Once in a Full Moon Page 0,33

to glide, taking me with him. My legs quaked underneath me. Brandon was as confident skating on frozen ice as he'd be if he was walking on the ground.

"You are thinking too much," he said. "Let your mind and body relax."

How could I not think? If I fell, I'd be smacking myself on a freezing pond, not to mention the embarrassment I'd feel in front of him.

"Here. Look into my eyes." He took both of my hands and we faced each other. I stared up into his warm and brilliant gaze as he began to slowly skate backward, pulling me forward.

My legs became like Jell-O and I clenched his hands. I wanted to take off my gloves so I could feel his skin against mine, but I was afraid he'd feel how nervous I really was.

"Now talk to me," he said.

"I have to talk, too?"

"Yes," he said. "What are your favorite things to do?" I still struggled to keep my gait relaxed; the more I tried the more I tensed up.

"Uh... I like to skate, but obviously I don't do it very often. I like to do things in the outdoors, but I really never get the chance to. So I mostly go to the mall, talk on the phone, hang with my friends."

"I see you writing in your notebooks. But you aren't taking notes. What are you writing?"

"Uh... nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing. You always seem very focused."

I couldn't tell him that I was writing down his name next to lips and hearts. I also couldn't tell him the other things I wrote for fear he'd laugh.

As we continued to skate, my legs relaxed and I began to gain confidence.

"So what are you writing?" he repeated.

"Just silliness. Stories and poems."

"What kind of stories?"

"One of the stories is about a guy who saves a girl from a pack of wolves."

"I hope it has a happy ending," he said.

"It does," I said.

"And what happens to the girl?"

"She becomes a nurse so she can help others."

"And the guy?"

"Well... he's bitten by the wolves," I said, thinking. "And it's underneath a full moon... so I suppose he could become a werewolf."

"Ah..." he said. "I like it. But couldn't he become a professional hockey player instead?"

I smiled. "Sure, I guess."

"And what happens to the guy and the girl?"

I didn't know what to say, but I knew what I wanted to say - that he falls in love with her. But what I wanted to say and what I could admit to him were very different things.

Just then my cell went off. It rang a funky ring. It was Ivy.

"You can get that," he said as we continued skating. He let my right hand go and I answered my phone.

"What are you doing?" my best friend asked.

If I said holding hands with Brandon Maddox and skating on his pond, she wouldn't believe me. Nor did I really want her to.

"You sound out of breath," she continued. "I'm on my way to pick you up."

"Uh... I'm not home," I said, alarmed.

Brandon and I continued to skate as I talked.

"Then where are you? I'll come get you." Ivy sounded impatient. "We have to work on our papers. You are the one who usually reminds me."

"Uh... give me a little while and I'll meet you at my house," I said.

"Fine, I'll see you there."

We hung up.

"You have to go?" Brandon asked with a hint of disappointment.

Neither one of us put on the brakes as we continued to coast around the pond.

"Not yet. What about you?" I asked. "Tell me something. Why did you move to Legend's Run?"

"My father was transferred to Europe, so I came here to stay with my grandparents."

"What does your father do?"

"He's a scientist."

"Wow - that is cool."

"Yes, it is, except when his job takes him out of the country."

"What about your mother?"

"She hasn't been in the picture for years."

My heart plummeted. I felt so sorry for Brandon, being without his mother and now his father.

"So your father is from Legend's Run?"

"Both of my parents are. My dad's parents stayed here, and I heard my mom's family all moved on. I really wouldn't know. Since my mom left years ago, we haven't kept in touch with her side."

He let go of my hands and skidded to a stop as I kept on gliding, alone. He watched like a handsome instructor proud of his pupil.

"It's okay - keep going," he encouraged.

I soaked up the crisp air. It felt good to