CHapter 22: Remember OUr agreement?

Chris.

“So,” Greg asked me from the front seat of the car, “have you ever ice skated?”

“No,” I admitted. A curious thought came in my head. “You know, I never went ice-skating with Lydia. She was more into plays and that type of thing.”

“When I went with Jeremy,” Amanda said, “he would always mess with me, and tease me. And of course, I would do the same thing. But by the end, it wasn’t a fun time anymore.”

“Oh, please,” Katie called from the front seat. “Could you not talk about your exes right now? It’s so annoying.”

Amanda shook her head and gritted her teeth. I put my hands up and mouthed “Whoa.”

Amanda could see I was trying to keep her from saying something she’d later regret to Katie. She nodded and changed the subject. “So, what movie did you bring?”

“Beautiful Disaster.”

Why did it have to be that movie? “But it’s so cheesy and unrealistic,” Amanda sighed.

“Finally, someone who thinks about the movie like I do,” I said.

“Oh, yeah,” Amanda raised her hand and I high-fived it.

“I mean, that guy in the movie was such a jerk. The idea that that goody-two-shoes girl would actually be interested in a guy like…him….”

Suddenly she stopped and we looked each other. Nah, the situation was completely different. And besides, it’s just a movie…right…

“Well,” Katie interjected. “I for one like it. And since I used my money to buy it, that’s the movie we’re watching tonight.”

Once again Katie sounded like a mom. “At my house,” Amanda responded back to her, annoyance in her voice.

I put my hand on her arm and mouthed at her, What are you doing?

Amanda suddenly realized her anger was rising and calmed down.  Then she turned back to Katie.

“Sorry,” She said to Katie.

“It’s fine,” Katie turned back and smiled.

“Hey,” I said. “Thanks for inviting me. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” Katie said, “You’re our friend now.”

I smiled at that comment. Amanda smiled too. It was great for me to be accepted into the group, I had to admit it. This was awesome.

“We’re almost there,” Katie called from the front. “You ready, Chris?”

“I guess,” I said nervously. I knew nothing about skating. I looked over at Amanda beside me. She smiled. Maybe I could do this.

We arrived at the place and parked. It was a large square building that said SportsPlex on the front. We got out and walked toward the entrance. The sun had just sunk behind the trees.

We walked into the lobby and paid for our skates. I took off my shoes and sat lacing them up. What was I doing? Greg sat beside me while Katie and Amanda sat talking behind us on the bench while they laced up their shoes. I looked out at the rink, which was behind double doors. I was going to look like a complete idiot.

I turned to Greg and asked the first question that popped into my head. “Jeremy really used to do this with you guys?”

“Yeah, he did. But he and Amanda were always fighting with each other, messing with each other. Every now and then, he would flirt with her and she would flirt back, but he never took her seriously enough. It was that way sometimes in basketball. He wouldn’t take it seriously enough and the coach would get on him about it. And he was a total ball hog. When he got the ball, he never passed it to the rest of the team…”

He shook his head. “But he was Amanda’s kinda-sorta boyfriend, so we tolerated him.”

“Hey,” Katie said from behind us. “You ready?”

I looked at the double doors. What was I doing here, a fourteen-year-old guy trying to ice skate for the first time? Was I crazy?

Amanda came and sat beside me. As if she read my mind, she said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll help you.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks.” It meant a lot to me that she would help me learn how to skate.

Amanda held my arm steady as we pushed through the double doors. I looked around the rink. Directly to the left of us, there were bleachers were a few people were sitting and talking. Plexiglas surrounded the top half of the rink and the bottom half was surrounded by a white wooden barrier. Directly in front of us, there was the opening. Skaters were sliding around in a kind of oval shape with a circle left open in the middle. Speakers played music, but it wasn’t loud and overbearing like at the Homecoming dance last fall. I wrapped my arm around Amanda’s arm and she smiled.

“You ready?”

“Well, no, but that’s okay,” I smiled.

We walked to the opening in the ice rink. I was a little wobbly but I was managing pretty well. When I got on the ice, it was a lot more slippery than I thought. I held onto the wall with one hand and Amanda with the other and still my feet went behind me and my face and stomach went in front of me. My knees hit the ice while my hand slipped from the wall.

Right before my face hit the ice, the arm holding Amanda broke my fall. She smiled at me as if to say, It’s okay.

I struggled to my feet again, this time nearly falling backward. Amanda caught my back and pushed me upright. Man, I was so grateful she was there. If she wasn’t, I would have seriously crashed twice.

I held tight to her as we made to the center of the ice. Most of the skaters around us were going a whole lot faster and skating around us with plenty of room. I didn’t care. We slowly made our way to near the center of the rink.

“Try to push off a little bit,” she told me encouragingly, and I nodded.

I pushed off with his right foot, and it slipped out from under me, along with my right foot. I slipped to the ground and as much as she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from going with me. We both fell to the ground laughing.

We looked at each other lying on the ice beside each other. We looked ridiculous, but again, I didn’t care. Amanda pushed herself to sit up and pulled me to a sitting position too. She tried to stand up while holding onto me at the same time. It didn’t work – we just both fell down again.

This time, I let Amanda get completely on her feet before trying to get me up, and then we almost fell over again. She pulled me up and we started over again. I pushed off, this time with a much smaller movement from my right foot. Then I did it again with my left.

Of course, with all the other skaters zooming around us we were going at a snail’s pace. We kept going, and she showed me that I needed to bend my knees a little lean slightly forward – and she kept me from falling on my face again when I leaned way too far. Finally, I got the balance.

Then Amanda decided to switch it up a bit. She turned around and faced me, holding on tight to my arms. Maybe this was crazy, but I thought it was fun.

She started to skate backward, a little slowly at first, but then we picked up speed. I held on but didn’t trip or lean too much to one side or the other.

She kept going straight backward, not really looking where she was going. I was really smiling and having a great time. Then the wall got closer and closer and we weren’t stopping.  I said quickly, “Look –”

Amanda hit the wall behind her and I crashed into her. Instinctively she put her arms around me and I put my arms around her. We held each other for several seconds just looking into each other’s eyes. I didn’t want the night to end.

We suddenly saw Katie and Greg skate up beside us. Katie looked at us with a knowing smirk on her face, and we laughed.

We let go of each other and Amanda got beside me. She held me close but not too close and Amanda started skating again, with me doing my best to keep up.

As we kept going around the ice, it finally started to click. It wasn’t just back and forth; it was slightly off to the side. I listened to Amanda and kept my knees bent and leaned ever so slightly forward. I wasn’t just pushing beside Amanda; I was keeping pace with her. We kept going around, holding each other’s hands, following the skaters around while the music played on.

How did I get here? How did I come to holding hands with a girl who I thought, less than a week ago, would have nothing to do with me, who probably despised me for the longest time? Here she was, smiling and averting her eyes, then looking at me and smiling again.

I thought Amanda was rude and insulting. I was wrong. There’s another side of her, a tender side that’s always been there. Maybe the reason she’s never shown this side of her before is because no one cared to look. But I sure hope that wasn’t true, that someone else out there noticed her for who she truly is.

All the other details faded away. There were no other skaters, no music, no Katie and Greg, just me and Amanda on the ice. I wanted to look into her eyes and yet I was afraid to. What if all this was a dream and I would wake up, in my room alone again?

Amanda kept herself from going too fast for me, slowing her pace so she would be even with me. I was still a little shaky at times, but I got it. I was skating beside her, holding her hand.

It felt like there was only this moment with Amanda, us floating imperfectly yet floating just the same. But who would want it to be perfect anyway? If it was perfect we wouldn’t have this moment we have. I wanted this moment to last forever, for it to never end. I knew it would end. But I stretched it out as long as I could, as I held her hand on the ice, looking into her eyes, and forgetting the rest of the world.

Every time I looked at her I felt a new surge of emotion. I hesitated to think it because I didn’t want for it to be true if I was lying to myself. But I looked at her again and the surge of emotion happened again.

All week long I was resisting her, doubting her. Now the resisting was gone and things were happening so fast. I was skating with her and holding her hand like I’ve been with her forever. And the thing was, I didn’t feel uncomfortable about it, it felt right. It felt natural. I didn’t want it to end.

Katie and Greg skated up to us and then motioned that it’s time to go. But I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay on the ice with Amanda. But we got off the ice anyway and followed them through the double doors and into the lobby. As we unlaced our skates and took them off, I couldn’t stop staring at Amanda. And I noticed Amanda couldn’t stop staring at me.

Was all this for real? Please tell me this was not some sick joke played on me or on us. Please tell me that this was really happening, that Amanda was here, sitting beside me and we couldn’t take our eyes off each other. We finished tying our shoes and stood up. Without even thinking about it, I reached for her hand.

She took my hand and intertwined it with hers. She wasn’t teaching me anymore, not keeping me steady on the ice. It wasn’t that at all. It was something far better. We held each other’s hands as we followed Katie and Greg out the door to the outside, and into the cold night air. It was so amazing to have her warm hand pressed next to mine. I didn’t want it any other way.

We got in the car and Katie turned on the radio. “Right now, Psycho Ex-Boyfriend is playing live at the Roberts Stadium opening for Jessica Long and the New Kind. I don’t know who the local crowd is more excited to see, but man, they are having fun tonight!”

“I know, Julie….” The other radio announcer started, but I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Wait…they played at the Homecoming Dance,” I said. Suddenly the awkward memories flooded back. I wish I hadn’t said that.

“Yeah, that was where we got together,” Katie said happily and smiled at Greg driving. She then told us the story of how a local music executive heard their music and signed them to the label he worked for.

“And now, in honor of their recent success, we are playing the world premiere of their single “You Don’t Like Me for Me” right here on WAAD Mix,” the radio announcer said as the song started up the background.

We listened as Katie and Greg attempted to sing along with the song. I tried to smile to Amanda, but all I could think about was how Jeremy worked Lydia over. 

By the time the chorus came around the third time, the lyrics suddenly hit me: “You don’t like me for me/But only for who you want me to be/You want me to act a certain way/be the one you lost for a day/so everything will be okay/there’s just no way, boy, just no way—”

“Hey,” Amanda suddenly blurted. “That must have been a pretty special memory for you two. Why didn’t you get tickets to the show?”

“Well,” Katie started. “We tried, but they sold out just three days after the event was announced. Something about the fact that a huge band called Jessica Long and the New Kind suddenly made everyone go crazy for them. Plus the fact that I heard Psycho Ex-Boyfriend’s friends and family snapped up a bunch of tickets before it even went on sale. So we decided to go ice-skating instead.”

“Well, that, unfortunately, makes sense,” I said.

“But that’s okay,” Katie said. “We had a great time tonight. So are you guys ready to see Beautiful Disaster?”

“Yeah,” Amanda said.

“Me too.” For once, I didn’t care that it was a sappy romantic drama. It was exactly what I would like right now.

We parked on the side of the street near Amanda’s house. Amanda’s car was parked in the driveway.  The paint was peeling everywhere and one of the headlights was cracked. 

“There’s your sorry little car, Amanda,” Katie joked.

Amanda chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah, that’s why I didn’t want to drive it. It’s dying on me,” she said.

We walked up to her house and Amanda opened the door. Suddenly a lady and an older guy who I assumed were Amanda’ mom and dad came down the stairs.  Wait, no, Amanda told me she had no contact with her father.  So who was this guy?

Her mom sighed and tried to breathe.  Amanda’s anger was starting to rise. 

“Why are you here?” Amanda demanded. “I thought you were going to be out.”

“Well, we tried to leave earlier, Amanda, but we had so much to get done. It’s less than three months away, you know.  But Amanda, that’s beside the point. You didn’t tell me you were going to have friends over –”

“Yes, I did!” Amanda interrupted. “You were on the phone this morning, remember?”

“We can go somewhere else,” Katie said.

“Can I just talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?” Her mom asked.

Amanda sighed and they walked into the kitchen, but we could still hear everything.

Her mom started, “Yes, I remember now. But I’m confused. Where’s Jeremy? And who’s this new guy?”

“It doesn’t matter who he is,” Amanda blurted. “Remember our agreement? I don’t tell you how to run your life, and you don’t tell me how to run mine.”

“Amanda I don’t like that agreement anymore,” Her mom said to her. “I know we did it when were angry with each other, and now we barely see each other anymore, and I hate it. I miss you. Look, I want us to sit and talk, just the two of us. I want to know what’s going on in your life and I want you to know what’s going on with mine.”

“I know what’s going on with yours. Your boyfriend,” Amanda snapped. 

“Fiancé, Amanda,” Her mother corrected her.  Oh.  So that’s who that older guy was.  “Just please; give me a chance to listen to you sometime, alright.”

Amanda walked out, scowling.  Her mother followed right after her.

The older guy finally spoke up.  “Look, sweetheart, we can go out some other time.”

“No, Steve,” she sighed. “She has friends over, it’s fine. Let’s go.”

Amanda’s mom turned back to her. “Amanda, I really do want to talk with you soon. Please give me a chance. Big changes are happening soon, and we need to talk.”

“Goodbye, Mom,” she growled. 

Amanda’s mom sighed and they walked out the front door. Amanda and her mother were so apart emotionally that they were avoiding each other in their own home. But at the same time, her mom wanted her back, and Amanda didn’t want it at all. I knew I had trouble with my parents, but it was never as bad as the miles apart that Amanda and her mom were. And if that weren’t bad enough, her mom is getting remarried.

She flopped down angrily on the couch. “I hate my mom.”

Katie turned around. “Now, that’s really harsh. Your mom loves you and cares about you.”

“And sometimes,” Amanda glared at her with vicious eyes, “I think my other mom is pretty annoying too.”

Katie bristled under that comment. Greg saw that she was upset and put his arms around her. They both slid into a chair.

I sat down beside Amanda on the couch. I didn’t know what to say at first. I reached out and put my hand on hers.

Amanda looked up at me and smiled.

“Look, uh…” I started.

Amanda put up her hand. “It’s not worth it, Chris. My mom doesn’t love or care about me.”

I thought about that for a second. “Well, maybe so. But you can’t deny that your mom desperately wants to reconnect with you.”

Amanda sighed and mulled it over in her mind. “Can we watch the movie now?”

Katie spoke up. “We can still go to my house. My parents won’t mind.”

“No, it’s okay, Katie, really. I’m sorry I got mad you.”

She smiled. “It’s fine.” She got up and took out the disc from the case while I set up TV and player. She put in the player and she skipped to the menu screen and started the movie.

Slowly we were swept away into the story of bad boy loner Timmy falling for good girl Rachel. We laughed and enjoyed the movie even though it was a rather cheesy teen romance. But wasn’t that the point? It made me forget about troubles such as my mom or Jeremy and Lydia. I wanted this stupid romance to work, despite how unbelievable it might be.

The couple came together in an amazing romantic kiss after some sarcastic comment from Timmy, and the credits started rolling. Katie and Greg were still in the chair, sleeping with their arms around each other.

“They’re a cute couple, aren’t they?” Amanda turned to me and leaned her head in close to mine.

“Yeah…” I whispered and smiled. 

Then she turned and looked at me. “You know,” She slowly started, “I…uh…I’m really glad you’re here. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here. I would have self-destructed or something. Thank you so much for being here for me.”

Amanda really appreciated the fact that I was there for her. It meant a lot. But even more, I was happy she was there too. “You’ve helped me so much too,” I told her. “You helped me laugh again after going through that incredibly hurtful experience. Today, with you, was so awesome.”

She leaned in closer to me. I could feel her warm skin. “You’re such a great guy, Chris…I can’t believe I just said that ” She smiled at me. “But it’s true.”

I nodded. I couldn’t believe this change in Amanda. She was not at all like I thought she was. “I remember. You’re such a great girl too, Amanda. Thank you so much for being there for me.”

She leaned in to kiss me.