Trick Me Once - 14. Let It Go

Looking at all the children and adults skating and having fun as he was standing in line to get a pair of ice skates, Trick was thinking how it wasn’t too late to turn around and leave. He even thought about coming up with an excuse, such as saying he didn’t actually come to skate, but just to wait for a friend. However, people in the queue were moving quickly and before he had time to think, he was standing in front of a young guy who was clearly working there, handing out skates.

“Welcome! What’s your shoe size?”

“Uh, sorry, what?” Trick asked, startled. The guy looked at him, smiling.

“Your shoe size? So I can give you your skates? Unless you wanna skate in those?” He said, pointing to Trick’s shoes.

“Oh, sorry, it’s size nine.” After a few moments, the employee handed him a pair of skates and Trick stepped aside to put them on and meet his destiny.

As soon as he stepped on ice, he realized he may have gone too far.

“Ok, shit just got real.” He didn’t know whether to laugh or scream with how completely out of his element he felt. Still not letting go of the fence, he started slowly sliding across the ice, hoping no one would suddenly rush in and knock him down. Just as he was starting to hate himself for having ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen stuck in his head, he heard someone calling him.

“You can’t keep clutching that fence forever, you know!”

He frowned and turned to see who was mocking him, and saw the guy who gave him the skates looking at him and grinning. He had icy blue eyes and blond hair, with bangs that fell over his forehead and almost covered his eyes. What a fitting place of work for someone who looked so Scandinavian.

“Let me guess, your first time here?”

“Yeah…” What else was he supposed to say, it was obvious even to blind people that he was hopeless.

“I can teach you if you want?” the guy offered.

“Aren’t you working?”

“Yeah, but my shift ends in like five minutes. Just wait there, try not to break anything, and I’ll be right over.”

A few minutes went by and the blond guy effortlessly slid over as if he was born on skates.

“Hey, you’re still in one piece! I’m Anders, by the way,” the guy said, extending his hand. Trick shook it and introduced himself. He was still uncomfortable and didn’t come there to make friends, but he saw no point in turning down free skating lessons. As long as he’s there, he might as well try and learn how to move without holding onto something all the time.

“Ok, just grab my hand and follow my lead,” Anders said, taking Trick by the hand and starting to move slowly across the ice. Trick could feel himself blushing. When he came there he didn’t expect to be talking to strangers, let alone holding hands with one. He really wished Cody was there… Or Brad, or Zoe… Anyone.

His thoughts were interrupted by Anders talking and guiding him among other people. Now he had to focus all of his attention on not falling down or bumping into anyone.

As they went from one end of the rink to the other, Trick became nervous as he faced a new challenge – how the hell is he going to stop? He thought he was just going to slam into the fence, but Anders showed him how to slow down and stop himself.

Ok, so far – so good. Trick realized that if he stopped being so nervous, he could actually enjoy this. When he comes here with Cody, he will definitely enjoy this – if his legs aren’t too sore.

About twenty minutes later, he decided he’d had enough for the day, so they left the rink and went to change back into their shoes.

“Thanks for the help, I probably would’ve given up otherwise,” Trick said with a chuckle.

“No problem, man, my pleasure!” Anders smiled at him. “You sure you have to go? A friend of mine is coming over soon, we could hang out for a while?”

“Sorry, but I have to go, I have plans with a friend,” Trick lied. Hanging out with two strangers definitely wasn’t his idea of a good time. One on one he could handle, but more than that – no thanks. He’d probably end up just awkwardly sitting there and listening to the two of them talk, nodding his head occasionally.

As he was walking out of the building, looking at his phone and texting Cody, he almost ran into someone. Looking up, he almost froze in shock as he saw the guy who made his life miserable in high school – Mason. Their eyes met for a second, but Trick managed to keep his poker face and calmly headed out the door.

Even though he tried to remain calm, he could feel the fear slowly creeping in. As soon as he saw Mason, he felt once again like that fourteen-year-old kid who got harassed and called names on a daily basis. He hated Mason and he hated himself for still being afraid. What would’ve happened if the two of them were alone? He didn’t even want to think about that. Instead, he put on his earphones and turned on the music, trying to distract himself as he hurried to the dorms.

“What’s so funny?” Anders asked as he saw his friend approach with a grin on his face.

“Nothing, just saw some kid I went to high school with,” Mason said. “No idea what he was doing here, he couldn’t even run in gym class, let alone skate,” he let out a chuckle.

“This may be a surprise to you, but people change,” Anders said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s go to a pub for a beer, I’m not in the mood for freezing my ass here.”

--

A knock on the door startled Zoe, as she was comfortably laying on the couch and watching a new episode of Mrs. Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

“Ugh, who is it now?” she muttered to herself, getting up to open the door.

“Hey, what’s up?” Brad greeted her.

“Hey, just watching TV.” She stood aside, letting him enter. “What’s going on?” she asked, as she wasn’t expecting a visit from him.

“Oh, I just came by to pick up Cathy’s laptop. She’s at the library and she needs it for some project,” Brad replied, going to the table to grab the laptop. He couldn’t miss the eyeroll from Zoe.

“Ok, what? Let’s hear it!” Annoyance was clear in his voice.

“Hear what?” Zoe acted surprised as Brad sat on the couch next to her.

“Come on, Zoe, don’t play dumb with me. You’ve been acting weird around me lately, what’s up?”

“You’re imagining,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. We’ve been friends forever, I think I know when something’s up with you.” She was about to brush him off again, but he wouldn’t let it go. “I’m serious, Zoe, tell me,” he said sternly.

“It’s just… you and Cathy,” she sighed.

“What, are you jealous?” he asked jokingly, but the look on her face told him it wasn’t a joke at all. “Wait… are you for real? I was just kidding…”

“No, I’m not jealous!” she quickly replied. “Well, maybe, I’m not sure.”

“Wow, I… didn’t see that coming,” Brad was stunned. For all their years of friendship, he never thought Zoe could have feelings for him other than as a friend. “I mean, I can’t say I never thought about it, but it was years ago… I mean, we’ve always been best friends.”

“Yeah, I know. What can I say, I’ve been thinking about this lately. I don’t even know what I feel,” she said, not looking him in the eyes. “But don’t worry, I don’t wanna screw up our friendship either. Or my friendship with Cathy, for that matter. Speaking of which, she’s waiting, you should probably head to the library,” she said, pointing to the laptop in Brad’s hands.

“Yeah, I should,” Brad nodded, but didn’t move. Suddenly, before either of them realized what was going on, they leaned in and pressed their lips together.

--

Cody had just gotten back home after a game of baseball with a few of his college friends. It was the first day that winter that wasn’t too cold, so they decided to take the opportunity. Now that he was back home, he took a shower and got dressed, ready to head out to Trick’s dorm room. After an intense baseball match, he was ready for some relaxation in the loving arms of his boyfriend.

“I’m off to see Trick,” he yelled to his mom as he put on his shoes, grabbed his car keys and headed out the door. Just as he was about to open the door, the doorbell rang.

“Mrs. Pierce, hi,” he said, surprised to see Trick’s mom standing at the door.

“Hi, Cody, how are you?” she asked politely.

“I’m good, just going to see Trick, actually. How are you?”

“Fine, thanks for asking. Is your mom home?”

“Yeah, she’s in the kitchen, I think. Do you want me to call her?”

“No, it’s no problem, I’ll find her. And Cody, don’t worry,” she said, seeing that Cody was a bit nervous and finding it endearing. “I just came for a cup of coffee. After all, I ought to get to know the parents of my son’s boyfriend, right?”

“Of course,” Cody smiled and nodded.

“Say hi to Trick for me!”

As she entered the house, Cody left and closed the door behind him. All the way to the dorms he couldn’t help but feel like a criminal, as if their moms would find him guilty, put him on a trial and sentence him to life without Trick. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn’t help it.

Luckily, all of his irrational fears vanished when he walked into the dorm room and saw his boyfriend. As soon as he opened the door, he was met with a hug and a hungry kiss.

“Mmmm I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you too,” Trick replied with a huge grin plastered on his face.

It didn’t take long for them to snuggle up next to each other on the couch. Cody laid his head on Trick’s chest, while Trick wrapped his arms around him, interlocking their fingers. He placed one of his legs over Trick’s, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

“This is nice,” Trick said, his heart filled with happiness caused by being so close to Cody. He could never get tired of cuddling with him, feeling his body heat and his scent all around him.

“I wonder what our moms are talking about now,” Cody said absentmindedly.

“Relax, sweetheart,” Trick said softly. “They just want to get to know each other. Yeah, they’re bound to talk about us, so what? They already know how we feel about each other and that’s not gonna change.”

“You’re right, I’m just nervous, I guess.”

“Don’t be. You can’t be nervous when you’re in my arms. You should be relaxed.”

“Sorry, babe,” Cody chuckled. “I love lying here with you. Ok, changing the subject, I don’t wanna think about what our moms are talking about. So, are you excited for ice skating on Sunday?”

It was now Trick’s turn to get nervous. He was hoping Cody would forget about their plans or maybe cancel them, but of course he didn’t. Ever since he saw Mason there, he didn’t want to go back. He was nervous enough as it is, but seeing that jerk just raised his anxiety to a new level.

“Uh, I was actually hoping we could postpone it for some other day. I don’t think I’ll have time on Sunday,” Trick said. He was glad Cody couldn’t see his face because he was sure Cody would be able to tell he was lying.

“Oh, ok then, no worries. So what’s keeping you busy?”

“I, uh…” Trick tried to come up with an excuse, but it was taking him too long. It was now obvious he was hiding something. Cody got up and looked at him.

“Babe, is something wrong?”

Embarrassed to look at him, Trick sat up and looked down at his knees.

“If you don’t wanna go, just say it, I don’t wanna force you,” Cody said, putting his arm around Trick’s shoulders and leaning into him.

There it was again – that feeling that people always have to walk on eggshells around him because of his own insecurities. He hated it and knew that if it was to stop, he would have to face his demons, not keep avoiding them. But where would he find the strength to do that? He realized the answer was right next to him, as Cody took his hand and squeezed it.

“You know what, it’s stupid, we should go.”

“Ok,” Cody couldn’t help but chuckle at Trick’s sudden change of mood. “Is that your final answer?”

“Yeah,” Trick laughed. “We’re going.”

“Ok. But I can tell something’s wrong, wanna tell me what it is?” Cody looked at him reassuringly and he just nodded.