Page 49 of Falling

I laugh. “I know. She just needs something to do with herself. But don’t worry, seriously, you all looked so good today.”

Madelyn grins. “Yeah, but now we just need to get the rest of the world to care.”

Eva nods, her expression turning serious. “Speaking of which, we need to talk about the showcase. If we don’t get more support, our program might get cut. No sponsors, no donations, no team.”

The mood shifts as the reality of our situation sinks in. We all know what’s at stake. I always wish I had a better relationship with my teammates, but we’re all so busy with school and skating that we hardly get to hang out. It’s nice though. We all have this one thing in common, and when it’s necessary, we can pull things together.

“I know,” I say. “We need a plan to drum up support. Maybe we could do some kind of promotional event or a social media campaign?”

Madelyn perks up. “That’s a good idea. It’s better than a bake sale. Maybe we could do a live Q&A on Instagram or TikTok, show off some of our routines, and get people excited about the showcase.”

Eva nods enthusiastically. “And we can invite some local schools to a practice session, get the younger kids involved. Parents love supporting things their kids are interested in.”

There’s a brief silence as we all mull over the ideas. Then Madelyn smirks at me. “Speaking of support, Wren, how’s it going with Miles? You two have been hanging out a lot lately.”

I feel a flush creep up my cheeks. “It’s great,” I say, trying to soundnonchalant. Telling them that I’m faking it could be risky, so I try to give them some details but not enough. “Since we started hanging out, people have been talking about us more, if that helps.”

Eva giggles. “Yeah but are you sure it’s not just for popularity.”

I roll my eyes, but I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips. “It’s not like that. We’re just helping each other out.”

Madelyn raises an eyebrow. “Helping each other out, huh? Sounds like a convenient arrangement given the timing. Are you sure you’re not just rebounding from Augustus?”

I can’t stop the laugh that escapes me. “No, Jesus. I got over that a long time ago.”

They all look at me like they think I’m lying. Iamover it. Just because I was going through a hard time after we broke up doesn’t mean that I’m still thinking about it. He’s given me the opportunity to finally work on myself and what I can do to make myself a better skater. Mine and Miles’s arrangement is just going to prove that even more.

I shake my head, laughing softly. “It’s not like that. Miles and I... we just have an understanding. He needed a distraction, and I guess I did too.”

Eva's eyes twinkle mischievously. “A distraction, huh? You know, sometimes, distractions turn into something more.”

I shrug, trying to play it cool. “Maybe. But for now, it’s just nice to have someone around who gets it, you know?”

Madelyn gives me a knowing look. “Rebounds can get messy.”

“Thanks for the advice, Dr. Phil,” I say, rolling my eyes.

Eva claps her hands together. “Alright, back to business. Let’s make a list of everything we need to do for this social media campaign. We’ll need videos, photos, and maybe even some behind-the-scenes content. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

We spend the next half hour brainstorming ideas, and by the time we’re done, the mood in the locker room has lifted. There’s a sense of purpose, a feeling that we’re all in this together. And as I look around at my teammates, I realize that maybe, just maybe, this team is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

After we all go our separate ways, I find myself itching to speak to Miles. We’ve got the event at my dad’s hotel in a few days, but I haven’t heard from him today, which is concerning. He’s usually blowing up my phone and demanding to hang out with me. The fact that he hasn’t sent me a link to a song he’s listening to all day is worrying.

I make my way to the hockey facilities across from the skating rink. If he’s not at home, he might be here. I’ve tried to suggest we go skating together sometime instead of going to the gym, but he brushed me off. I would have been offended that he didn’t want to skate with me if I didn’t see the hurt in his eyes when I suggested it. There’s clearly something holding him back from getting back on the ice that has nothing to do with his physical strength.

When I push open the doors to the arena, the comforting chill of the ice hits me, and the thump of the doors echoes when I step through them and they swing back. It’s completely empty here, and I don’t know why I’m surprised. There’s a timetable between our rinks that shows when the figure skaters and the hockey players have practice, and I know there wasn’t one today. What I’m not expecting to find is Miles sitting on a bench outside of the rink with his head in his hands.

“Miles?” I call out, even though I know it’s him. I could probably recognize him out of a million clones. There’s something about his presence that draws me to him, and I keep on walking until I’m standing in front of him. Then I notice that he’s not just got his head in his hands to listen to music before skating, but he’scrying.Popular Miles Davis with the flirty jokes and the cocky personality is sitting in here, alone, and he’scrying.

I bend down to crouch between his legs. He’s wearing his skates, but they’re not laced up, and his gloves and stick are discarded on the floor.

I grip his wrists, rubbing my thumbs against them like he does to me to calm me down. “Hey, are you okay?” I whisper. It’s a stupid question. Obviously, he’s not okay. He wouldn’t be sitting here crying if he was. “Miles, look at me.”

His shoulders shake with sobs, and I just want to take away his pain. “I can’t.”

“You can,” I press, swiping my thumb against his wrist again.

“I’m pathetic, Wren.”

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