Chapter 25
Ember
The Last Week Before Christmas Break
I’d done it. I’d officially finished all of my assignments for semester 1. Not going to lie, after I hit submit on that final essay, I excitedly ran laps around my room like a dog when you show them their lead for a walk. Robert had given me the biggest death stare; my happy dance had obviously disturbed his slumber. I could easily pack up and go home for Christmas break now, but Poppy, Amy and I had thought it would be a nice idea to spend a couple of days doing cute festive activities, especially considering we were all now assignment-free. You had to romanticise your life now and again, especially at Christmas. I don’t make the rules.
“I’m free!,” I heard a very enthusiastic Amy shout from down the corridor.
“Would you shut up? Some of us are trying to sleep,” a groggy sounding Toby clipped back.
“It’s 11:00 in the morning you lazy shit,” Amy shrieked.
I chuckled to myself from behind my door, it was hilarious that they were so blissfully unaware that 99.9% of the time, they sounded just like an old married couple.
Slipping on my fuzzy socks, (there was no way I was walking barefoot down the corridor. Toby was supposed to be on mopping duty this week, but as always, he took at least 5-10 business days to do any chore and I wasn’t putting myself at risk of contracting some disease from the grime), I jogged down the corridor to join in the celebrations. Amy was perched on one of the sofas with a huge beam on her face, whilst Poppy was leant over the hob, making what I could only presume, considering by the dark and oaky smell, was some mulled wine. I don’t know what it was, but the smell of mulled wine just exuded Christmas.
“11:00am and already starting on the alcohol?,” I smirk, walking over to peek at the deep purple mixture boiling and bubbling in the pot.
Poppy turns to me and grins, “it’s 5:00 pm somewhere, right? Plus, we have reason to celebrate, we’ve blooming done it girls!”
Amy and I cheer in a high pitch synchronisation.
“Ughhh shut up!,” Toby groans again from his room.
We all laugh hysterically now. There was something so satisfying about ticking him off.
“So, I was thinking,” Poppy says, “shall we have some mulled wine and then go ice skating? My treat.”
Honestly, that sounded like heaven right now. Bath on Ice was a huge ice-skating rink by the mini-golf course. I’d walked past it before at night, and it looked absolutely gorgeous. Think, a whole area illuminated by twinkly string lights with Christmas music blasting from the speakers. They even had an adorable little cabin next door that sold all sorts of festive treats. If you wanted to feel like you were in a smalltown Christmas Hallmark movie, that was definitely the place to be.
“Sounds great!,” I beamed.
Poppy switched off the hob now, gently pouring the mixture into three mugs. “Amazing,” she chirped, “Sam told me that him and Arthur are also staying for an extra few days by the way and said that they’d love to come with us.”
Her and Amy shared a smirk at one another then.
“I hate it when you do that! What’s so funny?,” I ask.
Amy shrugged with a grin, “you know…we’ve just noticed that you’ve been exchanging messages a lot more frequently with a certain someone these past few weeks.”
No, no, no.I knew exactly what they were implying. To be honest, Arthur and I had been texting a lot more than usual. But it was more because I wanted to see how he was doing. He’d been on top of the world ever since the presentation and it was so refreshing to see. I couldn’t believe that the spell had worked. The shift in the way he carried himself was incredible. He was vibrant and radiated confidence. I mean, I was pretty much gobsmacked when he was the one who asked me to go for a coffee with him and honestly, it was so lovely. He chattered away and I could tell that he was so proud of himself. Things were working out just as they should be and in truth, confidence looked good on him. There was nothing more than that though. I was a friend, helping out a friend.
“Not that you’re nosey or anything,” I raise an eyebrow at her, “and for your information, a guy and a girl can just be friends, you know?”
“That’s a lot of messages for just a ‘friend’”, Poppy winks.
“I message you both more than him, I must really fancy you both then by that logic,” I reply, filled with just enough sarcasm.
Poppy grins, handing me my mug of mulled wine, “Touche.”
◆◆◆
The fact that it was literally minus temperatures outside couldn’t even shake me right now. Poppy, Amy, and I had agreed to meet Sam and Arthur there. The bus had parked up and we then had a good 10-minute walk ahead of us to the ice-skating rink. After realising that I could really do with exercising more, judging by the fact that I nearly had an asthma attack from walking uphill, we finally made it. I dread to think what I looked like right now, probably as Red in the face as a strawberry. I could feel my hair sticking to my forehead underneath my beret too, attractive. Sam and Arthur were stood by the entrance, wrapped up from head to toe in beanies, gloves and scarves, huggable almost.
“You guys ready to make absolute tits out of yourselves?,” Sam snorted.
Poppy gasped, “I guarantee we’re better than you.”
Sam takes her hand in his, fierce eyes boring into hers, “you’re on.” Don’t mind me whilst I swoon.
Arthur walks over to me now with a huge smile on his face, “excited?”
I give him an ‘are you serious?’ look. “Excited to skate yes. But I’m definitely going to be like Bambi on ice.”
He chuckles, “I’ll be with you all the way don’t worry.” I can’t help but notice a flutter in my stomach.
Why did I just flutter?
I’m probably just mistaking a rumble. After all, I hadn’t eaten yet and all I could smell was cinnamon and apple cider coming from the festive cabin next door. Yeah, that was definitely the culprit.
We put on our ice skates and do the awkward hobble walk over to the rink. Poppy, Amy, and Sam hop over the barrier and immediately start gliding towards the middle. They didn’t even need to hold hands; they just gained their balance and off they went. How come all of my friends were professional skaters all of a sudden? Arthur climbs over the barrier ahead of me and I stand behind him in my tracks, my feet planted firmly to the ground like a deadweight. Holding onto the rails, he turns around to face me. “Are you coming?”
I shake my head, “I don’t think I can.” I couldn’t do it. On paper, it sounded like a good idea, but being up close and personal with the block of ice, solid and glistening, I just froze, (pardon the pun).
Arthur gave me a reassuring smile and held out a hand, “I know you can. Take my hand, I won’t let you fall.” There goes that ‘rumble’ again.
Taking a huge gulp, I grab onto his hand and creep onto the rink with shaking legs. The minute I’m on the ice, I’m practically superglued, one hand to Arthur’s and the other to the wall. Where were those little penguins when you needed them?
“That’s quite a death grip you’ve got there,” Arthur laughs, looking down at our hands.
“It’s not funny! I’ll fall otherwise!,” I squeal.
“I don’t mind. But we will have to move away from this wall at some point you know,” he replies.
I look over at Poppy, Amy, and Sam, who are laughing and twirling around like they’re on dancing on Ice.
As if he can sense my jealously, Arthur calmly says, “right, I’m going to count down from five, and we’re going to slowly move away from this wall towards them, okay? I won’t let go.”
“Promise?,” I ask through a grimace.
He gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, “promise.”
When he gets down to one, he slowly guides me away from the wall. My breathing turns rapid, there’s no going back now. If I slip, I’ll definitely fall. “Why do the kids get all the penguins?,” I whine, whilst incessantly watching my feet.
He lets out a breathy laugh, “you don’t need a penguin. We’re nearly there now, see? You’re doing great!” Strangely, his words of affirmation seem to elicit a glimmer of warmth amongst the cold. We’re getting closer to the others now; they’re all shouting and waving at us like they’re our own personal cheerleading squad. Just as we’re about to reach them, Arthur’s hand starts to shake.
Oh my god, he’s losing his balance.
“Ember, hold on. I’m sorry I think we’re going to- AHH!”
We both scream as we plummet down onto the ice in one big mess, with me landing on top of him. It’s not like I can even gain the balance to remove myself from him on my own and stand up. The others come skating over to us, crying with laughter.
“Well that certainly looks cosy,” Amy teases, raising her eyebrows.
I give her an ‘I’ll kill you and everyone in your family’ stare, before taking her open palm and allowing her to heave me from the floor.
“What happened to not letting me fall?,” I ask, looking down at Arthur.
He grins, “well, technically you let me fall.”
I roll my eyes, trying to hide my smile.
“As hilarious as that was and even though I want nothing more than to watch that happen again, I’m starving guys. Can we go and grab some food now?,” Sam says, rubbing his stomach.
“We’ve barely been on here 10 minutes and you’re already hungry?!”, Poppy shouts.
“Please.” He says innocently, taking her hands. “I’ll pay you the money back for whatever the full session cost. Don’t let a man starve Pops.”
She guffaws, before turning her attention to all of us. “Are you guys okay to finish now and get food?”
Arthur, Amy and I all glance an eye over one another for approval. They both give a ‘why not’ style shrug. “Yeah, we could eat,” I finally respond.
Grabbing onto my hand, Arthur then pulls himself up and I can’t help but notice the way my palm heats.
“For the record, I still think you did amazing,” he whispers softly into my ear as we clutch onto one another and try our best to follow the others off the rink.
Had the spell made him a flirt? Either way, I definitely wasn’t complaining.