After the last bell rang out its solid clear tone all Nate’s classmates bounded out the building, off doing their normal agenda. With his backpack full of school books and his duffle for practice Nate hopped on his bike for the mile long ride to the ice rink.
Pulling into the bike racks he put the kickstand down before placing on the lock. Noticing he was thirty minutes early, he entered the rink without heading straight to the locker room. He found a seat in the front row, and let out a refreshed sigh. Watching the female ice skaters was never really interesting to him, but he was early, and would rather do this than review plays. Every girl took her turn leaping and twirling in the tiny leotards. All these girls where snobs, he knew. They were the girls that made themselves look perfect and thought they were too good for others. He half-heartedly focused on each girl’s spins and landings. They all seem too perfect, like complete robots, Nate thought bluntly. Then, suddenly, he heard the “thump!” on the ice. Snapping to attention he saw a teenage girl, around his age, with the longest dark hair he had ever seen. She had it pulled back into a ponytail that reached to her waist. Her bangs stopped right at her eyebrows allowing her bright (fake) pink eyes to show. She stood, beholding legs as long as her hair. She skated back to the end of the line, unaffected by her error. The other girls whispered and he heard one girl say, “Wayda’ go new girl.” Only, he barely heard her because his brain was softly whispering, “She isn’t perfect…..”
So the one day he wants to watch it’s time for him to get suited up. He heads to the locker room and puts his pads and practice jersey on as fast as possible. He practically ran to the gate opening to see the girls were still finishing up. He leaned against the gate craning his neck to see her. When his eyes finally spotted her he grinned to himself. She wasn’t like those girls. She wasn’t like anyone; she was one of a kind. The teacher dismissed them and they glided on the ice over to the gate. All the girls fixed their hair because of his presence. Unfortunately for them, he wasn’t paying attention to them or even caring about them. He focused on the girl, who was sitting in the middle of the rink removing her skates. Once the other girls had moved onto the showers he grabbed his stick and glided onto the ice.
She looked up when she heard him coming. Nate slowed to a stop in front of her and held out his hand to help her up. She took his hand then nodded in thanks and turned to go. “I’m Nate.” He said politely. She turned looking devastated. Surprised, he said, “I play on the hockey team here. You are a great skater. You’re new here right?” She smiled and nodded in agreement. “What’s your name?” He asked curiously. She got the same devastated look and looked at the ground. Taking a deep breath she looked right into his sand brown eyes and moved her hands in a slow steady motion.
Trying to hold back his shock he skated over to his backpack and grabbed a Sharpie. Coming back towards her, he held out the marker. Then, turning his hockey stick sideways showing her the bare wood, “Will you write it down for me?” Her devastation disappeared like lightning and she smiled so wide Nate thought her face might rip in two. Nate smiled too thinking she smiles lovingly. She took the cap off the marker and slowly wrote out the name ‘Tacy’. “Tacy.” He repeated lovingly. Still smiling she nodded her head many quick times. Her pink eyes shimmered with glee. She waved goodbye then grabbed her skates in a hurry. Once she was almost out of the gate Nate called, “Hey Tacy?” She turned her head slightly so he could see one eye. “I’m going to learn sign language so I can talk to you.” She waited a second then dropped her skates and ran back towards him. When she reached Nate, she gave him a huge hug. He held onto her until she pulled away. Waving again she exited to the showers as Nate’s teammates entered the rink.
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