venom and her greasy blond hair fell forward as she buried her face in her knees. "And mean."
"Mean?" Alix asked, her suspicions growing.
Laurel nodded. "Jordan stopped by the store on Tuesday and asked me to give you a message and I didn't."
A chill came over Alix. "What was the message?"
"He...he wanted to take you roller-skating."
"When?"
"This afternoon with a bunch of kids from his church and I didn't tell you.... I know I should have, but I didn't want you to have a man when I don't. I'm fat and ugly and no one wants me."
Laurel stood and reached inside her jeans for a folded-up piece of paper. "I was supposed to give you this."
Alix unfolded the flyer and saw that it announced an afternoon skating party at a rink five blocks away. Alix stared at the page and turned it over to find a note Jordan had written her. "Alix, I'm looking for a partner. You interested?"
The way her heart nearly exploded told her she was. But skating? Her? Alix had never put on a pair of skates in her life. When she was five or six, all the kids who lived in the same apartment complex had roller skates. Alix had desperately longed for a pair. But finances were always a problem for her family. There wasn't enough money for beer, cigarettes, drugs and roller skates, too.
"You want to come?" she asked Laurel, well aware of what it felt like to be excluded.
Laurel looked up, then shook her head. "No. Are you actually doing it?" She didn't hide her astonishment.
Alix shrugged. "Maybe."
She took an hour to think it over. Jordan claimed he liked her for herself. She wasn't sure she should believe him; what he remembered was the girl she'd been at eleven, which was a far sight from the woman she was now. Despite her doubts she realized she wanted to trust him, wanted to be with him, the same way she had all those years ago.
Nothing had ever come easy for Alix. Everything had been a struggle. If she was going to have a good life, she had to make it happen herself. That recognition fired her determination to give this relationship a chance.
Alix was waiting outside the skating rink, leaning against the building, when the big yellow church bus pulled up. The doors opened and about a thousand pre-teens poured out. No one paid much attention to Alix until Jordan walked over to her, wearing the biggest grin she'd ever seen.
"I was hoping you'd show up."
"I'm not skating." She wanted that understood. "I came to watch." She wasn't willing to play the role of klutz in front of a crowd of teenyboppers.
"You'll be missing out on all the fun."
She didn't care; no one was strapping her into a pair of skates.
The rink opened and the kids swarmed inside. Alix hung around on the street, smoking a cigarette, then casually wandered into the rink. Already kids were skating on the polished wooden floor, speeding around and around with the music blasting. This wasn't music Alix recognized - but then she realized she did. She'd heard one of the songs while she was standing outside the church last Sunday morning. The rink apparently provided Christian rock.
Alix had to look for Jordan. Then she saw him, surrounded by kids. They followed him wherever he went - as though he were Moses, she thought with a smile. Some of that Bible stuff had definitely stuck. Jordan was busy helping them with their skates and putting on his own. Before he ventured into the rink, he stopped and gazed around. When he saw her, he smiled that lazy, happy grin and she nodded her head in acknowledgement. He winked back, and it felt as if the sun was shining directly on her.
Despite her curiosity, Alix remained in the background, taking everything in. Jordan finally skated into the rink, faltering a bit before he found his balance. Once he did, he began skating smoothly and confidently; she found it a pleasure to watch. A few of the kids skated around him, and some of them were really good, skating backward and doing creative dance-style moves to the music.
When Alix lost sight of Jordan, she moved closer to the railing. Jordan skated past and waved. It didn't take long for the church kids to notice the attention he paid Alix. Several stopped to look at her and chat among themselves. Alix ignored them.
"Is Jordan your friend?" a girl asked. She couldn't be more