Chapter 5: The One I Picked

The second picture showed more of my body than the first.

Somebody had pulled my dress down over one shoulder.

The camera had been close enough to catch a broken fingernail against the tile.

I had painted that nail before the party.

Saskia's question sat under it for anyone to answer.

Still broken?

Toni took her phone back when I asked her to.

"I know where that woman is staying," one skater said.

"Don't," I said.

"We could stand outside with signs."

"She'd have your faces in her next post."

Joel brought a chair from the snack bar.

I stayed standing.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"The rink tomorrow morning. Before the children come in."

He studied me for a second.

"It opens at eight. I'll be here at seven."

Toni drove me home in silence.

Her son had left two bowls on the table, each with a spoon and a ridiculous mountain of cereal.

"He thinks that's dinner," she said.

I ate mine dry while she found milk.

The next morning Joel unlocked the rink with one hand and carried a box of fresh pads with the other.

I changed into my practice clothes.

For two hours I skated with Toni, who had traded part of her shift to come.

She made me fall forward, rise without the rail, and do it again.

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