Inevitable (7 page)

“
I need a break. I’ll watch you from here,” I said. I was
expecting the whole ‘oh no, I’m not leaving you alone’ speech. Then
I would say ‘go ahead, I’ll be fine,’ and she’d say ‘well if you’re
really sure,’ and then she would reluctantly take off.

She didn’t
hesitate.

“
Great!” she beamed. “See you soon!” She was off before I could
reply.

God she was
good. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she glided over the ice,
whizzing past me so fast she was almost a blur. She even did his
spinning thing where her legs looked like they had turned to
ribbons, rippling as the speed blended them together.

I got knocked
into several times. Most muttered ‘sorry’ before speeding back off
but a couple cussed and looked at me like I had a penis sprouting
from my forehead. After the fifth time I guessed I was probably in
the way, so gripping onto the rim of the enclosure for dear life I
started to pull myself towards the exit steps. Seconds later…

The ice came
up to meet my face.

When I
realised it wasn’t going to do as I begged and open up and swallow
me I figured it was time to get up. Reaching blindly along the edge
of the enclosure in search of something to grab onto I wrapped my
fingers around… a hand?

“
That would have so got me the ten-thousand dollar prize on
AFV! Where’s a camera when you need one?”

Looking up at
the hand’s owner I rolled my eyes.

“
You are such a…” I couldn’t even think of a word bad enough to
describe Blaine right now.

“
God? Adonis?
Hero
?”

“
Arsehole. Let’s go with arsehole.” Laughing, he pulled me to
my feet. “What are you doing here?” I asked a little more acidly
than I’d intended.

“
Skating. Unlike you.”

“
Fuck off.”

“
You
fuck off.”

Here we
go.

“
Hey, Dora,”
Jason called as he glided effortlessly over to me. How in
hell were none of these people falling over? “Nice
trip?”

It was so easy to see why Blaine and Jason were friends.
They were both complete dickheads. Although Blaine was gorgeous so
it kind of made up for it.
Not that Jason was ugly. He had that whole surfer
look going on – dirty-blonde shaggy hair, cute
baby-face…

Before I had
chance to conjure up a quick witted and equally obnoxious reply,
Lori skidded to a halt in front of my face.

“
Oh my god are you okay?” she asked in an exaggerated panic.
My spectacular fall had been at least five minutes ago so she
clearly wasn’t
that
concerned. I expected she was too distracted with the guy
I’d just seen her skating with.

“
Sure. But I think I’m going to sit out for the rest of the
night. I’ll wait for you by that burger stand over there,” I said,
cocking my head towards Bill’s Burger Cart.

“
Wimp,” Blaine muttered.

“
What?” I snapped.

“
Oh come on, you’re scared of a little bit of ice. You’re such
a quitter!”

“
I am
not
a
quitter!”

“
Prove it.”

“
What?”

“
Prove
it. Skate with me.” I wanted to slap myself for even
considering this ridiculous idea. “Unless of course, you’re
quitting?”

“
Fine! I’ll skate with you.”

“
You will?”

“
Oh for fuck’s sake, man this could go on all night. Just
pull her out into the middle of the rink then she’s got no fucking
choice,” Jason interrupted, rolling his eyes. “Madam?” he then
asked in his best French accent, holding the crook of his arm out
for Lori. She giggled and took his arm before they sped off
together. Lori could do
so
much better…

“
Trust me?” Blaine asked, holding out his hand for me to
take.

“
No.”

He
laughed.

“
Well tough. ‘Cause I’m all you got right now, lish,” he teased
and then flashed me a wink so hot it could melt the ice beneath our
feet.

He started off slowly – just like Lori had done. But
instead of skirting around the edges he pulled me out into the
middle of the vast sheet of ice where there was nothing to hold on
to but
him
.
I wondered if he’d done that intentionally. I kind of hoped
so.

Letting go of my hand for just a fraction of a second
Blaine worked his way behind me and then snaked his arms around my
waist
.

“
Grab onto me,” he said and I gripped his hands which were
splayed firmly across my midsection with both of mine. “I’m going
to push you along. I’ve got you, lish. I won’t let you fall. Trust
me yet?”

“
No,” I replied flatly – even though for some bizarre reason, I
did.

Pressing his
body against mine I started gliding over the ice. Slowly at first,
but soon enough I was going almost as fast as everyone around me.
It felt… amazing. Like I was flying. I was moving so quickly the
breeze tossed the rogue escapees of my ponytail across my face and
I felt wonderfully dizzy as the scene around me morphed into a
colourful blur.

I could hear
my blades scratching at the ice as they glided smoothly over it.
For a brief moment I looked down at my feet and it almost looked as
if they knew what they were doing. Then, without warning, Blaine
yanked me around to face him and amazingly my body twirled
gracefully into his arms without so much as a stumble.

Blaine’s
fringe had been swept across his face, hiding one of his blazing
blue eyes. He had a slight pink tinge to his cheeks and nose and as
I grabbed his arms I noticed how his biceps stretched the thin
material of his tight-fitting t-shirt.

“
I know,” he said. I frowned, confused. “I’m hot
right?”

Playfully, but
also as hard as I could manage, I punched his arm.

“
Christ, you’re-”

“
Amazing?”

“
Full
of yourself.”

Just as we
were getting into the swing of one our playful little arguments
Lori and Jason approached.

“
Time to go,” Lori said. “They’re closing the rink in ten
minutes.”

Looking at my watch I was amazed to see I’d been skating
with Blaine for just over an hour. How the hell did that happen? It
felt like I’d only
just
stepped onto the ice.

Blaine led –
or dragged – me to the edge of the rink and held my hand as I
stepped off onto the red carpet. Then he held my hand as we walked
over to the counter, which actually proved to be pretty helpful
when I almost head-butted the same bloody bench as before. I swear
that bench had some kind of vendetta against me.

“
Guess I’ll see you in the morning?” Blaine said, almost
sorrowfully. After tugging my pumps back on I stood up to his
level.

“
Sure will. Thanks for tonight, Blaine. I had a great time.”
And then I did the most stupid thing of my life – I leaned over and
kissed him. Only on the cheek, and in a total ‘friends’ way, but it
was enough to make his entire body go rigid and pull away from
me.

Shit.

Should I
apologise? Smile? Pretend that whole weirdness never happened?

“
I, um, I gotta go,” he muttered so faintly I barely heard him.
“Come on, Jase,” he ordered. And then… he was gone. I felt like
shit.

What the
hell just happened?

Blaine

I
knew I shouldn’t have gone tonight. I knew I needed to
leave Maddie the fuck alone the minute I got an eyeful of her mom’s
bra and panties. I supposed I’d convinced myself I could do the
‘friends’ thing. The minute she kissed me however I knew
straightaway that was a fucking impossibility.

It wasn’t so much the kiss. I mean, it was only on the
cheek for crying out loud. It wasn’t how warm her lips were against
my ice-cold cheek. It wasn’t even how soft they were as they grazed
the stubble along my cheekbone. It was me. It was how I felt when
she was
that
close to me. And I don’t just mean the near-permanent hard
on I seem to have whenever I’m with her… I mean
inside.

My chest
hurt – ached like something deep inside was being pulled from my
body. My pulse quickened. For a while I genuinely worried I was
having a heart attack or something. I felt hot – even though I’d
just been skating around a room that must have been fifty degrees
tops. Worst of all – I didn’t want her to let go. It almost felt
like when she did she would take away some integral part of me with
her and I would never be able to function normally
again.

All in all –
it scared the living shit out of me.

I couldn’t do
it. I couldn’t put myself or Maddie through it. I’d never been
close to anyone before – I’d never allowed it. I wasn’t about to
start now. One or both of us would inevitably end up getting hurt.
Me? I probably deserved to, but Maddie… No. I wouldn’t let her get
hurt.

The decision
was made. I had to keep away from her before I either hurt her or
sent myself clinically insane. After reaching my bedroom and
flopping back onto my king-sized bed, I pulled my cell from my
jeans pocket and texted my distraction.

Hey Keeya
. U fancy meeting up? Blaine.

Maddie

I waited outside for Blaine for twenty-five minutes but he
never showed. I replayed the last conversation we’d had
at the ice rink and
realised he hadn’t actually said he’d pick me up again – I’d just
assumed. But then he’d never given me a reason to assume otherwise.
He didn’t seem to mind picking me up. He knew I was new to the area
so surely he would have assumed that I’d assume he would pick me up
again, otherwise he’d have told me what alternative arrangements to
make – such as which bus route to take.

Christ,
I was giving myself a headache.

Just when I’d told myself to stop obsessing over it a
realisation struck me like a bolt of lightning, causing me to throw
my hand ov
er
my suddenly flushed face. I’d scared him away. Now he probably
couldn’t bear to face me in case I pounced on him or something. As
much as I wanted to think ‘fuck him’, the thought made my
treacherous heart sink a little lower.

“
What are you still doing here?” My mu
m’s impatient voice startled me.
“There’s a young girl on the phone for you.” I ignored her question
and headed inside, resigning myself to a duvet day with crap movies
and ice cream.

“
Hello?” I said, picking up the corded receiver from the
splintered wooden shelf in the living room.

“
It’s Lori. Where are you? Your cell’s going straight to
voicemail.”

“
Hey, Lori. Sorry, transport trouble.”
I pulled my phone from my
pocket. The battery was flat. “And my phone died.”

“
I thought Blaine brought you to school?”

So did I.

“
Yeah, he couldn’t make it today. By the time I realised I
didn’t know which bus to take I’d have been late anyway. Don’t
worry I’ll figure something out for tomorrow.”

“
Gimme your address. I’ll come and get you now.” I appreciated
the gesture but wasn’t sure how I felt about Lori seeing where I
lived. Like everyone else in school, she came from money – and lots
of it.

“
No you won’t. You’ll be late if you do.”

“
Late shmate,” she said I could imagine her waving me off
with her hand. “Address?” Reluctantly, I gave in and after a good
five minutes waiting for her to find a pen, I reeled off my
address. I had only known Lori for a few days and I had already
learnt she was somebody it was impossible to say no to. I kind of
liked that about her.

When Lori pulled up in her
metallic azure Mini Cooper
I was sure I caught
a ‘duh’ look sweep across her face. I assumed this was the moment
she realised how ridiculous she had been assuming I was the same
breed as her at the phone shop. Still, by the time she looked at me
her sweet, un-judgemental smile was fixed firmly back in
place.

She asked me
what lessons I had today and after snatching my screwed up schedule
from my pocket and glancing over it, she said we had first, second
and fourth period together. I instantly relaxed in my chair. Until
I remembered I was also in Blaine’s history class today…

“
So,
did you sleep with him?” Lori asked. I almost choked on my
own spit.

“
What?
”

“
Blaine. Did you sleep with him?”

“
Of course I didn’t! What the hell kind of question is that?” I
snapped incredulously – a little more abrupt than I was aiming
for.

“
Sorry. I just thought- well that would explain why he
didn’t bring you to school today. That’s what he does. Screw ‘em
‘n’ lose ‘em and all that.” Said the girl who openly admitted she
would love nothing more than to ‘ride him till it burned like
sandpaper’.
Ouch.
I squeezed my legs together at the thought.