It's My Life - Stacie Ramey Page 0,46
my braces on my legs, the ones I only wear when I’m horseback riding or going on the stationary bike.
“Where are we going? And why do I need braces?”
“Trust me, you’re going to love it.”
Then, she helps me put on my short UGGs and hoists me to my feet. Next comes my short coat and hat and scarf, leaving me to wonder when these plans were made.
Soft steps creep closer to my door. Rena and I huddle in my room and wait for Eric’s telltale knock. Rap tap rap. Rap tap rap.
Rena opens the door. Waves him in.
“You ready?” he asks.
“Coast clear?” Rena asks.
“They went to bed an hour ago. The television kicked off ten minutes ago. We are a go.” He opens my window again and speaks to whoever has assembled there.
Eric climbs out first, avoiding the big shrub there. “Your turn, Jenna,” he says, his arms open wide to help me out. His body is holding the shrub back, so I’ve got a pretty clear shot.
Good thing my bedroom’s on the ground floor. The cold air shocks the breath out of me. My eyes tear. I cough.
“You okay?” he asks.
“I think so.” My arms reach for him, and Rena helps feed me out the window, but my pants get caught on the sill.
“Wait,” Rena says. “She’s stuck.”
For some reason, this makes Eric and me laugh hysterically. Which makes Rena go “Shhh! You’ll wake them!”
Eric drags me away from the opening so Rena can climb out, my elbow crutches in a bag strapped to her back. Without someone to help her, she ends up flat on the ground. Which makes her laugh even harder.
Chip lifts her up. “Sorry.”
There seems to be a lot of Chip in Rena’s life lately, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Eric seems to pick up on it as well since he’s staring.
“Everything cool?” a voice calls from the side of the house. I can’t place it, but it sounds familiar. I know it’s one of the other hockey players. And if other hockey players are here…
“Yeah. We’re coming,” Eric answers. “Hold on.” He turns to close the window. I’m sure that any minute Mom and Dad are going to bust us if people don’t stop talking.
Rena and Eric put their arms around me and help me walk on the uneven ground—a peril in the light, but super dangerous in the dark. I don’t want to fall and ruin the entire mission, whatever it is.
As we round the corner, I see there are two cars parked out on the street. I pray they won’t slam the doors and wake our parents. But then a bunch of hockey players jump out, and I see Julian, and I suddenly don’t care about waking Mom and Dad. Mostly I just care about my breath and wish I’d paid more attention to my hair and my face and all the girly things.
“Hey, Jenna, want to skate around with us?” Julian asks. He looks lit up—he’s happy about the game, and he’s glad Elsa texted him. With a heart-stopping shock, I realize that Julian might actually be falling in love. With her. With me. The sky is clear and a million stars shine down on us. “It’s perfect, isn’t it, Jenna?”
Everything seems to hinge on my next comment. Like the trees are standing by, the moon listens in, and the night birds stop making noise. It’s like this one moment belongs to us. I know I should be more careful, but it’s hard to keep my mind straight when it feels like the world is conspiring to give me everything I want.
“It’s magical,” I say. “Definitely.”
Julian smiles with me, and then gets this weird look on his face like he’s trying to remember something. I realize that I may have tipped my hand with that magical comment.
Rena steps between me and Julian. “The infamous skate-around, and we are crashing it.”
The skate-around is a big secret to nonhockey players and most adults. The owner of the skating rink allows it—most of the hockey players work there, so he’s close with them. It happens at different times during the year so no one can track it, try to crash it, or shut it down. Nobody brings dates or girls of any kind to the skate-around. We are breaking new ground right here. Eric made this happen.
Julian beams. “And I get to share it with my favorite family.”
I want to throw up a little bit. That’s how the boy feels