Kiss My Ice

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2.

The familiar scent of ground up coffee beans and fresh pastries filled my nose as I stepped into the Coffee House for my weekly date with Lucy. It'd been a tradition since the seventh grade when our parents had decided that we were old enough to walk there on our own. It was a time for Lucy and I to talk about whatever we wanted without fear of my nosy parents, or her nosy siblings, eavesdropping.

And this week, I was in dire need of some coffee and Lucy therapy.

Five days had passed since the surprise news Mark had sprung on me earlier in the week. And for the moment nothing had changed about my daily routine. Every day this week I had still gotten up at 4:00AM, showered and left for the rink for my 5:00AM private ice. But Monday was now only one day away. And thanks to the lovely new sponsor that was insistent on giving it away to the hockey team, I was going to be moving my practice to 4:00PM.

Somehow Mark had convinced my mom to agree to an after-school time slot as long as I agreed to get to work on school as soon as I got home. Unlike Dad who would have been okay with the whole 'D's get degrees' thing; my mom wouldn't settled for my GPA being anything less than a 3.5. In other words, she was going to let me have an afternoon practice, but it was still school first, and my skating second.

I wanted more than anything to be petty: to hate the new sponsor with every ounce of my being. I mean it was because of him that my parents and coach had to agree to moving my private ice time to 4:00PM. But after I met the man yesterday, I knew it would be unfair for me to hold a grudge. Lance Gray was a genuinely nice guy. I could tell that he had the best intentions for both the hockey team and us figure skaters.

Mr. Gray explained to me that he wouldn't have pushed for the hockey team to have the 5:00AM slot if it hadn't been for their poor record last season. I guess he was enforcing the team to practice twice a day over the summer leading up to the start of their season. Even I couldn't argue against the fact that the hockey team was horrible and did need any extra ice time they could get. They sucked.

After a quick glance around the small coffee shop, I saw Lucy was already here. Tucked in the back in our usual corner where she had occupied herself in the black bean bag on the floor. A smile tugged the corners of my lips as I made my way over and fell into the purple bag next to her.

"I have to say I'm impressed," Lucy admitted, holding out her hand with the cup of coffee to took upon herself to order for me.

I arched my eyebrows, waiting for her to elaborate. She smirked as I took the iced caramel latte from her hands.

"You haven't called me once to rant about the changes happening at the rink." She grinned, holding herself back from a laugh. "Honestly I was expecting to get a phone call from you before you even left my driveway on Monday."

I lifted the coffee to my mouth, slowly taking a sip.

"I met the new sponsor." I said it as though that explained everything.

Lucy sat forward. All of her curls fell effortlessly over her shoulders. She narrowed her eyes, eying me skeptically as I sipped on my coffee. "You mean to tell me that your now okay with the hockey team taking your morning time slot? You hate them."

I couldn't hide the smile that fell on my face at her words. I did hate the hockey team. And I most certainly not okay with them taking my morning practice. But... Lance Gray was the generous new sponsor. I had to be respectful of him. It wouldn't have gotten me anywhere to pitch a fit and get thrown out of the rink.