I stepped on the quiet ice. The dark blue of the night ate the sky alive trying to take what territory it could grab before the sun arrived. Sleep sat in the corner of my eyes. Why did I let my mom sign me up for 6:45 ice? Either way, I couldn’t have been anymore excited than I was. I was officially a skating member of the Detroit Skate Club, a big league club. I had taken a big step in the right direction.
All the excitement rushed away quickly when I actually got my skating stuff on the boards, and turned around only to find that the only other girls on my ice were younger than me by a few years.
My mind screamed and panic rushed through my body. Oh my Gosh, my mom signed me up for the wrong ice! I look like a loser out here with the younger girls! They can probably barely stand up and stay balanced! Everyone is probably staring at the 13 year old who is on the leveled ice with the peanuts! I want to go home now!
It was too late to turn around and ask my mom to take me back to my old rink or at least switch my session. All I wanted was my friends. Tara, Slash, Katie, Sloane, Petz twins, anyone would do! All I wanted was a friend. Someone I could talk to that wouldn’t think I was a total loser or an untalented waste of space. I wanted one friend in the next few days. But this is what I got. I was stuck on the ice with a bunch of little girls who I doubt could actually do anything.
As I began to jump, I watched as one of the girls started to pull a biellmann spin. She was small, had a messy ponytail, and wore a black pants with rainbow lining. When she was in her final position, her skate was well over her head. Sheesh, she made Tara look like a brick, and Tara was obnoxiously flexible. I went to get a sip of water before going to do my double loop and from the corner of my eye, I watched her spin.
As it turns out, I was stuck on that ice with the small fries for the rest of the week. Thanks Mom. Everyday when I skated, I had no friends. Everyday, when I skated, the little girl with the rainbow lined jacket would do her biellmann, and I would watch in total awe.
Finally, Friday had arrived. My last day with the Munchkins. Thank God. When I stepped on the ice in that morning, I still warmed up. I still had no friends, leaving my goal incomplete. I still watched  the little girl pull her Biellmann spin above her head.
The zamboni pulled onto the ice. The session was done and, shocker, I still had no friends. I grabbed my stuff and so did the little girl. As it turns out, our stuff was right next to each other. We were less than a foot apart and I guess my mind was done being lonely.
“I like your pants.  They’re really cute!”
I couldn’t believe what came out of my mouth. I just got myself into a conversation with an over flexible shrimp. Now I probably looked like an idiot. Even the mouse would probably label me as a weirdo.
“Thanks, I like the dutch braid in your hair”
I thanked her back and tried to skate off the ice as quick as I could. Things felt really awkward enough.  I walked across the lobby, fleeing to the locker room to try and not be noticed. That plan went down the drain with the click of my guards echoing across the lobby. I glanced behind me just to see how many people were staring. Wouldn’t you know it; the short stack was following me. I didn’t speak to her until I went to unlock my locker to get my soakers and towels to dry my skates. I stood in front of my locker. She stood next to me. Great, now I had a stalker.
“My name is Jessica.”
“Hi, I’m Lauren, wait are you my locker neighbor?”
“Yeah, there was a reason I was coming to the locker room!”
“I knew that, I was just testing you!”
Great comeback, real great come back. What to say? Shoot.
“Hey what grade are you in?” I quickly said, trying to break the ice.
“I’m going into 5th grade.”
“Oh, I am going into 9th.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I have conditioning at 9:15, I need to hurry or Ken will get mad.”
Wait a second. I was going to work out with Ken at 9:15 too. I quickly threw my skates in my Zuca and put some running shorts on. I ran with Jessica out to the car where Ken was waiting to take us to conditioning. The small one, my first friend at DSC.