Page 31 of Side By Side
“That program? No,” she replied. “Not after what happened. There are beautiful parts to this sport. I loved those. I still do. I love how being on the ice makes me feel like nothing else in the world. But there are dark sides, too. It’s not easy for someone like me to fit in. Not just because I’m gay, either. I was poor, and my parents barely scraped by what we needed for me to be able to compete in a rich kid sport. No offense.”
“None taken.” Chandler shrugged a shoulder.
“So, I was a poor kid who happened to be good at one thing, and I loved that one thing on top of it. Then, I started crushing on the new girl, and I made a mistake that made me feel like I’d never fit in anywhere again. Now, I was the poor, gay kid, and I really didn’t fit in. So, I left, and I watched you all laugh at me as I packed my things. I probably should’ve gone to therapy, huh?” She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
“You needed therapy because of me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Belle shrugged a shoulder, as well. “I don’t regret leaving when I did. And, well, my mom was sick, and she was just more important than me continuing to compete, so we moved here, and we lost her. Dad bought this place more on a whim than anything else because it really was garbage when we first got it. We’ve both worked hard on making it what it is now.”
“It’s nice, Belle.”
“It’s not ready for the next Olympics or anything, but I’ll get it there eventually, I think.”
“Is that what you’re hoping for one day? To host the Olympics?”
“No.” Belle laughed. “But I’d like to help this town continue to grow. Dad and I have built a home here, and we know these people. Many of them own small businesses in town, and the more we can do to bring people in to buy from them, the better they’ll do.”
“You really turned out to be a good person, didn’t you? I was kind of hoping you would’ve turned out to be an asshole. Like, the whole thing back then would’ve been your villain origin story, and you were trying to poison the water of Gotham or something.”
Belle laughed and said, “No, I went another way. I’ve left the people of Gotham alone. I just made a dart board with a picture of you on it and hung it up at home so I can get my anger out that way.”
“You did?”
“No,” Belle said. “I was kidding. I won’t lie, Chandler: I think about what happened all the time. And maybe it led me here – at least, in part – but I’m not angry. I’m not sure I was ever really angry. I was more hurt than anything.”
“I know,” Chandler said. “And I am sorry.”
“I know that now. I would replay it sometimes, and I kept worrying that maybe I’d gotten it wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, maybe I thought that you’d kissed me, but I was the one who leaned in and it was all me. I also worried I’d done it wrong for a second. It was my first kiss, too, you know? I had some self-discovery to do after that because I’d had my suspicions, but that kiss confirmed it.”
“Skate with me, Belle.”
“Chandler, no.”
“Please. Just give me one skate. We had fun the other night.”
“We were racing around the rink, and you cheated. We weren’t choreographing a routine. I’ve never partnered anyone before. I’m assuming I’d be the guy here.”
“No, you’d be you here.”
“You know what I mean. There are lifts and things that the male skater typically does. You look like you can barely lift your skate bag.”
“Hey,” Chandler said with a little laugh. “I have muscles. I lift three times a week, at least.”
“I’m sure you do. But you know what I mean.”
“I do. And some of that, I don’t know. We’d probably be figuring things out together. But just skate with me.”
“I work here, Chandler.”
“Just once. I’m asking for one real skate, not a race. If you hate it, I’ll go, and you never have to see me again if you don’t want to.”
Belle wasn’t sure how she felt about never seeing Chandler again now, and that was a new feeling for her.
“One skate?”