�Working hard?� She shrugged. �I suppose I could do better�� She trailed off. He raised his eyebrows. �Well, well. At least you�re honest.� She laughed and sat down on the bench. He came and sat down beside her. �You gonna do that jump today?� She nodded. �Yeah.� She looked into his clear blue eyes. �Ya know, I really didn�t get to thank you for your advice� and for yesterday.� He held up his hand. �Don�t. I�m glad I could help. But I gotta thank you for not freaking on me, thinking I was some kind of stalker. I�m sure it�s not everyday, some random guy shows up at the lake you�re skating at, then tries to give his two-sense. At least I hope it�s not everyday.� She laughed. �You seemed harmless enough. If you were some psycho loony, I think I would�ve figured it out by now.� She looked down. �So when are you guys goin� back on the road?� He sighed. �Tonight.� She smiled. �Have fun.� He nodded. �Yeah, I guess� um, Nicole?� She looked up. �Yeah?�
�Do you think there�s any chance you could meet me later on? Like around 1?� She sighed. �I don�t think so� I�m supposed to be using all my spare time skating�� He looked at her with pleading eyes. �10 minutes is all I need, please? We really need to talk about what happened last night.� She felt a blush coming to her cheeks and she looked away. �Ok, then. Meet me outside at 1:15.� He nodded and kissed the back of her hand. �Thanks. I�ll see you then.� She got up and skated over to the stereo and put her backround music on to Sarah McLachlan�s �Silence� (If you�ve ever heard it, you�d know how it�s good skating music). She watched him walk out and she sighed. �I can�t meet him� I don�t wanna talk about last night� why does everyone have to analyze everything?�
She broke free of her thoughts, when she saw Adriana standing at the other end of the rink with her mouth wide open. Nicole skated over to her. �Hey, Adie.� She shook her head. �Tell me you weren�t talking to who I THINK you were talking to!� Nicole sighed. �Yes, that was JC Chasez. From that group you rave on and on about.� Adriana squealed excitedly. �Omigosh! You lucky little�� Nicole shook her head. �I�m not lucky. Nothing could ever happen between us, you know that. So, how am I lucky? My mother controls my life, and I�m not allowed to fall in love, for chances it might ruin everything I�ve worked so hard for. That is not luck, Adriana.� Adriana smiled sadly at her friend, who she knew was right. Skating was Nicole�s life. And there didn�t seem to be enough room for anything or anyone else. Adriana sighed. �Well, Nic, I�ve gotta go study for a big Calc. Test tomorrow. I�ll catch ya later?� Nicole nodded. �Yeah. Later.� She waved goodbye to her friend and tried to focus back on skating.
�Hey, hey! Why the sad face, Cole?� She looked up to see Brandon smiling at her. She shrugged. �I�m just tired is all.� He snickered. �Yeah, right. And your sister�s not a bitch. C�mon, tell me wasssup!� She smiled at his attempt to make her feel better. �Ok. Why is it that everytime I meet a really nice guy, I always have to push him outta the way?� He motioned for her to come sit down. �Well, darlin�, I honestly don�t know. Because you don�t HAVE to do anything, ya know. You�re legal. You can do whatever the hell ya want. If you really like this guy, then heck, go for it. Don�t you let anyone stop you or try to bring you down. Understood?� She nodded, shyly. �Alright. But� there�s still a problem. He�s a singer, who is on tour with his band. I mean, it�s not like he�s from around here or anything. So, it could never work out anyways, right?�
He shook his head. �Never say never.� She sighed, and looked at her watch. �Oh, he kinda wanted to talk to me, before he left tonight. I�ve gotta go.� Brandon nodded. �You do what ya gotta do. But, Nic? Be honest with yourself. Don�t lie just to make it feel better, cuz it won�t. Be straightforward with this guy. You like him, you take a little thing we humans call a risk.� She sat there, taking in his words. �Dammit! Why does he have to know everything?! Sheesh.� She stood up and smiled. �I�ll call you later on.� He gave her a big smile. �Oh you�d better.� He watched her go, silently, hoping for once, she�d make the right decision and follow her heart.
Five