On the Edge of the Blade: Book One

Chapter One

Winter de Glace took a deep breath as he stared up at the familiar façade of Icebreakers Sports Arena. For some reason, it felt like an end. To what, he didn't know. All he knew was that as soon as he stepped out of his sister's car in half an hour, his life would change.

For the better?

Or for worse?

Winter didn't know.

"Be careful," his best friend Lumi said, hugging him tightly. She pulled away and examined his expression. "I know. I'm nervous too. But . . . it really can't be all that different, right?"

She probably meant the words to be comforting.

But for Winter, they were anything but. Different would be so, so much better.

He'd spent all of his elementary school years being one of the highest achieving students at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary. He didn't really expect that to change as he went into middle school. He almost wished it would, though.

That would make things so much easier.

Winter closed his eyes, then blinked them open to take one last look at Icebreakers Sports Arena. He would see it again in a few hours, so it really wasn't that big of a deal.

Or so he tried to convince himself.

"It'll be okay," Lumi promised. "I get it."

But she didn't. She really, really didn't. She might understand a little. She'd been bullied her whole life too. But she had most of her closest friends at her school, and more importantly, she had her family beside her.

Winter didn't have either of those things.

"I know," Winter told her, forcing himself to step away from her. "See you later."

Lumi gave him a sad smile as she turned in the opposite direction.

Winter watched for a moment as she headed through the parking garage to the car heading to her school. Then he spun on his heel and pressed the button to open the door to his sister's 2024 Rolls Royce Spector. (Yeah. Be impressed, readers). He settled into the backseat, his backpack at his feet.

"You okay?" Clyde Love asked. His teammate put down his phone for a second to ask the question, then immediately picked it up again without waiting for an answer. It was like he was glued to it or something.

Winter sighed and pulled his legs up closer, wishing he had a blanket or pillow or something. Then, it wasn't a very long drive, and it was one he drove nearly every day. It would just feel like eternity, partly because of the ridiculous New York City traffic and partly because of the atmosphere in the car. "I'm fine," he told Clyde, even though he was sure his friend wasn't paying attention anymore.

Sure enough, he wasn't. It was Winter's sister who responded from the driver's seat as she pulled out of the parking spot and headed toward the ramp leading out of the employee level of Icebreaker Sports Arena's parking garage. She glanced into the rearview mirror and met his eyes for a moment. "And now the truth?"

"That was the truth," he insisted. But they both knew it wasn't. Iclyn knew him too well.

"Are you nervous?" she asked.

"Of course, I'm nervous!"

"Okay, bad question. Why are you nervous?"

"Because–" Winter broke off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence. "I guess I'm nervous because I know what to expect and I don't like what I expect."