Love on Ice

Chapter 2: Boyfriend Day

Ellora dreaded going to the rink today; Thursday is her least favorite day to practice. The same group of girls practice every day after school, and they had all agreed that Thursday would be boyfriend day - a day for all of their boyfriends to sit in the bleachers and watch, then hang out with the girls during our breaks.

Ellora has only 2 problems with this day:

1. She is single.

2. All of the couples just end up making out.

Per usual, all of her friends were engrossed in some pretty intense makeout sessions, so Ellora took a bench near the front entrance and embarked on the tedious journey that is her atrocious trig homework.

She had quickly gotton in the zone for completing her practice problems.

Needless to say, when the voice sounded above her, Ellora was as startled as if the boy had poked her in the side.

"Is this seat taken?" was what the voice had spoken; it belonged to a boy about her age - 17, that is.

"Jesus, you nearly made me fall off the bench!" She exclaimed, "Try making some sort noise first."

"As much as that title flatters me, my name isn't Jesus, it's Grayson," the boy responded loftily.

Her initial reaction had been to shoo the boy away because he smelled of hockey: sweat, strong deodorant and month old laundry. The exact reason her and her friends loath their species. She also knew that hockey players were arrogant and didn't have any respect for the arts of figure skating, especially at this rink.

His name sounded familiar, so she met gaze, but only to find herself lost in his brilliant green eyes.

All rivalries were immediately forgotton (rink time, odor, trophy cases, etc.).

Still unable to place the voice, Ellora chose to put it out of her mind and decided to answer the call of her math book.

Just as she had finished rearranging the 2 ton text book back onto her lap, he said, "So did you lose my number or did you purposefully trash it?"

In that moment, it clicked: his eyes, his voice, his mannerisms - everything. "You said you're name was Grayson... I met you during your cashier shift at Swiftmart," The realization made her feel so stupid that she physically palmed her forehead: how could she could have forgotten their encounter, Ellora was unsure.

To answer his question, she frantically rummaged through her mini Vera Bradley purse for the reciept bearing Grayson's name and number.

Ellora caught a glimpse of the small white corner, siezed it and presented it as if it were the winning lottery ticket.

"I didn't throw it away, I have practice every day after school, and let me tell you that the two combined equals very limited social time."

She studied the name and number. Damn, his penmanship was better than hers!

"I understand completely; I'm very dedicated to my school work, job, and hockey," Grayson politely informed her.

Hearing the word 'hockey' reminded her of his odor, which until then she had managed to forget about; however, this brought it back to mind, forcing her nose to work again.

The smell willed Ellora to shudder internally; it was time for a subject change as well as the famous 'Get to Know you Game'.

Taking into account the remaining twenty minutes of her break and the fact that she had Grayson's number, she inquired, "Speaking of school, do you go to Hedgeport High or Avinson High?"

Hedgeport and Avinson were the only two high schools for miles, so they were her best bet.

She has attended Hedgeport for the past three years, but his face wasn't the slightest bit familiar when she had first studied it yesterday, so that was unlikely.

His hesitation was making her sick to her stomach, she was afraid he was hiding something from her.

"Neither, actually..." At this Ellora began to wonder if he did indeed bear the age that his features claimed him to be - excluding his body language, of course.

The fact that he hadn't scoffed at her suggestion of him attending high school was a good sign. This meant that her first interpretation was most likely correct: he was around her age.

He answered the question that was stamped permanently in her eyes, "My mother insisted that I be homeschooled from day one."

"And how many days has that been exactly?" She questioned.

Then, as a clarification, she added, "It would be most beneficial if you answered in years instead of days."

He gave her a mischevious smiling and responded, "Longer than 17, but less than 19."

"Just as a warning, my skills involving english highly exceed those involving math."

"I've been facing a similar battle since around the 6th grade; however, I posed tgat problem in an immensely simple form," with this comment, Grayson entertained her with a boyish grin.

"So, homeschool...," she drawled off to steer the conversation back in its initial direction, "That explains why I haven't seen you around school, but why haven't I seen you here?" Ellora became quite curious...

There were an infinite number of solutions. One held the truth; the rest were lies. Which would Grayson choose to voice? And how would she know if it was the one truth?

Who was this boy whose number she had acquired? And why had she never seen him before yesterday?

"Because I'm homeschooled, my hours are truly quite flexible; therefore, I normally don't practice in the afternoon." It seemed that Grayson had nothing to hide seeing as he so far came off as an open book.

Unless he was lying, but he wasn't giving her a bad vibe, so she believed him.

* * *

After about 15 minutes of alternating questions, Ellora had learned that Grayson has been playing hockey since he turned 7, he has a 12 year old sister, and many more tidbits of various information.

"Well, Grayson, you seem like a perfectly nice and trustworthy person. Definitely someone I'd like to get to know. You're also not hard on the eyes, which doesn't hurt."

"I'm glad you feel that way because I would just adore the opportunity to get to know you, and I'd say the odds are sounding pretty darn good at the moment," Grayson stated tacking a cocky grin onto the tail of his words.

Ellora wished deeply to continue their conversation, but if she was late getting back on the ice, Coach Sonya would have her head on a platter - especially after being a whole 15 minutes late yesterday. Also, Grayson had to head over to the NHL rink for hockey practice.

* * *

After practice, which went very well due to the good mood Grayson had put her in, Ellora thought it a good idea to text him.

He didn't have her number yet, afterall.

She also felt completely horrible for failing to reveal her own name - especially after he had been so open with her.

His charming personality had caused her to throw her good manners straight out the window.

Hey, it's Ellora... from the rink. I totally forgot to give you my name! Im soo sorry! D: Anyway, just wanted to text you so you would have my number. ;) -Ellora