He wiped off snow from the bench of the picnic table with his glove and offered me a seat. We sat down and removed our boots.

“I think these are a little big,” I said, trying one on.

Brandon pulled my skate-wearing foot up onto his lap. “You just need to tighten them.”

I loved how Brandon took charge — not in a bossy or controlling way but in a confident manner. I sat back as he tugged on the laces. I was mesmerized that he was being so attentive to me. “Now the other,” he said.

“A girl could get used to this,” I said. I continued to stare at him until he was finished.

It had been a few years since I’d put on a pair of skates. I was shaky when we stood, but Brandon handled himself like a pro.

“It’s easy, just relax.” He threw his other glove onto the table and extended his hand. I grasped it in mine. Even though I had stretchy gloves on, I could feel the power and warmth from his grip. I wobbled on the grass until we reached the frozen pond. I was a bit nervous, imagining myself lying flat on my back within seconds.

Brandon smiled and helped me onto the ice. It took me several moments to balance. “It’s like riding a bike, right?” he said.

“Only on ice,” I said.

“Yes, I guess there is that,” he said.

“Now, let’s go.”

“We have to move, too?”

Brandon began to glide, taking me with him. My legs quaked underneath me. Brandon was as confident skating on frozen ice as he’d be if he was walking on the ground.

“You are thinking too much,” he said. “Let your mind and body relax.”

How could I not think? If I fell, I’d be smacking myself on a freezing pond, not to mention the embarrassment I’d feel in front of him.

“Here. Look into my eyes.” He took both of my hands and we faced each other. I stared up into his warm and brilliant gaze as he began to slowly skate backward, pulling me forward.

My legs became like Jell-O and I clenched his hands. I wanted to take off my gloves so I could feel his skin against mine, but I was afraid he’d feel how nervous I really was.

“Now talk to me,” he said.

“I have to talk, too?”

“Yes,” he said. “What are your favorite things to do?” I still struggled to keep my gait relaxed; the more I tried the more I tensed up.

“Uh… I like to skate, but obviously I don’t do it very often. I like to do things in the outdoors, but I really never get the chance to. So I mostly go to the mall, talk on the phone, hang with my friends.”

“I see you writing in your notebooks. But you aren’t taking notes. What are you writing?”

“Uh… nothing.”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing. You always seem very focused.”

I couldn’t tell him that I was writing down his name next to lips and hearts. I also couldn’t tell him the other things I wrote for fear he’d laugh.

As we continued to skate, my legs relaxed and I began to gain confidence.

“So what are you writing?” he repeated.

“Just silliness. Stories and poems.”

“What kind of stories?”

“One of the stories is about a guy who saves a girl from a pack of wolves.”

“I hope it has a happy ending,” he said.

“It does,” I said.

“And what happens to the girl?”

“She becomes a nurse so she can help others.”

“And the guy?”

“Well… he’s bitten by the wolves,” I said, thinking. “And it’s underneath a full moon… so I suppose he could become a werewolf.”

“Ah…” he said. “I like it. But couldn’t he become a professional hockey player instead?”

I smiled. “Sure, I guess.”

“And what happens to the guy and the girl?”

I didn’t know what to say, but I knew what I wanted to say — that he falls in love with her. But what I wanted to say and what I could admit to him were very different things.

Just then my cell went off. It rang a funky ring. It was Ivy.

“You can get that,” he said as we continued skating. He let my right hand go and I answered my phone.

“What are you doing?” my best friend asked.

If I said holding hands with Brandon Maddox and skating on his pond, she wouldn’t believe me. Nor did I really want her to.

“You sound out of breath,” she continued. “I’m on my way to pick you up.”

“Uh… I’m not home,” I said, alarmed.

Brandon and I continued to skate as I talked.

“Then where are you? I’ll come get you.” Ivy sounded impatient. “We have to work on our papers. You are the one who usually reminds me.”

“Uh… give me a little while and I’ll meet you at my house,” I said.

“Fine, I’ll see you there.”

We hung up.

“You have to go?” Brandon asked with a hint of disappointment.

Neither one of us put on the brakes as we continued to coast around the pond.

“Not yet. What about you?” I asked. “Tell me something. Why did you move to Legend’s Run?”

“My father was transferred to Europe, so I came here to stay with my grandparents.”

“What does your father do?”

“He’s a scientist.”

“Wow — that is cool.”

“Yes, it is, except when his job takes him out of the country.”

“What about your mother?”

“She hasn’t been in the picture for years.”

My heart plummeted. I felt so sorry for Brandon, being without his mother and now his father.

“So your father is from Legend’s Run?”

“Both of my parents are. My dad’s parents stayed here, and I heard my mom’s family all moved on. I really wouldn’t know. Since my mom left years ago, we haven’t kept in touch with her side.”

He let go of my hands and skidded to a stop as I kept on gliding, alone. He watched like a handsome instructor proud of his pupil.

“It’s okay — keep going,” he encouraged.

I soaked up the crisp air. It felt good to be so free — of books, of cramped buses and crowded hallways, free from worrying about what my friends or Nash thought. The snow-covered trees were majestic. The birds flying in the overcast sky and the smell of smoke from the neighbors’ fireplaces were invigorating.

It might have been just minutes of gliding, but to me it felt like hours. It was exhilarating to be skating solo and having Brandon watching me. I skated circles around the pond until I grew fatigued. Then I headed straight for him.

I used to know how to stop by spinning around. I decided to attempt it, but when I placed my blades at right angles, I spun off balance. I began to tumble and he caught me in his arms.

We laughed a deep laugh, so hard my stomach hurt. Brandon was so magnetic. I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me, but I knew I wanted him to.

We locked eyes. He softly touched my frozen and flushed cheek. His hands were like a fiery stove, heating up my skin. He leaned into me and then my cell phone beeped with a text message.

“You are popular,” he said, pulling away.

The mood was broken. I knew it would take courage for Brandon to kiss me. He saw me every day with the