Trailing Stars (Trailing Stars #1)

Chapter 5

Nathan rolls his eyes before focusing on tying up his skates. Out of habit, I end up tying the skates for him. I should probably make him learn how to do it himself, but it's instinct since I would always lose in rock-paper-scissor matches with Morgan to see who would help Kate tie her skates when she was starting to learn.

"Thanks," he says.

"No problem." I help Nathan to his feet. "You ready?"

He offers me a grim smile. "Not really."

Clara smirks at the uncertainty in his voice. "Have fun!"

I press my lips into a thin line, but a giggle still escapes me. Nathan gives me an exasperated look, so I cough to try and cover it up, offering him a smile. "You'll be fine. And I'm sure you'll have fun." I step onto the ice first. Nathan keeps one hand on the wall and uses the other to grasp my arm. "This is kind of the same thing as riding a bike: if you fall down, you get back up and try again."

He nods, staring at the ground. "Makes sense, but it's not what I want to hear."

I pat his arm. "You'll be fine."

I let Nathan hold onto my arm while we skate—or shuffle. It takes us at least ten minutes to reach the halfway point of the rink. As far as first times go, this actually isn't too bad. I was probably slower my first time skating. If I wasn't slow, I was falling down all the time, trying to prove to Morgan I can go faster than he can.

"How are you doing?" I ask as a little kid skates past us.

"I'm doing better than I thought I would," Nathan chokes out.

"It's better if you relax, and—you know—" I lift my hand up as I inhale and let it drop with a flourish as I exhale "—breathe."

Nathan side-eyes me. "Thanks. I should've thought of that."

The corner of my mouth turns up. There are definitely lots of sides to Nathan, and each one is more interesting than the last. "You're welcome."

We continue to skate—or shuffle—in silence. The most I have to do is stay upright, give Nathan something to hold onto, give him encouraging smiles, and give the occasional advice on foot placements and movements. We eventually near our starting point, and Clara sits up when we get closer.

"Finally," she groans, rubbing her eyes. "I was starting to think you would never finish."

Nathan slumps down on the bench with a sigh, his entire body relaxing. "Was it good entertainment?"

Clara shrugs. "It was at first, but then it got boring and sad to see you struggle so much. I thought you would at least fall. Ten times minimum."

He gestures to me. "Then, why didn't you ask Mona to push me over?"

Clara scoffs. "Do you really think she would do something like that?"

"That's actually how I learned to skate," I say.

If Morgan and I didn't fall on accident trying to beat each other in races, we would push each other over when things got too boring.

Nathan gives me a choked laugh, his eyes widening. "You won't... do that to me, right?"

Do I still give off that impression? And am I really still that mean? "I won't." Nathan exhales, pulling his shoes on. His skates are abandoned next to him. Perfect change of subject. "Don't you want to try one more round?"

He points at me. "We never actually specified how long I would have to try. But I did, so now you have to write a poem."

That's technically the deal, but... "Let me skate a few rounds first." I need to get some energy out before I sit down and write that poem. I know I'll need it.