wasn’t sure if that were a good or bad thing.
When it was finally our turn to enter, we paid the entry fee and walked inside. Music blared from speakers placed all around the rink, and a huge old-fashioned disco ball spun, casting spots of light across the darkened rink. The scents of popcorn, hot dogs, and French fries mingled with vague wafts of adolescent hormones. Above the entrance to the rink, a black sign read, Skate at Your Own Risk.
That sounded ominous in so many ways.
Surrounding the rink were lockers, a snack bar, a skate rental station, and several hard benches where you could presumably sit and rest. Dozens of overexuberant teenagers wobbled past us on skates, chatting, holding hands to support each other, and laughing.
I immediately wanted to leave.
“I’m not sure this was a good idea after all,” I said to Frankie, except when I turned around, I didn’t see her. After a moment of searching, I spotted her at the skate rental counter.
“Frankie,” I called out, rushing over to her. “What are you doing?”
“Renting skates,” she said, handing over a twenty-dollar bill to the girl behind the counter. “You wear size five, right?”
“I’m not wearing skates,” I protested. “I’m a first-class klutz on feet. Putting me in skates would be neither pretty nor safe.”
“We have to keep this authentic, right?” Frankie said, collecting her change and handing me a pair of skates.
“Yes, but who cares? We’re inside.”
“Don’t argue, just take them.” After a moment, I reluctantly took them, following her to one of the stone benches. She sat down, took off her shoes, and started unlacing the skates.
“Frankie, no one is going to see us in here.”
“Sure about that?” She gave a slight nod to the right of the café. There were a few tables shrouded in shadows. A man sat alone at one of them, his face indistinguishable in the dim light.
My heart started beating fast as I quickly looked away. “Are you kidding me? He actually came inside?”
“Probably has orders to have ‘eyes on.’ And I sound so cool using that phrase. Professor Allard just taught us that last week.”
I rolled my eyes, then adjusted my small purse so I wore it like a crossbody bag before starting taking off my shoes. It was hard to be irritable with Frankie, especially since she’d spotted the tail and I hadn’t.
“Do I really have to do this?” I asked.
“You do. Then we’ll figure out how to ditch him, and his partner, who is likely outside in the sedan awaiting instruction.”
Great. My plan—which had seemed like an excellent idea in theory—had somehow turned into a bad situation in practice. I’m sure there was a spy lesson in that somewhere, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that now.
Frankie had both skates on and laced before I finally dared to put one foot in the skate. “Me skating is a really, really bad idea. Did I mention that yet? What if I fall and get a concussion?”
“Don’t be such a baby. It’s easy.” She knelt in front of me and started lacing me up while I slipped the other skate on my foot. “Just get that thinking cap of yours on, because we only have an hour before Wally gets here. Then it will be showtime.”
I stood up and nearly fell. I clutched at Frankie’s shoulders and almost took us both down.
“Relax, Angel,” Frankie said, steadying me. “Don’t be so uptight.”
“Easy for you to say. You know what you’re doing.”
She let go of me and, for a moment, I actually stood without falling. Then my legs started to slip forward. I windmilled my arms to stay upright and clocked some guy walking by holding a hot dog. The dog went flying from the bun, landing on the head of a blonde girl in a white blouse. She screamed and glared at him, dripping mustard and relish. He pointed at me, but Frankie quickly put her hands on my waist, pushing me toward the rink and away from the drama.
“Okay, that’s enough of letting you skate on your own,” she said. “Step inside the rink, carefully, and don’t let go of me, okay? We’re going to do this together.”
“I told you this was a bad idea.”
She didn’t respond, so, without recourse, I swallowed my misgivings and stepped onto the rink. Immediately, my feet went in different directions. I slammed down on my butt and elbows, somehow avoiding taking Frankie with me.
“Ouch! You said this was going to be easy.” I