Page 84 of Outnumbered

She laughed and righted me. “Move them slowly,” she advised. “Like this.”

After watching her a bit, I tried to mimic her and was a bit successful. The guys carried in the stuff and I watched as they set up a large buffet area where we could get food and drinks as we wanted.

The DJ started playing popular music and lights began moving around the oval rink in the center.

“When you first go out there, just hold onto one of their hands and let them move you around so you can get a feel for it,” she advised me.

I nodded. “Okay.”

Triston zoomed by us with his skates on, spinning in a circle with a smile on his face. “I love skating.”

“Show off,” I muttered.

Caleb got his skates and immediately went out onto the rink, skating fast, spinning, and showing off just as much as Triston.

Branson came to me, grabbed my hand, and winked. “I’ll help you. Come on.”

Slowly, he got me out onto the rink, the surface much slicker than the carpet we had been on, and I had a death grip on his hands.

We made our way around the rink and Jolie’s mates joined us. Fox showed off the most, doing jumps and shit.

After several more laps, I finally got a little courage and started skating while just holding one of Branson’s hands as he skated next to me.

“There you go,” he praised.

Smiling like a fool, I let them teach me something I should have enjoyed as a child, happy to learn something new.

“I need a drink,” I said and headed towards the side, but quickly realized I didn’t know how to stop. “Shit!” I yelled as I raced towards the wall.

“Got ya!” Riddick yelled as he grabbed me just before I slammed into the wall and spun us around until I slid to a safe stop.

“Thanks,” I whispered, breath fast and heart pounding.

“Tilt one foot forward to slow down,” he advised and I looked down to see the weird thing on the front.

“Okay.”

“You good?” he asked.

Holding the wall with a death grip, I nodded as I made my way off the rink and towards the food area.

After a bottle of water and a few finger foods, I turned around to look at the rink where everyone was smiling and racing around.

Pulling out my phone, I snapped a picture and immediately saved it as my phone’s background. Pure, unadulterated bliss was on their faces and it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever witnessed.

“So, what do you want to do next?” Deryn asked from beside me as he ate some food, too.

I thought about it a moment, picturing all the things I saw people do on movies or had heard about throughout my years. What was something else I wanted to do? “Snow skiing?” I asked. “There was snow at my place, but I avoided it due to it being cold, and I’ve always wanted to try skiing.”

“We can do that,” he said with a nod. “I think you’ll particularly love sledding.”

“That does look fun!” I exclaimed, recalling a move we watched where they’d done a lot of sledding down hills.

“I’m really glad you’re here, Ember,” Deryn said. “You’ve made a significant change on Caleb’s life. Something we experienced with Jolie. I’m glad to see my son experiencing the same.”

“I’m glad I’m here as well,” I said with a nod.

“If there’s ever anything you want or need, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”

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