Triple Axel

Noah On Ice

I watched from the rink bleachers as the Toronto Senior Triple A Panthers took the ice, skating laps faster than my eyes could pace. Amid them all was Noah, the assistant captain. He was my age, 16, brown hair, soft green eyes, playing center mid for the hockey team. This was his first year on the senior team, similar to how it was my first year on Team Canada. The only difference was, he didn't know that I existed.
I felt for a spiral bound book tucked in the bottom of my nike training bag and pulled it out. I was still gnawing at a pencil between my lips, and when he spun by me and I caught a glimpse of his parted smile laughing at one of the jokes of a fellow teammate, I whipped open the book and spat the pencil onto my hand.
Our Team Canada coach, Ralph, makes us keep journals of everything related to skating. And that means everything from axel landings that day, to what you ate for breakfast, to who you met at the rink, how they made you feel and how that would've effect your practice. The only reason I kept the diary so honest was because Ralph never checked them, and truth be told the insight they gave me made my growth excel so much faster.
He lapped around me again, but this time his eyes were set in front of him with a concentrated tint to his eyes. I was in awe.
My hand reached the page before I could, spilling out exactly how he made me feel and why I had latched on to him. It wasn't just today, I had been writing about Noah for the past several months. I would always come to my Thursday and Monday sessions 40 minutes early, just enough time to put on my skates and gear before my session which was directly after there's, but not too much time to make it look like I was deliberately watching their practice.
I chewed on my bottom lip unconsciously as he lined up to take a shot and followed through, easily directing it into the back of the net.
Biting my lip, I continued to write in the journal, making sure to eloquently describe my surroundings and his significance.
"Is that your diary?", I heard Nathan chuckle.
My eyes shot open as I instinctively shut it and whipped around to face him. "Ralph's yeah." There was no way I was going to tell him how personal I got with Ralph's journal goals.
"Why do you look like you're writing War and Peace?", he arched an eyebrow, smirking.
"None of your business, Nate. Leave me alone."
"I think she's writing about a boy," I heard Patrick's voice chime in.
"Why are you two even here?"
Nathan shook his head laughing. "And now she's trying to change the subject. What do you think we ought to do, Chiddy?" He smirked, referring to Patrick's common nickname.
"I'm sorry, what you ought to do is fuck off, you're not ruining another one of my sessions."
Nathan lunged for my journal but I grabbed it to my chest, instinctively.
Patrick pinned my elbows behind my back, twisting my wrist upward, gently enough to not injure me because he knew I would murder him, but with enough force to make my reflexes drop the navy spiral book out of my hands. Right into the slippery wrists of Nathan. He picked it up flipping through the pages with a musical smile.
"Fuck off, why do you even care?", I whined.
"Because," Chiddy exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We need to cross examine the boy."
"That's highly unlikely, as he doesn't know that I exist." I mutter more to myself than to the boys.
Nathan raises his eyebrows, still clutching the book closed. "Oh, really? You know, you're very red for someone with a small crush."
I flustered silently and both Nathan and Patrick laughed making my face go hotter.
"I don't have a crush," I lie.
Both Nathan and Patrick laugh in unison. "Right, you're not embarrassed at all."
"I'm not embarrassed you're just-just."
Patrick smiles. "Just?", he mocks.
"Just aggravating!"
I see Nathan shake his head, curls flopping up and down as he grins.
"Ya, alright, Mia. Somehow I feel like your diary proves otherwise."
He flips the book open and I lunge for him but Patrick holds me firm in his embrace.
"Dammit, Patrick. I hate you two!", I yell annoyed.
Nathan eyes me. "Damn, not even a chiddy nickname she must be really mad."
Patrick grips me harder and smiles. "Or really in love."
"I am not in love but I am close to killing both of you!", I shout.
I watch Nathan flip through the pages and my heart drops as he lands on today.
"September 14th. Noah parted his hair differently today. Good differently. Not that there could be a bad differently. But a sexier differently."
Nathan pauses grasping the plastic chair to contain his laughter and Patrick almost let's me go he's laughing so hard.
"Ugh, would you two leave me alone!", I groan.
Nathan fakes wiping a tear from his eye and continues. "I just mean that he looks older and more mature. I also had a protein bar for breakfast.. blah blah blah talks about stretching, wow Mia you really live out everything in here don't you."
I shoot him a dirty look and he hides his grin.
"Oh here's a good one. I can't explain why he makes me blush, but every time he skates past the boards I feel like I could tackle him to the ground and get lost in his blue eyes."
I think I'm dying. If not someone kill me.
Nathan and Patrick are literally howling, and Patrick cannot contain himself as he lets me go and I lunge for my journal, sling my Nike bag over my shoulder and run down the stairs to the practice room. I can still hear their laughter echo behind me, and I swear to myself I will get them back.