Ava
body cried with how she slid out of bed, undisturbed by the late hour of the morning. After a grueling day of practice yesterday, her body needed to rest.
Korin and Chase had demanded she take the next day off despite her feeble protests for them to change their minds. She knew how overworking her body might endanger the longevity of her career by introducing the risk of injury. But injury concerns seemed unfathomable when stacked against the guilt buzzing around her head, suspiciously identical to her mother's voice.
Still, her coach gave her an order, and Ava's body accepted the request, crashing hard the night before until she wormed out of the askew covers.
Her fingers undid the braid she pulled together after her post-practice shower and raked through any knots, wincing through each snare of her fingers. While she combed her hair, Ava glided around the room and prepared for the day.
The hilariously oversized t-shirt she wore to sleep crumpled on the floor in a puddle of fabric, easily kicked to the side. She pulled a midi dress from her closet—cobalt and patterned with white daisies—meant for the summer heat. Sliding the fabric over her body brought immense comfort, and Ava loved summer dresses more than she could explain.
Ava spun into the bathroom like a whirlwind but grabbed her toothbrush with the grace of a prima ballerina. If she wasn't already awake, her toothpaste's sharp, minty zing would do the trick. Excitement raced through her veins.
“I know I agreed to bed rest, but maybe we can do something fun at the house?” Ava, with a mouthful of toothpaste, recited to her mirror, preparing to pitch something to Korin. She couldn’t lay in bed all day, doing nothing. Ava couldn’t remember a time when she even tried to waste the day away, but the thought caused her to itch.
Ava spat out a glob of foam and washed her mouth in the sink. She raced from her bedroom, forgetting everything but her phone, sprinting down the stairs like a woman on a mission. She skidded into the dining room and expected to find at least Korin or Chase.
Instead, she discovered an empty room and didn't hear any movement in the kitchen. However, a paper face-down on the table eventually caught her eye, and Ava flipped it over. She read the note, frowning as her eyes skimmed further down.
They left for the next town over, needing to do some errands. Ava didn't mind spending time alone, not after years of being an only child and participating in online school until graduation. She became accustomed to her company and learned to enjoy herself thoroughly. But she didn't beg to live with her coach and negotiate the arrangement with her parents for her to spend time alone.
She wanted to socialize and venture out of her isolated bubble.
Ava set the note back on the table, doodled a little heart on it—her way of acknowledging—and wrote her own message. She expected to return home before Korin, Izumi, and Chase would, but she had no idea how to pass the time.
She should explore her new home for the next few months or however long she'd get to stay. She had yet to go by herself anywhere besides the Ohashi-Frasier house and the ice rink. She had no idea what made Waybrook special.
Ava headed for the door and grabbed her purse from the pegs mounted on the wall for backpacks, duffels, and other bags. Inside, she found her favorite pair of headphones, a spare house key to lock up behind her, and her wallet with identification and some money in case of emergencies. She slung the bag over her shoulder and pulled out the spare tennis shoes she wore between the rink and home, stuffed with a clean pair of ankle socks.
With her laces tied and her tote bag packing the essentials, Ava felt ready to take on the town.
She remembered to lock the door behind her before walking down to the end of the block. From her perch on the sidewalk, next to a slightly faded stop sign, Ava soaked in small-town summer. Kids played in their yards or the street with parents supervising them from the porch. A few people waved to her, and she waved back, wanting to be polite.
Ava jogged across the street, feeling the breeze tangle in her skirt and slip past her legs almost as energetically as the children gleefully racing around the block. A smile threatened to take over her face at the sound of their laughter when someone's sprinkler went off. She passed by and shivered when the breeze carried the ghostly touch of mist to brush against the back of her neck.
A few blocks ahead, Ava would reach the town square with the hub of activity in Waybrook, all settled in a seven-block radius. Beyond the limits of the town square, she heard about a sprawling school campus meant for elementary and junior high with a smaller high school on the opposite side of town. Everything was close in Waybrook, even the rink where she trained.
Walking everywhere wasn’t a luxury she enjoyed back home.
Her slow stroll moved a little faster when Ava slid on her headphones, greeted with the swelling opening of a full orchestra. Her phone connected to the playlist of her favorite classics—including Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Faure, and Vivaldi—and her movements turned from a simple walk to almost gliding down the uneven pavement.
The colorful and eccentric designs in the local shops’ windows splashed a needed pop of color against the exteriors of red brick walls. They all appeared different than the next, selling various wares to the interested patron. She counted the café, a bakery, a book shop, a craft store, two clothing boutiques, an eccentric gift shop, and an ice cream parlor before she lost count.
Ava lost herself in the whimsy of her wandering without a set destination, enhanced by the sweet symphony in her ears and the summery breeze to soften the sting of the sun against her skin.
Ava headed down to the end of the block and glanced at the split in the road. A four-way intersection divided the buildings and offered Ava some options. She glanced between heading left, checking out the shops she passed on the right side of the road, or continuing straight ahead to a different section of the town square.
She hadn’t realized how confusing walking through Waybrook would be, especially without a guide.
However, when the little walk sign flashed ahead of her, she crossed the intersection and moved forward into the next segment of the town. As she passed shops, she got momentarily sidetracked at a candle store. She barely fought the urge to stop and smell the pretty-colored candles on the shelves. Yet, she swore a tinge of lavender trailed after her when she walked away.
But Ava slowed to a stop at the end of the next block, split by a horizontal road, and her eyes landed on a diner across the street.
On cue, her stomach growled for breakfast and her shoulders tensed. Ava waited for the road to clear before she sprinted toward the diner. A tall, bright red sign identified the place as Martha's Diner. Ava swore she recalled Korin sharing a tale or two about Martha's before.
Her sneakers thudded across the asphalt when she raced across the road and hopped onto the curb outside Martha's. Ava pushed open the door to the jingle of the overhead bell, greeted by the mostly empty restaurant and its checkered floors. Somehow, it looked exactly like she imagined, with worn blue booths, black and white tiles on the floor, vintage posters and newspaper clippings on the wall, and a view into the kitchen from a seat at the countertop.
Ava inched toward the counter, sitting in the middle of the spinning stools when no one corrected her otherwise. Her legs dangled off the ground, and she crossed her legs, trained for years how to sit "like a lady."
So preoccupied with studying the diner and all its details, Ava hadn't noticed someone approaching her on the opposite side of the counter. But Ava jumped when she spotted another girl around her age holding a notepad and staring at her silently.
Ava slid off her headphones, “Sorry, did you say something?”
"Um, yes. My name is June. Did you want anything to drink," Her warm hazel eyes darted around, making Ava assume June was studying her. Ava swept her eyes over June’s brunette wolf cut hanging shy of her shoulders, the wide assortment of buttons pinned to her blue uniform, and the faint freckles dotting her cheeks. “Also, here’s a menu.”
June pushed a menu across the counter, and Ava accepted it. "Oh, thank you! Um, can I have water, please?"
June nodded, flouncing off to the other side of the counter faster than Ava could crack open her menu. Ava studied how she approached two other patrons in the diner and chatted with them, not meeting their eyes while she spoke. Instead, she kept her head down in her notepad, and Ava overheard the occasional word.
Ava spun back around to read her menu. Spread across the counter, she scanned the breakfast flap with an uncertain mind and an even more uncertain stomach. Despite its growled protests before, the grainy pictures on the menu didn't inspire the urge to eat.
Quite the opposite, actually.
Nausea rolled through her stomach, steamrolling into her with full force, but Ava ignored it. She moved onto the lunch menu with little hope. Unfortunately, she appeared out of luck when the burgers caused her to shut the menu entirely.
She glanced up, finding June behind the counter and staring at her. Set in front of her, a glass of ice water with a straw laid across the top waited for Ava. “Did you decide what to order?”
“Not yet,” Ava registered the embarrassed heat gathered along the nape of her neck with how weak she sounded. “I’m Ava, by the way. I hadn’t introduced myself before, so I figured I should.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
"Wait, I didn't mean it like that. Everyone in town heard about you after that article in the paper; it's all anyone's talked about for the last two weeks. You, that is. So, I know your name . . . and yeah."
“I get it! I hope everyone’s saying good things.”
June’s body swayed from side to side, but her facial features remained deadpan. "Mostly yes. Some hockey boys don't like you, and a couple of old ladies who play cards at the café on Tuesdays gossip about you a lot. They say you look like the wind could blow you over with a mild gust."
June said everything with a straight, unmoved face, and Ava couldn't respond at first. She hadn't expected such honesty, but she didn't hate it either. People always talked, no matter where she went. Buzz came with the life of a star athlete.
“Well, I should probably order something to eat then. I can’t seem to decide,” Ava remarked, and she giggled, albeit anxiously. She turned her gaze to June and hung suspended in the silence following her words.
“Yeah, the food here is good . . . so I’ve heard. I don’t eat much besides the spaghetti on evening shifts and the banana smile pancakes for breakfast and lunch,” June mumbled before she walked away from the counter for the second time at the bell's chime.
Ava hoped for a recommendation, but “banana smile pancakes” might be as close as she came to one. She flipped back to the breakfast section, finding the pancakes buried between the heavy plate of full lumberjack breakfasts and sugary sweet confections like crepes and French toast. Even with the promise of whole grain, her stomach churned when recalling the last time she ate pancakes.
She waited for June to return, sliding the menu toward her, “Any chance you have plain yogurt?"
“That’s on the kids menu. I can get you a side of that, if you’re sure.”
“Yes please.”
“Great,” June scribbled down on her notepad and passed it to one of the line cooks. “That’ll be out shortly.”
Ava smiled and leaned closer on the counter, gesturing to June’s uniform when she stayed close by, “Thank you! I like all of your buttons.”
June stopped and pointed to the four buttons attached to her uniform, "Really? You like them?" she asked, unsure if Ava meant it.
Ava nodded, “Yes! They’re so cute! I love the cat and pizza one; it's adorable. Where'd you get them?" She watched June's flat expression explode into a giant smile, eyes sparkling.
June gestured to the ones with a calico cat eating pizza and a frog wearing a sparkly blue wizard hat, "Okay, these were picked up by my sister when she went on a trip out of town. I started collecting buttons two years ago, and she always brings some back for me. These two are my favorite ones."
“What about the other ones?”
“I ordered the mushroom one from an online vendor I discovered through social media.”
"And the last one? The pink, yellow, and blue one?"
“It’s the pansexual flag. I used to attend a support group for queer kids during my sophomore year, and they handed them out to the new members if they had a labeled identity and felt comfortable sharing. I take this one everywhere . . . sorry, I'm rambling."
"No, please! I like getting to know you. I haven't made any friends in town yet, and it's nice to meet girls my age for once," Ava assured, smiling when June hesitantly turned toward her.
June leaned on the counter and shyly wiggled, “Me too. I don’t have girlfriends, but I'd like to be your friend."
"I'd like that a lot." Ava offered her hand, and June shook it. The two girls shared a soft giggle between them, glancing around at the mostly empty diner, and June tugged at the high collar of her uniform shirt. “What do you like to do outside of work?”
“A lot of stuff! I only work at the diner to save up for some college courses the next town over. The school offers a fashion design degree.”
“Fashion design, huh? Does that mean you know how to sew?”
“I do! I bought an old sewing machine online and taught myself how during summers between school. I make a lot of my own clothing.” When she spoke about fashion, June’s entire body radiated excitement.
Ava felt the same way about skating.
June patted down her pants and pulled out her phone, flashing Ava some pictures of her work. The photographed dresses looked adorable; the stitchwork screamed a steady hand and how each pleat, stitch, and the occasional embroidered design beamed with June’s love.
Ava laced her hands and leaned onto them, watching June rambling about fashion, ". . . I wish I could show you some of my designs off the mannequin, but my manager instituted a uniform policy. They could've picked a better fabric choice, though. Mine shrank in the wash, and it's too tight."
“You’ll have to show me another time, then," Ava said, pulling her hair back from her face into a ponytail. "I could always use a nice sweater to wear to the rink, and I'd pay you for one.”
June's jaw dropped, squealing and taking Ava's hands. She bounced on her feet, "Yes! Please! I love making sweaters! You'd look gorgeous in blue or purple if you'd prefer."
“I love purple. How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
For years, the girls Ava spent enough time around to be friends with were her competitors. Her mother had strong opinions about letting competitors be friends. The opportunities for relationships passed her by faster than she could realize. But June was outside of figure skating, and Ava liked her company. Friendship could be that simple, unburdened by the undercurrent of competition.
Ava expected to say something else, but the chime of the bell over the front door announced the arrival of a new customer. She noticed June's eyes jump past her, widen, and scramble to grab her notepad. She turned her face down, and red trickled into her cheeks.
Curious, Ava watched as a guy around their age strolled up to the counter and climbed onto a stool several down from Ava’s, slightly out of earshot. He got comfortable in his chair and raked his hand through his jet-black hair.
“Morning June! It’s nice to see you.” The guy’s eyes crinkled at the corners with his smile, and he fanned himself with his t-shirt. “How’s my favorite waitress doing today?”
June stammered loudly, still intently focused on her notepad, "Hi, Daniel. I'm doing great, so great. How about you?"
"Ah, can't complain. My boss gave me the day off, so I thought I should get Martha's famous omelet for breakfast. Plus, I figured you'd be working." Daniel's cheesy smile and June's reddening cheeks caught Ava's attention.
She nudged June toward Daniel and watched her newfound friend scurry over, writing his order down on the notepad. She kept her eyes on the exchange, drinking her ice water while the scene unfolded.
Whenever Daniel glanced away, June's eyes fixated on him. When he turned back to her, she averted her eyes like a game of tag. Every time Daniel laughed, June's hand holding her pen shook, and the starry-eyed look in her eyes raised a dozen questions.
Ava hung back until Daniel excused himself for the bathroom. She hissed, “June. Come here.”
June scurried over, unable to hide the dazed smile on her face fast enough, and Ava wished she could climb over the counter. June covered her face from Ava’s view, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“I already know what you’re going to say. My sister says I’m bad at hiding it.”
“Oh . . . well, I wouldn’t say that. Daniel seems to like you a lot, and you clearly like him. You should tell him that you think he’s cute.”
“What? No!”
Ava blinked, “Why not? I’m sure he’d agree—”
“You don’t know that!” June’s whispering crackled, voice pitching higher with embarrassment. Her hands picked at the loose bunching of fabric around her stomach with agitation twitching off her fingers. “I can’t tell him that! If he rejects me, I won't be able to look him in the eye, and he probably won't want to be my friend anymore."
Ava held up her hands, although still confused as to why. It seemed straightforward to her that if Daniel wasn't interested in June beyond friendship, he wouldn't change his mind and suddenly abandon their relationship. But maybe June was right.
"Alright, I won't bring it up again," Ava conceded. June visibly calmed, even with her hands still plucking at her uniform top. Eventually, she stopped with the picking motion.
Ava didn’t mean to upset June, but she had. Guilt coiled around her shoulders, and its presence whispered in her head, underlining her worst thoughts. How could she be so stupid? She was a terrible friend already.
Ava ignored the poisoned thoughts and focused on June's unsubtle jump when Daniel emerged from the bathroom, walking back over. He didn’t take the same chair as before and slid into the seat beside Ava.
“We haven’t met yet.” He tipped his head to her and held out his hand, not unlike how she approached June. “I’m Daniel Ahn.”
"Ava. Nice to meet you." She shook his hand and kept June in her peripheral vision. She couldn't lose the first friend she made in Waybrook because she got overeager. June watched her and Daniel speak, but seemed calm on the outside. Still, Ava wasn't upsetting June if she could avoid it.
“You’re the new girl in town, right? The figure skater?”
“The one and only.”
“Is it true that you’ve won a world championship?”
“Yes, one at the senior level and one at the junior level.” Ava laced her hands together and spun to face June more. "I'm not all that interesting. In fact, I was talking to June about her fashion designs, and she's so talented."
“Isn’t she? She’s also the nicest person I’ve ever met,” Daniel added, and Ava indulged in how his smile widened when he gazed at June across the counter. Poor June appeared at a loss for words and held onto a tiny bowl of yogurt, likely meant for Ava.
Ava gestured for the plate and dipped her spoon into the glob of yogurt. "Tell me about it. I met her this morning and can't imagine meeting anyone nicer than her."
“Oh, of course.” Daniel sipped at his water, leaning on the counter. “If I come into the diner toward the end of her shift, she always saves me a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie. And she’s always so sweetly apologetic if patrons ate it all. I come for her, not a piece of pie.”
He didn't lower his voice, and June's cheeks turned red like Ava's free skate costume from a previous season. She coughed, “I think another table needs me!”
Daniel watched her scurry away from the counter. Ava ate her yogurt, thoroughly amused. June may not see it, but Ava had a newfound interest in the saga of her and Daniel's relationship. She had a reason to venture out of her bubble a little more.