• I stepped bravely (sort of) out onto the ice, only wobbling slightly on the thin blades of my skates. I reached out and grabbed the wall to pull me in and get me going. It was harder than I originally expected. I couldn’t even keep my balance for five seconds, and my feet kept rolling in, making it even harder to balance.
    “Jessie, my feet keep rolling in! How do you do this?” I called to Jessica (aka Jessie), who was skating confidently in the middle of the rink. She smiled and skated easily over to where I hung for my life onto the wall.
    “Amber, your feet are supposed to roll in a little; it helps you keep your balance more easily. And then you use your weight and your arms to push you forward,” she explained, giving me a demonstration. She skated a few feet away and stopped to turn around and look at me. “Now you try,” she commanded.
    I fearfully let go of my trusty wall; the wall would never go anywhere, and would be there when I needed to hold on to it. I teetered unsteadily away from the wall. I stood very still on the ice.
    “You mean right now?” I asked Jessie. “Can’t I do this later…when I sort of have the hang of it?”
    Jessie shook her head. “You need to learn how to skate before I let you off on your own. Now just skate how I told you to over to me.”
    I took a deep breathe and moved my right foot forward slowly. It slid a bit from where I put it, and that scared me. Perhaps I should take it just a little bit more under me.
    “Faster, Amber!” Jessie called. I glanced up at her, and then back down at my wobbling feet. I pushed the left one forward and then the right one, moving my arms. I was sure I looked like an insane monkey trying to do ballet. I was going okay and was halfway to Jessie when I pushed my right foot a little too far and fell straight on my butt, get it all wet and cold. Jessie chuckled.
    “You promised you wouldn’t laugh if I fell!” I crossed my arms over my chest and gave her my best “I’m angry and pouty at the same time” look. Unfortunately, she didn’t fall for it and made me get up on my own.
    She tried to teach me for forever. After about 10 minutes, she gave up, claiming that I was “un-teach-able”. At least she helped me get to the wall first, but also laughing when I fell on my butt again.
    I have to admit I’m pretty suckish at skating. I knew at the time that Jessie had asked me that I didn’t roller skate very well, but I agreed to go ice skating with Jessie at the mall anyways. I had imagined that I would have some sense of balance, but I have no balance on the ice at all. So I had to push off the wall, glide over the ice for a few seconds, and then grab back on the wall to regain my balance, and then start the entire process over again.
    What was even worse is I had to watch all the people around me, doing just fine in their skates. They were skating around like nobody’s business, and not to mention all the figure skaters and their fancy shiny leotards and white skates doing twirls and crap. And then there’s me, holding onto the wall for dear life. I envied the hockey players their ability to let go of the wall and skate perfectly.
    “First time skating, am I right?” someone asked, sending me hurtling out of my thoughts and into the present. I glanced to my left and saw one of the hockey guys by my side, grinning and skating perfectly. He was about two inches taller than I was, with shaggy sandy blonde hair that fell slightly into his blue eyes. I guessed that he was in the eighth grade too.
    I brushed my hair behind my ear shyly. “It is, and I’m not very good,” I admitted. He chuckled softly.
    “Not many people do well on their first try. I’m Hayden,” he said, extending a hand.
    I smiled and switched hands on the wall to shake his hand. “I’m Amber, and if you ever see a girl who looks kind of like me, but taller and with brown eyes, that’s my sister, Jessie. Don’t mess with her, she’s very impatient and will literally bite your head off.”
    Hayden laughed and pushed his sandy hair out of his face. “Would you like some help skating?” he asked, nodding towards my hand solidly gripping the wall.
    I smiled. “I’d like that,” I answered. He motioned for me to come off the wall a little. I gently let go of the wall and teetered a few feet from it.
    Hayden came and stood beside me. “One thing you’ll need to remember is to keep your knees bent. That will make your life easier,” he told me. I bent my knees slightly and he nodded. “Now, march in place, take a few steps forward, and stop. That should send you gliding across the ice.” Feeling incredibly stupid, I marched in place 4 times, lifting the surprisingly heavy skates easily, and then taking four steps forward. I was suddenly gliding easily over the ice. I smiled with my success, until I saw the wall looming in front of me.
    “Hayden?” I called.
    “Keep going, Amber, you’re doing great!” he encouraged.
    “How do I stop?” I screeched about 5 seconds before I slammed into the wall and then slumped to the ground. I sat on the ice as he skated over and offered me a hand to help me up.
    “Other than falling, that was perfect,” Hayden congratulated me.
    I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. “But I ran into the wall,” I reminded him.
    He laughed. “To be honest, slamming into the wall is the easiest way to stop. You just have to learn to keep your balance when you do that.”
    “Oh, well that makes me feel better,” I commented. I took his hand pulled myself up. He dragged me from the wall and turned me to the other side of the ice rink.
    “Now, you’re going to glide one footed-ly. Just do what you did just a second ago, but while you’re gliding, lift up a foot.” He proceeded to demonstrate to me his perfect one foot glide.
    I rolled my eyes at his perfection and did as I was told. I gliding perfectly, and when I was sure I had my balance, I lifted up my right foot, put it down, and then my left. I didn’t have time to do anything else, as that I slammed into the wall right after I put down my left foot. I grabbed onto the wall, and thankfully didn’t fall this time. Hayden skated over.
    “That was great, Amber! Now, all you have to do is slide your feet forward each time you put them down,” he told me, demonstrating again. I did it perfectly again. I have to say I was very proud of myself. I smiled at Hayden.
    “Thanks for teaching me, Hayden,” I said as I skated away. A few seconds later, I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. The hand whirled me around, and I saw Hayden’s smiling face as the culprit.
    “You really think I’m going to let you go this easily?” I nodded hopefully, and he chuckled. “Well, you’re sadly mistaken, Amber. We’ve got to test out your new skating skills first. We’re going to skate around the rink.”
    I glanced around and realized how big the rink was. I gulped in fear.
    He read my thoughts instantly. “I’ll go slow and stay with you the entire time. Come on,” he encouraged as he skated away to start to go around the rink. I quickly followed him.
    “Keep your knees bent,” he reminded me. I bent my knees and kept skating. I kept my eyes in front of me, to make sure I didn’t run into any unfortunate victim of my clumsiness. “First turn coming up, Amber,” he told me. I was too caught up watching out for ‘pedestrians’ that I realized too late what he had said. I would’ve run into the wall if he didn’t grab onto my hand, which had been hanging loosely by my thigh and dragged me enough to make sure I didn’t run into the wall. I glanced at him apologetically.
    “Sorry ‘bout that, Hayden. I was watching out for ‘pedestrians’.”
    “No big deal, but if you’re ever ice skating on your own, make sure you’re both paying attention and watching for ‘pedestrians’,” he answered. We glided past the turn, but he didn’t let go of my hand. I didn’t actually mind, though.
    We skated around the rink for a while, just chatting. He was thirteen and would turn 14 in April, a month after me. I teased him about being a month younger than me, and he pouted and told me not to tell anyone. I laughed and agreed, as long as he didn’t tell anyone about my lack of balance and coordination. He agreed as well, although he mentioned that he didn’t think it was much of a secret. I whacked him over the head with my other hand. We skated and chatted until Jessie called me, and I had to go.
    Later, in Claire’s with Jessie and slumped on the ground while she contemplated between one pair of earrings over the other, she asked me, “Who was that guy you were skating with?”
    I suddenly looked up, but looked away, pretending to be very interested in the carpet. “Just one of the hockey guys deciding to be nice and teach me how to skate,” I lied. I was sure my face must’ve been beet red.
    “Didn’t seem like ‘just a hockey guy’. You were holding hands with him,” Jessie commented, looking at me over the pairs of earrings in her hands.
    “His name was Hayden, and he only held hands with me to keep me from running into the walls on the turns, okay Jessie?” I pushed my self to my feet and called over my shoulder, “If you need me, I will be on a bench outside.” I walked outside of Claire’s and into the busy mall, where I slid into a bench and my chin into my hand.
    I was there for a good 5 minutes in peace without any interruptions, until suddenly a loud, “BOO!” sounded from behind me. I squealed and jumped out of my skin. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting Jessie, but instead finding a very amused Hayden. I rolled my eyes.
    “Hayden!” I whined. He chuckled and came to sit on the bench next to me.
    “Sorry, Amber, I couldn’t resist,” he apologized, grinning at me. He didn’t sound very sorry to me.
    “So, was there a reason for you coming here besides trying to scare the crap out of me?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest and pouting.
    His smiled widened. “Actually, there is,” he admitted. “I had a really fun time tonight, and I’d like to get together again another time.” He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a folded piece of white scrap paper. I took it from him and held it carefully between my fingers. Hayden quickly reached over and gave me a quick hug before getting up and leaving me alone again.
    I sat there in utter and complete shock for at least one minute before I opened the paper. It had his home phone and cell phone number, address, email address, and AOL screen name written out in his neat handwriting. I folded it back exactly the way it was, and put it carefully into my back pocket.
    “Ready to go, Amber?” Jessie asked from behind me. She held a Claire’s bag in one hand and her car keys in the other. I nodded and got up to follow her to the car.
    As I went over the afternoon, I realized that what I thought was going to be a horrid day turned out to be one of the greatest days of my life. And that I was going to call Hayden as soon as I got home.