Scars On Ice | Charlie Conway

t w e n t y - f o u r

"You're jittery today," Roland observed at lunch, his brown eyes narrowed as he studied the girl across from him. He was right (as usual), Aspen was having a bit of trouble keeping her body still. Her mind was running rampant in a furious debate with its own thoughts. The jv-varsity showdown was all she could think about. She wanted to go so badly it made her chest ache, but there was a demanding half of her brain that insisted she wasn't ready. She wasn't sure what to do.

She crossed her right leg over her left, clasping her hands in an attempt to get her fingertips to stop drumming against the table. "Are you going to the game on Thursday?" she asked abruptly, her gaze focused intently on Roland.

The boy was a bit surprised by her question, forcing him to falter for a moment before nodding. "Yeah," he said simply as he nodded in Peter's direction. "We'll be there."

Aspen nodded, her lips drawn into a thin line. She then turned to Jay, who was watching her just as intently as Roland was. "You're going too, I assume?" she inquired. Her best friend just nodded, causing her to let out a hot breath.

When she didn't say anything, Roland raised an eyebrow. "What? That's it?" he asked curiously. Aspen nodded, and he shook his head as though to clear the foggy confusion from his brain. "Are you alright, Asp? You seem kinda out of it," he doted with a genuine expression of concern.

Aspen appreciated him caring, but she brushed his worries off easily. "Oh, I'm fine. Are you alright? I feel like you have more problems than me right now," she deflected with a gentle smile. Roland's face reddened in embarrassment, and Aspen silently congratulated herself on a crisis adverted.

Roland took a drink from his water bottle to collect himself before responding. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I just have to avoid Rick, which is surprisingly easy considering how little he cares about me," he admitted bitterly.

Aspen resisted the urge to pout as his words tugged at her heart. It was hard to see Roland talk like that. Knowing Rick Riley, everyone just wanted to assume that he was hated by most people, including his younger brother. But in moments like this, Aspen couldn't help but notice that Roland wasn't just a Riley. He was a young boy who needed an older brother. And the older brother that he did have hardly spared him a passing glance.

Aspen reached over and rubbed a comforting hand against the boy's forearm. "You're worth ten of him," she promised kindly. Roland's lips quirked into a sad smile, but he said nothing. Aspen patted his arm gently before dropping her hand into her lap.

She didn't know what else to say. Even when things between her and Caine got ragged, she knew in her heart that he would always be there for her. They had their differences, and they said things they didn't mean, but they undoubtedly loved one another. And Joey had never been anything but a model big brother. She couldn't wrap her head around Roland's relationship with Rick -- but by the same token, she wasn't sure that Roland could, either.

She couldn't imagine going to a hockey game and having zero desire to cheer on her brothers, or dreading family plans on the weekends because it meant she would have to spend time with them. All of a sudden, her heart yearned to be in one of Joey's old jerseys, her throat raw from cheering him and Caine on from the stands. At that moment, the ice didn't matter anymore. She just wanted to love her brothers the way they had loved and supported her for so long -- the way some people never got the chance to.

Fears be damned, she was going to that game.

--

Much to Delanie's surprise, Charlie actually had a reason to show up to their lab table during class. Aspen had called him over, deftly avoiding the intrigued smirk that her lab partner sent her way. An enormous grin spread onto Charlie's face as he practically bounced over to the seat beside the shorter girl. "What's up?" he asked as soon as he sat down.