The curtain pulled back and the volunteer our age appeared pushing a wheelchair. Surprised to find me crying he said, “I’m here to bring you to x-ray. Do you need some time?”
“No thanks,” I said trying to avoid eye contact.
Adam assisted me into the wheelchair and then the volunteer released the lock and took me to x-ray. I was away long enough to have time to recompose myself before returning to Adam.
The curtain pulled back for a final time. It was Meadow. A blast of nerves hit as she smiled at me hesitantly, “Dalia, I have some good news. The radiologist didn’t see a fracture on your X-ray. I’ve spoken to your mother, and until you’re MRI is done, I don’t want you back on the ice.”
“We need to know the extent of your injury, so we know what we’re dealing with. You’re not going to be competing this year. I will manage your pain, and refer you to a well known sports doctor who deals with these kinds of injury all the time. You’ll need to use crutches until we have your M.R.I results so you won’t be weight bearing on the one leg. I’m sorry Dalia.” She handed me papers and said I was free to go after I dropped by the fracture clinic to pick up a pair of crutches.
I texted mom:
Dalia: No fracture. Not allowed 2 skate until after M.R.I
Mom: I know. How R U getting home? Do U want me 2 pick U up?
Dalia: No, Adam will take me.
Mom: Who’s Adam?
Dalia: A friend.
Mom: Better B. No boys while U R Skating! They’re a distraction.
Dalia: I’m not skating.
Mom: 4 now.
Mom was getting me more upset. I turned my phone off while Adam escorted me home from the hospital.
Later That Day
It was just after two when we pulled up into my driveway. We lived in a modest two storey house that had a desolate looking tree in the front yard. My father worked two jobs just so we could live here and pay for my skating.
Adam shifted his black mustang into park and turned her off, “Are you going to be okay?” he asked concerned. With a heavy heart I shrugged my shoulders, not even having the energy to respond.“Give me your phone,” he ordered. I reached down into my bag and passed it to him. He started typing onto the screen. “Call me if you need to talk. I texted myself, so I have your number too.”
Adam popped the trunk and removed the crutches from the back of his car handing them to me. I leaned into them clumsily and worked my way up the steep driveway. I was horrible at it. The few steps I did take already started hurting my armpits. Adam attempted to hold back his snicker at the sight of me using my crutches, but I heard it. Humiliated, tears were threatening to build in the corner of my eyes again, I reprimanded myself for my self-pitying attitude.
When I made it to the door, I leaned the crutches against it so I could start digging for my key. The top crutch began falling but Adam leaned over catching it. His body was really close to mine, and I lost my breath for a second. Our faces were merely a few inches apart and I saw him glance down at my lips and then back up into my eyes. I willed him to kiss me and he advanced forward as though he were going to, but he stopped.
My fingers felt the keys in my purse and I was tempted to feign not having found them yet to buy more time with him, I pulled them out and unlocked the door. He pushed the door open for me so I could make my way in with the crutches. I hobbled and swung to the couch and laid the crutches down on the carpet, before making myself comfortable on the couch.
Adam glanced around the living room, “Are we alone?”
“Yep, we are for now anyway. My parents don’t get back until after dinner time. Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Starving,” he admitted. “I’ll get take-out, while you rest. What do you want?”
“I don’t care. I’ll have whatever you’re in the mood for.”
“Okay, I’ll be back in a few.”
Thirty minutes rolled slowly by before Adam tapped lightly on the front door, “Come in!” I called out. He let himself in carrying two bags of McDonalds. My bag had a large fries, big mac, and a quarter pounder. “You can’t be serious, I must have some of your food,” I grinned. “You expect me to eat all this?”
“That food is all yours. I have the exact same in my bag. You told me to get you whatever I was in the mood for, and that’s what I’m eating. The drinks are still in the car, I’ll be right back.” He returned with two chocolate milkshakes.
I was taking up most of the chesterfield so Adam sat on the adjacent love seat. We ate every morsel of food and then started sipping our shakes staring passively at Ellen Degeneres on television, lost in our own thoughts.
He nervously started picking at imaginary lint on his jeans. “You were really working on a triple axel when you hurt yourself?” His eyes shone with admiration as he waited for my answer.
“Yes.”
“That’s so hot,” he commented quietly. I could feel the intensity of his eyes boring into me. A tingle of excitement coursed through my body.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked. His eyes intense, as he stared into mine.
“No, I don’t date,” I said casually.“My parents think dating is a distraction. Mom says there’s plenty of time for me to do that after I finish skating.”
“That’s too bad,” he said under his breath,“but you’re not skating right now are you? You’ll be off the ice for several weeks.”
“That’s true,” I confirmed.
His finger touched my chin, lifting my face to his, “So you’ve never had a boyfriend?”
“Never,” I admitted,fearing my answer would turn him off me.
“Never kissed?”
“Never,” I reassured.
His eyes locked onto mine and he started inching his face towards mine angling it perfectly for my first kiss when I slipped my question,“Do you have a girlfriend?” I ventured. He paused causing me suspicion.
“Truth?” he asked.
“Please.” Even though, I was dreading it now.
“I do, I don’t want to lie to you.”
My shoulder’s dropped in disappointment, the despair from the days events were accumulating and swallowing me, “Then you should probably leave, she’s going to be wondering where you are.”
The look of disappointment on his face spoke volumes, “Ya, you’re right. I better go.”
“Thanks for taking me to the hospital,” I said. He got up taking the empty bags with him and left my house. It was the closest I ever got to my first kiss, but no matter how badly I wanted it, I would never want it to be with someone else's boyfriend.
That Night
I must have fallen asleep in front of the television because I woke up to the six o’clock news and my mother bursting through the door. She flew past me on her way to the kitchen to start dinner for dad who would be home minute. “We’ll talk about what happened to you today when your father gets home so you don’t have to repeat everything. Are you hungry? Where’s that boy that took you to the hospital?”
“No, and I thought you were waiting for dad before we talked.” I half expected mom to come back with a sarcastic remark but she didn’t.
I picked up my cell phone and started texting Tara while I waited for dinner.
Dalia: U there?
Tara: Ya, R U ok?
Dalia: So far, I don’t have a fracture, but I still need an M.R.I 2 look 4 injury.
Tara: Does that mean U can’t skate?
Dalia: Ya, I might have torn or dislocated something.
Tara: So U can’t compete next month?
Dalia: No.
Tara: Sucks ass! Is Adam still with U?
Dalia: No he went home about an hour ago, We almost kissed.
Tara: Get the fXXX out! What happened? Tell me everything!
Dalia: He stayed with me @ the hospital & then he drove me home. We ate. He asked me if I had a boyfriend. I said no. He asked me if I was ever kissed. I said no. Then he looked like he was going 2 kiss me but like the stupid ass that I am I asked him if he had a girlfriend. He fessed up and said yes. So I told him he better leave. His girlfriend might B wondering where he is.
Tara: Oh Dalia, I’m so sorry.
Dalia: Not as sorry as I am. Part of me wishes I hadn’t asked him.
Tara: Better 2 know, than find out later.
Dalia: I guess. He was seriously impressed when I told him I was working on my triple axel. He said, ‘That’s so hot!’
Tara: O.M.G! Dead Romantic! You’re skating is amazing! Do U want me 2 come over 2Night?
Dalia: Sure, if U don’t mind listening 2 my parents bitch @ the dinner table!
Tara: Great, I'm on my way.
I called out to mom, “Tara’s coming over!”
“Sure,” mom called back. It was always fine.
Tara had her own spot at our dinner table, she was over that often. It was the only time I was able to spend with her outside of school hours, that my parents didn’t give me a hard time about.
Tara was a complete dick magnet at school. The guys were always falling all over themselves trying to get dates and bootie calls with her. It would have been sickening if she wasn’t my best friend. We usually laughed about how guys would make idiots of themselves for her. What mattered to me was that no matter how much attention she received from boys, she didn’t have the EGO that went along with being a dick magnet. Tara was very modest and sincere.
My parents liked her too for the most part. When she wasn’t here, they were always criticizing her interest in boys rather than doing something substantial with her life (With the exception of school).
She was my complete opposite, and I loved her for that. I lived vicariously through her adventures with boys that I was never allowed to have. With Tara, you were better off asking, who hadn’t she dated or kissed, because the list would have been shorter than asking her who she had.
I was still lying on the couch when dad came home letting Tara in. He pecked me on the forehead before making his way over to the dinner table. Tara had the decency my father didn’t to hand me my crutches before passing me and pulling out my chair for me, before taking her own. She never ceased to surprise me, that’s why she was my best friend.
Normally I helped my mother set the dinner table, but I was temporarily released from my duties. I was starting to find being injured did have some perks.
The other perk was the pain medicine dad picked up for me after dinner. Not only did it take the edge off of my pain but it was starting to make me see little green aliens that looked like Kazoo from the Flintstones all over my house. Tara told me not to mention the aliens to my mother or she would make me stop taking them, and they dulled the pain.
Mom served us before beginning the conversation, “Okay, tell us what happened.”
“You already know,” I snipped.
“Details,” dad insisted.
I rolled my eyes and started playing with the food on my dish. The McDonald’s spoiled my appetite, “It was the end of the session so I was tired. I shouldn’t have the triple axel but I did anyway. I threw my leg forward and felt a sharp pain on take-off. It hurt so bad I lost my breath. I used the boards to get off the ice and even managed to get to school. In homeroom my leg became harder to move. Adam, a guy who sits next to me caught me just before it gave out from under me. He insisted on taking me to the hospital.”
Mom said, “I know the nurse practitioner spoke to me, but tell your dad, what happened at the hospital.”
“They took x-rays to determine if I had fracture. I was cleared, but not of torn ligaments or dislocations. The nurse practitioner said I’ll need an M.R.I to clear me from any bone or joint problems. She said if I skate before the M.R.I, I risk the chance of worsening my injury and permanently ending my skating career.”
Mom gave dad a look, “You should tell Dalia what we decided.”
“What YOU’VE decided,” he corrected. “Why do you always leave me with the dirty work?”
Mom continued where dad didn’t want to go. She placed her elbows on the dinner table which in my household was a big no no and said, “Dalia, I’m sorry to be so harsh but you’re not getting any younger and you should already HAVE your triple axel. The girls in Europe are landing them at the ripe age of 14.”
“Your mother is right,” dad agreed. “Even if you hadn’t injured yourself today, you can’t hold a candle to those other girls. Skating as a single skater in your case has become a waste of time,” dad finished.
Wow there was no sparing feelings in this household.
Very obviously rehearsed, mom continued where he left off, “So we’ve decided, that you’re only hope of winning an Olympic medal is if you go into pairs skating.”
I was dumbfounded and angry at the cruel honesty of my parents. I hadn’t even began accepting the harsh reality that I was losing an entire skating season, and they had the audacity to tell me I’m not good enough to continue as a single skater injured or not, well that was just fucking great!
I slammed my fork down on the table and looked to Tara for support. She gave me an ‘I’ve got this wink,’ and said to my parents, “Dalia needs a partner if she’s going to skate in pairs. That can’t be an easy find.”
That was the best she could come up with?
Mom grinned, “As a matter of fact, that’s been taken care of.”
“How so?” I asked.
“I heard from one of the other mothers at the arena that Ryan Kennedy has been looking for a partner for months now, so I called his mother.”
“What happened to his last partner?” Tara injected.
Mom shot her an irritated look, “Rumour has it that she got a concussion after hitting her head against the ice during a death spiral or something. All I really know is the last partner he had quit. I’m not sure how much truth is in that story. You know how the mothers like to sit and gossip. They’ve got absolutely nothing better to do.”
Mom turned to me,”I’m not going to risk offending Mrs. Kennedy by asking her what really happened, it could ruin your chances of ever finding a partner.”
“Do I get to make any decisions regarding my own future?”
“Not when your mother and I are paying,” dad threatened.
Frustrated more than feeling sad or angry, I imagined knocking all the dishes off the table and throwing a tantrum, but like always, I restrained myself. My parents never once mentioned the idea of pair skating in the past, which led me to believe they were being very serious.