'Tis The Season: A Wattpad Christmas Countdown

Ice Skating

{written by the beautiful kura_skymning }

 «Hey, Soph,»

I looked up from the science and philosophy books, numb and bored by those flowing words that seemed to have been randomly lined up after a whole day of reading and reading them once, twice, three, four, five, six times. Wrapped in his cerulean sweater, his black trousers held up by bluish suspenders and his jacket on, Sacha looked at me slyly, typical of him when something was whirling in his head. I squared him from head to toe, and it was then that I noticed he had the car keys in his fingers.

«Are you finished with those?» he asked, pointing listlessly at my subsidiaries. I gave a shrug.

«Dunno. Let's say yes.»

«Put on your coat,» he told me, twirling the car's keys over his forefinger, «let's take a ride.»

«But it's almost midnight!»

«And you've been on those books all day. What an awesome birthday, Soph.»

«You know I have exams.»

«Sure, but I also know you need a break.»

I sighed heavily. When Sacha put something in his head, it was impossible to dissuade him.

«Ok,» I murmured, «Let's go taking this ride.»

In the car, Sacha did not say a word. He looked at the road with extreme care, thing that he never actually did; the first time I had got into his car with him it had been kind of a suicide attempt. With his Austin A30 Saloon, he had darted down the small streets of Broadstairs, Kent, and led me to our apartment in less than the blink of an eye. Sacha's Austin A30 was the most battered car I had ever seen in the world, full of blows and tears strewn all over the bodywork ― but it didn't surprise me any more after seeing him drive ― and it was so small for him that he could hardly sit on the driver's seat: he had to push it as far back as possible, and being six feet tall, he couldn't help but bend his neck forward so as no to crash into the roof of the car. As if it weren't enough, his shoulders were so broad that at every turn he made he crushed on me, and I, tiny and definitively more slender than him, was squashed on the passenger side door.

It had been quite embarrassing to try to live with that forced physical contact, especially the first few times, but after a while I had made it a habit, and Sacha had taken enough confidence to start teasing me about my stature. There were times when I teased him by calling him "fat giant", not because he was fat, but because of his incredibly developed musculature ― after all, he had been a mountain climber, I couldn't pretend it was abnormal ― that made him look huger than he actually was. Well, compared to me, hewas huge. And he always called me "impertinent dwarf"when I pointed it out.

There had never been a real moment of silence between us.

There was always one of us who spoke, especially when we were at our apartment, which, being shared by the two of us, was oftenly filled by guests unknown to me or to Sacha respectively, and often we didn't even get the names of the other's friends. Nonetheless, I liked Sacha's discretion. He never asked me "hey, who was that?", nor did he ever question my business in any way, especially when my sister Robyn, that gossipy dork, came home to visit me.