The Quarterback's Girl

Fear

The week after mine and Sam's breakup was spring break. Perfect.

I decided to go to my local pond to ice skate on it. Ice skating there always seemed to help take my mind off of life. It was just me and the ice, which was sometimes all I ever needed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Locke who was sitting on a bench nearby, he seemed to be tying some shoes on.

He then headed into the ice and I realized those shoes that he was tying on were ice skates. He skated over to me and gave a small smile. "Hey."

"Hi." I murmured, clearly not wanting to talk to him. I was angry at Locke too, in a sense. If he hadn't of flirted with me in the first place we wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here skating at this old pond trying to blow off some steam. I wouldn't have lied to Samson about me and Locke. The three of us wouldn't be in this mess with the videos and who-liked-who.

"I heard about the whole fiasco with you and Samson the other day."

"Yeah," I sighed and began skating around the rink, "he spied on me and you, you know."

Locke nodded. "The entire school knows."

"Oh great, what else do they know?"

Locke shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not exactly considered to be in the school yet. I guess I'm too new for everyone."

I glanced over at him, just then realizing how alone he was. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..."

"Eh, it's been like this my entire life. You get used to it after a while." Locke shrugged again and looked over at me. "What are you scared of?" He suddenly asked.

"What?"

"What are you afraid of?" He repeated.

"Why are you asking me this?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't know, I'm just trying to make conversation I guess. Am I doing alright?"

I shook my head. "I can't talk to you right now."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm supposed to be angry at you."

Locke laughed. "You're funny."

All of the sudden, within a split second, everything turned from laughs and banter to screams and gasps for air as the ice beneath my skates gave away and I plunged into the ice cold water beneath.

The entire world seemed to become a blur as my thrashing and clawing for the surface slowed and everything faded to black.

* * *

"Do you want to know why I left you daddy?" My mom asked one night on our townhouse roof as we sat together underneath the stars. I looked over to her and narrowed my eyes.

"Why?" I finally asked.

"Because he wasn't the same person I met all those years ago," Mom's melancholy expression seemed to be reminiscing the past memories, "No, he wasn't the same person from before. Where I once saw his undying love for me, was a hollow shell that had no emotions toward the world. Your daddy was once a sweet and kind person, but fate took hold of him and squashed that man until there was nothing left of the man I once loved. And that's why I left him, Bear, because whenever I looked into his eyes, I didn't recognize him anymore."

Tears threatened to spill over onto my mother's cheeks, but she wouldn't let them. I knew she needed to be strong for her young daughter, because if she wasn't strong, than who would be?

* * *

The bitter cold air filled my lungs and the world returned to me. I looked around at the trees overhanging above me. I then noticed the boy looking down at me, his eyes brimming with tears. "G-Gwen? I t-thought you were dead. Y-you weren't responsive." Locke croaked through tears.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

"You fell into the ice, and I took you out and—and I had to resuscitate you."

I must've looked scared out of my mind, because the next thing that Locke said was, "Don't be afraid, you're alive. That's all that matters."

I nodded, and Locke took his windbreaker jacket off of him and placed it over my shoulders, and soon warmth filled every essence of me. I was too shocked to even comprehend the fact that I was as cold as an ice cube.

I stood up and sat down on a nearby bench. Locke sat down next to me, and we just sat there in silence for the longest time. I decided to break the silence, however.

"I'm scared of being hurt again." I muttered.

Locke looked over at me, seeming to be confused. "Why?"

I shook my head. "I'll tell you another time."

He looked back to the frozen pond of death. "I'm scared of being a coward."

I nodded. "I respect that."

"Hey," Locke turned to me, "let's go get something to eat; take this whole thing off of our minds."

"That would be awesome." I put my shoes on. Locke did the same and we headed for his car.