Scars On Ice | Charlie Conway

s i x t e e n

[ a/n : two updates in one day bc i couldn't wait to post this one, + this chapter is 3400+ words. enjoy! ]

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"Connie, you leaning over my desk isn't going to help either of us," Aspen chided, elbowing the girl way from her desk. They had both been stuck on the same problem for nearly fifteen minutes, but neither of them wanted to raise their hand to ask for help.

Connie let out a frustrated sigh as she slumped back in her seat. "I don't have the energy for this," she grunted. Her eyes were dark with exhaustion, similar to the way Elle's had been all week. Joey's expressions hadn't been much different. It apparently had been a tiring week for Eden Hall's hockey players. Connie let out a heavy breath, "All of this school work, plus practice, plus dinner with the varsity team..."

Aspen furrowed her brows. "Dinner with the varsity team?" she asked, hoping that she didn't sound as though she were prying. Elle hadn't said anything about that, and neither had Joey. She thought the two teams hated each other.

Connie nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "Rick and Cole came over to our table at lunch yesterday to invite us to dinner tonight. Adam swears that it's cool, and I guess they're paying or whatever, so we agreed. I can't help but be a little on edge about it." Though she seemed hesitant, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Aspen could tell that she really was shooting for an end to their childish bickering.

"I see. Joey didn't say anything to me," she murmured thoughtfully. Connie just shrugged as though it were no big deal, so Aspen pushed it away from the forefront of her mind. She instead let out a gruff sigh and stood up from her chair. She picked her paper up and stepped away her desk. "I'm gonna go ask Mr. Penn to explain this. Do you want to come?"

Connie almost immediately shook her head. "No thanks. You can just explain it when you get back," she declined with an innocent smile.

Aspen rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile on her lips. "Lazy," she teased, giggling when Connie agreed with the insult.

Leaving her friend behind, Aspen made her way to the front of the room. She did her best to ignore the several pairs of eyes that glanced up from their work, watching as she approached their teacher's desk. She told herself that it was normal curiosity for people to look up when someone walked by. She swore that people always stared that long. It wasn't just her. It was easier to not get embarrassed that way.

She moved a tuft of her hair behind her ear as she nervously cleared her throat. "Mr. Penn?" she asked tentatively, grimacing when the man looked up from his grading. She held her paper out to him, her finger pressed against the question she needed assistance with. She frowned, "Connie and I keep getting a negative solution for this one. Can you explain where we're going wrong?"

Mr. Penn gave her a reassuring smile as he took her paper from her hands. He scanned her messy work for a moment, his silence giving her the opportunity to study his desk. This was only her second time being so close to it, and the first time she had been so nervous that she hadn't paid the least bit of attention to his decorations. For the most part, it was bland. There were some pictures of family members stuck to the wall above his computer -- quite a few of Jay and his mother. The desk itself was almost barren, save for the piles of papers and the cup of writing utensils. Aspen's breath hitched when her gaze fell onto the one decoration that didn't quite match. On the very corner of the desk, nearly hidden in the alcove of the curved wall, was a small picture frame. In it was a picture that Aspen hadn't seen in a long, long time.

It was her, standing between Jay and Elle, all three of them wearing the brightest smiles they could possibly muster. They were only about ten, but their faces were almost exactly the same. The only notable differences were Jay's height -- he hadn't yet hit the growth spurt that eight grade presented -- and Elle's braces. Other than that, it would be hard not to recognize them.