NED
The best things come during Christmas time.
The food was better, the clothes were comfier, and there were more excuses to stay inside. All the lights and colors and decorations. This also included the outdoor ice-skating rink built in the middle of Champion Park. During the majority of the year, there was a huge stretch of land with trees surrounding it. A huge field that Ned and his friends used to visit to play games. It was where him, and Lena came to bounce ideas and sometimes, just talk. Right where Ned usually spread a picnic blanket was the middle of the rink. It was as long as it was wide with strings of light creating its own ceiling of starlight.
Ned continued both hiding and keeping The Gregor safe inside his backpack, feeling more and more like Luke Skywalker with Master Yoda walking through Dagobah. Sam took the yearbook out, placing it against the edge of the rink.
"Let's go through the index," he suggested, and immediately flipped to the H's and by every name, there was a corresponding number for every page a student's picture had been used. Sam's finger passed over Hall, Harris, and Hill, until he hovered over Hines and out of everyone on the page, he had the most pages where he showed up.
"I guess someone was Mr. Popular," Sam commented, eyeing The Gregor.
"Gregory Hines," Ned said.
As much as it made sense, it still surprised Ned. Thinking of Gregory Hines, the creator of The Gregor, as an actual person didn't quite link up. It was like running into a celebrity in public. Ned had a picture of him in his head and anything that went against that expectation felt wrong like water warping a picture.
Sam quickly started flipping back to the front, keeping his finger bookmarking the Gregory Hines's history.
First, it was his senior picture. Dressed in a black tuxedo like all the other boys, Gregory Hines had a bright white smile and cool dark brown skin with long tight black curls. He took a picture like he was in the middle of talking, like they just caught him in the moment, and he was about to burst out laughing. All the hair on Ned's body stood up.
Sam flipped back and forth, hunting for more pictures and more proof Gregory was even real. In every single picture, Gregory Hines was in the middle of greatness. It was an action shot of Gregory on the soccer field, kicking the holy hell out of the ball. Singing at the pep rally, running a charity marathon, handing out roses as cupid for Valentine's Day, and then, he was standing on a stage as prom king with a girl by his side.
Sam read the text beside it, "Vanessa."
Going back, Ned peered closer at the pictures all over again as he realized it. I never picture in every shot, near or far, that Gregor was there. Right beside him living a life greater in that one year than Ned had his entire life.
A small rumble rattled from one of the old sticky speakers. "Attention skaters, the Champion Park Ice Rink will be closing in an hour. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Thank you for visiting us and happy holidays."
"We gotta be quick," Sam said, and Ned nodded in agreement. Sam quickly shoved the yearbook back in the backpack and they walked the circle of the rink, looking for someone that resembled the girl in the picture.
Vanessa had glossy stick straight black hair and thin brown eyes. Ned was sure he'd be able to recognize her.
"I think that's her," Sam said, pointing at the concession stand placed right in front the rink. Ned tilted his head in confusion. This woman was tall in her boots with a shaved head and tons of piercings. She looked like the teen prom queen in the picture, but if she was shoved into a Hot Topic and rattled around, until she popped out Machine Gun Kelly music video ready.
Ned leaned closer to Sam. "Are you sure?"
"Her name tag says Vanessa."
"Good enough for me." Ned grinned and took Sam's hand. He dragged him up to the stand, where Vanessa didn't even look up from her Kindle.
"We're out of everything, but expired candy canes. We're also cash only."
"Um, that's okay." Ned was already sweating. "Is this you?" He asked, lifting the yearbook.
With one brow raising, Vanessa glanced at the page and suddenly life was slapped back into her. That look of surprise crumbled like paper and was ready to be chucked into the trash. "Yeah, maybe. Why? What do you want?"
"Well, we were hoping you could tell us about Gregory..." the more Ned explained, the angrier it seemed to make Vanessa. "You see, we've recently come into possession of The Gregor and we're not sure what to do with it..." To prove it, Sam let the gnome peek out of the backpack and it was like revealing a bag full of shit. The most disgusted look on her face made all of Ned's stomach acids curdle. His voice softened, not able to stop as much as he wished he could. "We were hoping if you knew where Gregory lived or if you had his um, number."
"Is this some kind of joke?" Vanessa asked.
"No?"
"Good. Cause it's not funny. Put that thing away," Vanessa hissed and sat her Kindle flat. She hopped up and reached up for the stand's grate. "I don't want anything to do with Gregory or that gnome or anything about my past. Once a year I come back to my hometown and I've been pretty happy with the fact no one I used to know recognizes me, so burn that yearbook and shove the gnome up your ass. Beat it, kids."
She yanked the grate down with a huge slam, making Ned and Sam jump. They glanced around awkwardly, catching the tension of everyone nearby. Sam's brow narrowed. He slammed his fist against the grate.
"Hey!" Sam snapped.
"Sam, be careful, your hand–"
"We didn't know it ended badly between you two. If you don't know where he is, you don't know! Just say so! You don't have to be an asshole about it."
The grate lifted again, Vanessa hanging off it. "I'm the asshole? You kids just come at me out of nowhere, digging up my past and I'm supposed to be cool about it?"
"We didn't know," Sam stressed again. Taking a second, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Listen, just tell us where Gregory is and we'll never bother you ever again."
"First of all, he goes by Greg, and I don't know where he is. It hasn't been my business since high school."
"You guys broke up?" Ned asked. He had only been invested in their relationship for an hour, but it still seemed to be a shame. They looked so happy and so sweet dancing in their prom king and queen crowns.
"We were dating in high school. Of course, we broke up."
She had no idea, but her words hit like a sharpened arrow through the heart. Ned said, "Just because you guys didn't last doesn't mean nobody can–"
She slammed the grate again.
"Ned." Sam sighed. "You're sweet, but this is not the time."
"Sorry. It's you know..." He swallowed, feeling a blush coming on. "Well, I took it personally."
Despite rolling his eyes, Sam seemed delighted enough to smile. "Let me do the talking." He knocked again. "Again. We'll stop bothering you as soon as you tell us something. Where did he used to live? It had to be around here, right? We can go from there."
"Anything" Ned piped up.
Vanessa appeared again, this time outside of the booth. She glared up at Ned, less amused than the mouse in a snake's mouth. "Do you know how to skate?"
"No," Ned said. Not that Ned didn't skate every year, but every year it was like the moment summer touched his skin he forgot everything he ever learned about skating. Ned firmly believed he held no muscle memory, which was a huge reason he didn't know how to throw a football or ride a bike.
For the first time, Vanessa smiled, and Ned really didn't like that. It inspired as much confidence as the whining sound in John's car every time he hits the breaks. "I'll tell you everything you want to know, but you have to do one hundred laps around the rink."
Ned's tongue tumbled down his throat and did a belly flop in his stomach acids. "B-but the rink is about to close."
She crossed her arms. "Then you better get started."
#
Ned wobbled like a new baby deer that was being forced to learn to walk the moment it was born. He held his hands out and he was gliding and somehow moving despite him not doing anything and his thoughts were spiraling faster than his heart was beating.
He made his third pass.
"Greg was right-handed," Vanessa said, snickering into her thermos of hot chocolate and Baileys with Sam glaring at her side, holding The Gregor firmly in his chest. Ned couldn't be sure who was holding who back.
Ned had already learned that Greg had an older brother and wore size twelve shoes.
Flailing, Ned tried to avoid cursing in front of the kids still skating circles around him and slipped, crashing right back into the ice. His knees were soaked, and his hands were numb at this point, he could drive an icicle through his palm and not feel it.
"Ned!" Sam called out. He was leaning over the side, pushing himself up "Just give up! We don't have to play her stupid games! We'll find Greg some other way!"
Ned crashed again and he had to take a second to catch his breath. He was somehow scolding hot and ice cold, the tips of his ears and nose frozen. A couple of kids whizzed by giggling at him. One of them making a life alert joke. The humiliation ran deeper than deep, his soul probably too embarrassed to be seen with him. And all in front of Sam too. He was probably regretting the kiss about now. One day, Ned would like to kiss Sam Hayes without doing something incredibly embarrassing immediately afterwards.
Shaking it off, Ned got back up, but his bones were still jittering. Every time he got up, the more he was afraid of falling again. Before he started, he rubbed the Gregor's head for good luck, begging to just make it through. He wasn't going to let that bit of magic go to waste.
He passed a few more times learning that Greg's favorite sport was soccer, his favorite food was pizza, and he's never ridden a roller coaster before.
Ned had a feeling he was only going to learn what they actually wanted to learn at one hundred. Or maybe, Vanessa still wouldn't tell them what they wanted to know. She never promised she would... but if she did plan on doing it, Ned still had to try. By now, Ned was one of the few people left. The music was gone. The crowds dispersed.
Greg had a bad memory and wrote on his arm when he needed to remember the really important things.
Greg never rode the bus home. Everyone offered a ride.
Greg's favorite drink was ironically mountain dew.
He was a sympathy crier, even for characters in movies.
"Whoa!" Ned yelped, tensing up as his heart slammed into his chest. He grabbed the side in time and managed to stay on his feet. Breathing out, Ned steadied himself and forced himself to let go. Moving barely an inch, a shot of pain crashed through his foot like a wrecking ball.
He fumbled and hit the ice harder than before.
"Ned!" Sam shouted. "Ned, are you okay?" He said in a way that made Ned feel like he didn't look okay. That he looked about as okay as he felt. Looking up, he watched Sam stumble across the ice on his sneakers, flying towards him. He slid to reach Ned's side, grabbing his arms to help him up. "I'm serious. We're leaving."
Ned shook his head. "I can do this. I can't quit now."
"But Ned, the rink closes in like five minutes and you've still got like eighty laps or something."
"Then, I'll keep going for five minutes."
Ned smiled, hopefully and Sam shook his head. He got up and placed Ned's hand on his shoulder. "Okay, but I'm not going anywhere. You have to do it with me."
Ned chuckled. "Stop talking so much about how we're gonna do it."
Gawking, Sam raised his fist like he was going to knock some sense into Ned, but he couldn't. Not with Ned already wincing with tears in his eyes. The pain trembling up his leg was about as bad as he felt. He was hoping it was just going to go away, but it didn't.
Not once in his life had Ned twisted his ankle.
But he imagined this was exactly how it felt.
They started to pass Vanessa again and Ned readied himself to hear something about Greg's dietary habits or something about a family pet, but Vanessa asked, "Why do you care about this so much? Sam told me you guys don't even go to my old high school and you didn't want your own team to trash that dumb gnome. So, what are you in it for?"
Ned stood up straighter, a small smile hanging off his lips. "I just do. To me, I want everything to matter. Every little thing because if it means something to me, I'll care about it. I like caring about stuff. It gives everything a life of its own and now, it might sound weird, but The Gregor is a friend of mine, and I can't let my little buddy down."
"So, it's not about kissing Greg's ass?"
Ned shook his head. "I just want to know the story behind it. Do you know the story?"
"No, I wasn't there..." Vanessa looked to the side with a huge sigh. "Greg and I dated throughout high school, but when it was time for college, he broke up with me because he knew he couldn't do the long distant thing."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm great..." She let out a small sigh, every hard edge softening to silk. "It's great that you can romanticize this stuff but... sometimes, it's good to let other things go. If you carry too much, you'll never be able to go anywhere."
She shook her head and mutter. "Can't believe I'm doing this... Listen, I don't know where he lives now. From what I heard Greg's momma moved when her kids left home. She downsized, but I didn't keep up with where she went. I've changed but some things don't. I still help out my parents here and if Greg's momma is the same, she still mans the donation booth at the Church Christmas walk."
"Will you write down the address?" Sam asked.
And Vanessa did.
Ned proceeded to thank her far too many times to the point everyone seemed uncomfortable, and Sam had to drag him away. Taking the driver's wheel, Ned thought he'd feel more confident, but something in his chest still twinged like there was splinter at the bottom of his foot that he couldn't find.
Taking out his phone with a battery that was reaching dangerously low numbers, and plugged in the destination of the church. He checked the route, realizing what was along the way. "Hey, Sam," he said. "Do you mind if take a quick detour."
#
AUTHOR'S NOTE
We've broke through twenty chapters! Whoot! We're getting closer and closer to the end and we learned who The Gregor's creators name~ Gregory. Lol. Is anyone surprised? Be honest.
All comments are appreciated, printed, and put on my fridge like a grade A report card. Did anyone expect Ned to quit? If you were watching Ned struggle, like Sam, how would you have reacted? Do you think Vanessa was over the relationship as much as she claimed to be?
If you like this book, consider checking out my other books! They're completed, queer, and a lot of fun!