Secret Ice Princess

Prologue

Sitting at her lunch table, Indigo Miller let thoughts of her up coming practice fill her head. Her now empty lunch bag was set out before her and her 'friends' chattered happily around the table. Emery, a soft spoken boy who Indigo had probably only shared a few words with smiled happily at his girlfriend Rose as she chatted about something. Jake, Alicia, and Mitch argued over the eighth season of Supernatural.

Indigo just itched for school to end. It was like this everyday. She dragged herself to school and through her classes doing what was absolutely necessary to pass with at least a B. She secluded herself from her classmates to insure her secret would stay safe. Sadly, this life was lonely and she often wished she could share her secret with just one person.

The bell to go to her next class soon rang so she packed all of her empty Tupperware containers back into her lunch bag. Her table mates got up and left each throwing their own version of 'goodbye' over their shoulders. Laughing and chatting they quickly walked to their lockers.

Indigo followed behind, scuffing her feet in the cold white linoleum. She just wanted to leave. She needed to practice her routine for the state championships coming up in less than four months. Time was ticking and with each passing day Indigo could feel the pressure of senior year and the much needed scholarships bearing down on her. College would be a long shot if she couldn't secure some money for school.

Opening her sticky locker she was supervised when her duffle bag came down on top of her. "Whoa, careful there," a soft voice spoke from beside her.

A hand reached down and grabbed her's firmly, "Um, sorry," Indigo stuttered out. The warm, soft hand pulled her to her feet. Steadying herself, Indigo finally looked up into the face of her helper. The red headed girl couldn't have been more than 5'2" and probably weighed no more than 100 pounds. Her small frame seemed to shrink when Indigo stood at her full 5'5". The years of her instructor's nagging at her to stand up tall showed when she stood next to almost any teenager. Just another way she stood out.

"Do you need any help? That bag kind of jumped out of no where." The smaller girl laughed and attempted picked up the blue bedazzled duffle. Struggling with the unexpected weight she gasped. "Wow, what do you have in this thing? Now I can see why it took you down so easily."

Indigo grabbed the strap of the bag and easily hefted it back to its daytime home of the locker shelf. Grabbing her government book and binder from below the shelf, she slammed the locker and turned quickly on her heal walking in the direction of her next class. The other girl stood still hoping for any form of recognition.

"You're welcome," a tiny voice called out from behind her. Indigo ever so slightly raised her hand over her shoulder in a gesture of gratitude. She wished she could answer the questions the smaller girl had for her but was afraid of saying too much.

The tardy bell rang just as she stepped into her government class. She sighed and sat down. This day was way too long.

***

The cold building greeted Indigo when she stepped into the arena. The icy air filled her senses while making her feel at home. She walked over to the sound system and plugged her iPod into it. Music instantly blasted out through the arena.

The locker rooms, though warmer than the rink, were freezing as Indigo slipped into her practice gear. The little rubber elastic pulled her soft wavy brown hair as she pulled it down from its high pony. She could hear her music blasting just outside of the doors and it filled her with a feeling of security.

She laced up her shiny white skates tightly and wiggled her toes. After slipping on the plastic covers, she walked, very carefully, into the main arena.

Indigo sat on the bench, slipping off the worn pink plastic skate covers she had put on just minutes before. Sure the process was a hassle but she needed her skates to be in the best possible condition.

Gliding put onto the ice Indigo finally took a much needed breath. The day's frustrations and worries slipped away and the girl warmed up by skating around the rink a few time. Great joy filled her as she watched her skates leave tiny lines in the freshly smoothed ice. Slowly she built up speed to the point where her hair flew out behind her.

Doing a few small twirls and leaps to get her muscles warmed up. She decided it was time to work on her routine. She would pick the perfect song later but for now she just wanted a song to express how she was feeling. The pent up anger at herself for not even talking to the girl who helped her earlier had been gnawing away at her all day. The way she couldn't even tell anybody about her actual life out side of school was flustering. Even her feelings of loneliness as she lay awake before bed, wishing she had a warm body to cuddle with.

She had the perfect song. Gliding over to the iPod she put on Break Free by Ariana Grande.

Electric beats filled Indigo's head as she skated along. Her routine coming from seemingly nowhere, her legs moved automatically while keeping her perfectly balanced on the small plates.

Adrenaline filled her veins as the chorus drew near. All of her energy seemed to explode with every movement bigger and more precise than the one before. Every line poured through her, her energy clean and sharp.

But all too soon the song was over. The silence was suddenly deafening as the last echoes of song vibrated around her.

Standing perfectly still in the center of the ice Indigo breathed heavily. Her eyes darted around half expecting somebody to begin to clap. She felt like she was being watched. Her face burst into flames at such a strange thought. Then, suddenly it wasn't.

A flash of movement caught the corner of her eye. A person, tiny from such a long ways up, darted behind a spectator box.

Curious as to who was watching her, Indigo slid off the ice and quickly but efficiently loosened her skates, leaving them by the bench. She raced up the many steps until she approached where she saw movement. Nothing.

Deciding that is wasn't really worth the trouble, Indigo packed up for the day. Grabbing her precious skates and all her necessities, she headed back into the locker room. Reaching out to grab the door handle Indigo was quite literally hit when it suddenly swung open.

The girl from earlier stood in shock. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, wow. Today is just not a good day for me, huh?" She muttered while helping Indigo up. "There you go. Sorry about that."

Indigo stayed quiet but grabbed her things from the small red headed girl. She shoved her iPod and skated into the blue duffle bag before shoving, quite rudely, past the smaller girl.

Indigo changed back into her clothes, grabbed her duffle and exited the locker room. Expecting to just be able to leave, she was surprised when the girl walked up to her once again. "Um, sorry, this may seem weird, but, uh, are you the girl from earlier?" She stammered out.

Indigo simply shook her head, trying to look confused.

"Oh, ok. Anyway, my name is Libby. I might see you around, I'm new to town but I got a job here doing some fixer-upper stuff." Libby said, looking a bit disappointed.

Indigo nodded, "My name is Hope," she said. It wasn't a complete lie. It was her middle name and she used it as her skating name. Still, for some reason it made her feel guilty, just a little bit.

***

Welcome to my new story! This one is going to be a bit different because I'm, obviously, writing in third person. Hope you enjoy!

Love you,

-M