Heart of Ice

by Barbara Pietron

  ***

  A rhythmic beat sounded from inside the gym as they stood in line to pay and have their hands stamped. Lynn and Audrey bobbed their heads to the music, intentionally exaggerating the motion, giggling. Ice looked at Dale, who studied his phone. For the first time he noticed the necklace nestled in Dale's shirt collar. As if he felt Ice's gaze on him, the other boy looked up.

  "Your necklace," Ice said. "Wasn't it Great Cloud's?"

  Dale's hand rose to touch the choker at his throat. Smooth beads in earthy colors formed a symmetrical pattern on either side of a round pendant. Carved into the pendant was what many would mistake for a stalk of wheat but locals would recognize as wild rice—a plant indigenous to Minnesota and a staple in the diet of both Native Americans and European settlers.

  "Yeah. My mom gave it to me," Dale said. "She's been going through his stuff since Grams can't."

  As they shuffled closer to the admissions table, Ice maintained a passive demeanor although his insides felt twisted into a ball and his heart thumped too fast. Why? Why had he voluntarily put himself in this uncomfortable position?

  But as they reached the table, Lynn drew up next to him and linked her arm through his to show they were together. Her softness pressed against him and the scent he'd picked up that day outside the locker room wafted to his nose. Both things reminded him why he was here. As they approached the gym doors, Ice moved his arm behind her, lightly touching the small of her back, and ushered her into the room first.

  The pounding beat of the music enveloped them and colored lights flashed on the dance floor. Lynn checked over her shoulder to confirm that Dale and Audrey were behind them, then struck off in the direction of the tables at one end of the gym. Finding a vacant spot, they hung their jackets on chairs.

  Audrey took Dale's hand and flounced out to the dance floor, drawing him with her. Lynn turned to Ice with raised eyebrows. "Is your ankle up to it?" she shouted over the music.

  Ice evaluated the mass of kids packed together, basically just bouncing up and down. He grinned. "I think I can handle it."

  Not content to linger on the fringes, Lynn took Ice's hand and weaved into the crowd. Rather than let go when she found a spot she was satisfied with, she took his other hand. They more or less bobbed and swayed with the group until a line dance started. Ice watched Lynn for a moment, then threw up his hands and shook his head. She laughed and pointed to the concession table. "Water," she said loudly and he nodded.

  When they were far enough from the speakers to communicate, Lynn pointed to a door. "I'm going to the bathroom. Get me a water and meet me at the table?"

  "Sure," Ice agreed. He paid for the water and then dug in a cooler for two bottles.

  "Missed you at practice yesterday," a voice said from behind him. Ice turned to see Corey wearing a mischievous grin. "Thought maybe you'd been eaten."

  "You're closer to the truth than you think," Ice replied, but he laughed. Then he told his friend how he ended up with an injured ankle.

  "Holy crap! He came at you with an axe?"

  Ice nodded, his face grim. "If it wasn't for Nik, I may not be here."

  Corey swore. "So is Nesbitt in custody?" he asked.

  "No. He was unconscious when we left, but by the time the cops got there he was gone." Ice noticed the dancers behind Corey were Dale and Audrey. His attention had been drawn to them because Audrey glanced continuously in their direction.

  Corey's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "So there's a killer cannibal on the loose?" He shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated shudder. "I didn't need to know that, I've already had one crazy cannibal dream, thanks to you."

  "Hey, you didn't object when we were on our way out there," Ice chided, wearing a half smile.

  Corey smirked at him and then his eyes focused over Ice's shoulder. "I think Lynn's looking for you."

  Ice turned to see Lynn heading for the table. "Gotta go." Corey nodded and Ice hurried across the room.

  They sat for a few minutes rehydrating and watching the dance floor when suddenly Lynn sat up straight in her chair. "Uh-oh," she said and stood up.

  Ice also stood. "What?" He followed her line of sight. Apparently, after Ice walked away, Audrey had decided to talk to Corey. Lynn started toward them and Ice followed.

  He saw Dale put a hand on Audrey's arm and she jerked it away, intent on whatever she had to say to Corey. Dale crossed his arms over his chest and settled an indignant gaze on the two of them. As Lynn and Ice approached, he stalked off.

  "…is my business," Audrey ranted. "So stay out of it."

  Corey put his hands up, palms out, and took a step backward. "Whatever," he said placidly.

  Audrey gave him a final glare and then turned to find Dale gone. "Ugh!" she exclaimed, fists balled at her sides. Lynn stepped up and touched her friend's shoulder.

  Knowing he would be unwanted in the girl's discussion, Ice turned to Corey with raised eyebrows.

  Corey widened his eyes and lifted one shoulder. He shook his head letting out an exasperated chuckle.

  "What the heck was that all about?" Ice asked.

  "Audrey thinks I was talking to you because you guys came here together."

  "What? I don't get it. She knows we're friends."

  Corey shook his head. "I don't know, dude. But if I wasn't over it, I am now."

  Lynn appeared at his elbow. "Ice? Will you go find Dale?"

  "Sure," he sighed. When she turned away, Ice rolled his eyes at Corey. His friend smiled sympathetically.

  He found Dale in the hallway, pacing in front of a trophy case. Ice had no idea what to say; the awkwardness between them had increased exponentially. "Look," he began. "She thought Corey was asking me about her, but he wasn't." Dale stopped pacing but didn't look at Ice. "We were talking about hockey. We're on the hockey team together."

  "She's not over him," Dale said angrily, his eyes on the trophies. "If she was, she wouldn't care what he did or who he talked to."

  Ice sighed. Dale had a good point. "She's with you. And she sent me out here to find you."

  Dale finally dropped his arms to his sides. He walked past Ice without looking at him and entered the gym. Ice caught up in time to see him take Audrey's hand and pull her away from Lynn.

  Lynn turned and met Ice's eyes. "Well, that kinda sucked."

  "Yeah," Ice nodded. "It could've been worse though."

  She chuckled. "That's true." Then she glanced at the dance floor. "Hey, we're missing a slow dance."

  Ice followed her into the crowd which had become much less dense when the slow music started. She turned to face him, and he circled an arm around her waist, but before he could capture her hand, she surprised him by snaking both arms around his neck and stepping in close.

  They swayed for a few minutes without speaking and then Lynn leaned in and whispered, "Thanks for going after Dale. You're a good guy, Ice." Then she brushed her lips against his cheek.

  Taken by surprise, Ice simply said, "It wasn't a big deal."

  As they continued to shuffle slowly to the music, Ice realized Lynn had used her steps to move even closer. He scanned the room over her shoulder, trying not to think about the way her warmth pressed against him from chest to hips. He searched for a distracting topic of conversation, but Lynn spoke up first.

  "So why does the hockey team call you Ice?" she asked, her breath a shiver on his neck. "Is there a story there?"

  Ice chuckled. "Sorry, no story. My actual name is Ice. Shattered Ice. My mom named me for my eyes."

  Lynn pulled her head back to examine his face, as if confirming he wasn't joking. Then her eyes grew round and even in the colored lights, he could see her blush. "Oh God, I'm so dumb."

  "No you're not," Ice insisted. "Believe me, it's an occupational hazard when your name is Ice and you choose to play hockey."

  She looked up at him through her lashes with a small smile. Then she leaned in and kissed him. Perhaps the kiss on the cheek and the familiar way she danced wit
h him should've been a warning; still, Ice hadn't expected to kiss Lynn until the end of the night. And even then, it wasn't a foregone conclusion.

  It took about a nanosecond to get over his initial shock and kiss her back. Seconds later, Ice felt a finger jab him in the shoulder and he swiveled his head to find a heavyset woman in her fifties shaking her head. "First warning," she said, her stare boring into him while her buzz cut reflected the changing colors of the lights. "Next time you're out." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the door they came in. "And you're far too close—come on, you know the rules: face to face and leave some space."

  Ice took a step back and mumbled an apology, his cheeks hot with embarrassment. But the teacher had already turned away and Lynn giggled. He gave her a puzzled look.

  "Sorry," Lynn said with a rueful smile. "I should've known. That was Mrs. Robertson, U.S. History. Now she's going to watch us like a hawk the rest of the night."

  "Whatever." Ice shrugged, but he felt awkward and was relieved when the slow music tapered off and gave way to an electronic rhythm. The dancers began forming lines and Lynn nudged him to the edge of the moving mass. "This one's easy," she shouted. "Watch."

  She demonstrated the moves and Ice had to agree, this was much simpler than the earlier line dance. He nodded and joined in, but his ankle protested after only a few minutes. "I'm sorry," he said.

  "It's okay," Lynn smiled. "I'm just glad you didn't cancel."

  The rest of the night passed without incident. Lynn was right though, for every slow dance Mrs. Robertson hovered outside the ring of dancers where she could keep an eye on them. By the time the music ended and the overhead lights came on in the gym, Ice's ankle begged for rest.

  "So I guess some kids are heading to the diner in town," Audrey said. "You guys game?"

  Ice looked at Lynn; she smiled and nodded. "Sure," he replied.

  They ended up crammed into a booth with three other girls and a guy who were introduced amid a flurry of babble. It was obvious the other kids were friends of Audrey and Lynn as the six of them chattered about an upcoming choir concert. Ice guessed Dale didn't usually run with the choir crowd; he mostly ignored the conversation while studying the menu.

  Ice waited until the food arrived and the chitchat tapered off. The music at the dance had been so loud he'd hardly been able to talk to Lynn, let alone anyone else. He wanted to at least tell Nik that he'd tried to get some information about the incident with Nesbitt.

  "Hey, I heard a teacher was suspended. What's up with that?" Ice picked up his burger and took a bite as if the answer were unimportant.

  "Yeah," one of the girls commented. "Sounds like he was a creep."

  "I had Mr. Nesbitt last year and didn't have a problem," said the other boy—was it Alex? "He graded kinda tough, but he was a pretty good teacher."

  Ice heard Dale snort derisively.

  "So is he gone for good?" Ice fueled the conversation.

  "I would think so," Lynn commented. "I mean, you can't proposition a student and expect to keep your job."

  "Well, I can't believe no one ever knew he was a pedophile," the girl across from Ice chimed in. "He's been at the school for like thirt—"

  "Because that's not it," Audrey interrupted. "Everyone thinks he was coming on to that girl, but Dale was there." She elbowed her boyfriend and earned a glower, which she ignored. "It was more like he really wanted to eat her, like, kill her and eat her—cannibal style, right Dale?"

  The look on Dale's face advertised that he did not want to talk about it. He took a drink of his soda, shot an exasperated look at Audrey, and then scanned the faces at the table. "Yeah," he finally said. "But I was specifically instructed not to talk about it." His tone said the conversation was over.

  "Gross," the first girl said. "That's even creepier."

  "Yeah, come on, I'm trying to eat fries with ketchup here." Alex made a gagging face and the table erupted with laughter.

  Dale smiled, but Ice noticed the expression never reached his eyes. Something was odd about his former friend's attitude toward the subject of Mr. Nesbitt. He wondered if he could get Dale to talk if they were alone.

  On the way to Lynn's house, Ice's thoughts were far from the Windigo problem. He wasn't sure of the customary rules of double dating. Did they let the girls get out and walk to the house together? If so, did they say goodbye in the car—all four of them present? That seemed wrong. The end of a date was a time for private words… or gestures. He pulled into the driveway and shifted into park, but left the vehicle running for a moment, hoping one of the other three would say or do something.

  Dale did. "I'll walk you in," he said to Audrey, loud enough to be heard in the front seat.

  Ice and Lynn watched as the couple passed in front of the Jeep, hand in hand. Ice released his seat belt and turned slightly sideways. "Thanks for asking me to the dance," he said. "I had a good time."

  "Me too," Lynn replied. She'd already released her belt and clutched her purse in her lap. "I hope we can get together again."

  "Definitely." He smiled to hide his nerves. Why was he nervous anyway? He knew she would be okay if he kissed her; after all, she'd kissed him first. Before he could lean in though, Lynn reached out and grabbed a hold of his jacket. As she pulled him forward, he noticed a tenacious gleam in her eyes and then their lips met. For the second time that night, Ice was caught off-guard; both her presumptuousness and the open mouth kiss had him floundering to catch up.

  He kissed her back, pushing his astonishment aside to enjoy the moment. It was a long kiss and when they finally broke apart, Lynn wore a smug smile. "Text me when you get home?" she whispered.

  Ice mumbled something affirmative, then followed Lynn's gaze toward the house. Dale was on his way back to the Jeep. He reached for the door handle, confused by a bizarre feeling of relief. When they got to the door, Lynn kissed him lightly on the lips and said goodnight.

  Ice's smile faded as soon as he turned away. He blew out a breath on the way to the car. What was his problem? Shouldn't he be feeling triumphant? On top of the world? His biggest worry—whether or not Lynn would like him—was more than settled. She definitely liked him. A lot.

  The only explanation he could come up with was the Nesbitt thing. Maybe Dale would tell him more on the way to his house. Ice wanted to go home, text Lynn, and remember how great it was to kiss her.

  Somewhere inside though, he knew the latter wasn't going to happen.

  The traditions of our people are handed down from father to son. The Chief is considered to be the most learned, and the leader of the tribe. The Medicine Man, however, is thought to have more inspiration. He is supposed to be in communion with spirits...

  Sarah Winnemucca, Paiute