Ice Skating
Chapter 10: Ice Skating
“I don’t think I can do this,” Peter said as he glanced down from the ice below him to the adorable eyes of Cindy holding on to his mitten clad hands.
“Of course, you can,” Cindy scoffed. “Nothing to worry about. I got you Peter, and I’m not letting you go.”
Peter slid forward, one skate wobbling precariously as he tried to balance on the ice. “No really. I really think I can’t do this. I think I rather would just sit on the sidelines and support you from over there. Something I may be good at in here.”
“Peter, you were the one complaining that your butt was frozen from sitting over there.”
“At least it isn’t broken,” Peter replied.
“Nobody is getting a broken butt today Peter. I swear on my life I wasn’t going to let you go. C’mon, you’re usually not this scared. What’s going on?” Cindy asked.
Peter sighed. “I have a bad experience with ice skating rinks in general.”
“Don’t you have a bad experience with everything?” Cindy joked.
“That too, but this is the big one out of them all. Gave me quite a trauma.”
“Why?” Cindy asked.
“Well...it’s a long story. It happened way before I even became Spiderman.”
“Go on. Tell me,” Cindy said as she was interested into the story Peter was going to tell her.
“Okay. It happened when I was eight. My aunt, uncle, and I were at an ice-skating rink during a few days before Christmas...hey, are we moving?”
“Just a little,” Cindy said. Then Peter glanced down at the ice slipping away underneath them while Cindy skated slowly backwards, Peter in tow. At that moment, Peter was a bit nervous.
“Look up here at my eyes Peter, not down at your feet. Got it?” Cindy asked.
“Sure. Looking at you...looking at you...looking at...oh god, are we moving away from the sides?” Peter asked.
“It’s nothing. Keep going with the story. I want to hear what happens next,” Cindy said.
“Ok. My aunt, uncle, and I were at an ice-skating rink during a few days before Christmas Eve. Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t Spiderman back then, so I didn’t receive the benefits of the spider that bit me.”
“Hmmn. Go on.”
“Anyway, the reason why we were at the ice-skating rink was because I wanted to skate on the ice like how the ice skaters from television would do.”
“I see. Bend your knees a little bit and lean forward,” Cindy suggested.
“Bending my knees. Ok, they are bendy. Where were we?”
“We’re at the part where you would explain your reason why you want to go ice skating.”
“I see. Anyway, once we arrived at the ice-skating rink, we rented out the skates and went onto the rink. However, that’s where things got crazy.”
“What happened?” Cindy asked.
“Well...as soon as I got onto the rink, I immediately slipped and fell on my butt...multiple times,” Peter said.
“Oh dear, that’s got to hurt.”
“Yeah, and that wasn’t the worst part. Afterwards, I kept slipping and slipping until Aunt May helped me with the skates. After a few practice rounds with Aunt May, I thought I was ready.”
“But something happened, didn’t it?” Cindy asked.
“Yeah. As soon I was able to skate on the ice, I started going around like crazy, not knowing when to stop. However, I got way too cocky and ended up injuring myself because of it.”
“What did you do?”
“As I was bolting on the ice, I didn't noticed where I was going and skated face first into the side of a wall and fell over,” Peter said.
“Ouch. That’s got to hurt,” Cindy said.
“No kidding, I ended up with a bloody nose and a head injury.”
“Oh no! What happened afterwards?” Cindy asked.
“Well after that happened, I had to go to the hospital to get checked on to see if the injuries were life threatening,” Peter said.
“Oh dear. Were they?” Cindy asked.
“Nope. Luckily, the head the injury wasn't serious. However, ever since that day, I swore to myself I would never set foot into an ice-skating rink again.”
“I see. Well that’s good, although now you’ve just set a foot onto an ice-skating rink thanks to me,” Cindy said as she guided Peter on the ice. “That’s it, take two steps. Step, step, and glide.”
Peter tried but was stumbling a little at first. Cindy was as good as her word though. She never let go, and never let him fall. After a few minutes, he began catching on to the gliding, and started doing it with more confidence than before.
“Hey! I’m doing it!”
“Yes, you are Peter,” Cindy agreed, beaming at him. “Keep going like that.”
As Peter and Cindy continued their hands-on practice, Cindy felt like Peter needs to go to the next level in ice skating, as Peter got comfortable with the level he was on.
“Okay Peter. I’m going to let go of one hand. Okay?” Cindy asked.
Peter immediately stiffened, fingers clamping down on hers. “I got a bad feeling about this. What happens if I start to fall like what I mentioned earlier?”
“You won’t.”
“But what if I do somehow?” Peter pressed.
“Relax, you won’t because I’m here. If anything happens, just squat down and fall to the side. That’ll prevent you from getting hurt.”
“Okay then. Squat, fall to the side, got it.”
“Good. Now, I’m going to let go of one of your hands, ok? And I’ll be right next to you for the whole time.”
Peter squeezed his eyes shut tight as Cindy let him go and shifted over, so she was standing next to him. “This is fine. This is good. I’m not going to fall and hurt myself again,” he mumbled in a quiet voice.
“One second. Give me a moment Peter,” Cindy said as she was swapping things so her left arm was around his waist. “There we go. Feel better?”
“Yeah,” Peter replied. “We’re still gliding right?”
“Yes. Then we’re going to try something else.”
“Ok,” Peter said as he and Cindy glided across the ice slowly. “You know, you seemed pretty well known about ice skating.”
“I know. I used to do this before,” Cindy said.
“Really? Well that would explain how you know what to do with when teaching with beginners.”
“Yeah,” Cindy said as she was moving to a new position while holding onto Peter. “Alright, you ready to move past gliding?”
“Yes,” Peter answered.
“Good. Now, what I want you to do is to take a step one foot at a time, gliding for a little longer. Then, push off a little and point your toes out. Think you can do that?”
“Got it. Longer gliding, pointing the toes out, and pushing off. Like this?” Peter asked while skating. Cindy was skating alongside Peter until she made sure he had it completely.
“Just like that. Ok, we’re going to go together now, starting with the right foot on three. Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Here we go. One, two, three!”
They both pushed off. Peter was a bit wobbly but managed to get his balance under control. What helped him was that Cindy had her arm firmly wrapped around his back.
“Well, what did you know? I’m not eating ice, or a wall, or anything,” Peter said as they moved in a circle around the area of the rink.
“Nope. You’re doing fine,” Cindy said.
By this point, Peter was starting to feel a bit confident in the rink. They would make a second circuit of the rink, this time it was a bit faster. It was an easy rhythm to settle into thanks to Cindy’s guidance. He was even relaxed enough to give Anna a wave, who was sitting on a bench at the sidelines.
“You know,” Peter said as their gliding were in sync and the wind was blowing stands of hair back from his face, “we’re pretty good together.”
Cindy turned to look at him, a smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Yes, we are Peter. Yes, we are. You want to go for one more round?”
“Are you kidding me Cindy?” Peter said. “I could do this all day, thanks to you.”
Cindy then let out a laugh as she and Peter set the pace around the rink again.