Jenna
"Hey, you guys, you've been gone for a really long time."
I turn my head to see my sister behind us, and while I expect to see anger in her eyes I see relief.
"I was worried that something happened." She says stepping closer to us, Asher has since put me down and I am no longer in his arms. I'm looking at my sister unsure of what to say to her.
"Did you get your ice creams?" she continues on, I don't know if she notices that she is the only one participating in this conversation.
Finally, Asher answers, "Yeah the shack was full, so we had to wait a while." He says.
"Oh no, were you alright? Jenna doesn't like crowded places." She says the last part to Asher. She comes closer and touches my arms and rubs me up and down.
By this point, I've found my voice and say, "Yeah Asher was there so it wasn't bad." I say smiling to reassure her.
"That's good." I see a genuine smile on her face that has been missing a while now since her separation from Thomas.
When we get back to the others Stephanie tells me that she's going to sit by the water for a while and I tell her that I will join her, but I want to throw away my empty ice cream cup.
Once my sister has headed down to the beach and I get back from the bin, I pass by Asher and he grabs my hand which prompts me to stop. "Can you put sunscreen on my back? I want to head out to the water." I don't have a rude bone in my body, so I agree albeit reluctantly.
I tell him to lie down on the towels that we had set up on the ground when we got here. I get to work on his back and notice a scar on his shoulder blade and I focus more on that spot unconsciously. I think he knows that's the spot I'm on now because he speaks,
"I was 10 years old. We had a tree house at home and some of the screws were loose as it was old, but I didn't know that. So, I went up, and my brother Jack came running after me and told me to get down, but I couldn't hear him clearly because he was hysterical and wasn't articulating well. When I finally heard what he was saying, as soon as my foot touched the first step from the top the whole thing came tumbling down. I dislocated my shoulder and broke my leg. That's where the scar came from."
My breath hitches because that is so sad. I can just imagine a 10-year-old Asher under the mess of planks, confused and scared.
"I'm sorry," I say because that's the only thing that I can think to say.
"It hurt for a while but overriding that was the excitement that I had crutches at school and that literally made me the coolest guy. My mom really loved that I never complained about going to school during those days." He says, and I smile at that.
"I'm sure every parent would love that." I laugh lightly.
Shortly after, I notice that Stephanie has come back before I could join her. In my mind, I'm thinking, how much time did I spend rubbing Asher's back? "
You're back already. I was just about to come to you." I say to my sister.
She looks lighter for some reason. "That's okay. I was only there for a short while anyways, I was hoping to catch you before you made your way down there for nothing."
Okay, at least I wasn't here for longer than I thought. Out of guilt, I explain the situation that she just walked into.
"I was just helping Asher out since you were down there," I say, and she waves a hand at me, the universal sign for don't worry about it.
Instead, she says. "It's getting late, do you want to head out?" she asks me but Asher pipes up, "Yeah, that would be nice."
My sister looks guilty when Asher speaks, "Let me tell the others that we are heading out." She says and walks away to her other friends.
While Stephanie is saying her goodbyes, Asher and I start packing our things. Once we are finished we make our way toward the parking lot. Asher's phone rings and he answers it, "Hey Bro."
"Ah, man. I get anxious whenever you have to choose the next get-together."
"Ice skating? That's not so bad, what time are we meeting?"
"Alright brother. See you then."
As soon as he ends his call Stephanie, jumps up and down, "Are you going ice skating? OH MY GOSH! I love ice skating." She exclaims, my sister is what my parents call an ice-skating junkie, she never gets enough of it and is pretty good at it too.
Before Asher can utter a word, she says, "Would you mind if Jenna and I tagged along?"
I'm outraged that she would just invite herself like that, "Stephanie!" I say to her, hoping she'll come to her senses and take back her statement.
"What? We'll pay for ourselves, it's not like I'm asking that he takes us there with his own money or transport." She says rolling her eyes at me as if I'm the one who's acting crazy here.
I look at Asher and he has a little smile on his face, in fact, it looks like he is trying not to laugh, "Oh my gosh Stephanie you don't even know who he's going with, normal people don't do this. Tell her!" I'm hoping that he will be in my corner but that doesn't seem to be the case evidenced by his next words.
"I don't have a problem if you ladies want to tag along. And to put your mind at ease Jenna, it's just my brothers, their wives and girlfriends, and me."
I'm protesting so much against going not only because we weren't initially invited but because I'm not a big fan of ice skating. Okay, let's just say the ice doesn't like me very much, I always end up on my butt whenever I'm at the rink. Thereafter I get wet and cold so no thank you for this trip.
"Well, I'm sorry but I can't go, I have other plans," I say to them, and Stephanie with her big mouth pipes in,
"When are these plans of yours going to be?" Oh, snap, when did they say the ice-skating trip was going to be? I can't for the life of me remember.
"Uhm...on the day of the ice-skating trip," I say, but I should've known that my sister wouldn't let this go until she had her way.
"When is the trip Jenna?" she asks with a big grin on her face which tells me that she knows that she's got me.
"Argh fine. I don't have any plans, I just don't want to go ice skating." I say with a resigned sigh.
"Don't worry, I'll change her mind okay? We'll be there, just text me the date and time." She says to Asher completely disregarding me, sisters can be so annoying sometimes.
We get to our car and load our things into the boot and goodbyes are said. I get in the car first, so I can give them time to say goodbye properly, you know the way that lovers do. It's not long before my sister is getting in the driver's seat and starting the car, I guess they don't do long goodbyes then.
As soon as we are on the road and heading home, Stephanie steals a glance at me and then eyes back on the road, she keeps doing this a couple of times, so I ask, "What's the matter?"
"Please will you go ice skating with me?" she tries to be cute but it's not working because she has to keep her eyes on the road.
"Technically I'm not going with you but with Asher and his family," I say being smart with her
"Yeah, that's why I want you to come with me so I'm not alone there. What if they kidnap me or worse kill and leave me at the back parking lot of the rink?" she sighs,
"Oh, sister dearest of mine don't you know that your dramatic ways have no effect on me, I'm not mom and dad," I say and tweak her nose which irritates her to no end.
"Okay fine, but please let's go. I don't want to be in the house and be reminded of everything that's going on with Thomas." She says and her voice hitches when she says, Thomas. Everyone can tell that the love is still there between them, but my sister won't talk to him and I think that's what's hurting them the most.
A plan formulates in my mind and I pray that she falls for it. "I'll go on one condition," I say and wait with bated breath.
"What's that condition?" she glances at me curiously.
"You have to talk to Thomas after the ice-skating trip," I say. She seems to be mulling it over because she's quiet then just before I'm about to ask what her answer is she says,
"Okay. I'll talk to Thomas when we get back. Jenna, I know that you loved Thomas and considered him your brother, but he has hurt me and unless he comes clean I don't think there is anything worth saving here." She says, and her tone is so sad.
"I know Steph," I say to her and squeeze her arm.
***
Today is the day, yay I'm going ice skating! Not really excited if you can't tell. I have tried everything to get out of going today but I had no luck.
Yesterday I asked my dad if he needed me to help him with anything at the office and he said no. Thereafter I asked my mom if she needed any help with baking for the recreational center in town where she volunteers every Saturday and she also said no, and I quote, "Oh no honey, you go ahead and enjoy being young with other kids." Does she not understand that I don't want to be young?! At least I don't want to be young at the ice rink.
I guess I have to suck it up and endure the pain, I know I'm being dramatic, but I really don't like ice skating, I swear I break out in hives every time it's mentioned.
I make sure to get dressed up in layers so that the impact is not that bad when I fall.
I wear my long tights then my leggings and then my skinny jeans. I laugh when I turn to the mirror because I look hilarious, you can definitely tell that there are more layers than there should be under my jeans. Only if I had other jeans besides skinny jeans, I should really listen to my mother sometimes because does indeed know best.
I forgo the leggings and just wear the long tights and jeans. However, I don't skimp out on the shirts, I wear my short-sleeved vest, a long-sleeved t-shirt, my turtle neck sweater and then add my jean jacket on top and I have to say I look pretty damn good, for a winter day though.
"Hey, are you ready? We leave in thirty minutes, Woah! We are not going skiing sister of mine, we are just going to ice skate, indoors might I add." She says while she full-on laughs at me and keeps going until I threaten not to go with her if she continues to laugh at me.
I've already done my hair and I chose to go without makeup because it won't look pretty after I've fallen countless times. I grab my block-heeled four-inch boots, I know it's a bit much with the boots, but I like wearing heels because they give me height and I am short at five feet.
I grab my crossbody bag and put in some cash, a driver's license just in case, lip gloss, and my phone. I head downstairs and shout for my sister, "Stephanie, I'm done and I'm waiting on you!"
Shouting is not a rare occurrence in my household, but dad still has to chastise us when we do it, "No screaming in the house." He says to me from his perch on the bar stool in the kitchen keeping mom company while she bakes.
Just as he finishes saying that Stephanie shouts from somewhere in the house, "I'm coming and I'm not late I said we leave in thirty minutes, so I still have five minutes to spare."
I can imagine her rolling her eyes after that, I look at dad and he actually does roll his eyes because his earlier statement was in vain. Mom giggles lightly as she has the same thought and dad gets up from his stool and goes behind her and starts tickling her, "And what is so funny my beauty?" he asks with his face in her neck, I think I better go and check on Stephanie.