Love, Hate and Hockey Skates

Seven

We had stayed like that for what seemed like hours before I finally scrambled off of him and stopped crushing him with my weight.

"I'm sorry, I overestimated myself," I muttered. I tried to hide my face as I felt my face heat up, I didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

"It's okay, that's uh, a good thing. You're getting the hang of this a lot faster than I expected. Do you want to keep going?"

"Uh, no, I think I'm done for today. My ass can't take the hits anymore." I crawled on my hands and knees over to the side of the rink and used the wall to help myself up, then scooted along the side toward the door.

Ace busted a gut laughing as he watched me shuffle like a penguin off the ice, then glided with ease toward the door and stepped off the ice like it was nothing.

"Show off," I grumbled.

I was relieved to sit down and be on stable ground once more, but I was shocked when Ace bent down to start untying my skates right away. If anyone saw us out of context, they would they we were a couple, which made me self-conscious if there was anyone else here at some point. I was too distracted to even think of that.

"Why are we the only ones here?" I asked.

"Everyone else has classes or is back at the dorms, there is no practice or ice time today, which is why I thought it was the perfect time to teach you. No one would be coming today, at least not at this hour."

He went out of his way on his day off, just to do this with me? I had never expressed wanting to learn to skate, but I would be lying if I said I had never thought of it. I used to skate when I was much younger with my mother, but it has been years since then, and it's clear I remember nothing.

"Well, thanks, I guess. I never said I wanted to learn, but it was kind of fun if you don't include all the times I fell on my ass," I said.

He laughed. "Do you know how many times we as players fall on our ass? I'm sure you've seen it plenty of times in just one game alone."

He had a point. "But that's because you guys are going fast and just chasing a puck. I'm sure a figure skater wouldn't be falling on their ass during their performance."

Ace shrugged and bobbed his head from side to side. "I guess you're right there."

We took off our skates and he held mine for me.

"Would you be interested in keeping these? We could try again any time you want," he said.

"Uhm, yeah, sure." I'm not sure what compelled me to say yes.

Maybe it was because I realized how much I didn't hate hanging out with Ace, and that made me hate it. It was a turmoil of feelings storming inside of me.

~*~

My plan was definitely backfiring. I was supposed to be attracting his attention sexually, but all we had done is stupid things that friends did together, and for whatever damned reason, I went along with everything he asked me to do.

At first, it was skating, then later in the week he invited me to the skateboarding park and said if I could master skateboarding I could master skating.

That didn't go well, I was even worse and gave up a lot quicker.

Then, he took me to his favourite arcade and taught me how to play all the vintage games he loved. Later in the week after that, it was back to another skating lesson.

It had been a few months now and winter break was fast approaching, yet I was nowhere closer to getting Ace to take me to bed than I was back in high school. If anything I think I had friend-zoned myself, he didn't seem the least bit interested in getting me to bed.

He also still hadn't realized who I was, and I was still unsure how to feel about that. Could he really not remember the girl he tormented for years in high school? I know I looked a little different, but he was on my ass every day I had attended that school, yet we had spent months together and not a clue.

Or...what if he did know, and was pretending not to? What good would that do, though? He had been acting extremely nice to me, was he trying to make up for what happened? Could he have changed that much in just 3 years?

There were too many questions about our connection, and it was driving me insane. I didn't want to be made a fool again if he did remember who I was and was just pretending not to so he could get close to me again. That could be his ruse – get close to me, then reject me once I start to gain feelings for him, humiliate me the moment I confirm our friendship, or whatever else he thinks of.

He bullied me for years, these past few months of chasing after me was nothing to the Ace Huxley in high school. But a part of me wanted to believe that he had changed because I was coming to enjoy the company we spent together and the things he would take me to do. I hadn't made any other friends the entire time I was here, and I assumed that was due to my relationship with Ace.

Maybe I would've had a lot more friends if Ace and I had never run into each other, but for now, all I had was him when it came to calling anyone a friend here.

If we could get along this easily now, why was it that he hated me so much in high school? I wanted to ask him, but there was a chance of revealing who I was if he really didn't remember. For all I know, he had some sort of accident on the ice and damaged his brain.

It wouldn't surprise me. He had always been aggressive on the ice and still was.

My phone went off during class and spoke of the devil, it was a text from Ace talking about some party after the game today. A party was never my scene when I was younger or now. As a teen, it was for other reasons, of course, but now it was just too draining to be around that hype of people, it was too much for my low social battery.

Besides, I had a dance competition that I had been practicing all month for, and it started almost right after the game, I had barely any time to get there if I stayed until the very end. But I didn't want to mention to Ace why I had to miss both his game and the party, I was a little embarrassed about it and I knew with his nature, he would find a way to make fun of me when the time came.

I ignored his text and pretended to not see it until after class when I hopefully had something figured out to say to him, but once the teacher dismissed everyone, I still hadn't thought of anything. I knew he was going to find me because I didn't respond to his text, it was his thing to somehow always know where I was.

I had seriously questioned if he placed a tracking device in my phone.

As expected, he was waiting for me outside the class, completely oblivious to all the girls who swooned and practically threw up from excitement once they saw him. Once our eyes met his face lit up and he bounced toward me like a damn puppy.

"I know, I didn't respond to your text," I said instantly.

He pouted. "So, you did see it."

"Yes, but I was in class, and I couldn't text back. Besides, I have something to do tonight so I won't be able to make your game, maybe just the first period."

His face fell. "What, how come" I was really counting on you to come and cheer me on. You know, be my personal cheerleader." He grinned and nudged me jokingly.

"Do I strike you as the cheerleader type?"

"Nah, you're right, but just knowing you're there will make me feel better. Please, come out tonight, we don't have to go to the party, we can just hang out after." He pouted and pleaded with me.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just have something else to do."

"What is it?" he asked bluntly.

"Just...a thing," I mumbled.

He frowned. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because it's embarrassing, okay? Can we please just drop it?"

"No way! Come on, now I really want to know, tell me," he continued to plead as I wandered down the hall and I hated to admit that it got to me.

"Ugh, I have a dance competition tonight. Happy?" Oh, shit. I hadn't meant to say that.

"When is it?" he asked.