Breaking Through

Chapter 4 - That went well…Not!

Janelle’s P.O.V.

Here I thought I could have a good first day at school. I suppose I was wrong.

When I saw who Bexley was, I put two and two together.

The Bex from the ice rink is Bexley. Great. I’m seated next to the guy I chewed up.

It’s my own fault. I can’t really blame him for not being nice or polite with the way I treated him.

Still, it sucks.

I want to apologize to him, but he seems dead set on not talking to me at all.

The way his furious eyes looked at me, made my apology stick to the back of my throat and look forward in class, keeping my mouth shut.

I try to pay attention, but I find myself sneaking a peak at him a few times.

Every time our eyes meet, he rolls his eyes and ignores me.

What could I do to make him talk to me? Maybe I should ask uncle Henley what he thinks about it.

At the end of the day, I’m exhausted.

“Hi, Jan. How was your first day at school?” Uncle Henley asks as I drop my bookbag in his office and throw my tired ass in the chair in front of his desk.

“It went fine,” I answer, shrugging my shoulders.

He looks up from his papers with a c****d eyebrow.

“What?” I ask nonchalantly.

“You know, a woman saying she’s fine is the universal language of meaning the complete opposite. Especially if she sighs that much while saying it,” he says, pointing towards me.

“Whatever,” I roll my eyes. “ Can I get some time on the ice? Please?” I ask, giving him my best puppy dog eyes.

“Sure. Seems as if you need to clear your head,”

“Yeah. Being on the ice frees my mind and gives me a better perspective on things.”

“I can understand that. It’s alright with me. But could you wait fifteen minutes before stepping on the ice?” He asks, looking at the clock that’s hanging over his door.

“Why?”

“Bex will be here soon to start his shift, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but he was right that you shouldn’t be on the ice alone. An accident can happen quickly and every second counts to get someone treated if one does occur.”

I take in and let out a deep breath.

“I know. After I left the arena, mom said something similar. It made me realize how dangerous it could have been.”

“You agreed so easily? Are you feeling alright? Are you really my niece?”

“Oh, haha! Very funny, uncle Henley,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I’m going to get ready and wait on the bleachers,”

Leaving his office, I hear him chuckle and mumble something, but I ignore him.

I strap on my skates and wait patiently.

Thankfully, not even five minutes after I’m done tying my skates, Bexley walks in with his skates hanging off his shoulder.

The last time I saw him here, I didn’t quite pay attention to how he looked. To be honest, he looks good. Really good. His brown hair kept a little short on the sides, but long enough on top to be styled.

Shaking my wayward thoughts, I keep watching him. He doesn’t seem to have noticed me and for some inexplicable reason, I don't want him to see me just yet.

He readies himself and steps on the freshly cleaned ice.

There is no better feeling than stepping on fresh ice, closing your eyes, and letting your body take over.

I watch him go around the rink a few times. To my surprise, he’s quite the skater. I mean, he’d have to be if he’s a junior coach, but still.

What surprises me most is when he leaped and jumps perfectly, landing with perfect scores every time.

He has professional-level talent!

Wow… He really is good!

He finishes his twirl and our eyes lock as he’s done spinning.

“What are you doing here?” He asks angrily.

“My uncle gave me permission to be here. You were really good, by the way,” I answer softly.

Maybe if I keep being nice, he’ll be nice in return?

“Whatever. Don’t bump into me and we won’t have a problem.” He snickers before gliding off further away from me.

“Wait!” I shout, stepping on the ice.

I notice him huff before turning to face me.

“What?” He says sternly.

“Look, I know I was quite the b***h to you the other day, I really am sorry about that. I have a lot on my mind and with moving here,” I exhale. “ I know it’s no excuse, but it kind of explains a little bit of my behavior. It’s not really how I wanted to meet people, and I didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side.”

He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

“What I mean to say is, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you the way I did. Can we please start this all over?”

“So what do you want? Us to be friends?” He asks, a little too aggressively if you ask me.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt, would it? Since we’re going to run into each other here and at school,” I say, trying to give him a good reason.

“I don’t think we can be friends. I’ll just pretend your another stranger. I won’t get in your way, and you won’t get in mine. Does that work for you, because it sure will work for me!” He says, making my shoulders deflate.

“Ok. If that’s what you want.” I answer in barely a whisper, lowering my eyes and skating away from him.

I glide and try to clear my mind, but it isn't working. My past is filling my head and clouding my thoughts.

“You know, I’m the only one who can deal with you, right?”

Was he?

“I’m the only one that understands you, and I’m the only one that can make everything right for you,”

Is he?

“There’s no way anyone would want to be around you apart from me! With an attitude like that, what did you expect?”

What was I even thinking? That an apology would fix all this? Yeah right. I am a screw-up. Maybe he was right...

I’ll never have anyone on my side.

Tears cloud my eyes and I lose my focus, hitting the side rink with full force.

“Janelle!!!” I hear Uncle Henley scream before a pair of arms try and help me to sit up.

“What the hell were you doing over here?” A furious but worried-looking Bexley says.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t in your way anyway. Why would you worry about this,” I answer blankly, as Bexley blinks his eyes, looking stunned by my response.

“What the hell happened?” Uncle Henly asks as he reaches us on the ice.

“I’m fine, I just lost focus for a second.”

“That was not fine! I was watching! You weren’t just out of concentration. You were in trans. Something happened. I know it, I know you, and I know what happened last…”

“Nothing happened!” I scream, looking up at him with terrified eyes, my heart thundering hard against my chest.

No one needs to know what happened last year! Especially not Bexley!

I try pushing myself up from the ice, but a shooting pain in my left forearm stops me from doing so.

“s**t! Let me look at your arm,” Uncle Henley says, lifting my sleeve. Or at least trying to, but I only yelp in pain again.

“I’m calling your mother and having her meet us at the hospital. You need to get that check out, now,”

“I’m fine. It’s probably just bruised.”

“I’m not taking any chances! It’s a good thing I asked you to wait for Bexley before getting on the ice. And if I hadn’t come out to check on you, you would have been alone on the ice when you got hurt,”

“I wouldn’t have gotten distracted if I were alone on the ice,” I mumble, looking away.

“What was that?” Uncle Henley asked.

“Nothing. Fine. I’ll go. But I’ll give you a big fat I told you so when they say it’s only a minor bruise.”

With his help, we make our way out of the rink, followed by a very silent Bexley.

Why isn't he saying anything? He should be gloating by now, but he isn’t. He’s got an unsettling look in his eyes that is making me uncomfortable.

But why?