Page 54 of Ask Your Mom If I'm Real

When she was loud, she got in trouble and was yelled at.

So she’d learned that being quiet was the best way to be.

“Come look,” I whispered.

She came around the side of the bed and gasped so quietly that a tear slipped down my cheek.

“Mama!” she gasped. “Bear!”

“Yeah, baby,” I said as she took it and placed it up against her chest. “Bear.”

Chapter

One

Enjoy your gift, because I’m now broke.

—Merriam’s secret thoughts

MERRIAM

I always thought meet-cutes happened in rom-coms. Not real life.

There I was, dressed from head to toe in pads, with roller skates on my feet when he walked in.

At first, I didn’t see him.

I was so nervous about participating in this roller derby practice that I wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of me.

I was skating along, my best friend Gisela right next to me, when we came to a crossroads.

I went left with my friend, or at least, my mind did.

My body had a different idea, though.

One second I’m upright, and the next I’m falling backward.

I landed hard straight on my back and stared up at the ceiling as I tried, and failed, to draw in a deep breath.

“Oh my god,” Gisela whispered as she dropped down to her knees. “Don’t look away from my eyes.”

Seeing as it was kind of hard to focus on anything else but her face since it was directly hovering over mine, I didn’t put up much of a fight.

“Why?” I wheezed.

She started to fix my hair, despite my head lying on the floor.

At least the floor was clean.

We were at a professional hockey rink.

If the floors hadn’t been immaculate, I’d have been disappointed.

When Gisela asked me to come to this horrible idea of a new adventure, I’d reluctantly agreed.

Tonight was about ‘learning the ropes’ according to my best friend, who also happened to be a one-time Olympian speed skater.

She may not have a mean bone in her body, but she could fucking skate. It didn’t matter if they were in-line skates or the four wheeled monstrosity we were currently wearing.

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