Celine
I glance over at my father, Léo and Camilo. They all insisted on staying to watch, though I don't know why. I'm just practicing. There isn't anything cool going on apart from me falling when I attempt a triple axel. I can do a double, I've been able to for a year, but I wanna go further than that.
Léo smiles at me. I look away.
"Press your ankles together, Celine." My coach tells me.
I skate toward the middle of the empty ice rink, then spin myself up in the air. I count two spins before I collapse onto the ice.
"Jesus!" I exclaim.
"Don't get frustrated. It's a hard move. But you can do it, you're advanced for your age. Get up and try again." Mariana yells.
I clench my fists as I stand up. Mariana sighs. "Come get water."
I glide over to her. She passes me my water, and I take it greedily, draining it until it's all gone. I love figure skating, but Jesus, it takes up a lot of my energy.
"Okay, get back out." Mariana says, clapping my shoulder. She gives me a gentle shove, and I skate back out to the middle of the ice. "We still have an hour left, Celine, use it!"
I sigh.
•
I pull my skates off, then slide the guards on before shoving them in my bag. I didn't get the triple axel. Shocker.
My dad and brothers walk down the bleachers and meet me at the bottom. I pull out my extra bottle of water and drink some, then start to walk out. My father and brothers follow me, staying behind me. I sign out at the front desk before we go out to the car.
I get into the back with Léo.
"Do you want food, Celine?" My father asks. It's his first time talking to me since we left. I don't wanna talk, though, so I just shake my head.
I really thought I'd get it. It's a hard move, but it's what I've been working towards for a year. Hours and hours of exhausting practise just to fail? Multiple times?
I frown.
I pull my phone out of my pocket when it dings with a text.
JOEY: [sent a video]
I furrow my eyebrows as I click on it. It's a video of me skating yesterday, when he was there with me. But it's just a compilation of me falling, paired with fart sounds.
I roll my eyes.
ME: [middle finger emoji]
JOEY: [laughing emoji]
ME: Your so annoying.
JOEY: You love it.
ME: [middle finger emoji x3]
ME: No I don't.
ME: Annoying you.
ME: Your annoying*.
Getting my words mixed up just puts me in a fouler mood, and I throw my phone into my bag on the floor. Léo glances at me. "Are you okay?"
That draws everyone in the cars attention. I don't understand why they're so bothered. Maybe it's an act before they do something they know I won't like, almost like evening out the scales.
"Mhm."
"Are you sure?" Camilo asks.
"I just said yes, didn't I?"
His eyebrows raise a little in surprise before he turns back around. Léo sends me a wary look but doesn't say anything else.
My eyes water as I sit back. I don't know why.
•
[YOU WERE ADDED TO FAMILY GROUPCHAT]
ME: Why did you add me too this?
SCARLETT: To*
I scowl.
ME: You have cankles🤩*
DIYA: HAHAHAHAH
SCARLETT: No I don't.
DIYA: You sort of do.
SCARLETT: what?!!??
ME: Shame you can't throw them out with that uni-boob dress. Get well soon. [love heart emoji]
NICOLAS: What's going on?
DIYA: The mother of your child just got roasted by a thirteen year old.
ME: #livelaughceline.
ME: [link—how to get rid of cankles?]
ME: Some tips and tricks their for ya xx
DIYA: [skull emoji x10]
MATEO: That's cold [laughing emoji]
Scarlett doesn't reply. Good. Now she knows what it's like to be humiliated, just like she did to my mother. My throat begins to ache, so I decide to go downstairs. My father is in the kitchen when I get there. He smiles at me as he chops vegetables.
"Hi, sweetheart." He says. "You okay?"
"Mhm." I mumble. "Is there any water?"
"Yeah." He says. He walks over to the fridge, discarding his vegetables, and grabs me a water out of it. He passes it to me.
"Thanks." I say.
"No problem." He replies. "You can stay here if you want. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
"Okay." I say, sitting on one of the stools. I pull my phone out of my pocket as I unscrew the lid, bringing it up to my lips. The cool liquid soothes my aching throat.
I have a message from my mother.
MUM: Tell your father to answer his phone!
I glance up at him, then back down. I ignore her message, though again I don't know why.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asks me. "You look a bit pale. We have medicine—"
"I'm good."
Julien walks in then, Léo trailing behind him. They both smile, but I return my gaze to my phone and scroll aimlessly through apps.
"Camilo went to Gracie's house." Léo tells our father, who nods.
Julien slaps his hands on the marble counter like it's one big drum. Léo slides into the spot beside me. "Can we eat here?" He asks. "The dining table is too big."
"Sure." My father replies.
He grabs plates from the cupboard and sets four out. I watch him, an emotion I can't name and don't recognise swirling through my chest.
My father begins to put food on each, sliding them over. He sits beside me, and Julien sits beside Léo.
They begin to talk as I keep my eyes on my phone. I decide to message Joey.
ME: Hiiiiiiiiii.
JOEY: Hey. [eggplant emoji]
ME: Ew.
JOEY: I meant this.
JOEY: [smiley face emoji]
ME: Oh.
JOEY: You wanna go somewhere tomorrow?
ME: Where?
JOEY: It's a surprise.
JOEY: Yes or no?
ME: I've got figure skating at three till six.
JOEY: We can go after?
ME: Okay.
"Celine?" My father says.
"Hm?" I hum, looking up at him.
"I asked if you'd want to go to France at Christmas time with us." He says. "We go every year. Sometimes in the summers, too."
My eyes widen in wonder. "France?"
His lips tilt up at the corners. "Yeah. We go to a small city called Bonifacio, Corsica. It's got a population of about three thousand, and they're all spread out. It's surrounded mostly by water, and we have a house at the top of one of the cliffs. Everyone in our family goes."
"Really?" I whisper.
"Yeah." He repeats. "Would you wanna come with us?"
I shrug. It sounds amazing, but my mother won't let me and do I really want to be alone in another country with these people, who my mother has claimed only care about the worst things?
His lips tilt downwards a little. "It's not for a while anyway. You can think."
I look away, eating some of my food. It's nice, but I'm not that hungry, so after a few more forkfuls I push it away and slide off the stool. "I'm going back to my room."
"You don't want any more?" My father questions.
"Nope."
I walk out of the room, then up the stairs. I play on my phone for a little bit before Joey messages.
JOEY: Wear something really warm and make sure you bring your skates.
ME: We're are we going?
JOEY: It's a SURPRISE.
ME: [rolling eyes emoji]
ME: Fine. Are we going after I finish figure skating?
JOEY: Yep. I'll meet you, and we can get the bus.
ME: Okay.
Am I supposed to tell my dad? He'll probably be the one picking me up, so he should know I'm not going to be there, right?
I click on his contact.
ME: I'm going somewhere with my friend skating figure after.
ME: After skating figure.
ME: After figure skating.
ADRIEN: Where?
ME: Idk.
ADRIEN: Okay. Who with, then?
ME: My new friend.
ADRIEN: What's their name?
ME: Why does it mater?
ADRIEN: Because I need to make sure you'll be okay.
ME: He's called Joey.
ADRIEN: How old is he?
ME: Fourty two.
ADRIEN: What??
ME: Jk.
ME: Lol.
ME: Hes thirteen like me.
ADRIEN: Oh. Okay. And you don't know where you're going?
ME: He said it's a suprises.
ADRIEN: How are you supposed to get there?
ME: Buss.
ME: Duh?
ADRIEN: Do you need money?
ME: Idk.
ADRIEN: I'll give you some tomorrow.
ADRIEN: But you need to tell me where you are at all times, okay?
ME: Why?
ADRIEN: Because I need to make sure you're safe.
ME: Fine.
ADRIEN: Will you need picking up?
ME: Idk.
ADRIEN: You don't know a lot about this, Celine.
ME: And? Joey is nice.
ADRIEN: How do you know him?
ME: Went into his basement and got drunk.
ADRIEN: Funny.
He thinks I'm joking.
ME: Met at the ice skating place.
ADRIEN: Oh, okay.
ADRIEN: Are you going to bed?
ME: Ye.
ADRIEN: Okay. Goodnight, baby.
ME: Ya.
•
I wake up to the sound of shouting.
I peel my eyes open, searching around me. The sound fades in, and I sit up, yawning. I climb out of bed and walk over to the door nervously. I pull it open, and the shouting gets louder.
I walk down the hall, toward the sound. My father and.. is that my mother with him? Are they arguing?
"She's my daughter!" My mother yells.
It's about me. Again.
"She's supposed to stay here until Monday, Isabel. You have no right being here." My father replies.
"I do when she isn't picking up the phone!" She exclaims. "What? Did you do something to her?"
"No! Of course not!" My father shouts, his tone making him sound like he's offended. "I wouldn't ever do anything to her!"
I furrow my eyebrows.
The door next to me opens, and Léo walks out. He looks.. scared. Why is he scared?
He looks down at me, then down the hall. Releasing a shaky breath, he asks: "do you wanna stay in my room until they're done?"
Reluctantly, I nod. He sets a hand on my shoulder and directs me inside. He closes the door behind us, then leads me over to his bed.
I sit down at the end of it. He sits beside me, about a foot away. He offers me a shaky smile. "Are you—you okay?"
I nod. "I'm fine. Why are they arguing?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. I just woke up." He says.
"Me too." I mumble.
"They'll stop soon, probably. They can't argue forever."
"They probably could." I respond.
He frowns, as though he realises it just now that it's a real possibility. "Maybe."
I wrap my arms around myself, kicking my legs a little. He looks down at me again. "Do you wanna watch TV?"
"Okay."
He smiles. I move to the spot beside him, on the other side of the bed. He turns his TV on, then glances at me and grabs one of the blankets from under the covers. He sets it over me, and I watch him with a confused look on my face.
"Thanks." I mumble.
His lips tilt up again before he turns something on the TV. I wrap my arms around myself and lean back against the headboard, hugging his blanket tighter to me. It smells like boy, but it's okay.
I don't mean to fall asleep, but I do. It's warm in here, and I feel oddly safe around Léo. The sound of the TV covers up the one of my parents arguing, but I can still hear them.
My name is mentioned more than once, but only by my mother. It sounds like my father tries to keep me out of it.
That's why it's a relief when darkness pulls me under again.