Cole

"Absolutely not." Mr. Carter crosses his arms and frowns at me. "You saw what happened last night."

"Well...yes, but I was the one who took care of Mel and got her out of it," I retort. "C'mon Mr. Carter, Mel's already getting dressed to go."

I follow him out of the kitchen as he walks down the hall. His stride is quick and deliberate. Who knew trying to convince Mr. Carter to let me take Melody out alone would be this much of a pain in the ass. I just wanted to cheer her up, but Mr. No Fun over here won't let me.

"Like I said, I'd be happy to drive you two," he adds. "It's part of my job to make sure Ms. Aria is safe, Cole."

"Ok, ok," I moan, feeling like a child. "I'll text you the address."

He nods, looking quite satisfied and heads to his room to get dressed. I wander down the hall, realizing I have no idea where Melody's room is. The apartment is incredibly lavish and elegant, definitely not what I was expecting when I first got here. Two levels separated by a twisting glass staircase, ceilings higher than two storeys of my house, massive fireplaces, and an insane view of the city through the giant windows.

"Cole?"

I look around and take a moment to find Melody. She's on the lower floor, looking up at me behind the glass railings.

"Oh whoops," I mumble and quickly head back downstairs. "I was just looking for you."

She just giggles. Her laugh is so fluttery and sweet, I can't help but smile a little every time I hear it. When did I get so damn sappy? "I'll give you a tour sometime."

She leads me through the confusing hallways to the front door and bundles herself up as I tug on my boots and jacket. She pulls a knitted white toque with a fluffy pompom on, wraps a thick red scarf multiple times around her neck, slips her small hands into white mittens, and buttons up her long beige pea coat.

"Canadians and your winters." She shakes her head, voice slightly muffled through her scarf.

-----

Gone over with a Zamboni only a couple minutes ago, the freshly smoothed ice is extremely slick and glossy. I wobble a bit, my arms are outstretched and legs are stiff. Children using plastic walkers easily zoom past me. I hadn't considered the fact that it's been nearly a decade since I've skated, and I wasn't the most...adequate skater on my hockey team.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Mr. Carter outside the rink. He's leaning against the rails, chuckling at me. I glare but he just gives me a cheerful thumbs up. I'd give him a different kind of gesture if there weren't so many children in the vicinity.

Melody, on the other hand, seems to be having the time of her life. She glides smoothly across the ice, skating on one leg, doing little twirls. There's a wide, relaxed grin spread across her face, the same look as when she plays piano. She tried staying at my pace at first, but I quickly told her to go ahead at her pace. Definitely not because I didn't want to risk having her see me stumble and fall.

As she's about to lap me for the third time, she slows down and skates next to me.

"When were you planning to tell me you were a figure skater too," I grumble.

She just giggles. "I'm pretty rusty - I actually haven't skated in twelve years. My parents put me in a bunch of different extra curricular activities when I was little to see what would stick," she explains, "turns out I had a knack for skating and piano, but I eventually chose piano."

"Well I- AH." My breath hitches in my throat as I nearly slip and fall back on my butt. I don't though, Melody quickly grabs my arm to steady me. She's small but surprisingly strong. "Thanks," I mumble, feeling heat rush to my face. She just laughs and links her arm around mine, skating with me. I tug my scarf slightly higher over my face as I feel even more heat rush to my cheeks.

I find myself stumbling significantly less. Her grip on my arm helps keep me balanced, but her presence also just makes me feel relaxed and allows my tense muscles to unclench. She animatedly tells me about her years as a skater. The friends, injuries, awards, and trying to balance it with piano. I tell her about my failed attempt at being a hockey player, then eventually finding much better success in basketball.

I catch Melody staring at the giant Christmas tree in the center of the rink, surrounded by a white picket fence. Probably thirty feet tall or so, it's wrapped with twinkling golden lights, and every branch has multicolored baubles hung on them. Wide and mesmerized, her glassy hazel eyes catch the soft glow of the lights in a way that makes the green flecks in her eyes gleam.

I still haven't entirely figured out my feelings towards Melody. She's nothing like the girls I've dated. Tall, luxe, and outgoing sorority girls. Party goers like myself.

Melody is small and cute. Innocent but also incredibly mature at the same time. Probably the most shy girl I've ever met. Yet, there's something about her that makes her impossibly difficult to stay away from. It's as if she has her own gravitational pull, and I'm hopelessly caught in it.

She turns and laughs at me, "What are you staring at?"

"Oh, the...tree," I quickly mumble, "Christmas lights sure are pretty."

As we continue to skate, the question that's been relentlessly bothering me from the back of my mind pops up again. I try to mentally prepare myself to ask, but I hesitate several times as we skate another lap, waiting for just the right moment that I know will never come.

"Hey um," I begin.

She looks up at me curiously and slows her pace a bit. "Yes?"

"Could we talk about...us?" I try to keep my voice calm and confident. "There's something...going on...right?"

Melody doesn't look at me, keeping her eyes glued forwards. "I...don't want to talk about that right now," she murmurs and quickly continues before I can respond. "My feet are tired, can we head out?"

I feel an embarrassing heat rush to my face. A bit taken aback at her curt behaviour, I wordlessly nod. She quickly skates back towards the exit.

I sit next to Melody on the chilly wooden bench as she takes off the skates and tugs her boots back on. I do my best to stay cool and collected, trying to ignore the bruise to my ego she just left. It's clear she doesn't want to talk about it, so I try to keep things normal. I'll follow her lead and just pretend it never happened.

For now at least.

"There's a café nearby, do you want to get some hot chocolate or something?" I try to suggest with a lighthearted tone.

"That sounds nice."

It smells overwhelmingly like pumpkin spice and coffee in the café. It's very cozy with lots of rustic furniture and décor, and soft warm lighting. The floors are a bit squeaky from people's wet shoes tracking in traces of wet snow and slush. Instrumental Christmas music plays softly in the background, muffled by the chatter of customers. Mr. Carter sits down by the door while we go up to the counter and order.

"Mel!" We hear a voice call, as do most of the other customers. Someone waving catches my eye, it looks like Alyssa and Michael sitting in the corner of the café.

"Hey Alyssa." Melody smiles as we approach them.

"Sit." Alyssa gestures to the two empty chairs at the table. Michael mumbles some sort of inaudible greeting. His face is neutral, not happy or unhappy to see us, I guess. Alyssa has a devilish smirk on her face as she looks between the two of us. She rests her chin on her palm and leans towards us. "On another date, eh?"

I feel my heart skip a beat. Glancing at her from the corner of my eye, Melody's cheeks are pink. "Uh, no we were just hanging out," I mumble. Melody quickly nods in agreement.

Alyssa doesn't look convinced though, the bright twinkle remains in her green eyes. "Right," she snickers, a wide grin still spread across her face. "By the way, what happened with Laura the other day? I don't know if you heard, but she's been spreading some pretty nasty things about you."

I groan and drag my palm against my jaw. "Whatever she said, it's not true. She just won't accept rejection."

Melody eyes me curiously but I have no intention of explaining further. The last thing I want is for the two of them to get involved with each other. I took Laura's words about Melody as an empty threat, but I'd rather not risk things.

She chuckles. "Anyways, I was just telling Michael about Alpha Delta Pi's winter formal with Kappa Sigma next week! You're coming, right Cole?"

"Err, yeah." I suddenly remember I still need a date, maybe I could ask Melody?

"Peppermint mocha and pumpkin spice latte?" Someone at the counter calls.

"Oh that's us." Melody stands up. "I'll grab them."

"I'll go with you!" Alyssa quickly stands up and links her arm around Melody's. Alyssa immediately begins whispering to her excitedly, taking a quick peek at me before they walk out of earshot. The last thing I overhear is my name.

Michael sighs and slumps lower in his chair.

"Is sorority talk that rough for you?" I snort.

"No." He rolls his eyes. "It's about the newspaper. I haven't told the team yet, but I found out today that U of M is cutting our funding. We can't afford to print anymore."

My eyes widen. "What? Why?"

"They want us to do everything online," he scoffs. "Pretty much sounded like they just want click bait articles and student gossip. Absolutely no respect for journalism."

"Damn," I murmur. "So... what do we do?"

"No idea," says, "but I'm not giving them what they want." He finishes the rest of his coffee. Knowing him and Alyssa, I wouldn't be surprised if they had added something to their drinks.

Alyssa and Melody return with our drinks. Alyssa has an even bigger smile on her face while Melody's face is bright pink.

I wonder what I missed.

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I love ice skating even though I'm horrible at it, anyone relate? 😂

Thanks for reading! :)