Rink

chapter two | introductions

LEONA MONTGOMERY

I walk out the double doors of the ice rink and to my car.

Men and their egos. Instead of trying to make me feel inferior to them, I could have been helping them get better.

I don't know why I agreed to help them but I did. I'm not a speed skater, I'm a figure skater. I happen to be good at speeding and do it for fun.

I have a bunch of Olympic medals for figure skating in the times that I was there. I went to the last 3 Olympic Games, and now I'm retired.

I still skate and do small competitions it's mostly for fun. Of course, a lot of people, unless they are obsessed with figure skating, don't realize that I'm the Leona Montgomery who went to the Olympics.

Of course, people who are most into the sport like judges, coaches, and other people realize who I am at competitions.

That's why I don't do a lot. I wish there was a way to not get recognized for it. Once I get home I strip out of my clothes and pull my Dexcom off of my arm. Since I have to change it today anyway I can leave it off for a few minutes while I shower.

Once I get out of the shower I put on some comfortable pajamas. A pair of black and white pajama pants and a white crop top.

I hum to myself as I walk downstairs to my kitchen. I take out a new Dexcom. I inject the needle into my arm and then click the Dexcom itself into place.

It doesn't hurt at all, just a tiny pinch that I'm used to. I then pull out my growth hormone shot.

These don't hurt at all either. Since I was born so early I've been taking these my entire life.

I pinch the skin of my thigh and inject it in. I throw away all my garbage and head to my living room.

I'm 24, and all alone. It's truly kind of sad.

I don't have a pet, a friend, a boyfriend. I'm not just lonely, I'm alone. Maybe I'll get a pet.

I don't know what to do in my free time anymore. I retired from skating but what else is there to do? That was my entire personality.

When I was a kid that was all my dad ever let me do. I don't resent him for it, because a lot of good came out of it. I have more than enough money for a few lifetimes. If I don't want to then I won't have to work a day in my life.

At the same time, I never had many friends growing up. I was homeschooled because I had to be at the rink all the time. It sucks but unfortunately, it's the truth.

I'm the recent time since my skating retirement I do some stuff by myself because that's all I know how to do.

I read, write, draw, paint, watch tv. It's an endless cycle of doing pointless activities.

I'm going to get a pet or maybe two. A cat? A dog? A hedgehog?

I've always wanted a hedgehog but I was never allowed to get a pet.

I wish that I wasn't the way I was. It sucks. I'm mean to people all the time because I don't want them to hurt me first. I force myself to come off as confident even though I'm not. I wonder if people were close to me they would be able to see through my mask. Nobody ever had before. Even my dad thinks that I'm some confident girl, but I'm not.

Back to the pet idea, what about a parrot? No, parrot's tongues creep me out a lot.

Maybe a dog and a hedgehog. I think that you aren't supposed to get animals from those pet stores so I'll go to an animal shelter.