Chapter Ten
We sat in his room studying the Philosophy hypothesis of which professors who later discovered it argued with another professor about it as I quickly quizzed him on this theory afterwards helping him understand what was it all about and then I told him what figure skating routine we should stick to because it might help guarantee us a safe spot in the competition when we were listening to couple songs from both of our playlists that were being narrowed down to two songs so far.
Indecisively both of us saw his friend Grayson walking across the hallway in the apartment building not knowing which song to pick from so we decided to call him over here to come help us to choose from them.
Three of us were standing there in Asher's bedroom listening to music on repeat three more times while waiting for his teammates' opinions but just in case he agreed with him then I would need to message my friends for their opinions on it too.
"So what do you think about it, Grayson?" I asked Grayson.
The judge needed to see or feel the chemistry between the two of us before deciding whether or not we were a compatible couple so I chose a solid soft ballad song to capture the emotion and toyed around with the audience feeling like there was a strong connection that we made together and I have read a couple of romance novels in my childhood to adulthood but I have to remember that I wasn't always doing this for anyone else because the four years old inner child me. I first started falling in love with figure skating back when it was just me in my cute little skates feeling freer than ever before.
After a while, I started competing in competitions by myself at the young age of eight years old so if I wanted to have a love song be played on our stage then I'd have it. Hence the reason why I was hesitant about having something else other than a love song ballad to show my passion as well as devotion to the sports. Now it was his turn first to explain this valid reason why we should consider a different perspective on it.
"Well, they're both great songs but openly this means something more to Jess," said Grayson.
Moreover, my explanation needed to be relatable, an anecdote should be in it mixed with metaphors or similes adding a couple of symbolism telling them this was more than just a love song to me because it talks about my personal experience and hardships to make them believe it even though, I do see his point of view on it was slightly correct.
Grayson didn't have any clue about what we were. I need to discuss the perfect song for our figure skating dual routine. Maybe the first song can show emotions and nobody else knows about our little deal.
"Just hear me out okay? Helium is my sport, figure skating, right, just like how hockey makes you feel invincible once you are out on the rink right?"I pointed that out to Him and Grayson.
Some of the songs in our playlist could be by The Scripts, Phoebe Bridge, Gracie Abraham, Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, Billie Elish, Beyoncé and, The 1975 since I truly do love all of their songs but I think we should just add the songs that he did suggest to me a mixture of both of our personalities, which had me thinking that I should add a couple more Taylor swift's songs because not all of them were about romance for this particular reason I think he should've just listened to it to the music resonate in him instead of disagreeing about it.
I scroll through many pictures of ice skating outfits on my phone hiding my -doubt behind the screen letting out a tired yawn since I only managed to get five hours of sleep last night and now I smile at him to try to hide it as I sat here trying to explain it to the two of them.
"Okay, I honestly do hear you out but as long as you don't put Taylor swifts on there-."
Wyatt walked up the stairs to find us having a good conversation about Taylor Swift looking at all three of us sitting down in Asher's room with the door open leaning against the doorframe while rubbing his fingers on his chin thinking about everything we discussed with each other including hearing both of the songs before giving us his final verdict on the topic.
Wyatt quietly interrupted him "What are you talking about? All of Taylor Swift's songs are legendary songs and I do believe that you might be a great closeted fan of hers."
He and I high-five each other knowing that any other boys wouldn't be listening to Taylor Swift and Rachel Platten unless Avena made him listen to it nonetheless, I need to gather information about how he would feel about going to the skydive diner with just us including a group of other people for tomorrow night dinner.
She was in the middle of explaining how the song Helium related to her feelings about figure skating so excited about it until I noticed that her emerald green eyes changed into a slightly darker shade of green whenever she was sad, anxious, and felt lonely and overthinking the same small things inside of her mind planting the tiny seeds of doubt but I just need to get her to relax to trust in the process.
Once the boys went downstairs into the kitchen to get a couple of pizzas it was just me and her so I held my hand out to offer her to dance with me to let loose some of her nerves because it was all about trusting your figure skating partner somehow, I managed to get her to place her hands in mine as we dance to the song of the music.
She exhales while our eyes connect immediately after she laughs at how almost ridiculous this was to me at least I got her laughing eventually, we dance to a certain Rachel Platten song on her phone playing out loud called Hands, making me think about whether this song meant more to her or we can just watch a movie too.
"If you feel uncomfortable dancing in front of me." I paused quickly thinking of a backup plan and then asked her, "We could just watch any movie you would like to see?"
Out of the many selections of movies that I had on my television as she had chosen to watch movies instead of dancing, we were talking about The Lion King, Marvel, Once Upon a Time, Love Actually and Love Hard as she clicked on the play button while we watched all of them before going back to studying then she said something so powerful and poetic stuff, in the meantime, she talks about how she loves Iron man aka Tony stark, Spiderman, the black widow, the movie the black Widow sister was in and the Avenger endgame which I did simply agree with her.
Furthermore, she told me that she has a crush on the actors that play Spiderman Tom Holland Iron Man, Thor, and Locke for some reason she explains why they were so good looking telling me that she even had a Spiderman cake for her eighteenth birthday on February sixteenth two days after Valentine's day one of the most romantic month of the year and then there was my birthday on June twenty-sixth. I sat there just simply smiling at how at ease she felt with me right now but I had to drive her towards the campus parking space near her housing building in the car because of the freezing and cold weather outside of the front door.
"Promise me that you will save me a dance, in another lifetime or somewhere shortly after we are both free," she said quietly to me.
I could list a thousand good reasons why she was better off with me than Erick for starters, I gave her my undivided attention and her favourite packet-flavored smoky bacon of Pringle.
I was there for her when she needed a shoulder to cry on even though, I thought that she handled the situation like a boss did loud and proud, I agreed to be her figure skating partner not to mention that I was willing to help her do anything including being her bodyguard on ice and off the ice.
Any idiot can set up a last-minute date at the hockey rink but I wasn't one to get in the way of her happiness because she was my fun friend who could have loads of flirty banter with me our midnight late conversation was everything to me.
The car key was in the ignition as I twisted it to cause my car engine to start up with noise and drive her down the road heading straight to campus still haven't decided on any song ultimately I think I would do anything for Jessamyn Burke even dressed up in a shiny blue leotard with rhinestones in front of few hundred people.
"Of course, just ring my number and I will be there to help fulfil my side of the promise, Burkey," I promised to her.
There we were standing right in front of her room on the campus buildings as she pulled me into a hug thanking me for agreeing to do the skating with her calling me a lifesaver then we stopped hugging when her boyfriend's roommate opened the door looking back and forth between the two us. Only Heaven knows how she keeps on holding on after one major setback but thank God that she does every day or night. I would wait for her calls and text messages so I'll be waiting for her to be in touch with you to discuss how she honestly feels too.
Quickly, I gave a nod to her roommate's boyfriend as I smiled goodbye to her not waiting for her roommate Rochelle's reactions while I walked away from the door towards the exit leaving her eventually I drove myself back to my apartment/ house.
All I want was to be her friend who she thinks about staying up late at night, the only one who she can call whenever she was upset or needed someone to hold her in their arms although, I would be happy fighting for her because I couldn't get her damn cute sunshine smile out of my head and I wasn't a sucker for breaking my own rule but why wasn't it making any sense to how insanely beautiful a girl like her can be. In my opinion, there was no other girl that could look like her or even measure up to her brain and beauty.