Girls Only! (19 page)

“Better ask Mom and Dad if we can go out,” Heather
said as they hurried down the stairs. They stopped by the coat closet in the entryway.

“Dad’s working with Tommy on his rocket project,” Kevin said, reaching for his jacket.

“In the garage?” she asked.

Kevin nodded. “I think Mom and Joanne are out there, too. Last time I checked, they were.”

Heather followed him out to the garage, where they found the rest of the family wearing coats and scarves, helping Tommy with his homeschool project. A giant red rocket.

“Is it okay if Heather and I walk down to the mall for some ice cream?” Kevin asked their dad.

“Isn’t it kind of late?” Dad said, glancing at his watch. He was a tall, thin man with the same blond hair as Heather and Kevin.

“We’ll be home by eight,” Heather volunteered.

Dad looked at Mom, who was nodding her head that it was all right. “Okay, but don’t be gone long.”

“And go easy on the sweets,” Mom said as they headed outside. “Remember, you have practice tomorrow.”

“Four-thirty comes so early,” Heather muttered.

Kevin chuckled. She could see his breath as they walked toward the sidewalk. “You’d think after all these years, getting up before the chickens would be easy,” he said.

Heather watched the glow from the streetlights. They
dotted the narrow street, three to a block, and the effect against the snow reminded her of their recent trip to Colorado Springs. On the city’s West Side, there was an enchanting section of quaint shops and eateries not far from the World Arena—called Old Colorado City.

She wasn’t sure why she thought of the place just now as she and Kevin walked in perfect stride. Maybe it was the memory of a ceramic doll in one of the shop windows—a skater dressed in a flowing white dress with silver beads sewn on the bodice, sleeves, and hem. A girl without a partner, soaking up all the limelight. Sharing the applause with no one.

What would that be like?
she wondered.

The stillness was awkward and brought her back to Alpine Lake. She sensed that Kevin knew why she wanted to walk with him along the quiet, narrow street on a cold January evening.

Kevin was in tune with her that way. He seemed to know her mood better than most anyone. Even their homeschool friends—and their relatives—said the twosome were as close as twins. If that was actually true, Heather decided there was only one reason for it. All the skating—the lessons, the practicing. Constant togetherness.

For the longest time, she and her brother had been the only two children in the Bock family. Then one day, their parents sat them down and discussed the possibility
of adoption. Heather could still hear her father’s words, even though she was just a tiny girl at the time.
“A little boy and girl need a home,”
he’d said with glistening blue eyes.

Dad had held Mom’s hand as they told of two youngsters orphaned by a fatal car accident.
“Their names are Tommy and Joanne, and they’re darling little ones,”
Mom had said excitedly.
“You’re going to have a new brother and sister.”

Heather remembered the brightness on her parents’ faces. She also remembered the love she felt from them and
for
them. So changing from just the two of them—Heather and Kevin—to the four of them wasn’t terribly difficult. For one thing, Mom and Dad were eager to make the transition a smooth one. They worked hard at blending the family; even gave little Tommy and Joanne skating lessons for several years. Heather remembered how much fun it was to have a new brother—a younger one—and a little sister.

But changing from ice dancing with a partner to free skating by herself would require a lot of dedication and effort. Much more work on her part—a complete regimen of off-ice training, too. After all, Livvy Hudson was one of the best skaters in all of Alpine Lake, and she did many different types of training off the ice. Things like cycling on a stationary bike, lifting small weights several times a week, and skating in the church parking lot on
in-line skates. Beside that, she trained with her coach three times a week and practiced on her own every day . . . even on Saturdays!

So Heather knew what was ahead of her. That is,
if
Kevin would agree to let her go it alone. If . . .

“Uh, Kevin,” she began when they were within sight of the restaurant. “I need to ask you something.”

He sighed, his breath turning to a wispy cloud of ice crystals. “You’re not happy with the way we’re doing the fish lift?”

She almost laughed. Of course he’d think of something like that. Something related to one of their skating positions. “No,” she said softly, “nothing’s wrong with the fish lift.”

“Are you sure, because if there is . . . we can work on your spiral some more and the preparation and—”

“It’s not about that,” she said emphatically.

He was quiet for a moment. Then, “What’s wrong, Heather?”

Just the way he said it made her feel sick in the pit of her stomach. She was hesitant to tell her brother the truth. Afraid what her new goal—her incredibly exciting ambition—might do to him. So she was silent, too unsure of herself to say what was on her mind.

“Heather?”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” she said, furious with herself for not having the grit to follow through. She scrambled for something to discuss and remembered that their dad’s fortieth birthday was coming up. “We should have an over-the-hill party. Dad would get a kick out of it, don’t you think?”

Kevin seemed relieved. “Sure. Let’s talk to Tommy and Joanne and see how much each of us want to chip in.”

“We get our allowance tomorrow,” she said, feeling like an icicle, walking through a daze of mist and snow. And wishing she’d never invited her brother out into the frosty night.

Bottom line: She was a coward, too scared to tell her skating partner the truth. But how could she without hurting him?

This is horrible! What am I going to do?
she wondered.

A Perfect Match

Chapter Three

The three of them—Heather, Livvy, and Jenna—were doing their warm-up stretches at the barre on Monday after school. In the far corner of the ballet studio, Natalie Johnston, the dance instructor, was giving the pianist some final instructions.

“Better limber up in a hurry,” Heather told her friends as she watched them in the mirror above the barre. “Natalie will be calling us to center stage any minute.”

“I still have some kinks in my legs,” Jenna complained, shaking her right leg. Then she leaned forward, stretching it again.

Heather nodded, wishing
her
problems consisted of only a few leg kinks and tight tendons. She’d tried again to talk to Kevin before they took the ice during their early-morning practice session. Right before Coach
McDonald arrived all fired up about their straight arm lift. He’d called it brilliant—said something about it being positively perfect.

But she’d gotten exactly nowhere with Kevin, partly because he was preoccupied with their dad’s fortieth birthday plans. “Mom’s all for a big party,” he’d said as they laced their skates. “We’ll do the black streamers, black everything, over-the-hill party hats—you name it.”

Heather had forced a smile and a chuckle, trying to conceal her true colors. Things would be bad enough when she finally came out with it and told Kevin that she didn’t want to partner with him anymore. That she wanted to try something brand-new.

Livvy was calling, “Hey, Heather. Time to line up.”

The opening measures of Beethoven’s haunting “Moonlight Sonata” were the cue for center practice—the slow, sustained exercises to improve balance and graceful movement. But for Heather, everything was a big, fat blur. Like a puppet, she followed Miranda Garcia, her tall Hispanic friend—fabulous dancer and Alpine skier. Miranda, too, had high hopes for the Olympics. Someday.

“Hey, Heather. How’s it going?” Miranda flashed a big smile.

“Okay,” she said, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Sighing, she felt completely frustrated with her lack of heart. She needed to pull herself together enough to talk to Kevin. Had to!

“Something bothering you?” Jenna asked after class.

Heather didn’t dare mention her wish to become a free skater. She couldn’t without raising a lot of eyebrows, especially around Jenna and Livvy. They’d never understand—not in a quadrillion years. Mostly because they’d made up their minds (and probably their hearts, too) that Kevin was something extraordinary. A boy to make the heart beat faster, and all that jazz. Which was probably quite true—if you weren’t related to him.

For that reason, it would be next to impossible to convince her girl friends that her new mission in life was an excellent choice. For
her
, Heather Elayne Bock. But they would never understand.

She could hear it now.
How can you possibly think of giving up all those years of skating with Kevin?

And . . .

Are you out of your mind? Your brother’s so-o-o adorable
.

Or . . .

What I’d give for a skating partner like Kevin!

Livvy followed her into the dressing room. “You upset?”

Unsure about what to say, Heather shrugged off the question. “I’m just thinking, that’s all.”

Livvy’s face drooped. “This isn’t about our Spring
Dance Festival, is it? You’re not backing out on us, are you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” she replied, wondering what had caused Livvy to think of their festival plans.

“Then what
is
it? What’s got you in a blue funk?” Livvy insisted.

Digging through her sport bag, Heather located her hairbrush and began brushing vigorously, ignoring Livvy.

“C’mon. Something’s wrong, Heather. I can see it in your eyes. They’re blazing blue.”

Heather snorted accidentally. “Sounds like lyrics to a song or something.” With that, she walked toward the dressing-room cubicle and pulled the blue curtain across the rod. Grateful for a little privacy, she changed out of her simple practice clothes into jeans and a sweat shirt.

When she opened the curtain again, Livvy and Jenna were staring at her, still wearing their bell-like skirts and tight-fitting pink bodices.

“What’s with you two?” she muttered.

Jenna’s face sagged. “Maybe we should ask
you
that.”

“You’re right. . . .” She didn’t know what else to say.

“Hey, we’re best friends, remember?” Livvy said, sporting her crowd-pleasing smile.

“Yeah, so lighten up.” Jenna poked her in the ribs.

Heather wondered how long she could hold out on her friends. “Maybe we oughta have a club meeting,” she said at last.

“We just did,” Livvy piped up.

“But that was
last
week,” Heather said, hoping they’d give it some thought. She just might be able to share her top-secret longing in a secluded setting. Somewhere like Jenna’s attic bedroom. The dressing room here at Natalie’s ballet studio wasn’t the best place for a heart-to-heart talk about her athletic future.

“I think we oughta have a midweek club meeting.” This time there was a sense of urgency in her voice. She knew it came through loud and clear because the girls started to nod their heads.

“Sure. We can get together before Friday’s regular meeting if you want,” Jenna said, glancing at Livvy. “No problem.”

Livvy, too, was very agreeable. In fact, she reached out and slipped her arm around Heather’s shoulders. “Is this an emergency meeting?” she whispered.

Suddenly, Heather felt like crying. “I . . . I guess you could say that.”

“That’s all we need to know,” Jenna said, taking her place on the other side of Heather. “
Girls Only
Club is calling a zero-hour meeting this Wednesday after school.”

Livvy looked confused. “What’s zero hour?”

“It means, my dear club member, that we’ve got
ourselves a crisis,” Jenna answered. “Any time one of us is freaking out, we’re gonna alter bylaws and make some changes in the club schedule. And that’s all there is to it!”

Heather felt a smile coming. No . . . it was actually a giggle. Jenna Song had a way of making things seem all right.

The threesome walked out of the dressing room and down the hall to the main doors, arm in arm, past Miranda and several other girls. But Heather didn’t care anymore. She let the tears drip down her face. All the while, her smile struggled to be strong.

A Perfect Match

Chapter Four

Early the next morning, Heather took a deep breath as she stared at the Alpine Lake mall skating rink. The place looked ten times smaller than she’d remembered since she and Kevin last practiced here. She was definitely spoiled by the beautiful Olympic-sized rink at the World Arena.

Today, the ice looked exceptionally dazzling and new, like it did right after the Zamboni made its clean sweep. Leaning against the barrier, she waited for her brother to lace up, wondering how to tell him. It wasn’t the least bit fair to skate halfheartedly as an intermediate ice dancer. No, it would only be right to tell her brother as soon as possible.

By tomorrow afternoon, she would know precisely what to do. Livvy and Jenna could help her dream up a good way to break the news to Kevin. That is,
after
they got over the initial shock. She sincerely hoped they wouldn’t try to talk her out of her new goal. Surely they’d understand.

Why does this have to be so hard?
she wondered.

“Straighter, straighter . . . arms must be completely straight for this lift,” Coach McDonald instructed. “Careful, now, not too high.” He cautioned Kevin not to lift Heather higher than his shoulders. The rule about the height of lifts was a strict one and had to be followed closely.

Still, she enjoyed the feeling of elevation—even if only a few feet off the ice. How exciting it would be to jump high into the air and whirl and spin the way Livvy Hudson did as a novice-level free skater.

Kevin brought her down slowly. He set her gently on the ice, the blade of her right skate making contact with the surface.

“Wonderful, simply wonderful,” Coach said, applauding them. “Now, let’s do it again.”