Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Eight

I looked towards him confused for a second as to where this came from, "who? Max? Yeah, like I said before he's like an older brother to me; looking out for me and he's always been there for me when I needed someone."

Eli nodded in response as we pulled in to our destination. I got out of the car to see a street sign that said "Roll-R-Way Skating Rink." I chuckled at the lame name before panic began to set in. I'd only skated two or three times my whole life. I was going to end up falling on my ass and embarrassing myself. I knew this was a bad idea.

I didn't say anything about it to Eli as we made our way into the building. As much as I was hating myself for agreeing to go on this date because of where we ended up, there was a part of me that really didn't want to disappoint Eli. So I sucked it up and tried my best to ignore those thoughts.

Inside there was loud music playing current popular songs, and most of the building was dark with black lights and colored lights shining on the rink. The only area that had normal lighting was where the food and skate rentals were.

We made our way to the rental area where they asked us for our shoe sizes and shoes before charging us for the rentals and the fee to skate. Eli got upset because I wouldn't let him pay for me, but I argued saying that I wasn't going to expect or let him pay for my things or activities we did while we were together in the same place. He sighed in frustration, but let me pay for my things and didn't bring it up again.

We made our way towards the rink and my anxious thoughts started to come around again. I tried my best to ignore them, but once Eli stepped down onto the rink, I hesitated.

"What's wrong?" He questioned.

"I-I don't really know how to, umm... how to skate. The only reason I made it over here is because of the wall," I explained, nervously looking down at my skates.

"Well, then I'll just have to teach you." Eli said. He was quite optimistic for someone who didn't know just how terrible my balance was. He held out his arms for me to grab onto as I stepped down. Oh, this is not good. I wasn't sure, but I think Eli could see the panic in my eyes, because he looked at me and spoke so calmly, "hey, it's okay. I gotcha."

I softly mumbled an "okay" and he took that as permission to start moving. I was still holding onto his arms for dear life, terrified of falling and getting hurt or humiliating myself. He skated backwards for a little while, probably so I could get used to the feeling of standing on wheels.

"It's kind of like walking... or running," he explained after another few minutes, "it just involves a little more strength to push yourself forward." He paused for a second, then made a joke, "or backwards in my case."

He continued skating around the rink in circles, when I finally got used to it, I asked him to explain further what he meant. "Well, look at the other people skating," he began. I did as I was told, "they just look like they're walking on wheels. It's the same motions, only more effort. Do you want to try?"

I observed the other skaters for another minute or so before nodding my head. Eli went further in to explaining the basics of skating and soon I was slowly walking on skates around the rink like a duck. After a couple minutes of doing it, I sighed and bit my lip looking at everyone else, probably younger than me, speeding around the rink. I shook my head to attempt to get rid of my frustration and continued moving.

However, Eli caught my moment of weakness, "what's wrong, Birdie?"

I shook my head again, "I just-I feel kind of stupid, that's all."

"Why? You're trying something new; you're learning and getting better at it already! No one is perfect at anything within the first couple tries." He stated, cheering me up a bit.