Love of Ice

CHAPTER 1 : MEETING ALEXANDRO...... AGAIN

Deep breath. Loose stance. Lift your rifle. Aim. Shoot. Alexandro's words echoed in Adelaide's head again and again as she stood in a shooting cubical with her beloved rifle, mentally trudging down her memory lane as she did so often. Even though three years had gone by. Adelaide could still remember everything that occurred as if it was yesterday.

If she closed her eyes she could still feel the tears sliding down her eyes, the salty tears splashing on the paper and the water scattering across it, the pain that could never seem to leave her chest. The stares her neighbours had given her as she walked down the street, the tears shed after that in the privacy of her room. The crinkle of paper as she pulled it out from her mother's jewellery box and the feeling of someone clutching her heart and squeezing it. The letter still lay in the box beside her bed.

Just then, voices broke through her world. Snapping open her tear lined eyes, she saw that it was only the University of Norway (UNW) Winter Biathlon Team entering the shooting-range to train. She usually tried to avoid them, but it seemed that she had lost count of the time today. Hoping that they would ignore her, she lifted a hand to wipe her eyes before bending down to pack up the gear shattered at her feet. Just then, someone tapped her on her shoulder. Sighing, she stopped packing, stood up and turned around, only to be met with a pair of familiar bronze eyes, topped with a mop of shaggy brown hair that framed his face.

"Jackson?" that was all she got out before she was folded into a tight hug.

"Dee, it's you! Where did you go? Did you know how worried we were when coach said you had disappeared? Coach looked all over for you! " Jackson hurriedly said all that in one breath after keeping those words in for 3 years.

"Wait, one question at a time," Adelaide muttered into his shirt.

" Sorry, I missed you, best friend." He let go of her but still held on to her as if afraid that if he let go she would disappear again.

" I missed you too, Jackie boy," she said, giving him a bittersweet smile.

" I forgot to tell you the good news, Coach is coming to be the coach for the team and I heard he wants to form a girls team.

Three words, four syllables. That was all it took to shock Adelaide out after her reunion mode. Her Coach's face when she told him she wanted to leave flashed before her eyes, what she didn't tell him was that she was never going back. Pushing the memory and her best friend away, she hurriedly packed up her gear. Just as she turned to leave, she hit a wall, or rather a man.

Alexandro Morque had always been a burly man even during his racing days. Standing at 6'8, he towered over most of his students, especially Adelaide, as she was the only female student he had taken." 16, is that you?" He asked looking down.

"C...coach," she said, meekly." I missed you, dear, would you mind joining me for some tea just like old times?" he asked hopefully for he had a mission, something he had wanted to do since he was informed that she studied there.

Adelaide, on the other hand, needed this closure to truly let go of the regret she had caused when she left, for she felt like she had disappointed her coach and didn't think he would want to talk to her. Now that she had a chance she wanted to take it, so she nodded her head hesitantly." Great dear, I'll meet you at the main gate at 4 o'clock, okay ?" he told her. Finally, finding her voice, she said yes and briskly walked out of the target range to prepare herself for a talk that she had no idea what to say.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her dorm. She examined herself while playing out all the scenarios that could happen in her head. In the mirror, stood a girl in her favourite coat and scarf, she looked happy and at ease, but if you watched closely, you would see that this was a girl who had lost happiness and all her self-confidence, a girl who was hollow inside, a girl who wanted closure in her life for everything that had loose ends.