Love, Hate and Hockey Skates

Sixteen

As soon as my classes were over, I stomped over to the arena and sought out Ace on the ice. I walked on and slowly made my way closer so he could hear me.

"Ace Huxley!" I screamed.

He spun around and almost fell on his ass when he heard me.

"Isla!" His face lit up as he took his helmet off and skated over, but it quickly fell when he saw how pissed off I was. "What happened?"

"Have you been going around telling people we're sleeping together?"

His eyes shifted sideways. "Why would I do that?"

"Then, why did some random girl from my class who looks like she would be the last person to care about something like this, say you have been confirming all the rumours about us, which doesn't help the other rumours about me!"

His face turned stone cold. "What rumours about you?"

I scoffed. "Like you haven't heard. I'm the hockey slut, I supposedly let all the players have their turn at me before I go running back to you. Ring a bell?"

"Who the hell is saying that?" he roared, then spun around and glared at the other players.

"Save it, Ace. I don't care about those rumours. What I do care about is what you've been saying. Why are you telling people we've been sleeping together, when we aren't even dating, it makes no sense?"

He looked uncomfortable suddenly. "Can we talk about this after practice?"

I scoffed. Sure, I may not have picked the best time to confront him, but was I going to give him the chance to think up some lie for later? No. Chances were he was telling everyone that I was off-limits but wasn't willing to date me at the same time.

"This is just too confusing, Ace. You don't want to date me, but you want to warn off every other guy that I'm not available. What the hell is it that you want?"

He opened his mouth and then closed it again. "I honestly don't know, Isla."

"Well, then come find me when you do. You know where I live." I stomped off the ice and nearly slipped, which would've been the highlight of my day.

"Isla, wait!" I heard Ace skate up behind me.

"Fuck off, Ace, I'm not in the mood right now."

I heard him come to a sharp stop just as I made it off the ice and onto solid ground, then took off as fast as I could and didn't stop until I was out of the building. I walked to the nearest bus stop and dug out change from my bag to get home, or Ace's place, since it hasn't felt like home since I moved in. I thought it was because it was a new place and it happened to suddenly, but the truth is it's because I don't feel welcomed.

What is it that Ace wants from me? He is attracted to me, but not enough to date me, but doesn't want me to date anyone else. I had never been so turned around in my life, and I had barely got any dance practice in for the day because of this.

"Ugh, screw this man-baby!" I stormed away from the bus station and ran the whole way home, which wasn't as far as I thought it would be. The run was good for my adrenaline, but man was I winded after that. I always prided being in good shape, but I clearly wasn't in the greatest shape.

I grabbed my gym bag from the closet and off I was again. I needed somewhere to blow off steam where I knew Ace wouldn't find me. There was a place I used to go to when I was in high school, an old building that shut down, I don't know what used to be there.

I hoped it was still there and wasn't torn down. Once I turned the corner of the street, I cheered inside to see it was still standing and didn't look much different than 3 years ago, except more graffiti. I used the same entrance from the back window that I did years ago and dropped down into the basement.

The room was one wide concrete room with four pillars, two on either side. It was perfect for practicing dance, but nothing too severe due to the floor. I used to bring a small dance mat, but that was long and gone with most of the stuff at my apartment, other than my clothes and personal belongings.

I put on my headphones and played my dance mix, then got lost in the music and allowed my body to flow freely as it saw fit. It was times like this that I really felt my creativity flow and I tried to come up with new moves and choreograph, for the day I hopefully owned my own studio.

I had thought of using this old place if it were still standing by the time I was ready. It held a lot of meaning for me, for just some old, abandoned building. But most of my life has been spent in mostly abandoned places, my childhood home was a pigsty after my mother passed, and my apartment pretty much was a condemned garage with cheap rent.

Like me, everywhere I went I was abandoned eventually. First my mother, then my father, and now Ace. It was a bit dramatic to say that, but it was how I felt. I could've gotten him back for all the shit he pulled in the past, but I decided to move on and forget it all, but for what?

Well, not anymore. I needed to focus on what was important to me, and that was getting my career on track to achieve my goals.

I must've spent a few hours there, when I looked outside it was dark and only the single street lamp outside lit the darkened room. I gathered my bag and made sure I didn't leave anything behind before I climbed back up to the window.

As I tried to climb out on my stomach, I accidentally kicked the window and it closed shut on my ass. I was stuck.

"Ah, shit." I groaned and tried to pry myself out, but for some reason the window wouldn't budge anymore and I was wedged between. If I called for help, I would alert someone that I was crawling around in an abandoned building.

"For fuck sake, why does this have to happen to me?" I muttered and flopped onto the ground.

I tried to slide back down into the room and pushed the window with my ass, but it still wouldn't budge. I pushed as hard as I could and heard a pop before I fell hard on my back. I heard a loud slam and though I knocked something over, but looked up to see the window had closed shut.

I rushed up and tried to open it, but again it wouldn't budge.

Now, I was trapped inside. Everything else was boarded up, this was the only window that had a loose enough board that I was able to pry it off and open the window years ago. But I never expected it to close like that and get jammed. How else was I supposed to get out?

There was no choice now, it was getting too dark and cold, and I needed to alert someone. I banged on the window and tried to scream, but the window pane was too thick, I could feel my voice as it bounced back at me.

Just as I was about to give up, I saw a shadow pass by the window, then a pair of legs.

"Isla, is that you?" It was Ace! I didn't think I would be this happy to see him.

"The window is stuck; I can't get out!" I yelled and gestured to the jammed lock on the bottom.

"Move back," he said and waved me back.

I stepped all the way back and watched as he lifted his leg and kicked the window until the glass smashed, then used his jacket to clear away all the broken glass and flipped the latch.

"Isla, come here." He held out his hand and hoisted me out of the window.

I took in a deep breath of fresh air. I thought I was going to be stuck in there until morning when someone had hopefully walked by and heard me.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"I had a hunch when you weren't answering your phone, but I saw you came home to grab your gym bag."

He knew where I kept my gym bag, seriously?

"But, how did you know I would be here, or where here even was? Did you follow me?"

"Do you seriously not remember?" He frowned.

"Not remember what?"

"Isla, this is where we first met."