BOREAS

I

At the age of five my eccentric mother signed me up for figure skating. That might have been the only good thing she ever did for me in life.

Living in a small town in the coldest part of Canada had positives and negatives. A negative was everyone knew everyone. There was one high school that everyone was at and anyone who was anyone skated. Yet I still seemed to be no one.

Positives were that at least we all shared the same interest. The ice. The cold. The rugged-up feeling at the cabin when we would all hang out after practice with the fire blazing and the bar maids chortling.

There was competition though too. Most people that were mad enough to choose a life here were here for one of two reasons. They were aiming for the Olympics, or a family member was.

In my case, it was my mother's dream that I went to the Olympics. It wasn't mine. She wanted to live vicariously through me. I ruined her chances of going when she fell pregnant far too early. Totally my fault. My father reminded me constantly of my need to redeem myself for ruining mothers' career. He still however pestered me to hand in my white heeled figure skates and check in for a pair of roughed up laced hockey blades.

He might have had a point. You would think despite the small nature of our population there would be at least one other male solo figure skater. But no. It was just me. And I certainly did pay for it.

There was a simple class system. 

The Gods of our school, the fittest boys around, they were the ice hockey players. Every male in this town fought for a position on that damn team. 

Then there were the Goddesses. Most girls did figure skating with the exception of those that were on the women's ice hockey team. But they were cool. If you were on the women's ice hockey team you were a cool girl. If you were a figure skater, you were a desired girl. 

Then there were the partner skaters. So of course, you may argue, 'Oliver! You are not the only male figure skater!' but I am. Because the male partner skaters were just as God like as the hockey players. They lifted the girls and they were strong. They were like princes in the eyes of teenage girls and menopausal mothers.

So that left me. The only male solo figure skater in our whole town. And my god did the stereotypes meet me from the mouths of imbeciles daily. But no matter how much I despised them...

The stereotypes weren't exactly wrong.