(written by Michelle) Jess bounded into the empty apartment she shared with Jess. After tripping over every box in site and severely banging her knees off of the coffee table, she discovered that Jade wasn't home. Where is she, I need to tell her probably the most important thing of our lives and she's not home to share this with me, Jess thought as she sat down on the nearest box. Even though she and Jade had been in Philly for a week, they still hadn't found time to unpack all of their things yet. No big deal though, because in a few short days they would be leaving again anyways. Starting to worry about her friend not being home from work yet, Jess began to pace their small apartment. Becoming exhausted and extremely bored from wearing a hole in the carpet, Jess grabbed her keys and quickly scribbled a note to Jade and left the apartment. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew that she had to get out of that apartment before she went stir crazy.
Deciding to skip the bus and keep walking, Jess dug her hands into her Nike warm-up pants and heading in the direction she had just came from. Her ice skates slung over her shoulder, she quickly climbed the steps of her new employment. Showing her ID, which she managed to get taken before she left the place earlier, she made her way down to the ice. Finding it completely empty she laced up her skates, stretched,and gently pushed off onto the shimmering ice. Her legs began to get the feel of the ice as she began to push her legs faster to pick up enough speed for what she had planned. Around her the seats became a blur as she sped past them, the ice beneath her seemed to give way, and she skated faster yet, as she began to feel like she was flying. Having been on the ice for most of her life, Jess, as a hobby, had taken figure-skating lessons when she was younger. She couldn't lie though, she had always wanted to be a professional skater, but a knee injury at the ageof 13 had ended all of her hopes. The injury was so severe that the doctors didn't think she would ever walk without a limp. But, proving everyone wrong, she worked extra hard at getting back in shape and now had no visible limp. Her figure skating career was lost forever though,so she can only steal a couple of hours here and there to keep her skills fresh.
Jess became aware of where her body was on the ice as she pulled back her left leg and forcefully pushed her toe pick into the icebeneath her. For a bright moment she sailed through the air completing 2 1/2 revolutions before coming back down to the ice she left. Landing a little shaky on her right leg, she came out of her jump to the sound of clapping. Looking up she saw the smiling face of Eric Lindros, dressed in hisfull hockey outfit, pads and all. Jessica couldn't help but blush, infront of her stood the man she had watched on TV, the man whose poster still hung in her room back home, the man she would be training tomorrow. Hanging her head so he wouldn't see her blush, Jess skated over to where he was standing. "That was good, but I'm afraid you aren't allowed to be here now. There's a public ice time later tonight; right now it's just for employees," he finished, still smiling. Smiling brightly Jess replied, "That's good, cause as of today I work here. My name is Jessica Patterson and I am your new Athletic Trainer," she said, sticking out her hand for him to shake. Jess watched as it was his turn to blush a bright red as he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Eric Lindros, captain of the Flyers," he answered her. "Well it was nice meeting you, I'll let you have the ice now," Jess said stepping off of the ice. Sticking on her skate guards, she became aware that he was talking to her.
"Do you play?" he asked, holding his stick up in theair. "What do you think?" she asked him. "Judging by your size, I would say no," he replied with a smirk. "Do you have an extra stick?" Jess asked. Hopeful, she would get the chance to show him her skills. "I sure do," Eric said, handing her the extra stick. "Then let's go," she said, skating out across the ice. After about an hour of the two skating back and forth, Jess had to call it quits, her knee was beginning to bother her. Eric managed to win the game by one goal, but according to him that was because he was taking it easy on her. They managed some light conversation while they took off their skates when they were suddenly interrupted by Jade. She was running down to where Jess was sitting while being chased by a security guard and screaming at Jess to tell the guy that she knew her!
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