Chapter 7 THE ERUPTION

The ice rink became silent now, my heart skipped. 

He shifted back, glancing elsewhere.

“Yeah, I like your determination.”

His word sank deep into the bruised part of me that the cafeteria had shredded weeks ago.

“Thanks,” I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper.

He turned back to me, smiling.  “No, you did this yourself. You’re… capable and stronger than I thought.”

I wanted to say something meaningful, but all that came out instead was a quiet, “I just had to be.”

He nodded as if he understood and smiled genuinely instead of the mocking smirk I knew so well then pointed toward the edge of the rink. 

“C’mon. One more drill then we quit so you can go home. You must be hungry by now.”

I rolled my eyes and followed him. He decided to set up a small cone on the ice to demonstrate a sharp turn, then made a glide around it, and motioned for me to try. I wobbled, and nearly fell. 

"Hey, careful." He said reaching out to catch my arm and then locking his eyes with mine. 

“You’re not used to this…”

“I’m not used to your world,” I said honestly. The words slipped out before I could stop them.

His smiled dryly but there was still that guarded edge, a shadow of arrogance. There was something beneath his look that I hadn’t seen before.

“Yeah,” he said finally, voice low. “Most people aren’t. That’s… part of the point. This isn't just skating, it's everything.”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I’ve survived worse.”

He studied me, and for a moment, there was no smirk, no sarcasm. Just him… watching.

“You know,” he said, breaking the silence “I didn’t mean what I said the first day."

"What?"

"About you not belonging here. And many other the things I said."

I stopped mid-glide, skates scraping lightly across the ice. “You didn’t?”

“No,” he said avoiding my gaze this time. “I… I just felt you were bruising my ego.

"Wow." I exclaimed quietly.

"And again you weren't what I expected, not at school and even here. You… challenge me and...”

“Challenge you? How?" I echoed, skeptical but curious to know.

He stepped closer, carefully navigating the ice. “Yeah. You don’t play by anyone’s rules but your own. That makes you  stubborn but in a good way.”

These are words I rarely heard. No one ever said anything good about me or to me. Not even Uncle Jeff. So where is he getting all these from?

How does he even know all these about me? I thought. 

We circled each other slowly, the rink feeling smaller, more intimate under the setting sun.

My hands were cold, my legs shaking, but I couldn’t stop looking at him. The way he looked at me made it hard for me to breathe. 

“You ever… get tired of it?” I asked finally, nodding toward his hockey bag lying against the boards.

“All the practice, the pressure, the games… the school, and family?”

His eyes shifted to the ground for a brief moment. “Sometimes,” he admitted, quietly. “But you see hockey… it’s honest. You would know if you’re good or not. You get better or you don’t. It just makes sense, life doesn't.”

I nodded slowly, sensing a rare glimpse behind the carefully constructed walls he always wore.

“I get that. School… life… it’s not simple.”

“No,” he said, looking back at me. "It's messy and you… you make it messier."

I laughed, a little even when my legs ache. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

“It is,” he said firmly. “To me, anyway.” He gestured toward the boards. 

“Alright, one more drill. You’re going to skate the full length without wobbling.”

I nodded, determined. My legs were sore but I pushed on. I focused on the rhythm, the glide, the push. Just me and the ice, and Levi, watching from the other side.

I made it to the far end without falling. My heart pounded, a mix of triumph and exhaustion.

Levi skated toward me immediately, stopping just a few inches away. His hand brushed mine lightly, not grabbing or shoving me, just a gentle touch.

“You did it,” he said, voice low, almost a whisper. “I mean it."

“I… couldn’t have done it without you.” I looked at him.

He blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah. I nodded. "You… you actually helped me unlike you do at school, you… taught me.”

I saw him look at me with pride, maybe or something else.

“You know,” he said, finally breaking the tension, “you don’t have to act different around me.”

The words struck me harder because that's what I have been doing. Pretending, hiding to survive.

"It’s… easier to deal with people like you that way." I admitted, looking down at the ice.

He frowned, "People like me?"

"Yes," I said boldly. "People like you are complicated, you know?"

"You must be a genius to know about people's personalities."

He laughed shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm… complicated and many people can't deal well with that.”

There was silence for a long moment then Levi tilted his head.

"You know?" he said, voice teasing but intimate, “I think I like that about you, you don’t run.”

I felt my stomach flip. "You… like me?"

He leaned slightly closer, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from him.

"I’m… not saying anything definitive," he murmured. "But… maybe."

"Maybe? You're not sure." I challenged him.

"Well, uhh... He paused, looking around.

I looked at him wondering why he was acting strange.

"Actually, I like you." He waited to see my reaction.

"Like seriously?" I looked at him.

"I mean it, just didn't know how to say it or tell you."

"But you just did."

"Yeah, I didn't want to.

"Why? I asked smiling.

"Cos' I thought you would run from me."

"And here I am standing with you."

Don’t tell anyone. Especially not Sloane."

I swallowed hard, heat creeping up my neck. "I won’t."

Then there was silence and in that quiet, fragile space, that was when I realized....