face backpack and handed it to me. I stuffed the water bottles into one of the pockets, put the straps over my shoulders and accepted the helmet he had waiting for me. Climbing on behind him, I couldn’t think of a better way to start my day.

The ride was shorter than I remembered, but it was okay, I still had at least a good two hours of Kale’s company to look forward to. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of running around an oval track, but if I got to stare at the world’s most fabulous ass, I suppose I’d probably run in squares if he’d wanted to. Stowing our stuff within view of the track, we both got down to the business of stretching out. I was bending and holding the toe of one shoe when Kale pulled off his sweatshirt and tossed it behind me.