Skate Party
Eroded by the Weather
Walking in to the skating rink always made me so excited. I’m kinda nervous too, though. What if no one wants to be around me and I end up being all alone? I did ask Brian if he was going to be here tonight. He said he was, so maybe I can just hang out with him. I shrugged my shoulders in the autumn evening chill, roller skating was too exciting to worry about something like that.
“This is going to be so fun” I said to my sisters waiting in line with me. They didn’t respond, so they probably didn’t hear me.
Girls are dumb like that, especially sisters, so I rolled my eyes and went back to thinking about how fun skating is, especially the speed skating. I don’t know why they just don’t have a speed skate the whole time. That’s the best part of skating! I’m going to win it this year! I know it’s always the 6th graders that win, they are so big, almost grown ups. But, dad says I can do whatever I put my mind to, so I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, at least a week. This is going to be my year!
“Mick, your ticket” my sister said, annoyed. Oops, I should pay attention instead of day dreaming so much. I handed the guy my ticket and walked through the double doors. Man, walking through those doors into the skating rink always makes me feel like a rock star walking out onto a dark stage. The skating rink is really dim and they even have a disco ball. It kinda smells like a movie theatre, but in my karate gym. Coming here is always so rad!
“Size?” the guy at the skate counter asked.
“Six”, that was my size last year.
He disappeared long enough for me to notice that they had Centipede! That’s the coolest game. I really wish I could play it, but I’m not old enough for an allowance yet. I bet I could watch someone else play, though.
“Hey, kid, your skates”
“Oh, sorry.” I said as I grabbed the skates.
I practically ran to the benches since I couldn’t wait to get my skates on and get out there skating. People were already skating. I wish I could be the first one out there. I bet that’s amazing. I tried to put my skate on, but it was too tight! That means I grew up! I can’t wait to tell dad. He always tells me he’s proud of how much I’ve grown. This should make him really happy. Anyway, after I went back and got new skates -- size seven by the way -- I put them on and headed out onto the skating floor. Hopefully, someone will notice how big my skates are.
I don’t know how everyone else does it so easily, but I always mess up and fall a lot the first couple of times around. I wish I could skate more often so that I didn’t look so dumb falling down. As I was skating around, I saw Brian putting his skates on so I waved to him. I don’t think he really saw me because he didn’t wave back. When I went over to talk to him he was pretty cool, though. I bet he just didn’t see me. After he got his skates on we hung out for a while skating around while we both fell down a lot.
Right when I was really starting to feel good about skating, they stopped the free skate to do limbo. Man, I don’t like the limbo because I always fall early and then have to sit and watch everyone else take forever to finish. Brian didn’t even try, he just went off and got one of those licorice ropes that were so long and cool. His mom always gave him money for a snack. He’s so lucky. On his way back over to me, he got distracted by another one of his friends. So, when the limbo was over and they let me skate again, I decided I’d just work on skating really fast for the speed skate.
I was even going so fast that they whistled me because I was going too fast. I also passed Patty a lot when I was going fast. I know she’s just a girl with cooties, but she’s so pretty. I really wanted to say hi to her every time I passed her, but what if she thought that was weird? So, I settled on just saying hi to her once or twice. That felt right. I did slow down and coast a little bit every time I passed her so she could get a good look at the size of my skates this year.
Finally! They called out that the speed skate was going to start!
I just knew that it was my time to shine! I was so excited as I lined up waiting for them to start it. It seemed like forever before they blew the whistle. As soon as they did, I took off and I went my fastest! I even made some car noises in my head, because that always helps. But, that is when I realized I couldn’t keep up. They were getting further ahead. I tried my hardest, but I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t good enough. I remembered that book mom would read to us about the little train engine that could. I kept going even when it felt like everyone was pointing and laughing at me. Even though I felt stupid for not being fast, I stayed out there the whole time. I wonder if anyone will notice.
After the race I didn’t want to skate for awhile, so I went to go watch someone play Centipede instead.
On the way home after the skating party, my sisters were talking about all the fun they had. Mom asked me if I had fun, so I said “Yeah, they had Centipede! It was really cool”. The rest of the way home I stared out the window. I don’t think anyone noticed my skate size.