In the Flames

Author\'s Note: I\'m sorry. I have been a bad auther. Thank you for the reviewes! I\'m trying to use all of your advice, but I don\'t think I\'m doing such a good job. Anyway, thanks again!


“Show off,” Moose muttered, “He knows your here and he just wants to show off his
‘stang.”
“Well, it is a nice car. When I bought my car I couldn’t decide between the Eclipse
and the Mustang.”
“You bought that? Not your parents?”
“Well, not really,” Liz thought she might cry, the wound was still fresh.
“Nice! Cole found himself a workin’ girl.”
The mustang pulled up behind Liz’s car and she walked back to it as Cole rolled
down one window, “Goin’ my way?”
He smiled, “Of couse!”
Liz went back to her car and grabbed the sweatshirt out of the back of her car and
locked it up as Moose and Jon loaded all their stuff into the trunk of the Mustang. Not all
of it fit so Jon climbed into the back seat and had his bag on his lap with Moose sitting
next to him. Liz then got in next to Cole and buckled herself in.
They arrived at the rink at about 4:30 and Liz was lead into the building. They had
gotten there about an hour early. Colesaid they needed that time to warm up and ‘just
skate’.
Liz had taken a seat in the stands when Cole yelled up at her, “Do you know how
to skate? I bet we could find some skates for you to use.”
“You find them, I’ll wear them.”
Soon Liz was on the ice, slipping in her shoes. A pair of skates were found and she
quickly put them on.
“Careful getting up, it’s slippery,” Cole warned.
Liz laughed a little, “It’s ice.”
She got up successfully with the help of Cole, Moose and Jon as she muttered,
“Always hate this part.”
Cole grabbed her hands and started to skate along, him going backwards with her
following. Liz laughed the entire time he was skating backwards. Finally she said, “So, are
you gonna let me skate or keep holding my hand here? Gotta try my wings sometime.”
Cole smiled and let go of her hands, “Go slow, you might fall.”
Liz laughed and started to pump her legs, steadily. She circled the rink twice while
the guys stared, their mouths open. Liz began to go through one of her figure skating
routines. She jumped and twirled, skated backwards and sideways, loving every moment
of it. Liz forgot about the four guys standing in the middle of the ice. She forgot about
everything, her family, the move, everything.
Liz snapped back into reality, another hockey player was getting onto the ice, right
in front of her. She was about to crash into him but instead she grabbed one of his hands
and spun around him, continuing her routine. Liz finished by pulling her leg over her head
and spinning, then slowly sinking onto the ice, until she stopped spinning. She was still lost
in her own world, smiling.
Her head jerked up when she heard people clapping. She looked up and saw that
most of the hockey team had been watching her. Liz laughed a little and tried to get up but
slipped and fell. She once again needed Cole, Moose and Jon’s help to get up.
After she was up Cole turned toward her, “Why didn’t you tell me you could do
that?”
Liz just smiled and took his hands in hers as she skated backwards, “That was
more fun though.”
Cole laughed a little and he pushed Liz backwards till they reached one end of the
rink, where all the hockey players were lined up, “Wanna race with us? It’s a tradition to
race before the game.”
Liz laughed softly, “Do you wanna lose to a girl?”
Most of the guys laughed as Jon said, “To the other side and back, twice, and your
going down Liz!”
“You are welcome to try and beat a bunch of hockey players, if you want,” said
someone from down the line.
“Well, I’m trying. Just say go.” Liz said back to him.
Cole shouted, “Ready. Set ... GO!”
Everyone took off the line at the same time. Cole sprinted out ahead with Liz close
behind him. When they reached the other side Liz was first with Moose and Cole right
behind her. Liz started to laugh and skated backwards on the way back, keeping her lead
while making faces at Cole, Moose and the rest of the team. When they reached the
starting line again, Liz was still in the lead. She quickly pushed off in the other direction
and took a big lead, pumping her legs hard. Liz reached the other side quickly and skated
in a small half circle. She put her arms behind her back and bent forward and started to
speed skate to the other end. Liz stopped just before crossing the starting line, she saw
that most of the boys were only half of the rink away. She laughed as they all passed her
but she still didn’t cross the line.
Cole skated over to her, out of breath, “Why didn’t you finish?”
She smiled at him, not even breathing fast, “I didn’t think that a bunch of hockey
players would want to lose to a girl, neither would I want to deal with a bunch of sore
losers!”
Cole bent down and put his hands on his knees, “When did you get so good?”
“Before I moved here I use to spend hours on my family’s lake with my brothers. I
also, if you couldn’t tell, use to figure skate,” Liz got a far away look in her eyes and she
felt as if she would cry, all those memories were coming back to her.
David, Austin and her use to go out on the ice right after school. They would
spend the rest of the day there, having to turn on a flood light when it got dark. David and
Austin would help her with her figure skating. They would go to her practices and watch
and when they got back to the ice, they would tell Liz what she was doing wrong.
Liz remembered the time that David had fallen through the ice. It had scared the
life out of Liz but Austin had thought the ice was too thin. He had brought with a rope
and he tied one end to his waste and the other end to a stump next to the lake. He dove in
right after David. Liz ran up to the house and yelled, bringing her mom and dad running.
Her dad ran down to the lake to help find David and Liz and her mom found about ten
heavy blankets. By the time she got down to the ice, both David and Austin were out of
the ice, shivering. Liz wrapped the blankets around Austin as her dad and mom looked
over David to see if he was all right. David had smashed into a rock and had a huge cut
from his earlobe to the corner of his mouth. He had needed to go to the hospital and get
stitches, both David and Austin came down with phenomena.
“Liz?” Cole sounded concerned.
Liz blinked a few times and the ice rink faded into view, “I’m fine.”
“No your not. Your face is white as a ghost and you started to sway back and
forth. Let’s go sit in the box,” Cole said as he lead her off the ice.
“What happened Liz?” Moose sounded concerned as well.
“Nothing, all right. I’m fine!” Liz shouted, not wanting to tell them the reason why
she had almost fallen over or why she had almost cried on the ice.
Liz tried to stand up but her knees felt weak so all she managed to do was stand a
little and then fall on her butt on the floor. Liz kicked off her skates and pulled up her
knees, wrapping her arms around them as she started to sob.
Cole sat on one side of her and Moose sat on the other side as Cole said, “What’s
wrong? Maybe we could fix it.”
Liz laughed between sobs, “Fix it? If it could have been fixed, I would have done
that two weeks ago! You can’t bring back the dead Cole!”
Cole looked at Moose over Liz, confused, “Who died Liz?” Moose asked. Liz
cried harder as she buried her head in her knees more, not responding.
Cole put one of his arms over Liz’s shoulders and he put his other arm around her
legs as he said softly, “Liz, who died?”
“Everyone,” Liz cried harder, “Mom ... Dad ... David, Austin ... even my dog died!
Fuck, I should have been there with them. I should have died with them in those flames. I
should not be here!” Liz curled into a ball and kept crying.
Moose’s jaw dropped and he stared at her as Cole hugged her tighter.
Jon skated over, “What’s wrong?”
Moose stood and grabbed Jon’s arm and skated away, whispering to him.
“Liz ... I’m sorry,” Cole didn’t know what to say to her, “No, you shouldn’t have
been there. There was a reason why you didn’t die Liz.”
Liz cried harder, “NO! I should have been there with them, trying to find a way
out for them. I should have!”
Cole quickly looked at the clock, the game should start in fifteen minutes. If he
wanted to play he had to change and get back on the ice. He sighed and thought to himself
... I can’t play, not with Liz like this, guess I’m missing a game.
“Wolfie! Get your ass moving, the game starts in fifteen and you still need
change!” yelled the coach from across the ice.
Liz stiffened and willed her self to stop crying, “Go, change. I’m sorry I exploded
like this,” she looked down and wiped her face with one of her hands.
“Are you sure? I can skip a game and we could go get ice cream or coffee or
something.” Cole replied, his arms still around her.
“No, you should play. I’m fine, honest. I’ve dealt with it for two weeks, I think I
can hold out a little longer,” Liz glanced down at her wrists then quickly put on her shoes.
Cole sighed and stood up and skated onto the ice then grabbed Liz’s hands over
the wall, “Are you positive?”
Liz smiled at him, “Absolutely. I’ve perfected my fake smile already.”
Cole laughed a little and he skated away from her. Liz left the box and went to sit
in the stands that already had some people in them. She watched the game but didn’t
understand it. Liz cheered with the rest of the crowd and chanted when they did. She was
kind of sad when the game ended, although her school had won. Liz waited for Cole,
Moose and Jon by the locker room. There were some other people there, talking about the
game. Soon the players started coming out of the locker room and the crowd cheered for
each player that emerged. Cole, Moose and Jon where the last to leave the locker room.
Liz cheered for them even though she was the only one there. Koga slung his bag over his
shoulder and his hand reached for Liz’s.
“So, what did you think of the game?” Moose asked.
“If I understood it I’d tell ya,” Liz laughed a little.
“Wasn’t that a sweet pass I made to you Cole?” Jon asked.
They reached the car, the guys talking the entire time about the game. They
continued to talk about the game the ride home. Liz didn’t care that she couldn’t join in
with the conversation. She was content to just stare out the window and have Cole’s hand
resting on her knee. What, she tought, when did that happen!?
When they reached the school parking lot she leaned over and kissed Cole’s cheek,
“Thanks for the ride and inviting me to the game.”
Cole smiled at her, “You’re welcome!”
Liz got out of the car and into her car, after saying night to Moose and Jon, she
drove home. When she got home she wanted to run up to the bathroom and slit her wrists.
Telling Cole and Moose about her family had brought back feelings that Liz thought she
locked away. During the game she felt so alone, even thought she was surrounded by a sea
of people.
Liz hardly picked at the left-over dinner that Kik had left out for her. She then
went up stairs and sighed onto the Internet to check her e-mail. There were so many
e-mails from people at her old school that Liz wanted to cry all over again.
She quickly ran into the bathroom and locked it. She ripped apart of on the pink
razors that Kik had put under the sink. Liz slid one of the blades across her wrist and some
of her pain and loneliness left her. She cut her other wrist and the rest of it drained away
from her. Liz then sat down on the floor and started to cry, her head in her hands.
Kik started to pound on the door, “Liz, what’s wrong? Liz!”
The pounding and yelling wasn’t heard by Liz. She just continued to cry and
slowly sink into darkness. Her aunt broke down the door and started to yell at her, Liz still
hearing nothing.
Liz softly said, “Cole,” and tipped over so she was laying on the floor and hugging
her arms to her body, still crying.
Kik ran out of the room and grabbed a phone as Liz wondered why she had not yet
blacked out. She continued to cry until she felt arms lift her up. She smiled up at the face,
it looked like Cole’s and Moose’s was on the other side of the door. Liz was carried down
the hall and our the front door. She was put into a blue car with towels wrapped around
her wrists. Cole’s face still belonged to the arms that held her in the back seat.
“Cole,” Liz said softly again and then closed her eyes, darkness surrounding her.

When Liz woke she was in a hospital bed with Kik sleeping in one of the chairs in
the room. She then realized that someone was holding her hand and there were people on
either side of her. Liz looked at the hand that was holding hers, Cole, and saw that Moose
was sitting on the other side of the bed. Liz looked closely at Cole and Moose, she saw
that their eyes were closed. She smiled and fell back asleep.