Him and Me.

Him and Me- Thirty One.

“Wow, you really have no coordination at all.”

I glared at Colby’s grinning face as he led me across the skating rink. I was holding on to his arms, with him skating backwards. Why did I even agree to this? I was a lousy skater.

Oh yeah, Colby bribed me with lunch at Burger King. And he called me a chicken. I knew it was really an old insult, but I couldn’t help myself. I was most definitely not a chicken.

Well, when it came to these kinds of things, anyway.

It was the day after our activity day, and now I found myself on skates, with Colby, in a skating rink. We were just supposed to go to the mall to cool off, since it was really hot out today. I thought a trip to the mall to do some window shopping and eat a huge bowl of chocolate sundae would help with the heat. I had never thought though, that I would be cooling off in a different kind of way.

The skating rink was big enough for it to not be too crowded. There were thick plastic panels surrounding the rink, and outside of the ice, people are milling about the mall. Some were watching the activities inside the rink, and unfortunately, that included me all wobbly on my skates. Briefly, my eyes gazed from beyond the panels, and I longed to be on the mall’s tiled floors again, wearing my chucks, instead of being on skates, standing on ice.

I turned back to Colby and gripped his arms tighter, making him wince slightly.

“Not too tight, Kayla. I’d like to have my arms intact.”

I would’ve punched him had I not been too hesitant to let go of one of his arms. I just continued glaring at him as we very slowly glided across the ice. A kid about 6 years old zoomed by, and I stared wistfully at her. I wished I had taken classes when I was younger.

“Slant your feet, and just drag them across the ice,” Colby said for about the hundredth time. I swore to the heavens, that was what I had been doing for the past hundred tries, too. Deciding to give it one more shot, I placed my skates in a slanted position against the slippery floor of ice, and with a deep breath, moved my right foot forward, picturing in my mind how figure skaters that I had enjoyed watching when I was little dug their skates into the ice. I managed to glide my right foot without flailing about, and Colby voiced out heartening words as I followed the movement with my left foot.

I repeated the action and to my surprise, I was still standing up. My eyes widened in delight as I looked up at Colby, and I beamed when I saw him smiling widely at me. I actually skated. Well, it was just a few glides, but still! They were a definite improvement from my futile attempts a while ago.

Colby gave one more encouraging nod, which I returned, and began to once again skate. We were nearing halfway the small rink, and I was beginning to feel confident as my concentration grew more and more with every movement of my skates.

“I think I got it,” I said, my brows furrowed in concentration. “Let go of one of my hands—“

Suddenly one of my foot slipped from under me, making it slide between Colby’s legs as I yelped. Colby gripped my arms firmly, but it was a tad too late as we both came crashing down the ice.

“Owww,” I moaned, rubbing my butt. I was wearing jeans made out of light denim, as I didn’t originally plan on skating, so I could feel a wet patch beginning to form through my jeans. I glanced at Colby, who was sprawled stomach down on the ice. His eyes were unfocused as he looked around the rink, as if he were in a daze. Apparently it wasn’t his plan to go skating, too. I could already see a wet spot forming on his shirt. I contemplated telling him but my butt becoming numb was the only thing I could care about right now.